{"id":134,"date":"2021-07-22T20:36:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T20:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/?p=134"},"modified":"2021-08-07T02:09:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-07T02:09:32","slug":"a-rs-40-lakh-investment-and-starbucks-as-first-client-how-this-interior-design-company-clocked-a-turnover-of-rs-9-cr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/interior-design\/a-rs-40-lakh-investment-and-starbucks-as-first-client-how-this-interior-design-company-clocked-a-turnover-of-rs-9-cr\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rs 40-lakh investment and Starbucks as first client: How this interior design company clocked a turnover of Rs 9 Cr"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Rs 40-lakh investment and Starbucks as first client: How this interior design company clocked a turnover of Rs 9 Cr<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Corporate veteran Rahul Kapuria turned his digital ad agency into the interior design solutions firm Brandmakerr in 2015. It is now working with Reliance Retail, among other clients.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A conversation with a close friend and architect seeking to connect with global coffeehouse chain Starbucks for its project in Mumbai<\/strong> spurred Rahul Kapuria to turn his digital advertising agency into an interior design solutions company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was 2015, when Rahul\u2019s Brandmakerr, around two years old then, had been involved in celebrity endorsement projects, including with former cricketer Virendra Sehwag<\/strong>, among other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A corporate veteran of nearly 30 years then, Rahul had a wide network of connections, having worked with the likes of \ufeffVoltas\ufeff, \ufeffXerox\ufeff, \ufeffMagnasound\ufeff, Blow Past, <\/strong>and\ufeffHinduja Group\ufeff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rahul not only connected his friend with Starbucks but also joined him on that project in Mumbai\u2019s Andheri East. This, even though Rahul had no experience in the interior design business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy friend wanted to do the interiors of Starbucks,\u201d Rahul tells SMBStory. \u201cWhile talking to him, I realized we could join hands and fund the project. That is how Brandmakerr Interior Solutions Pvt. Ltd was born.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the Mumbai-based company has worked with clients such as food and beverage (F&B) retail chains Domino\u2019s Pizza, KFC, and Pizza Hut, toymaker Hamley\u2019s, apparel retailer Shoppers Stop, hardware and electrical products company Mr DIY, sports brand Decathlon, and consumer electronics and durables chain Croma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The early days <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rahul and his wife Meenakshi Kapuria<\/strong> invested Rs 40 lakh to start the interior design business. He credits his wife for being the guiding light for the new venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe was the one who funded the business out of her savings initially,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post the Starbucks project, Brandmakerr landed its second client, Domino\u2019s<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started getting interested in the business although designing was not at all my forte and I had no background in the industry,\u201d says Rahul. \u201cI developed a passion for creating spaces.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At Brandmakerr, Rahul takes care of project execution, while Meenakshi manages finance and human resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has delivered turnkey projects <\/strong>in which the thrust is on execution, apart from working on the design in the F&B segment, says the co-founder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brandmakerr is now building  Reliance Retail\u2019s warehouse <\/strong>in Mumbai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s execution partners include tile brands Kajaria Tiles, Asian Granito India, Johnson Tiles, and Bharat Floorings and Tiles; plywood and laminate makers Archid, Greenply, Kitply, and CenturyPly; ceiling and wall solutions company Armstrong; and marble manufacturers Jaya Marbles, Heritage Marble, and Classic Marble Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a focus on start-to-finish turnkey projects, Brandmakerr clocked a turnover of Rs 9 crore in fiscal year 2019-20. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New lessons <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Six years into the business, Rahul says each project has taught him new lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalls a \u201ccomplex\u201d project for an international restaurant chain in Bengaluru that had been designed by a London-based architecture firm. It had several intricacies: 12 types of tiles, epoxy flooring, the use of tuk-tuk, facade, loose furniture, and wall graphics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The firm left the project in the initial stages, however, the client decided to retain the layout design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rahul\u2019s company, thus, not only had to meet the client\u2019s expectations, but also match the design standards of the architecture firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was challenging for us,\u201d says Rahul. \u201cIt was even too late to alter the design because the construction had started and any modification could have led to failure.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Rahul and his team\u2019s efforts paid off, culminating in the Mango Chili Thai Cafe<\/strong> at Shantiniketan Mall, Whitefield<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenging times <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 last year did hamper business for a few months, says Rahul, but \u201crobust business development and lateral thinking\u201d helped in pick-up later, with Brandmakerr now in the process of closing deals for turnkey interior projects with Suburban Diagnostics and Asian Paints. Rahul says it takes at least six months to close a deal with large enterprises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is also expecting orders from older clients such as Starbucks, McDonald\u2019s, and Croma in April this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur business was shut for four months; we did temporary layoffs but rehired in January this year,\u201d says Rahul. \u201cThough our deals with Reliance Retail and Decathlon helped us weather the COVID-19 times, there will be a turnover dip of 10-12 percent this fiscal year. However, January-December 2021 will be good, as we have cracked new deals and forayed into civil construction with Cube Stop Highways.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Brandmakerr\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Decathlon turnkey project completion in Mumbai by Brandmakerr<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a 2020 report by global commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield,<\/a> the office fit-out market in the Asia-Pacific region that includes India is forecast to emerge from the downturn of the pandemic earlier than other markets. Mumbai and Delhi are the most expensive locations in India\u2019s office fit-out market, says the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this market, Rahul says his company is carving out a place for itself among competitors such as Padam Interiors, ANJ Group, and Vadan Interiors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irrespective of market conditions, client management is a constant challenge in the interior design business, says Rahul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClients will ask you to achieve two contradictory ends or have unreasonable expectations about timelines,\u201d he says. \u201cManaging your clients\u2019 expectations is a huge part of interior design and it\u2019s always challenging, no matter how large or small your business is.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

credit : Yourstory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Rs 40-lakh investment and Starbucks as first client: How this interior design company clocked a turnover of Rs 9 Cr Corporate veteran Rahul Kapuria turned his digital ad agency into the interior design solutions firm Brandmakerr in 2015. It is now working with Reliance Retail, among other clients. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137,"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions\/137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emorah.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}