PATNA: To become an entrepreneur with own business without any investment in a state like Bihar is just a click away through the first of its kind digital ZILA Community Leadership initiative.
It was started by the engineering-graduate son of a (late) grocery shop owner of Bihar’s Samastipur district.
The ZILA Community Leadership (ZCL) digital initiative is aimed at both creating jobs to unemployed youths and providing grocery buying experiences to the customers at the cheapest rate.
Started as a pilot basis in Patna, Bihta and Khagaul from February this year, the ZCL initiative is redefining the grocery buying experiences among the people, who don’t like to venture out from the comforts of their homes for buying grocery items.
As a brainchild of 27-year-old engineering graduate Suman Kumar Jha- the son of a late grocery shop owner Ganesh Jha from Dasuat village in Bihar’s Samastipur district, the ZCL digital initiative is ensuring the fastest doorstep delivery of grocery and other day-to-day items comparatively cheaper rates than open markets.
The ZCL digital initiative is also creating self-employment opportunities for unemployed youths without an investment of a single penny.
Jha, speaking to this newspaper, said: “We are not doing anything out of the box . We are through this first of its kind digital initiative in a state like Bihar as on the pilot basis, is converting offline behaviors of consumers into online accessibility with technology and its easy-to-use applications”.
Under the ZCL initiative, Jha has launched two apps, namely ‘the ZILA Shop and the ZILA Community Leaders (ZCL)', for promoting the digital grocery shop concept and the cheapest sale of grocery items through digital grocery shops.
“The people, wanting to earn from Rs 5000 to 15000 above with zero investment, are registering themselves on the ‘ZILA Community Leadership (ZCL) app. After that, they start running digital grocery shops. They, then link the customers through the ZILA Shop app, and start the doorstep delivery of demanded grocery items without moving from their homes”, Jha said.
The commission earned from running the digital grocery shop is directly credited to the partners of ZCL app. Jha said that inspired by the works of his father, who was the owner of a grocery shop in the rural area of Samastipur district, has worked out this digital grocery shop concept after a year of research through the two apps.
“When I graduated from Dr MGR University in Chennai, I thought to work out on a digital shop concept and finally after a year of research and works, I have developed the two apps. The apps are not only providing online grocery buying experiences but also creating jobs to unemployed youths, who hold smartphones”, Jha said.
Under this digital grocery shop concept, Jha has successfully delivered more than 10000 orders generating earning of Rs 10 lakh in the last 7 months in Patna, Khagual and Bihta.
“Our aim is to take this initiative in each of Bihar’s 45,103 villages creating about 5 lakh of self employ entrepreneurs utilising the digital accessibility of people even in the remotest parts of state”, Jha claimed.
Buoyed over the responses on initiative, Jha is consulting with the Bihar government’s concerned department for an association to take it on wider scale as a bid to end unemployment.
Jha’s apps are both in Hindi and English languages with a slew of features like speedy transfer of earning into bank account, display of grocery items and other things for day to day use.
“We will soon have ZILA partner in every single village. If anyone would like to start their own digital Kirana store, they can do at zero investment on the ZILA platform”, he said.
At present, more than hundreds of partners have come together linked with this imitative with 5000 customers.
Jha said: “After Bihar, we are also working to take this digital Grocery shop concept through ZILA Community Leadership digital initiative to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha”.