A great number of regional ethnic wear brands are making a mark on the country’s organized retail radar through cautious but persistent moves to step out of their home markets, either on their own or on the back of modern retail. Unlike most mainstream brands or even western fashion, regional players bank on their design width as well as fabric and print differentiation
In an exclusive interview, Mr. Puneet & Mr. Yatin Jain, Directors of ODHNI talks about their journey. Fiercely passionate, self-inspired and sharp-thinking duo— the creators of the women-centric brand are cashing in on the increasing appeal of traditional dresses to increase their brand salience nationally. And for good reason.
Brief us about you and your journey since the beginning of your career.
Puneet & Yatin: The last 20 years of Odhni are full of hard work, rigorous planning, dreams, and the conversion of dreams into reality. The journey has always been full of challenges, achievements, and life-learnings. From learning how to understand customers’ preferences to how to edge out the competitors, we have come a long way from what we were decades back. Achieving customer satisfaction loyalty, learning from the challenges and failures, and reforming our business approach as per market trends, the brand ODHNI now becomes what we are. We carved our own path through the mist to achieve a turnover of 80 cr and build three luxurious stores in Delhi’s posh markets.
How do you describe yourself in one/two words? Who has been your guide, source of inspiration, support?
Puneet & Yatin: We are very dedicated and honest towards our profession. Mr. Neeraj Gupta, a very renowned personality in the retail industry, is our source of inspiration. We admire his principles in life and business.
State us about your passions, mission, and goals. What acts as a motivation tool for you?
Puneet & Yatin: We want to make shopping a jubilant experience; no mental stress and zero percent dissonance. Odhni was started with a small store of 500 sq ft, and now it’s expanded to 50,000 sq ft store. Thank God, our efforts got recognized by the industry and they have conferred us with Star of the Industry award.
Kindly describe in brief about your company and its services/products.
Puneet & Yatin: ODHNI is a one-stop platform for Ethnic Wear, be it a bridal lehenga, designer sarees, fusion wear suits, and gowns. We have all the latest ranges available in the market.
State us about the most memorable and remarkable moments of your life.
Puneet & Yatin: A very renowned person has recently complemented ODHNI with his high spirit and confidence. He empowered us with skills and attitude quintessential in keeping customers happy.
What is the role of technology in this fast-paced changing world? Kindly highlight your achievements, awards, and accreditation.
Puneet & Yatin: Technology helped us in so many ways like inventory management, replenishment and order placement. We can track all our records with the help of technology, otherwise its impossible to assess the business.
Kindly tell us about the challenges you took and the risk associated with it and how did you overcome them?
Puneet & Yatin: The ultimate challenge was managing three branches successively, but with an effective delegation and continuous support of our team, we are successfully running all the three branches. Besides, technology has also helped us in so many ways to manage things.
Share your point of view on the current scenario of the finance industry and its future.
Puneet & Yatin: Although there is a slowdown in the economy and financial institutions are facing some liquidity issues, things will improve soon as the market is expected to perform well in the festival and wedding season. These are the cyclical problems and wouldn’t last long.
What would you advise to budding entrepreneurs who are willing to make a career in this field?
Puneet & Yatin: Retailing is all about continuous development in product placement and customer engagement, so if one can keep the focus on these aspects, success is imminent.
Please tell us about your future business plans.
Puneet & Yatin: We are looking to achieve a turnover of INR 1000 crore with thirty new stores in North India by 2030.
