Story of Jay Gangar and How He Manages the Finances to Run his Retail Business

Decades ago, when civilization had not reached major parts of Chembur yet, they would walk for kilometres to get the stock. Things are different now. "We have 2 warehouses and 3 shops."

There is a sparkle in his eyes, when Jay, 37, speaks about how his father and uncle built their family grocery business from scratch. "When you watch a business being brought up like a child alongside you, it is just a matter of time before you dive right in, full throttle". He muses, "I could have opted to do something else with my life, but this became my life. We work for 14-15 hours a day, and what we have built is with our own hands".

At all times, his customer is first. "It must be convenient for the customer. 24x7, any time of the week, we will deliver even a packet of papad. We never say no to our customers". It is all about relationships. Jay has a business model built on home delivery wherein the employees leave in the morning to take orders and come back to fulfil them; walk-ins are lesser.

Retail is an uncertain space to be in, changes keep happening in retail space - GST, excise duty, retail giants. If we get scared then we will not be able to do business.

.quote-box-content {
font-size: 18px;
line-height: 22px;
position: relative;
text-align: center;
padding: 18px;
color: #CC1F35;
font-weight: bold;
margin-top: 15px;
margin-bottom: 15px;
}
.quote-box-content .quote-box-left {
border-top: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
border-left: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
border-bottom: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
height: 100%;
width: 10%;
top: 0px;
left: 0;
}
.quote-box-content .quote-box-right {
border-top: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
border-right: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
border-bottom: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
height: 100%;
width: 10%;
top: 0px;
right: 0;
}
.quote-box-left {
display: block;
position: absolute;
border-top: 6px solid #8a0a1c;
border-left: 6px solid #8a0a1c;
border-bottom: 6px solid #8a0a1c;
}
.quote-box-right {
display: block;
position: absolute;
border-top: 6px solid #8a0a1c;
border-right: 6px solid #8a0a1c;
border-bottom: 6px solid #8a0a1c;
.quote-box-content .quote-box-left {
border-top: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
border-left: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
border-bottom: 3px solid #8a0a1c;
height: 100%;
width: 10%;
top: 0px;
left: 0;
}"Yes, retail giants like Big Basket, Amazon etc. sometimes introduce disruptive pricing because of their purchasing power and bulk, but we score on quality and relationships hands down!" He is not perturbed by the temporary dip in customers, because as per him, they always come back for quality.We keep a margin on our purchase price and not MRP. Only if he pays more, will he pass on the cost to the customer not because the market dictates it.

"Customers are aware of the quality we offer and hence the long-standing relationship with customer is not easy to break"

Equally important to him is his relationship with his employees. They fondly call him Bhai and he proves the word's worth.We give them a place to stay and home made clean and healthy food to eat.) The honesty and heart-warming simplicity are palpable when he talks about gifting his employees a health insurance scheme each, this Diwali. "They will stay with us for longer I feel. And even if they don't, at least they will have a backup".They carry heavy loads to various floors whatever the season and we respect them for this.When it comes to his money, he needs a trusted face. "If you are my investment advisor but you do not even see my face after I have bought the scheme you insisted on, why must I deal with you?" He hasn't explored many financial investments other than life insurance and FD's. But he is satisfied as of now.If the company agent keeps in touch on regular basis then it becomes easy to deal with him.Real estate is another space Jay's family invests in. One should invest where they plan to stay. With the help a home loan one can upgrade ones home and lifestyle.)The mentality is the gold is more stable and will get good price when markets go up. Also it can be used in marriages as well. Hence, gold investment is a must on Diwali but Jay is open to new avenues of investments also, is aware that mutual funds might carry some risks, but thinks he might want to explore it in the future.

"It's very important for us to know what security will we get, who will give us better returns if we invest for longer period? We will invest with a company that will give higher returns, but somebody will have to tell us about the product."

Would he want his son to take over this legacy from him? His face warms up at the mention and he articulates carefully, "I'd prefer if my son has a different life than mine. I am saving for his education, with my FD's. He wants to become a chef. He is free to choose; I will support him. But before anything, he needs to learn about responsibility. Towards his family and towards money. Irrespective of what he becomes, I would like him to stay true to his values. "I will advise him to save 2-3% of his earnings to start with and then gradually increase. It is important to secure future."

"To start with, I'd tell my son to never take our business for granted and at the same time he must remain true to himself. We do not manipulate people, that is not who we are."

He insists that overlapping money and relationships is never a good idea. Transparency is the key - be it customers, relatives or investments. "We have earned honest money and put it back into the business. We have grown considerably." Adaptability to the current trends is the key. "After adopting digital payments, online transfers etc; we are building a website or app soon to facilitate the ordering", he beams.

• Today, still a major part of the population relies on investing in safe and risk-free avenues like Fixed deposits and recurring deposits while a certain percentage also believes in investing in Gold and real estate to achieve higher returns in the long term; including mutual funds in the portfolio is far fetched.
• These risk-free investments surely give you guaranteed returns but investing in Mutual funds, Stocks and securities can provide you with very high returns. You can get remarkably high profits if you consider investing in a good breed of company, invest for a long tenure and at least have a moderate risk appetite.
• Choose a brand that has excellent nurture and is well recognized and established
• Check on the stock before investing; you should have a crystal-clear understanding of the business model of the company you choose to invest
• Try to anticipate the growth of the company by going through the past records
• Choosing the right company would surely help you earn good profits in the long tenure irrespective to whether you invest in risky avenues.

The information contained herein is generic in nature and is meant for educational purposes only. Nothing here is to be construed as an investment or financial or taxation advice nor to be considered as an invitation or solicitation or advertisement for any financial product. Readers are advised to exercise discretion and should seek independent professional advice prior to making any investment decision in relation to any financial product. Aditya Birla Capital Group is not liable for any decision arising out of the use of this information.