A bed is the world’s best place for everyone after a tiring day of work. However, if the bed is not equipped with a good mattress, the person will be devoid of peaceful sleep. Shoukeem Mattress has been providing its customers with the best Ortho Mattresses for proper rest. Interview Times had a great conversation with Saroj Kumar Patro, the founder of Shoukeen Mattress, and learned more about the organization. This is how the interview went-
Can you brief about yourself to our readers?
Hello everyone. I am Saroj Kumar Patro. I belong to a small business family and have the vision to make my brand Shoukeen the numero uno brand of customer’s choice.
When did you have an idea for Shoukeen Industries?
The idea of having my own organization came to my mind when I was doing an internship in a reputed firm in New Delhi. The company where I was working produced substandard quality mattress, even when they were quite old in the market. They just went for a commercial profit with no ethical practices.
Therefore, once I came back to Odisha, I started my own pillow business and then, after some time, created Shoukeen, which sold mattresses and pillows. My main aim is to provide the customer with the best products so that they are satisfied.
What is the USP of Shoukeen Industries?
Our main USP is providing our customers with the best Ortho Mattresses.
However, we differ from other mattresses producing industry. The main reason why a customer buys a mattress is to have proper sleep. However, many people complain that they suffer from back pain after sleeping on certain mattresses. This is since most of the companies do not go for maximum testing before selling out their product. They only aim for commercial profit.
However, in Shoukeen, proper care is taken of ethical standards. We have built a specific technology for the proper testing of mattresses, which probably is unseen in India. This is because we want to provide our customers with the best product. We have also seen valuable results. Today, Shoukeen is one of the most popular mattress brands in Odisha, even being a local brand. This has only happened because of the good word of mouth from our valuable customers.
How did CO-VID affected your business?
Like any other industry, CO-VID had a lot of negative impact on our organization. We live in a chain. If one industry is affected, the other one also gets affected. When there is a loss of job and income, people are reluctant to spend on any other things apart from their survival. Therefore, industries like us get affected.
Now when everything is coming back to normal, have you seen a rise in the sale of your products?
Yes, we are seeing the market getting back to normal. Especially, last year December, we saw the biggest growth in our sales in the last four years. However, it may be partly due to the marriage season.
A company’s biggest strength is its employees. What are the things you do to keep your employees happy?
At Shoukeen, we do not have an employee-employer relationship. We work just like a team and a family. Even in CO-VID times, there were no lay-offs. Also, we provide proper ESI and PF to our team members.
Any future plans for your organization?
Yes, of course. Like any other industry, which looks for growth, we also are looking for growth and expansion. We will soon start producing home furniture such as Beds, Tables, Dining tables, Sofa, etc. It will make Shoukeen a one-stop solution for all the furniture requirements.
