He Quit His Bank Job & Built a 15000 Orders/Month E-Commerce Business!

Business overview & growth story (Shivam)

• Shivam quit a HDFC Bank job (worked ~2.5 years) and started an e-commerce business primarily on Meesho (earlier mentions included Flipkart).
• Initial traction was slow:
  • No orders for ~1 week, then “a couple of orders” came.
  • He shifted product focus after early losses (initial wrong product choice).
• Reported sales scale (from platform panels/screenshots during the episode):
  • ~₹5.18L sales in last 7 days
  • ~₹21.27L sales in last 30 days (on a main panel)
  • Another panel: ~₹2.5L in last 5 days, ~₹9.70L in last 30 days (panel started ~6 months ago)
  • Later, total mentioned across panels: around ~₹30–33L range.
• Team & overhead:
  • 15-person team
  • Salary spend: ₹2.5L–₹3L per month (stated as salary alone)
  • Office rent: ₹2,700/month
  • Electricity: described as higher due to ~4 ACs (no exact consolidated figure, but “office expense” noted as significant)
• Profit approach:
  • He claims ~20% profit after deducting expenses (explicitly discussed after salary/overheads).

Product strategy & risk management

Diversification across categories

• Not dependent on a single product category:
  • Sells bags + stationery + kitchen items (3 categories), run as separate “panels”.

Returns control & definition

• Customer returns claimed to be relatively low:
  • ~6–7% monthly customer returns
  • “Only 6–7 products out of 100” are returned by customers.
• Returns mechanics (Meesho/RTO logic as explained):
  • Customer return: item reaches customer, they tore the polythene, use/wear (or not), then return.
  • RTO: if customer doesn’t accept, reverse logistics cost behavior differs (stated as “nothing is charged” vs reverse/shipping deductions depending on case).
  • Reverse costs: shipping charges deducted in customer return cases (as he described).

Concrete sourcing & manufacturing playbook

Shift from outsourcing to internal manufacturing

• Initially outsourced bags via friends/vendors.
• Started his own bag manufacturing ~2 months ago (during the episode timeline).

Sourcing model for kitchen/stationery

• For kitchen/stationery items:
  • Source from Sadar Bazaar (Delhi) and also via friends connected to manufacturing companies.
  • Claims direct sourcing is cheaper than Sadar Bazaar.

Geographic scaling plan

• For bags:
  • Currently launching from Delhi
  • Plan to expand to Surat when order rate increases.

Listing & content process (operational “how-to”)

After receiving inventory

• Photo creation
  • Shoots proper photos (bags: he personally gets them done; otherwise uses image editing).
  • Uses AI tools (generically mentioned as “Gemini/ChatGPT”) to:
    • replace background
    • enhance images
• Listing style
  • Mentions “copying images” from existing sellers to get faster traction, arguing it helps because the platform may surface similar listings/images.
• Shipping fee handling
  • Emphasizes shipping fee is included/deducted via Meesho’s costing model.
  • Strategy to avoid “shipping-fee shock”:
    • Set price so the effective total still works, while attempting to keep discounting/promo attractive.

Pricing & profitability model (explicit logic)

• Component-based pricing rationale:
  • Include GST
  • Add packaging costs
  • Add desired profit margin
  • Factor in expected return percentage
  • Ensure “bank settlement stays within target” (avoid returns/fees pushing into loss)
• Example mentioned:
  • If listed price is ₹99 for a bag, he explains profit mechanics; after accounting for “saving fee” and shipping treatment, profit per bag can be up to ~₹40.

Order-to-delivery workflow

• Panel shows orders (pending → accepted).
• Steps:
  • Accept order
  • Download label
  • Print
  • In-house packaging
  • Shipping handled operationally by his team
• Facility setup:
  • Two nearby offices:
    • One for packaging
    • Another for accounts/administration
  • Packaging handled at one location.

Growth lever: multi-listing + panel activity (platform playbook)

Core growth tactics

• “To bring sales, make as many listings as possible.”
• For a single product:
  • List it multiple times (~10 listings) to test which variant/listing performs.
• Change background while keeping the same product/color to reduce duplicate listing blocks (as he described).

Platform promotion reasoning

• He believes Meesho ranks sellers by incentives:
  • Meesho wants sellers to sell (benefits the platform).
  • Competitive pricing matters more than brand/size metrics early.
  • Claims Meesho doesn’t care about ratings as much as consistent activity and competitive pricing.
• Organic approach:
  • Prefers organic growth and is not running ads in the episode.
  • Claims: if he ran ads, he “can reach up to 1000 orders” (conditional; no ads run yet).

Returns reduction tactics (actionable)

• Product selection:
  • Warns new sellers not to start with categories prone to size/color issues.
  • Avoid “size/color heavy” products; prefer stable fit/appearance.
  • For bags, he claims “no size issue.”
• Price positioning:
  • “Kept the price a little commodious” to avoid perceived high/low pricing that can drive dissatisfaction and returns.

Marketing/branding stance

• Current:
  • Selling without heavy brand building (“I’m just selling products”; “learning phase”).
• Future:
  • Plans to introduce a brand later after mastering categories.
• Expansion mentioned:
  • Starting food items next (as a future category test on Meesho).

Business targets & timelines (explicit)

• Scale benchmarks:
  • References ~400–500 orders/day (described as a stable daily order graph on a panel).
• Panel performance timelines:
  • Bag panel: panel sales shown for last 30 days
  • Another panel: started ~6 months ago
• Mentions a 100-day challenge tied to a personal/business marketing hook (episode frames it more as a marketing milestone than an execution KPI).
• Location targets:
  • Houses planned in Gurgaon/Noida; business office in Gurgaon (clients from there).

KPIs & metrics extracted (from claims/screenshots)

Sales

• ₹5.18L / 7 days
• ₹21.27L / 30 days (main panel)
• ₹9.70L / 30 days (second panel; panel started 6 months ago)
• Total across panels mentioned: ~₹30–33L in the 30-day window (approx.)

Order volume

• 400–500 orders/day
• Possibility of up to 1000 orders if ads were run (not current practice)

Profit

• ~20% profit overall (after salary/expenses)

Returns / reverse logistics

• ~6–7% customer return monthly

Team & costs

• Team: 15 people
• Costs:
  • ₹2.5L–₹3L/month salary
  • Office rent: ₹2,700/month
  • Electricity: elevated (due to 4 ACs)

Actionable recommendations (implied playbook from the episode)

• Start with fast-to-validate categories and avoid high return risk (especially size/color sensitive items).
• Control margins by pricing with:
  • explicit inclusion of GST and packaging
  • an expected return-rate buffer
• Drive early marketplace traction by:
  • creating multiple listings per product (e.g., ~10) with different backgrounds/images
• Stay active on the platform:
  • consistent listing/activity + competitive pricing > relying on ads at first
• Build operational capacity early:
  • ensure packaging/labeling workflows and team coverage can handle order volume
• Reduce returns through:
  • correct product selection and “right” price positioning to reduce dissatisfaction

Presenters / sources mentioned

• Shivam (guest) – ex HDFC Bank manager; current Meesho e-commerce seller (bags, stationery, kitchen items).
• Satish (host) – interviewer/channel presenter.