India is ranked as the 5th largest market for furniture products in the world. Even though there are big ballplayers like Urban Ladder, PepperFry, IKEA, Damro, etc., making a significant impact on the urban side, there are still many small and medium brands doing good business.
According to a report published in GlobalNewsWire, the Indian Furniture market is expected to garner around 61 billion USD by 2023.
Saraf Furniture is an exclusively online retailer dealing with mainly solid Sheesham wood furniture. They provide a wide range of products, including Beds, Dining tables, Sofas, TV units, etc.
Saraf Furniture is a prime example of bringing traditional home-based furniture business to greater heights through perseverance, hard work, and great use of the latest technology.
How it all started?
The journey dates back 40 years ago when the family of Raghunandan Saraf was trading solid Sheesham wood furniture to local businesses in their home town, Sardarshar, a small village in Rajasthan. Since his childhood days, Raghunandan Saraf, the founder & CEO of Saraf Furniture, used to help his father in his furniture business, including meetings, trade shows, etc. After completing his MBA from SRCC, Delhi, he went back to his hometown to revamp his family business. In April 2014, he started Saraf Furniture, an online marketplace to buy modern-day furniture at affordable prices.
Obstacles Faced During Their Long Journey
There is a famous saying that goes like, “Obstacles do not block the path, but they are the path.” A true entrepreneur feels that obstacles and hurdles will only make you stronger and, in a way, they faced a lot of obstacles. But since Raghunandan was passionate about this business, they were able to get back up and running, whenever they were bogged down. And it would be really tough for any newcomer against the giants in the business.
Breakthroughs in Their Long Journey
Raghunandan believes that there is not a single instance that can be claimed as a breakthrough. The idea of converting his family business into an online marketplace through the use of the latest technology was a major breakthrough. He believes it is extremely important to keep track of the product-market fit process all the time to keep tabs with the customer requirements. One day your products will be highly needed, and the very next day, a competitor product might be in great demand because of some added features. Hence, he thinks his analysis and market research is all makes Saraf Furniture one of the leading brands in the country.
USP For Success
Their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is selling modern furniture made using solid Sheesham wood. And Saraf Furniture doesn’t procure products from other manufacturers but create products in their own manufacturing unit. Hence, they are also manufacturers as well as online retailers. And they always believe that customer comes first and strive hard to satisfy the needs of their customers.
Another advantage with Saraf Furniture is that provide easy finance options to its customers along with pan-India shipping for free.
All Saraf Furniture products also come with a lifetime termite resistant warranty as well.
Saraf Furniture – Market Results
Saraf Furniture is a company that is not funded by any outside venture capitalists, but a family business revamped to the current market requirements. Raghunandan Saraf used his own investments along with help from his family members to start this online marketplace for furniture.
Saraf furniture was fast and agile in meeting their targets by following a customer centric approach. They aim to capture the market very soon. They have grown magnificently in the past 12 months and their below mention figures articulate that.
- Current Account Valuation: 13 million USD , i.e 90 Crores INR Approx
- On an average they have 1.3 million engaging online store visitors per annum
- Orders Executed so far: 15000+ (more than 12 lakhs products)
Saraf Furniture – Future Plans
According to Raghunandan Saraf, they are planning to expand their business across the metro cities and other tier-1 and tier-2 cities in India. Currently, Saraf Furniture is present in 5 locations and working towards expanding its business operations to more than 10 centers.
Saraf Furniture is a bootstrapped startup. They totally rely on their savings and revenue to operate and expand their business. They aim to grow their business without any venture capital or outside investment in the future.
