He entered the building-materials business at just 17. Today, at 22, Ramanuj Bisoi is competing in an industry dominated by entrepreneurs and business owners who have spent decades building their networks.
Entrepreneurial journeys rarely follow a straight line.
For Ramanuj Bisoi, the road to business leadership began unusually early.
At just 17 years old, while many teenagers were still deciding what they wanted to study or what career they might pursue, Bisoi entered the traditionally relationship-driven world of sanitaryware, plumbing, electrical and construction materials.
Five years later, at 22, he finds himself competing for customers, projects, and market share against competitors who are often in their 50s and 60s and have spent decades building their businesses and networks.
That age gap is not a disadvantage Bisoi has tried to hide.
It has become part of his story.
And perhaps one of the most remarkable aspects of his journey is that he entered an industry where youth is not traditionally associated with authority.
The 17-Year-Old Who Entered a Traditional Industry
The building-materials business is not typically seen as a young person’s game.
Relationships matter. Dealer networks matter. Contractor connections matter. Product knowledge matters. And reputation, often accumulated over decades, can determine who gets the next order.
Against that backdrop, Bisoi’s entry at 17 was unconventional.
He was likely among the youngest entrepreneurs entering this line of business at that age, taking on an industry where many competitors had already spent decades developing their businesses.
Instead of waiting for experience to arrive with age, Bisoi chose to acquire it through execution.
Orders became lessons.
Customers became teachers.
Every delivery, negotiation, supplier relationship, project, and mistake became part of his education.
Five years later, that early decision has given him something that cannot be taught entirely in a classroom: five years of operating experience before turning 23.
Competing Across Generations
Today, at 22, Bisoi operates in a market where some of his competitors are in their 50s and 60s.
That means he is not simply competing against businesses.
He is competing against decades of experience.
Established competitors may have spent 20, 30, or even 40 years building relationships with dealers, contractors, builders, suppliers, and customers.
Bisoi’s response has been to compete differently.
Rather than attempting to replicate the traditional model, he has leaned into the advantages of being young: speed, digital communication, branding, experimentation, and a willingness to explore new business models.
His film and media background has also given him an unusual perspective on branding and communication—areas that are increasingly important as even traditional industries become more digital.
The result is a hybrid approach:
Traditional distribution discipline, combined with a new-generation entrepreneurial mindset.
Experience vs. Adaptability
There is an obvious advantage to spending decades in an industry.
You know the people.
You know the market.
You know the products.
You know what works.
But there is another advantage that comes with being young: you are less attached to the way things have always been done.
Bisoi’s approach reflects that.
From building a digital presence for a traditionally offline industry to creating professional product campaigns, maintaining social-media communication, developing logistics capabilities, and moving toward turnkey construction, his strategy has been to constantly look for ways to expand the company’s role in the value chain.
His age may mean he has fewer decades of experience than his competitors.
But it also means he has fewer decades of assumptions.
Five Years of RIPPL
At 22, Bisoi is now five years into the journey of Reflectus Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd. (RIPPL).
The company has developed a portfolio spanning sanitaryware, bathroom accessories, plumbing materials, pipes and fittings, kitchen sinks, water tanks, electrical materials, and other construction supplies.
Its operations have expanded across several districts of Odisha, including Cuttack, Khordha, Kendrapada, Dhenkanal, Angul, and Jagatsinghpur.
RIPPL now operates a 4,000+ sq. ft. warehouse, supported by its own transportation and logistics arrangements, while working with dealers, contractors, project owners, and customers across the state.
The company has also moved beyond simple product distribution into plumbing, electrical works, and turnkey construction, with a current focus on construction projects of up to five storeys.
From Film to Infrastructure
Perhaps the most unexpected part of Bisoi’s story is his educational background.
He studied Film & Media Sciences at KIIT University, specializing in editing, and graduated in 2024.
At first glance, film editing and construction materials have little in common.
But Bisoi’s career suggests otherwise.
Film taught him visual storytelling.
Digital media taught him communication.
Entrepreneurship taught him risk.
Distribution taught him execution.
Infrastructure is now bringing all of those experiences together.
The Youngest Person in the Room
Walk into a meeting with established distributors, contractors, or suppliers and Bisoi may often be the youngest person at the table.
That can be intimidating.
It can also be an advantage.
Being young means having to prove yourself repeatedly.
It means a customer may initially question your experience.
A supplier may question your scale.
A competitor may underestimate you.
But every successful order changes the equation.
Every repeat customer adds credibility.
Every project becomes evidence.
And every year in business narrows the experience gap.
For Bisoi, the objective is not to win because he is young.
It is to prove that being young does not prevent someone from building a serious business.
The Bigger Ambition
RIPPL’s evolution suggests that Bisoi does not intend to remain confined to a single product category.
The broader vision is to create an integrated infrastructure and construction-services company capable of combining material supply with project execution.
That could eventually mean a customer approaching the company for a project and finding multiple requirements—sanitaryware, plumbing, electrical materials, procurement, logistics, and execution—under one business ecosystem.
It is an ambitious proposition.
And it is one that will require the same quality that has defined Bisoi’s journey so far: adaptability.
Twenty-Two Is Only the Beginning
At 22, Ramanuj Bisoi is not a veteran of the construction-materials industry.
He is something potentially more interesting: a young entrepreneur trying to build a place for himself in an industry built by generations before him.
He entered the sector at 17.
He has spent his formative years learning the business.
He now competes with entrepreneurs who may have two or three times his age—and several decades more experience.
Yet instead of seeing that gap as a reason to wait, he appears to see it as a reason to move faster.
The next decade will determine whether RIPPL becomes a significant regional player, a larger infrastructure platform, or something entirely different.
But one thing is already clear.
Ramanuj Bisoi did not wait for experience to make him an entrepreneur. He entered the arena at 17 and chose to earn the experience along the way.
At 22, the story is still only beginning.
This gives the article a much stronger “young founder challenging an old industry” angle, which is exactly the kind of hook that works well for an Entrepreneur/Forbes-style profile.
