These brands with a legacy of more than 20 years have carved a niche in the Indian market and other top stories of the week
This week, SMBStory spoke to industry leaders and experts to understand how the MSME sector can be propped up in the wake of the second COVID wave, which has brought the entire country to a standstill.
The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has left a lot of businesses in the lurch. Take the case of Ludhiana-based MSME business owner Anil Bakhru, whose ice cream factory has been shut for a month even though Punjab hasn’t imposed a full lockdown.
While business activity has come to a halt, entrepreneurs like Anil in the MSME industry are still weighed down by loans, taxes, electricity bills, and other daily operating expenses despite the lack of income flow.
Indeed, recent government measures — such as the loan disbursement schemes announced by the ministry last year — may not be enough to ease the burden on the MSME industry, experts told SMBStory.
Read SMBStory’s analysis of what needs to be done for this sector, especially in the wake of the second wave that has again brought the entire country to a standstill.
Also read on the journeys of 30-year-old Noida-based Karam and 20-year-old company Da Milano, which have carved a niche for themselves in the safety equipment manufacturing and premium handbags markets.
Karam
Rajesh Nigam, Co-founder and President, Karam
Karam’s history can be traced back to the 1990s. After graduating from IIT Kanpur, Rajesh joined his family’s chemicals trading business in 1992. He worked there for two years until he met safety equipment supplier Hemant Sapra.
Hemant used to provide construction companies with safety equipment and PPE. He told Rajesh that large engineering and construction companies such as L&T were looking for good quality safety equipment.
However, the equipment was expensive since it was being imported from North and South American countries.
This opened up a make in India opportunity to manufacture economical safety equipment that was on par with international standards. They recognised each other's complementary skills and came together to start a protective equipment business. This led to the genesis of Karam in 1994.
In recent months, Noida-based manufacturing enterprise Karam has risen to the challenge by manufacturing the non-woven fabric as well as face masks at scale.
Rajesh claims that since September 2020, Karam has manufactured more than 70 lakh face masks. These are available for purchase across India at medical stores and ecommerce websites, including Amazon and karamonline.com.
Da Milano
Sahil Malik, Founder, Da Milano
After graduating from NIFT, Delhi, Sahil Malik decided to pursue a marketing course in London. There, he was fascinated by premium handbag stores — a sight alien in India at the time.
“India didn’t have any premium women handbags brand stores and consumers had to rely on international companies to meet their desire of having a luxury handbag,” Sahil tells SMBStory.
The third-generation entrepreneur always had a keen interest in fashion and accessories. So, he decided to start a luxury handbag brand to cater to niche customers in India and launched Da Milano in 2000. The brand offers a ‘lifetime warranty’ for all its products, which helps it maintain the trust of its customers for the price they are paying. Leather handbags are the primary offerings of the brand.
Today, has 75 stores, including 15 airport stores, and clocked a turnover of Rs 143 crore in FY20. Sahil says while his stores are located across India, his customers are mainly from the north and east India.
Other top stories of the week:
TABP Beverages
Brindha Vijayakumar and Prabhu Gandhikumar, Co-founders, TABP Snacks and Beverages
Prabhu Gandhikumar was working as a consultant in the US for many years before he moved back to India in 2012 to join his family business of manufacturing metal castings. He, however, felt a deep sense of dissatisfaction.
In 2016, he explored various sectors he could venture into, and beverages seemed like a good option. He realised that daily wage earners yearned for carbonated drinks that were affordable yet tasty, especially during summer months like April, May, and June.
Moreover, according to several data reports, a daily wage worker, on average, earns between Rs 9,000-10,000 a month. Sometimes, even less.
Prabhu says he found a real gap in the market. “We wanted to target people who were at the bottom of this segment, they were sort of getting neglected.”
And so, Prabhu and his wife, Brindha Vijayakumar, launched Foods, focusing only on beverages, in 2016 with two flavours — mango and apple juice priced at Rs 10.
There was no looking back since, and the company later got converted into TABP Snacks and Beverages in 2018. The 200 ml beverage drinks sold by TABP cater to the daily wage workers.
According to the numbers shared by Prabhu, TABP has grown from clocking Rs 92 lakh in FY17 to Rs 35.5 crore in FY21.
Edited by Teja Lele