Top 3 stories SMBStory covered this week that show the essential ingredients for success in business
Confused about sustaining a business? These SMBs will give you some important tips on evolving, diversifying, and expanding businesses.
Every business, no matter how successful, needs to innovate and evolve. Lack of innovation and diversification often gets large organisations down pretty quickly. This week, SMBStory has cherry picked examples of long-running family businesses whose step to evolve and expand proved to be a game-changer in their growth journey.
Greenways
is situated in Connaught Place, the financial, commercial, and business hub of Delhi. And while most of India’s famous brands vie for a coveted spot in this market, Greenways claimed a corner for itself at Connaught Place in the pre-Independence era.
What started as a wool knitting shop by AC Jain and his two brothers in 1942 has now transformed into a 1,400 sq.ft store with a wide range of women’s ethnic wear.
Akshay Jain (44), AC Jain’s son and Managing Partner of Greenways, says, “My father started the business along with his two brothers and used to deal in pure knit wool and imported wool. They ran this business for seven years and gradually included a range of women’s ethnic wear, including sarees and suits. For the last 75 years, we have evolved in this retail industry, which is set to cross the $1.7 trillion mark by 2020.”
Akshay Jain and Mayank Jain, Managing Partners at Greenways
On running a 77-year-old business and staying relevant in the market, Akshay says, “Back then, when the business was established, everything was made by hand - right from sourcing of fabrics to weaving a complete saree. Today also we believe in leveraging the Indian handloom space and collaborating with artisans who have been with us since the inception of the brand. We have an age-old loyal customer base besides the new one, bringing people from different generations to our shop. I believe that our quality of fabric and designs have evolved with us keeping the legacy of the brand intact.”
BTL EPC Ltd.
The Kolkata-based manufacturing and engineering unit of Shrachi Group, called BTL EPC Ltd, has been bagging big projects. The turnkey solutions provider has more than 100 clients. Public sector units and government bodies such as BHEL, SAIL, NDMC, NALCO, and Ministry of Defense are among its clients. Private entities such as L&T and Tata Steel too have partnered with BTL EPC for projects. The company has more than 50 operating sites across India with more than a 1,000-strong workforce.
Ravi Todi, Director of Shrachi Group
Today, when everything is available at the click of a button, the role of technology cannot be stressed enough. Ravi Todi, Director of Shrachi Group, recognised how critical technology and modernisation are in today’s time and brought about changes in the business.
He says, “Until then, the business was clocking a turnover of Rs 50 crore but with Ravi ushering in a lot of changes, the company’s turnover doubled to Rs 350 crore in a span of 5-6 years. He says, “I ensured that I implemented some systems and processes like ERP. I also introduced a younger and more professional team to handle the projects and ensure the safety standards are maintained.”
Indian Wedding Planners
Anant Khandelwal, Founder and Partner, Indian Wedding Planners
In 2011, Anant Khandelwal and his friends spent a lot of time at a local tea stall in Jaipur. The friends would discuss potential business prospects and bounce ideas off each other. Anant’s friends knew his father had faced huge losses in running a masala business. His father had sold his car, house, and factory to pay off the debts. Anant was doing meagre jobs, such as newspaper delivery and driving, just to make ends meet.
Anant continued distributing newspapers, but he wanted to do something bigger.
Everything changed for Anant during one of his conversations at a local tea stall. A friend told him about event management and wedding planning, and how it was a growing sector. Anant’s friend was right - experts say the Indian wedding industry grew between 25 percent to 30 percent over the last few years and pegged it at a potential Rs 45,000 crore. The possibility of earning good money in the weddings industry intrigued Anant, and as he was short of choices, he decided to give it a try.
With just Rs 2,000 in his pocket, he started Indian Wedding Planners (IWP) in 2012.
Last year, IWP clocked Rs 7.5 crore revenue from its destination weddings service, not including income from entertainment, décor, and other services.
(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)
MOST VIEWED STORIES
