‘If we focus only on work, we will miss things we can do with the family’

It has been 20 years since I started the shop. As the place is a commercial hub, there is stiff competitions among the traders here. There were not many competitions till about four years ago, but now the business has come down and income has decreased drastically. I have borrowed money to run the shop and give salary for the workers. Earlier, I was earning around Rs 30,000 - Rs 40,000 per month. But now, earning even Rs 10,000 has become hard. As the number of textile shops are increasing by the day, many of our businesses are getting affected. I am clueless on what kind of developments can be made hereafter. Earlier, I had nine workers in the shop, but due to financial crunch, I am able to employ only two currently. Only during festive seasons would there be a slight increase in income. In the recent times, people have started to purchasing through online shopping sites, which is also one of the reasons for the loss we are incurring. I give my priority to my family. There are times when I closed the shop in order to spend time with them.  If I spend more time at the shop, the business would have improved in last two years. But if we focus only on work, we will miss many things that we can do with our family.