When I go to buy parts, my shop always remains open. Only during the half-hour lunch time, my shop is closed. There is a CCTV camera, so I don't feel afraid. The CCTV is not mine; the owner of my shop has installed it. I don't have someone to sit there when I have to go.
No, I do not have any partner. I make the important decisions in my business. Yes, I discuss business with my Guruji.
When more customers come during festivals, I ask the customer to purchase materials from somewhere else if they have an emergency. I cannot provide fast service due to limited space. If a customer asks for immediate material, I would not be able to provide it. There is someone standing behind you as well. I caught you and left the person behind. Then I caught the person behind. My behavior may become bad if I do not give a proper response. You should give a proper response to someone. I would provide you with some materials and then find someone else. I do not have greed. Satisfaction is the most important. If you have self-satisfaction, God will give you more.
Yes, I have a loan for the shop. I had taken a CC loan of 2 lakhs rupees, and I received an amount of 1.90 lakhs for that. I am managing with that right now. No, this is not my shop; I have taken it on rent. I pay 6000 rupees monthly. The electricity bill is separate. There is a meter reading done, and we pay accordingly based on what is shown.
I keep some money saved ; you have to do so. Many customers called me during that time for repairs. But I didn’t have space so I couldn’t do anything. After COVID that time was given for to open shop till 5 PM; I opened shop then.
I decided to gain customers trust like this. It is about using your mind for your business. The more you use your mind in a positive way, the more positive it will go, the more you use your mind in a negative way, the more negative it will go, if I think about increasing my business then it will increase, if I think that if I show the manufacturing to the customer then I won't be able to cheat, if I don't cheat then I won't be able to save more money but I work according to my investment and profit margin, I don't know about other shops, my investment and profit gives things to the customer what they demand, that's why we tell them to see the manufacturing, these are the things that we do.
First is customers then vendors then inventory then labors. We will see the need of the customer and according to that we'll search the vendor then I'll keep products in my shop then I'll work myself first and if I need staff then I'll keep staff.
The business is dependent on language, behavior and material. I will not be able to call a customer through a machine.
First, we will purchase the goods. Even if there are no workers, we can still proceed with the deal as long as the goods are full. That's why I have mentioned the workers last, because their presence is not essential for the deal.
This is important because we need to buy the goods first and keep them in our shop. When customers come, we will need workers to assist. Vendors are important because we rely on them to purchase goods. We buy goods from Delhi, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, and Bombay. My husband and I go to Delhi, but we don't go to Bombay because we would have to close the shop for 3-4 days. We close the shop on Sunday, so we go to Delhi on Saturday to do the shopping and return in the morning to open it on Monday. No, we don't buy from Prayagraj because the prices are high and the variety is limited. There are many shops in Delhi, and Gandhinagar is a large market where we find all types of clothes and the variety we need. The local shopkeeper only keeps one variety. And we have to buy everything.
We have hired a girl and a boy as our staff. We have hired a girl because many of our customers are ladies. Many ladies feel shy to ask for anything from a boy. That's why we have hired a lady. Many men come here. When they see us, they run away, so we have also hired a boy so that they can talk to him. Men come here to buy things and they don't ask us. If they want to buy undergarments, they only talk to the boy.
Both of us take those decisions about the shop.
I want to run this business to make money. I have to earn money, which is why I want to run the shop.
I can't give time to one shop and we are busy here all day so how will we manage the other shop?
I don't have time to do anything. I am in the shop all day. I can't take care of my baby because of the shop.
I always feel that I can do better, that there are things I haven't done before or will do in the future. For example, in the past, I didn't keep a large amount of stock, so now I plan to keep more stock. If I can't do it now, I will do it in the future. This is applicable specifically to a clothing business. My goal is to sell my current stock as soon as possible so that I can buy new stock. The stock is the main focus, and once I have sold the old stock, I will bring in new stock. The selling of stock depends on the customers, and sometimes I also have to stop selling.
