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.
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.
The business is very slow now. It used to be a single road before, so customers found it easy to visit the shops. However, since it became a double road with a divider in between, customers going that way just pass by and don't come here. We are struggling to keep this business going. I am 53 years old and I need to take action. We are being cautious about our expenses and have reduced them.
No, I'm not thinking of hiring any staff. I don't have enough profit to pay for that staff. If my business is doing well, I will keep staff. I am planning to accelerate my business. If I gain enough momentum, I will keep someone. Yes, there was one, but I haven't had any staff for the last 15 years. I used to pay him Rs. 200-250 daily. He is also from our village. He used to stay with me at my house. Only my wife and I were there, so he stayed with us. He used to come with me. We used to go to the village together. We closed the shop at that time. We had to attend weddings or other functions, so we used to close the shop for 10-15 days and then go. He left because he got married. He was the only son of his parents. He went back to Rajasthan to work there. I did not hire anyone after that. No specific reasons. I had the strength to do everything alone.
It has been 2-3 years since the customers have decreased. It was fine. I did not have this much tension back then. Mainly, my shop is closed for most of the time. Items are also fewer. Stock is low. I have not been doing regular business for 3 years. I will open for a month and then close for many days. If I am ill, I will not open for 5-10 days. There has been a slight disturbance for the last 3 years.
Earlier, business was thriving. However, with increased competition, business has declined. Everywhere you go, there are numerous shops in every lane. This saturation has led to fewer customers for each shop. This was the situation before COVID-19. Now, business is at an all-time low. It's difficult to say for sure. Some claim that business is still good, but it ultimately depends on whether customers choose to visit or not.
A lot of things happen online. For example there’s Flipkart. No one gets their phone fixed now. They buy a new phone, they can also use the EMI option. I suffer losses because of that.
I decided to choose this location after I had a chat and I got a shop. There was a stationery store here. Then, I gradually stopped selling stationery items and started selling 'puja-paath' material. I bought the stationery shop from someone.
Yes, I did home delivery in the beginning. However, I stopped it after 2-3 months. The reason for stopping home delivery was puja. The customer would say, "I have puja at home, I will pay you later; papa is doing puja now. So, I will not visit your home repeatedly. It does not look good. If I come to your shop repeatedly, leaving my business; would you like it?" I did home delivery for 2-3 months, but not for long. I made the decision early and didn't need to think much about it.
My customer base has increased in the past few years. The reason is that I have gradually increased the materials and maintained quality. Therefore, my customer base has grown.
Business has been good. It was good three years ago, and it is still good now (after three years). Customers have increased, maybe because I have added more items. I have increased the inventory by adding more items, so the number of customers has increased. People are getting whatever they want. Yes, they have a list, and they get everything on the list. They know that they can come here and find everything they need.
Right now there is more work compared to 3 years before, more benefits/ profits. if there is more work, there is more money. Things have changed a lot in 3-5 years. At that time work was lesser; it's more now. Business is doing well. As the shop keeps getting older, the number of customers increases.
The variety has increased a bit in the past 5 years. It used to be only for kids, but now it's for ladies as well. It caters to both kids and adults. Previously, it only had jeans and tops for kids. The shop used to be a joint venture with my father and brother sitting together. When the shops got separated, we started keeping different varieties. The shops were located in front. My brothers used to keep kurtis and more. Now their shop is on the other lane, and our shop is here, so we offer a wide range of varieties.
By God's grace, I have everything, including a house. I need to earn at least 30K per month, which I don't get. I have been trying to improve my business, but I am unable to do so. I know how to do a lot of jobs. I have worked in a grocery shop, a jewel shop, an iron shop, an arrack shop, and a whiskey shop. I have also worked in cinema theatres. Customers come to me because I have all quality stuff in chappals which comes from Bangalore also. I have nice models as well. Mainly, I have all the models that they want. So, through word of mouth, sales are going well. But now, I want to start a business that is actually in demand. I am planning to open ice-cream or juice shop. There are no shops close by, so it may work out for me. I am experienced to open any type of business by God’s grace. I want to open the new business in the same shop. As This place is very familiar and nostalgic to me. I can go anywhere without any fear, even if it means leaving my family behind for a few days.
