Jatin

I was fifteen years old when I learned. I started working in another shop and learned from there. Nobody teaches you, you have to learn yourself. If I hire a boy, even I won’t teach him. He will have to watch and learn.

In the initial stage, I had a computer and then small printers as well. Ice cream came much later. I got into that business two years ago, ran it for one year, and then incurred losses, so I shut it down.

Yes. That's the same for the household goods. The goods which I have kept. That's the same concept. The customer came and asked me where he can get this and all. I used to get more customers from Cyber. That's like form fill up and then Xerox, print, and then lamination also. That's like when they used to come and ask for this, then I used to send them to the Durgapur Bazar or Shampur More. Then I thought if I keep the goods there, the customer would not go there and come here for sure. That's why I have started this.

We didn't have a toy shop here; we only had one in Shyampur More. There were no shops here. Many people came and asked where they could get toys. I used to say, "Go to the shop at the crossing and you'll find them there." At that time, I had the idea that the toy shop was at the crossing, but we didn't have one here, so I could see how it could work. Then I bought the toys.

Actually, I started this business in 2015. I have a job and this business is mine. I graduated in Computer Engineering. Then, I wanted to open a cyber café. I started with my own computer. I bought a printer and began the business. So, I have been running this business for 6 or 7 years since then. I worked hard to purchase all the products for this shop and I faced many struggles, but eventually, I was able to establish this business. My shop is running smoothly and I don't have any problems. I have a staff member in my shop who has been here for the last few months. His father is close to me.

This is a cyber café where we offer services such as Xerox, lamination, and spiral binding. Additionally, I sell baby toys in my shop and also stock Milton products. We also have cold drinks and a variety of household goods available. Furthermore, we offer a range of cleaning items, including mugs and more.

I started this business only using my computer and printer. Then I expanded my shop. For one year, I had a Xerox machine and cyber services. Then I started selling plastic items, followed by toys and Milton. Gradually, the growth increased.

I added new things for business growth because I noticed that in this area, there was only one toy shop. That's why I started the toys section. Then, there was no shop for plastic items either. We had to go to Durgapur bazaar to buy plastic items, which is 2 km away from here. So, that's why I opened this section. I purchase all items from Kolkata. Thus, my shop grew.

I decided to keep Milton as I see that if I keep Milton items, I would benefit, and if I keep toys, I would also benefit. So, based on that, we started keeping the products. One of my relatives had this kind of shop, and I also took feedback from him. I know someone who lives outside of Durgapur, and I also took feedback from him. I gained some experience from him. Then I started this.

Yes, my wife also comes here; actually, I can't give much time. She does everything here. She has arranged everything, she made all the planning, and I just supported her.

I consult with my wife, and we make decisions together. I don't make any decisions alone. We discuss with each other and then make a decision. On paper, I am the owner, but she mainly handles everything. For example, this is the new Canon Xerox machine that I purchased 1.5 years ago. The price was 1 lakh 20 or 30K. Before that, I had a second-hand machine from Cronic, which used to give problems. So, my wife applied for a loan, and after getting the loan, she purchased this machine. She said that when we have to buy, we will buy a new machine. At that time, I was out of station, so she made this decision on her own. She told me over the phone.

I call and inform them on WhatsApp that these goods are required. They send the sample. They create a bill and send us the bill on WhatsApp. I send them the payment amount on PhonePe. Sometimes I also make purchases on credit. Later, I pay off the credit and they send me the goods by transport. This process continues in this manner. Now, if I order any unique product, then I have to go there. If they call me to see some new and unique items, in that case, I also visit their place and choose the color and items. Both my wife and I like to see and touch the product before ordering because if I like it, the customer will also like it. I think in that way. That's why I handle everything on my own.

I don't need any vendors for cyber. They come and give papers to my shop. When the ink is over, I call them and they come to refill the ink. I have to purchase the materials. In some cases, I have to purchase from Kolkata, and in some cases, I have to purchase from Asansol. If it is very urgent, I have to purchase from Durgapur as well. When I went to purchase from Kolkata, my wife went with me, so we roamed around the Barobazar area. I stayed at the house of my relative. On the second day, I ordered goods from 2 to 3 shops after seeing all the products myself. I also contacted the transport and brought the goods by transport. Then, when I went to Asansol, I realized that I was getting the same goods at the same price, but the transportation cost was lower. So, I started purchasing goods from Asansol. Now, I order goods by phone.

