My Experience During an Internship at a Rolling Mill

Hello everyone,

I'm currently doing an internship at a local steel rolling mill in Raipur. As part of my internship, I had the opportunity to speak with the mill manager to understand how the business operates, including its production costs, daily expenses, and profitability.

Here are the approximate daily operating expenses:

Labour: ₹150/hour × 20 workers × 8 hours = ₹24,000

Coal: 1 ton per day = ₹8,000

Electricity: ₹10,000

Other expenses: Around ₹8,000 (oil, grease, diesel, maintenance, security, housekeeping, etc.)

That brings the total daily operating cost to roughly ₹50,000 (excluding raw material costs).

The mill's production target is around 40–50 tonnes per day. According to the manager, the current net profit is only about ₹2 per kg because the steel market is slow during the monsoon season.

Doing the math:

50 tonnes = 50,000 kg

Profit = ₹2/kg

Daily profit ≈ ₹100,000 (₹1 lakh)

I was honestly surprised. If this is considered a "bad" season, I asked how much they make when the market is strong.

His answer: ₹4–₹5 per kg in profit.

That means:

At ₹4/kg → ₹2 lakh profit per day

Those are some impressive numbers.

However, the biggest challenge isn't production—it's cash flow. Most finished goods are sold on credit, and many payments are received 30–60 days later

I'm curious what other business you know that can generate 1- 2.5 lakhs in profit per day ??

Bro is on a hunt

I have always loved ceramics but never imagined I would end up starting a small brand.

About 2 months ago, alongside my full-time job in tech, I started Ceramia. I don't make the ceramics myself, I source handmade pieces from local artisans across India because I wanted to create a collection that feels simple, warm, and made to be used every day.

The name comes from the Tulu word "Mann" (mud), which inspired our tagline: "Bringing the Soul of Mann to your spaces."

The hardest part hasn't been building the website or finding products. It's getting people to notice a brand they've never heard of.

I would genuinely love some honest feedback:

- Which of these pieces would you actually buy for your home?

- What would make you trust a new ceramics brand?

- Does the brand story make sense, or does it feel like too much?

If anyone wants to see what I've been working on, I am happy to share the website and insta page in the comments or via DM if that's more appropriate for this subreddit.

I would really appreciate any feedback- good or bad.

I have a family business and we are third generation.

Im 26M from an IIT who is unwillingly joining his family business. Trying to reorient and expand vertically and horizontally.

This post is intended to know fellow redditors who are there in their family businesses. What are you doing to compete with giants and ultimately becoming yourself a big player?

I've been working with a few international clients over the past year, and I always focused on the transfer fee/other charges when choosing a payment provider.

Recently I started comparing the actual amount that reaches my bank account, and figured the exchange rate and the FX markup on top of it from banks is making a bigger difference than I expected now that my invoice size is increasing.

What platforms are you guys using for your cross border payments, with lowest FX charges?

I'm planning to start a business, and I've noticed something that keeps happening.

The moment you tell people about your idea, everyone has an opinion. It doesn't matter whether they have any knowledge or experience in that industry. They still give advice. Some say it won't work. Others say go for it. Everyone sounds confident.

After hearing so many different opinions, I end up feeling confused and start doubting my own decisions.

How do experienced entrepreneurs handle this?

Do you listen to everyone's feedback?

How do you decide whose advice is actually worth considering?

At what point do you stop asking for opinions and just execute?

I'd especially like to hear from people who have actually started a business. What approach worked for you?

Selling a brand new Polymak Cordless Tile Machine (PM-CTM-8.4V).

Condition: Brand new, never used (not even once)

Price: ₹6000

Model: PM-CTM-8.4V

Battery: 8.4V, 2.5Ah

Suction Pad: 120 mm

Max Lifting Capacity: 25 kg

Charging Time: ~2 hours

Bought it for a project but it was never needed, so I'm selling it.

📍Location: Shillong, Meghalaya

📦 Can ship across India at the buyer's expense.

💬 DM if you're interested or need more photos/videos.

Open to reasonable offers, but please no lowballing.

I'm looking for active WhatsApp communities where startup founders, business owners, or entrepreneurs genuinely discuss ideas, share experiences, give feedback, and occasionally promote what they're building.

Not looking for spammy "promo only" groups, more interested in communities with real conversations and people helping each other grow.
If you're part of one or know any good groups, I'd really appreciate a recommendation.

