Tarun

We started this shop 10-12 years ago. It is a hardware and electricals store. I was unemployed and needed to do something. That's when I started this shop by taking a loan.

I saw that this kind of shop is not there in this area. So, I chose this one. There was no shop of this type in this area. So, I thought that it would be beneficial if I start this shop.

Customers also call on WhatsApp. They come and ask for the price of a particular item and whether it is available or not. They either purchase from us or someone else who might have our number. Additionally, our phone number is available online along with the name of the shop.

Online means we have everything from Asian Paints, and the company has already added those. From the ads of Asian Paints, we are Asian Paints dealers. Only our names and phone numbers are given there.

Whatever the customer demand is, I have to procure it. And for that, we have to see from whom we can get it. So, we have to go to distributors.

Company has 3000 colors, and that's why we have the machine. It is not possible to carry 3000 colors in the shop, so the company has provided us with raw materials in containers. We use these raw materials to make color here. The color is produced in this machine and then mixed in the container.

If we forget customers' preferences, we are at a loss. Later, we might recall them again. With so many products in the shop, how can we quickly remember the price of each of these products? It happens. We have a list from the company... there is a price list, and we refer to that.

If someone wants to buy on credit, I assess their capacity to determine whether I can afford it or not, and whether I have sufficient capital. I offer credit amounts of 400, 200, or 100 rupees, but no more than that. The maximum credit limit is 500 rupees. The bill size could be 400, 500, or even 600 for some people... and some might pay 200 rupees and keep 200 rupees as pending payment. Some might not even give 200 rupees. We provide credit entirely, and they pay the next day. We note down the amount on some paper. There will be copy with the customer. Then we tear the paper off.

Customers do return products if they don't like them. Maybe they purchased 10 items and 4 were needed, while 6 were not used. Or they needed 6 items and 4 were not used. They return those items, and we give them their money back.

Discount (to the customers) in the sense, we determine the net price. Suppose my purchase is for 100 rupees and I will sell it for 105 rupees. So, I set it as the net price and that's what my price is. Suppose the price comes to be 505 rupees, and in that case, I take 500 rupees and give a 5 rupee discount. We determine the net price for everything. It means we decide the price in advance. It will not be less than that nor more than that.

Customers send pictures through WhatsApp. They receive the picture on their mobile devices and then come to ask if that product is available with us or not.

We note down how much we sold ourselves. How much is sold out accordingly. We note down in the notebook. Whatever inventory we have, it is all here only. And if something goes down, we note that down immediately. If something gets over, we note it down.

Transactions are mostly cash. If there is no change, then we ask them to use UPI. Small or big, whatever the amount is... if change is not available, then they pay using this. If they do not have 20-25 rupees in change, then they pay via UPI.

For us, WhatsApp is used more because if a distributor sends photos of something or if a product arrives, then they have to provide information. We also use WhatsApp in groups. It is a distributors' group. Whoever provides us goods and if a new product is launched or if a price list comes, all these are shared in the group. They created the group and added us there.

We often use Google. If we want to find out something that we don't know, we search for it on Google. For instance, if a customer mentions some names that we are not familiar with, we search and check if there are any alternative numbers for those names. The same thing may be referred to by different names in different places. In that case, we search for that thing and find out more information. Maybe I am working with something and I wanted to know about certain things, then I search about that subject in Google to get information.

Here, each company has only one distributor in each area. Each company has only one distributor for a particular area. It happened just like that naturally. Maybe, other than Asian Paints, the distributor of some other company has given us materials, then the company's distributor will only give us those things. People from the company also conduct market visits.

Customers come on their own. They might come through other customers. And they come on their own as well. They come and ask for the price. If they like it, then they buy. Otherwise, they ask and go to another shop. They might ask from another shop and then come back again to buy from us. This also happens. Customers come at their own will. If they find that the products in the shop are fine, then they themselves come here. We do not need to call them.