Obviously, the customer is the most important for me because if I don't have customers, I can't run my business. The staff is the second important factor for me because they are the pillars of my shop. To be frank, they now run my shop. The third important factor is the vendor because if I don't get the goods from the vendor at the proper price, that would be a problem. Additionally, the goods themselves are also important. I also have insurance, which serves as a backup if anything goes wrong. Since I am in the insurance department, I have bought this insurance. Therefore, this is the fourth important factor for me.

When I go to Asansol, I search for products there. And when I go to Kolkata, I also search. I search by myself. Last month, I went to Asansol. From there, I bring products. Before going to that shop, I survey the market to see if any new products have come in. I compare the prices. If I survey 4-5 shops, I get an idea of the price. If I visit 4 to 5 shops, I have an idea that in this shop, this product costs this much. When I go to my regular vendor, I check if that item is available there and I try to know the price. Then I can understand where the price is higher. If I see that a shopkeeper is charging me more, then I don't buy from him. Obviously, I buy from the shop where the price is lower. But the person from whom I buy the product is very good, he offers a reasonable price. It is his wholesale shop.

There's no fixed vendor, actually. When it is very urgent, I can't go to Kolkata or Asansol. Then I have a fixed vendor in Benachiti from whom I bring products. In Asansol, I also have a fixed vendor from whom I bring products. Additionally, I search for new shops and check the product quality there.

To choose vendors, I go to the market and conduct a market survey. I visit different shops and compare the prices and quality of the same items. If I find the same products available in two shops with the same quality but different prices, I will obviously choose the shop with the lower price. I do not stock any local products in my shop. Instead, I always keep branded products because customers may initially buy local products at a lower price, but they often come back to complain that the product is not working. However, with branded products, even though the price is slightly higher, the products are more durable and customers often come back to tell me that the product was good. Therefore, I prefer to stock only branded products.

I chose this location because it is my house. The house next to it is also mine. We have been staying here since 1980. I was born in this house. All the elderly people in this area know me and my father, as my father developed this neighborhood and was the president. Therefore, everyone knows us. Since my house is located on the main road and I have space here, I have opened a shop here. I don't have to pay rent because it is my own building and my own shop. The plus point is that my house is beside the main road. That's why I have many benefits.

Not online, but it is on Facebook by the name of Das and Son's. My wife did it; I can't say when she did it. She clicked the photos and uploaded them on FB. I don't follow it online so much. I have all local customers. They all come here. Most people in this area come to my shop. I don't think anything has changed. Here, all customers know me, so I don't think they would come here after seeing online. The people who know me, they all come here. I don't think I have gained any profit from uploading photos online. I am talking about my shop.

Good vendor behavior. Suppose I have gone to a shop to buy products. So, there are many vendors who feel irritated, and there are many vendors who exhibit normal polite behavior. So, I notice that. The shopkeeper who doesn't behave well, I don't go to that shop next time. From whom I buy the products, he is a very good person. His behavior is very nice. You will like talking to him. I notice that. I consider both the quality and the price of the product. I compare the price with other shops, and if I find the product at a lower price, I buy it from there because I also need to make some profit.

Vendors give me products on credit. Suppose I purchase goods worth 50K. I will pay him 40K or 45K. 5K is on credit. I send that credit amount to him on PhonePe after 7 days.

I had ice cream here before, but I experienced a lot of loss with it. The sales were not high. Then I tried Mother Dairy, but it didn't have good demand. On the other hand, Amul has a good demand. I have to keep the fridge always on for the ice cream, so the electric bill is high. The distributor of this area for Cold Drinks knows me, and he told me that he would send me a new fridge. I applied for it, and he sent me the fridge. Now I have the Cold Drinks with me.

That's not what customers prefer. Some customers come and don't like something. I have to persuade them to make a purchase. If a customer chooses a bottle but doesn't like it, I have to convince them to buy it. That's what I learned in Marketing. It's because sometimes I go to a shop to buy something and I may not like it. It's like going to a shop to buy something and not liking it. I can't just stay back, when a customer comes, I have to sell them something as well. I have to make them understand about something else and then sell them that product too.

Actually, I chose him because I have a good relationship with his father. One day, he told me that his son wants to do some work, so he asked if I could give him a job in my shop. I said okay, send him over. So, he sent him and it turns out he knows how to operate a computer and everything. He knows how to do photocopying and all that. However, he doesn't know the price of all the products, so I wrote the price on each of the products. I instructed him to check the price and inform the customer. If the price is not written on any product, he should call me and ask. So, if I'm not available, he calls me and asks. I then check the CCTV footage to identify the product and tell him the price.

Nowadays, my staff is handling a little more because my baby is 2 years old. She comes to the shop, but she comes late. She arrives at 11:30 am and leaves at 1 pm. In the evening, I also open the shop. Today, I have come back from the office early. Normally, I come back at 7 pm. If I have any work, I leave the shop. So, he handles the most, and after that, I handle it.

