Samar

Now the thing is that there is no market for cosmetics in this area. In order to buy cosmetic products and garments, I have to travel to another place which is located 3 km from here. Despite that, I try to keep as many products as I can at my shop. I mainly sell cosmetic products and garments at my shop. Apart from that, I provide mobile recharges for old people at my shop. In this area, there are a lot of people over seventy years of age. There is no mobile recharge shop here. That's why I offer mobile recharges at my shop for older people. So, this is how I am running my shop, but it's not like the business is good here. The reason for this is that most people prefer to do online shopping now. In fact, the introduction of online shopping has affected the business of most retailers like me. Nevertheless, I am able to make 200-300 sales every day. Sometimes the number of sales per day goes up to 500-600. If the market conditions are really good, then the number of sales can go up to 1000-1500.

The sale is in terms of units. It's not a huge market here. There are hardly five or six shops here. So, we are able to survive. Since the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute is located nearby, a few customers from there come to my shop to buy products. If they want to buy products that I don't have at my shop, I will buy those products for them from outside. I have to do that much to keep the customers happy.

When I started this business and opened the shop, I didn't think about the future. I didn't open this business thinking that it would earn me a profit. I started this business thinking that it would grow to some extent in the next five or six years. But now, I feel that I have made the wrong choice by entering this cosmetic segment. I should have chosen some other segment. The thing is, there are too many cosmetic companies available in the market right now. There was a time when Lakme used to be the most popular brand. After Lakme, Maybelline became the most popular brand. Now there are too many brands like Sugar and local cosmetic brands in the market. Due to this reason, there is quite a fluctuation in the market.

I wouldn't say that the market condition is stable right now. If I talk about a customer who buys products from the Lakme brand, they won't buy Lakme products all the time. They could buy products from other brands as well. So, I have to keep products from all brands at my shop. The sales of these products go up and down. When I opened my shop, I expected the market conditions to remain good for cosmetic products. But that didn't happen, and then I decided to go into garments. The thing with cosmetic products is that they have an expiration date, which could be one year or two years. On the other hand, garments don't have an expiration date. That's why I decided to get into the garment selling business.

But after I started the garment business, I noticed the same trend. People have started buying their garments online. If I sell a clothing item at a price of 600 rupees, people can buy the same clothing item online for 300 rupees. So, why should they come to my shop to purchase the clothing item? Now online shopping has become a trend all over India. Due to this reason, my business has become a bit slow. I have even heard that groceries are being delivered to people's houses after they order them online. So, if people can get everything online, then why should they come to our shop or why would they need us?

I have considered selling products online. However, the issue is that I have already invested a significant amount of money into my business. Now, if I were to download an app or affiliate myself with a company, I would need to invest additional funds. It is not feasible for me to invest any more money.

If I decide to do my business online, then who is going to buy my products? There are already companies selling their own products on these online platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and Myntra. So, people can buy products from these companies through any of these online platforms. So, why would they come to me to buy those products? On top of that, they are getting good benefits and huge discounts from these companies when they buy their products. If they purchase products from me, I won't be able to give them benefits and discounts that are available online. Due to all these reasons, I don't want to take my business online.

I opened my shop at this location because there are no other shops within a radius of 1-2 km. There is the Smart Bazaar, which is a kind of shopping mall where local people go to do their shopping. If you come to this area, there is only my shop where people come to buy cosmetic products and garments. The next shop that you will find is in the Chandidas market, which is about 2.5-3 km from here. Anyway, the main question is why people should buy products from my shop. I offer good discounts to the customers. I give better discounts on products than any shop in the Chandidas market. I am not saying this. This is the feedback that I have received from most of my customers. Instead of going to the Chandidas market and paying a transportation fare of 30 rupees, people prefer to buy products from my shop. By buying products from my shop, they are able to save their time and money.

The only issue is that I don't get enough customers at my shop. If my shop were inside a shopping mall, I would have many customers coming to my shop every day. In that case, I would be able to sell products at a fixed rate and keep a wide range of branded products at my shop. As I am a retailer, I have to keep all types of items and products at my shop. I have to keep both costly and cheaper products at my shop. If a customer comes to my shop to buy something, I don't want them to leave empty-handed. I always try to keep all the products that the customers want to buy. But if I don't have a product that the customer wants to buy, I will get it for them from somewhere. So, I always try to make sure that the customers leave my shop happy and satisfied.

