Meet the 68-year-old Indian businessman who turned Dh900 into millions

Gulf News

Ramesh Vora: Story of 68-year-old businessman who turned Dh900 into millions. Indian businessman came to UAE in 1976 as an accountant for Dh900 salary, rest is history.  Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/2CGiDD7  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos  Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #Dubai #India #billionaire

Transcript

00:00How many accountants do you know who came here to the UAE with a salary of Dirhams 900

00:06and went on to become a billionaire jewellery magnate? Well, meet Mr. Ramesh Vora who is the

00:12Managing Director of Bafle Jewellers and we are here to talk about this very interesting

00:19journey of his. It's very inspiring and thank you so much sir for talking to us.

00:23My pleasure, it is my pleasure.

00:25It was very interesting to hear that you started in 1976 as an accountant for a construction

00:32company with a salary of Dirhams 900 and today you're this jewellery magnate. So,

00:37tell us about your journey. From 1976 to 1991, I just stick with one company only. I don't want

00:44to move like this for little money like this. So many people they offered me but I was happy that

00:50the managers are looking, 300 people, factory also, sales also are looking. That time our

00:55sale was within the Middle East, not far you know. Then 1991 all the partners separated,

01:03so that time I got the chance and just I start my own business and then Mr. Bafle offered me that

01:09I have a small shop, you can have this shop and I give you a little more gold, whatever you have

01:14you add and we started business. That time actually I just started business only with two

01:19people and the area was only 192 square feet in gold centre. Still I have the same workplace I

01:25have, so we made it retail. One year, two year, three year actually just when business grow then

01:30we take another office, half office like this and today we have seven offices in the gold centre

01:34and this year actually just we made biggest office in the gold centre. It is more than

01:454,500 square feet and all our division actually on the one place. So in the same office we have

01:51the 18 carat separate division, 21 carat separate division, 22 carat separate division, so whoever

01:56want anything we keep the ready stock. So always we have the ready stock of 11 country and we supply

02:03more than 30 plus country. You can just name it in the Africa side, everywhere we have supply,

02:08in the Middle East everywhere, Iran, Iraq. Now Iran we stop for the KYC, this one problem,

02:13sanction problem, otherwise Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Europe also, we supply UK, USA,

02:23Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Just like me a lot of people would like to know why did you leave

02:31your house in Mumbai and come to the UAE and why did you take up a job as an accountant,

02:36how did that happen? From beginning actually I was in jewellery business, in the native place

02:40I was helping my father, then I came to Mumbai, there also I was working with the jewellers. But

02:46five years actually what happened that native place in Gujarat actually there is a dry weather

02:51while in Mumbai it is humid weather. So I don't like the weather actually and these people they

02:56already started business, so they offered me that if you want you can come to Dubai and you can have

03:01this one something changed. So my destiny was here, so just from day first actually I am relaxing

03:06here in Dubai and I like Dubai, it is second home country like this. There also now just we are

03:13very attached to India also, so every month we have to go for any social work like this to meet

03:17the people like this, so I am not totally just out from India actually, so we know plenty of

03:24friends also there, all the relatives, so time to time, minimum once a month actually we are going

03:28to India and attend all the functions. So that's nice, so you are in touch with your roots, you

03:33haven't? Nothing, nothing, no. About your growth here in the UAE, how much would you attribute

03:40to the land of the UAE for your success? Because after all your success has all

03:46been here in the UAE and be it whether the government support or the entire the economy

03:54support, so your growth has been here, would you like to say something? We are doing time to time

03:59charity here also in the like Al Noor, this one actually, so we have some campaign also in

04:03retail showroom also, that's how much bill actually, so 25 percent of this one actually

04:09just we deliver to Al Noor hospital like this. Then my daughter friend actually she opened one

04:16school in deep and dumb actually in mid-deep city center. She did all the interior without any money.

04:23My daughter told me that I want to go there, then I just took the 51,000 cheque and when I delivered

04:28she was crying that as an Indian you are the first Indian to just offer me the money, otherwise

04:33actually nobody offered me, I just took money only from my father. She is the Raghavani with this one

04:38family. So she is very happy, they said that now what you want you are just my family member like

04:43this, anytime all the function you have to attend like this. Plus we do very good this thing for the

04:48staff also because we think that whatever I earn it is because of the staff. Yeah. Okay, so if the

04:55staff is happy, then everything will be all right, you know. What is the turnover of your jewelry

05:01group today? Total I cannot say everything actually by precisely, but it is every day actually we sell

05:0830 to 50 kilo depend upon the market price, but before 2018, before the wed, I was said that

05:15every day I was selling about 50-55 kilo every day. Every day? Yeah. Okay, and the turnover, the annual

05:24turnover in that case of the company would be how much? It is about one and a half to 1.6 ton,

05:301.7 ton a month. So it is the except the retail and diamond also because we do the wholesale

05:37diamond jewelry also and we supply to like Malabar, Jolokas like this and this one. Okay. So the

05:42diamond section is separate. So we had in one roof actually people get everything, they get 18 carat

05:47jewelry, they get 21 carat jewelry, they can get 22 carat jewelry as well as diamond jewelry. Plus

05:52we have our own laboratory for the whole mark. So whatever jewelry coming to us, we first check.

05:59So customers, they are very sure that they get the proper purity. Right. Yeah. So this is the main

06:05thing. So this is our motto. We never treat customer in weight or in purity or in accounting.

06:13Last 15 years, I am doing as a coordinator for Middle East for Gem and Jewelry Export

06:20Promotion Council of India. It is under the Ministry of Commerce. So I am taking all the

06:26buyers and jewelers to India. There is two exhibition in India from all the Middle East

06:30because I know the language, Arabic language also and I have plenty of customer also. So I have

06:35very good client base also. So I take this all the jewelers to India just to boost our export jewelry

06:40export from India to outside. And we got the award also in 1915, 17th highest import of gold jewelry

06:48and 1890 also we are eligible. So maybe next month we are getting award for the highest import

06:53of gold jewelry from India to abroad. Do you have any advice to millennials who want to start

07:00business? You obviously come with a lot of experience and, you know, wisdom in running a

07:08business. I am very, just in business, I can say I am very conservative. Some business I go,

07:13otherwise I know like other people, they divert to like real estate, this and that, and they lose

07:18money. But I know that my core business is gold. So I stick with the gold business only. I do

07:24investment, okay, whatever the extra money I do investment outside, it is okay. But it is manageable,

07:28not from the bank, I take loan and invest there, not like this. Always you have to keep your vision

07:33high. When I came that I know that I want to be some big man or some big businessman like this.

07:39Always somebody has to keep vision high. No work is small. Even today also as a CEO,

07:46but if all the salesmen are busy and some customer ask for water, I don't mind to just

07:51serve the water also. So this is really your success mantra. You stuck to your core business

07:57and you are conservative. Always, even my son also, I advise them that, okay,

08:02if you go for easy money, then sometime it will happen, you know, that okay,

08:06this gold actually it is just like cash, anytime you can earn cash also. So why we go just real

08:11estate somewhere we want to sell that we have to look for the customer like this. It takes six

08:16months to one year while gold within one minute you can sell. You can sell it. That's true.

08:21That is true. So thank you so much. For more on his life history, do log on to gulfnews.com.

08:28You will find the entire life history of Mr. Vohra in the story.

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