However, the process of opening a general store in India is understood by the people as a very easy process. And there is a reality in this, but if a person does this business by making a business plan of his grocery store in a good way, then there can be more opportunities for profit. Since India is still dominated by individual general stores.
Therefore, there is no need to panic, that big departmental store chains will swallow your business. If the entrepreneur is thinking of this business on a long-term basis, then he has to take care of many processes. So that the entrepreneur can adapt his store to the coming time.
Create a general store business plan
However, a detailed business plan is not necessary to open it. But the entrepreneur can make his information and expenses, some elements to get the idea of earning, such as the rent of the shop, the cost of doing interior work, the cost of filling the goods for the first time, the list of partial customers and the earnings from them can be made part of his business plan.
By doing this action, the entrepreneur will get an idea of the earnings and expenses from his business. And he will be able to manage finances on that basis.
Select general store location
Choosing a location is a very important step to start your own general store. Since such a store does not have any specific items, almost everything from home-made grains to needles has to be kept. Therefore, it is not necessary that you analyze people’s spending capacity, yes you can do this process when shopping for a specific item for your general store, whether this item will be sold here or not.
But while selecting the location, the entrepreneur must keep in mind that there is already such a shop nearby. If so, what is the daily income of the shopkeeper? How is the shopkeeper behaving towards his customers? By knowing all this, the entrepreneur can get an idea of how he will be able to attract customers to his shop.
If the entrepreneur cannot do all this, then he should choose a location where there is a crowd but there are fewer or no shops according to the crowd.
Search for stores in the selected area
Now if the entrepreneur has chosen the location to do his business, then the next step is to see a shop in that area. Which entrepreneurs can rent for their business. When renting a shop, make sure to make an agreement with the shop owner.
Because this is a business that can take some time to build a relationship with customers and earn profits. And in the meantime, it should not happen that the shop owner asks you to vacate the shop. The lock-in period can be fixed while making the agreement.
Interior design and work
Now that the entrepreneur has managed both the space and the shop for his general store. Now the next step is interior design. Choose a design that makes it easy to place each product and makes it easy for customers to see the product. Because many times it happens when the customer buys an item when he sees it.
Interior design is also a very important step in terms of external attractiveness and making goods available to customers quickly. Because if 10 customers come to the entrepreneur’s store at a time. So those 10 customers can be dealt with in a very short time if the goods are organized in that store. So the interior design work should be done in such a way that things look beautiful, look good to the customers, the entrepreneur can remove it immediately to give to the customers.
Contact suppliers and fill your shop with materials
Now if the shop is ready, then to fill the goods in the shop, you should find a supplier in your area who can provide all the goods for your shop at reasonable prices. And fill your shop with goods sold in your area.
Loyal Customers and Their Purchases
The shop was built and goods also came to the shop. So now you should start selling goods, but after a month you must do an analysis of how many people come to your general store regularly or mostly. And how much they spend on what things. And sometimes, that is, how much does the entrepreneur earn from the people coming and going?
After analyzing this, if your store is running in profit, then it is great. If not, then it is necessary to spend a little bit on marketing by waiting a little for a month or two. Another thing to note is that people who shop regularly and mostly from the entrepreneur’s store.
The entrepreneur should never get out of stock the goods demanded by him. And if they ever request for credit, they should give it. But it is necessary to set a limit on lending to regular customers. By the way, there is no special difficulty in opening and running a general store. However, in the early days of the business, it feels like customers are not coming and earning money. Patience is the only cure to deal with this situation.
How can I get General Store to run successfully?
Its location plays a major role in the success of the general store business. Apart from the location, the most important thing is the customer’s expectation from the general store. When a person goes to a general store, he expects to find everything from needles to swords. The entrepreneur needs to live up to this expectation of the customer. Only then will he be able to create a positive attitude of people towards his business (General Store). Apart from these, there are some other tips by which you can run your general store successfully.
- Many shopkeepers have a habit when the customer complains about an item purchased from them, they say that they have not made that thing, they can not do anything. This attitude towards customers can harm your general store business.
- Some shopkeepers do not take care of the choice of customers and start selling goods of such brands or companies in their shop, which customers do not like, but they have to take it under compulsion. The shopkeeper does this because they get a slightly higher margin in the same item of the new company or brand than the branded item that is being demanded by the customer.
- Keep in mind that many types of adulterated things keep going on in the market. But if a adulterated or duplicate item reaches a customer through your shop. So that person rarely comes to your shop again. And will tell 10 more people about this incident. So if you want to successfully run your general store business, you should buy goods for your shop from official sources.
- Shopkeepers have a habit of selling 1-2 rupees expensive or cheap even after seeing the face. Look at all customers through the same prism and do not make the mistake of fooling customers. Even if you have charged a customer 1-2 rupees more on an item, and he has not even said anything to you. But he knows everything, to avoid this, sell goods at the same price for everyone.
- Give customers the freedom to pay not only in cash but also through UPI, wallet, etc. This may cause them to buy something they do not urgently need.