Hi! I’m Ganesan, the proprietor of Indra Stores – a departmental stores in a small village called Papansam, Tanjore District, Tamil Nadu.
How I got started with Business ?
Indra Stores is 65 years old, its our family business. I am taking care of the store for past 25 years. Be it any function in Papanasam, we are the whole sale as well as retail grocery suppliers to everyone. I can proudly say that today, people here are able to acquire latest stocks and are able to meet all their house hold needs because of our family business. So Indra Stores and people here form my life – Without either, I am nothing.
What did I do to be unique ?
Managing the store operations, the accounts, invoicing etc. were done manually by my father. Since the next generation is not much as sharp as our forefathers used to be, we became too dependent on technology which infact helped me a lot. After 10 years of doing what my ancestors did, I decided to change. I switched to software billing from manual billing before 10 years. That big leap of technology adoption is what helped me sustain as a leading departmental stores in this region.
Where has that bought me ?
I initially bought Computers and Printers through Rams Computers, a hardware dealer in Kumbakonam who in turn got me Gofrugal billing software. There are many features, its like an ocean and I have tasted only a cup of it. I maintain all my customer records, Maintain stock, use multiple billing counters for fast billing and maintain accounts in digital format.
As I said, Happiness of people here is my primary goal. I used this technology to happify them even more. To establish a personal connect with my customers, I use the SMS alerts of Gofrugal to send bill invoice messages, purchase sms, loyalty and offers as sms to my customers. If any new stock has arrived, I notify them through sms and they plan accordingly to place sale order and I deliver. This way, their time is saved and they acquire high quality products at their doorstep, at the right time. I am now the favorite retailer of everyone.
One thing that I love ?
I always love to establish a personal connect with my customers. In this world of Amazon, Flipkart – this is what is needed. Since Papanasam is a remote village near tanjore, people are not too familiar with English. So initially when I was billing in English, customers didn’t even bother to cross verify the bill, check the details etc. because they were not able to. The real power of technology should lie in making things easier and not complicated. So I approached Gofrugal again, and I came to know about their brilliant solution. With the regional language printing option in Gofrugal RetailEasy, I started to give Tamil Bill print to my customers – and make them feel happy and smart. They now check the items received, they have the right to question details and know the tax split up etc.
Way forward..
Like I said, I have only tasted a cup of water. This is going to be a long journey and I’m really excited about it. I’m confident that, this technology can take me heights, grow my business. Gofrugal Solutions and Rams Computers are there for me to support and help my dream come true. I will continue to happify my customers, help my society by bringing top quality products and excel in the retail industry by expanding stores across the state.
