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.
I got the idea to open this shop When I was working in my previous garage. I thought that how long will I work on salary; it will be beneficial if I work for myself; so I started this.
I started this business because I just thought that how long will I work for somebody else. If I am working in a company then I will have to work in the company. It feels good; it's not interesting to go and work for somebody else.
After the DVD and TV rental business died down, I entered the mobile servicing business. Mobile servicing involves repairing and preparing mobile phones. We fix damaged mobile phones that customers bring to us.
In the beginning, when small keypad mobiles were available, I got the idea to become a mobile technician who can fix them. At that time, there were no mobile servicing shops around, just 1 or 2 in the entire area. So, if someone dropped their phone in water or on the ground, or if the display broke, we would go there. It happened to us too, right? Realizing that this could be a profitable business in the future, I decided to learn it and make a living from it. That's why I learned it. I asked a friend and took a 6-month course for simple servicing. After completing the course, I made some progress.
When Reliance started selling mobile phones for 500 rupees, everyone got a mobile phone. Even street cart owners got one too. It was clear that there would be a demand for mobile phone repairs because in the future, everyone would have a mobile phone. I realized this in 2004. One day, I accidentally dropped my mobile phone and the mic and speakers stopped working. I took it for repairs. While watching the repair process, I thought, "Why can't I learn to do this?" That's why I decided to learn it. I made up my mind to do something in this field.
I wanted to run my own business. I had an interest in the clothing business, but I didn't have the capital or money to invest in a shop. That's why I chose the mobile servicing field. There was a shop here in the BDA Complex that belonged to a friend, so I started working at my friend's shop. Then, in 2008-09, I rented a shop in Ilyas Nagar on my own. I ran the business there for a while, and then I moved here. It has been 10-12 years since I moved here. The business went down in my previous shop, and it wasn't successful. But it's the same situation here.
The reason my previous shop didn't do well is because there are too many shops in the area. Every street has 2-3 shops, including mobile repair shops and others. The rent also increased, and I couldn't afford the high rent. That's why I moved here.
I decided to start this business 5 years ago. I stayed out after my education. After staying out, I came back here. I have a room here, and I am interested in this business. I was not interested in doing a private job.
I got the idea of doing business through my Guruji. I received Matarani's blessings, and when I asked Guruji, he suggested that I do it. He said there was no issue and that I would understand everything gradually. My Guruji's name is Shri Arun Shukla, and he lives in Tata Nagar. He is a teacher in a Vidyalaya and teaches students. I met him while going to the ashram for 'puja-paath'. So, our contact increased gradually. When I talked to him, he asked me to come the next day and said there was no issue and that I would grow slowly. If he had not advised me to start a business, I would have done something else.
I thought that starting a furniture business would be a good idea. It's like using our brain - if our stomach is hurting, we take medicine for stomachache, not for a headache. So, I surveyed the market and realized that there is a demand for furniture because everything else is available except for furniture. That's why I decided to open a furniture store. I also noticed that there are good clothing shops, saree shops, and a few mattress shops, including dealers of Sleepwell mattresses. In the village, when people need furniture, they have to order it from carpenters because there are no ready-made options available. They struggle to find good furniture and end up spending more money. Considering this situation, I believed that a furniture shop would be successful. I opened my showroom on October 31, 2020, and after a month, I started the manufacturing unit, even though I had no prior experience. I knew that I would learn things gradually, and it's better to face losses and run your own business than to learn things while working for someone else. I faced some challenges at the beginning and suffered losses, but I persevered, and with God's grace, everything turned out well.
I search for vendors according to customers' needs. If I have opened a utensils shop but the customers demand furniture, there are already 10-15 utensils shops. Every utensils shop is crowded, so I should also open a utensils shop. That will work. If 100 customers are going to 10 shops, then 10 customers are divided into each shop. Utensils shops and clothes shops are there in Fafamao. Clothes shops are for clothes needs, so there is a need for furniture as well. Utensils, vegetables, and general stores are required for food. There are utensils shops, clothes shops, general stores, vegetables shops, and milk shops in this market, but the availability of furniture is zero. So, I thought of opening a furniture shop. First, we will see what the customer needs. There is a furniture shop 5-10kms away, and the customer has to go there. There are carpenters nearby the customer who make furniture on order. I saw that wedding things like sarees are purchased from clothes shops. Furniture is used during weddings. There is Shanti puram colony 2 kms away, and it is a big and nice colony. I have seen outsiders visiting there and building new houses, so they need furniture. How will they go 5kms away to purchase furniture? If you are 1 km away and you do things here, those things will not be done 5 kms away. The service that you give here, 5 kms away will not be able to give that service.