I try to give discounts to all my customers. It’s not compulsory that I will give discounts to only a few customers. My strategy is that if I sell products at a fixed price, then customers won’t buy them from me. So, I have to rotate my business and the amount that I am investing in my business without stopping the product sales. I can’t keep the products in stock at my shop. I have to sell products at a discount of 10-15 percent. Once I sell the products that I already have at my shop, I will be able to buy new products. Now, if I talk about products that people are using today, they may not want to use these same products tomorrow as new products are getting launched in the market every day. That’s why I always try to sell the products which I already have in stock. Once I do that, I can buy new products and sell them at my shop. So, this is how I am running my business and my shop.

The most important thing for my business is inventory. So, inventory will come in first place. Customers will come in second place. Staff will come in third place.

Inventory means keeping different types of products in stock. Now, if I keep a wide range of products at my shop, more customers will come to my shop. It will increase the customer flow at my shop. When the customer flow increases, I have to hire more staff to work at my shop and deal with the customers. But if I don't keep a wide range of products at my shop, the customer flow won't increase. In that case, there would be no point in hiring more staff. So, the first thing that I have to do is to invest in products and keep them in stock. Once I have done that, the customer flow at my shop will increase, and then I can hire more staff to work at my shop. Once I have done all these things, I will become a wholesaler.

The thing is, I will purchase products from the vendors first and then keep those products in stock. After that, I will wait for customers to come to my shop and buy those products. I will be able to clear my stock only when customers come to my shop. If I can't clear my stock, there is no point in hiring more staff as I won't be able to pay them. So, it would be good to place the staff in last place. I can deal with the customers by myself. But if I am getting too many customers at my shop, especially during the Durga Puja, I have to hire a few people to work at my shop and deal with all the customers. Even during the off-season, there are times when I get a lot of customers at my shop. So, it's not like I hire staff and let them go. I hire staff on a permanent basis.

In West Bengal, the Durga Puja time is the peak season for all shop owners. During Durga Puja, I get a lot of customers at my shop. I even get out-of-town customers at my shop during Durga Puja to buy clothing items and cosmetic products. Other than that, I also get customers who come to my shop to buy products like cream when they are out of stock. I get these types of customers at my shop throughout the year. During the Durga Puja season, new products get launched in the market and these products sell a lot in the city, but not here. So, I buy these new products and sell them to customers by telling them that they are trendy. There are some new products that I will only buy during Durga Puja and not otherwise. It is not possible for me to go to Kolkata every month and buy products from there.

I usually contact the local distributor, and he delivers the products to me. Let me give you an example. If I go to any local shop and see Lakme products there, I will contact my vendor or distributor and ask him to deliver Lakme products to me. So, the distributor will come to my shop, see which products I need to keep in my stock, and deliver them to me. I always talk to the distributor face-to-face. The head of all the distributors won't come to my shop. The person delivering all the products to me is the salesman. It's the salesmen who visit all the shops and take product orders from the shop owners. Based on the product orders, the salesmen deliver the products to them.

The salesman has a company app on his phone. So, the salesman will ask me about all the products that I need for my shop. I will tell him that I need Lakme products like Lakme compact, Lakme foundation, and Lakme 9to5, and I need Elle 8. With the help of the app, the salesman shows us different shades in which the products come. In this way, I select the products that I want him to deliver to my shop.

When I started this business, Justdial was launched in the market. People from Justdial came to my shop and took pictures of the products. After that, they called and told me that I needed to pay an annual amount of 14,000 or 15,000 rupees. I told them that I wouldn't pay this amount. Why should I pay that amount when I can buy products with it instead?

Sometimes I use WhatsApp to promote my products. If I feel that a certain product needs promotion, I will upload information about that product as my WhatsApp status. All my friends and customers on WhatsApp can learn about the product by viewing my status.

