By Dr. Sunjoy Hans

There are many ways to look at business success, but my own experience has taught me that some things are far more important than numbers. When I look back at what has really shaped Lalchnd Group over the last three-plus decades, I come back to one word: trust.
When I opened my first small silver store at Master Canteen Square in 1988, I did not have a big legacy behind me or substantial capital to depend on. What I had was a simple belief: if you treat customers with respect, deal with them honestly and never mislead them, they will remember it. More importantly, they will return and bring their family and friends with them.
That belief has stayed with me through every stage of the journey. It is what helped a small showroom grow into the Lalchnd Jewellers that people know today.

A customer may make a purchase in one visit, but their confidence in a business develops over time. You earn it through everyday interactions by giving the right information, keeping your word and doing the right thing even when taking a shortcut might be easier. And once that trust is broken, no amount of advertising can easily bring it back.
This was one of the reasons I felt strongly about bringing BIS-hallmarked gold jewellery to Odisha at a time when very few retailers in the state were focusing on it. It would have been simpler and less expensive to continue with the way things were. But I believed that purity and transparency were not expenses to be avoided. They were part of the responsibility we had towards our customers.
Looking back, I believe that decision was worth it. Many of the people who shop with Lalchnd today are from families who have been associated with us for years. Their parents bought jewellery from us, and now their children do the same. For me, that is one of the clearest signs that trust can grow from one generation to another.

Trust is not usually built through a big announcement or a grand gesture. I have found that customers notice the way a business handles the ordinary moments. It is giving a customer an accurate bill. It is explaining a product honestly instead of simply trying to close a sale. Sometimes, it is even telling a customer that a particular purchase may not be the right choice for them.
Over the years, I have tried to hold on to a few simple principles:

Businesses may begin with transactions, but they grow through relationships.
Customers, partners, employees, and associates remember how they are treated long after a transaction is complete. Consistent communication, reliability, and respect build confidence that lasts far beyond a single business interaction.
Over time, these relationships become one of the greatest strengths of any organisation.

• Never put a sale before the relationship.One dishonest transaction can damage years of goodwill.
• Be transparent in practice, not just in words. Whether it is hallmarking, pricing or product information, customers should be able to see that transparency in the way a business operates.
• Stay consistent. Trust is not created by one exceptional customer experience. It comes from doing the right thing repeatedly, even on an ordinary day.

For me, trust has never been limited to what happens inside a jewellery showroom.
It also comes down to how we treat our employees, how we respond when the community needs support and what we choose to do when nobody is watching or measuring the outcome.
Over the years, there have been moments when this mattered more than business. From coordinating relief work after the 1999 supercyclone to supporting families during Cyclone Fani and later establishing the Lalchnd Foundation during the pandemic, the principle remained the same.
People may forget what a company says about itself. They are much less likely to forget what it actually did when people needed help.

Today, as the next generation takes on a larger role in shaping the future of the Group, our conversations are not only about growth, expansion or numbers.
We also talk about something much harder to measure: how do we protect the trust that generations of customers have placed in us?
That, to me, is the real responsibility of building a business.
Markets will change. Customer preferences will change. New competitors will enter the market, and new challenges will come with them. What remains constant is the need to give customers a reason to believe in your business.
After more than three decades in business, I still believe that trust is the strongest foundation any entrepreneur can build on. It takes time to earn, but once it becomes part of a business's culture, it can carry that business from one generation to the next.
That is the legacy I want Lalchnd Group to protect - not simply a successful business, but the trust behind it.