Wholesaler, then inventory, then customer and then staff. It is important because I can only sell the items if their quality is good. When I will have a lot of items then only the customers would prefer to come in my shop. When there will be more customers then I will need the staff.
This new electrical center firm is taken care of by me completely and the sister firm that is SRT electrical, I take care of the finances of that firm as well.
The most important is the customer then inventory, then staff and then vendor. If you have good customers and even though you don’t have inventory then sometimes we will request our customer saying that we are out of stock and we can get you by tomorrow. Plus your customer is loyal, so he will come again. If you have a lot of inventory and no customer then it is of no use. If you don’t have customer, then there is no value of your inventory, staff and vendor. The first priority is the customer as they say customer is king. If there is a customer but some products are not available…Staff is at third because you have customer and inventory but your staff is not good, like you came here and I offered you tea and coffee, you thought his behaviour is good so you will buy the product. If staff wasn’t good and I have customer, vendor and inventory then you would not have bought from me. So I kept staff at third and fourth as vendor which means supply chain. The supply chain should be proper. I have customers, inventory and staff but I don’t have vendor, I have to buy right product from right person which will make you a successful businessman. So all four things are important. However in terms of priority, customer is first then inventory, then staff and vendor.
But all four of them are linked with each other, if anything goes wrong with one also then it will affect your business. So all four have important role in the business. But customers is the most in priority. If anything happens to even one of them, then our business will be hampered and you will lose on some profits.
When I'm not in the shop, my father sometimes sits in for me, but most of the time, I am there. I only take time off on Saturdays and Sundays, so if I need to go out, it's usually at night. I rarely take any other days off throughout the year. I handle my work by going out at night, finishing what I need to do, and then returning, as I can't close the shop. I have a helper who keeps track of the items customers ask for and sends me a message or calls me on WhatsApp to let me know what they need and how much it costs. Then, they collect the payment and give the items to the customer.
For example, when you arrive, you ask for a specific item. The boy will call me and inform me about your request and ask for the cost. I will then provide him with the cost. He is familiar with the location of the items, so he will retrieve it and give it to you.
The most important aspect of our business is our customers. They are like gods to us. Following that, we need to ensure that we have the items our customers are looking for. Additionally, our staff should have good manners and be able to satisfy the customers. We should also consider our regular customers, such as small shopkeepers, who visit us frequently. In order to keep them coming back, we need to have the items they need in stock. Lastly, our staff should have a friendly and helpful nature. These are the things that matter to shopkeepers.
No, we don’t write materials in the register. We arrange the material from here or there also at the time of need.
There is vast range of materials, sometimes selling party does not have the material and they place the order and then they provide us that material. I manage the stock of material also in my shop. Entire material is displayed on the rack there, suppose in one car only 4 parts are used. Actually same type of bearings would be available 4 on the rack. If one is used in one car then 3 would be lying on the rack. Mechanics keep me informed about the material that is available in the rack, when bearings are left; I placed the order for it from the dealer. Like this I maintain the stock.
No I don’t keep the record of the material but I check on the rack, if I find the material less then I place the order. We write the name of the material and number of pieces and place the order with the party. No on simple paper we write the order and place it to the party whose name would be written there.
I have 4 mechanics and 1 person who bring the material from the racks for the mechanics to use in the cars. Yes. In my absence the staff who brings material from the rack, writes down the name of the part which has got exhausted or remained less in number on the rack. Next day when I come to the shop, I place the order for that. He handles everything like payment, discount structure and all. If the customer demands for more discounts then he calls me up and asks me that customer is demanding this part in this much amount. I know the discount structure of all the material and all the company so I suggest him that much.
I face stocking the material on rack. We plan to do a lot but it becomes difficult for us to carry that out. Space is short, it should be more. Too much record is to be maintained. I have to do a lot; I have to arrange entirely different set up for that. I myself note it down. There is lack of time; I have to maintain it manually. I send the material written on the paper to the party and party places order for us further.