How I choose vendors according to customers' needs. A customer will come here for 5 minutes, choose furniture, and the furniture will reach their house on the same day. So why would a customer go 5 kilometers in traffic for furniture? There is a question - will they provide service or not? It is far, but customers walk from this road only. They'll go to Shanti Puram through this way only. Teachers go to their jobs from here. We have a CRPF camp, so it is easy for them to come for 2 minutes and complain about their issues on this route. In today's date, nobody has so much time to go and complain. They will use it until it is fine. If it breaks, then throw it. Nobody has time to complain. Among 100%, 2-4% complain, otherwise, nobody complains. If somebody's route is this, then they think of coming and complaining for 2 minutes. They trust the nearby people. That's why I thought that a furniture shop would be best for this area. Then I opened a furniture shop according to the needs of the customers. At the start, we couldn't manufacture things. Then I saw that there are 4-5 guest houses. Without invitation, I visited the guest houses in the evening. I saw what things people give during weddings, what quality, and range those products are. Then I thought that I have to keep products in that range only. Then I met 1-2 furniture shopkeepers and asked them where they bring things from and who their vendors are. They didn't provide me with the right information. Among 10, 8 answered me wrong, and 2 answered me right. Then I started taking things from those 2, like from the local market of Banaras. Then I went to Delhi, where I got to know about gerili wood. The wholesaler is selling only for his profit. The motive of the wholesaler is to sell cheap and attractive things so that the shopkeeper will sell it at a higher price. But our concept was not that. Our concept was that the materials from the wholesaler should be good because if we are selling, that will show our reputation as well. If I give bad products, then he might take it today, this year, next year. After that, he will not take it, and he will tell 4 people. Those 4 people will tell 8 more people that our products only look good but their quality is zero. During the opening, we bought products from the vendor only for show. I also sold it to some people. I kept it for 15-20 days.
I started my business in 2016 from home, and after a year or so, I opened a shop. However, there were some problems, such as my husband's business declining. Nevertheless, I decided to proceed with my business despite the lack of support. When I went to Kolkata and saw the fabrics, I liked them and thought I should sell them here. In Surat, the work is not good, but in the whole of Pratapgarh, there are 250-300 Maarwadi families. Maarwadi Chowk has 250-300 families. Therefore, they had to obtain fabrics from Kolkata or through someone else. When people learned that I am selling clothes from Jaipur and Kolkata, they became interested in my products. I mostly have regular customers who appreciate and wear the clothes I sell. Other customers don't usually come because I don't offer affordable options, and they are unfamiliar with pure fabrics. These fabrics are not washed at home; they are only dry cleaned.
Yes, when I was forced and people told me to start it. So I went to Kolkata and bought the clothes. I bought clothes for only Rs 20k - Rs 30k. I gave them to my masi and they purchased them from me and really liked them. They ordered more, saying that other people are asking for them. So when I went again, I got clothes for Rs 50k because there was pure fabric available there. And the profit margin is good for clothes made with pure fabric. People aren't aware of the price of pure fabrics. I get clothes from the place where they are made. So I get clothes at a slightly higher rate than the manufacturing rate. If I get them from here, then the cost will be higher. So I got them from there and started slowly. Then I built it into a boutique. I have 2-3 tailors who stitch blouses for me. If people ask for a fancy blouse, I show the photos to the tailor and get them made for customers.
I knew where to get the fabric from, right from the beginning. Marwadi people enjoy eating and wearing nice clothes. So I have known about it since the beginning because I have seen my mother always getting stuff from Kolkata. Since childhood, I have known that clothes from Kolkata are good and Jaipur has good craftsmanship. That's why I didn't go to Surat because I knew that there are multiple shops that get clothes from Surat. If I sell something unique, people will come to me even if it takes time.
It is good work. Secondly I had some technical knowledge about this work. I had interest in this so I chose this business. I have interest in cars very much and that is the reason I started up this business.
There was an old mechanic who did wiring for me. We thought that people buy clothes online, but not everything like wires and sockets. This is a business that people prefer to buy offline, especially in rural areas. Opening a branded clothes shop in metro cities would be successful, but in Pratapgarh, a semi-rural area, branded clothes won't sell well. However, wires will sell easily because there is not much income here and everyone needs to maintain their houses. The PM and government is providing houses to everyone under a housing scheme, so people will need to buy electrical products like wires. My electrician suggested that it would be a good business, so I started it with his support.
Everyone is getting permanent houses made. If they get it made then they would definitely need wiring products. No one would buy such products online. If you are getting your house renovated, then you would not purchase wires online but from a local shop as there are many nitty gritty in it. so everyone purchases from a local shop, plus everyone needs it. Everyone needs lights, switches and bulbs for their houses.
I didn’t do any deep analysis for starting this business. But since I was in a job of risk analysis, and its risk analysis was that the electrical products have no expiry date. Like food products (FMCG) if your food product doesn’t get sale for few days then it will get expired and you will have to bear that loss. But here, we have all fast moving products and there is no expiry of them and there is no price issue. This is a profit making business. Plus in terms of risk, it is better than other categories of business like clothing or FMCG. If you are into clothing business, then its designs keep changing from time to time as life style is changing, so there is risk involved. But there is no risk involved in my business and nothing will become damaged. Imagine if there is no customer for 20 days, my product is not getting damaged, in fact, its value is getting increased. So it has less risk comparatively. Also, this line of business is not available here around in our area. So it is suitable for me.