When my father was in business, everything was done in writing and bills were not that common. The business was simple. For example, instead of using a hand-drawn picture, we now create it on the computer. We use Tally to generate instant bills, whereas before it used to take time to make a bill. It has become much easier now. Previously, we had to do data entry of the bills in the computer due to VAT (value added tax). But now, with these technological systems, everything has become faster. I don't have to do anything. I just have to look at it from here and we can upload it to the GST portal from here.
By utilizing technology, your inventory costs have decreased. Previously, if you needed any technology, such as when you're sitting here and I can place an order from here, we would put it in the group and the stock would be available for delivery. In the past, without technology, you had to maintain a certain minimum stock level. However, with the implementation of technology, inventory costs have reduced. Information is now provided immediately. A group has been created so that all electricians can receive it promptly. Status updates can be uploaded and customers can receive information instantly. Everything is happening quickly. These are the advantages. You continue to receive information. For instance, like the app I just showed you; if technology was not available, we wouldn't have access to this incentive.
The number of customers has increased, but not significantly due to competition from Facebook, which has a large user base and occasionally inquire about books through Messenger. While some sales are generated through this channel, they are infrequent. Here is the ID of Aryan Traders, and you can see a photo of it (showing Facebook posts). I have made some posts, including one about Pradhanacharya's visit to Entry College. He was celebrated on his birthday and received an award yesterday. Challenger Point has shared this information. There is a prominent coaching center here, which they have also posted about. These posts are from Scholars Academy and the coaching center. Pradhanacharya is a well-known coach, and many students prefer to study here. I have made a post about it.
There were two reasons to become a wholesaler. One reason was that retail was not enjoyable. There was a wholesale shop near our shop called "Competition Book Center". The owner of the shop passed away and his wife has cancer and is in critical condition. After his death, local shopkeepers advised me to take over the business, as I already had everything I needed and they would also buy from me. They were coming from Mithi, Patti, Chanda, but they were not finding what they needed and had to go back. Other shopkeepers in the area were so dishonest that no one wanted to go to their shops. The shopkeepers encouraged us to start this wholesale business.
In the initial stage, I had a computer and then small printers as well. Ice cream came much later. I got into that business two years ago, ran it for one year, and then incurred losses, so I shut it down.
There are 20 shops and 4 shops have been vacated. There is no business at all. We are sitting idle for the whole day and have no business. Business has been slow all over India and particularly Tiruppur is the worst affected. In Tiruppur if there is a company, there will be jobs and business will run. If there are no jobs, people won’t earn money, so how would they come to purchase clothes?
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.
I didn't see any significant changes 5 years ago, but it is better now because of this mobile. Now it is a little easier; I mean, now the farmers can bring photos of their farms and everything, and you can make payments online with this as well. Yes, I am comfortable. I don't mind how I receive the payments; anything is fine for me.
Because we are already in a competition, I have been in the shop for 27 years, and here there is another shop, which has been going on for at least 15 years. And the market, because of the water, the customers are not coming. I also had two girls, so I have now made one because the business is going down.
When I opened up the other shop, I had no stock on hand with me. At that time, I just filled up 30-40,000/- worth of stock in that shop. And today, I have around 15-16 lakhs' worth of stock in that shop. It is fully packed, and if you open it, you will see stock everywhere. I buy very little stock in loose; I buy it in bulk instead. I have so much stock with me, but I still have to bring 5 boxes from the distributor. I am planning to go and bring those boxes on Sunday. Yes, from 1 shop, I have opened up 3 shops now. I have expanded, of course. I had to take out a business loan.
Initially, my business had very low growth, but now it is steadily increasing. In the beginning, I didn't have any customers, and I started from scratch. However, now it is performing well. I am determined to further expand my business. After all, who wouldn't want to capitalize on a growing business and take it to the next level?
