It is often said that the seeds of the future get engrained in one’s early childhood. For those who don’t know me closely enough, it might come as a surprise that I have had a very humble childhood.
Born in 1970 in Kolkata, I still remember my early days as being part of a joint family of over 20, sharing space in a house less than 500 sq. feet. It was only in 1975 that my father moved into business by opening his first retail store in the city.
After 4 years the family shifted base to Cuttack, Orissa. Subsequently, after my schooling I moved to Mumbai for further studies. It was there, while completing my graduation that I got the idea to go into business myself. That led me to set up a printing and packaging plant called ‘Seals Products’ with a capital of INR5 lacs. The turnover soon crossed INR2 crores.
In 1999 I moved back to Kolkata to set up another venture – a water theme park I named ‘Aquatica’.
However, I wanted to explore my entrepreneurial spirit further; and so, in the year 2000 I got the idea to set up the country’s first organized affordable value retail store, which led me to set up what would be the first wave of several retail outlets across different cities in India as well as an apparel manufacturing unit.
Year 2002 was crucial for me with me shifting base to New Delhi for further business expansion. The brand ‘V-Mart’ officially came into existence the next year in Ahmedabad with the launch of retail stores in the city.
Being from a humble background what always drove me in my business ventures was the passion to provide affordable fashion apparel to the common people, especially those in tier 2 & 3 cities & townships. And after all these years and success of V-Mart what still keeps me motivated each day is the thought of ‘making people happy’ by quality fashion apparel at the lowest prices possible.
My business philosophy can be summed up in 4 mantras of creativity – Do More with Less; Think & Act Flexibly; Keep it Simple; and, Always follow Your Heart!