Sriram

I am having a fancy store. I sell fancy items, mobile recharge, toys, gift items, and stationery. We do everything. I have been doing this for the past 10 to 12 years. It has been running. I have all the items including fancy bangles. Whatever is moving maximum I do that. I do mobile recharge and SIM cards.

Before starting the business, I worked as a salesman in the Gulf. I worked there for 10 years. I went there in 2003. I came here in 2013 and started a business. I had an idea to start a business as a family settlement. That's how it started.

I chose to do this because I wanted to do something that was not available in this area. I wanted to do something that was moving. All the shops were there but there were no fancy shops at that time. That's why I chose this. I was inspired by other shops. There is a shop called Singapore Shopping. I have seen a few shops in Erode. Based on their movement I got inspired and started this shop. People should get the feeling that everything will be available in this shop, so I started this shop.

When I started, I didn't have any fear or problems. I opened my own shop and it is running. We had jewels. I got the interest from a jewel loan. It has been running since then.

Regarding purchase of products, I got the information from a friend. I am purchasing all the items from Chennai. We purchased it in Parrys. The wholesale market is cheaper in Chennai than Coimbatore. My friend chose a few shops and helped me purchase things. He helped me for initial setup and I did marketing based on the movement. I am the sole owner. We also kept stationery as there is a school nearby. There is a station opposite. They come and ask for pen, pencil, and paper. As we have everything they need, there is movement. It's a small thing but we need movement, right? We aim to attract customers.

The peak season is during Diwali. Maximum Diwali season is maximum peak season and mostly regular sales. But generally, there is no season for fancy. Demand will peak during wedding and function season.

During the peak season, I will ask my wife to assist. Other times, I will manage myself. We don’t have sales persons for work. On Sundays there will be a crowd because of sandhai (market). She will come and help at that time.

Initially, we had kept a person for help us, but it didn’t work out. So we didn’t keep. A lot of articles would go missing. Even if I have a camera, I couldn’t do anything about it. There are lots of issues, so I stopped. If it's a small shop, it's okay. It’s a big shop and there are lots of items. We can't check each item. Next day if the customer asks for an item and while searching if it is not there we know about it. Until then, we won't know.

My shop is on Google business. There is a notification on Google Maps that in our area we deal with all the items. First, if they search for fancy, our shop is familiar. I am only in Google business and not on any other platforms. They came from Just Dial and just asked for my number and I gave them the number. I didn’t opt for a monthly subscription. People who visit our shop are local people, since they come to market nearby, they also visit my shop. A person who searches and comes to the shop is very rare in this area. It will be different in Coimbatore city, where people from over all over the place visit.

We're open from morning 9.30 till night 9:30 pm in between 1-1/2 hours break in the afternoon. I will close the shop and go. I close the door and go from 2:30 to 4 o’clock. As I regularly close by that time customers will know. Suppose if anyone comes also they will call me. They know my number. It's the same for all days. We close the shop on Friday afternoon as I go to prayer. If I close at afternoon 12, I open at 4 in the evening. Rest of the days, regular time. The first thing I do after opening shop is cleaning. I have to clean everything first. There will be dust and then clean everything and start the sales. If there are customers I will do sales, cleaning work will be going on. If cleaning work is over it will be free.

One day the business is good, the other day it's not. The major challenge is the managing cash. If there is a shortage in cash collection, “rotation” will stop. We aim to give an certain amount to a number of people every day. Some days if there is not much sales, we cannot give them. When we buy things from a vendor, we get 15 days time. We have to pay them twice a week. When we purchase some items, we make payment. They come on that day and we have to pay them.

Mostly ladies are customers. When it comes to fancy, maximum ladies and when it comes to stationery, it's the kids.

Customers who come regularly see it on the road and come. Customers who search on the internet are very rare for our shop. People who search on the internet will call me. I have given my mobile number. I get maximum 1 or 2 calls a week. Because it's local they come and buy.

When a customer visits, we give them what they need. We satisfy the customers. We don't sell for a high price and keep the correct margin, so they like our shop. If a customer asks for an item, we have to give it to them. They have to like it. First they check if things are of good quality.

We don't know what the customer wants. When they come, everything is there. We give them a full display. If they say whatever they want, we give them what we have. Their tastes are so broad. When it comes to fancy items, there are a lot of preferences. We can't satisfy them. Even if we have a lot of items, they will sometimes ask for things that are not available. No matter how much variety you offer them, they will ask if you only have this much. For ladies as well, any item in fancy this is the scenario. We display a few items outside and other items which they ask will be inside. We should keep changing the display every 3 months. When they come and ask about the product, I will take it from inside. They will ask if it is in the same model. After online business entered, satisfying customers has become difficult.

Online payment is very rare. Some vendors are giving the facility now but for the most part, it is cash and carry. If we have cash, we have the courage to buy. They don’t prefer online payment and I don’t either. I'll go and give the cash and finish the transactions. I will go and pick myself. One or two boxes only, because if we arrange for transportation, it will be costly.

