The master craftsman whom we respectably call the tailor or ‘masterji’ has been a critical enabler in Raymond’s growth story. Mohit Dhanjal, Director – Retail, Raymond Limited, talks about the challenges that the tailoring community is facing today and the company’s bid in maintaining the exclusivity of this profession. By Zarafshan Shiraz
How was the concept behind the tailoring hubs incepted?
>> Capability: Raymond has set up world-class centre of tailoring excellence to upgrade a tailor’s skills since there is no school they can attend.
>> Capacity: Franchisee tailoring hubs are coming up to improve and upgrade the infrastructure of the tailoring workshops.
>> Connect: Building a connect with the ecosystem; making sure that there is dignity of labour and profession. We drive various initiatives, like this year’s World Tailor’s Day on February 28, we hosted a programme called ‘Kaun Banega Master Stylist’ which was about recognising the best Master Tailors in India. We have also created a mobile app - ‘One Button Connect’ which is available to tailors wherein they can access decode guides, tailoring tool kits, etc. for free.
>> Consumer: For the convenience of customers we have launched an online tailoring platform – raymondtailoring.com – which helps get you a tailor to your doorstep. For now it is only launched in Pune and Mumbai.
What challenges were met and lessons learned while coming up with such innovations?
The initial challenges were of controlling and managing the day-to-day operations. We embarked on the iconic journey of nurturing the entrepreneurial mindset through franchising. After establishing the first few tailoring hubs in 2013-14, we realised that we needed to partner with likeminded franchisees that can run this business.
On what criteria do you choose franchisees for these tailoring hubs?
They need to have an aptitude for growth because at the end of the day we are looking at doubling our business. They should be hands-on entrepreneurs who have time and money both. Also, they should appreciate tailoring, know its needs, understand that it is a labour-intensive job and have a sense of responsibility towards the ‘karigars’ who may not have educational qualifications but have skills.
Where do you see this business in five years and what role does franchising play in its expansion?
We had aimed for 50 tailoring hubs by 2020 but in FY 2018 itself we have set up 25 and opened our 26th tailoring hub recently in Hyderabad. So in FY 2019 we might hit 50th milestone and the only reason is because a franchisee helps us expand faster. Going ahead we would want the tailoring hubs to be integral to our retail business as we continue to win our customers’ through our products and services.
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