A business story of a sugarcane seller from Coorg

Like any other tourist, I stopped by a sugarcane stall for a cool drink on a hot sunny day. There was a small stall set up by a middle-aged man, who must be around 55–60 years old. While we were sipping on the sweet sugarcane juice, we noticed that the machine was different from what we had seen at other places. Out of curiosity we inquired about the machine and ended up learning much more than what we had intended to.

This man has a small family and runs this sugarcane juice stall at Abbi falls. He also has a farming business. The combined income helps him run the family. He invested an initial amount of 2 lacs in the business. The machine cost him 1.5 lacs and 50,000 for the generator to power the machine since there is no electricity connection that he can use at the location. The place for his stall is rented from the Gram Panchayat (local governing body) at the rate of Rs.100 per day. That is a total of Rs.3000 monthly rent for space. He owns a truck that helps him transport his machine from his house to the location and back.

Coming to his sales, on a normal business day, he gets Rs.2000–2500 from selling the juice. However, this revenue is not year-round. The business does not do well or almost does nothing in the monsoon. Which means he sells from January till the end of May and then starts from September or October till the end of December. During monsoon, he focuses on the farming which he runs as a primary business.

Assuming he operates only 9 months in a year and earns Rs.2000 daily:

Monthly revenue: 60,000

9 months revenue: 5.4 lacs

He gets around Rs.45,000(avg) on a monthly basis (spread across 12 months). Since I don’t have the complete picture of his costs, it would be hard to determine his profits, if there are any.

Although it seems like an easy business with easy money, he does have to face challenges. Some of the risks I could think of are:

Running a business is not easy and yet doing it is very commendable. In a larger scheme of things, these small merchants power our economy in their own way. They also exemplify determination and survivalism at best.

I love to interact with small and micro businesses. Whenever I travel, I talk to local businesses and learn more from them. For me, it is a motivation pill. These stories are instant energizers and boosters of confidence.

P.S. I wasn’t able to recall his name and I feel terrible.

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