Ashwani Narula – Furniture Prince of India

By Sushma Arora

NEW DELHI: We talk about a magic mantra for success with a young self made dynamic entrepreneur who has not only risen to fame from ground levels but has motivated and inspired several in the home decoration business.

Ashwani Narula of the brand – Benchcraft Concept, creates ripples in the décor business with his inimitable style and approach. Blessed with nerves made of Steel and a humour to match, Ashwani captures the imagination of his clients while spinning the magic yarn of colours shapes and style.

While we keep reading about India, emerging as a brand to reckon with, we wonder simultaneous about the key players tugging the success forward. While the industrialists of our country are inspiring global businesses, people like Ashwani have risen to fame thanks to their persistence, perseverance and sheer hard work and are a motivational force for the upcoming young entrepreneurs.

"I believe the only way to gain wealth and fame is to either earn it or inherit it." In his case it surely has been earned. Having lost his father early, the young lad with family responsibilities to shoulder Ashwani, decided to get in the furniture and furnishing business rolling with what ever resources he could muster.

He got his first contract from his maternal uncle to furnish the upcoming Canada Colony at the Napth Japhri project. There was no stopping him after that. Fearless, ruthless at work and practically no personal life were the few highlights of his early years.

In 1997, he launched his own firm, A.N. Enterprises. He began supplying furniture to big showrooms from his small factory in Kirti Nagar, a furniture hub in West Delhi, with one carpenter and one polisher. Today his firm employs 150 skilled people.

Of course, in the intervening period, Ashwani launched his own brand name "Benchcraft" in 2001 with his first showroom spread over 2,000 sq ft in upscale Ghitorni, Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, bordering Delhi and Gurgaon. End 2004, he opened another showroom spread over 25,000 sq ft in the same area. He reached the big league in mid-2006 with the launch of 65,000 sq ft showroom in the same area.

There was no looking back for him as he opened one show room after another. He launched his 7,500 sq ft showroom in Mumbai on September 3, 2006 in Raghuvanshi Mills, an interior and furniture hub for rich and famous.

In January this year, Benchcraft made inroads in Hyderabad. Soon he is launching another showroom at Grand Mall in Gurgaon. Next month is is launching another showpiece in Gurgaon which one can visit only on invitation.

Commenting on his firm, Ashwani says: A.N. Enterprises carries out the business of interior designing and manufacturing of all kinds of furnishing and allied accessories.

Needless to say, the firm is professionally managed with full time professionals, in-house employees and consultants.

"It is totally self sufficient in terms of designing turnkey execution and manufacturing of furniture and has a comprehensive setup in form of office as well as manufacturing unit," he adds.

Some of companies for whom he has done the turnkey projects include Pizza Corner, McKinsey, Unitech, Siemens, Hindustan Lever, Sukam, Flex Industries, Patni Computers, Hutch and three properties of Hotel Jukso in Pune, Gurgaon and Delhi.

Popularity of his furniture and furnishing can be gauged from the fact that it also travels to far off places in Australia, the US, the UK, Hungary, Dubai and Singapore.

In its endeavor to remain ahead of the competitors, Benchcraft as a brand caters to individual interior designing requirements of the clients. The firm is constantly engaged in providing the latest and the best designs.

A.N Enterprises has its own chain of competent fabricators having excellent facilities of carpentry and joining with specialized workers who work directly under the supervision of the firm through its representative for different projects, with a view to completing each project within the stipulated time and ensuring strict quality control.

His business travels have taken him to Italy, Dubai and Turkey.

Ashwani is single and lives with his mother and sister in Gurgaon, Haryana.