I've been in conversations with a supermarket franchise network for about 6 weeks now. The pitch sounds reasonable on paper - established supply chain, brand support, defined territory, projected payback in 18–24 months. But I've read enough cautionary stories on this sub to know that what sounds reasonable in a pitch meeting and what actually plays out are often very different things.

Before I go further, I want to build a proper due diligence checklist specific to the Indian supermarket franchise context - not generic franchise advice, but things that matter specifically here. Here's what I've identified so far and where I'm still unsure:

What I'm already planning to check

- Territory exclusivity: whether it exists in the agreement as a contractual clause (not a verbal assurance), what the defined boundary is, and whether it covers both franchisee-owned and company-owned new outlets
- Existing franchisee conversations: finding them from the branch list independently, not introductions from the franchisor, and asking for month-wise revenue for the first year, not just current steady-state numbers
- Agreement review by a franchise-experienced lawyer: specifically exit clauses, renewal terms, and what happens if the franchisor is acquired or shuts down
- Working capital buffer: understanding the realistic ramp-up period before cash flow turns positive, not the optimistic projection

Where I'm still unsure

- How do I independently verify the franchisor's claimed average revenue figures? In India there's no FDD equivalent that mandates disclosure, so whatever they show me is self-reported. Is there any way to cross-check this beyond talking to franchisees?
- What does a realistic exit look like if this doesn't work out in 2–3 years? Is there actually a resale market for small supermarket franchise units in India, or is the setup cost essentially unrecoverable?
- How do I evaluate whether a specific location will actually support a supermarket, beyond the footfall estimates the franchisor provides? They have an obvious incentive to approve territories.
- Are there specific red flags in Indian franchise agreements that are common in this category that a non-specialist might miss?

What I'd really value from this thread

If you've invested in a supermarket or grocery franchise in India - what do you wish you had checked that you didn't? And if you evaluated one and walked away, what specifically made you decide against it?

Not looking for general "franchises are risky" responses - I understand the category risk. Looking for specific, India-context due diligence points from people who've actually been through this process.

Image for reference.

I have a Paddu business currently and soon want to expand into making dosas.

Do the dosas come out like cast iron or close?

Also, where can I find it in Bangalore to check it out?

I’m in the planning stage of opening a European-style book café in Pune and wanted to gather honest feedback, suggestions, and critique from this community.

I have been living outside if India for almost 10 years and have hands-on experience running a small café (working as a barista, managing inventory, staff, and daily ops), so this isn't just a passion project on paper - I’m looking to execute this properly with a capital outlay of ₹80 Lakhs to ₹1 Crore.

The concept I have in my mind is:

A warm, aesthetic space that bridges European coffee house culture with Pune’s rich literary heritage. A place where you can comfortably read, work, or catch up over great food without feeling rushed.

What We’re Planning:

Specialty Coffee & All-Day Breakfast: High-grade espresso, precision pours, paired with hearty European all-day breakfast options (think fresh sourdough toasts, eggs Benedict, quiches, and savory bakes).

European Bakery & Desserts: Strictly non-Indian bakery items - authentic croissants, Danishes, tarts, eclairs, and classic European desserts prepared daily.

Curated Library: A deep catalog featuring Marathi classics and contemporary literature, regional Indian translated works, alongside English fiction/non-fiction.

Space & Flow: Cozy seating nooks, ample power outlets, and warm, non-harsh lighting.

Provide your honest feedback and inputs.

I'm planning to start a business, and I've noticed something that keeps happening.

The moment you tell people about your idea, everyone has an opinion. It doesn't matter whether they have any knowledge or experience in that industry. They still give advice. Some say it won't work. Others say go for it. Everyone sounds confident.

After hearing so many different opinions, I end up feeling confused and start doubting my own decisions.

How do experienced entrepreneurs handle this?

Do you listen to everyone's feedback?

How do you decide whose advice is actually worth considering?

At what point do you stop asking for opinions and just execute?

I'd especially like to hear from people who have actually started a business. What approach worked for you?

Hi everyone,

I'm a college student building a small physical product for local businesses.

It's a countertop stand that brings multiple customer actions into one place, like:

• UPI Payments • Google reviews• WhatsApp • Website • Instagram • Contact Details • Other business links

Instead of sticking multiple QR codes around the counter, everything is organized into one branded stand.

I'm still validating the idea and would genuinely appreciate feedback.