The customers would be more important for my business. If there are customers, then there is your business. You need your own inventory. And the staff will come at the end because this keeps changing: the staff.
As of now there is not much crowd. Business will be good during Diwali. It will be crowded. Actually there is no use of this crowd because other days business is down. So it is the same level. These four days it is a loss for me because we need to appoint four extra persons for work. Sometimes in this crowd some persons will steal in front of our eyes. When we fight the customer, other customers will go. So we cannot fight. We cannot do the business, so we leave it. If we fight we cannot take care of business. We can manage by increasing the rate, but actually we cannot do anything.
I call for extra help during Diwali. The staff comes from my native- Rajasthan. They will stay here for a month and leave after Diwali. The reason for not hiring local people is that their wages are higher. Tamil (local) people will work from morning 9 till night 9. In between they need a 1 hour break for lunch. It won’t work for us. We open the shop at 7:30, but they come at 9. That is the reason. Then they ask for a 1 hour break for lunch. But we will eat here and again take care of the business. Night also he will be there till 10:30 or 11.
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.
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.
Yes, I have to focus on the shop during the day because I have to maintain the stock and sales for the day. It is manual only. Yes, I have a stock register. I have to update the stock daily. Every day, sometimes it gets delayed by a day or two as well if I don't get time, but I have to keep it updated. They can visit us anytime. The Kurshi Adhikari comes here. He checks everything. He can visit my shop anytime, it is not fixed, so, I have to keep it updated.
When I'm not in the shop, there is a camera here and another camera there. Previously, when I was not around, my brothers and nephews used to take care of the shop. However, they have grown up and now have their own shop. The camera is connected online, allowing me to monitor it remotely. Recently, I was away for 14 days, and during that time, girls took care of everything here. I have installed the cameras for safety purposes, as there is a fear of theft in Mumbai. I have caught many thieves, but they quickly retreat. I always warn them not to repeat their actions.
I made a list. If girls come, I will go to the market in 30 minutes. I go to the market every day. The special thing is that I stopped getting goods from any company. I joined a program with a company. I am happy with them. Other companies want me to get 12 items. They want me to get 12 items. Every company comes to take an order. I don't get from them. If I go to the market, I get 2 items. If I go to the market, I get 2 items every day. Or if I make a phone call, I get my cosmetics from Indora Chowk at 9.30-10 am. Or I get it before the shop opens in the morning. Sometimes I go to the market in the afternoon.
All (staff, vendor, customer ) are important. If the vendor doesn’t give the stock then what will we sell. If I have to go somewhere for some personal work then at such time I need the staff as well. If the staff is not there then I wont be able to do my personal work. My child had parents meeting at school and I couldn’t go because there was no staff. If the staff had been here, then I would have gone for it.
I also have responsibilities at the shop. Sometimes, I wonder if I will be able to sell the stock or not. It's my first thought, and it can be a bit scary too. Will I lose money in this? But then I change my perspective. I think about it like this: if we're on the battlefield, we have to keep moving forward no matter what. This is my mindset. I'm mentally strong and can handle any situation. It could be a family issue or anything else; I face it. This is based on my experience, and it applies everywhere.
Yes, my wife also comes here; actually, I can't give much time. She does everything here. She has arranged everything, she made all the planning, and I just supported her.
I consult with my wife, and we make decisions together. I don't make any decisions alone. We discuss with each other and then make a decision. On paper, I am the owner, but she mainly handles everything. For example, this is the new Canon Xerox machine that I purchased 1.5 years ago. The price was 1 lakh 20 or 30K. Before that, I had a second-hand machine from Cronic, which used to give problems. So, my wife applied for a loan, and after getting the loan, she purchased this machine. She said that when we have to buy, we will buy a new machine. At that time, I was out of station, so she made this decision on her own. She told me over the phone.