There are some customers with whom I communicate on WhatsApp. I usually upload pictures of the products on WhatsApp. Let's say that I upload images of 6-7 kurtis on WhatsApp. Now, if the customers see these images on WhatsApp and like any of the kurtis, they will call me to inquire about the price and quality of that kurti. Once they have learned everything about the kurti, they will ask me to set it aside so that they can come to my shop and buy it. These are regular customers who visit my shop frequently.

Actually, I use Google Search for a lot of things including my business. If I am not able to understand something or if I need information about any medicine or product, I will search for it on Google. I use Google Search to gain knowledge.

Yes, I search for all the new and latest products on YouTube. There are many distributors who make videos to promote products and upload them on YouTube. So, if I ever reach that level, I will also try to promote my products by making videos and uploading them on YouTube. In these YouTube videos, the distributors share their location so that retailers like me can go there and buy products from them.

My experience with business-related WhatsApp statuses was not great at all. There was one time when I uploaded images of 5-6 clothing items as my WhatsApp status. People on my WhatsApp friend list viewed these images and enquired about the price of these clothing items. I told them the price of these clothes items, but I didn't inform them whether there was any discount on the clothing items or not. I will only disclose the discount on the product when a customer comes to my shop to make a purchase. So, I tried to promote products on WhatsApp a few times, but I didn't receive a good response at all. The reason is that the current market condition is not good at all. As I have already mentioned, most people prefer to buy products online now. Nowadays, we can buy almost anything online.

Madam, I am considering closing down my shop. I don't have any other option. People will continue to purchase products online from now on. Online shopping has a strong presence in the market and throughout India. Additionally, people can get discounts of up to 50 percent on products when they buy them from online platforms during Durga Puja, New Year's Eve, Independence Day, or Republic Day. For instance, you can purchase Levi's products with a 50 percent discount from Myntra. Now, if I talk about retailers like myself, we buy products from distributors at a fixed rate. Therefore, it is not possible for us to offer a 50 percent discount on the products.

Selling products at a 50 percent discount would result in no profit and a significant loss in my business. Online shopping has negatively impacted the business of many retailers. Previously, I would buy a pair of earrings for 40 rupees and sell them for 50 rupees, earning a profit of 10 rupees. However, customers can now purchase the same pair of earrings online for 30 rupees.

Let me share an incident from a few days ago. I stock the Lakme Iconic Kajal at my shop, which has a printed price of 190 rupees. However, I sell it for 170 rupees. Recently, Lakme launched a new pack with two sticks of Lakme Iconic Kajal priced at 180 rupees. It is unlikely that customers would come to my shop to buy just one stick for 170 rupees when they can buy two sticks at Smart Bazaar for 180 rupees. This highlights the decline in the market for shop owners like me.

I have plans to grow my business. But in order to do that, I have to shift my shop to a bigger market where I can attract more customers. I can't increase the customer flow here at this place. The market conditions are not good here. Nowadays, I just come to my shop and sit idly most of the time, waiting for a customer. If I can't get customers, I won't be able to sell the products and pay my staff. So, there are a lot of problems that I am currently facing. I have to run this shop and provide for my family. Even if I invest in my business, I won't attract many customers here at this place. After 6:30 pm, I hardly get 3-4 customers at my shop. If they ask for a product that I don't have in stock, they will leave my shop empty-handed.

If a customer comes to my shop in the evening and asks for a product that I don't have, I will ask them to give me until tomorrow so that I can go to the market to buy the product and deliver it to them in the morning. In return for doing that, most customers give five rupees as a tip. I mean, who gives 5 rupees as a tip nowadays? So, this is how I am running my business.

I sell all types of products, including pillow covers and bed sheets. There isn't anything that I don't sell at my shop. The thing is, local people can buy every product they need from my shop instead of going to the nearby market and paying a transportation fare of 30 rupees. So, customers can save a lot of their time and money by buying products from my shop. Whatever discounts they can get from the shops in the local market, I offer better discounts than them. I started my business after considering these factors, and I am still running my business in the same way as before. I haven't thought about doing anything different in my business. Right now, I am thinking about how I can grow my business. I would appreciate suggestions on things that I can do to expand my business. If you provide suggestions on how I can grow my business, I will take them into consideration and definitely implement them. If I achieve good results from doing that, I will wholeheartedly thank both of you. I have been running my business on my own for a long time. It is unlikely that I am doing something wrong, but I don't know what it is. I am dealing with and communicating with customers. I am providing products to customers. Despite doing all this, I am still not getting enough customers at my shop.

