24/01/2022
How Shovankar Roy has steered the company from 2 crore Debt to profit.
Shovankar Roy the man behind Ragilly and Trent Trading Corporation was in a debt of Rs 2 crores in the year 2019. The reason behind this debt was, his company Trent Trading Corporation was into expansion mode and as a result, it was trying to create the ecosystem of automobile accessories and parts eCommerce, retailing under 1 roof.
When Shovankar started Trent Trading it needed funding in its early stage for operations, salaries, training and development, inventory, taxation, etc. We know starting a business is not that easy and it's extremely risky, only those who have that confidence and vision can make it a success. Like any other business, it was a tough time for Mr. Shovankar.
In 2012 the initial stage of Trent Trading Corporation there was no support from the government because the company was just starting out and it was not yet established as one of the best automotive spare parts companies like today. So Shovankar was forced to take bank loans to continue the operation of Trent Trading Corporation.
Loans
Vijaya Bank - 40lakhs against the property.
DHFL - 75 lakhs takeover of Vijaya Bank loan.
DHFL top-up - 25lakh.
PNB - 1.3 crore takeover loan.
IDFC bank - 20lakh.
SBI - 24 lakhs.
Axis - 6 lakhs.
As a result, the profit was not sufficient to support the mounting expenses in top bank interests. At that point bank interest was the main challenge for Trent Trading Corporation need to face, the current profits are spending over bank interest. As a result, TTC came into a huge debt by the year 2019 total debt of Rs 2 crore.
And there were some other reasons too that make Trent Trading Corporations' journey a little more resistant, Demonetization was the first, in 2016 November 8th Indian government announced demonetization on 500 and 1000 paper currencies. Which impacted the Indian economy so badly, that shock also affected businesses even individuals who earn very little to run their daily life. Demonetization affected Trent Trading corporation very hard in 2016. Running a business was nearly impossible due to the less liquidity. People don’t have the cash to spend, due to lack of currency running a business was so hard at this time keeping up with the bank interest was become impossible for the company.
But at the same time, Shovankar also needs to take care of their fellow staff and their families even without revenue.
And the second hurdle was GST, which has reduced the automobile sales in India, and that also affected the company by reducing sales in spare parts. GST was not beneficial for the automobile industry and the inflation was too high, providing the spare parts at a lower price for the customers was a challenge and due to that company revenue was reduced drastically. Shovankar doesn't increase the pricing of products according to GST buy that people start to recognize Trent Trading Corporations legitimate style of business by that company gained a massive reputation.
Finally, the covid 19 come as a villain, People can't go out, then why do they need a vehicle, and also why do they need Sapre parts? The COVID-19 pandemic has had a swift and severe impact on the globally integrated automotive industry. Symptoms include a disruption in Chinese parts exports, large-scale manufacturing interruptions across Europe, and the closure of assembly plants in the United States. Sales went down drastically revenue was reduced. The company was slowly recovering from the negative impact of Demonetization and GST and covid was the most crucial hurdle for Trent Trading Corporation.
2 Crores Debt to Debt Free Company
And the result was in the year 2019 company was in debt of 2 crores, but Mr. Shovankar was not ready to give up because he had a vision, vision of providing customers the best quality products at the most affordable price and creating an ecosystem of automobile accessories and parts eCommerce, retailing under 1 roof. His experience in the automobile industry and passion to become a successful entrepreneur doesn't let him step back from his mission.
By the year 2020, Mr. Shovankar decided to make some major changes and decisions to improve sales. At this time Trent Trading Corporation was already become well established, people started recognizing the affordability and quality of products despite inflation company doesn't increase the price of products.
Shovankar optimizes income and expense by changing the entire business model on the basis of unit economics. Canceling or removing unused or outdated services, Recycling / “going green”. By this optimization company only needed to pay less per customer. And shifted to new technology (software, hardware, training other than depending on the conventional manpower) Implementing more efficient operations by adopting technology solutions, technology helped to lower the cost of operation, which was a big change for Trent Trading Corporation.
And changes in manpower, giving the employees appropriate training to improve productivity and operation efficiency. Which helped to become better customer service and by that company gained a strong network.
Shovankar then started a new line of business like Ragilly the doorstep vehicle servicing venture and connected that with Trent Trading Corporation so that customers can get service and spare parts under one roof on their doorstep, which also improved the sails and people start taking advantage of this very convenient service.
Then company encourage the customers to give reviews which pointed out the pros and cons of business from a customer perspective, solving those problems and improving the pros made a difference in business, also the company has shifted to prepaid model of business from credit business, because of this change from Shovankar company's cash flow has been increased and cost of investment also decreased.
And finally, Mr. Shovankar optimized the small things that made a major impact in business like reductions in fixed costs like office rents, travel expenses, utility bills, and other cost-cutting measures. Moved to online marketing reduced the cost of marketing, check for unnecessary expenses, and reviewed all expenses including the small ones.
By these small, big changes and experiments in 2022, Trent Trading Corporation is a debt-free company and become one of the most successful automotive Sapre parts companies in India. All these happened by one man's determination and passion for this field. This is the story of Mr. Shovankar who wants to provide better products and services to our fellow Indians.
