The success story of Marvans Mobile and Entrepreneur Wahid Badami offic

Wahid Badami

We are here today with Mr. Wahid Badami, owner of an electronics outlet Brand based out of Vadodara, Gujarat. A self made entrepreneur, Mr. Wahid started with nothing, and grew the business into a thriving operation, making it the favorite store for all things apple in, and around the city.

We are here to talk more with them, and understand how he has grown and sustained a business in the highly competitive retail electronics category.

Let's start off with how and when you started your business?
The idea for the business came in my mind around 2012. I have always been a fan of, and fascinated with Apple products. Their amazing quality, and design are something which made not only me, but everyone a fan. The only problem which I, like most of my fellow people, had was the issue of availability and affordability. I decided to change that and opened up Marvans mobile's first retail outlet in 2013, with the intention of making iPhones more available and affordable to all.
Inshallah, 7 years later, we have 3 stores in the city, over 70,000 followers on our social media, and are everyone's first stop for all things apple.

You have over 70,000 Followers on social media, which is amazing for your specific industry?
Can you share what it took you to reach here?
Actually, we had over 150,000 followers until a few months back, when our main IG page got shut down because of a cyber attack by a competitor. Thanks to the proactive actions taken by Cyber Cell and police, the people behind it were tracked and put behind bars. But we lost our instagram account and our followers. That in itself is an interesting story and taught me a lot of important lessons, but let's leave it for another day.

So these 70,000 followers are what we acquired in the past few months only, and we still have a long way to go.
One thing I think that has helped me a lot has been being open to new ideas, and understanding 2 key things: Impact of digital marketing and the importance of client servicing, and I have been focussed on these 2 factors since our beginning. And that is what has helped us grow this much.

Very Interesting. As we understand marketing, and in today's time, Digital Marketing, is one of the most important parts for any business. How has your journey in the same been ill now?
Oh that is a very interesting question and I can go on and on about it. I have been focussing on digital media and marketing since the very beginning and over the past few years, shifted all our marketing efforts from traditional media to digital media. I started off by outsourcing social media marketing and management to agencies. I ended up working with over 4 different agencies because of multiple issues. This helped me understand the "social game" a lot better, and try new things. At the end, I ended up hiring and setting up my own team of designers and strategists, and bringing the whole marketing in-house.

This not only helped me fasten up my speed, but also try out more ideas more quickly.
We are one of the very few businesses in India who used Snapchat's Ad network in the country, probably the only one in Baroda. It has been a rewarding journey and a learning experience. And in today's fast moving times, to stay on top you need to keep learning and keep trying new things.

Great! What are some key takeaways you could share with people on how to grow digitally?
If I could summarise the things i have learnt with my experience, it would be: Focus on quantity as much as quality. Leverage influencers and personal Network to increase your reach Post content that your users will like to engage and share with.
Keep trying new things.

Thank You so much. So what is the next chapter in Marvans Mobile's story?
We recently launched our online store and have had an amazing response without even doing a full fledged launch. We have been getting a lot of orders, and even more inquiries. Our focus now is to grow that channel, and deliver our services across the country.

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