Not many books live up to their title, Joy Alukkas’ autobiography Spreading Joy : How Joyalukkas became the world’s favourite jeweller is a rare exception. The global jewellery industry has many fascinating stories. However, jewellers are not known to share them. The industry therefore remains shrouded in mystery. Memoirs and biographies constitute an interesting genre in business literature. In less capable hands, they run the risk of becoming boring or hagiographic accounts. Francesca Cartier Brickell’s The Cartiers : The Untold story of the family behind the jewellery empire is an example of story well told.

In the Indian context, Spreading Joy is an excellent example of effective Business Storytelling. The readers are hooked from the first sentence in the prologue as it begins with an interesting anecdote.  Co-authors, Nidhi Jain, and Thomas Scaria have crafted an inspiring, informative, engaging and entertaining story. Among other things, they devoted 18 months for this project and spent 6000 minutes with the protagonist alone. It is highly recommended read for all jewellery stakeholders. I consider it as the best gifting option during the festive season. Anil Prabhakar

The Joyalukkas business empire is spread across 160 stores in eleven countries with a turnover of three billion dollars. Outside of the subcontinent and the Middle East, Joyalukkas has stores  in the UK, the US, Singapore and Malaysia.

Born in a Syrian Christian family on 29^th October 1956, Joy was the eleventh son of parents Puthussery Alukka Joseph Varghese and Eliya Varghese.

Spreading joy is the story of how Joy perceived by his brothers as financially illiterate and unfit for doing business built his business empire.

Joy gives credit for his success to the upbringing and the values he inherited through the teachings of his father. Unlike his brothers who spent time behind the cash counter in the store, Joy preferred to spend time with his Appan and run his errands.

Joy learnt to drive a car at the young age of 16. This mobility allowed him to run countless errands and had the added advantage of keeping him at arm’s length from his demanding brothers. Besides, he enjoyed dealing with people from different walks of life.

“ I am convinced that, on any given day, I learned far more about the world of business as Appan’s side than my brothers did in the showroom” writes Joy.

Like his father Joy believed that knowledge was utilitarian, driven by need. He imbibed somewhat casual outlook vis a vis formal education.

The book is peppered with anecdotes that are interesting and insightful. Raffle draws have been popular in the UAE for many years. Joy was the first jeweller to offer a Rolls Royce Silver Seraph to his customers. A car that he bought on impulse as the car salesman treated him with disrespect.

A customer who purchased five hundred dirhams worth of jewellery would be entitled to raffle coupon that gave him a chance to win a Rolls Royce. This anecdote needs to be read in its entirety.

Consumers the world over love freebies. The raffle draw scheme therefore was a big hit. Joyalukkas were to use it successfully several times. A great votary of car promotion because of their mass appeal, Joy would offer twenty-two cars if someone offered two.

Joy witnessed the Gulf boom in Kozhikode and spotted an opportunity to set up stores first in Abu Dhabi and later in Dubai.

Joy has candidly shared the challenges of working in a family enterprise. None of his brothers were willing to move to Dubai as they enjoyed being in their comfort zone in Thrissur.

His tumultuous relationship with his elder brother Jos and the ultimate partition will provide food for though to the readers.

After their split, the brothers used the family name Alukkas to conduct their independent retail businesses. Joy differentiated his company by redesigning their logo from ALUKKAS to alukkas.

As his retail footprint in India expanded, the need for creating an independent brand identity became his top priority.

The name Alukkas was important as legacy and trust are very important in the Jewellery business. In such a scenario, maintaining exclusivity without diluting the heritage became important.

Joy has an eye for detail with a keen sense of observation. He found the solution unexpectedly while driving home from his office in Dubai. A billboard that he came across caught his attention and reading it gave him an idea to rebrand his company.

The billboard was of the well-known Al Futtaim group that had split in 2000. Majid had retained the family title in his company name by adding his own and rebranding it as Majid Al Futtaim.

A humble billboard thus, was the genesis of brand JOYALUKKAS.

Joy acknowledges the support of his long-time friends and business associates who have helped him during his early years in the UAE. Notable among them are UAE sponsor Jassim Al Hasawi, Yusuf Ali MA of the Lulu group, Yusuf Nunu the Bahrain based bullion wholesaler Yusuf Nunu and George Varghese of Chemmanur Jewellers. The latter helped his set up Joyalukkas first store in Abu Dhabi and later helped him secure credit.

The key takes away from the George Varghese episode is the need to exercise due diligence in business. There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics and business. Only permanent interests.

Thinking differently comes naturally to Joy Alukkas. In the jewellery industry, it is customary to sign an actress as the brand ambassador. While Kajol Devgan is currently the Joyalukkas brand ambassador, R Madhavan was the brand’s first and longest standing brand ambassador from 2009 to 2016.

Joy’s rationale behind his choice of signing a male brand ambassador was “ A woman wears jewellery to enhance her beauty; to look and feel beautiful. But it is the admiration of others that gives her the validation that she needs”.  The jewellery becomes valid only when the person for whom she has embellished herself appreciates their effect.

The co authors have described Joy as leader with a rare combination of genius and passion. Behind a quiet and unassuming exterior lie a ferocious drive to succeed, one that knows no limits or boundaries.

These qualities are amply demonstrated in the chapter number 10 : Joy in India.

Alukkas history with Chennai was not a happy one. The brothers had set up a store in 1990 that had to be closed down as it failed to crack the market. The brothers had not done adequate research on the customer buying patterns, the product offerings and the prevailing competition.

When an offer to open a store on Usman road in T Nagar, Chennai’s jewellery retail hub, Joy took a plunge.

He chose to open a 51,962 square feet store spread across four floors, with 1,20,000 jewellery designs to choose from.

Virtually everyone Joy knew was against the idea as the investment in this store would have funded ten jewellery stores.

How Joy went ahead with the execution of the project and  the eventual phenomenal success of the store is what makes Joy a living legend. Even today, the Chennai store is the world’s largest gold jewellery store.

(Spreading Joy : How Joyslukkas became the world favourite jeweller is published by Harper Business, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers)