Betting big on Retail biz

In discussion with Beny Sachdeva, Prateek Tikmani, Multi-unit Franchisee of Manyavar, Manyavar & Mohey & Raymond spill the beans about his success story and his journey so far with the renowned retail brands in India.

Discuss in brief about your entrepreneurial journey.

I started 22 years ago with a 196 sq. ft retail space which was in a prominent mall in Varanasi since then
there is no looking back. Now, we occupy 67,200 sq.ft of retail space with 10 stores in cities like
Varanasi, Prayagraj, Jhansi and Gorakhpur.

Being from a business family background, entrepreneurship was always in my blood. I started my
journey by being a part of my family business in transportation. We were into handling of Coal, in Coal
India Ltd. Post getting handholding in my family business; I realized my potential and planned to start
my own business into retail. This is how my first Manyavar store came into existence. Eventually, I
planned to expand my network from a single store to multiple stores.

How has been your association with India’s leading apparel brands so far?

We have been associated with brands like Manyavar, Manyavar & Mohey and Raymond. Our association
with both the brands has been good from day one. Working with best of the brands always makes you
learn better. You evolve with them, it’s like doing a professional training by actually not paying for it
instead you earn from that. As an entrepreneur I have learnt a lot from them which has made us what
we are today.

What inspired you take the Franchise of Raymond & Manyavar?

• There was series of doubt clearing sessions with my mentors and elders on the choice of the brands and
  I will be very honest that there were many experiments as well. Few key points which came outfrom the
  experiments and sessions were, we wanted select brands in our portfolio which has-
   Good vision.
   Product Acceptabilityin the market.
   Brand scalability.
   Low end of season sale ratio.
   Low dead stocks.
   Makes money for their Franchisee.

Looking at the number, your outlets seem to have achieved good
performance and sales. How did you achieve it?

We have evolved a lot with the brands we work with, they have made us evolve with them. We focus on
PPP model which we feel is the key to any retail:

P- Place, we focus on the location and the store ambiance.
P- Product, we always focus on the freshness and the display of products, with best brands we get the
best of the products.
P- People, they are our front-end warriors, no war can be won with only arms and ammunition’s, you
need to have well trained and well-groomed people.

How long has been your relationship with the Brand?
We are the franchisee for Manyavar from 18 years and we are associated with Raymond through our
partners from 14 years.

Your take on franchising and why did you choose the same to start your
business?

There was a lot of discussion before entering into this business, we wanted
a good ROI with low risk and I would even say that destiny take you there
where you are fit for. Now I am pretty sure that I was made for this.