This week's top SMBStory picks demonstrate the power of entrepreneurs joining hands to create great businesses
This week, SMBStory picks three companies whose co-founders worked well together to build successful business partnerships and companies.
It is said that the arrangement between co-founders who run a company together is no less than a marriage but of a different kind. These partnerships are often like walking a tightrope, which is why a lot of companies fail in the process.
But that is not the case with this week’s top SMBStory picks where the co-founders have managed to sync well and work together to create great businesses.
Read on to see how they managed to do so:
Noise
Not long after Gaurav Khatri completed his commercial pilot training in the Philippines, he decided he wanted to become an entrepreneur instead. The year was 2014 - when the consumer electronics segments for smartphones, smartphone cases, Bluetooth earphones, etc was exploding on and Amazon India.
Noise co-founders- Gaurav Khatri (left) and Amit Khatri (right)
Alongside the smartphone segment blossomed a market for smartphone accessories like cases and covers. This was the segment Gurugram-based Gaurav wanted to venture into.
“There was an opportunity to invest in the smartphone cases and covers segment, and it seemed like a good bet. When I expressed interest in this, my cousin Amit reached out to me,” Gaurav says.
A fashion management professional, Amit, 38, was in business - he was a supply chain partner for international fashion brands. Although cousins Gaurav and Amit did not grow up together, they were close during their youth, and felt there would be synergy in starting a business together. They invested their savings of Rs 7.18 crore ($1 million) to start in 2014.
Today, these co-founders are able to clock a GMV of Rs 25 crore per month.
JadeBlue
It is said that small beginnings are the launching pad of great endings, and Ahmedabad-based Jitendra Chauhan (60) and Bipin Chauhan (57) are proving the adage true with their company.
JadeBlue co-founders- Jitendra Chauhan (left) and Bipin Chauhan (right)
The journey of the brothers began way back in 1981 when they started a small tailoring shop in a 250sqft space to earn their livelihood. They registered the firm with the name Supreemo. At that time, little did they know that with the passing years, they would dominate the apparel market in Gujarat to become the most sought-after brand.
In an interaction with SMBStory, Khushali Chauhan, daughter of Bipin Chauhan, the second-generation entrepreneur who heads the online sales of the company, said, “My father and uncle started the tailoring business from home and used to make customised and bespoke outfits. Gradually, they started sourcing fabrics from neighbouring places to give quality fabric to their customers.”
In 1995, Jitendra and Bipin transformed Supreemo into JadeBlue. The idea was to have a brand name that could be used even at an international level, and to have the initials of the founders.
Today, JadeBlue has built a strong presence in Gujarat and set foot across India with 60 stores, raking in Rs 265 crore turnover.
Flo Mattress
Indians may be struggling to get good sleep but on the contrary, this fact has done a lot of good to the Indian sleep products market and especially to the booming, Rs 10,000-crore Indian mattress market.
Flo Mattress co-founders- Kshitij Rihal (left) and Gaurav Zatakia (right)
One such brand that has made a mark in the mattress market is Flo Mattress.
This Mumbai-based company has sold over 20,000 mattresses since its inception—priced between Rs 9,989 to 35,000—and is projecting a turnover of Rs 16 crore in the financial year 2019-20.
Gaurav Zatakia, 34, and Kshitij Rihal, 27, co-founders of , hailed from different backgrounds but were a perfect match to launch the business. While Gaurav was handling his family business of supplying mattresses to resorts and hotels, Kshitij was a college dropout who had founded his own digital marketing agency and was running large campaigns for brands like , Eats, Ixigo, and Cafe Coffee Day.
The duo launched Flo Mattress in 2018. Currently operating with a small team of fewer than 20 people, Flo Mattress’ goal is to increase the output and get a foothold in the Indian mattress market, the founders say.
(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)