Prashant

I am in this business for profit. I want to expand my business. I am renting here. It would be much better if this space were mine. I would like to find a new location by the roadside.

I want to start another roadside business – that of opening a pollution center. There is none within a 1km radius here. So, I want to do that.

There is so much different technology available. There are billing machines. I want one. It would really help me. I would be able to bill quickly compared to the slower process now, where I write everything down. I might keep it when sales increase.

My shop is a garments shop. I used to have a private job. It soon dawned on me that I could work for 12-24 hours and not feel happy. I knew that I couldn't please anyone by doing that. I thought that this would be a better way to make ends meet as one cannot live in today's inflation. You need to average about 600 a day. it is no use otherwise. Keeping all of that in mind, I opened this shop. I had a private job in the hotel line. I was a room boy. I worked as a steward. I used to pick up luggage for customers.

I got into garments because the main wholesale market is about a kilometer from here. I thought I could purchase a small amount and get into business. I began with a few saris at home. I sold them to the neighbors. Then I bought some other things and thought to expand my business. That is how I came to establish this shop by taking the space on rent.

I wasn't getting anything on the main road. I found out from a friend that this place was available. The development was starting here, and that's when I started booking it. And hence I chose this location.

This is a neighborhood shop. There is no fixed schedule. There might be days when I don't sell anything, and then there are days when I sell goods worth 5k. I might even sell goods worth ₹10,000. I open my shop around 8 am and close around 1 pm. Then I open again around 5 pm and stay open until 9 pm.

Yes, I did face difficulties in the beginning of the business. I did have financial troubles. I took a public loan. I took it from IndusInd Bank and Jana Bank. I gave some gold and took a loan. I gave some gold lying at home and took a business loan. I also took some microfinance loans. I took them from IndusInd Bank. I am still paying them off. If you borrow money from a friend, then you have to pay around that much. They might charge around 10k for a 1 lakh loan. One cannot pay that much. That is when I went in for microfinance. Modi Government has come up with many offers for small entrepreneurs. That is when I opted for microfinance. This friend works with them. I was told that I would have to pay around 12% annually. That was 10% monthly... my friend took 10% monthly, but the microfinance was 12% yearly. There is a significant difference. I took a loan and then another one to pay it off, and so on and so forth. That is how I proceeded and started my business.I have to purchase the goods. I might sell around 20k worth of goods but have to purchase 25k of goods. Where would I get the remaining amount? That is when I have to take a loan. As and when I sell, I pay it off. I have one payment that occurs weekly and one that occurs monthly.

This is a neighborhood shop. I mainly cater to people who are looking to buy saris below 1k. They would prefer to go to a larger shop for more expensive items. They specifically look for items priced below 1k. Otherwise, they would go to another place. I also stock innerwear and hosiery items. I began by keeping only saris. I had kept around 8-10 saris. Then I saw that they weren't selling. Then I realized that one has to keep everything in the neighborhood shop. I slowly started keeping all the things the ladies around the colony asked me to keep. Someone might ask for a bedsheet while shopping for a sari. So, I began keeping those as well. That is how I went about it. If someone asked me for a vest, I went ahead and got one for them. That is how I have ended up keeping so much already. You would get an idea of what people in the neighborhood want. You would find everything.

I have items in my shop based on what you want, such as a sari or a handkerchief. You can also find vests, innerwear, and underwear for both men and women. I have it all. I also have bedsheets. I have items for small children and people aged around 40-45 years or so. I also have lungis and dhotis for the elderly. The customer doesn't have to leave disappointed. Usually, you don't find everything in one place. A shop selling saris would only sell saris. If it sells dhotis, then it would only sell dhotis. What I have done is sell everything. If they want a dhoti, pant, or anything else for that matter, they can find it all here, in one shop. I have done this based on the customers' requirements. I listened to them and stocked up accordingly because I am their neighborhood shopkeeper. They would rather come and pick something up at my shop than spend money on traveling to another place. They say it's better to get it from me.

I feel that if customers don't come to me, I wouldn't be able to sell my goods. The first preference is always the customer. They wouldn't come to me if they were unhappy with what I put forth for their purchase. I am going to succeed if I am able to satisfy the customers.

I need to buy goods from vendors. I don't buy goods worth 1-2 lakh. I make local purchases. I buy from wholesale markets and stock my place. I do Asansol Local Purchases. They are about 2km away and I can purchase goods worth say 20k or so. They also give some amount of credit.

I manage credit with vendors like I told you that they write it down and then pay it off via small microfinance loans. I pay off the loans one by one. I have to pay off the vendors before I take the next batch of goods. I get a certain credit period from them, so I make my purchases there. They provide the goods even if I don't have cash with me. I get the goods on credit and give them cash when I receive it. I might make a partial payment. for example, I take goods for 50k and give them only 10k. They provide me credit for about 40k. Then I take a microfinance loan and clear their funds. That way, I might get more goods. perhaps 1 lakh more. I write my inventory down in a book. I write down how much I owe, the goods I have and so on and so forth.

