1. With your extensive experience in the industry, what motivated you to establish BeyondnMore?
BeyondnMore is Alok and my Swan song. We started this business when we were over 50 years old. It was born when he and I met to discuss a new chapter in our lives, driven by passion and different from the existing business models in the marketplace.
2. Amongst your vast work experience, could you list and explain the three most important lessons for our readers?
My experiences with multinational corporations, large Indian business houses, and entrepreneurs have taught me many valuable lessons. Here are the top three:
1. Success is the Only Option: Define measurable goals and work towards achieving them with a single-minded focus. This lesson has been a cornerstone of my career.
2. Transparency with Stakeholders: Transparency in dealing with stakeholders is crucial. It improves communication, builds trust, and reduces conflicts, creating an environment conducive to success.
3. The Importance of Process: A good process is essential for achieving objectives. Just like a golfer who carefully considers factors like wind direction, club selection, stance, and force to reach the hole, following the right process in business will lead to success.
3. What is your perspective on the current home decor industry in India? What are the gaps?
With the real estate market booming and the preference of Indians to own a house rather than rent, along with the rise of Ultra HNIs, HNIs, and the middle class, it is an excellent time for the home décor industry. Our focus is: Ultra HNIs and HNIs. In this specific segment, many European brands offer great design and quality. However, Indian designers and customers tend to favor only well-known brands, leaving these lesser-known brands overlooked. I strongly believe that if key designers start using and popularizing these products/brands, the market will have many more options. Designers are influential opinion builders, and once they adopt these products, many stakeholders in the industry will follow suit.
Additionally, the market does not adequately respect intellectual property. Copies of original European designs from China are rampant, and this trend is also observed among Indian furniture manufacturers, particularly in Delhi. The original designs available in India, which are of good quality, do not receive the recognition they deserve, both in terms of design and pricing.
4. Everyone talks about a unique selling proposition (USP) these days. Could you give me one reason why your customer base should choose BeyondnMore over other competing brands? Please explain.
We have a unique business model: instead of selling products, we curate furniture and decorative lighting for work and living spaces both. The position of curator is highly coveted and requires deep knowledge of the subject matter. BeyondnMore has dedicated over 100,000 hours studying more than 3,000 brands and researching around 100,000 products. We now collaborate with 650 brands from Europe and Americas.
Our model functions as an extension of any designer's studio, providing multiple options based on their layout, mood board, and budget. BeyondnMore offers a comprehensive solution that guides the final selection, unlike platforms like Pinterest, which only provides products.
5. Can you share one of your best curation experiences and explain why it stands out?
We collaborated with an Italian designer on a project in Alibaug, Mumbai, for the owner's second house. The brief was straightforward: the house had an industrial design, and the interiors needed to match this aesthetic. We meticulously curated the space, adhering to the industrial theme across 17 brands for 37 unique pieces of furniture and decorative lighting, some of which were relatively unknown in India. The Italian architect, familiar with these brands, approved our curation. After receiving approval, we moved on to finalizing finishes and placing orders. This project stands out as one of our best curation experiences. Despite the brief being just a single line and no mood board provided, interpreting and curating the space was a challenge. The designer praised our work, saying we delivered precisely to his brief. The entire curation team was thrilled with the recognition.
6. Can you provide a five-year road map for BeyondnMore? Where do you see it growing?
We will enhance our curation capabilities by researching additional brands from Europe and Americas, expanding our database significantly. Our current focus is on metropolitan areas. Next, we will target state capitals, followed by other B-category towns. These markets will be approached through investments in a digital curation subscription model.
