To focus on Investment or be Self sufficient

Remember when we were finalizing our plan to launch ShipsKart, I was discussing the details with my cousin brother, who spoke to me about two business models relevant to starting with your own adventure.

(a) The Financial Model - Where in, we try and get upfront investment, give maximum discounts to our clients and show traction, find another investor, give more discounts and get more traction and so on.

(b) The Operationally Profitable plan. To explain that he asked me if I had ever seen a businessman sell something at a loss? And of course the answer was a no. That’s why we try and reduce costs for the clients and at the same time ensure that we are always operationally profitable.

In Option (a), the business would always be dependent on investment and it will not be a sustainable plan in the long run. To add, its extremely difficult to raise money from Investors, who would require the concept to be validated in the market.

Where as in Option (b), the business would sustain itself. In this case, you will attract more investors or may never require any investment. This is how businesses around the world function, "you always earn more than you spend."

We chose the latter. Not because we didn’t have any other options but we did not want to waste any time looking for investors and instead concentrate on generating revenue.

It’s been 2 years since ShipsKart has been operational and we are extremely proud of the progress we have made. Not only have we reduced costs for our clients by smart optimization but with good technology and efficient operations we have earned a decent profit for ourselves.

Ofcourse we will raise money but that would only be to expand. The process might take a bit longer but we are in no hurry. A well thought of idea will go a long way. Perseverance and a great mentor is what we need. Thankfully we have both.

Dhruv Sawhney