Lovely Saguna Textiles, Mahabalipuram

Winston Churchill once said “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” The statement truly personifies the story of Mr. D.R. Chaudhary, Proprietor of M/s Lovely Saguna Textile stores, Mahabalipuram. A native of Rajasthan, he came to Chennai to find work in 1985 on an invitation by his friend. Soon he got a job in a cloth store and started learning the tricks of the trade. He didn’t opt for a language school to learn Tamil but by merely talking to colleagues and listening to customers he soon was able to  converse in a number of languages. Apart from Hindi and English, he soon learnt Tamil, Kannada and Malyalam as well.

After 9 years of experience in garment industry Chaudhary opened a small garment store in Chennai. With a zest to move ahead in life and with his modest savings he forayed into selling Rajasthani and Jaipuri bed sheets and pillow covers. His first rule of doing business was to sell at the ‘right’ price without extracting big bucks from the customers. His competitors had kept the margins at 50-60 percent but Chaudhary’s profit margins were fixed at 15-20 Percent. After operating from a rented shop for around 7 years, he decided on an aggressive expansion plans. Chaudhary shares his thought process by saying, “instead of being a small fish in a big pond why not to be a big fish in a small pond.” He identified the market where he could easily influence the customers, he wanted to know his customers and to grow his business he soon shifted to Mahabalipuram. Chaudhary soon acquired Lovely Saguna Textiles stores - a garment shop in Mahabalipuram. He decided not to change the store’s name and hence got the initial much needed head start to enter a new market. His strategy was (without knowing the formal marketing jargons):

a)      Don’t forget the customers.

b)      Manage relationships first than business.

c)       Know the market.

d)      Product for every member of the family.

e)      Don’t overcharge. (Modest margins)

He soon established himself as a brand in the market by following the above strategy. His business model revolves around the following points:

a)      Procure bed sheets and pillow covers directly from the manufacturers in Rajasthan. (e.g. Raj Kumar Textiles, Jodhpur, Veer Traders, Jaipur). It’s Lovely Sugana’s USP.

b)      Import Sarees from Surat (e.g. Jai Ganesh Print Sarees) and from Madurai.

c)       Relationship development with all the hotels and restaurant in town to manage bulk supply.

d)     Positioning of products in the store (female garments at the back of store with a dedicated female staff.)

e)      A right product mix in varying price range for the target segment (local customers). The price range includes Rs250 - Rs1000 for Saree, Rs150 - Rs500 for bed sheet, Rs300 – Rs700 for Men’s wear, Rs100 - Rs300 for children etc.)

f)       Never to give order for the material without testing the sample, he goes personally to different places to check and order the goods.

g)      Involving the family in the business. (His daughter takes care of the business in his absence).

h)      Last but not the least - to serve with a smile. (I was amazed to see a customer sitting with him for around 20-25 minutes and chatting about everything from family to his business.)

With the growth of business it is imperative to have better controls on the overall processes. Chaudhary has installed cameras in his two stores to ensure better operations. All his financial books are sent to Chennai to D Dharmaram Chartered Accountants and Co once in a month for book keeping purposes.

With 20 years of hard work, persistence and an aptitude for learning, Chaudhary is now operating one of the biggest garment stores in Mahabalipuram (going by the volume) with customers from all the nearby villages including Manamai, Kadambadi, and Poonjari. During the time I spent at Lovely Sugana, I was able to understand all the Marketing concepts read till date, be it Market Orientation, CRM, Customer Satisfaction, or Product Positioning. It was a pleasure to learn from Mr Chaudhary in a subtle but practical manner.

Abhinav Verma

FT13395