A man with a vision to aim for the stars, Hitesh Patel envisaged of making his line of diamond products an international success when everyone else in the industry only thought of covering the Indian diamond market. And, with strategic planning, focused goals, and the help of an established eCommerce platform, he turned his dreams into a success story to be told for ages.
In 1959, Hitesh’s father and uncle established a diamond manufacturing unit in Surat, India. During the time, digital media and information technology wasn’t as advanced as it is now. And, not knowing much of how to market the products globally, they focused majorly on creating, cutting, polishing and selling the diamonds the traditional way, i.e. in the local market.
The Background
Hitesh always took interest in Information Technology and preferred spending his time studying to be an IT professional. Neither did he have the knowledge for the diamond sector, nor did he possess any interest in it.
It wasn’t until he realized that there is no heir to the family after his father retires that he decided to induce him into the family diamond business. As he took his first step towards stepping the diamond sector and taking ownership of his father’s 100-man diamond business, he began to spend time visiting the manufacturing units and working beside the employees. However, due to his lack of expertise and interest, he found it extremely difficult to focus, and instead, spent a majority of his time working online.
The Awakening
As Hitesh mostly worked online, he spent a lot of time researching and reading about various things on the internet. It was during one of these research sessions that he stumbled upon a few individuals and companies selling diamonds online. Until this point, he wasn’t aware of such an opportunity.
It was only after this discovery that he decided to combine his love for e-commerce and technology with his family business and bring the brand to an online platform.
Since Hitesh knew of his lack of knowledge in the field of diamond manufacturing and selling, he drowned himself in research for 8 months during which he found out about:
- How the online diamond market works
- The various portals customers were using to buy diamond products
- The international shipping procedures for orders from customers living outside India
- The safety issues and concerns regarding custom laws for shipping his diamonds to an international clientele
It was only a detailed study that he decided to move ahead in the game.
The Problem
One of the most critical things he realized during his study was the fact that the majority on online diamond sellers were based out of the USA and the price that they quoted for their products was exceptionally humongous.
Additionally, he found out that the reason behind such exorbitant pricing was that none of the products was being sold directly to the customers. In fact, the diamond products went through a chain of middlemen, all of whom added a percentage of profit to the actual cost. This resulted in the products being heftily priced when it reached the end consumer.
The Solution
Knowing the reality and being rather disappointed about the ways everyone was doing business, in 2017, Hitesh established a website (www.rrpdiamonds.com). Along with his college batchmates, Prashant and Dharmesh, the latter being a successful Digital Marketer, he brainstormed ideas for bringing his business online and selling his products over the internet via an eCommerce platform.
A few months later, the team set up an eCommerce store to sell diamond products that were manufactured at Hitesh’s factory in Surat. During the initial phase of his startup, Hitesh aimed at selling only two or three products online and gaining a minimum of five customers within the first year.
After a year of RRP Diamonds e-commerce establishment, the business had over 400 international customers, mostly from the USA, Europe, and China. A huge number of these international customers were jewellery and diamond traders in their respective country. Some of them even paid a visit to his manufacturing unit in Surat, India.
RRP Diamonds made an ecstatic sale of $2 million within a single year. The reason behind this massive success was the brand’s competitive pricing and the supreme quality of the products. The fact that there were no middlemen involved during the whole process only made it better.
The Next Step
After the celebratory success of RRP Diamonds, Hitesh and Prashant explored the possibilities of lab-grown diamonds. They received a few customer queries related to the products and found out that customers prefer this kind of diamond products due to their eco-friendly nature.
Feeling intrigued by all the customer queries and the fact that the market for lab-grown diamonds was not just huge but expanding rapidly, Hitesh decided to try his hands-on manufacturing lab-grown diamonds. He realized that these diamonds were of equally good quality as his natural ones but comparatively cheaper to manufacture.
In 2018, Hitesh established Loose Grown Diamonds, a manufacturing unit dedicated to producing man-made diamonds. Simultaneously, he also launched an eCommerce store for his new venture with the same goals that he has for RRP Diamonds.
From launching the Loose Grown Diamond eCommerce store in the last quarter of 2018 until now, the brand has attained over 230 international customers and added a million dollar to Hitesh’s revenue.
The Future
Being the visionary entrepreneur and passionate businessman that he is, Hitesh strongly believed in growing and expanding his brands to reach new heights. He aims to magnifying his brands to reach over 500 new customers globally. Furthermore, he envisions to increase brand revenue from a million-dollar to 10 million dollars in the next couple of years.
