Business Makeover - April, 2009.

Mr. Sundarmoorthy was a traditional industrialist involved in the manufacture of coconut oil. He had a very successful business practice in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, a harbour town with many huge industrial establishments, a host of leading C&F and logistics companies and a well developed SIPCOT complex.  This had given rise to a large mobile population of technocrats comprising engineers, top management people, technicians, workers, etc. There was also a sizeable population dependent on the sea for their livelihood. Mr. Sundaramoorthy had only one son, Ramesh, who was employed in Chennai. Whenever his son’s family came to their native town, he felt restricted by the lack of choice in toys that he would like to buy for his grandchildren. He had also heard similar complaints from many of his friends. It was, thus, that he decided to start a new business alongside his extremely profitable oil venture and opened a toy shop – the first of its kind in the town – naming it after his grandson: Mukund Toy Paradise. It was a well-stocked shop with traditional domestic and imported toys for children.

However, a year down the line, Mr. Sundarmoorthy discovered that this new enterprise of his was hardly profitable; rather, a drain on his time and resources. It would be best to close it down. Around this time, Ramesh returned to town to take care of the family business, having gained valuable exposure and money from his experience. He was gravely disappointed by his father’s decision to shelve the toy business. He still felt that the market had huge potential and expressed his desire to take over the shop and try to revive its fortunes. What steps could Ramesh take at this point that would transform the shop into a profitable venture?

Increasing visibility
Mr. Ramesh has to think of introducing changes along different lines. The first thing would be to check for visibility and customer awareness. If required, he should relocate the shop from its present location to the main shopping area or areas frequented by families with children such as the beach. The interiors must be tastefully and intelligently decorated, carpeted, made dust-free with lightings made to suit the environment and capture the imagination of children. Mild background music appealing to children of different age groups could be played in turn. In other words, the interiors should look inviting to the target consumer section without being overly opulent. It would also, perhaps, be a good idea to have a weekly holiday and keep the shop open on Sundays, since that’s the day most people go out with their families.

Making it easier for the customer
The next step would be to look into the aspect of, and create, customer comfort. More often than not, in such outlets, salesmen are the people primarily responsible for selling the product to the customer. The key, therefore, lies in appointing salespersons who would be able to relate well with the typical buyer. For example, Mr. Ramesh could appoint girls, with an education in kindergarten training, as saleswomen. They would be able to speak the language of the children and also better explain the benefits of the toys to the parents or final buyers. It is also important for them to be extremely customer-friendly.
There are also other ways to create customer comfort. For example, different shelves should be assigned to different classes of toys. This helps the customer to identify what exactly he’s looking for and streamline his choices. A rack involving baby-care products, Kids’ CDs, could be opened to make it a one-stop shopping place for children. New toys should always be positioned at eye-level to attract maximum attraction.

 Building relationships
Another very important thing is to build and retain customer loyalty. Small steps such as printing the name of each child, free of cost, on the first toy that he purchases, or dropping them birthday cards, go a long way in building and nurturing continued relations with the customer. Small inexpensive comic / cartoon booklets could occasionally be given as free gifts.

The times are a’ changing
Mr. Ramesh could also contemplate introducing what many leading chains have successfully done in the greeting card market. He could introduce a toy to commemorate every special day, for example, a toy for Valentine’s Day.  This will draw a large number of college students to his shop. Such visits often result in parallel sales, whereby overall sales pick up. Free mehendi to visitors may be introduced on special days. Then there could be special dolls/decorations, displayed in exclusive racks, for Navaratri, Diwali, Christmas etc.

Capitalising on opportunities
Local industries of the kind present in the town usually have residential complexes, each with its own organizational culture. Often, there will be an annual carnival at those quarters at a particular day of the year. Mukund Toy Paradise could put up a stall on carnival day so that all the residents are exposed to a wide range of the wares that the shop has.

These communities also have active ladies’ clubs. Ramesh could get in touch with them and set up a day when he can address all those present. The focus would be on Emotional Benefits – bringing your children toys or games and teaching them the way to operate or play with those toys also indirectly means spending more time with your children. A game of carrom goes a long way towards fostering family ties, not to mention the  appreciation that you receive as a parent for buying him a new toy!

Then again, factory personnel often make their monthly purchase at select supermarkets, e.g. a particular industrial community may have its own supermarket either in factory or residential premises. In-shop sales of toys could be carried out in those supermarkets on the first three days of each month consequently for six months. This helps to showcase the products and trends to the same set of customers consistently even without them having to visit the toyshop.

Innovations and business strategies
In time, Mr. Ramesh may think of creating a special play area with a safe, hygienic pre-purchase ambience. To exemplify, there could be a demo race track made of plywood where children could themselves operate a car.  Often a child on seeing another with a toy in the demo room would instantly fall for the same one.  This also reduces the floating time customers spend in a shop.
It would also be nice to have a coupon system whereby people can buy gift coupons of varying value that can later be exchanged for a toy.

Given the evolving preferences of industrial society, it would help immensely if the store has a website with pictures, related information and prices of all the toys.  People can access the site and pay through their credit cards. The toy could be dispatched to the said destination within a 10-km radius from the shop with all the paraphernalia of a gift, if it’s meant to be one.
Sometimes it also makes sense to explore the cost-benefits of entering into agreements with subsidiary industries. Often battery-run toys, in spite of being cheaper themselves, are unpopular because of the recurring cost of batteries. If Mr. Ramesh is able to arrange for a  deal with the battery suppliers, say, a trade load offer on a bulk purchase, he may sell an AA battery for a price of Rs. 4.50 compared to its market price of Rs. 7.00.  In time, he would start receiving shoppers who come to Mukund for their battery purchase alone.

To sum up…
Often, all it takes is to recognise the hidden potential of an enterprise and the channels through which that may be realised. The needs of the target customer can be fulfilled only upon thorough exploration of the governing realities of their situation. Here we have discussed a few ways by which Mr. Ramesh can switch from the conventional technique of management of the business to a modern and effective one, more befitting of the times, without substantially raising investment. All these steps are likely to boost sales and revive the dying fortunes of Mr. Sundarmoorthy’s one-time dream.