sorabh's blog

Naturally, then, things like adverts in the newspapers, pamphlets, strategies like luring customers to "tell 20 friends and win a free t-shirt" are all methods to attract a whole lot of people, but not the kind of customer I hope/want to deal with at Toubé Bäs. A typical Toubé Bäs customer is far more prudent, dignified, and sophisticated than that. Plus, slightly richer as well!

I plan not to worry about the masses, or the huge business opportunity that I lose with them. My concern would be to cater to the few elite people, and give them all the customer service I can afford to. That's where I won't like to fail.

Thankfully, that's the business wisdom my grand father felt like sharing with me recently.

Also, Toubé Bäs is not about 'designer' t-shirts ... where a flutter of butterflies, a fleet of birds ... and things like that contribute to some immensely colorful design. The t-shirts here will always have a strong message to deliver ... a message that you will either connect with instantly, or not connect with at all. These are meaningful t-shirts, and may make sense to only a few people who are passionate about the core meaning. In your group, or at a social occasion, these t-shirts will certainly give you that "Hey Nice T-shirt!" response ... serve as conversation starters (about your passion), and make you feel happy about it.

Looks like the ride's going to be tough for me, right?! I hope so too!

 

91% of urban population claim that they have a "favorite tee", which they will never discard in their lives! Come what may.
About 5.4 million tshirts are sold worldwide! Daily.
More than 60% of the all urban population owns atleast 10 tees each. 19% own more than 30 tees!
 
These are statistics - but there's one very generic reason why people wear tshirts: to express. People mistake T-shirts as apparel. They are not. T-shirts are, instead, a form of 'media' - and a much more 'personal' media than the radio or tv can even hope to offer. When someone wears a t-shirt with a message on it, he or she is devoting 50% of the body to that message ... for an entire day. That's how siginificant t-shirts are ...

T-shirts are about one's personal beliefs and thoughts - and that's not the end! T-shirts are a casual, cool, and carefree manner to express one's attitude in style, and in a unique way.

That's why I always maintain, "T-shirts do not hide the body. No. Instead, they reveal your mind!"

Still, that is NOT the reason why a t-shirt becomes someone's favorite - so much so that that's the only thing they will sleep in. There's something else ... 
 
Emotional involvement. Yes - researches have shown that the one piece of apparel that people develop maximum emotional bonds with are their tees! A tee may be a gift from your girlfriend (better - it may belong to your girlfriend), it may remind you of that marathon run, it may have a message about your passion and belief, or it may simply reflect something about your school or college - but once ppl get emotionally involved with their tees, they don't want to discard them - no matter how batterred the fabric may be! This is one relationship where there's no breaking-up.

There's little wonder in the fact that almost 33% of the sports world revolves around merchandise, and almost 43% of revenues that colleges in the West generate are through sales of merchandise - and a huge chunk of that is t-shirts.

Garment industry?! No! I think I am in the media industry! :)
 
 

Payments on Toubé Bäs can be made in the following ways:

CreditCards/DebitCards/Direct Net Banking
Oh yes! This is serious business - we have tied up with CCAvenue to bring all the security and conveniences to your payment process. CCAvenue is India's largest payment gateway (they must be really good, right?) ... and provide for payment through global credit cards ... and also debit cards & simple online banking of almost all the banks in India!

PayPal
Allows for ultra-secure credit card and international bank transactions! Also, doesn't require you to have a paypal account :)

Not that I am playing in billions - but what the heck! The experience in this hobb-usiness has been an assortment of lessons already. While I get the ultimate pleasure in selling t-shirts here, I would love to share some empirical realizations about starting-up with you - may be they might benefit you!

