Our studios will make people feel at their home. The idea is to create a 360-degree approach to interior solutions. We are a provider of interior solutions, wardrobes, or any other place in the house. We work together with architects and with developers in these kinds of designs for our customers and we then provide all the hardware required.
What is the market of supplies you provide in the context of South Asia? We started in the region 20 years ago and are now an established player. We started very small but now it’s a big organization and we are a dominant player in this market. The furniture market is not highly organized in the region. There are no big producers of modular kitchen and wardrobe systems and we want to support the professionalization of the entire business by creating really high-quality solutions that are out of the space of modular kitchen and module wardrobe systems and we provide complete solutions on that. It is estimated that the organized market is less than 20 percent of the overall market, and the rest 80 percent is unorganized. So, you can see the gross potential that we have because it’s very aspirational. Everyone wants to have a beautiful house and kitchen, and different designs have their own functionality and quality. I think this is a part of the beginning of the journey where we will see strong growth of the market in Nepal and also in South Asia as well. How do you see the prospect of Hafele in the Nepali Market? We’ve been in Nepal already for some time providing hardware to projects and hotels. But we have not been here as an exclusive studio where customers can walk in and really discover the Hafele world. We are serious about Nepal and we want to develop this market. We found our support from the right partner i.e. UHS Holdings. It is important to find like-minded people who understand our philosophy and who have the same passion for quality, design, and customer service, and with whom we can go. We have plans to bring the brand closer across the country not only in Kathmandu, but we want to start now from here within this solid foundation and grow step by step as the market develops. How is Hafele different from other companies? Each company has its own specifics. So far, we haven’t seen any other company that has such a broad 360-degree approach to interior solutions. We can really provide anything from door hardware to furniture fittings to appliances to complete kitchen and wardrobe solutions to lighting systems to faucets and sinks and all of that and hence this becomes a one-stop shop and this becomes easy for the customers to come and own our products. We have also been very strong with German quality products and finding the right product for the market. This is the talent that Hafele has to go and find the right product at the right price points from affordable to luxury items, so there is something for everybody. And in South Asia, if you walk into any of our studios, you feel exactly the same as they have been modules by the same team. We want to ensure that Hafele is the same wherever you go and get the same customer experience and same quality. How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Hafele's business? The Covid-19 pandemic was not an easy one for all of us. Yet, it has for sure driven a trend towards people spending more time in their homes and has let them be more invested in the designs and functionality of their homes and we see a huge number of people investing in home solutions. So, in that sense, the pandemic has also helped us in a way. What are the challenges in the sector that Hafele is in? The challenges are quite similar across the world. First of all, we need to plan what the customer needs and then we have to manage the supply chain and bring the right goods at the right time in the country because we want to have high availability of the products and make it fast for the customers to have the products. Another big challenge is to ensure consistent quality. This is why we are not just coming here to sell but we are also coming here to install the items that we sell and to service them over a lifetime. For this, we have made a huge investment in training and skills development to make sure that all our partners can deliver the same standard across the markets. Being an entrepreneur, what message would you like to give to the coming aspiring business enthusiasts? Entrepreneurship is a good idea to develop a professional career. It is because, when you are an entrepreneur you are active. Everyone has the possibility to become an entrepreneur and also it starts in the beginning with nothing, but it gets broad if you are consistent and if your vision is broad and then you need to have the discipline to implement it. There might be ups and downs, but you have to be consistent with it by delivering your promise to the customers which are very important and only then you can have a lot of progress in your business.
