Sanjay Guha: Our Aim Is Resurgence of Local Indian Markets

Sanjay Guha is much more than being the Founder and CEO of Acquist Marketing amp Information Solutions Private Limited He is a visionary entrepreneur whose focus is on longterm returns Earlier this year moved by the impact of COVID19 on the livelihood of lakhs of small business owners he stepped into the retail market amp online business with LOCALMARKET a onestop shop that is unique in its approach towards business With small Indian businesses struggling to stay afloat amidst the present situation the FounderCEO Guhas localised approach to business is like a breath of fresh air Their business motto is You Ask We Deliver Anything In this teteatete the man with almost two decades of experience in aggressive sales and real estate tells us what it means to go local and come up trumpsQ 1 What inspired you to think of Local Market as a business opportunityAnswer The imposition of lockdown in March this year changed my perspective in more ways than one Partly from personal experience and partly from observing the surroundings I realised there is a huge gap between the two spectrums of business supply amp demand On the demand side there was a gap because of a restriction on peoples movement forcing consumers to stay indoors and rely heavily on online portals for shopping etc This gap was further accentuated in absence of a humane approach to redressal of customers grievances related to a product or services It was true of both small as well as big businesses In case of larger businesses even those with panIndia presence it took a lot of time effort and going around in circles to escalate ones genuine problem and seeks its resolution leading to customer fatigue Without naming anybody I faced it even myself So the absence of a human element was one reason behind Local Markets conception On the other hand the livelihood of local vendors the neighborhood shopkeepers was increasingly being threatened by 1 Lockdown and 2 More and more consumers ordering from big brand ecommerce sites These were the reasons that inspired me to think of a cloudbased system focusing on customer service and technology This was the thought with which we began and today we have more than 850 products and services to choose fromQ 2 Is it the right time to launch a businesslike Local MarketAnswer Frankly speaking there is no way to know what is the right time to launch a business ever At the same time looking at the response in the last 45 months I know we are absolutely in the right space at the right timeQ3 What were the challenges that you faced in getting Local Market on its feetAnswer The first challenge in getting Local Market started was finding reliable backend suppliers because they form the backbone of our supply chain We were lucky to connect with these good local guys who have been in their respective businesses for years Their vast presence throughout Mumbai for starters is reassuring Be it Dadar Borivali Powai Kurla Kandivali or Ghatkopar they all have their local clientele The first step for us was to choose the most reliable ones from among those Initially when we started receiving orders we looked for nearest local vendors who were selling other products as well But we began to see a difference in quality From the data generated after the first few months we realised the strength of each vendor For instance we got to know that a particular vendor in Dadar provides the best groceries at reasonable rates or a vendor in Powai has the best quality mutton or a Kurla vendor sells a huge variety of household items It is through such detailed study and experience that weve built our robust supply chain as well as a demandfulfillment chain in this business Overcoming these challenges has made Local Market a uniquelyplaced ventureQ 4 What are the highlights of your latest venture amp how is it different from your past operationsAnswer Tieups with the best of the local suppliers who ensure timely and quality products and services We ensure that we deploy a clean hygienic supply chain where we pick up the products from them amp deliver it to the customers doorstep safely The most unique thing about our Local Market is that when a customer orders something which could be anything he gets the best of the lot through our safe procurement and delivery system My past ventures were hardcore B2B in nature and corporatecentric This being the first consumerbased team venture for us it has been a huge learning experience for us Though weve been familiar with client management vendor management in our business ventures but the amount of learning that weve garnered at Local Market has been an eyeopener Of course the team with which I am working has been a wonderful support Most importantly however weve been able to build a beautiful ecosystem of vendors as well as clients that will hold us in good stead in the coming yearsQ 5 You are an experienced Sales Leader having led highperformance sales teams Do you think Indian grocery market can benefit from some aggressive sales techniquesAnswer Very interesting question While Ive done aggressive sales work all my life and my team my bosses and colleagues would vouch for that one gamechanging aspect of running a businesslike Local Market is that it is not about aggressive selling Although from the point of view of the firsttime user or consumer we have to take care of the sales part of the business but after that it is the quality of your product or service that