In the last 3 years, you can see that the price of everything has increased significantly. You must have also noticed that when you buy things, the prices have increased a great deal. Previously, with 10,000 rupees, you could purchase items for 2000 rupees. However, now you have to pay 4000 or 5000 rupees for the same item, which is causing a lot of problems for people like me who depend on daily purchases by others. If we don't receive money from them, it will cause problems.
We started the shop in 2009. By 2012, we had 13 shops- all mobile businesses. Then in 2013, there was online shopping like Amazon, Flipkart, and this business became very challenging to sustain. So, 60-70% of our sales moved online, which also reduced foot traffic in our physical shops. Consequently, we downsized, and now we have only three shops.
Starting the Business: If we invested 5 lakhs, we could get 15-20 lakhs worth of products on credit. Since the company was new to the market, they operated on a credit basis. They also assessed the shopkeeper's standing in the industry and how long they had been in the business. I had a friend named Albert Edwin, who is a prominent millionaire in Coimbatore. I received support based on his connections. He had a relative who was the head of Samsung distribution, and that's how I acquired the initial products. In 2012, we began investing our own money, and we had over 1.5 crores in the market. Across the 13 shops, I was making between 10 to 15 lakhs in profit from accessories alone annually. This doesn't even include other sources of income, such as servicing, smartphone sales, second-hand sales, SIM activation, MNP, downloads, and more. However, I have now sold all of these shops.
The primary reason why I eventually closed the shops was that I felt that the shops lacked a structured system. We dealt with a variety of accessories that had flexibility in pricing, because it's highly dependent on customer interaction. Without a structured system, I had to employ 40 people. While I was selling recharges and other items at higher rates, employees would offer them at lower prices because there was no system in place. Without an established system, when I sold a product for 40,000 rupees, employees might report selling it for only 20,000 rupees. I lacked a good system and effective management, and it felt like I was losing control. I couldn't accept that, which is why I shut everything down. Now, I've implemented CCTV for all three shops, and I've incorporated more technology, which is under my control. It's no longer a problem, and I'm doing well. You can learn a lot from this experience.
Right now, I'm in the retail business, where we focus on earning customers. The experience gained from this business is valuable if you wish to engage in similar ventures, but it may not be directly applicable to other types of businesses. I'm also involved in sawmill, centering board, and document rotation businesses, which are quite distinct from the mobile retail business.
Customers have increased in the last one year. Sustainability; we are in this field since long time; new business people want to become rich overnight; but we serve people first.
Whoever (customers) comes to me is sent by God. They are God themselves, even if I sell for only 10 rupees. Once they enter the shop, it is earnings for me. It is not a loss for me. That's how I always think. They are from the nearby area. 7 to 8 years ago, people used to come from a distance of 10 kilometers as well. There were even people who used to come from a distance of 45 kilometers. There is a market here. I used to have 3 footwear shops and I had a large stock worth around 15 lakhs. Now I only have stock worth 2 to 3 lakhs. If the business was good, I wouldn't have considered changing my line of work. Because the business is slow, I want to change my business. If there was a guarantee that the business would improve tomorrow, I could invest an additional 10 lakhs rupees. But there is no point in investing money.
Whatever I have done is a success for me. I have not wound up any business in 10 days. But if the item is not seasonal, then I change. The business was running well with a grocery shop. Then, with no people to help, I switched to the bakery line. I started using cylinders. It was in high demand, and I could not continue with it. Then I opened this chappal shop. Till date, it is a success, but if I continue like this, then it would become a failure. That's why I wanted to change my line of business. For the past 2 years, I have been thinking that the business would come up. There is no development, which would also be a waste of money. So, it is better to change the business. I have already waited for 3 years. Each day, I am losing 1000 rupees. I have to earn at least 30000 in a month. If I don't even earn 1000 from my business, it is a loss, right?
For the past 3 years, the business has been down. Before that it was good. After Corona it is fully dull.