It was a source of apprehension for entrepreneur Vineeta Singh but turned out to be a business lesson and a key to her Colaba Causeway store success. When Ms Singh, co-founder and CEO of SUGAR cosmetics, signed the lease for the store, she was concerned that street stalls would block visibility. And now a year later, after the Shark Tank India panellist noticed a surge in sales, her opinion has completely changed.
But not before she found the real reason behind the soaring sales.
In a detailed LinkedIn post, Ms Singh revealed that SUGAR's fastest-growing customer segment was Arab women visiting Mumbai for medical tourism. These women loved Indian makeup, which suited their warm undertones and hot weather.
Sharing a picture with SUGAR staff and a fruit vendor from in front of the store, she wrote: "Before we signed the lease of our Colaba Causeway store, we had apprehensions about street stalls blocking our visibility from the main road. But Colaba is Colaba - every store has a stall in front and it is the stalls that have more legacy than the stores, so we decided to give it a try. Last 12 months we started seeing this store's sales explode and were also tracking lots of 1 lakh+ bills, so I went to find out what's going on!"
The reason?
The entrepreneur discovered that Suraj and his father, who ran the fruit stall in front of her store, were recommending Arab women to visit SUGAR. Suraj learned Arabic and would ask women if they wanted "Kahaal Al Hindi" (Indian kajals). This led to many women visiting Ms Singh's store and purchasing multiple products.
"Well, Suraj and his father have been running the fruit stall in front of us for years and lots of Arab women stop by to buy local fruits (they don't prefer anything imported). He asks them in Arabic, which he has picked up well, if they want "Kahaal Al Hindi" which means Indian kajals. They come in to try Indian makeup and eventually shop 15-20 pieces each of all the colours they like as they don't expect to return," the post read further.
Her team built a relationship with Suraj and his father. During quiet hours, they would invite them for tea and learn Arabic phrases, including makeup-related terms. This allowed Megha, a staff member, to communicate with foreign customers in broken Arabic, recommending them to shop Indian fruits.
Ms Singh concluded that India was a "land of entrepreneurs", where people make the biggest difference, even those outside the formal system.
Several users flocked to the comments section on LinkedIn to praise the heartwarming story and the power of human connection.
A user posted, "This is such a heartwarming story. There's place for everybody to grow. Nothing works better than genuine human connections."
Another added, "This is such a brilliantly heartwarming and insightful story! It perfectly captures the unwritten magic of Indian retail-the organic networks, the street-smart entrepreneurship, and the sheer power of human connection."
Last year, on a podcast, Ms Singh, who founded SUGAR with her husband, Kaushik Mukherjee, revealed that sometimes their fights from the office reached home and vice-versa.
"I think co-founders, be it brothers or any family members, end up fighting," Vineeta Singh said.
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