Anushruti Singh
“I was always interested in technology, and if it wasn’t for Jaipur Rugs, I would be running a technology company,” Yogesh Chaudhary admits.
When it comes to one’s career, it’s never easy to stop doing what you’re pursuing and immediately adapt to something else. Yogesh’s dream was to run a tech firm, but unavoidable circumstances impelled him to do something completely different. Since then, he spearheads Jaipur Rugs, which has always been renowned for its carpets and was founded by his father. “So technically my journey started with Jaipur Rugs,” he tells us.
“I was assigned to oversee sales, marketing and finance, which was completely contrary to what I was doing,” he reminisces. Back in Boston, Yogesh was a sophomore IT student, working hard to make a career in this field. When he returned to India to meet his family in 2006, he had no idea that he would not be returning to the IT sector.
He tells us that due to ineludible circumstances, he had to take one year off from his studies to help his father in the business. Jaipur Rugs was incepted in 1978 by his father NK Chaudhary who started this carpet business with a mere Rs 5,000, two looms and nine weavers.
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When Yogesh joined the company, it was still small. It only focused on the export of Indian handmade carpets and was worth around Rs 10 crores.
Yogesh has since led his family’s business as Director of Sales & Marketing, which is now a leader in the handmade carpet industry. “It was my decision to take the plunge into my family-owned enterprise. My strategy was to take baby steps to learn the ropes,” he tells us adding that it has been a great learning experience for him.
Be bold, his father advised him
“My goal was to establish Jaipur Rugs as one of the best in its category, a brand that customers could completely rely on. It’s been a long journey for Jaipur Rugs, from being just a carpet export company to now being one of the leading lifestyle companies in India and abroad, catering to customers in 80 countries,” he says.
Yogesh’s vision at that time, as the next generation, was to position Jaipur Rugs as a leading lifestyle company and make it a global brand. He did, however, start slowly.
Yogesh describes the process, saying that he was really cautious when he first started. But today, he is a confident second-generation entrepreneur. “At that time, I was very cautious in my approach but later on my father made me realise that if you have the passion to reach a certain level, you need to take bold decisions,” he says.
Another piece of advice that his father gave him was to be fearless. “My father has always been my role model. He has always told all five of us not to be afraid of anything and to never have the fear of losing,” he adds.
This advice came in handy during some of the most defining and tumultuous moments of Jaipur Rugs’ journey. “His advice has always pushed me and Jaipur Rugs to reach new heights and it has always encouraged me to take decisions independently,” he asserts.
Yogesh recalls one incident…once in his early days, Yogesh had to take the extreme step of boycotting a prominent buyer from his business dealings. “It was a very risky decision that could have impacted our business very badly,” he shares with us.
“I had just joined the business, and one of our prominent buyers decided to play hard ball with us. After giving it some thought, I decided to stop working with him, just because of his attitude and business practices,” he says.
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But the decision was heavily scrutinised. Everyone associated with Jaipur Rugs advised him against that move as it could hamper the business. “But I was sure of the quality of our products and our business practices. And it really paid off as he came back to us within a month and agreed to our terms of business,” he reminisces.
When you are in someone else’s shoes
To preserve one’s family legacy is hard, hard work.
It entails not only expanding the business, but also positioning it as a distinct brand among a plethora of similar entities. And the transition occurs between generations. It is usually expected that the next generation would live up to the expectations of their forefathers.
It was the same with Yogesh, as IT and finance & marketing are two different things…and he had to do his best. “Well! yes, when your decision can impact 40,000 weavers and many more who are associated with Jaipur Rugs, you tend to feel responsible and I try my best to fulfil their hopes with my hard work, passion, patience, support, trust and by staying close to my roots,” he avers.
But what helped most are his roots. “For me, it was not very hard to understand,” he says adding that he has keenly observed and imbibed the good aspects of the business practices of his father, having watched him run this business for such a long time. “There have been a lot of learnings for me after watching my father’s struggle and journey and observing how he accomplished what others thought was an impossible task,” he says.