When it comes to fancy items, choices of customers change every year and not just 10 years. If you have the same collection the next day also, they will ask if it is old. We have been purchasing items every 3 months. We also purchase items in limited quantities. I don’t worry about cost as things don't expire. Only Cosmetics only expire. I will take in less quantity. Other items I will take more. Depending on customer preferences, items can sell out slowly or be fast moving. We need to purchase it once every 3 months or else we cannot manage it. We go to Chennai only for Diwali. Other times, we purchase items locally.

I keep a track of sales in a notebook. I write each and every transaction daily. For each transaction, I write it for myself. We need to know how many items I have given. If someone says you didn’t pay me, I show them the accounts. That's how I do it. We make transactions. I buy, I give, I will definitely write it down. I cannot calculate profit and loss in a month, one month is good, one month there is deficit.

Regular customers keep coming. If they like an item, they come and buy it. They will buy the same item again later or they will bring their friends and buy. As the quality is good, they like it. First of all, if a product is nice only customers will come again. If the product is not good and it is damaged means they won’t come again. It's all about customer to customer. We also don’t advertisement.

Quality is first. If you give the best quality, people will come. Some customers don't care about the price. They care about the quality.

For some items I give discounts and some items I can’t. Yes, they do bargaining for fancy but not for stationery. For stationery, maximum MRP and we get only 5%, 10%, or 12%. Each item has different margins, so we can't do it. Actually I'm the only person and I know the purchase price, so I sell accordingly. So I remember the purchase price of all the items maximum. We usually put the MRP maximum retail price with some gain. We need to maintain everything and put MRP based on the shop's rent and salary. If the customers bargain there's no other way we need to reduce the price and give. They don’t buy fancy articles without bargaining.

We decide the price. While purchasing I go to town and purchase it and then decide the price. I'm the only one who does everything. We purchase and we can sell for 30% or 20%. We have less margin for fast moving items and high margin for slow moving items. There is no other way. Some items don't move at all and I keep more percentage of that. Some items come with damage also in fancy, so we double the amount and sell.

I don’t get feedback from customers. They come to us for the next time, so that’s when we can know. We can't maintain it in our shop if we ask for feedback. When customers come we give them whatever we need. If we understand their needs and give them it is enough. I am doing that. If they like it, they come.

Yes, some people can be dissatisfied. It's very difficult. Some people come, see everything and leave. But I'm used to it in this field. Some customers come, see everything and leave. I can't do anything about it. Those who definitely want will definitely buy and leave. If they leave, that's it. If a customer leaves the shop, that's it. If a customer leaves the shop if an item is not there, then again they won't come back. It is 100%.

Customers come and leave. Other than that I don't keep in touch with them. I don’t notify them of any new items on Whatsapp. They come and ask. They come for the season. If they come on Sundays, they come and see.

Customers have decreased in this area. There are a lot of shops. First there were only 4 fancy shops in this area. Now, there are 10 shops. There are 10 shops in the surrounding area, so it has decreased. This is because people tend to shop online. In the beginning, I used to get at least 50 to 100 customers for mobile recharge. They would also come and get one or two items and it was running well. Now, I don't get customers for mobile recharge. They give offers online that we cannot give. We need to care about rent, shop, maintenance, and everything. They don't have a problem. They just buy and sell. If they get a single rupee, it's a profit for them. We cannot do anything with the single rupee.

Yearly once I go to Chennai . I usually buy from one person. I used to take from 2 or 3 shops regularly. They used to tell us that you took this collection last time and don't want this. They used to show us what's new. They remember us as we go there regularly. They will guide that you may be having this stock, so take this instead. They give us new collections. If you go to some new shops, they will try to sell their old stock. In my store, I also try to first sell off the old stock, we sell the new stock later. That's how they do it. It's not a problem to go to a new supplier, but it's an old shop and we go to a new supplier, they will give us the old stock. They will try to lower the price and push the products. So sometimes, if we are not careful enough, we can get stuck with old stock.

Wherever I go, particularly in Chennai, we could buy things only after paying the cash upfront. There is no credit in Chennai. They will give us the collection and we will take whatever we want. If they show 1000 items we are going to choose 10. We will take whatever we need and which is not there. When we purchased it for the first time, we purchased everything. There was a lot of waste and also sales. It took me 2-3 years to understand this.

My business had gone down for 2 years due to Corona. I managed with what we had at home. I couldn't do anything else. They told us to close the fancy shop for 2 months. What else can I do?

Vendors give us the wholesale price. If you give me the wholesale price, I won't be able to negotiate with you. If they give me the retail price and I negotiate with them, it's a different matter. They know who the shopkeepers are and who the customers are. They will give a different price to the customers and the shopkeepers will get a different price.

Vendors send the goods via WhatsApp. I buy small things. If some customers ask for costly things, I will send it via WhatsApp and they will send it to me through courier and I give it to my customers. I prefer going in person to see the collection. On WhatsApp, they will send information only about a few items, if we go there, they will show us 40 items.

