Kaushik Rathod, a Vadodara-based tailor runs Libas Gents Tailor from a make-shift shop. Two-thirds shop is filled with sewing machines, garments hanging by the wall, a counter battered by the flash floods in 2024, and a worship place around the nook. His startup base is not the best organized but his skills have engaged dozens of regular customers from the close-knit community.
From this shabby-looking space, Kaushik Rathod has been running a profitable business despite facing two major hiccups in the last five years, including the recent flood in the state. His situation turned adverse in 2023 when an unattended spark in a switch caused a major fire in the shop, engulfing not only the space but also over 90 garments. And, what followed, was a financial turmoil which ran him neck-deep into debts to restore the shop.
“We had to sell off my wife’s jewellery to return all the loan amount required to fix the shop again, including an INR 3 lakh loan which I took,” Kaushik Rathod tells Gujpreneur.
Brave Step Forward
Building a sustainable business was not in his blood. Kaushik Rathod was forced to give up on academics to assist his father in tailoring. He was betrayed by their relatives and left to sweat alone. It forced his father to work in various tailor shops to make ends meet. Rathod was brave enough to take a step forward in turning the generational craft into a sustainable startup. So much so that a family of seven, including his parents, and three children can survive on his efforts.
“He (his father) taught me the work. He was my guru,” Rathod recalls.
Inspiring His Wife Into Entrepreneurship
However, he is not alone in his startup journey today. The craftsman-cum-enterpreneur had a unique way of inspiring his wife on the journey. He noticed that she could contribute to the business with her finishing skills in raw materials. So, to drive her into the business, he would open a bank account for her, depositing INR 5000 into the savings account.
Kaushik Rathod would then tell his wife that she could add to the balance and use it for her personal interest by taking on some clients for stitching work. She contributes around INR 70,000 per annum to the family business today. “My daughter has also started working a few months ago as an accountant at a jewellery store and my son is pursuing academics towards fulfilling his dreams as a locomotive engineer,” Rathod says.
Technological Advances
Kaushik Rathod has been an adaptive entrepreneur with technology playing a major role in his business, spanning over three decades. He started the business with a traditional foot-operated sewing machine with a bobbin case driven by a hand wheel. Now, he operates on a fully automatic oil sewing machine, which has a higher operating cost but eases his operations.
“I started with sewing machines that were bought by my father. Today, I have two more machines of the latest technologies. It is 3x more expensive than the older machines. But it is more convenient as the orders are completed quickly,” Koushik Rathod says.
Increasing Outreach And Turning Profitable
In large-scale business, success is not achieved overnight. The same philosophy applies to Rathod’s journey of building a sustainable business. His startup gained momentum when Google visited the city in 2022 for a survey. The survey guided him in increasing the outreach of his startup through advertisement while also taking aid of platforms like JustDial to fetch more clients.
Today, the Libas Gents Tailor stands tall as an example in the tertiary sector, which musters 57% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “We make a minimum of INR 30,000 to 40,000 per month. It is enough to run a house,” Rathod says.
“I’ve progressed since then to buy an apartment,” he reflects on his journey.
Conclusion
Kaushik Rathod has shown a way of surviving to the medium and large-scale businesses by remaining bootstrapped over three decades. There is also a deep-lying wisdom in his approach which highlights that it is not always about building a multi-million dollar asset but to build a brand that lasts a lifetime. It is also important to realize that Rathod is not an educated businessman or the most resourceful entrepreneur but he survived the test of time to build on his father’s dreams.
Based in the heart of Vadodara, in Fatehgunj, the Libas Gents Tailor embodies the integrity, willpower, and constant perseverance it takes to make a startup successful. These are the attributes that often go unnoticed. At the Gujpreneur, we try to cover entrepreneurs from each sector to bring out their strategies in developing a successful business. Follow us for more such enticing tales from the tertiary sector that contributes more than half of India’s economy.
