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How do you go about scaling in an unorganized industry that’s mid-disruption—while commodity prices swing wildly and brand “differences” can feel paper-thin? You stop trying to sell a product and start engineering trust, systems, and culture that compound over decades.

Akshay Verma is a third-generation leader of Verma Jewelers in Himachal Pradesh, India, about modernizing a legacy business in a traditionally unorganized jewelry market. As competition intensifies with corporate chain entrants, he shares the core challenge for family jewelers: shifting mindset from owner-operator to organized enterprise by building processes, teams, and a replicable customer experience.

He also addresses gold-price volatility as both threat and opportunity for driving innovation in product mix and a push toward tech-enabled retail. On e-commerce, he argues it can’t be half-hearted: it must start with clear customer understanding and likely works best as digital + physical, especially for everyday wear versus wedding buying.

On disruptions like lab-grown diamonds, Akshay takes a segmented view: separate audiences, separate positioning - natural diamonds retain their “original” status, while lab-grown serves affordability-driven demand. Finally, he credits personal transformation and executive education especially Harvard Business School’s OPM and mentorship from Rahul Jain for expanding his ambition, delegation capacity, and long-term vision.

Here are the Top 10 Takeaways from the conversation:

1. In commodities, trust is the real product. The differentiation comes from reputation, honesty on purity/quality, and being part of life’s milestone moments - not just selling metal.
2. The hard part of scaling a family business is mindset, not money. Moving from “I handle everything” to “systems + people + delegation” is the real transformation.
3. Culture must be operationalized, not framed. Core values (ownership, accountability, discipline, punctuality, customer-first) become scalable only when trained, measured, and enforced.
4. Go to the customer before you build everywhere. The mobile exhibition model is a clever way to expand reach across small towns without committing massive capital to permanent storefronts.
5. Volatility forces innovation, if you let it. Gold-price swings push experimentation in product mix (e.g., lower-carat daily wear) and better tech/processes.
6. E-commerce isn’t optional, but “half-in” fails. Digital works when you deeply understand customer behavior and start with the right categories, while keeping physical for high-touch occasions.
7. Hybrid retail is the likely end-state. Jewelry buying often needs feel/fit/experience so digital should amplify discovery and convenience, not replace the showroom entirely.
8. Disruptions like lab-grown need segmentation, not denial. Treat it as a different customer and value proposition don’t confuse “premium legacy” positioning with “accessible alternative.”
9. Brand storytelling can be localized and still premium. Campaigns that turn real customers into the face of the brand and celebrate local culture create identity, pride, and viral familiarity.
10. Personal discipline becomes leadership leverage. Early mornings, health routines, and protected family time aren’t just lifestyle changes. They enable clearer thinking, better delegation, and sustained expansion energy.

 Books: 

1. The 12 Week Year
2. Traction