The amazing SPACEWOOD Story that inspires !

The story of a company that not just survived the worst, but also left it far behind to come out in flying colours, literally. The story of the furniture giant, that consolidated it’s position at the top, despite a devastating fire just last year.

By India Input team

When you step in a spacewood.in store, the immediate feel inside, makes you also realise about probably the most challenging bounce back story of the recent times. Though the huge fire incident  an year ago, on 29th December 2020, appeared to have destroyed almost everything, it isn’t anything less than a miracle, that Spacewood, India’s leading manufacturer of modular furniture since over two decades, went on to further secure its position among the top furniture companies in India. A story of focus, grit, drive and passion indeed, that truly stands out amid cases of rising frustration in the face of slightest of adversities.

It was among the worst incidences of the year 2020, after the pandemic and the lockdown. The details about the horrific fire incident that took place in December 2020, are available on the internet.

And, despite more than a hundred Crore loss in one go, hardly anything appears changed for the brand a year later, except the upward journey..! How about that!

We spoke to Shri Kirit Joshi, founder director, Spacewood. It was 28 years ago that, he alongwith Shri Vivek Deshpande had famously opted out to become vendors for the same company that had employed them.

On their immediate reaction to the fire incident, he says,

‘It was a loss, yet nothing really was lost. Because, deep inside, we both knew that nothing really had gone away. We hadn’t lost everything. Only assets were burnt, not the ability, creativity or vision. The day the ability and vision is affected, you’re finished. We owned our responsibility. We told each other,- it’s nothing. Let’s keep going.’

Q. :

‘So what was the resurrection plan?

KJ :

‘We had the responsibility to maintain all the employees, keep people engaged, keep the show going and take care of our valued clients. We didn’t cut our staff or our plan. We just took several factories on lease in Nagpur and Pune, put our workers there and kept inching upwards’

 Q. :

‘Did you lookat anything in particular, for motivation?’

KJ :

‘It wasn’t required. If my intent is right, everything will be right. Efforts are in your hand, not results. And our intent was to resolve the matter. We kept assuring our clients, -‘We shall make sure, you are happy at the end. Because, you will use it for the next ten to fifteen years.’

Q. :

‘How did you plan to consolidate your position, went on to be the biggest, despite such a tragedy..?’

KJ :

‘Because our intent was never to be the biggest. Our intent was always to be a good company. If the intent is right, the rest follows. Yes !’

Q. :

‘How is it like, handling a company that has grown exponentially big?’

KJ :

‘The ecosystem gets bigger. Big staff, several suppliers, so many clients, bankers, investors..they all come! Alongwith the ecosystem, your responsibility grows. The responsibility is not about making money, but also to manage the ecosystem. Similar to a tree, which has a duty towards the birds, that is, to give them shelter. Another duty to people, to offer them fruits and a place to rest. It has its prime job towards the nature, to supply oxygen.’

Q. :

‘How does it feel to be the top brand in modular furniture? And similarly in other categories?’

KJ :

‘No. The branding has no numbers. Numbers too, lose meaning. Every brand has its features. Kishor Kumar and Manna Dey were distinct voices with their unique traits or specialities.’

Q. :

‘You’re being kind to the competition..!’

KJ :

‘No, we have to just do better than we did yesterday. For example, we have a good design team that always focusses on new stuff and repeatedly comes up with new evolving designs. I, too, am part of the team. We make it a point to never lose the intent.’

It can be mentioned here that, Spacewood today is a complete furniture and home interior solution company that today manufactures upto 10,000 kitchen cabinets, 36,000 bedroom sets, 2,500 customised wardrobes and 4000 complete kitchens every month.

Never lose the lesson

indiainput.com asked him about the take home point from the amazing bounce back.

Q. :

‘Usually we hear about startups that lose the focus when faced with adverse conditions. Any prescription for them?’

KJ :

‘Introspection is necessary. And why work too much on weaknesses when you can pick up on your strengths? Art is not to always repair your failures which at times are not ‘fixables’.. Art is to scale up your success. Fix a fair timeline. Plan A to plan B to plan C..the algorithm has to be strong.’

Q. : So, how would you put the Spacewood journey so far ?

KJ :

 ‘It has been a progressive journey from a small entity to a solution based company. From a rupees fifty thousand investment with ten people to the present day staff strength of fifteen hundred, with about a thousand dealers, twenty five showrooms, ten branch offices and the five lac square feet factory space.’

‘.. Working with the same intent,’ he hastens to add.

Website :  https://spacewood.in 

Twitter : @spacewoodIndia

(Pics courtesy : Spacewood)