Ideas that are unique—in concept or execution—can create or add to your income. For Mumbai-based Sandeep Gajaka, it was the thought that people would pay to get their sneakers cleaned that gave birth to The Shoe Laundry.
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How did you get the idea?
We had to clean our shoes at boarding school. Then in college, I once cleaned a friend’s sneakers. It left me wondering why some people do not make an effort to clean their shoes. If they expect someone else to do it for them, then there is certainly money in it. After my formal education I took up a number of careers. Then in 2003 the idea of a shoe laundry came back to me and I decided to carve a niche of my own.
What about the initial investments?
Nobody in my family believed that my idea was financially feasible. I put in Rs 7,000 of my savings. Almost all of this investment went into advertising.
What were the early days like?
In the beginning I couldn’t afford an employee. I was handling delivery, cleaning and billing all by myself. Sometimes I used to get 10-15 pairs a day and sometimes nothing at all. Even after six months into the business I was wondering whether I made the right choice.
Any cost-cutting measures?
I adopted the doorstep delivery model since I could not afford the real estate cost of having an office. Working from my bedroom, I later moved my workshop to our ancestral property in Sion. That gave me a cushion to try my model out before putting too much at stake.
How is the business doing now?
Over a period of time I started getting more orders. I now have 12 people working for me. We charge Rs 130 per shoe and on an average we get about 60-80 pairs everyday. I started off catering to retail customers. But now I have leading shoe stores as clients. I do their aftersales service for them.
Any plans to scale up?
I haven’t reached the stage where I can easily train franchisees. My current focus is on cutting costs, especially delivery and pick-up costs and labour attrition (I pay salaries that are about 40% higher than the market rate for similar jobs).