Yes, I do keep track of the number of customers. Since we have a baby now, she can't come to the shop as often. My staff manages the shop 80% of the time. Therefore, there is CCTV in my shop. Sometimes, I check the sales figures using the CCTV. I don't have any issues, and I also review the sales figures every night. After my staff goes home, I check the sales figures and then close the shop. I have a notebook; there he keeps all calculation, so I check that.

I give credit to customers whom I know and are close to me. The Xerox print cannot be done on credit, as it has very little profit. Then, there are also customers who would do the work and say that they will pay later. They eventually come and pay. There is a place called Mana where many poor kids used to come to us. They would come for one form fill-up and end up doing 2-3 forms. The rate used to be higher and then they wouldn't get the money, so I used to give them credit. I would ask them to pay me later, and they would come and pay later. I used to write the amount and the phone number. I still write that also. I have all hard copy.

That's like when I started this, I had a system and a small printer. After 2 to 3 months, I got a computer. Then I had an old Canon Xerox machine. It was old and bigger, and used to consume a lot of electricity. I didn't have much money at that time. Then slowly, I started doing lamination and spiral binding. That's how I started this shop.

My wife got this idea. She told me to apply cold drinks as it is known.

I had this thought at that time. The customers who came to the cyber cafe for internet work used to make photocopies and such. So, I started selling cold drinks in the shop. They would work for 30 minutes to 1 hour and then ask for a cold drink. That's how it worked. Then customers would come and look around, and some would ask for cold drinks. People would also come with kids to buy toys, and they would ask for Frooti or Maza for the kids as well.

Yes. That's for toys, and then also for the household vendors as well. They would send me that on WhatsApp. They send me the catalog and pictures also. The vendor does send that.

Yes. Whatsapp is much needed for the Cyber part. Mainly, it is needed for the Cyber part. Someone came for a printout. They would say that the document is on WhatsApp and what they want to print, and then I open WhatsApp web and they scan and download it. Then I do the printout. It is much needed for my Cyber part. Then I have some customers who would send me something on WhatsApp, and I have to print it out.

Youtube is also something I use. For example, when someone comes to my shop and needs assistance filling out a form, I don't know how to do it, so I watch tutorials on YouTube. Similarly, when a customer comes to me with a government-related task that I am unfamiliar with, I rely on YouTube to learn how to do it. I search on YouTube to find the relevant information. I use YouTube for cyber-related purposes. I don't need anything else.

Then, for the photo and everything else, I have to search on Google. If someone has sent the photo of the toy they want, I search for the name on Google to see what that product is. That's the purpose only and nothing else. That's all. They would send me the name on WhatsApp to check if I have that toy or not, and then I would search for it on Google to find out what it is. They search for toys and also for some other items. I may not have this in my shop, so I search for it on Google.

Yes. That's something much needed because there are many students who want to print out the photo. They need the photo for school or college projects. They would give me the chart and ask me to print them out for color prints. I don't understand the meaning of half of the images. So, I search on Google to find them. For example, if you give me 10 names of images I need to get, I search for them on Google and then print them out. Sometimes they can't find the image they want, so they give me the name and I have to search for it on Google. Most of the time, it's students who ask for this service, but there are also other customers. Since I work in Cyber, I have to use Google for sure. There are many things that I don't know and have no idea about. When I don't know how to do something, I search on Google and YouTube to learn how. When someone comes to me for form fill up, I have to search for it on Google, get the link, and then fill up the form. Some customers know how to fill up the form, but most of them don't, so I have to do it for them.

There are many products in my shop that we can buy online, and the prices are also lower online. The price would be the same as what we buy in-store or slightly less or slightly more, maybe. It didn't have much impact on external products and not on cyber business, but it did have a slight impact on toys. That's a bit. I said I would set up an Amul Parlor at the outside counter. I am still considering that. On this side, we would have this and as for toys, regarding what you said about online, I haven't had this thought yet. But I sell toys, and I receive the goods every month from Asansol.

I keep Milton products because there is no other shop here that sells Milton. There is one shop at the crossing, but they don't offer much of a discount. Many customers come here for Milton, as they have gone there and seen the prices. I went directly to the wholesaler of Milton in Asansol. I spoke to him and he said he would give me a good discount, which I can pass on to my customers. Now many people know that I have Milton goods, so they don't go there and come to me instead. They get a bigger discount here. I keep the profit margin low and offer more discounts. My goal is to attract more customers and have more foot traffic. It's not about having 2 customers and earning more. I want 200 customers instead of 2. I may have less profit, but if 200 customers come and they tell others that they can get good products at discounted prices here, I will attract more customers. That's my strategy.

