Sarda Plywood Industries, Makers of ‘Duro’ are celebrating their successful 60 years in wood panel industry. Sarda Plywood is known for long-term business association with their dealers. There are many dealers who are associated with them since ‘Duro’ inception. Majority of Duro Dealers are known as ‘Elite Class dealers’ of their city and they give their credit to mutual understanding and growth. In this issue, The Ply Reporter presents an interaction with an Elite Dealer of Duro Mr. Manish Jhawar of Ajanta Ply & Hardware Pvt Ltd, Kanpur.
“DURO Has Always Been Our First Priority and Will Always Be”
Says, Mr. Manish Jhawar of Ajanta Ply & Hardware Pvt Ltd, Kanpur
The brand DURO is known to Ajanta Ply & Hardware Agencies Pvt. Ltd., Kanpur right from the inception of this elite dealer 28 years before. They believe in quality and sell only DURO plywood if asked for premium segment. They have become synonymous of DURO and people know them with it. They appreciate the company legacy to make them establish as a businessman in this region. Presenting an interaction with Mr. Manish Jhawar…
Q. When and how did you come to know DURO, what is your experience with the company during this time period?
A. DURO was always among the top plywood brands in the market. Since we have started working with DURO, the brand name has been associated with us and people recognize us as DURO. We share that soft corner with the company that we have become a family, and it gives a sense that we complete each other. There has been a lot of learning in this tenure and we regard the company for being one of the important factors of our growth as businessmen.
Q. Which one DURO product is very close to your heart and why?
A. All of the DURO products are unique in themselves, be it DURObord, DURO Pumaply or DUROteak, but the closest to my heart is DURO Nature Signature natural veneers. No other company could ever match the quality of Veneers of DURO due to many reasons. All the species are hand-picked and selected from various parts of the world and the best quality is imported, and DURO provides the thickest face veneer. When we compare the quality of DURO and veneers of other brands, DURO stands out because of its quality standards. I had been selling veneers for many years but never seen such finish after polish in any other company’s veneers.
Q. Sarda completes successful 60 years, what is your message for team DURO?
A. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Sarda Plywood Industries Limited for completing successful 60 years. In this period, DURO has made a lot of innovations with the products, maintained quality standards of the products, maintained good relations with the dealers this all helped it attain a prestigious level. In today’s market scenario, to lower the price, many companies compromise on quality standards of their products. In this scenario, DURO has established itself in the market as a brand that never compromises on its quality. When a customer walks in, doesn’t matter he/she buys something or not, but they tell us that years ago they have used DURO, and if it happens to buy plywood in future, DURO would be his/her first preference. My message to DURO team is that continue the way you have been working, keeping your dealers close and providing quality products that are value for money. Working in this fashion, we will gradually increase our market share with time.
Q. How brand DURO is important for the growth of a dealer?
A. DURO has its own positioning in the market, and if we talk about Kanpur, DURO is always ranked the highest in comparison to other brands. When we tell people or through word of mouth, people come to know about us that we are authorized dealer of DURO and we sell the entire range of DURO products, the customers walk in the store with a mindset that the products other than plywood they will get from our store are also quality products. So, I won’t hesitate to say that DURO plays an important role in our overall business growth as we get benefit in selling our other products with the support of DURO. In my opinion, DURO is a synonym of Quality, so we are also positioned in the market for keeping quality products.
Q. What is your expectation from the company?
A. DURO has always been our first priority and will always be. Every dealer expects that he supplies good quality products to the market with good pricing so that we won’t face challenges in selling. It gives immense pleasure when a customer walks in and tells us that he/she had used DURO 15-20 years ago, and still the products are as they were when used. So, I expect the company keeps manufacturing quality products and maintain that trust towards the brand in the market that it has today. Keep your policies good so that dealers, as well as the customers, share happiness. We have always got the family environment with the company and hope that with this combined effort we will take the brand DURO and the company to the zenith.
Q. When and how did you enter into this business? Also elaborate about your growth story, strength etc.
A. In 1983, my father Mr. Satyanarayan Jhawar started plywood business and I joined in the business in 1989. I started my business journey with the values that were inculcated in me by my father, to always provide good quality products at a price that the product is worth. At that initial time, I myself used to visit construction sites, meeting and demonstrating my products to the architects/interior designers, meeting customers. All those efforts helped me building relationships with the clients, architects/interior designers, customers; it had its long-term effect on my business that I see today. By following the values given by my father, I chose DURO as a brand to sell, that is a quality product worth paying, and it helped me building goodwill in the market. In 1999, I started selling hardware products along with plywood. And just like I sell DURO in plywood, I selected only reputed companies in hardware products too, it gave a lot of benefits to my sales. In 2005, we developed a showroom of modular kitchen and a new showroom of hardware and plywood will hopefully be functional by November’17. My strength is my father, my brother and my family who always supported my every decision, my hard-working staff, and the brands that I am associated with.
Q. What do you say about present market scenario?
A. Today, the market is being aggressive every day and we also need to be aggressive in our approach, otherwise, we will lag behind. For this, we will enhance our technology, upgrade the product range, so that we could provide the unique and new products to the customers at the right price. We will try to cut down our costs so that customers can easily buy our products. Gone has that time when the market was ruled by the merchants. Today, the customer is educated and already aware of the products. So, in this scenario, it would be wise for us to upgrade ourselves by the time and provide the best solutions with the products. The customer has no time today, they need quick services in availability and delivery on time. We focus on the services we provide to the customers along with products. So, our focus would be on providing new products along at the right price that would help us attract new customers as today innovative products attract the buyers. We will put our effort to maintain our positioning in the market.