Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, it is the one most adaptable to change”.
Gone are the days when the products and services of local businessmen were mostly accessible to those within their locality or the city. Today, the digital revolution has ushered in a new India, whereby any entrepreneur can reach millions of households at a time. One idea, an internet connection, a team of dedicated performers, and the world is your oyster. But it is not quite as simple as that. Any business, no matter how big or small, will still test the entrepreneur’s patience, resilience, and strength. #WeAreAmazon is celebrating the spirit of all the local shop and small business owners that make the Amazon Family today.
Shrey Kumar co-founded Aadvik, India’s first brand of camel milk, and camel milk products with the vision of generating more employment and helping as many camel farmers as he could. He wanted these products to reach every corner of India, be it Assam or Kanyakumari. During the pandemic, he realized that he could not confine his business to offline distribution channels only. Concerned about the safety of his employees and customers, he decided to come online and unlock the benefits of Amazon. Be it investments, payments, or visibility, Amazon sellerbrated and supported Shrey every step of the way. What started as a collaboration with one camel farmer is now a business supporting over 200 such farmers.
Aadvik is just one of the examples of how online platforms along with social media channels enable small businesses to widen their market reach: from their local town to trading across the country.
Ishan Soni also showed tremendous zeal and ensured that his flagship gift store, Northland, not just survived but thrived during such difficult times. As the cities closed, small offline traders like him started wondering how to support his team members working at multiple branches of the shop. That was the lightbulb moment for Ishan when he decided to jump onto Amazon. Today, he sells his products through his offline stores and also delivers orders to places as distant as Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Digital platforms not just help entrepreneurs to minimize their costs, increase business efficiency and reach a wider audience. But these platforms also provide our entrepreneurs with the confidence to invest in their ideas and assure them that they can fly solo with limited resources. Rishika started Saptamveda, a nutraceutical small business with just three products. While enthusiastic about her latest e-commerce venture, she was concerned about generating awareness and reaching a wider audience. The Amazon Saheli program helped her on both fronts of creating that awareness around her brand as well as dispatched her products to the remotest areas such as Jammu and Kashmir and part of North-East India.
Then there are entrepreneurs trying to make India Fit while not compromising with our taste buds. Jyoti founded TeaFit to provide healthy and sugar-free beverages to Indians. But as every business has been tested in recent times. TeaFit also had to prove if it was fit to adapt to changing times. For Jyoti quitting wasn’t an option and despite production being stalled and delayed, she kept going. Amazon saluted her determination to keep going in the face of ever-increasing adversity. Jyoti started catering to new customers in new territories like in Mizoram.
They say you reap what you sow. And entrepreneurs like Neha Saharan continued to withstand the changing tides. Joining lakhs of small and medium scale entrepreneurs who are part of the Amazon family, Neha also decided to go online with her business, Sow and Grow, a small business, that provides boutique gardening solutions. Started in 2017, Sow and Grow offer everything that is DIY gardening kits to geo-fabrics. Like others, she too realized that they should not restrict themselves to their local environment and saw how online business through Amazon boosted her offline store sales. Most importantly, Amazon’s Customer Service understood the pressures of sustaining her business, helping her grow one box at a time.
In the last two years, our small and micro-business owners have shown us that they are ready to take on the opportunities presented by the global digital economy. They can withstand any challenge or curveball thrown their way. And they must be sellerbrated for their sheer courage, strength, and determination.
To know more visit: https://amazon.in/weareamazon
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)