If someone asks for a discount after already receiving one, I would still be willing to reduce the price slightly. However, as a business owner, I cannot bear the cost myself. For example, if I purchase something for 100 rupees and sell it for 120 rupees, I make a profit of 20 rupees. If a customer requests to buy it for 90 rupees, I cannot accept that offer. In that case, I would have to cover the additional 10 rupees from my own pocket. That's why I always clearly state the final price, and if the customer agrees, they can make the purchase. Otherwise, there is nothing more I can do.

That happened (conflict or fights with customers) when some customers didn't like something, and then I would like to show them more options. I would explain that certain products are good, and there are customers who recognize their quality but are willing to pay less for them. There are many customers like this. I try to make them understand that if they are looking for something good, they should be willing to pay the appropriate price. The company expects to receive that kind of price as well. If you are searching for something good but want to pay less, I don't keep items with lower prices. So far, this hasn't happened in my shop. There are many people who don't like something and then leave. They sometimes ask for goods that I don't have, and then they go away. But I haven't encountered this type of customer yet.

I don't expect to make a huge profit from just 2 customers. I would be willing to make less profit in exchange for more customers. Let me give you an example. Since this is a local area and not a market, we don't have 200 customers. Sometimes we have a large crowd, and both of us can't handle it alone. In those cases, I have to call my wife for help. I handle the machine while he does the Xerox, but when I have more customers for form fill-ups and such, I have to call my wife. I inform them that there is a crowd and it becomes chaotic when I have customers waiting outside. There are days when the three of us can't handle it either. This happens occasionally and it's not related to the season. During the Puja time, my shop experiences a decline in business. What do they get? They get brooms, brushes, and other items. The sale of cold drinks is normal, they sell well. But mostly, the sales pick up in November when exams start and the form fill-up process begins. Apart from that, everything runs normally.

I was doing the job in a Software Company in Kolkata before. MY father died at that time when I was there. My mother and brother were alone and then I came here in Durgapur. I have given interview in Kolkata and got the office in Durgapur Insurance Company. I came here and then I became Branch Manage. Then I thought as I have a space. I come back from the office at 5 or 6 pm and what to do then, I do gossip with friends only. So I have started the business as I can earn something. I am doing job now, and then for 10 years also, I have to do something after that. So this is my future plan. I have time off on Saturday and Sunday. During that time, I will be in the shop the whole day. I also have staff.

I didn't do anything for this. If I have a good business then, I have one software that I have made on Excel. I have made this, and I am thinking that I would maintain it. I have made one software. It's like tracking my earnings and expenses. I have that calculation fully ready. I will maintain it for the shop purpose. The one that I use in the book, I would use this for that.

Next 5 years, I have to develop the online shop. I have not yet thought about this. I have to post ads on social media. That's like posting good pictures of the stocks and all that I have got.

Earlier I used to insert the Pen Drive and then download and then print this out. Now I have this on WhatsApp so I would scan and then get the print also. Now this is much easier.

Earlier, when we didn't have PhonePe and Google Pay, a customer came and made a Xerox copy worth 15 rupees. Let me give you an example. He would say that he has 10 rupees now and he would give the remaining 5 rupees later, and that's it. Now, when someone says they have 10 rupees, I ask them to send me the remaining 5 rupees on PhonePe. That's the benefit.

No. Whenever I go, I will get a discount on all the items. I get the goods from the wholesaler and distributor. The wholesaler and distributors don't have discounts as such. They have fixed rates and we don't get single piece items, we get all in cartons. They would give us the wholesale rate as per the carton.

I use UPI for customers, as they scan this and use Phone Pe and Google Pay. People send money using UPI, and they also give me cash. Phone Pe is used more frequently. Cash transactions are also done, depending on the case - sometimes it's cash, and sometimes it's Phone Pe. Phone Pe is the preferred method. I have a business app for Phone Pe, as well as Amazon and Google Pay. I didn't keep more apps because I would get confused. That's why I have only two. I would have the benefit of tallying this, just like what happened in both of these. I find it easy to calculate this. I have the app PhonePe, and there I can see this. That's the business app. Then, what I get on Google Pay, I see that on the Account statement. If I have more than that, I would be confused. I have only these two. I had Bharat Pay before, and now I have closed it. I have only these two now.

I have thought about this on Facebook, and I would like to develop it further. Whenever I get new stock of goods, I will also add them on Facebook. However, I am not very familiar with Facebook. I only have an account and that's it. I don't know much about it or what happens on it. I need to explore it more before I can develop my online business further.