Conversations with Sachin Chhabra, Co-Founder of Peel-Works

We caught up with Peel-Works co-founder, Sachin Chhabra, and got some sound bytes that we are sharing here to inspire fresh entrepreneurs and those who are in the midst of it all and can benefit from Sachin’s experience. 

Tell us about your best and worst days at work

Sachin: Each day has the best and the worst part. Best part of the day is where we experience tangible progress in our business. New customer adds, product release, wider portfolio, new supplier adds, faster delivery options amongst others. When we create new benchmarks that feels really nice. Worst part of the day is when we deliver suboptimal customer experience, cause economic waste like under-utilised fleet, delayed roll outs and the likes. The occurrence of both these on the same day is what denies life in a young company.  

What do you do when you’re not at work?

Sachin: Read, watch movies & catch up with my friends. 

What is unique about your business?

Sachin: Our business is modernising the value chain of the largest category in the country - grocery. This category involves a billion shoppers, millions of stores, thousands of sellers and hundreds of categories. All of whom have eluded past attempts at modernisation. That is what makes our business unique. 

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Sachin: Someone who is starting up actually needs no advise. They are already on the right path, aren’t they?

How do you define success?

Sachin: CornerStores on our network leading BetterLives (quantified through the customers they serve and their net earnings) is our metric of success. When we see us having created a positive impact on our customers, we know we’ve been successful. 

What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

Sachin: Variety & stretch that the role brings. Stretch on all axis - customers, capital and culture.

What book has inspired you the most? 

Sachin: The Complete Calvin & Hobbes, by Bill Watterson; Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?

Sachin: Nothing. Same college. Same B School. Same First Employer. Same Venture. 

Where you see yourself and your business in the next 5-10 years?

Sachin: I would like us to be able to meet all the needs of a million corner stores by 2025. 

Share a story/experience about the impact of your company that brought a smile on your face.

Sachin: The first order that the company fulfilled for a customer in East Delhi. Taikee offered customers a choice that he had never experienced in the past.  A choice which offered buying on a guaranteed availability basis. No questions asked cancellation. Cash on delivery. All of this at prices lower than the store otherwise had access to. We look back at fulfilling that order with a sense of pride.