The success story of Kalyan Jewellers

Ts. Kalyanaraman is the Chairman and Managing Director of Kalyan Jewellers, the largest jewellery chain in India with a turnover of 8,500 core (85 billion) this year. His journey as a businessman started at the age of 12 when he was taken to the textile shop to learn the basics from his father. After managing Kalyan Textiles, he set up Kalyan Jewellers on his own in 1993 with an investment of 75 dollar. Today, his business is booming, with jewellery stores across South India. In this exclusive interview, Kalyanaraman talks about his successful journey. My family has been in business for the last 110 years. It was my grandfather, T. S. Kalyanaramaiyer who first moved away from priesthood and became a businessman.

He moved from Kumbakonam to Thrissur to start a textile mill. I think it was in the 1930s that the mill was taken over by the government and that was when he decided to start a textile shop.

Later, my father Seetharamaiyer joined him followed by myself and my four brothers. Now, my sons also have joined the business. Even when we were in school, my father used to take us to the shop during the vacation. That was our first initiation into business. I would say, from that time, business became a part of our system itself.

As I was the eldest son, I was taken to the store first. When I was 12, my father made me take cash from customers. My father watched as I collected cash from customers. If I made any mistake in calculating, he would correct me.

I was not forced to join the business. I was interested and excited to be a part of the business activities.

I must also admit that I looked forward to being taken to a hotel for a masala dosa after the day's work. As we did the transactions, my father also advised us on all aspects of business like purchase, accounting, etc.

He used to tell us that we must stock what the customers wanted the most. He was of the opinion that we should never buy what we liked but only what the customers liked.

He was also very particular about the quality of the goods we sold. He was totally against cheating customers. He also advised us on how to behave with the customers. He used to say all the time that the customer is the king and if he doesn't come to the store, we are nobody.

He said, less margin and more turnover would give more profit. So, we grew up listening to even the smallest piece of advice from my father.

Till today, I am following what my father told us, and he had learnt all that from his father. Now, I have passed these guidelines to my sons also. My apprenticeship continued till I completed my graduation in commerce.