Deepak Mahajan
Everyone dreams of leaving their mark on the world but only a rare breed of people are able to turn their dreams into reality. The story that we present to you today is about two brothers who worked on their idea despite opposition from everyone and made it a multinational company. They believed that no work should be frowned upon and the only thing that matters is how serious are you about your goal. Believing in their idea has made them millionaires and a brand to be proud of.
Born and brought up in a middle-class family of Haryana, brothers PD Gupta and DP Gupta decided to launch their own business unit after finishing their studies. They believed in their talent but money was a major concern as they knew their family wasn’t robust enough to back them up. They loaned some amount from a bank and opened a shoe-making store at Committee Chowk, Karnal in 1944 and named it Pal Boot House.
Their parents and family were disgusted by the idea and discouraged them from getting into this business. But the brothers were convinced that their idea will someday make it big and followed their dreams. They struggled as the artisans had to make shoes with their hands which made the process terribly slow.
Our artisans could make only 4 pair of shoes in the entire day and our income depended on those – DP Gupta
In 10 years time, Pal Boot House had become an established and well-trusted brand in the local market. In the year 1954, they renamed their shop to Liberty and bought a few machinery for bulk manufacturing of shoes. The had understood the intricacies of business by then and wanted to scale-up their operations.
Gradually they began to open Liberty stores in the nearby cities. By providing quality footwear at affordable price they had become an immensely popular brand. A revolution in Indian footwear market was initiated by Liberty which now manufactures more than one lakh footwear everyday with their army of sophisticated, modern machinery.
After becoming India’s favourite brand, the Gupta brothers decided to launch their company overseas as well. They devised crucial strategies and took their brand to America, Europe, Africa and many Gulf countries through exporting. With the best in their segment, Liberty has now become a huge brand in the international market, too.
The company today employs 4,000 employees and has as many as 15,000 associate employees who form the backbone of their business. Liberty has come a long way and now flaunts 6,000 multibrand stores, exclusive outlets in 10 countries and exports their products in 20 countries. The company does an annual turnover of nearly Rs 500 crore.
Gupta brothers started at a time when nobody supported their idea. They challenged the societal norms of those days and put their heart and soul in the business. Their success story has become exemplary in the whole of Haryana and the legacy of quality of affordable and quality footwear continues.
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