CASE 2: A New Venture for an Untapped Market

Chinmay Patil hailed from a suburban city in Maharashtra. He had completed a fashion
designing course in Mumbai and was picked up during a campus interview by a reputed
designer garment company. He was posted in Pune. He preferred to keep his one-bedroom
apartment in Mumbai. The flat in Mumbai was on the seventh floor of an 18-floor high-
building. Six such buildings constituted the apartment complex in which he lived. Apartments
were either one - or two-bedroom flats occupied by working individuals, working couples or
small families. Every week on Monday morning, he used to travel to Pune and return to
Mumbai on Friday evening. He had enjoyed spending the weekends in Mumbai in his familiar
neighbourhood among close friends.
His commute from Mumbai to Pune and back every week was at least two hours long. It gave
him enough time to think about many aspects that surrounded his life. He wondered often
that although he loves his high-profile job and the travel through beautiful hilly Maharashtra
landscape for work, was this something he wanted to do all his life. During his team meetings,
he had often been part of conversations that discussed the customer segment in India that
purchases and uses designer garments on a regular basis. The clients of his organization were
mostly from the developed countries, the number from India and other emerging economies
was gradually increasing. Was there an opportunity in India that remains an untapped
market? This required a larger discussion about the preference, use, utility, purchase power
and value for money of the Indian customer. While designer garments are for the elite few,
most people in India purchase garments and continue their use until they wear out. Often
stitching breaks result in small openings in the garments, which cannot be worn without
repair. In big cities like Mumbai, there is no tailor readily available to do these small jobs.
Additionally, women of the household have a sense of fulfilment when they get their or any
other member of the household’s garment tailor-made. The personal touch associated with
the decisions to participate in the design of the garments is an asset for the lady of the
household. In big cities like Mumbai, especially the flats in which he lived, or the adjoining
society where families live in bungalows, there is very little time on hand to mend and repair
their garments at home or even take the time to travel to the tailor's store, design, collect
and then wear custom-made garments made by tailors. Lack of time and shortage of
availability of tailors have led to discarding garments with the slightest thread tear or buy and
wear whatever is available in the retail stores. Chinmay thought, if he has to live and work in
Mumbai, why not do something that gives him an avenue to tap this opportunity. He
approached five women who had stitching skills. Provided them with initial training. Then, he
went door to door to drop a pamphlet that contained information about the service his small
team could offer. Collect garments requiring repair work from households, repair them, and
return them at their convenient time. Additionally, provide tailored service for all types of
garment stitching. He began with his apartment complex and the neighbouring society. For
the first few weeks, he put up a small collection station at each of the two locations to build
visibility and trust. Initially, the turnout was low. But as word of mouth spread through
influencers about this convenient service, he started getting more clients. He would accept
all kinds of work, big or small, for different price ranges. Within a couple of months, he was
able to create two broad categories: 'repair jobs' and 'new garments'. Within the new
garments category, he created a designer wear for the elite few clients. As business grew, he
needed more employees. This came naturally with more men and women showing interest
in joining his firm. He started receiving orders from distant locations in Mumbai. Where the
client base was significant, he placed a collection and delivery booth every Sunday to provide
the additional service benefit. Weekend delivery trucks would ply between these locations.
He also created a website to stay connected to his clients.

1. What are the various aspects of Chinmay's business?