Started with zero investment, Lucknow cousins make Rs. 5 crore from online jewelry sale

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Hails from a lower middle class family, taught school going kids for pocket money, lost Rs. 25 lakh in the jewelry business. This 38-year-old Lucknow man started selling jewelry online with zero investment. Two years down the line, his per day revenue is between Rs. 2 to 3 lakh. Empowering Indains brings you the story of Sandeep Singh from struggle to success.

Sandeep was born to a lower middle class family in Lucknow’s Alambagh area. His father was a government employee in Indian Railways. “I don’t know how much he was earning from his job, but from his pension we can assume that his salary was around Rs. 35000 per month. We are five siblings and we would stay in a small house,” tells Sandeep. His mother was a housewife.

He did his education until 12th from New Public Inter College, Alambagh in 2003 in second attempt. He then did his Bachelor of Computer Application from Allahabad Agricultural Institute (now Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) in 2006 and then pursued MBA in 2008 through distance learning from the same university.

After 12th, when he was just 18, Sandeep began teaching school going kids at home for pocket money. “We would have very limited resources as father had to look after all five of us. I would not want my father to worry about my pocket money, so I would teach kids and earn Rs. 800-1000 per month,” tells Sandeep. He taught kids for one year.

Since then, he started earning for himself. He learnt English from a coaching institute and did jobs in call centers from 2004 to 2007 in Gurgaon earning Rs. 18,000 per month. He was also pursuing his education. He came back to Lucknow and began teaching English in a coaching institute for a year.

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Since he always wanted to do something of his own, Sandeep with his cousin Rishi started a dance and acting institute in 2008 in Lucknow. “Through dance and acting classes, we got to know that the filmmakers give money for arranging gatherings/ crowds. We managed a crowd for a film and that is how we found the Line Production idea and we entered into that segment,” Sandeep tells Empowering Indians.

While Sandeep was doing good in life, his mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. It was so severe that doctors failed to cure the cancer. In 2017, his mother passed away. “That was traumatic mentally as well as financially. My father retired from his service in 2000 and he was receiving Rs. 17000 per month pension. Whatever we were earning, all was going in the mother’s treatment. Bank account was so empty that my father planned to sell his land for the treatment, but then my mother succumbed to cancer,” shares Sandeep.

While Sandeep’s personal life was facing a tough time, he was doing better professionally. The Line Production idea proved to be good for him. “We would earn in lakhs. It was good business. We were traveling to different places for the line production projects,” adds Sandeep. However, covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and the business got shut down.

“I observed that we were not receiving projects for film shooting any further. We did wait for two months. When there was no hope, we (Sandeep and his cousin) invested Rs. 25 lakh to start a gold and imitation jewelry store. We decorated the store beautifully and stocked the inventory,” tells Sandeep. The shop’s name was Zevar House.

They were hoping for sales, but as time passed, they realised that people are not buying jewelry or any other expensive stuff because of the financial crunch amongst the people led by the covid19 pandemic. “I did not have enough money left to wait and hope for the sales from the jewelry shop. I had just Rs. 50,000 left in my account that time. I had to do something to earn more money. Because household expenses never stop,” Sandeep shares his worries.

One day, in July 2020, he was scrolling through social media videos and stumbled upon an advertisement about selling products on the Meesho e-commerce app. “I thought why not start selling the imitation jewelleries on the app. I began listing one product after another. My cousin- Rishi was hopeless with the idea of selling online. Since there was no expenses for showcasing the products on the app, I was determined to give it a shot,” shares Sandeep.

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After 15 days of listing about 50 products, he began receiving 8-10 orders in a week. “When I was listing one product after another and I did not receive any order after a few days, I was also feeling hopeless. But since there was no money involved in listing the products, I kept listing the products. When I started receiving 8-10 orders a week, I became hopeful,” tells Sandeep.

The sales gradually increased. From 8-10 orders in a week to 8-10 orders in a day to Rs. 1 lakh orders a day and then there is no looking back for Sandeep and his cousin. “The more products we listed, the more orders we began receiving. In the six months, we began receiving about 100 orders per day. During 2021-22 we were receiving Rs. 10,000 orders per day. During 2022-23 we were receiving Rs. 2 to 3 lakh orders per day,” reveals Sandeep.

Talking about how he began receiving orders and how the orders increased exponentially, Sandeep said, “I would keep listing the products constantly. I would also share the products link over my social media platforms and share on WhatsApp to my network. Moreover, these e-commerce apps also have some marketing options on the app. We do that marketing too. I believe these are the reasons my sales have been increasing.”

He further added, “In the previous fiscal year, which was 2022-23, we clocked Rs. 5 crore in revenue. We managed to do that in two years. It was unexpected. We invested Rs. 25 lakh to start a jewelry shop where we would hardly receive sales. Here, we invested nothing, just 1-2 hours everyday and we are making crores annually,” says Sandeep. Now, he has 4-5 people working with him who look after the business operations.

Apart from Meesho, Sandeep also sells his jewelry products on Flipkart. He also launched the company’s website called ZH Shop where the same products are sold. “It has been three months since I launched the company’s website. Because I am planning to build my own brand. I am also in the process of starting a manufacturing unit to manufacture my own products,” tells Sandeep.

Upskill yourself: Learn To Sell Products on- Meesho | Flipkart | Amazon (Course)

Recently, Sandeep won an award from Meesho for being one of the top sellers on Meesho across Uttar Pradesh. He is also one of the top sellers on Flipkart from Uttar Pradesh for which he is already invited. The award ceremony will be held in Mumbai soon.

Now, Sandeep lives in a Lucknow’s posh area of Lucknow called Ashiyana with his wife, daughter and sister in a 1200 sqft house. On the first floor of his house he has his office.

“Never settle for what you have. It impedes your growth in life. Always aim for more and you will keep growing and succeeding,” believes Sandeep.