I usually contact the local distributor, and he delivers the products to me. Let me give you an example. If I go to any local shop and see Lakme products there, I will contact my vendor or distributor and ask him to deliver Lakme products to me. So, the distributor will come to my shop, see which products I need to keep in my stock, and deliver them to me. I always talk to the distributor face-to-face. The head of all the distributors won't come to my shop. The person delivering all the products to me is the salesman. It's the salesmen who visit all the shops and take product orders from the shop owners. Based on the product orders, the salesmen deliver the products to them.
Yes, I search for all the new and latest products on YouTube. There are many distributors who make videos to promote products and upload them on YouTube. So, if I ever reach that level, I will also try to promote my products by making videos and uploading them on YouTube. In these YouTube videos, the distributors share their location so that retailers like me can go there and buy products from them.
I purchase these specific festive items, which cost around 5000 rupees, from the local wholesaler. It's through word of mouth. Let me explain it to you with an example. Imagine that you are a shop owner and he is a wholesaler, and I am your friend. You have been purchasing products from him for a long time. So, one day I came to you and said that I wanted to buy some products to sell at my shop. You suggested that I should buy products from him because he is a wholesaler. That's how I learned about the local wholesaler.
I get my items from wholesale shops. It is from Chickpet where there are many shops. I don't buy from a single shop; it is from different shops. I have to get shirts from a shop. It is mostly from a shop. As the business is down, the sales are also less. I go there only once a year. I have a wholesaler for suitings and another for sarees.
There are many vendors for every item in Allahabad. I search for vendors. I park the vehicle near the vendor's shop and then, I try to find out where I can get the item. If I want to buy a pen, I try to find out where I can get better quality within the range of Rs.2 to Rs.10. One vendor cooperates with another vendor. There are lots of items that could be sold, but there is no quality.
I have many vendors. I have around 6-7 vendors. One vendor is for 'chandan' (sandalwood), one is for ghee. There is a separate vendor for 'maala' and another separate vendor for utensils, God's bowls, 'ghanti', and 'deepak'. For Diwali and Dussehra, those vendors come from Delhi. I found the vendors in Delhi while traveling. I go by train. A vendor asked me to go to Delhi, saying that I would get a better rate there. How did you come to Allahabad, Prayagraj, from Bangalore? I got to know about the Delhi vendors through other vendors. Sometimes I get to know through apps like Google, but it does not refer to the proper vendor. I need to find him personally. Some items are available in Gandhinagar. It will be for us. If I get the same rates in Delhi and here, I purchase the material from here. I do not run here and there. I buy everything from Prayagraj. I have a small-scale business. I go to Delhi just during Diwali. Everything is available in Prayagraj itself. Yes, God's idols made from clay are delivered here, so I sell them. I pay the purchase rate and divide the profit I get. The supplier comes here. I tell the supplier 1 month prior that I want these many god's idol pieces. He asks me if I need 20-50 pieces. I ordered 30 pieces and all these pieces got sold. Then I would order again. I would make payment for the 30 pieces that got sold.
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.
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 have posted on Facebook 1-2 times. There is a sponsored page where we have to pay charges as well, around 1000-1200 rupees per month. I have not been consistent with it. I did it for 1-2 months initially, and then, before every month of Deepawali, I would post to promote my offer. The agent and client of Facebook approached us. Since I have knowledge about it, I thought I could do this instead of hiring a staff member for 8000-9000 rupees who would visit houses and promote the availability of products at Vinayak furniture. It's better to advertise through Facebook for 1000 rupees, where the ad will reach every person, rather than going to each house and personally informing them about the availability of products at Vinayak furniture. By advertising on Facebook, the message will reach multiple people, as there might be 5 people in a home who use Facebook, and they will all become aware of my advertisement for Vinayak furniture. I have joined 1-2 furniture sector groups on Facebook in Delhi, where we can find furniture raw materials related to hardware. Yes, it is useful. In these groups, I find good things at a lower cost.