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They share a very different kind of relationship, says Yogesh when talking about his father. When it comes to work and making decisions, both of them agree on most things, but sometimes the opposite happens. “There have been many instances where we have disagreed completely. He always gives me the space to make my own decisions even when he feels I am wrong. At the end if I am confident and taking the lead, he lets me follow my instincts. This way I learn from my mistakes faster,” he tells us.
This has happened many times and sometimes things have happened the other way around as well, he recalls. Yogesh believes that all this is a part and parcel of the business. “But the most important thing is to ensure that you don’t lose each other, understand where the other person is coming from and learn from each other’s mistakes,” he says.
Yogesh believes in maintaining the dignity of his workers and treating them equally. He has practically revolutionised the handmade carpet industry by eliminating the key problem of middlemen and by providing a sustainable source of livelihood to thousands of artisans right at their doorsteps.
His efforts have been recognised on a global scale, with the brand receiving several prestigious global design and carpet industry awards. These include the Elle Décor Award, the Deezen Award, the German Design Award, the iF Design Award, and the Carpet Design Award.
Yogesh was also an early mover in the Indian retail market, opening a store in New Delhi in 2015, well ahead of his peers.
Tech is weaving us together
Power looms are driving artisans out of business. That’s the prevalent opinion, and Yogesh Chaudhary knows it too. “It is true that the advent of machinery made it possible to make cheaper and faster to produce carpets. But on the other hand, it put a lot of pressure on the weavers who once were the cynosure of all eyes for their craft,” he asserts.
“But I believe that technology should be used to support this community that has been engaged in this traditional craft form for generations, enabling them to co-exist with each other and avoid destruction of any kind,” he emphasises.
Technology plays a crucial role in every sector especially information technology, which has played a huge role in bringing them and their artisan community closer, he says. Jaipur Rugs is working towards reviving the dying art of carpet weaving and creating a sense of bonding within the community. Chaudhary’s business philosophy was to join all these hands together, reaching out step by step to each of these artists to create quality products that are far superior to the machine-made products.
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“We have virtual training sessions for them where they can interact with leading designers from across the world, while sitting in their villages. We also have an in-house application that we have developed called “Tana Bana” where our artisans can directly touch base with their supervisor or their company and through it, they can update their raw material requirements, update their work hours, and can also see the amount of money that they have earned during a particular month,” Abhishek explains.
Globetrotting plans
He is a regular lad. His favourites pastimes are watching movies and listening to music, especially the Beatles. Besides that, watching tennis gives him a thrill and his favourite player is Roger Federer.
However, be it for himself or for his brand, Yogesh has a grander vision. He wants to be everywhere on the map.
“I would like to see Jaipur Rugs as a platform for the artisans to take their craft and their stories to the next level. I see it as a global hub for co-creation and envision it as a truly global brand from India, taking its rich culture and traditions to the world. My aim is to make it into a timeless brand that we all can be proud of. We are very keen to expand our retail footprint and we are scouting for locations across the world,” he elaborates.
The brand currently has flagship stores in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. There are two in Bengaluru and two in Jaipur. Jaipur Rugs will also open its first European store in Milan, Italy, in 2021. It also has franchise locations in Hyderabad, Russia, and three store-in-store locations in China.
His personal bucket list is as big as his roadmap for Jaipur Rugs. Yogesh is an avid traveller, photographer and a fan of the Aston Martin DB11 which embodies thrill infused with luxury for him. “I would like to visit Maasai Mara, Kenya to quench my thirst for wildlife photography. Also, I would like to see the Lost Garden by Bert Isaac on my wall,” he enthuses.
Meanwhile, he is aiming to add more and more retail launches to his kitty. Yogesh is optimistic that the success of Jaipur Rugs will prove to be great for the carpet economy as a whole.
Finally, he has some wise words for the other entrepreneurs like him. “Keep it simple and stick to the basics. It will help you focus on what you really want to do. Have a clear vision and work hard to achieve your goals,” he says while signing off.
