Not many times you get to meet a stranger and strike a conversation that lasts for slightly over 30 minutes and finally derive some inspiration out of it! Well, it did happen to me yesterday. My friend & I had some work on the ECR (East-coast-road). I hopped on to his bike, we would have hardly moved 2 km, when the back tyre got punctured! After walking a few metres, we found this un-puncture shop

He quickly got into his act. Busy fixing the tyre, he shot a question to me “What are you planning to do?”. I was taken aback a little, quite unsure as to what he was exactly asking and hence said “I am planning to start my own business”. He then shot back again “Do you know what business is?“. Little irritated, I wanted to say, it is a Web 2.0 application built on PHP and Java, but I just controlled my temper and thankfully let him speak! He started narrating about how he built his shop….

[Speaking from his perspective]

I started this shop 2 years back. I had no job then and none gave me any too. I decided to start a shop that would just sell tyres. I spent close to 6 months walking down the streets of ECR trying to find a place to start my shop. Everyday, I talked to 10 different people with just a single ray of hope that someone someday would tell me there is a vacant place you can use. Finally, the day came after a loong wait for 6 months.

My family being a little superstitious, wanted me to start the project after 2 months. Hence I paid 2 months rent for nothing. I started it after 2 months, bought all different types of tyres and waited for people. I waited..waited…waited… it was another 6 months and I did not get even a single customer! And I mean it – not a single customer. I was disappointed earlier that I had to pay rent for 2 months without using the place, but just imagine the situation that I was put in after 6 months!

I started analyzing the cause as to why this didn’t kick off. I went and knocked at each door in the ECR to gauge the market for a tyre shop, conducted a survey. Many people just shooed me away. Some even told me that they don’t possess any vehicle with a shining Merc parked in the front! This continued for another 6 months… Hence, I was effectively paying rent to this place for 18 months without earning a single pie. But, somewhere inside my heart, I knew I could fix the problem and come out.

I then decided to start multiple services and not rely on one! It was not just selling tyres, my shop did overhauling, fixed punctured tyres, and I am starting to run a service where I would recommend drivers for people here and ofcourse earn a referral fee, he chuckled! . The business slowly grew. Each customer came for different offerings and my shop became a commonly used word in the town – more to say, it’s almost a landmark here!

The name spread by word-of-mouth. I did my job to perfection and always stuck to my timelines. I would never do stuff that I was not sure about. If I take up, it would be real neat job! People were impressed with my work.Now, I am the Raja (King) of this area. Anyone who has any problem with their vehicle tyre, come to me. I am earning a good sum. I waited for 2 long years to get to this state.

[End of story]

I didn’t know what to say. It was really really inspiring! Never thought, I would bump into someone and be inspired so much. I could just relate a few things what he said to the startup world.

• Perseverance and determination are the key factors! Try harder, be patient and you succeed. Never never give up!
• Never rely on a single service/offering. If Google had just stuck to Search, I am not sure it would have reached the level it has now!
• The 1st guy you approach is not going to be your client. You need to knock at each one’s door and be patient to get your client!
• It’s ok to slip the deadline by a few days and give an impressive product rather than sticking to it and making a mess. The service should be of high quality for people to refer!

Phew! Great experience!