Disruption By Design

How Girish Jhunjhnuwala Is Creating A Boutique Hotel Chain Where Art Is At The Heart

- Punita Sabharwal

Post the Partition, after travelling around the world Girish Jhunjhnuwala’s father finally settled in Hong Kong from Haryana in 1951. The environment was ripe enough for the senior Jhunjhnuwala to embark on his entrepreneurial journey — he forayed into the watch manufacturing business, which was flourishing at that time. Girish joined his father’s business in 1984 after college. He took little time to get accustomed to the nitty-gritties of the business. But soon, after perusing the evolution of the watch industry he began contemplating shutting down the business in 1998. It was a great learning experience for Girish — he saw the transition of the industry from majorly producing hand-winding watches to quartz and analogue watches. “I think I saw the light and this is the only industry that I saw going backwards in technology,” says the 55-year-old founder of Ovolo Group — a hotel brand headquartered in Hong Kong.

The industry’s passéist approach compelled him to take an entrepreneurial call to bring manufacturing to a halt but he could only muster the courage do so in 2002. Talking about being a second generation entrepreneur who decided to move out of the family business and start something of his own, Girish says, “In a family business, it is very hard to venture out. You already have an entrepreneur in the founder and there exists a business. Then the next generation comes in and they want to go into different sectors of the business and continue growing — so you start doing those things and not just keep yourself restricted by doing what you’re doing.” Soon after the shut down, he began investing in real estate; in September 2002 Girish forayed into serviced apartments.