1. Ramesh Kumar Dua faced significant challenges during his early years, as his father’s bicycle parts and footwear business went through a division, leaving him to grapple with a debt of 1,00,000 rs. At the age of 17, Ramesh made the decision to drop out of his medical exam and lend a helping hand to his father.
2. Juggling both businesses for two years, Ramesh eventually committed to the footwear industry. To secure seed capital, he rented out his family property for Rs 250 and received a 10,000 rs advance against it. In 1976, Relaxo was established. 🚀
3. Despite lacking knowledge about the primary raw material, rubber, Ramesh sought education at the Plastics and Rubber Institute in London to become a rubber technologist. The institute typically admitted only the top 2%, but through persistence, Ramesh was allowed to study without obtaining a degree due to his evident passion. 👨‍🎓
4. During Ramesh’s rubber studies, India experienced the notorious emergency in 1977. Upon his return from London, he introduced Relaxo’s inaugural product.
5. The iconic Hawaii Chappal was born, marking the first slipper crafted from a blend of natural and synthetic materials. Ramesh invested in radio jingles, a novel approach at the time, paying 100 Rs when radio ads were uncommon. The brand gained recognition, but a challenge emerged. 👇
6. The slippers were unbranded, leading retailers to replace his stock with higher-margin branded items. To counter this, Ramesh amalgamated different units of Relaxo into one and privatized the company in 1983. The awaited breakthrough came in 1995. 🙌
7. With the footwear industry opening up to major manufacturers, Ramesh invested 7.5 crore for a cutting-edge manufacturing plant, capable of producing 50,000 pairs daily. Concurrently, Relaxo went public, raising 4.5 CR through its IPO. 📉
8. The demand for Relaxo’s slippers soared, prompting Ramesh to establish a second unit in 1999, followed by another with a daily production capacity of 100,000 pairs in Bhiwadi in 2001. By 2003, Relaxo achieved a revenue of 150 CR. đź’¸
9. Faced with increased competition, including a 20% discount from the 70-year-old Bata Shoes, Ramesh diversified into other categories. In 2005, he introduced Sports Shoes (Sparx), followed by Sandals (Flite) and Bahamas (Casual Slippers). âś…
10. While Bata’s revenue declined by 85%, Relaxo evolved into a 1000 CR company, enlisting Akshay Kumar (Sparx), Salman Khan (Bahamas), and Sonakshi Sinha (Flite) as brand ambassadors. đź’Ş
➡️ Today, Relaxo boasts a revenue of 2783 CR, producing 7.25 lakh pairs of footwear and selling 18 crore slippers annually.
The narrative of Ramesh Kumar Dua – The visionary behind the immensely popular Hawaii Chappal.