Image source - AI generated
Manshika Jain
The first time I saw a customer leave my father’s store empty-handed, it hit me hard. Even though I was just a kid back then, I was mature enough to understand that it wasn’t just a lost sale; it was the feeling that we weren’t doing enough, that we were somehow falling short despite our best efforts.
Our garment showroom in Rupnagar, a town in Punjab, is nestled in a busy market, surrounded by competition and an ever-evolving customer base. There were days when the sales felt like a rollercoaster—some good, some not so much—and I couldn’t help but wonder: what made people leave without buying anything?
Growing up watching my father struggle with the ups and downs of the business, I always saw him as a hard-working man, deeply committed to keeping the family business afloat. But I never truly understood the complexities of it until I started my journey at university. Here, I began connecting the dots and realised that there wasn’t just one factor influencing a business’s success. It wasn’t as simple as the price of the product or the quality alone.
The challenges we faced at my father’s showroom were far more complex than I had initially thought. Suppose you walk into a store and see a beautiful dress you love, but realise it’s priced just a little beyond what you’re willing—or able—to spend. It’s not that you didn’t like the dress; it’s just that, in that moment, it didn’t feel justifiable.
Maybe the same thing was happening in our showroom too. Maybe our prices were fair, but the customer’s income, their current priorities, or even their mood made the purchase feel out of reach. Or perhaps it wasn’t about the product or pricing at all—it could have been the attitude of our employees. If they weren’t fully committed, it would show, and stock isn’t going to sell itself right.
And even if we managed to address all these factors, there was still the looming challenge of online shopping. The ease and convenience of shopping online had started taking customers away from our store. We were caught in a whirlwind of issues, and at the time, I didn’t know how to tackle them all. But what I realised through my studies was that no single factor existed in isolation. The challenges we faced were interconnected, and to solve them, we needed to address each one thoughtfully and systematically.
The knowledge I gained at university set me on a transformative journey in how I viewed the challenges at the showroom. I didn’t just look at problems as roadblocks anymore; I began to see them as opportunities—opportunities to rethink strategies, to innovate, and most importantly, to act.
What earlier felt like an endless maze of problems now seemed surprisingly solvable once I started applying the insights I had picked up at university.
For instance, the drop in sales during seasonal dips used to feel inevitable, something we just had to accept. But after learning about Ryanair’s pricing model, I realised we didn’t have to sit back—we could attract more customers by offering bigger discounts on certain products while maintaining margins on others.
I suggested we try something similar at the showroom. Although my father was a little hesitant at first—after all, I was still a student, and he had years of real-world experience—I managed to convince him after many conversations and by sharing real-world examples.
At first, he smiled politely but brushed it off. It took a lot of discussions before he finally agreed to experiment with my ideas. When we implemented these changes, there were noticeable results.
Similarly, by paying closer attention to patterns, I noticed that most of our sales happened right after salary days. It hit me that we had been missing an opportunity all along—we needed to prepare our best stock early and roll out special deals during that window, instead of letting it pass quietly. Again, small adjustments made a visible difference.
When it came to managing our sales staff, what once felt like an unfixable human problem became clearer too. Having seen during college projects how people's efforts shifted when rewards were tied to performance, I realised we could motivate our employees better.
We started experimenting with performance-linked incentives, and slowly, there was a visible boost in energy and ownership on the floor.
As for competing with online shopping, I stopped seeing it as a battle we were destined to lose. Instead, I began to see our advantage—real trust, genuine conversations, and personal connection—things no flashy online discount could replicate. Sometimes, the answer wasn’t to shout louder but to connect deeper, and that became a principle I kept close to my heart as we moved forward.
Reflecting on this journey, I realise how my education didn’t just teach me theories or frameworks—it transformed how I thought. It shifted my mindset from a place of helplessness to one of empowerment. I stopped viewing challenges as insurmountable obstacles and started seeing them as opportunities to improve and grow.
This change in perspective that led to me helping my father has been my biggest achievement. Not only did it help our business move from merely surviving to truly thriving, but it also changed me as a person. I now approach problems with a mindset of innovation and growth, knowing that every challenge can be turned into an opportunity for success.
Education gave me the tools to look at problems from different angles, to question the status quo, and to act.
And it’s not just about our family business—it’s a lesson for any small business out there, whether it’s struggling or well-established. With the right mindset, any business can thrive. The power of knowledge doesn’t just lie in understanding concepts—it lies in how you apply them, how you adapt, and how you turn every setback into a stepping stone.
With the growing use of educational tools and fresh ways of thinking, many small businesses can find new paths to grow and succeed. And it’s the young minds of today, like mine, who will shape a future where innovation, resilience, and knowledge drive not just individual success, but the success of entire communities.
