Success Story: The success story of a person is not just the result of his hard work, but also of his courage and continuous efforts. Born in Kozhikode, Kerala, M.P. Ahmed also faced failures in his life, but instead of giving up, he gave wings to his dreams. Despite the failure of the first two businesses and a loss of Rs 17 lakh, he built an empire worth Rs 53,000 crore. This is the story of M.P. Ahmed, the founder of 'Malabar Gold and Diamonds'.

M.P. Ahmed's first attempt failed when he started a business of selling agro products at the age of 17. But despite the failure, he did not give up. At the age of 23, his father died, and he had to take the responsibility of a large family. The family consisted of his mother and five sisters. Under the burden of responsibility, Ahmed decided to do something new again at the age of 24.

Ahmed took a single-ticket train journey to Calicut city in Kerala and started trading spices and copra (dried coconut). This time he was trading spices like cardamom, pepper, and coconut. He thought the business would be successful, but there were already many players in the market. As a result, he incurred a huge loss of Rs 17 lakh and then had to shut down the business.

Now something concrete had to be done to save the family. Ahmed studied the market again and noticed an important thing. The government devalued the currency in 1990, making the rupee from Rs 17.5 to Rs 30. Because of this, people started investing in gold. Ahmed decided to take advantage of this opportunity.

Malabar Gold was started
on 17 September 1993 when Ahmed invested all his life savings to open a 200 sq ft jewelry shop in Kozhikode, which he named 'Malabar Gold'. The name Malabar was derived from the Malabar coast, and he chose Malayali expatriates in the Middle East as his target customer. Ahmed partnered with local businessmen, offering 15% interest on debentures, which were converted into shares as soon as profits were made. And the plan worked.

In no time, the business reached a revenue of Rs 16 crore, but quality and pricing issues were yet to be solved. Ahmed noticed that everyone was selling 24-carat gold, which had 99.99% purity. But this increased the manufacturing cost a lot, making the product expensive. Now Ahmed had to make a new plan.

The 22-carat gold decision
Ahmed started selling 22-carat gold, which contains 91.67% gold. This reduced the manufacturing cost and allowed him to sell gold at affordable prices. He began selling 100% BIS-hallmarked gold at a uniform price in every Indian city, using a carat check analyzer to check the purity of gold. By 2005, the company had reached a revenue of Rs 500 crore.

40% of Malabar Gold's business was coming from the Middle East, but it had no stores there. In 2008, the company opened its first store in the UAE and its 20th overall. By 2012, the company started selling diamonds and was renamed 'Malabar Gold and Diamonds'. By this time, the company's turnover had reached Rs 12,000 crore.

Company with the most stores!
2013 saw a big change for Malabar. On 30 September 2013, the company opened its 100th store in Gurgaon, Haryana. With a growth of 83% in a single year, the company's revenue reached Rs 22,000 crore. By 2018, Malabar had 215 stores and became the jewelry company with the most stores in India.

Today, the Malabar Group is a Rs 53,000 crore empire comprising 15 businesses like real estate, luxury watch brands, home appliances, and shopping malls. But its mainstay is Malabar Gold and Diamonds, which has more than 350 stores in 13 countries.

M.P. Ahmed is still providing shelter to 15,000 homeless families, education to 20,000 children, and free treatment to 10 lakh patients through his 'Malabar Charitable Trust'.