When Deepak Gupta completed his Samsung Technical School course in Refrigeration, AC and Handheld in 2018, he had a dream to set up his own business. The son of a street vendor, he wanted to provide a comfortable life to his parents and this desire led him to set up ‘Refrigeration Hub’ in Gurugram a year later.
Business had just started picking up when the pandemic hit, and like many other small business, had a bitter impact on Deepak’s too. The peak summer season for his business was just round the corner, in March 2020, but one could not step out, shops remained closed, and people were becoming hesitant about calling service personnel home.
Deepak: Consumers were very concerned about the pandemic and it was my responsibility as well to keep them safe, while getting on with my work
Deepak recalls it was a very difficult time for his family.
“I could barely pay the medical bills of my father and we completely exhausted our savings,” he said.
But when he looks back at that time now, he feels it was an opportunity in disguise. And he grabbed it, with both hands.
He shut down the shop he had and decided to operate from home, waiting for calls for home visits. He realized people were hesitant because of the spread of Covid at the time, but also required help with their refrigeration products – AC and refrigerator.
After a while, he did get a call from an existing customer to repair his AC, and when he did, he was prepared. He bought PPE kits and went fully geared up to the customer’s home.
“I knew I had one chance to make a good impression. Consumers were very concerned about the pandemic and it was my responsibility as well to keep them safe, while getting on with my work,” said Deepak.
That visit went well, and finding Deepak riding his bicycle adorned in a full PPE kit became a regular sight in Gurugram.
“At Samsung Technical School, our mentors always taught us to focus on relationship building and customer satisfaction. Using them as the main tools, I started contacting my clients to persuade them to allow me to support them while obeying safety guidelines issued by the government,” he said.
In 2019, Deepak completed his Refrigeration, AC and Handheld (RACHA) course from Samsung Technical School, a CSR initiative by Samsung India. The program aims to support the Government’s vision to Make in India and Make for World by addressing the need for skilled manpower with practical know-how and relevant industry experience.
Over the months, he has been able to rebuild his client base, and word of mouth has definitely helped build trust.
Deepak is finally stable now and is looking forward to expanding his business more parts of Gurugram.
Find more here: http://csr.samsung.com/en-in/localMain.do
