Techie quits 48 LPA US job to start D2C brand in India, shares struggles: 'Everyone wants a piece of commission'

A techie shared harsh realities of running a profitable D2C brand in India.

Starting a business in India can feel like a rollercoaster ride: exciting, unpredictable, and sometimes exhausting. One techie decided to experience it first-hand after leaving a high-paying 48 LPA US remote job.

The techie scaled the D2C brand to over two crore rupees in a year while staying profitable, but faced major challenges. (Pexels/Representational Image)

After launching a D2C brand and scaling it to over two crore rupees in a year while staying profitable, the techie shared on Reddit that running a business in India has been a constant challenge.

"I am going 'Skip India'" the caption of the post reads.

Startup thrives despite hurdles:

According to the post, delayed payments from corporates, constant demands for commissions, and unreliable logistics have been major problems.

"Everyone wants a piece of commission from you to run something or offer something," the techie wrote.

Offering discounts and lowering prices led to a drop in customer quality, with some placing multiple calls to customer care to check order status or demand faster delivery.

"People want to place an order at 9 am and expect to get it delivered by 5 pm."

The techie also pointed out that legal paperwork, auditing, and compliance make operations even more challenging.

Although the brand is profitable, the techie mentions plans are already underway to shift focus entirely to a US-targeted app, which has started delivering promising results.

Check out the post here:

Screengrab of the Reddit post. (@aameezl/Reddit)

Reddit reacts:

Reddit users had mixed reactions to the techie’s post. Some expressed sympathy, relating to the struggles with logistics, delayed payments, and customer behaviour, while others debated whether these issues were unique to India or common for startups everywhere.

One of the users commented, “I can really relate to your frustration. I’m not in product D2C, but I’ve faced similar issues while selling services here in India.”

A second user commented, “Hey, there is a real problem with delivery in India. Even from and to tier-1 cities. The main issue is that packets are just dumped in the can. 50% of the packets are damaged.”

“Sometimes I think if everyone just skips India, what will the Indian consumer consume?” another user commented.

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)