Base Footwear: Walking the path of success

 KATHMANDU: Commenced in 2000, Base Footwear Pvt. Ltd today is a   leading player in the Nepali footwear market. It was certainly not a   cakewalk for the company to reach where it is now.  “Certainly,  the 21-   year   long journey was quite challenging. But we continued to move ahead   by rising above the challenges,” says Homnath Upadhyaya, Managing   Director, Base Footwear Pvt. Ltd. adding, “And this was possible due to the   company’s unflinching commitment to its prime philosophy. Such a   philosophy was/is to offer durable, trendy and low-priced footwear and other  leather products to made in their own country Nepali customers made.”   

Facing Obstacles

Since its inception, Base Footwear has been encountering and overcoming  various hurdles in its way . For instance, after six months of coming into operations, the sales of the company started to nosedive. Till this period, the company had been producing 200 to 250 pairs of shoes, sandals and slippers a day and selling them with good profits. But, later, a large quantity of the products could not be sold and got confined in stocks.

According to Upadhyaya, the influx of cheaper Chinese footwear brands in the Nepali market was responsible for such a bleak situation. “Since our products could not compete with them, their business simply went down steeply.”

As the company was still grappling with this problem, it faced another serious setback. Apart from Upadhyaya, there was also another investor in BF Footwear. However, he along with other skilled artisans (of the company) abruptly walked away by leaving Nepal. Since they all were from India, the outbreak of “Hrithik Roshan” riots back in 2000-2001 herein the country forced them to make this move for security reason.  “

The most severe challenge it faced was, of course, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Thanks to the onset of the pandemic some two years back and the subsequent lockdowns, our production volume of the products declined from 500 pairs a day to 200 pairs a day.  With this, its annual turnover, which had been to the tune of Rs 80 million, also decreased by around 75 percent.  Similarly, some 60 percent of the total of 100 of its workers were laid off.

“On the one hand, especially the lockdowns disrupted the entire supply chain of the entire domestic footwear industry. On the other, such prohibitory orders deterred the general customers from buying new footwear products,” he laments.

“Such being the case, BF Footwear was in the red.”

Improving Scenario      

  Currently, the threats posed  by coronavirus in the country seem to be  declining. And this, no wonder, is  helping the company recover its losses.    Our production volume   has now increased by 80 percent and we are also again hiring those artisans who were axed,” Upadhyayay informs in a rather optimistic tone.

  The showrooms of Nepali Jutta Ghat Pvt Ltd, which deals with the footwear products of Base Footwear along with 5/6  domestic companies, were performing poorly due largely to the lockdowns. But, the sales of such showrooms is also currently picking up with the improvement in the situation.

Branding Exercises

Base Footwear started to leverage the idea of branding stating from 2004.  This year its products were registered under the brand name of BF Dearhill and subsequently their core identities like logo and slogan developed .

Similarly, after around one year, the communication campaigns were orchestrated for assisting the brand to gain traction in the market.

“Without branding, no product can carve a strong, positive image for itself in the psyche of today’s suave customers. Well realizing this fact, we decided to adopt branding exercises,” he elaborates.

According to him, such exercises are, indeed, paying off.

“When buying footwear products nowadays in the marketplaces, customers nowadays not only ask by the brand name but also by the model number.”  

 From fiscal year 2004/2005 to 2014/15, BF Dear had investing around some 20 to 25 percent of its total turnover per year for media advertising. 

Nonetheless, it did not opt for any sort of advertising due to some adverse circumstances in the later six years.   

But from the current fiscal year, the company has again pulled up its socks in terms of communicating with the target audiences.  “A prime objective is behind this is to help buttress the business hit by the pandemic,” he justifies.

                                                                                  Investment and Infrastructure

Base Footwear was established with the investment of Rs 2.5 million and it has so far invested a total of Rs 100 million. “We have been gradually increasing the size of investment to improve the physical and non-physical resources and, ultimately better the final outputs of the company,” Upadhyay reveals.   

Likewise, the company boasts a manufacturing plant spread across the areas of 5 ropanis at Harisiddhi in Lalitpur. Lately, a new sole-making machine worth Rs 10 million has been inducted in the plant.

In addition to the corporate office at New Road in the capital, the company has two showrooms in the same place.  

Products and Their Improvement

BF Dearhill has been manufacturing and distributing a wide array of formal, casual and sports shoes apart from sandals and belts.  Such shoes are available in 250 different models while one can find 10 to 15 models each of leather sandals and belts. All these products, the prices of which range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 4,500, are sold through more than 1,000 outlets across the country. 

Base Footwear was certified with the international standard ISO 9001:2008 in 2009, making it the first footwear company of Nepal to receive such recognition.

In fact, the company seems serious to strictly abide by the notion of quality. And, as part of this, the company is putting more premium on Research & Development (R&D) ,” Upadhyay claims.  “We frequently make a foreign visit to assess /examine the raw materials and acquire only such those materials meeting the highest standards. Similarly, our team invests a great deal of its time and energy to come up with cutting-edge and cost-effective designs.”

Looking for Rosy Future

Base Footwear has a mission to further reinvigorate its footholds in the market.  In this regard, it is planning to soon come up with concrete strategies.

“If the government takes certain proactive steps to buttress the entire domestic, it would also help the company to fulfill its mission,” Upadhyay, who is also former president of the Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturer’s Association believes.  

The concerned authorities will do well to control the grey market and incorporate the domestic footwear products in the anti-dumping and public procurement acts, among others, according to him. “This could lead to a substantial expansion in the Rs 35 billion domestic footwear industry.  And, such an expansion will intrinsically spur the growth of Base Footwear.”