Five Years, Five Lessons: What Helped Us Run Jyamiti & Sea

Running a small business is an adventure—full of highs, lows, and hard-won lessons. Here are five insights that shaped our approach and results over nearly five years

What we do not intend to cover in this post is our investment in our people - probably the most important one. That is a blog post in itself that we intend to cover at a later point.

Business Grows Best with Patience

Let's be honest. We run a business to make money. Period.

However, making money from Day One is an unrealistic expectation. One needs to have patience in the initial years, stay motivated and not lose focus for the money to start flowing in consistently.

Sustainable growth is slow and consistency beats shortcuts. In the world of mushrooming startups where big numbers rule the narrative, we often felt the pressure to achieve instant results - reach a certain revenue figure and profit percentage, but that only led to frustration. Every business is different and its important to realise that some businesses win with smaller, but steady, sustainable metrics.

We were tempted to look at revenue growth and improving the profit margin, that is not the only way to measure success of a business, particularly in the initial years. Profits can dip with investment in infrastructure and team. If it unlocks future revenue, that’s a good problem to have.

We learned to have patience and enjoy the process.

Seek Investments from Friends and Family When Needed

Timely funding can make or break a business. So its crucial.

Financial challenges are common in a business and not everyone has a deep pocket. Unfortunately, a lot of government schemes for small businesses exist only on paper and banks do not easily provide funds to a new business. Seeking investments from friends and family can provide a helpful financial boost when traditional funding isn’t an option.

For our second phase of growth, we approached close family and friends and raised money in return for equity in the business. It is vital, however, to approach these conversations with clarity. By presenting a detailed business plan and subsequent updates, we maintained trust and transparency in our relationships, minimising misunderstandings.

Build Expertise Around Specific Areas Rather Than Trying to Do Everything

Saying yes to everything dilutes quality. We chose Terrazzo and IPS—and stuck with it.

In the early stages, when every few thousand rupees is important to sustain the business, letting go of a project is a tough choice to make. The temptation, to provide beyond our intended core services to bring in a project, was very strong.

We recognised and strongly believed in focusing on our strengths and building expertise in Terrazzo and IPS. Today, our understanding of these two materials is something we are proud of.

A mason doing wall plastering today, will switch to fitting tiles next year and will probably be doing plumbing work the year after that, for all you know. This is why workmanship has drastically reduced compared to the past. We tried to address the problem. In an industry where artisans often switch trades, we encourage mastery through repetition of the same work.

Depth builds reputation.

Build Relationships with Your Audience

Creating a genuine connection with our audience and our clients proved to be essential for our success. We discovered that building relationships goes beyond merely selling products.

Engaging with our customers through our social media platforms allowed them to stay invested in our growth story. By listening to our customers and responding to their needs, we cultivated a certain trust, which we hope will translate into long-term success for our business.

Focus on Quality and Improvement

In a crowded market, quality is critical. Choosing to prioritise quality over quantity has set us apart from competitors and helped build a strong brand reputation.

Are all our projects perfectly executed? Not always. Sometimes we try out new things and the results are not as intended. However, we give in our best. We do our homework. We follow processes we think, based on our experience, will work. We rectify mistakes that can be rectified. Most importantly we analyse the results and we carry forward our learning in subsequent projects.

Key Takeaways from Our Journey

Our journey in running a small business has been full of invaluable lessons. From appreciating patience to understanding the importance of building relationships, each insight has played a vital role in our growth and success.

For anyone considering starting their own business, embrace the challenge. With perseverance and a firm belief in what you are doing, success is more probable. Remember that while the entrepreneurial journey may be tough, the rewards can be most fulfilling.