I found this note tucked safely in my college notebook – my ‘Idea Journal’. It took me back in memory lane. This is a receipt from a local market of the gift items I’ve purchased.
Before I proceed any further, here’s a little background info. During my undergrad, I was the studious kid(aka. Teacher’s favorite). I loved computer science and was always trying to be two steps ahead of my college curriculum. However, for my post-grad, extra-curricular activities were my focal point. Primarily because I’m an introvert. I could spend days locked up in my room and not complain a bit – hell, I would actually enjoy it. Secondly, I wanted to learn new skills, explore and test ideas that are out of my comfort zone, and see what works for me. In short, Experiment.
I had made a list of the life skills I wanted to learn and selling was one of the top 3. Thankfully, my university had a lot of students with amazing marketing and sales chops. They were called “Dealer baba”. The internal joke was – “This guy will sell you to a stranger in the blink of an eye.” I saw people younger to me coming up with weird business ideas and selling the hell out of it to strangers. I was mesmerized at their confidence, enthusiasm, communication skills, etc. Also, extra pocket money is a great motivator :).
Our college was far away from the main city. It was full of rich brats and had only one gift shop. I went to the city’s wholesale market (2 hours away) and bought gift items in bulk. Things like alarm clocks (40 Rs, can you believe it!!), photo frames(70 Rs), etc. I’ve seen similar items being sold for 250-350 Rs/pieces in campus shops. I don’t know whether I was greedy or ambitious but I spent 5,000 Rs. in those crowded narrow lanes of Sahukarpet bargaining and hunting the best goodies at a steal price. I did quick math for my break-even point and in the worst case, what would be the loss I will have to bear. Btw, this amount was my earnings from another experimentation. So, even if I lose the entire sum, I’m technically not losing my principal capital and this would make for a great learning experience.
Pretty sorted and smart for a beginner, right? Wrong!! In this whole excitement, I had totally missed accounting for the transport. The cheapest and most effective way to commute in Chennai is the local railways. I had 2 big sacs of goods which I couldn’t even move, forget carrying them on a train. The local train stops for a minute and I would have to walk for 30 mins to reach my hostel. This is the era before Ola and Uber. Taxis/Cabs were super expensive(2-3k) and hard to find. Needless to say, I was panicking and since I was staying at a relative’s place, I had to stay all calm and happy.
I had always struggled in asking for help – especially if it’s personal. I believed that this was a sign of weakness and I would owe one to the helper. After all, I’m an independent, self-made person who can do anything and everything on her own. But this was a major crisis and thus, very reluctantly, I called a friend and we dragged those sacs for 1 hour to finally reach the hostel premises. I couldn’t sleep the previous night and this torturous exercise made me even more tired. (PS: I’ve never been the fit types). But nevertheless, all was well. I quickly freshen up and rush to the college.
During the lectures, apart from battling sleep deprivation, I was brainstorming my sales strategy. (My dedication to academia is praiseworthy .) Is there any festival coming up, holidays, any department event, any college clubs hosting a contest, etc. etc. I added these points to my checklist and decided to start by putting up a stall (2 tables basically) in the girl’s hostel compound during weekends and tea breaks on weekdays. It was a gated society of ~ 5000 bright ladies. Even though every bone and muscle in my body just wanted to lie down in my uncomfortable hostel bed under the fan which moves like a snail and bunch of mosquitoes just waiting to greet me next to the heap of unwashed clothes overflowing from the laundry basket, I was determined to set the stall today during the tea break – just when everyone is returning from college.
While walking back to the hostel, I was rehearsing my pitching, message on the display chart, who all can spread the words etc. etc.. Suddenly the responsibility of ensuring that I don’t lose the money felt really really heavy (or it could be the weight of my college bag on the swollen shoulders.) Holy crap, I haven’t removed the original price stickers and finalized on the selling price for each item. What an idiot!! I started running towards my hostel but I had no ounce of energy left in me and the roads were crowded with students. I had skipped breakfast (since I was late), had 2 veg puffs and coffee for lunch, and now had no time for snacks.
Why the hell I can’t keep a biscuit packet in my bag? All of this is a terrible idea. Why can’t I study like normal people? Why do I believe I can sell any of these goods? What will I say to these people? I was tired, exhausted, sweaty, and breathless- the exact opposite of any good salesperson. What was I thinking? I should quit. At least take a day break and definitely not do this today. Kill me, O God!!
My brain was running 1000 miles/hour. But I knew, I was just scared and frankly too deep in to quit. I had invested 5000Rs. and I had to get some return or at least recover the principal amount. Giving up now was not an option. With this clarity, I rush towards my hostel room while making a mental note for all the things I need to do in the next 15 mins – a quick change of clothes, ripping off the original price stickers, a box to keep cash etc. etc. I knew these products were damn good for the price and the quality. And I’m helping people save money, time and effort by quite literally selling these at their doorsteps. Heck, I had kept once piece from each of these products for gifting my family and friends. My confidence was as high as the Tech Park – our legendry 20-floor college building. I didn’t need any energy drink.
I noticed a bunch of students gathered around the hostel notice board. Curious I asked a young girl, what was the issue? Is there any holiday? “No, it’s a notice from the university that you can’t sell anything without Dean’s permission on the college campus.” Wait, what? Are you serious?
Remember, how I praised the “dealer babas” earlier. Turns out it had become a common practice in the college where students were trying to sell anything and everything for making a quick buck. For instance, in our hostel, the girls were making tattoos of team India and painting college white t-shirts using watercolor for the World Cup screening and this costed anywhere from 50Rs – 200Rs. I had zero interest in Cricket but I was fascinated by all the marketing tactics they were applying.
Don’t have 50 Rs, how about a small tattoo for 20Rs. The designer girl would paint multiple tattoos on her friends for free and these ladies would go to different groups of people, cheering for Team India and telling them how she got this tattoo and hand-painted Tshirt from a friend for a steal price. After all, we are all true Indian Cricket fans and we should be rooting for our country. I noted this girl would always approach people gathered in groups and would start by saying cheers for India. Rooting helped her in building instant bonds and other ladies in the group had to get tattoos as their friends were getting it. She would also point out that they have other merchandise, snack, and drinks too, a ‘little’ above the market price but do you want to block the best seat for screening or stand in the long queue. This salesgirl was their savior.
People were selling crazy shit – snacks, chart, custom-made slogans (YES!!), refilled water bottles from the water cooler, someone was making bhel, other was selling snacks from their hometown. It was crazy. I was in awe and so inspired. These girls like me were most likely not interested in Cricket but they end up making something out of nothing and had so much fun in the process. I wish my classmates were like this. You see, there was a clear distinction among undergrad and post-grad students. The undergrad will be part of all the extracurricular activities while the post-grad where the boring and the studious types. Their only aim was to be a 9-pointer. I was clearly the misfit in my class. All of my friends were from B.tech and I couldn’t wait for the college hours to end as that’s when the fun began.
Now, coming back to reality, this was one tight slap. Dean’s office will likely take some commission for selling these goods on campus. Cost-effectiveness was my USP and couldn’t let go of it.
If I inform my warden, she won’t allow me to sell anything and most likely I would be facing some sort of ban.
As a part of the rule, I can’t put any promotional banners on my hostel room door or anywhere else. This was the era before WhatsApp, so I would have to rely on SMS to spread the word. I didn’t have the number of my under-grad friends and my classmates never supported me any of these endeavors. Hell, they used to mock me.
I was doomed and could see the money going down the drain. Now instead of thinking about profits, I was contemplating the amount I would be loosing. Can I make at least 1000Rs? But how? Where will I sell these? To be continued…
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