matters the most I believe that in this kind of business instead of aggressive sales it is the quality of experience that we give to your consumers that stays with them long after the product of service has been deliveredQ 6 From real estate to products amp services what changes did you have to make in your business strategy to succeedAnswer Success is a relative term and with an ongoing business like ours I really cant say anything right now More than success we as a team believe in keeping our consumers happy amp satisfied with our ethical manner of business And we will continue to do that As compared to other similar businesses we follow some really strong practices and we have a zerotolerance policy towards anything unethical or illegal Weve stuck to our business principles and that is what has helped us created an ideal ecosystem Be it our vendors or customers we have been blessed to be associated with people who value our principles as much as we do Let me share an example The other day we received a complaint regarding a product or a service not being upto the mark by a customer We arranged for a feedback procedure zeroed in on the issue and got the product replaced The customer insisted that there is no need for replacement and he just wanted to register his feedback with us but we still got the product replaced because that is what we value the most And that is the kind of attitude that has helped us bond well with our customers too Similarly our backend vendors who appreciate the surge in business that theyre enjoying with us amp many a times they go out of their way to support us Today our vendors are in sync with us regarding the quality that our customers expect from us Now it is a triangular unwritten bond between us our customers and our endsuppliersQ 7 With Covid19 showing no signs of abatement what special measures are you taking to make Local Market a safe ventureAnswer First of all we realise that COVID19 is not going away anytime soon Till that is the situation we are serious about ensuring the implementation of all the protocol measures put in place by the authorities such as the use of sanitizer facemasks PPE kits etc Moreover we take great care in keeping our packaging and delivery process free of direct human touch as much as possible We constantly monitor our staff members through CCTV and temperature checks throughout their work hours We are concerned both for our workforce as well as our customers So while our workforce is insured against COVID19 in every possible manner we also ensure that the process of pickup and delivery of our products is monitored closely as well We take care to use our own staff for deliveries as well In case we need to use certain apps under special circumstances we monitor them as well We try to keep our operations as foolproof and safe as possibleQ 8 How has been the customer response so far to Local MarketAnswer We are blessed with a very good customer response so far In terms of repeat orders our customer retention rate is above 60 Once our iOS and Android apps are ready we will be going all out in terms of marketing and then we hope to increase our retention rate furtherQ 9 What are your future plans for Local Market Any chance of diversifying in this directionAnswer There is a Japanese saying Ishibashi Tataite Wataru which means tap the stone bridge before crossing It accentuates the importance of proceeding with caution and weve been following it in our previous businesses like London Realty and Acquist Asia too So yes we have plans to increase our national footprint but we will grow as much as we need to grow Local Market is an organic debtfree venture Neither me nor my staff are under any pressure from any investors or a bank loan etc So we dont need to push anyone out of our way to proceed further on our chosen path As far as replicating our business model is concerned we have Kolkata Bengaluru Pune and Delhi already on our radar But that will happen only when our Mumbai enterprise is perfect and fullyfunctionalQ 10 What would be your advice for new businesses daring to open in the current pandemic situationAnswer No doubt these are different but exciting times to do business because the pandemic has turned the world on its head Whatever was essential earlier is no more essential now Consumers point of view has undertaken a 360 degree turn in the past 67 months If a startup or new business owner is able to identify these trends early on he may be able to carve a niche market before anybody else Of course the big businesses the corporate giants will sooner or later enter the fray and they have the resources to do so too but the one way small businesses can overtake the giants is by keeping time on their side So it is a good time for new beginningsQ 11 Is it safe to assume that doorstep delivery is the future of overall business in IndiaAnswer I wish I could answer this question but I havent seen the future so I cannot comment on that Online delivery is here to stay and weve already seen that in terms of huge sales volumes of websites like Amazon etc But is it the only option in the future we dont know I also cannot say how the consumer pattern is going to change At the cost of sounding too futuristic we may even go into hyperlocal kitchen garden where each family or individual might grow their own vegetables without being dependent upon any outside supplyCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new 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