8) Money is Easy!
Yes, it is. I used to believe that easy money is evil. But it's not. To me, money is good, money is my friend. And all I have to believe is that every moment, money is joyfully coming to me in abundance.
I think this is a necessary attitude to have because once this belief becomes a part of you, you can start focusing on things that really need your focus. Money should not be your focus at all. Your focus should be your passion, your commitment to your passion.
Ofcourse, being pragmatic helps. Like, a very wise thing I have learnt (it's a very simple thing, by the way, but simple is usually difficult): to have money, you need to learn to do two things. Save some of what you earn, and invest some of what you earn. That's the key to become monetarily-rich.

7) Long-term Planning is a Joke!
Yes, it is! Believe me! The gods smile at you pitifully when you plan your life - imagine how loud they will laugh when you try to make a 2 year plan of your business in an excel file, with goals very clearly mentioned in there! While you are doing it, one of your 27 other competitors has already sold his product. My small advice is ... think small, think small term, and make sure you do it. Stop ideating after a while. Get executing - asap. For instance, meet a real customer and test the product on her and take a genuine feedback. As far as your investors, angels, managers etc. are concerned, tell them, and make them repeat it 20 times, that your poorest customer is far, far more important than anyone in the business you are running. Because, he/she is.

6) The Customer is God ... but ...!
That's what we Indians have always been taught, haven't we? That's what the marketing gods Jack Trout and Al Ries have said, and that's what Theodre Levit said in his HBR classic, "Marketing Myopia". This is a rule that should be followed as a superstition, and yesterday, my 88 year old grandfather advised me to do the same too. When I say, "God", it doesn't mean you sacrifice just about everything for them. But respect them, their wants, and make them happy. They are feeding you, afterall. Oh - my MBA never mentioned a word about it :) MBA is for jokers. I was one when I did it :(

5) The Supplier is Not Satan Either!
Well, it would be wrong to say that the suppliers are Gods too - but they are somewhere close as well. I had the great fortune to come across Ashfaq Hussain (Dash-n-Dots, Bangalore) who turned out to be not only a screen-printing expert, but an expert in quality and aesthetics too. It's been more than three years - and we are still going strong. I make sure he gets his quoted figure in time, and he ensures that I get the best quality one can produce. if you don't expect your customers to keep postponing their payments, don't do it to your suppliers as well. As for the 'cash-flow', you have to make the sales happen to take care of it. If that isn't happenning, there's no point being in business. Really. Warren Buffet himself hates the concept of 'credit' ... and you know who he is, right?!

4) Credit Doesn't Work
I have always been told to 'maintain my cash flow' by paying my suppliers late, and taking money early from my customers. However - in business it's essential to realise that good relationships (even Adi Dassler says this) are much more important than credit periods, plus yours is not the only bank account that feeds on money! Hence, I do not sit on my customer's head to make the payment as if my leg is breaking away, neither do I keep my supplier's money with me just for the sake of it. Brings me back to the point of money: it should not be your 'focus'. Let it be where it is ... don't run behind it. Don't hold on to it. Probably this needs to be applied to everything in your world.

3) Passion > MS Excel
Many people start their businesses based on their passion, and before taking the plunge, try to evaluate their passion in figures keyed in an MS Excel mesh - thinking, "Should I, Shouldn't I?" My suggestion (who am I, btw?): if you are passionate about it, jump in anyway - lest you may regret it when you are 60, and have on foot in the grave. I started designing and selling t-shirts without blinking an eye-lid. Money went, money came, money went. I may have had 'challenging times' - but did not realise them in all the fun. Only 11 months later did I make my first excel file to organise myself. A day later, I deleted it. Plus: an excel file makes sense only when you have numbers with some experience behind them.

2) "F*** It!" Bolke Kar Daalne Ka
When I was but a freshie bachcha in IITB, and tried to apply my brains in usual hostel activities, my seniors had this one suggestion: "Bahot zyaada nahin sochne ka. Bas 'F*** It' bolke kar daalne ka." That's what I do - in life, in the football ground, in Toube Bas: I think about things for some time - giving all due respect to the situation. But that's it ... once the subconscious (gut feel) feels right, I don't give a dam