EARN WITH MERI SHOP-MEESHO

Reading about Meesho’s journey reminded me of Arthur Ashe’s lines-

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

A Business model that sounded like a marketing gimmick during its infancy is today the first Indian company to be backed up by the social media pioneer Facebook. A couple of months ago Facebook made an equity investment of 25 million dollars in Meesho. Founded in December 2015, what acted as a catalyst to make Meesho reach these heights in this short period remains a burning question.

In a country where Ecommerce is still facing resistance, a person seems to be living under the rock if he believes that Ecommerce is booming and is profitable. If one checks the quarterly reports, it is clearly visible that crores and crores are wasted or lost due to problems like taxation policy, online payment safety, misuse of free return and cash on delivery facility, etc. After all these efforts the result is- Netizens do not trust these online platforms and payment gateways.

The word Meesho literally means 'meri shop' [my shop]. An online platform that helps small and medium scale entrepreneurs to list their products online and enables online resellers to sell those products within their network and social channels, thereby benefitting both the parties. These online resellers are typically housewives which gave an edge of cause marketing to Meesho.

Meesho well-acknowledged the multitasking ability of these wonder women giving them an easy zero investment platform to earn monetary rewards. Sitting at the comfort of your home you can share the listed product catalogs through social media by stating a price, which includes your profit margin. Once the potential customer places the order and the product is delivered, the profit margin is rewarded to you within a couple of days.

When Facebook was asked Why Meesho? The answer they gave clearly highlights the competitive edge Meesho has- It stated that it wanted to fuel a business model that helps in rapid job creation and uplifting female entrepreneurial class in India. This is what helped Meesho stand out in the crowd making it a successful business model even in a resistant country like India.

Meesho somewhere acts as a role model of how innovative startups can be, how self-employment can be boosted and how overcoming these social constrains can be a business model in itself. Zen Z is well aware that business is beyond just profits, considering the challenging world we are facing today. Just opinionating and discussing won't serve the purpose but coming up with something like Meesho will.