5th May 2022
In this week's Conversations with Entrepreneurs, we find out more about Navapalan Navarajah. With 18 years in the sector, Navapalan runs multiple retail stores in and around Hastings. He is the director of Brightpoint Ltd, a popular medium-sized grocery store, based in the vicinity of Hastings. They cater to approximately 2000 households and are surrounded by hotels and pubs. We wanted to find out more about his journey and what his goals are for Brightpoint.
So here we go...
1) What was your journey before starting Brightpoint?
As the director of Brightpoint Limited, I began the journey as a part-time retail worker attached to a well-known supermarket chain in the UK.
I was always passionate about running a successful retail business and worked hard towards achieving my goal. This paved the way to stand out as a retail manager for over 12 years in a highly competitive retail environment and eventually lead me to start my own retail store in 2008.
Making key decisions, managing and motivating teams to increase sales and ensure efficiency, managing stock levels, dealing with staff and customer issues, organize promotions are my key skills.
I am quick to grasp new business trends and analyze and apply them with exciting business to fulfil market needs.
2) In one sentence what is your business?
We are a medium-scale grocery and convenience store operating near residential areas in the vicinity of Hastings city.
3) What prompted you to start Brightpoint and what problems are you solving?
Brightpoint commenced business in Marine Court Building, a seafront retail store in St Leonard’s Warrior Square, to fill the market needs for residents in the area as there was a lack of a convenience store nearby. Our new store was attracted by locals and we were able to enhance day to day shopping experience for locals at a more affordable cost. Our customers can save a great deal of time as they can fulfil most of their retail needs without travelling far.
We are planning to expand our business, increasing store capacity sufficient enough to cater for the increasing demand; therefore we have invested in two empty units next to the existing retail store.
These units were purchased in November 2021 for an amount of £176,000.00
We aim to raise £100,000 - 50% cash flow and 50% to expansion.
4) What is something about your business that you're proud of?
Over 80% of our employees are from local areas. We are partnered with Nisa Local owned by the co-op, every co-op product we sell supports MADL (Making A Difference Locally). Making a difference Locally is a charity that has been established to help independent retailers support their local communities.
The charity helps Nisa stores raise money that can then be donated to local charities and good causes.
5) What differentiates Brightpoint from its competitors?
We source products from suppliers who produce high-quality products. Our products are priced based on Co-op products and are usually lower than other local stores. Brightpoint has been in the business for a long period and has become the first choice among the locals; therefore we’ve got a very loyal customer base.
6) What are your goals for the future of Brightpoint?
Brightpoint aims to achieve the following once we've completed 2nd unit.
• Increase the existing annual revenue of £970, 000 annual revenue to £1.5 million
• Increase the customer base by 30%
To find out more click this link to his campaign.
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