Syed & Company

At Syed & Company, located at 76 Sathyamurthynagar in Avadi, we keep things pretty basic. The building is an older one, and you can see where the rain has left marks on the outside walls over the years. I usually start the day by sweeping the front step because the wind in Avadi tends to blow leaves and bits of paper right into our doorway. Inside, the shop is divided into a few sections, though the lines between them get a bit blurry when we are busy. We have a lot of metal shelving that we put up ourselves, and it’s held up well enough. There’s a small desk in the corner where I sit to do the accounts, and I usually have a cup of tea sitting there getting cold because I get distracted. People from Sathyamurthynagar come in to chat as much as they do to buy anything. I know most of their names and which of their kids is doing well in school. It’s a neighborhood place, really. We don't have a computerized system or anything fancy. I just write everything down in a big ledger with a blue pen. The windows are small, so we rely on the overhead lights even during the day. Sometimes the cat from next door wanders in and sleeps on a sack of rice until I shoo it away. It’s not the most modern business, but it’s been working for us for a long time now. We just take it one day at a time and keep things moving.