RedOAK®

Leading the Furniture and Home Furnishings Space Realm with Vikas Nair at Helm

Established in 2017, RedOAK® is an endeavour by CEO and Founder, Mr Vikas Nair, who incepted his entrepreneurial journey in the Furniture and Home Furnishings Manufacturing space. The foundation stone of RedOAK® was laid as a brand of ergonomic and casual seating solutions for end-users, architects, interior designers, and project clients. It offers an end-to-end, tailored solution to the furniture requirements of clients.

Acknowledging the lack of customised options in the interiors industry, the visionary leader took the helm to bring differentiated products and a strong emphasis on high-quality, practical, contemporary, and modern furniture with site delivery and installation of furniture across all cities in India. Aiming to be the most trusted brand of seating furniture in India and globally, RedOAK® has created a space for itself in the minds of the modern consumer. It is now aspiring to build a brand that first and foremost stands for the quality of product and service.

RedOAK® has been beneficial from the beginning, its most significant accomplishment to date. The capacity to serve huge and reputable clientele, including MNCs, without using heavy marketing spends has been the second biggest achievement. With this emphasis on product and unit economics, they seek to grow steadily and gradually.

NAVIGATING THROUGH THE EXPANSION
RedOAK® was 90% B2B and 10% B2C prior to Covid. Now the B2C segment has been growing while B2B has been steady. The mix is now 50% B2B and 50% B2C. The subsequent growth phase will be driven through investments and innovation in manufacturing and distribution. They are looking forward to partnering with the right people to get support on both of these aspects.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE E-COMMERCE SECTOR
In the initial years of e-commerce, platforms flourished as a startup business model. The user behaviour and customer trust in ordering products online without seeing, touching, or experiencing them were generated via media. Since user behaviour has been developed and cultivated, there has been a significant shift from
platforms to brands. That is the main focus of the D2C buzz, which is why so many D2C businesses are now active online. Customers test out brands on reliable platforms before feeling confident enough to purchase straight from the brands. Here is where RedOAK® has potentially become a dominant D2C brand in the furniture and home market.

SIGNIFICANCE OF R&D
R&D is highly critical to differentiate and offer better products to customers. There are many organised and unorganised companies in the market for furniture, which is a fairly traditional industry with few entrance hurdles. To stand out from the competition, R&D on creating products with the appropriate design, suitable price, and excellent quality is crucial.

WORK CULTURE AT REDOAK®
RedOAK® has an open and accessible culture that is also very deliverable-oriented. There are no set rules or timings as long as the work is done. The leadership team always encourages employees to be creative and experiment to see what works and does not. Everyone, including Vikas, is in a learning mode all the time. The most crucial attribute RedOAK®’s culture holds is honesty. Here, honesty is the key focus, and any form of dishonesty within the team is not tolerated.

REDOAK®’S FUTURE OUTLOOK
The company will reduce the dependence on imports through investments in manufacturing. Moving forward, they plan to put a lot of work into developing sustainable materials, cutting back on the use of plastic in their products, and switching to more recyclable raw materials. Additionally, they intend to use an asset-light strategy to invest in display spaces in significant cities.

A WORDS OF WISDOM TO THE BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS
Do not blindly run behind external funding unless you have a sound business idea that needs funding. Try bootstrapping if your business does not require investments in technology or machinery. Keep a strong emphasis on differentiating your brand, products, or service; otherwise, it will be pretty competitive with a hundred other companies doing exactly what you are doing.