In Delhi, there is a shop called Mirchi Waala on Tank Road. The variety of clothes they offer is excellent. The tops and other garments are very fashionable. You won't find such clothes anywhere else. You will discover this when you visit the market. We just need to remember one thing: ask the locals for recommendations on where to find fancy clothes. They will provide us with the necessary information.
I have 2-3 vendors in Jaipur. I buy from the ones I like. It's not like I buy everything from one vendor. First, I look around the market to see what's new and how it is. Then I buy from where I want to go. First, I look around the market to see what's new. I go to 4 places and look for fabrics. Then I go to the vendors and see if I can sell the items that they have then I buy them. Yes, I look for fabrics. I look for what is trending in fashion. I get clothes. I get that kind of work. But I look for something new. For example, I look for pots, pearls and sequins. I look for trends in fashion. There are a lot of sequins in fashion. There are no pearls in trend and sometimes it comes back in trend. I look for trends in fashion and work according to that. I see it on TV. I see people wearing it. I know from the actresses on what's in fashion and what's not. I know from the people in the demo. Yes, in the wholesaler’s shop. For example, when you go to the market then you see that the Banarasi pattern has gone and now something new is coming. I buy according to that. I look for designs, the kind of work that has been done in it and I look at its embroidery. That’s all I see. The main thing is the material so I pay a lot of attention to the fabric.
For vendors, I searched on India Mart and Just Dial. However, India Mart is more preferable. There are a few categories like verified and all. So we can determine if they can be trusted or not through that. We don't verify it through just one thing. First, we try to find someone nearby. And then, if someone is from Mumbai or Delhi, we send them an email or call them to inquire about them. To see the products, we have everything divided into catalogs. We simply provide the name of a particular company and the catalog number of a product, and it retrieves that specific product. There is no difference in quality, even if the product is from a specific brand, such as L&T. So we provide them with the catalog number, ensuring that it is the same product and nothing else.
I have visitors from different companies who also work for us. Staff from RR company and Havells have come here. They visit us to talk about their products and business line. They tell me about incentives, business sales, and support. By support, I mean they offer exclusivity in selling Havells products in a specific area if we give them a business worth 5 lacs. This is their way of showing appreciation. They also provide training and assistance.
Vendors... The company representatives come to us voluntarily. They come and request the order, and I provide them with the order. After that, they deliver the supplies to our shop. They offer doorstep service. This is similar to how other branded companies operate. They have salespeople who visit us on specific days. For example, someone from Havells comes on Mondays, and someone from RR comes on Tuesdays. They all come and inform us about their offers, and if I like it, they take the order and leave. The order is delivered the next day. If there is a local product, the local vendor also comes to deliver it. All the vendors come to our shop; I don't have to go anywhere. All the vendors are reliable. If there is an emergency, I call them, and they come. I don't have to go anywhere. Generally, I deal with branded companies. All of them have their own employees who take the orders and deliver them to our doorstep. They also send someone to collect the payment, so I don't have to go or come anywhere.
I connected with my suppliers early on by training in another shop. There's a shop in Patti called Raju Provision. They have the same shop. My uncle lives in a remote village. I informed him about my plan to start this business. He said it's a good location. I expressed my lack of knowledge about the business. He suggested that I come and observe his shop. He mentioned that I can get certain items from there. I mentioned my plan is not to start from there. The challenge is that all the products need to be paid in cash. If someone doesn't know you, they won't give you a loan. As a newcomer in the market, the market in Pratapgarh is very tough. Previously, we used to operate on a cash basis. However, now we receive orders and get paid within a month. We are receiving support.
We acquired the Physics (Walla) franchise. Subham Tripathi is the Physics executive from Allahabad. He advised me to contact Physics. Children purchase books and subscriptions and are knowledgeable about various courses such as NEET and IIT. They have provided a referral code, and if a student makes a purchase using that code, I receive a 5% commission. They have also sent books, including NCERT and solved NEET papers.