I have provided loans to customers. There are ₹400, ₹500, and ₹600 amounts given to around 70-80 people. They haven't returned the money to me. If I have sold something for ₹1000 and the customer has only paid ₹800, they might say that they will give the remaining amount after a couple of days, and that is usually fine with me. I write that down in my notebook. I simply note down the amount they owe me for the goods. I record the credit amount.

I write down whatever is running out in the store. If the vests run out while I am giving one to someone, I write it on a piece of paper and restock it as soon as I can. I write it down and maintain it this way as it is a very small shop, a neighbourhood shop.

I don't call customers to repay credit. They usually come to my shop or pass by. I remind them when I see them. They do come here for vegetable shopping, so I might remind them. If I call them and they don't answer, then I tell them in person.

I have also significantly reduced the loans I give. There have been around 80 to 85 people who haven't paid me back. They owe around ₹400 or ₹500... even ₹600 or ₹800... so I have given around ₹60,000 to ₹70,000 just as credit. I am not getting the money back. That is why I have stopped making sales on credit. I have reduced it.

I give credit to people whom I know would pay me back. They would deliver. You can always recognize them. I have stopped giving credit to new customers.

I know which distributors to go to because I have purchased goods from them. If I have bought goods from them about 8-10 times and seen that the stock is of good quality, then I continue with them. For the first time, I would have heard about the distributor from a friend. Word of mouth carries great significance in my line of work. I also have a friend who owns a garment shop and he has told me about them.

Not all of the vendors offer credit. Only saris are available on credit. The rest are for cash. I may record the cash amount given. If it is 30k, I may pay 20k in cash and the remaining amount through PhonePe. I may make a note of that. PhonePe and Google Pay. I use them both.

Vendors call on WhatsApp and send reminders about the payments. If I am at the market for any purchases, I pay them at that time.

I don't refuse returns. If I did that, then they wouldn't come to me. I am the neighborhood shop. I have only a couple of customers all day. I don't get a thousand. If I refuse them, they wouldn't come to me. If they have used the goods, then I call them and tell them. She had ₹600 due, and she returned it to me. I deducted the amount from what was due from her.

I show the color options to customers on WhatsApp. I show them the color options in case I have something new. If the customer asks me to WhatsApp any new goods that come to the shop, they call me and tell me to send it to them on WhatsApp. They want to see photos, so I show them the photos. If I have some new saris, they might ask me to send them the colors. Most of the customers do that. I send it to them when they ask me, not otherwise. I tell them the rates when they come here. If they ask for it, then I tell them. I don't tell them before they ask.

I had thought about using WhatsApp status. I had thought that I would go about it in the next couple of days – send pics of the business. I thought about putting it on my status. I have seen many WhatsApp messages. I thought I would do the same. There are many people who put up pictures of the status of messages. There are friends who are into medicine, so they put pictures of medicine-related things. Some are into cars, so their status defines that. I thought that I would do the same.

I am upset that I have received a lot of goods... I have to pay back a lot of people, and I am not making enough sales... then there are these rains... How do I manage?

No, I don't have my shop on Google Maps. If they ask me for the location, I send it to them. However, if they call me and ask me for the location, I send it to them on WhatsApp. I thought that I would do something bigger and then come onto maps.

There are many friends who might have seen my Facebook page and realized that I have a clothing store. I haven't posted anything about the business, but they might come to know about it through chat. I tell them that I have a small garment shop. I knew them from before, but after Facebook, they have also become my customers. They come and purchase some items from me as soon as they realize that I am also on Facebook. My customers might connect with me, and I might accept them. When they do, I accept them. They have to approach me first.

You have to give customers discounts from time to time to keep the customer happy. I felt that I had ₹20 to give away, so I decided to do just that. I don't have a thousand customers. It is a neighborhood shop after all. That is why. Had I not given the discount, she would have gone away. I might get a lesser share, but it is okay. I am okay if the customer is happy.

I learned about UPI a year ago, but there were many negative things being said about it, such as money getting deducted and so on. People thought that money would be taken out of their accounts easily, but later I realized that there are many advantages. Most customers don't carry cash anymore. They come and ask if we accept PhonePe and Google Pay. They might not have made the purchases if I didn't accept it.

I keep a record of the business done through PhonePe and Google Pay. I have both. I have my personal savings account. I also have a loan account, which was given to me. I had taken a loan from this Finance. They had given it to me free of cost. They said that it would aid my business.

The customers make payments too. It is very advantageous. My perception about UPI changed when I repaid my loan. They said I could also pay them back this way. They had a scanner, and I made payments from there. I could also receive the money this way, and I was assured that the money would go to the right place. That is why I said they could proceed with it.

QR code was advantageous. I had a current account with them, then the PhonePe people came to me. The Google Pay chap came as well. There were two different boys. I took another UPI because it was a personal one. I was given this machine by Google Pay. Then there is the PhonePe one. They are both so good. They gave a machine also.