Fancy Store @ Mahabalipuram by Vishal / FT13196

Fancy Store @ Mahabalipuram:

I met with Rajiv, owner of the Pooja Fancy store @ Mahabalipuram. The store is located in the heart of the town and its walk able from the bus stand.

He manages to keep all kinds of fancy stuff such as bangles, bindis, showcase items, ribbons, and chandeliers, and other major decorative items.

Business Start-up and Expansion:

Rajiv underwent a long days of struggle to achieve a certain level of success in his business. Initial days (during 90’s), he took many surveys (surveyed around 150 people), mainly seeking to know the demand of the people of Mahabalipuram. He found the following issues:

1. There were no fancy stores at Mahabalipuram in those days.
2. People had to visit to nearby town such as Chengalpettu, Anupuram to purchase the stuffs.
3. Sometimes people also took pain to go all the way long to Chennai and purchase decorative items which makes their houses unique from others.
4. Chengalpettu and Anupuram or even Chennai were not very accessible in terms of transport in those days.

Having done the survey and finding out the issues the people had in terms of their demands, Rajiv decided to do the following things:

1. He brought stuffs mainly decorative items (on account of the survey made) from Parrys (near Chennai Central Railways Station).
2. He sold at 1 rupee less than what people get at Parrys. In this way he could attract a large number of customers to his store
3. In later days, as the business grew well and profitable, he started offering people goods on credit (a scenario very rarely seen in Mahabalipuram stores).
4. He began stuffing goods at his store as per the customer’s demand.
5. Offered new variety - such as household decorative items which runs on electricity apart from the regular showcase display items.

Profit Details (Monthly Basis):

Monthly Expenditure in buying goods: Rs. 70,000 – Rs. 1, 00,000 (Mainly purchase from wholesale dealers, located at Parrys)

Sale: Rs. 45,000 – Rs. 50,000

Profit: 15% ~ Rs. 7000 – Rs. 10000

1. Rajiv mainly invests the profit in further expansion of the business.
2. Part of the income is also spend in monthly family expenditure.

Future Plans:

Rajiv plans to expand his business further and stuffs his store with new decorative items which are difficult to get in Mahabalipuram. He is also thinking of setting up a store in Poonjeri next to ECR highway to cater to the needs of the people in the nearby villages like Manamai etc. He is now taking surveys and would later take the decision of his business expansion in wise and judicious manner.

-Vishal Kumar Sinha / FT13196 / Great Lakes