I am not getting enough customers at my shop because of online shopping. If I can't make enough sales, it will have an impact on my business and create mental pressure on me.

I don't track or record sales now. Earlier, I used to track my sales by writing them down in a register. I was able to maintain the register for 5-10 days, but I stopped doing it after that. Now, if five or more customers come to my shop and buy different types of products from me, it won't be possible for me to write everything down in a register.

When I started my business and opened this shop, I didn't have enough money to invest. So, I used to sell chips, copies, and books at my shop in the initial stage. Along with that, I used to do mobile recharges at my shop. But pretty soon, I noticed that other people in this area started the same business as mine, and my business was getting affected because of that. So, that's when I started doing mobile recharges because no one here was doing mobile recharges at that time. Slowly and steadily, I started selling cosmetic products at my shop. When I started selling cosmetic products at my shop, I used to get a good number of customers who came to my shop to buy those cosmetic products. Recently, I had to keep my shop closed for a month because I had a severe fever. So, I feel that my business went down because I kept my shop closed for a month. The customers won't wait for me. If they can't get products from my shop, they will go to some other shop.

If I need money, I borrow it from my friends. I ask my friends to lend me some money, which I promise to pay back.

I have to pay the vendors somehow. I have to sell products anyhow so that I can get the money and pay that money to the vendors. I can't focus on selling only one product. If I decide to sell perfume bottles only and use the money from selling these bottles to pay the vendors, then I would have to close down my shop. No vendor will wait for me to sell the products and then pay them. If I do that, my relationship with the vendors will turn sour. So, I have to sell the products somehow in order to pay the vendors and maintain a good relationship with them.

It depends on the customers. It is not possible for me to know what the customers like. A customer can like many things. My job is to satisfy the customer. Now, let’s say that you come to my shop to buy the Lakme foundation, but I don’t have this product at my shop. Instead, I have a similar product called Joy Foundation at my shop. In that case, I have to satisfy you first, and then I can convince you to buy the Joy Foundation.

Let me give you another example. I keep Lakme aloe vera gel at my shop, and its price is 340 rupees. I have a similar product called Astaberry aloe vera gel, and its price is 110 rupees. So, the question is how can I satisfy the customer and make them buy the Astaberry aloe vera gel instead of the Lakme aloe vera gel? Lakme is a well-known brand, whereas Astaberry is not. Not many people know about the Astaberry brand, so I have to convince the customer. To do that, I will let them try out both products to see which one feels softer on their skin. These types of products often come with a test or trial pack. I will encourage them to use the Astaberry aloe vera gel at least once. If they don't like it, they can always go back to the Lakme aloe vera gel. This way, I can convince most of the customers. However, the issue is that I am affecting my business by selling the Astaberry aloe vera gel, which costs less than the Lakme aloe vera gel.

Now I do get customers who can't afford to buy expensive products from brands like Lakme. If a customer comes to my shop to buy an aloe-vera gel and they have only 150 rupees in their pocket, I can't make them buy the Lakme aloe-vera gel. I can't sell the Lakme aloe-vera gel to them on a credit basis because I don't know when they are going to pay me back. So, instead of the Lakme aloe-vera gel, I can sell the Astaberry aloe-vera gel to the customer as they can afford to buy this product. In this way, I will be able to satisfy the customer and earn income, which is good for my business. So, this is how I run my business. I don't sell products to the customers on a credit basis. If I do that, I know that they will pay for the products after 2-3 months. I can't wait for 2-3 months to get paid. I have to sell the products in stock, get the money, and buy new products. It's not like the customers will buy products from one brand only. They will buy products from other brands as well. So, I have to buy and keep products from various brands at my shop.

There are a few customers to whom I sell products on a credit basis. These customers have been buying products from shops for a long time. So, I have to allow them to buy products from me on credit. However, I make a deal with the customers. I tell them that they can buy their products from me on credit, but they have to pay 30 percent of the amount upfront and clear the remaining amount within two months. Most of my customers pay for the products within one month, but there are some customers who take four months to pay. All the customers pay me back at the end of the day. They trust me, and that’s why they buy products from me. So, this is how I run my business.

