Saravanan Chandran: Recuperating Chennai's Real Estate Market from Traditionalism to Experience Novel Infrastructures
Being a place having traditional significance and modern living standards, Chennai has always remained atop of the preference list of the land property buyers. As more people seem interested in putting Chennai in their permanent address row, the real estate industry of the city is thriving at a momentous pace. Spontaneously renovating itself to align with the expectations and demands of new buyers, Chennai's realty sector is flooded with various stakeholders who are eager to introduce contemporary as well as innovative standards to match the status of other developed metropolitans of the country. Acing the list with countless outstanding reviews and a huge number of satisfied customers, Shirdi Shelters has emerged as a market leader owing to its excellent locations, quality living spaces, perfect constructions, strict adherence to rules and regulations, care for the customers' needs, and above all, ethical business practice.
Established in 1987 by V Chandran as an organization dealing with only layouts and plots, the present real estate giant gradually shifted its course towards building construction after Saravanan Chandran took over the charges as its CEO in 2011. Eager to remodel the company established by his father into a premium real estate brand of Chennai, Saravanan Chandran has been successful in spearheading Shirdi Shelters to efficaciously completing a decade in building business and thirty-five years in the plot business.
Starting with only 12 units in 2011, the company has grown exponentially till now by adding up to 130 units per year and is currently contemplating on venturing into a mammoth project in March 2022 with 620 units. With more than crores of turnover at present, the company holds a strong forte across customized, budget-friendly, and in-time accomplishment of projects. Believing that building a home is an art, and an exercise of intellect, careful precision, and passion, Shirdi Shelter has driven itself diligently since 1989, to achieve the culmination of architectural brilliance and value-for-price in all of its projects.
Below is an excerpt of Saravanan's interview with CEO Insights.
What unique proposition your organization has been offering to its client? As the CEO, what are the strategies you have developed to maintain your company's market position?
Taking inspiration from some of the pioneering builders from other parts of India, especially Metro cities like Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta, our unique proposition is to sell apartments based on the specifications provided by the clients. Using affordable yet apt materials to construct the house, our designs are unique and budget-friendly compared to our current competitors. We provide projects in both classical and contemporary
Established in 1987 by V Chandran as an organization dealing with only layouts and plots, the present real estate giant gradually shifted its course towards building construction after Saravanan Chandran took over the charges as its CEO in 2011. Eager to remodel the company established by his father into a premium real estate brand of Chennai, Saravanan Chandran has been successful in spearheading Shirdi Shelters to efficaciously completing a decade in building business and thirty-five years in the plot business.
Starting with only 12 units in 2011, the company has grown exponentially till now by adding up to 130 units per year and is currently contemplating on venturing into a mammoth project in March 2022 with 620 units. With more than crores of turnover at present, the company holds a strong forte across customized, budget-friendly, and in-time accomplishment of projects. Believing that building a home is an art, and an exercise of intellect, careful precision, and passion, Shirdi Shelter has driven itself diligently since 1989, to achieve the culmination of architectural brilliance and value-for-price in all of its projects.
Below is an excerpt of Saravanan's interview with CEO Insights.
What unique proposition your organization has been offering to its client? As the CEO, what are the strategies you have developed to maintain your company's market position?
Taking inspiration from some of the pioneering builders from other parts of India, especially Metro cities like Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta, our unique proposition is to sell apartments based on the specifications provided by the clients. Using affordable yet apt materials to construct the house, our designs are unique and budget-friendly compared to our current competitors. We provide projects in both classical and contemporary
design, which is another distinctiveness of our projects.
Being a business graduate, I have a good grip over theoretical knowledge and hold expertise in fabricating strategies along with the proficiency of handling practical situations. Taking over my father's business in 2011, who happened to be a practical-minded person, my theoretical approach unitedly proved beneficial for the company's operations. Equipped with experienced employees, with some of them being associated with us for more than a decade, we are running a successful commercial business across the real estate vertical.
Shed some light on the major milestones achieved by you so far.
All of our projects are based on the specific requirements of our ccustomers. Identifying their needs and preferences, we try to design a house for them rather than just a building. We don't just deliver a house to the customers and come out of the situation. Rather, we remain in touch with the clients and consider if they have any problems in the interior of the house. For me, it's a big milestone because we have received a lot of appreciation for this particular approach of ours, which is not only unique in its own way but acted as a catalyst to boost our business girth and market presence. Although there were a lot of co-players striding in the market at that time, we stood first by selling all the outdoor inventories and that is also one of the major milestones for us.
As a market leader, what significant changes in the market behavior do you anticipate, and what are your future plans?
Generally, the consumers here in Chennai have much idea and interest in the new designs and infrastructures currently present in the market. But at the same time, they still want their houses to be traditionally designed and budget-friendly. Functioning as per our customers' demands, I think that we are still far behind the other real estate markets in terms of construction and infrastructure. We soon need to come up with some innovative and novel products by implementing contemporary designs across our projects. Being an exclusively domestic market, new players often find it very difficult to operate as well as excel in this business. Exposure to modern business standards and awareness about ongoing market trends will
Being a business graduate, I have a good grip over theoretical knowledge and hold expertise in fabricating strategies along with the proficiency of handling practical situations. Taking over my father's business in 2011, who happened to be a practical-minded person, my theoretical approach unitedly proved beneficial for the company's operations. Equipped with experienced employees, with some of them being associated with us for more than a decade, we are running a successful commercial business across the real estate vertical.
