Meet Harikamini Nanduri, a 1% Club member since Feb 2024 and a Business Analyst at Franklin Templeton in Hyderabad. She is all set to start her own company that focuses on mental health.

Harikamini’s financial journey began when one of her best friends introduced her to the world of investing. She used to spend money recklessly, thinking salaries would keep coming in each month. 

Then the pandemic hit. It was during this difficult time that she realised how crucial it is to save money for unforeseen circumstances.

She started investing and realised it took time for money to grow by even a small percentage. The reality hit hard- it takes months to earn 1000 rupees through investments but it takes mere seconds to spend that same amount. It taught her that money, whether it’s Re 1 or a crore, is valuable. Disciplined investing has instilled in her respect for money and the hard work required to earn it.

Read further to know her financial journey. Edited Excerpts

Why is investing important for you? 

For the simple reason, I don’t want to keep working for money all my life. Yes, I want to work, but after a certain age, money would not be a motivating factor. I’d love for the money to keep flowing from all the hard work I’m doing now. 

What steps did you take when you first started investing, and what mistakes did you make?

I was completely dependent on my friends’ expertise. I would do what my friend was doing — blindly. Thankfully, he was smart. But I do understand that no two people should have the same portfolio as their goals differ. I should have emphasised my goals and should have invested differently.

Have you experienced anything interesting in your investment journey till now?

I did not experience any interesting incident during my investment journey but I sure understood a lot about it. For instance, though it may sound weird, I drew parallels between a love story and investing. Everybody wants to fall in love but nobody wants to put in the effort to stay in love. Similarly, everybody wants to invest but nobody wants to stay invested because they want to use that money for something else, because something else is more important. Don’t cheat guys, be it your relationship or investment. Compounding is magic (i.e.) true love. 

Please share your asset allocation before and after joining the club. 

Before joining 1% Club	After joining the Club
Tax Saving Funds: 95% Equity Stock and MF: 5%	Gold: 5% Equity funds: 50% Debt funds: 30%  US Stocks: 5%  India stocks: 10%

Now my allocations are definitely diversified. I invest in MF’s, stocks and gold. Almost 35% of my salary is in monthly SIPs. I know Sharan said forget everything if you do not have an emergency fund — I’m still building my emergency fund.  Currently, high-risk investments are giving good returns. 

When did you join the Masterclass and 1% Club? Did you calculate your FIRE number?

February 2024. I am yet to calculate my fire number. I will probably do this, once I have my company established.

What value has this journey added to your life?

It made me realise how many people, even those younger than me, are actively investing and building substantial portfolios. Seeing this opened my eyes to how quickly the world is evolving and how rapidly people are learning. It motivated me to become more disciplined with my finances, though it’s still a work in progress.

Also Read: How this 23-year-old analyst at Schneider Electric in Bengaluru became Financially Independent

What are your short-term and long-term financial goals?

I am looking to establish my own company. This is my long-term as well as short-term goal.

Since childhood, I’ve always aspired to start my own company, particularly one that could make a meaningful impact on others. Currently, I’m focused on building a mental health forum. To support this endeavour, I will start a course at SPJIMR Institution starting this October 2024.

What inspired you to start your own business?

Before settling on the idea of a mental health forum, I explored several different ventures. One notable idea was to support those in need by using profits from the sale of everyday consumer goods. This concept was inspired by an organisation called ‘Me to We,’ which I discovered through Lilly Singh, a YouTuber at the time, around 2017-2018.

Driven by this inspiration, I began experimenting with various products, such as homemade soaps and personalised coffee mugs. 

Also Read: This Delhi-based Businesswoman Is Planning to Become Financially Independent by 40. Here’s Her Story

Did you implement this idea?

I participated in an event at Novotel Hyderabad, where product-based companies gathered to sell their creations. I wanted to sell customised coffee mugs and had connected with an orphanage to provide the money I received from selling the coffee mugs. There was an exhibition at Hitex Hyderabad, and I had bought a stall (you’re not gonna like this, but I bought the stall, material, etc., with my credit card—I was broke at that point).

But the story gets interesting—To customise a coffee mug, we need a sublimation machine. Me being me, I actually bought the machine (using my friend’s credit card this time). However, the machine is not all that’s required; we also need a printer with a different ink, which I obviously did not have. So, I requested a stationary shop uncle to do this for me. He was hesitant because he was losing business and was just giving prints.

Now, the plot twist—I wanted to print all the mugs a day before the exhibition. I called the stationary shop uncle several times for the prints but got no answer. I then got a call from his relative saying his daughter had passed away. I was shocked. I broke down. I paid my condolences. I had the exhibition the next day, I used my credit card for all the materials, and now I have nothing as I don’t have the prints to print on my mugs. I felt so helpless. I went to my room and started crying; way too much had happened in the last hour. That’s when my mom told me, “You haven’t done all this for nothing. We’ll go buy a printer, print, and get your mugs ready. This is not the time to quit. You’re way stronger than this.”

I picked myself up and decided to go printer shopping. I remembered the shop name the stationary uncle had once mentioned. So, I went there, bought the printer, went to the exhibition, and printed the coffee mugs. Now, the real question is, did I sell any? I only sold 4-5.

Don’t feel sad for me because I took an opportunity here! The purchase manager from Novotel had visited my stall and gave me his card. I held on to it as my last hope to recover my money and packed up all my unsold mugs and came back home. After waiting for a day, I wrote an email to the Novotel purchase manager. He immediately replied to me stating they needed mugs. This happened in February 2020, and I was 24 years old. I had NOTHING prepared to discuss with the marketing manager. I just knew the price at which I wanted to sell my mugs. And, obviously, he quoted a very low price.

I do not know what happened to me! I said, “Sir, this is how much it’s costing me, this is how much I’m quoting for, now you and I, both of us are in business, and I believe this should be beneficial for both of us.” And, yes, you guessed it right—Novotel accepted my proposal. My happiness knew no bounds.

That day I realised there is a whole other personality in me that I never tapped into. I always knew she existed, but I never met her. I sold my coffee mugs and recovered the money I spent on the exhibition. In the end, everything happens for good, right?

I then donated the profits to the Manchikalau Organization, which helps orphans.

What made you want to build a mental health forum?

During the pandemic, there was a significant focus on mental health and therapy. Out of curiosity, I decided to enrol in a therapy session. At that time, I was preparing for GMAT and had plans to move abroad. However, various obstacles were preventing me from moving forward!

Unfortunately, my experience with the therapist wasn’t positive. I thought, what if someone in a much more critical situation had reached out for help? This experience motivated me to create something meaningful in the realm of mental health. I’ll share more details when the forum launches in January 2025!!

Disclaimer: The above content is based on the information provided by Harikamini Nanduri. The 1% News doesn’t independently verify non-public data reported by interviewees.