I found vendors when I wanted to start this business, I visited Nagpur for the material and from there I got contacted through Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, from one party I got contacted to other party. From one salesman I came to know about other party and I contacted that party for the material, like this it went on. When I don’t get material from anywhere then I buy from Delhi side also. Once I had ordered material from Punjab when I did not get that material from Mumbai and Pune. Right now Hyundai’s vendor is regular for me. Maruti vendors are many. Even Toyota’s vendor is regular. If they don’t have then they give us the contact number of other party and we contact that party then. We have vendors at Bangalore, Delhi and all.
Sometimes I get party from Instagram for spare parts. I saw suppliers of Gujarat and Punjab there. Second hand parts seller also I saw on Instagram. I mostly watch Instagram for this reason.I message them too. I follow them because I should come to know when they would post new video on it regarding new vehicles.
Yes, I will tell you, all the distributors are there, and the company sends the material to these distributors. There are big distributors like in Nagpur. They also have franchises here, I mean they have shops here, what do we call it? We call it a franchise only. So, the company sends the material to them, to the distributor or the wholesaler, and they send it to us. We don't deal with the company directly; we deal with the distributor. And that distributor delivers it to me here. No, I don't have to go anywhere.
I informed you about the vendors. The main market is in Nagpur, where there are three or four wholesalers. These wholesalers directly receive supplies from the companies and have branches in Bhandara, as well as three to four other locations like Pandarpur or Gundiya. So, sometimes I purchase from them in Nagpur, or I also buy from here. I do not order from Mumbai or Pune because it is not cost-effective for us to order from such a distant location.
I use Google search to find a shop’s address or phone number I will search. I call them and then add on WhatsApp and I will purchase. For example, recently I needed to purchase toys so I needed to find address of shops in Chennai. I spoke to them and bought some toys.
There is a Pharma Rack app. It is on the mobile. Yes, it's easy to use. If there is a new product, then we search for it here. It also shows which stockist has the product available. This is just the wholesaler details. I search for new medicine in the search tab. I also search on Google, but here they have mentioned the stockist directly. Here they have the doctor, stockist, and Ashish Medical Agencies.
I try using pharma apps on this mobile first. If I don't find that medicine, it seems like around 20 companies come up in the market every month. However, the policy states that you have to go to chemist bhavan and register your new medicine there. But many company owners do not register their new medicines there. So we face this problem. We will not get those companies that are not registered. Even if we inquire from chemist bhavan about which company provides this medicine, chemist bhavan would not have their entry. When we don't find it at chemist bhavan, we definitely search for the company on Google. I take a screenshot of that company from Google and put it into the product information. There are vendors listed on Google and some of them would definitely have that company's products. Then the vendor would say, "Yes, I have this company's products.”
See, the customer has sent me the details of the medicines he wants. He is an MR, and through him, we come to know about the stockists in the market and where we can get the medicines. Yes, MRs like him inform us about the stockists. MRs like him call us and let us know that these medicines are available with a particular stockist, and we can easily obtain them from there. They also play a role in our business.
Vendors are like a network, where you discover new vendors through existing ones. If someone likes a Saree or Kurta that I have, they will likely recommend my shop to others. This is how I find new vendors. I don't have fixed vendors because when I need to buy stock, I don't have a specific shop in mind. I explore multiple shops in the market and then make a purchase from whichever one I prefer. Personally, I prefer buying from Gandhi Bagh, which is a wholesale market. If you stick to one shop then you don’t find what you are looking for. That is why I explore four shops and then buy it.
I participate in some WhatsApp groups, such as Ladies Shopping Point and Saree India, which are about dresses and Kurtis. In these groups, I browse through the items. If I like a Saree or Kurti, I send a message on WhatsApp to place an order. I share the image with my customer through WhatsApp. I buy the item from the group I'm in and then share it with another group called Ayesha Collection.