If I talk about the main company distributors, they don't visit shops. But the representatives from various companies do visit my shop whenever a new product is launched in the market. They give me banners for the new product and provide me with all the information about the product. If I find that the product is good, I will purchase it and sell it at my shop.

I don't keep track of employees taking leaves. I don't follow the rule that says "No work, no pay." Whenever I feel sick or don't want to open the shop, I give a day off to my employee. Whenever my employee takes a leave or can't come to the shop, I have to manage everything on my own. I am not the kind of person who will make someone work like a donkey just because I pay their wages. We are all human beings at the end of the day. So, I always treat my staff with respect.

I don't use Amazon Pay and Bharat Pay anymore. The thing is, people used to come every 2-3 months to change the barcodes used by apps like Amazon Pay and BharatPe. It has been quite some time since anyone from Amazon Pay came to change the barcode. So, I had no option but to stop using the Amazon Pay app. I had the same issue with BharatPe. As for GPay and PhonePe, people from these companies come to my shop regularly to change the barcode. They come once a month to change the barcode.

I thought about selling products on Quikr. There are a few people here who do their business on Quikr. But as I have already mentioned, I don't want to invest my money into unnecessary things. I don't want customers to approach me with product-related issues after I sell them the product on Quikr. I am okay with selling products to people I know personally, but I am not comfortable selling products to unknown individuals.

There are times when I ask my customers to share the screenshot of the payment that they are making through an app like PhonePe or GPay with me on WhatsApp. So, this is how I deal with the customers. However, there are customers who don't use any payment apps like GPay or PhonePe. Those customers buy the products from my shop and assure me that they will pay for those products the next day. Now, if I have trust in a customer, I will allow them to buy products from me and pay for them by the next day. I have to conduct my business in this way. If I don't get any customers at my shop throughout the day and a customer comes to my shop when I am about to close it, I will sell products to them on a credit basis and take assurance from them that they will pay for those products the next day. So, trust plays a big factor in any business. I note down the money customers owe me in my diary.

I want to start a new business. The thing is, a successful businessman should be involved in various types of businesses. If I run multiple businesses, then failure in one of them won't have any impact on me. I am not attracting enough customers to my shop because people nowadays prefer to purchase products online. Nowadays, people can order food online through platforms like Zomato and Swiggy. If this particular business of mine is not performing well, I will have to switch to a completely different business. As you may know, Bengali people have a love for food. Whenever Bengali people come across a new restaurant, they tend to visit and dine there. That's why I want to open a restaurant because I am confident that I will have customers throughout the year.

Opening a restaurant is one of my plans, but I need to have other options as well. As I have already mentioned, the market conditions are not good right now. Due to this reason, my business is not running well. If my business doesn't run well, I have to support and provide for my family. So, I need to have other options to earn money. I can't rely solely on my business. If I do that, I won't be able to survive. Therefore, my current plan is to relocate my shop to a better location where I can attract more customers. If that doesn't work, I will consider changing my business and opening a restaurant. These are my plans or dreams, and I don't know whether I will be able to fulfill them or not.

I have already told you about all the challenges that I am facing in my business. But the biggest challenge for me is the introduction of online shopping platforms, which have hampered my business in a significant way. Everyone knows that the market is declining because people now prefer to buy products online. Every shop owner and retailer will say the same thing as me. On top of that, people have started trusting these online platforms. However, the issue with buying products online is that you can't do anything if you find any defects with the product. Let's say you buy a Lakme product online. But after using this Lakme product, you find that it is causing skin issues for you. In that case, you can't do anything about it or go to anyone. But if you buy the same Lakme product from a shop and find issues with it, you can go to the shop owner and return the product. After that, the shop owner can contact the company and inform them about the issue with their product.

The biggest challenge for me is these online shopping platforms. When it comes to clothing items, people now prefer to buy them from Amazon or Flipkart. If someone buys a clothing item from a physical shop and encounters a size or fitting issue, they won't receive a refund when they try to return it. Instead, the shop owner would offer them the option to exchange it for another clothing item. However, if someone purchases a clothing item from Amazon or Flipkart and faces a size or fitting issue, they have the option to return it within seven days or a month. So, everything has its pros and cons. This is how the world works.