Obviously, the customer is the most important for me because if I don't have customers, I can't run my business. The staff is the second important factor for me because they are the pillars of my shop. To be frank, they now run my shop. The third important factor is the vendor because if I don't get the goods from the vendor at the proper price, that would be a problem. Additionally, the goods themselves are also important. I also have insurance, which serves as a backup if anything goes wrong. Since I am in the insurance department, I have bought this insurance. Therefore, this is the fourth important factor for me.
Nowadays, my staff is handling a little more because my baby is 2 years old. She comes to the shop, but she comes late. She arrives at 11:30 am and leaves at 1 pm. In the evening, I also open the shop. Today, I have come back from the office early. Normally, I come back at 7 pm. If I have any work, I leave the shop. So, he handles the most, and after that, I handle it.
Yes, I do keep track of the number of customers. Since we have a baby now, she can't come to the shop as often. My staff manages the shop 80% of the time. Therefore, there is CCTV in my shop. Sometimes, I check the sales figures using the CCTV. I don't have any issues, and I also review the sales figures every night. After my staff goes home, I check the sales figures and then close the shop. I have a notebook; there he keeps all calculation, so I check that.
Then, for the photo and everything else, I have to search on Google. If someone has sent the photo of the toy they want, I search for the name on Google to see what that product is. That's the purpose only and nothing else. That's all. They would send me the name on WhatsApp to check if I have that toy or not, and then I would search for it on Google to find out what it is. They search for toys and also for some other items. I may not have this in my shop, so I search for it on Google.
I don't expect to make a huge profit from just 2 customers. I would be willing to make less profit in exchange for more customers. Let me give you an example. Since this is a local area and not a market, we don't have 200 customers. Sometimes we have a large crowd, and both of us can't handle it alone. In those cases, I have to call my wife for help. I handle the machine while he does the Xerox, but when I have more customers for form fill-ups and such, I have to call my wife. I inform them that there is a crowd and it becomes chaotic when I have customers waiting outside. There are days when the three of us can't handle it either. This happens occasionally and it's not related to the season. During the Puja time, my shop experiences a decline in business. What do they get? They get brooms, brushes, and other items. The sale of cold drinks is normal, they sell well. But mostly, the sales pick up in November when exams start and the form fill-up process begins. Apart from that, everything runs normally.
I was doing the job in a Software Company in Kolkata before. MY father died at that time when I was there. My mother and brother were alone and then I came here in Durgapur. I have given interview in Kolkata and got the office in Durgapur Insurance Company. I came here and then I became Branch Manage. Then I thought as I have a space. I come back from the office at 5 or 6 pm and what to do then, I do gossip with friends only. So I have started the business as I can earn something. I am doing job now, and then for 10 years also, I have to do something after that. So this is my future plan. I have time off on Saturday and Sunday. During that time, I will be in the shop the whole day. I also have staff.
I give her time. During Puja time, I have to spend a long time here because she has pressure at this time. The rest of the time, she handles everything alone. She goes to the market and does everything. She decides where she would invest and how much she would invest. Everything is her decision. She asks me once if she should do it.
I cannot give time to my kid. That's the issue. Now, this is the frustration that would be there. I am not able to give her time. That's the issue. I would say life gets adjusted sometimes. In the morning, I have to go out of the house for sure. I may or may not eat, and whether the food is cooked or not, I have to go because I have to open the shop. If I don't do that, then there would be a problem. I can do anything, but for the shop, I have to go out. Then, I have to go back home, eat, take a bath, and then again I have to come back and open the shop. Then I have one focus on shop and business. I would not think of the food at all. I would do the business without eating as well. During the seasonal time, we have to adjust to this. That's all depending on the season.
