Ahead of the worrying spike in the number coronavirus positive cases, its monetary aftermath in Bandra is perturbing. Economically speaking, the shift to normalcy will be glacial owing to the affected consumer behaviour. With huge sectors such as travel, tourism, airlines, retail, e-commerce, tech, sports, entertainment and construction coming to an almost screeching halt, the financial state of Bandra much like anyplace else stands challenged. Obstructed cash flow, glitches in online transactions and reduced purchase power have added to the woes of businesses. However, our chat with some entrepreneurs goes to show that they’re determined to rise above the odds.
Santosh Chaurasiya, Founder at S.S. Tutorials is now coaching his students via one-on-one video call sessions, providing them notes in the PDF format and emailing question papers to those appearing for CET. He tells us that the upside of online teaching is that monies don’t have to be culled for renting premises, travelling, utility bills. Says Chaurasia, “The difficulty in teaching online is that it obstructs the interaction between the students and the teacher. Sometimes the topics are mentally taxing or as the students say, ‘boring’. In such cases, they get distracted or zoned out.”
The founder shares that some students have issues with their mobile data, while some have no Wi-Fi or laptop. Chaurasiya has a team of renowned expert teachers across the suburb and many of them have opted for teaching sessions on Zoom. He informs, “Students haven’t disenrolled as of now. However, payment has been affected because modes of payment are limited now. Some parents haven’t received money so how will they pay me? Once things go back to normal, I’m positive that they will pay me.”
Joshua Pereira, who runs a home-based business of cured and smoked meat along with his girlfriend, Larissa Valladares is also trying to keep the showing going while adhering to the lockdown rules. The entrepreneur says, “The business is running well during the lockdown as customers look forward to having some delicious meat.” Given his optimism, one might wonder if he has been hit by the slowdown at all.
He then conveys that he and Valladares are working from home and enduring salary cuts too. They have been carrying out deliveries amid the lockdown with the help of a trusted courier company. As the customers have hygiene concerns, they pack the product with the utmost care and they also make contactless deliveries if requested. Pereira states that his team has handled the load quite well and that that none of his orders have gone unfulfilled. His business was also successful in generating new customers as the demand for meat increased.
Most understandably, not all have been able to keep their businesses green. One of our Bandra dwellers, who owns an electronics shop had to close it, in keeping with the lockdown rules. He expressed that the lockdown has caused him tremendous stress financially as well as mentally. He has been trying to support his employees in these testing times. He believes that customers will take a while to get back to normal and so do the suppliers. He also hopes that the government remedies the loans and the EMI situation.
Entrepreneur siblings, Aakansha and Anurag Gupta have left no stone unturned to keep their PR company, The Other Circle afloat. The said company has retained its 30 employees, who have been ensured that they will not be retrenched. The two founders will also be forgoing their salaries for the next six months to be able to issue salaries to the employees.
Says Aakansha, “Anurag and I are co-founders, we have decided to forgo our salaries for the next six months. We also announced that we will maintain our entire staff.”