II have thought about selling products online. But if I have to invest 30,000-40,000 rupees to sell my products online, I won't be able to do that. As I have already mentioned, people from Justdial came to me and asked me to pay an amount of 15,000 rupees in order to sell products on their platform. I didn't want to pay that amount. Instead of paying 15,000 rupees to them, I can buy products worth 15,000 rupees and earn a profit by selling them at my shop. I can't wait for Justdial to find me customers. I don't think many people use Justdial. That's why I am not interested in investing my money into Justdial.

I haven't had the opportunity to sell products on Amazon or Flipkart. But if I do get this opportunity, I will definitely consider investing my money and selling products on these online shopping platforms. I know that I will be able to sell my products on Amazon and Flipkart. But the thing is that people won't buy products from me. They will buy products directly from the company because they can avail benefits and discount offers in that way. The thing is that the quality of the products available on Amazon is known to Amazon and the company to which those products belong. People like us wouldn't know the quality of those products.

I sell all types of products at my shop. I engage in various types of businesses. I am an agent of ICICI Prudential, and I have passed the IRDA exam. I also provide mediclaim services. Additionally, I am an IRCTC agent, which allows me to use my laptop to book train tickets. The key is to offer a wide range of products at my shop, as customers are more likely to visit a shop that offers a diverse selection. Therefore, I strive to stock my shop with a variety of products so that I can fulfill any customer's request. It is important to me that no customer leaves my shop empty-handed. At Smart Bazaar, you can find a wide range of products, but you cannot book train tickets there. However, at my shop, you can not only purchase all types of products but also book your train tickets. I typically assist older individuals who are unable to visit the railway station to book their tickets.

I also do insurance. The thing is, I can't just stick to one thing. I have to survive in this world. I have to diversify my business and income in order to survive. If I can't earn money from one thing, I can earn it from another. That's why I sell so many products and do so many things. So, this is how I run my business in a very haphazard way.

I also do occasional business. By occasional business, I mean that I sell colors at my shop before Holi, and I sell firecrackers at my shop before Diwali. Similarly, I sell Rakhis at my shop before Raksha Bandhan. So, I have to do these things to earn money.

I purchase these specific festive items, which cost around 5000 rupees, from the local wholesaler. It's through word of mouth. Let me explain it to you with an example. Imagine that you are a shop owner and he is a wholesaler, and I am your friend. You have been purchasing products from him for a long time. So, one day I came to you and said that I wanted to buy some products to sell at my shop. You suggested that I should buy products from him because he is a wholesaler. That's how I learned about the local wholesaler.

I have never thought about marketing my business. It's not possible for me to do the marketing of my business because I sit at my shop throughout the day. I know that customers will come to my shop to buy products if I keep it open. As of now, I don't have any plans to do the marketing of my business. But at home, my daughter always tells me that I need to promote my business online and upload statuses on WhatsApp to increase the number of customers. As I said earlier, I have tried promoting my business online, but it was a failure.

I have already told you that I didn't receive a good response from it. I tried uploading photos of my products on WhatsApp. Everyone viewed those photos, but not many came forward to buy the products. I rarely received a response when I tried promoting and selling products online. Out of ten customers, I may receive a response from 5-6 customers. It's not like these customers would buy the product right away. They would come to my shop in person and see the product before buying them.

I am aware of WhatsApp Business, but I have not yet used it. Many people have advised me to create a WhatsApp business account and upload all my products in PDF format to that account. However, I do not believe that many people would see it. Only the individuals in my contact list would have access to view the products. These individuals have the option to visit my shop and purchase the products in person, rather than buying them online from me. People who live nearby are more likely to come to my shop to make purchases, whereas those who live far away are unlikely to visit my shop when they can easily buy products from a shop near their location.

With the introduction of these payment apps, making payments has become much safer and more secure. Now people don't have to carry cash with them; they can make payments through apps like GPay or PhonePe. When it comes to the vendors and salesmen who come to my shop, they make payments to me through GPay if they don't have any cash. So, I do use these payment apps frequently for business purposes.