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Unforgotten Brands: Blue Dart

๐”๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ง ๐๐ซ๐š๐ง๐๐ฌ: ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ž ๐ƒ๐š๐ซ๐ญ In 1983, over a casual coffee in Mumbai, Clyde Cooper and Khushroo Dubash mulled over business ideas. They had no grand plans or deep pocketsโ€”just a sharp eye for market gaps. At that time, Indiaโ€™s exports were gaining momentum, but small businesses were struggling to keep up. Sending packages abroad was either unreliable, delayed, or prohibitively expensive. The duo roped in their friend Tushar Jani, a young logistics professional with Gujarati business instincts and family roots in freight forwarding. Together, they pooled โ‚น30,000โ€”modest savings in any eraโ€”and launched Blue Dart Courier Services in a cramped 200 sq. ft. space tucked beneath a staircase in Mumbai. Their mission was simple but ambitious: make reliable, fast, and transparent delivery possible, both within India and internationally. โœ…The First Big Break: A UK Partnership and 10:30 AM Deliveries To build trust, Blue Dart needed global credibility. They struck an e...

Surviving the Q-Commerce Wave: How Kirana Stores Can Fight Back

๐’๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐-๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ž ๐–๐š๐ฏ๐ž: ๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐Š๐ข๐ซ๐š๐ง๐š ๐’๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐…๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐š๐œ๐ค Indiaโ€™s kirana stores have withstood decades of disruptionโ€”from the rise of supermarkets to the e-commerce boom. But today, they face perhaps their toughest challenge yet: the rapid rise of quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart. What once gave kiranas an edgeโ€”personal relationships, hyperlocal convenience, flexible creditโ€”is now being outpaced by 10-minute deliveries, app-based ordering, and deep discounting. Delivery-based income, especially post-COVID, is shrinking. From major metros to towns like Mangaluru, kiranas are feeling the squeeze. But hereโ€™s the turning point: many kiranas are not giving up. Theyโ€™re evolving. Digital transformation is no longer optionalโ€”itโ€™s existential. Tools like Near.Store and KiranaPro are helping these shops digitise inventories, manage real-time stock, streamline payments, and even plug into ONDCโ€™s public infrastr...

The Story Behind Father's Day โ€“ And What It Teaches Us About Influence

๐ŸŒŸ Not Every Tradition Is Ancient. Some Are Just Deeply Human. Take Fatherโ€™s Day, for instance. It didnโ€™t begin in sacred texts or ancient ritualsโ€”it began with a daughterโ€™s story. In the early 1900s, Sonora Smart Dodd, inspired by Motherโ€™s Day, wanted a day to honor her fatherโ€”a widowed Civil War veteran who raised six kids alone. At first, the idea didnโ€™t take off. Back then, fathers werenโ€™t seen as emotionally centralโ€”they were providers, not celebrated nurturers. But stories have power. Over time, this one stuck. Why? Because it resonated with unspoken truths: โœ… Most dads do a lot behind the scenes. โœ… Families often forget to say โ€œthank you.โ€ โœ… People need a reasonโ€”and a ritualโ€”to express emotion. The result? A simple tradition that grew from gratitudeโ€”not marketing. And when brands eventually joined in, it worked because the emotion was already there. From mugs to toolkits, Fatherโ€™s Day became more than a sales eventโ€”it became a moment. A reminder. A chance. Of course, not ever...