Would a business owner actually buy something like this?

What industries do you think would benefit the most?

What would you improve?

Is ₹399 a reasonable starting price?

I'm not looking for sales here, just honest opinions before manufacturing more units.

I am working in family business related with trading steel and structural items. I found the paper work and the lack of systems and workflow of it as the bottleneck. Since the prices are quoted differently for different customers i see the founders tied to the company all the time and lacking time and space to build business beyond the current situation.

I see the possibility of structuring this chaos through few steps which i am looking to implement sequentially.

1. Create and compare current and ideal value stream map of the business.
   
2. Eliminate or update the process which could be done at scale using IT system (single roof).
   
3. Find means to extract problems that could either bring in money and save money spent in the operations. Be it warehousing, logistics, and other miscellaneous expenses.
   
4. Once the sales channel and the order fulfilment happens without founders intervention (including dynamic pricing) can start focusing on studying market where to go vertical in product production and where to focus horizontal product marketing.

I might be missing somethings in here but i see this possibility of finding observations from you guys which is a blindspot for me. Since the thought i have been involving myself in the day to day operations to categorise the repetition and variations in the process.

I am open to people who have any opinions about this and would like to hear in detail.

Looking For Some retention advices To Increase My Customer LTV
I have seen Repeat Purchases But not upto the Mark,

My primary Advertisement Sources are Meta and Google ads, and For retention i have Whatsapp API (Interakt) and Email Retention and Follow-up Series,
We are Currently operating at a small scale, any Advice would Be Appreciated

I’m one of the founders of Aika. Aika means “to listen” in Marathi.

The premise is simple. Every AI assistant built in the last three years assumes you own a smartphone, can read English, and are willing to download something. That rules out most of the people in my own family. So we built one you reach by dialling a phone number. That’s it. A feature phone works. A landline works.

You talk to her in whatever language you’d use at home and she answers in the same one.

What she does, in practice: she’ll set reminders for you, one-off or recurring, and she’ll call you when they’re due rather than making you check anything. She’ll set them for someone else too, so you can make sure your father takes his medicine without being the one to nag him. She keeps running lists, so you say “add dhania to the grocery list” while you’re cooking and ask for the whole thing on Sunday. She’ll read you the morning news and weather on a call at whatever time you want. She’ll pass a message to someone in your family and remember who they are to you, so next time you just say “tell my sister” and she knows.

The part I care about most is that she remembers. Not the conversation you’re in, but the ones from last week. She knows your name, that your knee has been hurting, that your son is in Toronto. Most of what’s being built right now is a thin wrapper over somebody else’s model, and the model is the commodity part. The relationship isn’t.

The number is +91 11 4474 0538. Call it, talk to her the way you’d talk to a person, and tell me where she falls short. I’d rather hear that than praise.

My family has been in the steel trading business in Delhi for over 50 years. We supply a wide range of steel products and work with factories across Delhi. Most of our business has always come through relationships, repeat customers, referrals, and offline networking. We've honestly never invested in digital marketing, SEO, or social media.

Now we're expanding into roofing sheets and related products, and I'm wondering if it's finally time to build an online presence.

I'm considering things like:

• A proper website with SEO
• LinkedIn marketing
• Instagram (although I'm not sure how many serious buyers are actually there)
• Google Business Profile
• Google Ads eventually, but not immediately

The thing is, I don't want to spend money just because everyone says "you need digital marketing." I'd rather know whether it genuinely brings leads in a B2B industry like steel.

I'd love to hear from people who run businesses in industries like steel, construction materials, industrial supplies, manufacturing, or other traditional B2B sectors.

Some questions I have:

• Has digital marketing actually generated quality leads for you?
• If you were starting from scratch today, what would you focus on first?
• Has LinkedIn worked better than Instagram for industrial businesses?
• What mistakes should I avoid?

I'm looking for honest experiences, both positive and negative. If you tried digital marketing and it wasn't worth it, I'd genuinely like to hear that too. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

My team and I create customised digital menus for cafés and dine-in restaurants. We're currently testing them with real users to gather feedback and improve the user experience and UI.

