Shop Rituals

When I reach my shop in the morning, the first thing I have to do is clean the whole shop. I do it alone. After cleaning, I start my work. Any customer who comes, I have to attend to their vehicle. Some days, I have to wait for customers, and on other days, customers have to wait for me. After cleaning the shop, I start working on vehicles that were left from the previous day. I always have pending work. If there are no pending tasks, then I have to wait for work. I have to wait for customers. Sometimes, I have to wait for a full day. If I don't have any work for the entire day, I return home empty-handed. This happens 2 or 3 days in a week. During those days, I just keep sitting; there's not much I can do.

I used to open my shop at 9 am before. Now, I open at 10-10.30. I go to play and come back tired. So, I rest at home for a while. I have my breakfast, take a bath, and then come here.

When I first come to the shop, I clean the shop for some time. I remove the waste and then do the pooja. After that, I sit here and attend to the customers if any come.

I close the shop from 2-5 pm. I cannot sit for the whole day. The shop is open from 10.30 am - 2 pm. Then from 5-9 pm. I have more customers in the evening. From 2-5 PM, I do nothing. I may have something to buy. I may have to go somewhere. I go to the market during that time if any item is out of stock, I go and get it.

I open the shop in the morning at 10 and close it at 2 in the afternoon. Then I open the shop again at 4 and close it at 8 at night. From 2-4 PM, I go home, sit with my parents, have lunch, and spend some time with my kids and wife. If I have time, I go to the market, buy materials, and maintain stock. My nephew handles the shop between 2-4 PM.

There is no way to discuss business. I wake up in the morning, and I have to reach the shop at 10 am. My shop opens at 09:30 am, and by 10 am, it is ready. So, I have to sit at the counter at 10 am and instruct my staff about their work. The shop closes at 10 pm, and then I go home, go to bed, and watch videos about businessmen like Adani ji and Ramdev ji. If they can achieve high growth, then why can't we? To reach their level, we have to utilize our minds and search for things on the internet to grow our business. These things help us, and by observing successful people, we can apply their strategies to our own business. Yes, then I discuss what to do to bring growth, but I don't take ideas from anyone else; they are self-generated ideas.

My Routine. When my husband is not around, I wake up early in the morning. I take a shower, pray, make breakfast, and serve it to everyone. I have my breakfast and pack my food to bring it to the shop. Then I drop off my child at my mother's house because she cannot stay here all day. She cannot eat or drink, and I cannot look after her because we have to take care of our customers here. She tends to do mischievous things, so I leave her at my mother's house. It takes about half an hour, including the time to drop her off and the traffic. Then I arrive at the shop around 11:30 am or 12:00 pm. We open the shop, set up everything, and do whatever needs to be done. I perform pooja. Then the customers arrive, and we attend to them. We continue to have breakfast. I usually have it at home, but sometimes I eat it here. Then we sit here and have our lunch at 3:00 or 3:30 pm. My sister-in-law packs it and gives it to us. After eating, we continue to serve the customers. Later, I go to my mother's house to pick up my daughter, and then I go to my in-law's house. After changing clothes, I cook food. I reach home by 9 PM.

When my husband is there, we get up early in the morning. Then everything is done on time. We have our breakfast, followed by lunch in the afternoon. Then we leave and stay until 10:00 pm. He works on whatever needs to be done. We come back around 10:00 or 9:30 pm, depending on the customer. If there is a crowd, then both of us go back late.

I have a lot of problems while managing shop and house. My son has grown up. He is 12 years old. He comes home and my shop opens at 9.30 in the morning. I go inside at 12.30. I make food and come back. I leave at 2.30 because he comes back from school. I make him eat his lunch. I eat and rest. I come back at 5:00 pm and I sit in the shop till 8:00 pm. If my customer comes in between then I have to come back. The customer can come at any time. The staff stays here. If the staff is doing some work or if my husband has called someone inside then this is the mirror gate and we can hear people’s voice if they tell us that the customers are coming. So I come outside.

You can say that I am busy from 11 to 12. I don't have a continuous retail counter. I mostly supply. I receive enquiries through WhatsApp or email. I work on them and supply. That is my main focus. There is less emphasis on retail.

I spend almost the whole day on Tally. Once I have come to the office, Tally will always be on. Always. Morning to evening, as long as the shop is open.

Everyone will arrive by 9.15 am and I will talk to them until 9.45 am. The field worker will go to the field and sit here. I have a break in the afternoon, which is why I called you at this time. My work is busiest in the morning and evening, starting from 10 am. I will check the customers to whom I need to send products or to the counters. We will review our dispatch orders. The dispatch worker will come with the transportation for the product dispatch. Those two boys are working in their field and will return in the evening. The collection team will give me the money they collected and provide a report on what has happened and what is happening in the market. They will all return by 6 pm. We will then perform the corresponding activity or update ourselves. This is our daily routine.

I will wake up at 6 o’clock. After waking up I play with my child. Then I go to buy milk for my child. After buying milk I come and take a bath. After bathing I have tea and come to the shop. I will come at 7:30. When I come to the shop, first I will hang the clothes outside. Then sweep the shop and mop the floor. I will wipe the table with wet cloth. Then buy flowers for God. I will wash and put the flowers and pray to God. I will bring tea and Tiffin. I will close the shop at night at 10:30. I will keep the samples inside and lock the shop. Then I sleep at night at 12 o'clock. I will eat in the shop, my house is upstairs.

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.

We are open from 11 am to 11 pm. Our customers primarily visit during the evening, with the majority arriving around 6 pm. This has been the case for the past 27 years. Previously, we used to close from 9 am to 9.30 pm, but now we close at 10 pm. However, our shop has consistently operated from 11 pm to 11.30 pm.

I open the shop at 12:30 or 1 PM because my daughter is currently not available. Otherwise, she opens it at 11 or 11:30 AM. My dad is a patient who recently had an attack, which is why I arrive late. He has a 95 percent blockage on the left side, but thankfully he claims to be fine and behaves normally. I do take care of him, and I attribute his well-being to divine intervention. Taking care of everyone is a responsibility I fulfill with the help of this divine grace.

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.

I usually come to the shop around 9 to 9:30 am. I spend the first two hours checking stock and overseeing service arrangements. Around 11:30 am, business tends to slow down, and I may use that time to consider additional business ventures. I have various commitments to attend to outside the shop, so I'll leave for those. If I have any commitments, I typically complete them by 4 pm and then return to the shop after having lunch. I return to the shop around 5 pm when business starts picking up.

I awake up 7.30am because I sleep late; I go for a walk then bath have breakfast and leave to office. By 9.30, I or my employee will open the store. I then offer pooja and start working. I carry my food if not I go to home for lunch as it is walkable distance. In my absence, my employee attends to the shop/customers. Later in evening, I leave by 7.30 or 8pm. Even after reaching home, sometimes work remains as our business doesn’t follow a 9 to 5 schedule. Sometimes if I am stressed, then I will put my phone in silent mode at night. We are customer-oriented company, we meet all their requirements.

After opening the shop, we first pray to God. Then we start our business.

When I open the shop in the morning, I clean up the shop, light the lamp, take blessings from God, and then start my business. I light a camphor, pray to God, and close the shop.