The Milan based Italian eye wear brand NAU! Which has now entered the Indian market with a vision that they want all of their customers to be using an exclusive collection dispensing limited collection every two weeks. In an interview with Estrade Mr. Vaibhav Sharma, Head, India Operations & Strategy Nau! And Director, Trinity Group elaborated about his experience, his vision of opening 70 stores in the next 5 years and his believe that the best way to advertise is to spend on the customers.
- Team Estrade: How long have you been in business? What did you do before NAU venture?
Mr. Vaibhav Sharma: I have been in business for last 5 years. Before NAU I was handling HVAC business wherein we did prestigious projects like Benetton Showroom in Vasant Vihar, Benetton HO in Gurgaon, Housing project of GHP Group in Jaipur, Housing project of ARG builders in Alwar and many more.
- Team Estrade: What’s the best part of owning master franchisee for NAU in India?
Mr. Vaibhav Sharma: The best part is that I can relate to the fashion industry in which I have always been interested. Italian fashion has always fascinated me and it feels good to be a part of it now.
- Team Estrade: Are you planning to open stand-alone stores? If not, on what basis do you choose your franchisees — how selective are you?
Mr. Vaibhav Sharma: Our products are available only in our stand alone stores. We would be opening franchisee stores from next financial year. We would like to partner with people who have prior franchisee experience and who themselves get involved in the operations in order to make it a success. In order to deliver a successful model we need to be selective.
“We believe the best way to advertise is to spend on the customers”
- Team Estrade: What is the franchise support like from NAU?
Mr. Vaibhav Sharma: At NAU! We believe that we can grow only when the franchisee is successful. We do all the required hand-holding in the beginning starting from scouting for locations, hiring right people; training etc. until the stores stabilizes. Thereafter we provide continuous analysis and support to improve the sales and customer satisfaction with our predefined study and reporting formats.
- Team Estrade: How much do you spend on advertising and marketing? Does the franchise drive much business from branded advertising?
Mr. Vaibhav Sharma: We keep our advertising budget to the minimum. We believe the best way to advertise is to spend on the customers. We invest in such promotions with a little support from advertising & marketing.
- Team Estrade: For opening 70 stores in next 5 years, what’s your approach to strategic business development to achieve this target?
Mr. Vaibhav Sharma: We start slowly by establishing the brand in one city at a time. Once the stores are successful we invite the franchisees which will help in exponential growth. We would start with consolidating the stores initially with 10 stores in 2 years, there after we would open the rest of the stores in the next 3 years time.
- Team Estrade: What are your immediate plans for NAU in India?
Mr. Vaibhav Sharma: We plan to launch our 3rd store in Mall Of India in February 2016. In the coming months we would look to expand in Mumbai.
Italian brand Nau! Eyeing 70 stores in 5 years in India