I don't need any vendors for cyber. They come and give papers to my shop. When the ink is over, I call them and they come to refill the ink. I have to purchase the materials. In some cases, I have to purchase from Kolkata, and in some cases, I have to purchase from Asansol. If it is very urgent, I have to purchase from Durgapur as well. When I went to purchase from Kolkata, my wife went with me, so we roamed around the Barobazar area. I stayed at the house of my relative. On the second day, I ordered goods from 2 to 3 shops after seeing all the products myself. I also contacted the transport and brought the goods by transport. Then, when I went to Asansol, I realized that I was getting the same goods at the same price, but the transportation cost was lower. So, I started purchasing goods from Asansol. Now, I order goods by phone.
When I go to Asansol, I search for products there. And when I go to Kolkata, I also search. I search by myself. Last month, I went to Asansol. From there, I bring products. Before going to that shop, I survey the market to see if any new products have come in. I compare the prices. If I survey 4-5 shops, I get an idea of the price. If I visit 4 to 5 shops, I have an idea that in this shop, this product costs this much. When I go to my regular vendor, I check if that item is available there and I try to know the price. Then I can understand where the price is higher. If I see that a shopkeeper is charging me more, then I don't buy from him. Obviously, I buy from the shop where the price is lower. But the person from whom I buy the product is very good, he offers a reasonable price. It is his wholesale shop.
To choose vendors, I go to the market and conduct a market survey. I visit different shops and compare the prices and quality of the same items. If I find the same products available in two shops with the same quality but different prices, I will obviously choose the shop with the lower price. I do not stock any local products in my shop. Instead, I always keep branded products because customers may initially buy local products at a lower price, but they often come back to complain that the product is not working. However, with branded products, even though the price is slightly higher, the products are more durable and customers often come back to tell me that the product was good. Therefore, I prefer to stock only branded products.
Good vendor behavior. Suppose I have gone to a shop to buy products. So, there are many vendors who feel irritated, and there are many vendors who exhibit normal polite behavior. So, I notice that. The shopkeeper who doesn't behave well, I don't go to that shop next time. From whom I buy the products, he is a very good person. His behavior is very nice. You will like talking to him. I notice that. I consider both the quality and the price of the product. I compare the price with other shops, and if I find the product at a lower price, I buy it from there because I also need to make some profit.
Sometimes we have to bring products from Kolkata as well. So, I go there. It is not impossible, but when the products are readily available, we need to search for that place. There are many shops in Kolkata Barobazar. Out of those, I need to select two or three shops. We can get to know about them from some reliable sources. Suppose I ask someone, "I need this product, so where can I get a good quality product?" He tells me, "You can go to that shop." So, I go there and buy products from them for 2 to 4 days. Then I ask him if I can find a better option for this or that item, and he gives me the address. When I go to the market and roam around, I experience something. Today I have met you, and you can introduce me to 10 other people as well. That is the wholesale market. Definitely, there are both positive and negative aspects. I buy from this shop, and they give me a 55% discount on any product. I am just mentioning this. But in the next shop, they give a 30% or 34% discount. If we trust some shopkeepers, we go to them directly because even though they charge a higher price, I can believe that they would never give me any bad product. Choosing the shopkeeper is very tough. If the wholesaler gives me less, I can also give the customer less. In that case, my goodwill will be good. If he gives me 35% less, I can also give 10 or 12% less to the customers. In that case, my goodwill will still be good.
I would watch videos of wholesalers on YouTube to find out which is the largest wholesaler in Kolkata. I often see people vlogging about their shops on YouTube. I might have asked someone to vlog about my channel, and then they would have done it for my shop. However, I didn't do it. Instead, I would search for a good wholesaler for jewelry in Kolkata on YouTube, where they would show me the available options. I prefer using YouTube for this purpose rather than Google, as Google is more suitable for personal searches rather than business-related ones.
The price difference would be known after watching YouTube as well. You can go there and see many things, including different collections. You can also get the collection from there. Here, you will find everything. It's like someone would increase the price by 10 rupees and someone would reduce it. There are bigger wholesalers and smaller ones as well. They would do the wholesale from there and then we would get it. There is more opportunity for variety. When I need to purchase so much more then I would go once in a year. That’s not for daily basis. The local market is fine for that.