Taking over my Father's business in 2011, who happened to be a practical-minded person, my theoretical approach unitedly proved beneficial for the company's operations
Shed some light on the major milestones achieved by you so far.
All of our projects are based on the specific requirements of our ccustomers. Identifying their needs and preferences, we try to design a house for them rather than just a building. We don't just deliver a house to the customers and come out of the situation. Rather, we remain in touch with the clients and consider if they have any problems in the interior of the house. For me, it's a big milestone because we have received a lot of appreciation for this particular approach of ours, which is not only unique in its own way but acted as a catalyst to boost our business girth and market presence. Although there were a lot of co-players striding in the market at that time, we stood first by selling all the outdoor inventories and that is also one of the major milestones for us.
As a market leader, what significant changes in the market behavior do you anticipate, and what are your future plans?
Generally, the consumers here in Chennai have much idea and interest in the new designs and infrastructures currently present in the market. But at the same time, they still want their houses to be traditionally designed and budget-friendly. Functioning as per our customers' demands, I think that we are still far behind the other real estate markets in terms of construction and infrastructure. We soon need to come up with some innovative and novel products by implementing contemporary designs across our projects. Being an exclusively domestic market, new players often find it very difficult to operate as well as excel in this business. Exposure to modern business standards and awareness about ongoing market trends will
certainly attract new talents to explore this domain.
We still don't have many multi-story buildings here as people are afraid to stay in heights and changing such a mindset is a big deal for us. The amenities provided in the Chennai market are as superior as other metro cities of India. But at the same time, of course the customers' demand holds the utmost importance for us and since our inception, we are predominantly engaged in crafting a loyal client base for us. Simultaneously taking the clients' preferences into consideration, I want to work on all these aspects in the future.
As an entrepreneur, what would be your advice to the upcoming entrepreneurs of the real estate industry?
As an entrepreneur, I can feel the difference between the people who are in this segment before me and the people after me who have ventured into real estate. There are some significant changes in both generations in terms of innovative design ideas, picking teams, and so on. I believe when new budding minds and old concepts work together, their thoughts will give a new impact in the market. However, I often feel that there's a huge generation gap existing in the construction and real estate industry. To emerge as a successful entrepreneur, I want the upcoming generation of leaders to adopt an amalgamation of practical and theoretical concepts to achieve success in the future.
“To emerge as a successful entrepreneur, I want the upcoming generation of leaders to adopt an amalgamation of practical and theoretical concepts to achieve success in the future”
Saravanan Chandran, CEO, Shirdi Shelters
After getting associated with the Shirdi Shelters in 2011, Saravanan navigated the operations of the company, which was earlier engaged in doing layouts and selling plots since its inception; towards the construction of buildings. Under the guidance of Saravanan the company emerged as a premium real estate brand all across Chennai, with more than 100 crores of turnovers at present.
Hobbies: Spending time with friends, Reading Books, and Watching Movies
Favorite Cuisine: South Indian Cuisines
Favorite Book: Believe in Me
Favorite Travel Destination: Singapore and Thailand
We still don't have many multi-story buildings here as people are afraid to stay in heights and changing such a mindset is a big deal for us. The amenities provided in the Chennai market are as superior as other metro cities of India. But at the same time, of course the customers' demand holds the utmost importance for us and since our inception, we are predominantly engaged in crafting a loyal client base for us. Simultaneously taking the clients' preferences into consideration, I want to work on all these aspects in the future.
As an entrepreneur, what would be your advice to the upcoming entrepreneurs of the real estate industry?
As an entrepreneur, I can feel the difference between the people who are in this segment before me and the people after me who have ventured into real estate. There are some significant changes in both generations in terms of innovative design ideas, picking teams, and so on. I believe when new budding minds and old concepts work together, their thoughts will give a new impact in the market. However, I often feel that there's a huge generation gap existing in the construction and real estate industry. To emerge as a successful entrepreneur, I want the upcoming generation of leaders to adopt an amalgamation of practical and theoretical concepts to achieve success in the future.
“To emerge as a successful entrepreneur, I want the upcoming generation of leaders to adopt an amalgamation of practical and theoretical concepts to achieve success in the future”
Saravanan Chandran, CEO, Shirdi Shelters
After getting associated with the Shirdi Shelters in 2011, Saravanan navigated the operations of the company, which was earlier engaged in doing layouts and selling plots since its inception; towards the construction of buildings. Under the guidance of Saravanan the company emerged as a premium real estate brand all across Chennai, with more than 100 crores of turnovers at present.
Hobbies: Spending time with friends, Reading Books, and Watching Movies
Favorite Cuisine: South Indian Cuisines
Favorite Book: Believe in Me
Favorite Travel Destination: Singapore and Thailand