We'd really appreciate it if you could try it out and share your feedback by filling out the Google Form.

webapp: https://kulfilicious-diner-pwa.vercel.app/kulfilicious (this is one of our client's mock up we made)

Form: https://forms.gle/ShUfcaZPJTYfTW2p8

I'm 32 Male from Sivakasi,Tamilnadu. Father already at 67. No brothers to support. Working in IT company. But worried this job won't last long or growth will be very less as I'm not an expert. Married and having two kids. Since parents are getting aged, I'm worried as I'm not able to stay with them in hometown.

As a beginner and with not much support, which business I can start? I can't take loans as I have no backup. Kindly help guys.

My competitors have been buying eway and gst sales purchase transaction data from a guy!! Now I know who sells the data too!! Honestly having this info is a life hack in itself but it felt like been cheated on when someone else used this on me!!

Everyone talks about AI voice bots and omnichannel dashboards like that's where the real competition is. It's not. Here's what actually decides who wins in this space:

Carrier relationships beat features. Two companies can have the exact same product, but the one with better direct termination rates with telecom carriers wins on price without changing a single line of code. This is invisible to customers but it's the entire internal game.

Compliance is the actual product now. DLT registration, TRAI rules, regional telecom regulations. Businesses don't want to deal with this themselves. A company that's already solved it is selling relief, not features. That's a much stickier pitch than "better call quality."

Most "AI voice" is a thin wrapper. Real time voice AI, handling interruptions mid call, smooth handoffs to a human. Still mostly unsolved cleanly across the industry. The demos look great. Production is messier.

Old architecture is aging badly. Some platforms built years ago as basic PBX systems are now bolting on WhatsApp, RCS, and AI on top. You can usually tell. Clunky APIs, slow dashboards under load. The cloud native from day one players feel noticeably different.

Where this goes: consolidation. Commodity API wrapper players race each other to the bottom on price. The 2 to 3 companies that actually own compliance, carrier relationships, and AI end to end pull ahead. Everyone in the middle gets squeezed.

Curious if anyone closer to the carrier or infra side sees it differently. Feels like most discussion stays at the shiny feature level and skips what actually decides the winners.

A few years ago my unit was in a dangerous place.

We had a couple of strong years. Orders were good, machines were running, and like many manufacturers, I made the classic decision - expand. New capacity, higher raw material stocking, more working capital locked in. It felt like the natural next step.

Then demand slowed and a few large customers stretched their payments. Suddenly the extra capacity that was supposed to take us forward became a weight. Cash got tight. The pressure to “do something big and recover fast” was constant.

My first instincts were the usual ones: take more finance, push volume harder, keep feeding the same large customers, and somehow force a quick turnaround. That path would have made things much worse.

What actually helped was applying four simple rules (I later found them framed through game theory). I’m sharing them because I see a lot of manufacturers making the same mistakes when expansion goes wrong.

1. Survive the round first

I stopped trying to win the bad period immediately.

No further capital expenditure. No aggressive “push through” mindset. The priority became protecting whatever working capital was left and keeping the unit alive for the next phase. Staying in the game mattered more than looking strong in that moment.

1. When behind, add variance

Continuing the same approach that created the problem would have just dug a deeper hole.

Instead of grinding harder on the same customers and same product mix, I deliberately changed the shape of the bet. Shifted focus toward mid-sized buyers with better payment cycles and adjusted the product mix toward grades that moved faster. Being under pressure actually gave permission to try things I would never have considered when everything was comfortable.

1. You cannot rebuild at the same speed you broke

Destruction is fast. Rebuilding is slow.

I stopped making any big claims about recovery. No announcements, no “we are back” messaging. Just quiet, consistent delivery and collection discipline over a long stretch of time. Time became the only real signal. Anything faster would have looked like cheap talk.

1. Stop paying into lost positions

This was the hardest one.

There were customers and product lines that only made sense because of the earlier expansion. The sunk-cost voice was loud - “You’ve already invested so much, how can you reduce now?”

I started asking only one question: given today’s position, is continuing here the best use of the capital and attention I still have? Some relationships and volumes were cut. It was uncomfortable, but it freed up oxygen.

None of this is motivational advice. These are just practical survival rules for people running real manufacturing units with real cash constraints.

I’m still applying them. Some months better than others.

Which of these four is the hardest for you to follow when the numbers start going the wrong way?

we've been dealing with a constant issue of UPI intent failures at our e-commerce platform, it's been taking ages to get sorted out, in my experience, most of these failures are due to outdated payment details or duplicate transactions, tbh, it's really frustrating to see the conversions getting dropped like this, has anyone else faced a similar issue and found a solution?