No one gets success easily. It takes a lot of hard work and following the right strategy generates the fruits of success. If we try to measure the factors of success, it is 10 percent luck and 90 percent hard work. We are sharing here with you an inspiring story of Ushik Gala who started with nothing but now has everything.
Ushik Mahesh Gala of Mumbai has a story that is an inspiration of how persistence in tough times can change these times to our favour. Ushik fought back the struggles of his life and managed to make the family’s ailing business soar like a rocket. A businessman with a family background, Ushik had seen how the business industry worked. However, he got a chance to try his hand at its strategy model when his father found him suitable for it. But due to the depressing economy from 2006 to 2008, the business degraded to zero.
However, Ushik decided to a give a try to lift up the business again in 2010 with a new business model in his mind. The financial condition of his family was very depressing at that time. He only had INR 311 in his pocket but he closed his eyes and decided that whatever happens, he will try the business idea and will not let the business sink.
But taking a decision and implementing it is like the two opposite poles of an equator which can only be joined with the help of a line. The capital was limited and the market was going through rotating phases where any kind of investment could be like risking their livelihood. However, Ushik was firm about the decision to join the line connecting opposite ends.
Ushik had a foresight that he wanted to expand the business to new heights, thereby changing the way business was conducted. So in 2012, after the recession was over, he decided to re-enter the market with bridal costumes. There was huge competition in the market but Ushik did not give up and tried ways to conquer the market. He soon recognised the gap that the customers were experiencing and started to fill it with his business. As a result, he acquired a grip on the market and the inspiring Story of Ushik Gala began.
In 2014 Ushik decided to start a new venture under the name ‘Sumaya Lifestyle’. He analyzed the market and discovered that earlier women’s cultural apparel and business were not good for women as the market was emerging towards new horizons. In fact, the pace of the changing market was so fast that it was barely able to keep pace with it. In this journey, he learned one thing that there is no place to complain.
He established a manufacturing unit in Mumbai and started working endlessly to provide affordable and quality garments for women and marketed them in India and abroad. ‘Sumaya Lifestyle’ gained momentum and today it is the largest apparel manufacturer in India. Its balance sheet closed at INR 214 crore in 2017.
After the success of Sumaya Lifestyle, he started with textile manufacturing company ‘Sumaya Fabri’; which is a group company of Sumaya Lifestyle and has an annual turnover of 50-60 Crores. As of March 2018, the estimated turnover of both companies is around INR 614 Crores.
After being successful in his entrepreneurial journey, he has also invested in a travel app ‘Guidedo Technology Private Limited’ as an angel investor in the year 2014-2015. Sumaya’s net assets in the form of entire group clothing, financing and other businesses are around INR 650 crore.
Sumaya Lifestyle’s market base has now grown considerably and has expanded to Dubai, Oman and the US. The business has offices across Dubai, USA, UK and Australia, besides expanding across India. This is the first example of a fashion-based Indian company with branches abroad and fully functional offices in other countries.
Built on 3,50,000 square feet of land in Mumbai, Sumaya Lifestyle’s only manufacturing unit is the highest modern technological unit. It is 85 percent automated and the garments manufactured fom there are exported to the company’s offices abroad.
Ushik has set a great example in front of the people who considers themselves unlucky and never stop complaining that luck do not favour them. He has scaled his business from zero to heights like a pro and his hardwork and persistence is an inspiration to the youth.