During puja time, 11pm or 11:30pm would be quite normal. The people close to my shop would come at night because there would be a crowd in the evening. So, I have to keep some time open for them as they don't like crowds. That's why there would be so much crowd in the evening, and they would see this and not come at that time. Instead, they would think of coming at 11pm. I would have to open some time for them and talk to them as well. If they come and go without talking, customers would leave. But when we talk, a relationship can be built with the customer. I have to take care of this and consider it while running the business. The men wouldn't talk much; they would come, get what they need, and leave. However, the ladies would come and talk for some time. They would ask for things, so we have to give them an extra 10 to 15 minutes. After that, we have to arrange everything again and check the stock that was sold. That's how it would take from 12am to 12:30am.
This is a neighborhood shop. There is no fixed schedule. There might be days when I don't sell anything, and then there are days when I sell goods worth 5k. I might even sell goods worth ₹10,000. I open my shop around 8 am and close around 1 pm. Then I open again around 5 pm and stay open until 9 pm.
I will take leave once every 15 days. On those days, if there is a bill, then I will definitely open the shop. Otherwise, the workers may take leave at some point. Without a doubt, I will take a day off once every 15 days.
I don't use the system at all. For that, I had to walk around from here to there, so it was difficult. Also, for the system, I had to keep someone specifically to work on it. In the beginning, I thought it would be easy to maintain the stock on the system, so that's why I bought it. However, I couldn't find a person who could operate it. Additionally, it was a bit difficult for me to go back to the system, get the bill, and then come all the way to give it to them. Then, I had to come all the way to collect and give the cash.
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.
Customers of all types visit the shop. You can only understand the diversity of our customers when you step into the shop. In this area, we get inquiries for a variety of smartphones. Some people look for second-hand smartphones in the 7,000-8,000 price range. Others seek new smartphones priced around 10,000. Additionally, about 30% of our customers are willing to spend between 10,000 and 15,000. A significant portion of our customers includes construction workers, music enthusiasts, and gamers. They often inquire about smartphones in the 50% range.
Limited shelf-space and deciding what brands or phones to stock used to be an concern in the past. It all depends on market demand. The Karamadai store is the largest compared to the rest, and it even has CCTV. These are considered substantial stores. Initially, when I started, every store was considered sizable, and we had separate racks for various brands. Nowadays, there's less demand.
Mornings are usually the peak hours for my shop. This is because many of our customers travel from their places and arrive early, around 7:30 am. Our important customers come from Kerala. We often suggest that they take some time to relax, perhaps by having breakfast or visiting the nearby Lulu mall. In that case, we open our store and begin our business operations a little early, at 9 am.
Single person cannot handle the shop, so I also joined my husband. We cannot hire anybody and pay them a salary, so both of us take care of the shop. When he goes to the market, then I am there alone in the shop. If it is at night, my elder daughter comes to the shop to accompany me.
My husband makes all the decisions for the shop. I just handle the business. He is the one who settles all the accounts.
I open the shop, and my husband goes to the market in the morning. He comes back by 7 AM. By that time, my elder daughter and I sort out other things. I have food, and then my husband goes and has food. Since he goes to the market early in the morning, he takes a rest and comes to the shop. He comes after lunch, around 2 PM. Then I go for food, take a rest, and come back at 5 PM.
My son is there to help me run the shop. He is going to college. After he comes back, he goes to the shop and I go to the market to get things.
To manage festival crowd, I have four persons for help. I will bring local Tamil people also through an agent from Dindugal. He sends me workers and I have to pay one day’s salary as commission. We also pay the workers their daily wage. The agent gets one day's salary from me plus he will get one day's salary from the worker, so 2 days' salary will be credited to the agent. He will send the workers. I will employ them for a week and make arrangements for their stay at the shop.
Yes we have a CCTV camera. Mistakes can be avoided. There may be a chance of a fight with the customers or our product can be stolen. This is safe as we can show the proof to others.
Cash crunch is a part and parcel of doing business. We have to manage somehow. Sometimes we can get it from a friend, uncle or brother-in-law.
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.