Three successive failures will put down most businessmen. But Joy Alukkas is made of sterner stuff, and in just over a decade, his group turnover this year is poised to hit Dh1 billion, even as he targets the magic $1 billion figure by 2010.

The chairman of Joy Alukkas Group, a leading player in the Gulf's retail gold jewellery business, came to the UAE in 1987. Looking back, he has enough to be proud of. Not for his achievements but more for the determination or to be precise, the guts he displayed during his initial years when a series of reverses befell him.

When Alukkas came to Dubai in 1987, he found there were very few organised Indian retail jewellery shops, even as a big chunk of the buyers were Keralites, and most of the salesmen were also from the same state.

However, as he believed that competition in Dubai's retail gold market was relatively fierce, he opted to make his entry through Abu Dhabi.

He opened his first shop in Abu Dhabi the same year. Before long, he felt this would not take him anywhere towards his golden dream. He closed down his Abu Dhabi shop and moved to Dubai in 1988 to open a shop. The Gulf War in early 90s shattered his hopes of establishing his business in Dubai. He again downed shutters and left for India, leaving behind his UAE dream.

"I thought I would better pursue my business in India and opened my first shop in Chennai that year. But this also met with the same fate, and I had to close it down."

At this juncture, most in his shoes would have quit the field in favour of other pursuits, but not Alukkas. Like King Robert Bruce, who refused to give up despite the string of failures, he tried and tried again.

His is a saga of success against the odds. Today his group has ISO certification, even as he prepares to enter the competitive money exchange arena.

GULF NEWS: How did you restart your UAE operations?

JOY ALUKKAS: Literally, I didn't have a choice, and hence decided to revive the Dubai shop. The war was over and since my Dubai licence had not been cancelled, I decided to try my luck in Dubai once again. I didn't have much jewellery stock and so I squeezed the shop into half the original size so that customers would not realise that my shop didn't have much stock. Moreover, this would give an impression that the shop was always crowded.

After that?

Early 90s saw Dubai getting caught in a raffle and promotion mania. I also took a plunge and announ-ced a car promotion. In fact, these promotions and raffles gave me new life and there has been no looking back since. I was able to give away a Rolls-Royce as a part of a massive promotion.

What happened to these promotions?

The promotions paved the way for unhealthy competition among jewellers, resulting in heavy undercutting. It was during this time that the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group, the umbrella body for about 400 retail jewellery, stepped in and chalked out a unified price for gold. As part of this ceasefire, individual promotions were called off.

With the common pricing policy, do you still make a reasonable profit?

There is clean profit of 6 to 7 per cent in the retail jewellery business. If one says there are insufficient profits in this business, it is due to his incompetence. And that was the reason a few shops have closed down in the last few years.

One has to take the initial risk and display perseverance in any business, whether it be gold or any other business.

Is it not true that as the price goes up your rate of margin falls, as the margin is fixed at Dh1 per gram?

It is true to some extent. However, jewellers can make good this gap through volume sales.

What was the most important factor that contributed to you growth?

It was competition among jewellers, which prompted us to go for raffles and promotions. In a market that was dominated by promotions, only businessmen with real guts can survive. I sincerely believe I displayed more guts and boldness than my age or my capacity would call for. In the end, what I did was proved right. I grew at a pace that took me ahead of most of the Indian retail jewellers.

What was your growth strategy afterwards?

At one point I realised that in order to stay at the top, I had to increase the number of shops and boost the network. So from 1996, the group started adding three to five shops a year; by the end of the current year, the Joy Alukkas Group will have added 10 new shops to its chain, which is spread over the Gulf and India. Already, work is on for shops in Delhi, Kollam and Kochi, a second shop in Kuwait, and a department store in Sharjah.

Don't you think that you are taking a big risk by adding shops in the Gulf?

Compared with the risk involved in setting up and running shops in India, the risk here is very minuscule. Here, we do not have tax, we have good infrastructure, good rules and regulations, and good workforce. The run-up time for setting up a shop in India, whether it be textiles or jewellery, is much more than in the Gulf.

What prompted you to go for ISO certification?

I want all my shops to be perfect in service, quality of jewellery, ambience, etc. I pay employees one of the industry's best salaries and provide good perquisites in terms of accommodation and allied things, the staff returns the compliment through commendable service to the customers, paving the way for massive repeat buying.

I wanted this quality and perfection in my office, the IT systems, and the entire area of business operations, which ultimately helped me to win this prestigious certification from KPMG, a reputed consultancy. Now we have dedicated departments like IT, engineering, accounts, purchase, personnel, etc, to look after each area in a professional manner.

Can you reveal your turnover?

The Joy Alukkas Group's turnover in the Gulf in 2003 was Dh517 million, and it is expected to reach Dh650 by the end of this year. At the same time, our Indian operations returned Rs2.8 billion for the year ended March 31. Next year, I believe, it could be Rs4 billion.

What are your expectations for the coming years?

The group's total revenue, including India and the Gulf, is likely to reach the Dh1 billion by the end of this year itself. By 2010, I hope the group's turnover can reach $1 billion.

And by this time, the Joy Alukkas Group will have 100 establishments spread over the different parts of the world.

What is your advice to those who love diamond jewellery?

The grade of diamonds depends on four Cs cut, colour, clarity and carat (weight). Since checking these features may require some technical knowledge, I advise the buyers to stick to only reputed shops while buying diamond jewellery, in order to make sure that they get only genuine stuff. Every piece of our diamond jewellery is bar-coded and displays all the quality parameters.