The global pandemic has forced many entrepreneurs to diversify their business to stay afloat. Thankachan Kudillumuthathil, 60, of Pala in Kerala is one such businessman who diversified and struck gold just by selling brooms.
He now sells nearly100 brooms a day from his shop to customers who come from far-away places specifically to buy the brooms. People of the locality have named the junction near Nelloor on Pala-Muttom road, where his broom shop is located, as “Choollu City” (Broom City).
Brooms of different sizes and shapes grab the attention of the passersby and Thankachan is really happy to have ventured into the business of broom sales following the pandemic. Thankachan, who has been running a grocery shop at the junction for the last 40 years, decided to start selling brooms after his grocery sales plummeted during the Covid period.
“I was looking at different options to diversify my business to bring in additional revenue. It was one of my friends who told me about brooms which are made of palm tree stalks which are imported from Thailand and Indonesia. He told me that the brooms made from such stalks are long lasting. So, I decided to give it a try and bought a consignment for sale. To my surprise, people who saw the brooms on display at the shop started buying it and gave me positive feedback,” Thankachan told “Open Digest”.
He said the stalks of palm trees imported from Thailand and Indonesia are made into brooms by specially trained workers at Moovattupuzha. “As the broom business became a hit, I decided to introduce different varieties of brooms. We soon started to sell locally sourced brooms made of coconut leaves and stalks. I am getting a lot of customers who specifically come to the junction to buy brooms. We now offer 25 different varieties of brooms. Small retailers are also placing bulk orders for the brooms,” Thankachan said, adding that he is planning to expand the broom business to tap more markets in the state.
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