I thought of using UPI because of the customers' demand. Maybe they didn't have cash and wanted to make UPI payments. That's why. After this is installed, we have solved the problem of small currency changes. If the bill is 220 or 210 rupees and the customer does not have 10 rupees change, then they can use Phone Pe or Google Pay. This advantage exists. We used to tell them to pay later because he did not have change of 10 rupees in his pocket. I also do not have small change. This is useful to avoid the problem of small currency changes. Suppose the bill was 210 rupees, and the customer had 300 rupees... we did not have change for 90 rupees. At that time, we asked customers to pay 10 rupees, and the customer paid that through UPI or in cash if they had it. Previously, this used to cause a little problem. If they did not have change, they would come after some time and give that amount. Or they used to keep 300 rupees with us and later gave 10 rupees and took their 100 rupees back.

We didn't used to write the credit amount down. We did not do that for 10-20 rupees. All are local people. We do not need to write down.

After Corona, the business went down. There's a lot of difference. The sale that was there before, now it is not there. It went down. Now there is no job in West Bengal. Everyone is in trouble.

No, we do not want to take our business online. If we go online, there are many disadvantages and advantages as well. Disadvantages include customers buying products online and then returning them. There is also the hassle of product delivery for us. That will be additional expense for us. Return is problem and if they go to deliver, in between the product breakage can happen. It could happen very much. So, there are different kinds of problem.

We assume a profit of approximately 5%. We sell at a 5% markup from the purchase price. Our profit depends on the sales. Depending on the amount of sales that occur in a month, we calculate our profit accordingly. For example, if the sales for a month were 3 lakhs, we can calculate our profit based on the 5% markup. In some months, the sales could be 3.5 lakhs, while in others it could be 2.5 lakhs. There are also months where the sales amount to about 2 lakh rupees. I keep track of the daily sales, and on average, I have sales amounting to 3 lakh rupees.

We selected Asian Paints because it is the best among all paints. That's why. Earlier, we used to sell products from 2-3 different companies. However, we noticed that the sales of Asian Paints were higher. This is one point. Additionally, the quality of Asian Paints is superior compared to other companies. That's why we decided to remove all other companies and only focus on Asian Paints. Asian Paints is much better. Previously, we used to sell Gautam and other brands. Before that, we sold Berger. Asian Paints has been available in our shop since the beginning.

We sell those god's pictures. People put them at home. Customers ask for them. So we thought of keeping them. Each product depends on customer demand. 4-5 customers came and they asked for the same product. So we are keeping these. If ten customers come asking for the same product, that means there is demand for that product. And if one or two customers come for some product, that means there is not much demand for that product. Keeping that in mind, we keep products. We also consider whether a product is included in hardware or not. We need to know that as well.

Customers only tell us what products they like. Customers' choice is our choice. Today, one customer comes for one product, and tomorrow another customer will come for the same product. Observing this, we select the products to keep in the shop.

In this Mohishila area, it is only us who keep this machine to make colors. Asian Paints company provided this to us. In one area, they give this to one business. Others can be retailer but in this area, company will not give dealership to anyone else. That means company will not give direct products to anybody else. We are Authorized Dealers. In this area it is me. There are others in other areas. My area is under this PIN Code. About 5-6 km.

Masons buy those brooms. Whoever does masonry work, they need this. Masons only ask for this. They need this. Everything is kept based on customer demand. We ask and get to know the requirements of ten masons. Out of ten people, whichever item all ten of them are asking for, we keep that. When they come to buy something, we ask them at that time. After they make their purchase, they stand here for two minutes. And at that time, we have some conversations. We ask them what else they need. And we also ask which company's product is better. And we only keep those materials. For example, ten painters came and we asked all ten of them which company is better, like Asian Paints, Berger, Nerolac? All of them mentioned Asian Paints. So, we started to carry Asian Paints. Overall, we carry whichever products have more demand. We take reviews from customers, painters... Then we keep our stock.

Sales increased a bit after our shop was added to Google Maps. It became easier for customers to understand, especially for those who do not know the address properly.