39 -year -old Chand and his friend Ajay are also standing in the hope of getting work among thousands of daily wage laborers gathered at Labor Chowk in Manesar near Gurugram in Haryana. Both friends laugh openly on their current situation despite all the difficulties present. For these two friends, who lived in Dhorra forgiveness of Uttar Pradesh, considered to be the most literate village in Asia, their visit to New Delhi was not the same as he expected.
Chand said, ‘We used to do small businesses to dye jeans. But we had to close it due to the first wave and lockdown of global epidemic. He said, ‘We wanted to resume that business and therefore tried to borrow. But no one wanted to lend us due to heavy uncertainty. So today we are standing here in search of daily wages.
His story tells the struggles of all the small businessmen across the country who have been badly affected by the Kovid epidemic.
On January 30, 2020, Kovid’s first patient was found in India. Five years later, many small businessmen are struggling to stand on their feet. However, some people also managed to overcome this difficult period. Manohar Wagle, owner of Mumbai’s famous shop Vagle Sports, said, ‘My great -grandfather opened this shop in 1865. I come from the fourth generation to run it. ‘ He said that his ancestors had faced challenges like freedom struggle and war with China and Pakistan besides two world wars. He said, ‘Kovid epidemic was probably my biggest test.’
All -round impact
Even before the global epidemic, small businesses were struggling with the effects of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation. Kovid epidemic and subsequent lockdown proved to be the last blow for some small businessmen. But some other people managed to get out of this clock of difficulty. Chand said, ‘We used to get enough customers before the global epidemic. Most of them were industrial workers because we used to dye pants at a very reasonable price. He said, ‘We are not very good but used to do well.’ He had taken a loan for his business, which was also being paid. He said, ‘Initially we did not even know about Kovid, but by June the situation became so bad that we had to lose our savings to pay the rent.’
A similar situation was visible in the whole country. Statistics of the Employees Provident Fund Organization show that from January to December 2020, 1.27 crore people withdrew from their EPF accounts, while in 2019 the figure was just 54 lakhs. Wagle said that the pace of improvement for him has been very dull. He said, ‘The business is still not completely back on track. We had to close our shop in Khar Gymkhana. Our business has been reduced by about 40 per cent before the global epidemic. Stock without selling goods was the biggest challenge for small businessmen. Due to the decrease in sales, shops piled up without selling products. This caused a lot of damage to the shopkeepers.
Alok Ubgade, who runs a drugstore in Nagpur, said, “The sales had decreased significantly after the second wave of Kovid, which increased the stock with us.” He said, ‘Some of our medicines expired and we had to suffer a lot. However, now the situation is better than before and we have returned to Kovid east level.
Wagle said that getting stock for him became a deliberate risk. He said, ‘We used to have a lot of stock earlier because our manufacturers are in North India. So it was a matter of understanding to do wholesale shopping. But now suppliers also give less goods on borrowings and we have to pay advance. So now the entire supply chain has changed.
The second biggest challenge of small businessmen was rent. Rajesh Aggarwal, owner of Prince Optical in Patna, said, “The sales were almost half after the Kovid epidemic but we had to pay the rent and the salary of the employees on time. There was no concession in it. It was difficult to run a shop without sale. We did not get any help from the government either.
For PK Quimica, a proprietor from Chennai, it was a matter of more quality than quantity. He said, ‘We had to choose suppliers who could supply on time. The cost of raw materials also increased considerably. He said that it was difficult for customers to keep prices low without cutting margin. The annual survey data of unorganized sector enterprises clearly suggests how terrible the devastation was due to the Kovid epidemic. The number of unorganized enterprises during the second lockdown from April to July 2021 decreased to 50.3 lakhs. However, in 2022-23, the figure reached 6.5 crores which was 6.33 crores in 2015-16. In the year 2023-24, this figure increased to 7.34 crores.
New general status
Due to strictness and social distance during the lockdown, small businesses had to make a lot of change to save their existence. After Kovid, the importance of technology increased considerably and facilities like online payment and home delivery became necessary to maintain business. Aggarwal said that Kovid has changed a lot in the retail business since the epidemic. He said, “The retail business declined but online sales increased.” He said that customers have started to like home delivery and online options. He said, ‘Most of our transactions have now become digital. Only 10 percent of the customers pay cash.
Wagle said, ‘Now we are getting orders on phone and WhatsApp. Most people do not want to get out for shopping. So we have tied up with delivery services. The Finance Ministry data shows that digital transactions have increased significantly after the Kovid epidemic. In FY 2020, 4.57 billion digital transactions took place which increased to 8.84 billion in FY 2022.
In addition to adopting technology, some traders also had to consider the entire product chain afresh. Wagle said that the global epidemic changed the nature of sports goods. He said, ‘People had stopped buying outdoor sports like cricket bats and badminton rackets. But the demand for Carrom and Ludo had increased and so we paid attention to it.
Ratikant Biswal, who runs a grocery shop in Balasore, Odisha, was preparing to start his business a few days before the announcement of the first lockdown. But he started selling essential commodities to protect himself. He said, “Businesses under essential services were continuing but others had to stop work.” He said that owners with strong savings and financial resources waited till the lockdown was removed to resume their work.
Not everything is disappointing
Many people fought a lot during the Kovid epidemic, but some businesses also got an opportunity to flourish. The tremendous increase in the demand for Ayurvedic and herbal products was a ray of hope for Ubgade. He said, “People now became more aware of Ayurvedic treatment and they have started spending more on their health.” He said, ‘In fact, there was a jump in business during the Kovid epidemic. We did not have to struggle with any challenge because we were classified under essential services. ‘
The owner of a textile shop at Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, on the condition of anonymity, said that he had shown tremendous opportunity in the designer mask. He said, ‘During that time we were struggling a lot. But one day a drugstore shopkeeper ordered us to sew the mask. We used the remaining clothes to make the mask and our mask became a hit. Now designer masks hold about 15 per cent stake in their business.