I was invited to the housewarming and launch event of this building. It was a busy time for both my business and this new one when we opened together. When I came here for the launch, I realized that this area is right in front of the college. Our house is connected to educational institutions like inter-colleges, primary schools, and engineering colleges, where all the professors are. The launch event was for this building. So, when I came here, I thought that this place is very good. It would be great to have a bookshop here. I was convinced that whoever starts it, it will be successful and the business will grow. Whatever is done here will be fine.
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.
Actually, I had a college friend who owned a shop on Nari Road. I used to visit his shop because he was into marketing. I had the desire to do something, so we decided to start a business together. In 1995, we went to Delhi and spent around 15,000-16,000 rupees. We brought nail polish, lipstick, a rubber band, and clutches. There were fewer clutches, but I still brought a clip. Then, in 1996, I opened a shop in Kampti, Kanan, Bhandara, and other areas outside Nagpur. We sold everything we bought from Delhi there. This gave me the idea to start my own business. In 1996, I had saved up around 50,000-60,000 rupees. I noticed that there was always a large crowd at Gurudwara due to the two programs that took place there. I saw this as an opportunity for progress. At the time, Gurudwara was small and empty, with only my shop there. That's when I started my own shop.
Actually, I used to go to college and my friend had a shop nearby. To pass the time, I would visit his shop. He would often encourage me to try marketing. I noticed that there were many benefits to it, especially in the cosmetic industry where there was a 50% profit margin. Considering that my entire family is involved in the railway service and steel plant, I decided to give this business a try. I am the first entrepreneur in my family, as everyone else has been working in the railway or steel industry. When my father retired, we couldn't continue in the service because my sisters were older and they didn't get the job. They got married instead. I was still young at the time, only 16 years old.
There was a shop near my house, and I worked with them from 8th to 9th grade. The boss there encouraged me to pursue this opportunity because there is a lot of potential in it. I had financial issues at home. We were not financially stable, so I knew I had to work on my own. I realized that there is a good amount of money in this field.
I came to know about this export business through my friend. My friend was working at the Ordnance factory here. He was a government servant, but he felt that there was something better to be done than this. He cracked the exam and today he is in the foreign exchange department. So he thought he could go there and work. Today, without his signature, the work does not proceed. For sending any order outside of their country, his signature is needed. He himself asked me for the buyer, and somebody might have told him. Now, on the coming 11th, their exhibition is going to be held.
There are many businesses, but I know a lot of women, and I do social work, so I know even more women. I enjoy working with women and believe that the more, the better. That's why I have chosen to specialize in clothing items that women commonly use, such as sarees and kurtis. I keep a wide range of products that cater to women's needs.
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.
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.
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.
Starting a grocery shop was my father's idea and we started keeping edible stuff which is why my shop is also called as Annapurna stores.
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.
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 opened this second business because there were a lot of fancy items there, so the store was doing fine. Here, there is no grocery store nearby. On Sundays, there will be a huge rush here, so that's why we decided to open here.
We had decided to open only a grocery store because there are all kinds of other stores here, such as fancy items, oil, and clothes stores, but there was no nearby grocery store. So, we thought that if we keep one here, it will run well. My brother had already opened a grocery store and he told us that there is no grocery store in this lane. He said that if we open one, it will run well. There was another store nearby, but there was no one to manage it as the owner was old. He actually asked us to take over, but since this area was on the main lane, we decided to open our store here.
I started this business, "The Fancy Bag," selling handbags. Previously, I used to sell sarees and other fancy items from home. However, we made the decision to open a physical shop instead. My mother, who is from Tirichandur, also had a fancy shop there where she sold fancy items and slippers. When my brother came here, the sales declined. In Tirichandur, the sales were seasonal, but here they are consistent throughout the year. Therefore, we decided to open our shop here.
When you are working for a company, the company will make a profit of 10 lakh because of your hard work, but the company won't give you a share in the profits. So, if we are doing our best, and it's our business; we will get the profit. We shouldn't waste our days. If we work for 10 years, we can plan our life for 10 years, but it's not like that for our business. We can make a profit in 1 year. So, I decided to start our own business and want to settle in life.
I started a grocery shop because I only know this job. I don't know how to do any other work. Since I got used to this, I continued with the same business.
My sister-in-law had given this place to us for the shop. When we talked about our plans for the shop, they helped us get the shop ready. Then we started the shop.
I decided to open a chappal shop. When I had a bakery shop, somebody else had kept a chappal shop. His business was going well, but he could not manage the business. So, I bought it from him. I earned money from this shop.
I selected this location because construction work was taking place, so I asked them for this place, thinking that I could open a shop. They were constructing a warehouse. When we told them about the shop, they constructed it accordingly. This is a busy area with a lot of foot traffic. It is a good area for business.