VIJAYAWADA: Covid-19 lockdown and post-Covid period have changed the lives of many small and medium business owners and transformed them into successful entrepreneurs.
While many lost their livelihood, a few people have overcome hurdles and proved themselves as successful businessmen. Ending up in losses during Covid-19, a city-based builder started an online chicken delivery portal along with his friends which changed their life.
Madasu Bhaskar Saisaran, who used to run construction business in and around the city, incurred losses due to Covid-19. Two of his projects were shelved with fund crunch and he went into depression. His friend Gorijala Sambasiva Rao and others who were running a chicken shop motivated him and asked him to spend some time at the chicken shop.
The sale was permitted only for two hours during the second lockdown in May 2020 and no consumer came forward to shop fearing infection. Bhaskar said he noticed many people were feeling uncomfortable while visiting meat shops and wanted to order online. “Many people asked us to deliver chicken at their door steps. I thought of starting online chicken delivery, but many people discouraged me as many corporate players are doing similar business.”
Everyone laughed at me when I proposed this business. They said many corporate companies are into online meat sales and we cannot compete with them. But I wanted to give fresh meat (non-frozen) in hygienic packaging at a cheaper price,” Bhaskar said. While riding home in a bike taxi, an idea sparked in my mind which changed the pace of business. We started a chicken delivery service named ‘Chicken Mart’ and started accepting orders through WhatsApp and Instagram.
I used bike taxis to deliver chicken and customers are asked to pay nominal charges for delivery,” Bhaskar said. ‘We started with five to ten deliveries initially and now sell around 250 kg on average per day. Many hotels are approaching us for online orders. People who made fun of us are now ordering chicken from us which makes me happy,” he said.
“We have developed a website now and are serving orders across the city and I’m very thankful to the Covid-19 which really taught me a lesson,” Bhaskar added.
