This is the story of one man whom I know as long as I can remember, who has always been by my side and about whom I am very proud of . . . my "father". His jounrey is as remarkable as that of Will Smith's 'Pursuit of Happiness'. Having tried his hands on multiple businesses and hsving net only partial success, things turned around for him when he had an additional responsibility, me. His priority at that time was not just to meet daily needs but also to be concerned about my education and future. These needs made him push his boundaries by migrating to a small booming city Vijayawada.
As the journey typically goes, young lads from villages come to towns and cities working and learning from their already settled relatives. My dad was quick to learn and he also had capital. The story goes on smoothly until due to some feuds, my dad was kicked out of his job. He had his second child coming, an extra responsibility in uncertain times. He was forced to start a new business from scratch with no outside support because of the power the former yielded. Going through all these difficulties, my dad did fare wonderfully. He started his own manufacturing unit of women's footwear. He put all his savings to get proper education for us. His honesty, modesty, hard-working nature brought him to the place where he is today. Respected for his courage to fight all odds, he is a man who can be proud. Hope we stand up to his abilities and capability to move forward with all responsibilities.
Vijaywada, 3rd biggest city in Andhra Pradesh has always been a commercial hub. Good irrigational and driking water fascilities, well connected by train, road and air. It is a place to all those who want to start a business. It is also a huge centre for footwear manufacturing. A cluster with many players catering to various needs and demands from across India. Skilled and cheap labour, interesting designs, good transport fascilities, many investors and cluster advantages are the reasons for its growth. Here's how the story went through times.
I used to suggest different ideas, designs for footwear whenever I got an opportunity. My dad and his friends had a standard reply, "No one will buy from us, we make what they (wholesalers) buy from us". I do not deny that they do experiment and create new desings. What I am concerned is that they almost always limit themselves to a quadrangle of present demand and fashion. They imitate and re-design those which are selling good and are of craze. The ideas that they imitate are mostly from either big-city firms or international brands. The advantage that we have is the cost. They make good models with very low cost, a manufacturing hub just like what china is. Here they almost always shirk to make disruptive designs.
Things were going fine like this for many years. They do create few new designs but most of innovation part is left for others do it. Because of the close knit bussinesses; ideas, models are replicated quite quickly. But recently they are faced with challenges that they have never faced. Their market share is being eaten away from all sides. The cost advantage they used to have before is watered down beacuse of too heavy competition existing between them. People in towns and cities have become brand conscious, so they are forced to move the products to smaller towns and villages. Added to this, they have huge inflows from places like Delhi, Thailand, which are much cheaper and desings different and hence attractive. The once booming industry has now many drop-outs and failures. Only big players have survived the onslaught. Is this a point of no return? I don't think . . .
What they always lacked is innovation and the propensity to take risk. They hate "risk". They always tend to focus on guaranteed returns with minimum risk. The solution that I suggest, is not just applicable to this cluster but every cluster in India. These clusters I feel are successful owing to their advantages in labour - cheap and skilled, mostly involves imitation and cost advantages. But these are not something that are sure to stay for a long time. Every industry will face tough and new competition as more and more players join, competition from bigger firms and international brands and markets. If they are to stay in the field, they need to innovate. Innovation in designs, in products, in supply chain is the necessity. They should explore previously unexplored markets, unmet needs. They should use their cluster brand value for marketing their products.
"Co-operate, Innovate and make it big" should be the call.
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