From Rs 8,000 to Rs 500 cr - The entrepreneurial journey of Amit Daga

Amit today boasts that DBM Marketing is an authorised distributor for various Consumer Durable and IT (CDIT) products and authorised partner of multi-national brands like Samsung, Philips, HP, Lenovo, Whirlpool, and Havells.

A college pass out Amit Daga, who was looking to make an identity, embarked on his entrepreneurial journey at the young age of 19 with a seed capital of Rs 8,000. He started a distribution business named ‘DBM marketing’ in 1999. In the early years, as for most entrepreneurs, Amit’s journey was not a smooth ride. He started selling customised Luxor pens to corporates in various commercial towers in Gurgaon.

“The idea of to be my own boss was the driving force. I used to deliver the finished goods to the customers myself,” says 38-year-old Amit. Eleven years after graduation, Amit did his PGDBM from IMT Ghaziabad.

Reminiscing the hurdles, Amit says that initially he had a tough time as the cash flow was minimal and he had to go to every floor of corporate towers to sell the products and services. Despite all the challenges he faced, the excitement within him was always alive.

Amit partially attributes Rohit Mathur, then Regional Manager of Parker Pens India, as his source of inspiration to move forward. Rohit taught him the ropes of institutional sales and how to hold presentations in front of corporate clients and create a saleable value proposition.

“His concepts were so strong and clear. He made me a salesman who can sell pens worth crores in a year and that too above the MRP of the product, just by creating a value proposition and not just selling products,” says Amit.

One of the key challenges he faced was to manage the working capital. He used to get a credit line of 30-35 days from the supplier. And he had to collect payments from the clients and pay back to the suppliers within that timeframe.

The journey of an authorised distributor

Amit today boasts that DBM Marketing is an authorised distributor for various Consumer Durable and IT (CDIT) products and authorised partner of multi-national brands like Samsung, Philips, HP, Lenovo, Whirlpool, and Havells. Amit recalled how he got Bharti Teletech (Airtel group) as his first account after 25 days of leg work. The company focuses on consumer durables and IT products which include laptops, mobiles, mixer, juicers, and multi-grooming kits.

“I was a one-man army in the first year ‑ the office boy, the admin guy, the delivery guy, the accountant, and the salesman. The following year, I hired a salesman and an office assistant. The first year sales were Rs 50 lakhs worth of pens against a target of Rs 35 lakhs and after achieving many milestones. Today, my daily revenue is twice my annual business in the first year,” says Amit.

Converted into E-commerce

The revolution and the acceptance of E-commerce in India stimulated Amit to give a thought of converting the offline distribution model into an online one and came up with the idea of Deal Kya Hai? in 2011. DBM Marketing earlier used to source the products from manufacturers and then distributes it to the retail network. Now, with this online portal, the company is selling pan India with the technology and logistics partnership.

“We have a portfolio of products and brands under one roof and being authorised distributors, we bring in the credibility and authenticity to the products. So, the idea of a multi-brand online store which specialises in CDIT products was the point to get into the business,” says Amit.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Gurgaon, Deal Kya Hai? caters to various consumer durables and IT products from their own platform and is a key strategic seller on Amazon India.

Presently, the platform generates around Rs 45-50 crores in sales a month. Once they get orders from other online portals, an inventory slip is raised for their warehouse and then the products are picked by the portals. However, if they get an order on Deal Kya Hai?, depending on the locality, they mobilise the delivery boys or partners, who picks the items moves the delivery. Similarly, for outstation orders, the delivery is carried out through other logistics companies.

Amit said that 90 percent of the total sales come from E-commerce platforms including Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Shopcleus. Currently Deal Kya Hai? is working with eight brands and has tied up with few logistics partners like Delhivery, Bluedart,FedEx, Aramex and First Light.

“We do 360-degree distribution and use all possible channels for sales, namely traditional retail channel, direct sales channel, institutional channel, modern retail, e-commerce marketplaces, and television shopping,” avers Amit.

Way to go

Amit strongly believes that continuous innovation is the motivation factor to push the limits and raise the bar. The company has offices/warehouses in Delhi, UP, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. It has a team of 48 employees.

Deal Kya Hai? has recorded Rs 125 crore turnover in the last fiscal year and this year it is expected to cross over Rs 500 crore. According to Amit, Rs 350 crore will come from the exclusive partnership with Amazon and the rest will come from Deal Kya Hain?

“We are looking to churn a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore by 2020 based on the current business model. We would like to introduce more products and categories in the time to come, getting closely integrated to the e-commerce players and take a larger share of their GMV,” says Amit.

Website: Deal kya Hai?