NAVIN THAKKAR


-- -by N.C.Mohandoss

“Being honest to one self is equal to being honest to the whole society and with this as a value-system only we named our company as Honest General Trading Co W.L.L -not for mere namesake !” says , Mr. Navin Thakkar , M.D. of the popular chain of Hyper markets under the name “Honest Center “in Kuwait.. He continues, “ when honesty is maintained in business , God comes to support you and …..what else you need in life ?” . He is simple, honest and , more than anything , a wonderful human being.

Navin is from a village BAVLA near Ahmedabad in Gujarat .His father Mr.Hiralal had a grocery shop to support the family. With the business acumen in the blood, Navin could not focus on studies and , believe it or not , he dropped out of school in 9 th Std.!

Totally ambitious to do some thing new and with the fire in his belly to do big, he joined in a rice mill and learnt completely about running a rice mill within 6 months at the age of 15.That was in 1978. Recognizing his latent talents and inherent strength in business-building , he was invited to join as a partner by a rice-mill owner. In 1980 he joined one of the mills as working-partner and , hold your breath , by 1985-90 he built his own rice-mill ! He never looked back afterward in life..

Navin studied business in its all perspectives and this made him to think of exporting food-stuff to foreign countries. Supported by his relative and owner of Kuwait Thakkar Textiles – Mr. Kanti Bhai, by arranging a visa .Navin visited Kuwait in 1999. He continued his visits to study the market here in depth and in 2001 he secured a sponsorship to export and distribute food items. With the sweet memories of one of his favorite restaurants at India he named his company as “Honest General Trading co”.

Navin believes , being honest ,righteous , and sincere at heart bears fruits always and then god showers his blessings on you to prosper.

Navin brings out few salient features in business in India and Kuwait out of his experience. In India, the initial losses in business would be less than in kuwait and when Navin was prepared for such an outcome, he could keep it to minimum in the beginning with the support of his clientele .

In 2002 he started his branch in Shuwaik for whole-sale & retail of food items. Next one in 2005 in Jahra and in 2007 he opened his Hyper Market in Fahaheel he employs around 100 staffs all over . With direct importing of commodities and of course, in large volumes , presumably, he passes on the benefits to his customers ,at the same time, maintaining a high quality .With broadening of his expertise in this field he wishes to continue and flourish more.

Navin is strong-minded , ready to take calculated risks in business , but for which , he could not have reached where he is now. He believes in planning and extends all-out support to his staff who are all, in retailing, his ambassadors of good will ! He has definitely earned a good reputation in Kuwait market and that forms a base for his astounding suceess in his ongoing business.

Mrs. Saroj Navin supports all his business ventures by shear encouragement and Navins are blessed with a son Jigar doing his 12 th Std in Don Bosco school.

His rice factory “Madhuram Industries” in India is running successfully too and he imports food items for his Hyper Markets from all over world.

He ,again, honestly believes that , with sustained growth ,he must give back to his staff and society from what he gets !!

His another ambitious project is to start the biggest Hyper Market in Kuwait and he is already putting his foot on this.

Let us wish his dream come true as always in his case !!