CEO Insights India

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love for what you are doing or learning to do,” said an American entrepreneur, Jack Welch. Raeel Naik, Founder, Kukus Toys is one such young and inspiring entrepreneur who has been able to benchmark in the toys industry solely because of his hard work and zeal to learn more of everything. He moves ahead with a simple agenda of making his product the best in the global market. During his illustrious professional journey, he worked with well-known designers around the globe. He has also spent a significant amount of time with India’s most popular Film Production Company, Yash Raj Films and worked with 25 films during the period. He draws inspiration from a famous filmmaker Aditya Chopra, working with whom has helped him develop his decision making skills, according to him. He also dedicates his success to Sudarshan Dheer, the grand master of Corporate Communication, who inspired him to adopt unique business approaches and out of the box strategies. Raeel with his strong experience in publicity designing, is a wizard in promoting brands, which is also one of the reasons why he is able to keep his company a step ahead of its competitors. He is a perfectionist who believes in delivering his customers the best products possible by undergoing thorough research about his products before launching them in the market. Let’s hear it from him.

Having spent so many years as a creative designer what led you to venture into entrepreneurship?

I have always been interested in art and design which is why I got my Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Goa College of Art. In 2007, I moved to Mumbai to pursue my post graduation from WLC College India. The years between 2007 and 2009 have been very crucial in building my professional career. It is during this period I got an opportunity to work with Krsnaa Mehta who is the Design Director at Zeba India, as an intern. After assisting him for six months and gaining an ample of knowledge from him I got to work with Yash Raj Films as an assistant publicity designer. This was the biggest turning point in my career. I have spent almost seven years in this profound production company. Later, during the release of the film Dhoom 3, Yash Raj Films signed licensing deals with Mattel Toys and designed more than 100 items ranging from games and toys to gadgets and apparel for the movie’s promotion. I played an active role in its designing team. This developed a keen interest for toys in me. It is from there I got the idea to establish myself as an entrepreneur and build my own toy store in Goa in the name of Kukus Toys.

Where is Kukus Toys positioned in the market? What makes it better than the rest in the toy industry?
We are known as one of the best toys and games stores in Goa. We offer a wide range of products to our customers which includes toys, sports accessories, clothes and books for the children of all age groups. We at Kukus go through a thorough research about the market and the needs of the customers before launching any product. The specialty about our product is its premium quality and it is made of non-toxic materials.We strongly contribute to the Make in India mission, hence, none of our products are imported from China.

How did you tackle the challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic?
I am a very positive and practical person which has always helped me to look at the brighter side of every situation. Even the pandemic was an opportunity for me rather than a challenge. I decided to reach out to my customers virtually as they were not able to visit my store manually. Hence, it was during the lockdown that I took Kukus Toys to an ecommerce platform and we became the first online toy store in Goa.

What are the milestones that you plan to achieve for Kukus Toys?
I look forward to making Kukus Toys a manufacturer of its own products and become one of the best toy manufacturers in India. It is my dream to be one of the major brands in the global market. We are also looking forward to opening our franchise in Mumbai & Ahmedabad and soon plan to spread across all the major cities in India.

Raeel Naik, Founder, Kukus Toys
An entrepreneur with a strong experience as a publicity designer, Raeel has a Post Graduate Degree in Visual Communication, Graphic Design & Advertising. Having spent seven illustrious years with Yash Raj Films as its assistant creative designer, he is now the founder of two successful ventures..

Hobbies: Playing Cricket
Favorite Cuisine: Goan Cuisine
Favorite Book:Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Favorite Travel Destination: Bali

Awards & Recognition:
•Gomantak Excellence Award 2019 presented by Chief Minister Promod Sawant, Nominated by Indian Achievers Forum for Best Young Entrepreneurs of the Year and Best Upcoming Brand

•Kukus Toys has also been recognized with ‘Best Brands of Goa -2021’ award in the toys category by Dainik Gomantak.