Mughal Desi Ghee: Embracing Roots And Entrepreneurship Together
Admin
Posted On May 22, 2019
What’s the story of how Mughal Desi Ghee (MDG) came to life?
It was back in 2017 September, when I and my buddy (Talha, who later on decided not to continue) were on a dinner at Fortress Square Mall. Meanwhile, we were thinking about doing a business in which we could earn and serve. So we started to talk about many businesses, such as, restaurants, food corners, Juices and Shakes shop, etc. Now one thing is important to share that we had only 4000 Rs. to invest and one can’t open such business in this amount. So we thought let us do something online. NOW, everything is available online and many giants were already playing. So, there I got an idea about selling Khalis (Pure) Products online which is not available for people to find very easily as everyone loves to do mixing which is sad. Ultimately, the first product which came into my mind was DESI GHEE. So I made up my page of MDG and did nothing at all. Till September 2018 I did first marking of $10 (1 Dollar/day) for page likes and out of which I got few customers. I can tell the revenue from 18 Sep-2k18 to 22 Oct-2k18 was 35K which I was able to bring up to 8 times more in October – November. My Record for 1 day sale on 9-2-11 was 90K just by doing marking of 1K rupees. Our Yearly Sale for the 1st year is 3 Million Rupees.
Why this specific business of all the others?
Basically, my Uncle is running a business of Dairy from Past 50 years in Lahore and delivers to co-operate sector only, so I had an edge of getting khalis ghee from there. Also I wasn’t actually looking to start just a business, in fact I was looking to start visionary business, which can help me as well as my customers and there is nothing better to provide something to your customers which have too many health benefits along with organic. I knew that in Lahore you are unable to find organic dairy items, so that made me start this business in which I initiated serving khalis and halal items.
What makes your product stand out from the rest available in market?
First of all in market you don’t find khalis products, but this isn’t the case everywhere, may be 3 or 5% you may find but still no Guarantee. Today, if I go to a shop and buy something and ask them for money back guarantee, they’ll say no, or If yes than only exchange. But with MDG, Customer inside Lahore get 7 Days money back guarantee and outside the Lahore only 14 days which no one all over Pakistan offers. We tell our customers about their value and the value of their money. So what makes our work special is that if customer doesn’t like our product they can simply text or call us and no question will be asked and product will be taken and money will be returned. In other words, our customers are special to us which makes this work special to us and in all this process, customer is supposed to stay home. Also, we run FAT test, and LAB test to make sure that no chemicals or essences are available in the products. Now all this information and T&Cs give piece of mind to our customers.
How different is to market a traditional product like Ghee in modern era with everything going digital?
Everything remains difficult until you haven’t done it and once you are on it, then you get to know the drill. So I didn’t knew how to do marketing, where to do marketing or if I do it, will it be helpful or not, I mean if I would be able to get returns in the shape of profits or break-even. But as you know where there is will, there is always a way. So it was hard until I kept thinking, but once I started, things were not that difficult, but oh yes it was challenging and different for ghee to be marketed online but the good thing was people loved it and they prayed for MDG.
What is your favorite part about working for yourself and what’s the most challenging?
The favorite part is I am the owner, I am marketing guy, I am customer query handler, I am the stock manager, I am order placing guy, I am delivery guy and I am also accounts guy but 95% of my customers don’t know about this. Also this is the most difficult and challenging thing for me to do job of seven people all alone. Now, why I am not doing it because I am greedy or selfish? NO, I am doing it because I want to save every single dime which can help me spend that money for marketing. So that’s why I am putting an extra effort towards this. Also I ride over the roads for more than 120 – 150 kilometers in Lahore, while carrying 20 to 30 kgs of weight on my back, making sure delivery is on time, while using hands-free on bike, taking calls, replying to messages on FB-Page and WhatsApp, without stopping on side roads. Thirst and hunger of all those things doesn’t stops me.
If you could pin your success down to one thing or one moment, what would that be?
A friend, who did my first marketing without asking me, without putting into my knowledge, he is a big motivation to me. He showed me that there is huge space available in the market and never took anything from me but he was the main source of courage. Second thing, I am working according to sharia law, which favors a lot to customer. Such as, box and its weight, shopping bag, money back guarantee, all these are available with MDG. And my vision of working is same of AL-Baiq (KSA), they spend 2 Riyal on every sale on poor people. So what I do our weight is never 1000grams (1kg). It is always 5 to 20 grams more above the weight of box and product. Such as if my ghee is in the box which is of 39grams, and if I do the weight of it, the result will show minimum of 1045 grams. So the extra is for my customer for the Sake of ALLAH. So with every order of ghee we are giving 35 to 50 Rs. back to the customers which certainly they don’t know.
How do you see this business in Pakistan?
Oh there is a lot of options and opportunities of business in Pakistan. And obviously I just started my business for Lahore region only but I have been already sending Ghee in KPK, SINDH and BALOCHISTAN as well. Even at the last corner of Pakistan Gwadar. So as long as I will be selling it pure, this business will keep on growing, because ghee is a product which is requirement of every other house. People are not using it anymore because of some economy issues or due to fabrication issues. Since MDG’s basic motive is to serve pure to the people and we believe that people will start eating it and our sale numbers shows that how much it was needed. It also shows that people are in need of it but they were unable to find a pure product. So this business has a lot of chance to grow gradually.
What is your favourite aspect in being an entrepreneur?
Actually it’s not one or two aspects which are my favorite, being an entrepreneur is the most difficult thing and especially when you got a big family to support. You have to look into your stats, you also need to make sure that your ship isn’t sinking; you also need to double check with the status of your products like if customers like it or not, you also need to keep an eye on your audience, traffic etc. I mean there are a lot to look into to make sure everything is aligned. Like right now its 3 am and I am talking to you but why not in the morning? Because I can’t risk it at this particular time, and what I can’t risk Of giving out time to any extra-curricular things. My focus from 9 am to 11pm is at my business and I think this is how an entrepreneur should act alike.
What’s the next big step for Mughal Desi Ghee?
MDG is not a name of business, instead it’s of trust we are building among customers and vision of serving pure and halal in terms of Sharia Law and no company in Pakistan is taking such steps because this is the biggest ever step for any company to take. There is a 90% risk of breaking down and 10% of surviving. But if you are serving what you are promising to your customers then believe me there is 90% chance to be successful and 10% will not matter as nothing can be 100% except the quality, so just focus on it and you will feel it that you are already taking giant steps and that’s what I am already doing. Also in 1 or 2 years we will start a funding program for poor and needy people this will also be one of our steps.
All Image Sources: https://www.facebook.com/mughalghee
