There’s fat money involved for newbie entrepreneurs who can sell self-invented products through web stores that are convenient and hassle-free, finds out Karan Bhardwaj
After graduating in business from IP University, Gaurav Bhatia was planning to start something of his own. He was interested in making watches but the problem of huge investment obstructed his dreams.
Bhatia, a regular online shopper, was aware about the limitless opportunities floating on the Internet. “I knew one could make transactions through websites. Setting up an online shop or store is easier and cheaper than having a real one, which includes numerous hassles,” said the 24-year-old from Delhi. With initial investment of Rs1 lakh, he produced 10 different models of watches.
Then he created his webstore in August 2012 on Snapdeal which finally got functional in November. “By that time, I had produced 150 watches,” he shared.
The online business expanded gradually and the young entrepreneur, who runs the label Dezine Watches, is now generating a decent turnover. “I sell over 100 watches on a daily basis. Profits of these last two months have been around Rs 50,000-60,000,” he said.
Bhatia has also started a small unit in Chandni Chowk with six employees under him. “They assemble the parts used to create our products. We are using the same machine used by Titan and original cells (Sony, Nexon),” he asserted. Dezine watches will also start a website next week.
like Bhatia, several other young enthusiastic entrepreneurs are making huge money through online transactions. They are not dealers or seasoned professionals but still manage to sell their stuff like hot cakes.
Interestingly, many of the products are by hobbyists, without any commercial aspirations.
Take 24-year-old Vidya Priyadarshini, who returned to India recently after completing her engineering from a US varsity. During her break, she began painting and shared images of her works on Facebook. The response on the social networking site encouraged her to do more canvasses.
“It started as a hobby as I always wanted to do art. Somebody suggested that I create a web store and put the images of my paintings online because they were as good as those by any other trained artist,” said the young girl who deals through Payupaisa.com.
In the last two-three weeks, Priyadarshini has uploaded 30 paintings and is now learning art formally. “These paintings were made during my learning process. Earlier I was doing water colours on A4 sheets. Now I am learning acrylic and oil paintings. last weekend I did a mixed media work on a 18X24 inch canvas,” she informed.
Unlike her, Valarumsakthi from Chennai was struggling to get a website and payment gateway for his rural agricultural business.
He deals in agriculture products, organic foods and a milk machine that he invented. He was looking for an online platform where he could educate customers about new technologies in farming and make a business as well. limited funds and complicated online processes hindered him from getting a website. “Finally he created a web store with us and has sold five machines in less than a month,” said Nitin Gupta, founder of PayUIndia, parent website of Payupaisa, which was launched barely a month ago. The website is a hit among youth. “Young folks are interested because they are booming with ideas, tech-savvy and want to try new arenas of businesses. The online concept is just becoming easy and comfortable with websites like ours,” he said.
Payupaisa has already created thousands of web stores. In the next six months, the number could go up to 40,000. The target is over one million stores for the next three years, the founder said.
The website is a free tool for sellers and provides beneficial a free webstore, storefront and email invoicing. It also has a dispute resolution centre to safeguard buyers and keep their money safe, even when they have paid for a product or service. Other websites offering similar services include indiebazaar.com, itshandmade.in, craftsvilla.com to name a few.