You can see the prices of the goods in the shop, and we can see how different they are. It's like watching those videos where we can understand the difference, but when we get closer, it's not that much. We would see that there are only 2 to 5 differences, but if you purchase more from one shopkeeper, it's also much more. That's the difference. If you reduce the price by 2 rupees here, it would have an effect on the local market. That's because we have a wholesaler here, and people do purchase from there, so the price would be limited. If you reduce the price by 2 rupees more, customers would come closer to you. They would buy from where they get a lower price.
Every area has its own distributor here. In Asansol, they have divided areas for different distributors, and they have employees who come to us to see whether we can sell certain items or not, and whether there is viability in selling certain products. Based on that, we take items accordingly. If we feel that we cannot sell something, then we don't take it from them.
We have a few distributors who come and ask us what we require. Sometimes we purchase things from the wholesale market. I buy spices from the wholesale market, and from the distributors, I buy cosmetics, phenyl, hand wash, and biscuits. There is no specific segregation, and for some items, we depend on the distributor and have to see what they are offering. This is because there are different types of distributors - one might have Harpic, another might have Good Night liquidator, someone else will supply biscuits, and another distributor might provide chips. We have different distributors, and all of these items are very important for the shop. They call us, and their employees, who are area-wise distributors, also visit our shop.
When I see that the products are fine from that wholesaler and I see that the price is also okay, then we try to get everything from that dealer. You might go to the shop which is very close to your apartment first because it is nearby, but later on, you might come across someplace with better prices and a clean environment, and you will choose to go there. So it is a natural process. Not only will you shop there, but you will also recommend others to go there if it is such a great place.
I need to buy goods from vendors. I don't buy goods worth 1-2 lakh. I make local purchases. I buy from wholesale markets and stock my place. I do Asansol Local Purchases. They are about 2km away and I can purchase goods worth say 20k or so. They also give some amount of credit.
I know which distributors to go to because I have purchased goods from them. If I have bought goods from them about 8-10 times and seen that the stock is of good quality, then I continue with them. For the first time, I would have heard about the distributor from a friend. Word of mouth carries great significance in my line of work. I also have a friend who owns a garment shop and he has told me about them.
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.
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.
For us, the suppliers themselves come here, they see the board and come. Others hear about the shop from each other and come over. Shakti Masala and Ujala don't come. Anil, Aachi, and all of these brands are there. Items that I don't get from vendors, I buy them online or from the market, such as Big Basket or Dunzo. The prices are reasonable because they are based on market rates. If you buy in bulk from Jiomarket, the rates will be different compared to buying a single quantity. When it comes to Dunzo and Big Basket, they have the same rates. The rates are reasonable, so it's not a problem.
There are other shop owners who have a chappal shop. I ask them about their suppliers. If it is the VKC brand, we have the article number. We can ask for the number and they will send the pieces to us. VKC is a branded item, so they will have all the same items. They give us a catalogue and we can also order through that. I trust them because we have a good relationship. [shows the catalogue] These are all provided by the company. They take our name, phone number, and if there is a new article model, it will come to us directly. We ask them for new models, and if they have them, they will send them to us. I buy through a sub-dealer. We can find a sub-dealer with the help of the article number. I buy at least once a week. We can look for more varieties when we go to purchase. They will also respond by phone, but the product may not be the same. So, it is better to buy directly. Sometimes we will not get size 7. If we want extra pieces in size 7, we can specifically ask for them.
When I started business my brother-in-law was already in this business and he showed everything. He ordered first.. When I worked in a shop, I came to know the places where my owner would get materials. When I was working they would come to collect the amount from my owner. He will ask me to give them water or tea. We will mingle with them like that. I will talk to them. Suppose if the owner is not there he will ask me where the owner is and I will say the owner went outside. I will say I will bring tea and give it to him. There will be conversation. I already know the address. When I went to his shop he knew that I worked in my owner’s shop.
We are buying an item regularly and if we feel the rate is high, we will stop buying from a particular supplier. I will give the balance amount and say no. Suppliers will come and give their visiting card and say that we can take samples from them. I will feel it is not okay and say we can meet next. They will give their visiting cards.