Rebel Thriver once said, “when writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen.” Today we discover and learn about an individual who did precisely that. Arjun Gupta, a young idealistic individual, is an excellent example of a believer in this quote. When things didn’t go quite his way, he wrote his destiny.
As a child, Arjun found a keen interest in sports but vehemently loved cricket with a passion. From the age of 5, he played the sport with utmost passion and excellence. He played the sport in tournaments and met the under 25 age group. It was his dream to play and represent India in the sport he most loved, cricket. With his immense talent recognized by his mentors and coaches, Gupta managed to represent Delhi at the Ranji level and played professionally in countries such as South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.
When things didn’t go quite his way, and when he couldn’t play for the country, he found other ways to cater to his passion and to represent the country in the same field, in different ways. The start of his journey came in disguise of a friend’s plea. He received a call asking to organize for the jersey of a corporate cricket team. Through sourcing the jerseys, he found enthusiasm for the process and the manufacturing of the same.
After delivering a few orders, he realized that this was something he was interested in and that this career path was something he enjoyed doing as well. He then informed and sought the help of his father, who showed utmost support for his son’s budding career.
Having minimal experience in this field and the manufacturing industry, Arjun Gupta took two weeks to train under the Shyam Tex Exports to gain experience and knowledge on creating jerseys from scratch. Through this process, he learned the requirements and the function of each piece of machinery he may be required to use in the process.
Arjun used this time to better his product and his sourcing from different factories. He delivered and took orders for jerseys simultaneously while playing cricket professionally. Eventually, he started getting orders from schools and clubs and reputed institutions. He used all of these orders as a learning experience for himself and bettered his product and method of manufacturing. With time, he gathered the capital and resources required to build his manufacturing unit.
KRAGBUZZ Founder Arjun Gupta
By 2018, Kragbuzz had taken flight and was established as Arjun Gupta’s brand. The main reason behind creating his brand was that he wanted to maintain quality and not rely on external factors. “The journey was not easy,” Arjun explains. With little to no experience or idea about the industry, Arjun had to start from the ground level and educate himself on the mannerisms and intricacies of this commercial enterprise. “Creating jerseys is a more intricate industry than the mere clothing industry,” Arjun explained to us that each player and each team had different customizations.
Each team has a different logo, name, and style that they want in their jersey. Moreover, every player has a different name, size, and number required to be on the jersey.
When we delved deeper into the brand and the brand image, Arjun explained that Krag comes from the Afrikans language. “It means strength, and that is what we try to portray in our business.”. Arjun saw a difference in his business process because of his unique leadership qualities. Being able to let his employees expand creatively also allowed their business to expand at exponential rates.
Today, around three years later, Kragbuzz has reached new heights of success. It has been recognized among hardly 30 other jersey manufacturers by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is considered a milestone as it is tough for companies to be recognized at this level of professionalism.
Being part of the recommended ICC jersey manufacturers put KragBuzz on the map and increased the company’s reach. At the dawn of the business, Arjun relied barely on word of mouth to expand his business. He never found the need to advertise his campaign because of his contacts and how soon his business got customers.
KragBuzz now delivers internationally to countries such as Australia and the United States of America. Recently they have received a contract with Sharjah Cricket stadium for manufacturing all the sportswear and gear. As of now, KragBuzz has partnered with sports councils all around the world. To name a few, they have partnered with Delhi Cricket Association, Puducherry Cricket Association, Sharjah Cricket Council, ICC Academy, UAE Cricket, Malta Cricket Association, and many more.
Being a newbie in the business with a new idea, Arjun was dealt his share of challenges to face. Because of the leeway that his customers are given, many customization options bring with them its obstacles. Amidst this, the company has also seen a blow with the ongoing pandemic. Arjun says that it has been quite the task to find skillful laborers who understand the concept and the ideology behind which KragBuzz functions. The customization liberties that KragBuzz offers its clients are different and more advanced as compared to other businesses.
Last year, in the lockdown with a friend of his, he started a digital sports news channel called Sportozclock by Kragbuzz. They started by interviewing many sportspeople and cricketers, and they got a good response and asked a few more people. They got sports commentators to interview people from the sports business. In November 2020, they began working at it as an official sports news platform.
They aim to develop their news channel as a digital form. They want to keep it digital due to the audience they aim to cater to. “Our target audience is the youth, and we found a greater response on the digital platform.” They want to expand digitally and develop an app for the same purpose and have different shows along those lines. He wants to bring light to the local news that has young talented people.
As part of their future planning, Arjun and his team hope to open physical stores in areas with a greater density of their customers. They also expect to expand their E-commerce platforms. As of now, they are available on Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho. They aim to expand on the platform by making themselves available on platforms such as Myntra, Ajio, and Tata Cliq.
Arjun explained that they are also looking to better their website and make these customization and ordering services available. It is the same reason why expanding on other online shopping websites becomes difficult.
Arjun is an excellent example of how perseverance and aspiration could take you to heights you may have never imagined. “As an entrepreneur, you need to be ready to learn. Everything is a learning process.” Arjun explained that he learned more by being involved in the business rather than looking into the process as an outsider. Learning about Arjun Gupta has brought us a newfound inspiration to never give up on our dreams and keep chugging on.
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