Radha Govind : From Humble Beginnings to Huge Success of Oho Jaipur

Radha Govind, the founder of Oho Jaipur comes from a very small town in Jaipur. Due to their poor financial situation, he learnt a valuable lesson which was to not give up. Challenges will come in our lives, instead of hiding we should come forward and try to face them and overcome them with different solutions.

This is what was and is being followed by Radha Govind who turned his small business into a multi-crore venture. He is the founder and CEO of Oho Jaipur, which is an amazing fashion brand in the state of Rajasthan today.

Achieving this huge milestone was surely not spoon-fed to Radha Govind. He had to work day in and day out for the position he and his company holds today. Starting from his childhood days to his success days how he changed, what changed him is what we will discuss in this article.

Inspiration Behind Oho Jaipur

The idea of starting or doing something different already started in Radha Govind’s mind when he was just 5-8 years old. It was then that the only source of income for his big family was block printing. Unfortunately, this business did not run very well for long and very soon Govind’s family faced a huge financial crisis.

There was a time when his mother used to borrow daily food essentials from other homes to feed her children. Other than this, when Radha Govind was in class 5, he was not allowed to sit in his exams because of the pending school fees. Struggling to meet his daily basic requirements he did not take any steps which would harm his family.

Struggling Days of Radha Govind

Struggle has been a best friend of Radha Govind and his family. To meet basic needs, Radha did everything he could to keep his family running. So, during his school days, he started selling newspapers with the help of his family members in his village. At the end of the month, he would earn a maximum of Rs 50 at the end of the month.

Interestingly, after selling newspapers in the morning for two hours, with Rs 11.5 he bought some low-cost stuff and sold those in front of his house. He simply put up a shop in front of his house to cover his academic and house costs. He continued this work until he was in the tenth standard.

After coming to the tenth standard, he started tutoring class 7 and 8 students. So, by then he did not have so much pressure on saving up school fees. Following this routine, he completed his class 12 and started studying for RGS. As he received a good percentage in his 12th standard, he was admitted to a government law college.

During his LLB days, he was a topper in his class and he also became a judge in the mood court so, his classmates used to call him “Judge Sir” by then. This brought a huge confidence in his life as he thought that he would easily become a judge and start earning.

But, things took a very bad turn when he found out that his uncle’s son had committed suicide because of financial issues. This hugely affected Radha Govind’s career when he was in his second year.

After facing anxiety, depression, and much more during his final exam days he was engaged. Radha Govind was surely not happy about this decision as he was not earning and did not have a stable job. But, he agreed to this marriage only because of his mother’s happiness.

Business Journey of Radha Mohan

The business journey of Radha Govind began very strangely. Back in 2010, during his LLB days, he did his exhibition in Mumbai, it was a 10-day exhibition. He made a friend during his exhibition in Mumbai, Nitin who gave him hope that he could do something in Mumbai. So, after his exhibition was finished, he went back home and told his family about doing something new in Mumbai.

It was obvious, he did not get any support from his family members and he himself did not have any confidence that he would become something after he reached Mumbai. Still, he made his way to Mumbai and did not have a place to stay, and food to eat. So, he called up Nitin and he helped him to stay in his exhibition place where by working small works he earned Rs 100-150 daily.

This was when Radha Govind became confident that he would do business and nothing else. After exhibition in Mumbai, he again came back to his home and completed his marriage.

Support from Wife

It seemed like Radha Govind and his wife were made for each other as they both wanted to get into the business world. After Radha Govind took his wife to Mumbai, she not only supported Radha Govind but, motivated him as well. So, both decided to start an exhibition and borrowed goods to start their exhibition.

Slowly, after working very hard both started expanding their exhibition from one to two, and two to three and so on. Very soon they rented a store and it was his wife who took care of the store while Radha Govind took care of the exhibition. So, this was when they thought of a brand name which had a touch with their lives and they kept Ohoo Jaipur. Their vision was to make a big business and to empower women so that they could also be earning members in their family.

The brand was already established and everything that was sold was handmade only which created employment for women. Slowly, their hard work was paying off and they started expanding slowly in the Mumbai market.

Never Giving Up On His Dreams

Everything was going very well with the couple and their business. After opening a fourth store in Mumbai, both planned to open a store in Juhu and loaned everything on that store. He wanted his mother and father to inaugurate the store and he kept their flight tickets ready back to home when it was all done, but something terrible happened.

He opened his Juhu store on 17th March 2020, and after five days everything was shut due to COVID reasons. There was huge anxiety in his mind along with his family. Still, he overcame all the challenges and COVID was nearly gone. Everything was again back to normal and very soon his store started receiving orders and he again opened new stores with his profit.

Unfortunately, he faced a similar problem in the second lockdown but, this time his confidence was high. He knew that nothing would break him this time whatever came his way. So, instead of going all offline, he started his business online as well. So, there was no stopping to his business now.

Never Forget Your Roots

Radha Govind gives us a definition of what true entrepreneurship and leadership are. After earning a good amount from Mumbai, he wanted to do something for his village. He came back to his village and set up a big factory. Today, 40-50 women work in that factory and earn for themselves.

Today, he has opened up four stores in Mumbai along with a big factory in Mumbai and a factory in Bagru (his hometown or village) which is generating Rs 40-50 crores a year. Directly and indirectly, he has employed 150-200 people in his business and that is his satisfaction. He is expecting a significant increase in all the figures in the coming few years.