If there is damage, the vendors won't replace it. We check the items from the shop. There is no replacement. They will only give us the things and we have to decide how to bring those things. If you put it in a lorry, it's your responsibility. That's how it is.

I usually check the items and give to customers. Before it leaves the shop, I check fully. We can't give guarantees for fancy items. For guaranteed items we can give guarantee. For fancy there is no guarantee. I check carefully and give it to them. For artificial metal articles, we give them a 6 months guarantee. If they give it to us, we re-polish if necessary and give it to them. We have bangles in covering items.

I have everything. QR code, Google Pay, and Phone Pe. No, I don't have a card machine. People ask for QR codes. If I have a card machine, I have to pay 2%. It will be credited to them too. So I decided not to have that. First, they gave me credit cards from the bank. I said I don’t want anything. Full and full cash and carry only. After the QR code, I started using it. First Paytm gave it to me and I've been using it since then.

Notifications are on for all the apps. I receive the message automatically. It is not necessary to open the app. It will send me voice notifications. It's available in all the apps. It is there in Paytm, Google Pay, and PhonePe. If we turn on the internet, we receive messages automatically. If it is received it says it is received.

They said an accountant is not necessary. If it is 40 lakhs or more then it is necessary. I asked the auditor. The auditor is a friend of mine. He will take care. He told me that if you do a rotation of 40 lakhs or more yearly we can do it. The movement is not much.

I don’t give credit to customers. If I give credit, the customers don't come back next time. I would suffer a loss. If there is an expense for them again they would think to come back. So it is fully cash and carry

We can take a loan, but we can't pay it correctly. That’s why I am not taking out a loan. Because sometimes things will go well for a month and sometimes there will be nothing. If there is a function, there will be some movement. If there is no function, there won't be any movement. It is the same for school items. If the school opens, there will be some sales. Otherwise, there will be regular sales. That's why I didn't take a loan.

Chit means I will pay the amount daily for 2 lakhs chit and we can draw the money later. I have pawned some jewels, to take it back, I put money in chit. If it is possible I take the jewels or use for other expenses. I use it to buy things for the shop.

In Google Maps, I have given everything about my shop, shop’s location, opening time, closing time, contact number, everything. I've had a Google account for a long time. I have a Gmail account. I got a message on my Gmail account about this. After opening my shop in 2 or 3 years I did this. From then on I am maintaining it. Sometimes I change the timing. During Ramzan time, closing time will be earlier. As I go to pray, I need more time, so I close it earlier. At that time I will change the timing. Other times the timing will be the same. But, i have not noticed any changes in my business after using Google Maps.

I don’t use Youtube for business-related purposes. In the future, I will. If local people see the videos, they will definitely come. After seeing a video even if a single customer comes it is a gain for us.

I use Google search to find a shop’s address or phone number I will search. I call them and then add on WhatsApp and I will purchase. For example, recently I needed to purchase toys so I needed to find address of shops in Chennai. I spoke to them and bought some toys.

I have been using WhatsApp for many years and we don't do anything much related to business. However, there are WhatsApp groups wherein the wholesale market sellers will post the new things that are available in the market. If it is necessary I will buy it. When go to the shops and give them our mobile number, they will add us to these groups. Wholesalers in Coimbatore and Chennai send messages. If there are new collections they notify me and I will see and buy them.

If you shop online, there is a 7 days' return policy. So they buy a lot online. The rate is also low. I will say that. They don't need margin. When they sell lakhs of things, if they keep one rupee also they get 1 lakh per day. If we sell 10 things per day, we get 10 rupees.

I don't have any other apps for business. I have Jio app, AJIO. They are giving us wholesale items. I buy items like socks, towels, kerchiefs, etc.. Then there is a company called Udaan. They came here and did marketing. I have that. Local shops are also using apps. Hindustan (company) items like soap, toys, etc. are available online. If we click necessary items online, they will deliver it and we pay in cash on delivery. I purchase 80% from outside and only 20% online. I like to go and purchase. I like to see things and purchase things. That's why I go out to purchase myself

Suppose if the item is not good, again you have to send it back and buy again and it takes a lot of time. If a customer comes, you have to give it to him. I have taken an order to deliver tomorrow, so I have to give it to them compulsorily. If the item is not good, again we have to send it back. Customers will feel we said already and the response is not proper. I  try to go outside. I will go to town and it will take a maximum of half an hour to one hour. They will send me an item but the customer will say they didn't like it. I will have to incur the extra charges like courier charges. So 20% of the purchases I do online. If I go by person and purchase it is convenient and I face no problem.

The main aim of my business is customer satisfaction. To achieve that, we should have initial payment and bring new collections. Business will depend on the amount we have. My future plan is to buy more items. This is Deepavali time, so in 10 days I will go and purchase. I have to go in 5 days. Next month 12th is Deepavali. Before that Ayudha Pooja and Saraswati Pooja. I have to purchase those items.

I work continuously. I am not taking any leave. We are open on Sundays. We are open all the days. If we go to a function I close the shop and go. Only one day leave.