Expanding business without Breaking the bank

[box type=”shadow” ]

Growing your business in today’s time is a hard step, especially for entrepreneurs who have spent only one-two years in their profession. Most businesses consider expanding at some point. Increased customer demand and booming sales are not enough to tell that it is time to expand. Just because customers are willing to spend more, doesn’t mean the profitability will sell more. Whether you’ve saturated your current market, need to widen your attractiveness, or you have nice ideas for brand spanking new product, each time there are opportunities elsewhere.

But there comes a time where one thinks to spend their life savings for their business. There is a risk factor involved in it. Rachit Ahuja, CEO, QDC Software, speaks to Clean India Journal about his experience and how to make the business bigger by avoiding the decision of spending the stockpile.[/box]

10 years ago, the term ‘expanding your businesses’ meant something simpler and different,” says Rachit. In the laundry industry, opening a new outlet was the simplest translation of expansion. Just scope out a new area/locality, acquire property at a place which already has footfall and you are good to go. But is it that simple today? In a time where property rates are skyrocketing, and the setup costs have increased beyond scope, expansion has become a lot more complex. The need is to change the definition with the change in times.

My father and my brother run a generations old dry-cleaning business in some of the most premium and ample populated areas of Delhi NCR. Their idea of expanding the business is still the same and it heavily relies on a huge upfront investment.

[box type=”shadow” ]There are new start-ups entering the industry every day and most of them have no idea of how they are going to compete in the market. Huge investment upfront is not in any way a surety of success. I see so many players come and waste their money on ways which don’t work anymore.[/box]

So how does one change this definition – expanding without breaking the bank?

“Two years ago, I was visiting one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, Japan. It’s a very small country with limited natural resources and that has led them to adapt through technology. On my trip, I went to a laundry shop which was roughly the size of our bathrooms at home. I just dropped off my clothes in the evening, and they were ready within two hours. The amount of technology that they had employed in that small space was mesmerizing. The little shop had a counter with a small POS machine, a conveyor running through the roof for organizing and two laundry machines for processing.

What if we use the same concept here in India? New technologies have been emerging within India which can help achieve the micro sized laundry concept at a very reasonable amount of investment. Just get a POS machine, a conveyor and a starting range washer and dryer and you are good to go. The POS machine can be used for booking, delivery and accepting payments whereas thee conveyor can be used for organizing the garments.

If we talk about today’s consumer, they are also changing or rather they have changed. Recognizing the new demand and the type of consumers in your area or the area in which you are planning to start is the first step which goes a long way in paving the path of your success.