Once broke and homeless, Raghunathan now runs a ₹12 crore turnover company

Mala (Thrissur): When the small business he started with his father’s retirement savings collapsed, T S Raghunathan was left devastated — in debt, unable to stay in his hometown, and with nowhere to turn. Boarding a train to Mumbai with a relative, he didn’t even have money for the journey. But today, he's the proud owner of a furniture business with ₹12 crore in annual turnover and 135 employees.

Now 99, his father Surendran still stands proudly beside him, having witnessed his son rise from rock bottom.

Raghunathan’s story began in 1989, when his father retired from service and handed him ₹96,000. With that, he opened a plastic goods agency in Chalakudy. Within six months, it shut down — leaving not only the initial investment lost but also ₹15,000 in additional debt.

Raghunathan left for Mumbai and began working as an assistant in a textile mill and later in a nursery. In 1990, a turning point came when he befriended Nirmal, an engineer. Learning to manufacture and install machine parts used in textile mills, Raghunathan eventually took over Nirmal’s workshop.

Returning to Kerala in 2000, he began selling upholstery fabrics for furniture — travelling as far as Tamil Nadu on his motorbike to make sales. In 2001, he opened a small shop named "Achus" in Irinjalakuda, followed by another unit in Kodungallur in 2002. Slowly, he began making and selling furniture too.

A major break came in 2016, when he got the opportunity—through a friend—to manufacture furniture for a vessel of Mumbai’s Anchor Offshore Company. Despite suffering losses in that first deal, he learned from the experience. He went on to handle interiors for INS Aditya’s refit, Marine Offshore India and Jeevan Offshore India vessels.

Today, Raghunathan has MoUs with the Indian Navy to furnish all their ships — having completed interiors for 22 vessels so far, including VIP rooms on the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

Back home in Valiyaparambu, his businesses — Achus Interiors and Promise Marine and Offshore — operate from 2.5 acres next to his family house. A new container manufacturing unit for vehicles is also underway. Of the 135 employees, only 35 are from outside Kerala.

Through it all, his 99 year-old father Surendran and wife Preetha, along with their children Roopa and Pavan, have been his constant support.