INDIA: The latest episode of Transcontinental Times’ 360° Live Talk Show featured Niren Anand, an accomplished International Footwear Designer, Socialpreneur, and entrepreneur at Evertrade group. Niren’s journey is significantly influenced by sports, as he is a sports enthusiast. Aside from his sporting achievements, he believes that one should not accept life as it is; instead, one should strive to improve it and create something from it. He is currently based in Xiamen, a small Chinese city, where he oversees the Evertrade group’s operations.
Expressing his gratitude to the Transcontinental Times, Niren quotes, “It’s an honour to be part of today’s show, which has a much wider aim to promote sports, especially in people’s lives, and make it better, so I feel delighted to be here.”
Sports enthusiasm reflected a significant part of Niren’s childhood
Niren chronicles his entire experience in flashbacks, beginning with his birth in a middle-class household in Darbhanga, Bihar. Since childhood, he has expressed his interest in sports through cricket. His deep love for cricket shaped his persona throughout school, college, and university, where he eventually made it to the district level. Aside from cricket, Niren had a strong showing in carom, earning the district championship.
“I hailed from a humble family; my father worked in the electricity department.” At the moment, no one had made any preparations for the game. People in the 90s were primarily concerned with studying. After finishing academics, I completed my footwear technology course at the Footwear Design and Development Institute, which stands administered through the ministry of commerce and the government of India,” he initiated.
“It was around 1995 or 1997, and athletic footwear had just arrived in India.” Only Nike and Adidas were present, and I was given the option to operate in a factory afterwards. They were both manufacturing Nike and Adidas, so I understood right away that sports footwear was my thing, my passion,” he continued.
Along his life journey, Niren pays tribute to his mentor, the late Ashok Mathur. He elaborates on his mentor, expressing that he has given him something from a person who holds a boy in addition to helping him become an entrepreneur. “I was still working for the company, but from the inside, I was an entrepreneur,” he admits, offering tribute to his mentor. “He taught me how to put a product into a commercial method.” Someone has left an indelible mark on my life; perhaps he was the one.”
The entrepreneurial journey wrapped up with countless ups and downs
Niren’s entrepreneurial skills added to his success story when he relocated to Singapore, where he joined Yonex, and then to Indonesia, where he oversaw all of South Asia’s footwear manufacturing, before finally landing in China in 2007.
“Finally, in 2011, I decided to establish my enterprise because something was missing on the inside.” “It was that entrepreneur competency or something that was trying to haunt me, so I went back to China and created a little firm ten years ago, which grew into the Evertrade group,” he revealed.
Despite the success Niren has achieved in his life, countless ups and downs have marked his entrepreneurial career. 2014 marked the start of his sports endeavour, which included the establishment of a small factory capable of producing half-million pairs.
Briefing about his entrepreneurial journey in India, Niren asserts, “In 2017, we settled for 1 million pairs and then also got the time to meet honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he has talked about why not put a footwear factor in India. Since then, a new chapter has begun, and we are currently in the midst of establishing a 2.5 million pair footwear plant in Bhuwaneshwar.”
Regarding the importance of sports footwear in India, Niren perceives it as a significant issue that has to be discussed openly.
“I have seen many brilliant players, even in matches, who do not have the proper footwear, which I believe is important since shoes must be fit for the game, not just for the players.” So, if we can do something in India in the future, we would love to interact and see how we can make a modest contribution to improving India’s sports,” he added.
“It will take some time, but we will be very honest, and we are very confident to do that once we have a complete team to support them.” We have our own innovation center, even in China, and we are doing it in India right now, so definitely innovation and technology will be the first requirements from our side, and the things can make history,” he continued.
Niren addresses the youth while he quotes, “Assume there is a bomb blast and you are standing at a train station. As a result, if you’re a civilian, you’ll run away from the blast, whereas a trained army guy will rush towards it. As a result, you must train your mind so that when a problem arises, you will confront it rather than run away from it.”
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Watch the whole interview here:
