How a love-struck IIM couple built a Rs 15 crore turnover apparel brand leaving their IT jobs

 

It is a fairy tale love story that blossomed at IIM Raipur, where two young software engineers born in different states of India enroll for an MBA. After a few years of dating, the lovers tied the knot in 2017 and then launched a clothing brand that reached Rs 15 crore last year and is now approaching Rs 35 crore this year. Alok Paul, 35, and Anusha Chandrasekhar, 32, launched Berry lush in 2017 and quit their high-paying jobs.

“We observed that there was a gap in the market for affordable, high-quality Western clothing, so we launched Berrylush, which we consider our first baby,” says Alok. The couple, who started with just four machines and four cutters in a 300 square foot unit in New Delhi, now operate a five-story, 26,000 square foot building with 300 machines and about 65 employees in the same city. Today, Berrylush offers a variety of fashionable women's dresses, including tops, skirts, Kurtis, jumpsuits, and more. Alok is from Pilchard in Assam. Echo of St. Edmund of in Shillong and graduated in Computer Science and Technology from Calcutta Institute of Engineering and Management in 2009.

Anusha passed Class 12 at St. Joseph's Convent School, Chikmagalur, Karnataka, and graduated in Telecommunications Engineering from BS College of Engineering, Bengaluru in 2010. After graduation, Alok joined Infosys in Bengaluru. After about three years, he joined Accenture, where he worked for about six months before enrolling for MBA from IIM Raipur in 2013. Anusha worked with Tata Consultancy Services as a software engineer from 2010 to 2013 in Bengaluru. “Even though we both worked in the same city, we never crossed paths. We only met after we enrolled in the MBA at the same business school,” says Alok.

The couple did the MBA in 201315 at IIM Raipur. Had obtained the MBA. Admission to IIM Trichi and I had even paid my taxes, but I had not been there. I joined Raipur. Maybe it was because the universe was conspiring to bring us together. Alok and Anusha were always in the same group when they did their homework and projects at School. “He made us spend most of the time together. We started wandering around the city (Raipur) whenever we found the time,” Anusha explains.

"We dined together, studied together, we were always together. We fell in love with each other without even realizing it in our first year of MBA."

Their favorite restaurant in Raipur was Little Italy, and in Bangalore it was Toit. But interestingly, they both have different personalities. "Anusha loves fashion and I have an entrepreneurial spirit," says Alok." However, we both wanted to start something on our own. The more we discussed various ideas and possibilities, the more our love intensified. After completing their MBA's, they both found jobs in Bengaluru. Alok joined a company called Artoo, digitizing micro and small credit businesses, while Anusha joined Deloitte. "We worked in different companies, but there was not a single day when we did not meet and have discussed various business ideas,” Anusha recalls. In early 2017, they got married and then left their jobs later that year to launch Berrylush.

At the time of leaving his job, Alok was earning a salary of around Rs 70 000 and Anusha was earning around Rs 1 lakh. The uncertainties of entrepreneurship were tough, but the couple never thought of giving up anytime. "We have been so passionate about building a brand that such a pe nsée never came to us. Crossed my mind. I was so passionate that I also worked during my pregnancy,” says Anusha. During the first days, they started working in Alok's brother's office in Noida to save on rent. He had a startup that was involved in marketing and branding. “Anusha's father helped us with Rs 30 lakh, which was our initial investment to set up a small warehouse in a space of 300 square feet,” shares Alok. "Both of our families have helped me a lot. My father always encouraged me to start something of my own. Alok's father served as Division Officer, PWD, Meghalaya Government, Shillong, while Alok's father Anusha had retired as Assistant Conservator of Forests, Karnataka.

As IT professionals, Alok and Anusha set up their company's website and started with four machines and four tailors. The production of garments was first outsourced. They listed their products on their website as well as other e-commerce portals such as Amazon, Myntra, Nykka and a few others. "Anusha had a lot of experience in trading electronics when she worked at Deloitte. We managed the website and also the online marketing,” says Alok. Today, Berrylush has its own team of designers, and production, and warehousing personnel who sit on different floors of their five-story office 

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