Lots of you write in to me saying 'I want you to feature me in your book someday'. Well, someday is in the future. Meanwhile let me support you by choosing one entrepreneur every month who I find interesting, energetic, fresh & promising.
So nominate yourself by posting a few lines here abt who you are and what you do, what makes your product or service unique. The person I select gets featured here as well as on my Facebook fanpage.
Please be clear, concise in writing about yourself. Don't hardsell, but don't be too shy either. And remember, even if you don't get selected, this is a form of 'free advertising'!)
*Drumrollll* Let the nominations begin!
Showing posts with label entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entrepreneurship. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Tinker, tailor, plumber, carpenter
I get many emails from founders of startups seeking advice. Many of them just ask for a bit of publicity. So here it is - a bit of advice, and some free publicity to a few entrepreneurs taking their baby steps.
1) www.fix-all.biz
Vaidyanathan Ramachandran from IIM Ahmedabad's PGP X program has founded this biz which aims at providing 'clean, reliable and hassle-free home improvement services'.
Although the name is 'fix-all', as of now they focus only on electrical services in the city of Chennai. This needs to be communicated more clearly, right next to the number given on the homepage.
Is there a need?: Yes, certainly. There should be a lot of people willing to try such a service.
What could be better: The website is basic, pictures could be better. Some information on who are the people behind this venture would inspire more confidence.
The pricing for chhota mota jobs is Rs 90 for labour only. Which my mom thinks is high (the local electrician charges Rs 30). But for complex jobs - like an entire home's electrical fitting, I may be willing to pay a premium for reliable and knowledgeable service.
Pitfalls: What if the electricians under contract with Fix-it start doing freelance on the side. Once I have the cell no of a workman, I can bypass Fix-it and pay him Rs 50 and get my work done. Not saying it will happen, but it's a distinct possibility.
Parting advice: Training and motivation of workmen is key to the success of this venture. Polite, punctual fellows who do their job with sincerity are what you need. Uniforms and smiles would add to the attractiveness of the package.
The website name is a little tough to remember but I guess you can't have everything!
Well, great minds think alike and more so in the competitive world of business.
2) A similar service - but with its own USPs - is Liveazee.
The site is broader in scope than Fix-it. Right now they offer two services:
1) Electronics repair: TV repairs are done at your home, audio systems and DVD players are picked up and repaired at the service centre.
There is a 30 day guarantee in case the same problem recurs. Charges range from Rs 100-500 + parts.
2) Bill Pay: In a world where ECS and online payment mechanisms have reduced this hassle, there is apparently a large enough market to merit a home pick up service for your utility payments. It costs Rs 150 a month for 10 such pick-ups.
A killer app - in my opinion - is the EazeeBox where a box is installed in your society for this purpose. That makes the service far more economical. (I live in a building full of senior citizens and that makes a big difference!)
But the most unique service this site offers is a 'Home Staff Register'. The idea is to register the personal information of all your home staff - cook, maid, driver, nanny etc.
Now this is something we all know we should, but rarely do. So let's say I download the 3 page form and fill up all the details. I am not clear what is the benefit of putting the info online... May as well go to your local police station and register the domestic with them, no?
Other services like plumbing, electrical, carpentry etc will be offered on the site soon.
Is there a need?: Probably - different takers for different services.
What could be better: The website could use some user testimonials and information about who is behind the venture. Another thing - in the Home Staff Register that I downloaded I did not see any space for a photo.
Pitfalls: Same as above. Finding and retaining reliable workmen, and making sure they are working only on company payroll will be a challenge.
And again, the name. I'm sorry but it did not make much sense until I saw the website. It's Live + Eazee -LIVeazee. (Maybe, it's just me).
Parting advice: Cities where the service is available should be clearly mentioned. Since the target audience would include a lot of working couples and bachelors weekend and late evening services (upto 11 pm!) could be offered. If I am saved the trouble of taking a half day from work to get my flush fixed, I would be willing to pay a premium.
I'm sure there might be a few more young entrepreneurs in this space (like there are in juices!) . Well, the good news is the market is big enough for all. It's a completely chaotic and unorganised sector which makes it a huge opportunity, as well as a huge challenge.
In response to my last post Dhruv Kakar left this comment: "Don't these ideas look like copy cats...what is their USP....How they are different....I think something is missing... something like different...why everyone wants to be CCD or Barista....is entrepreneurship is just a fad."
Well, some years ago I would have reacted like Dhruv. Ki bhai kuch karna hai to unique karo, nahin to mat karo. But I realised there are many routes you can take in entrepreneurship.
If you have a unique idea and faith in it - go ahead. eg Give India (ref. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish).
But if you don't have such an idea.. well, you still gotta start somewhere. Sanjeev Bikhchandani started a small company producing reports - naukri.com came later. In his case, he had the idea of a job directory in 1991 but only with the arrival of the internet could he make that dream a reality.
Because he was already an entrepreneur, he could grab the opportunity and run with it.
Similarly, these juicewallahs and electrical contractors are learning what it is to do business in India. With time, they will get very good at what they do - maybe spot another opportunity before anyone else. Or simply scale up their own operations to a level where it becomes a force to reckon with.
I am reminded of Ganesh Ram of Veta (chapter 3 in my new book 'Connect the Dots'). He started by giving maths tuitions himself. Then set up an all-subject tutorial center. In time, he decided to focus only on English and set up a distance learning program. Today his company runs India's largest chain of spoken English training centres.
So, kuch kariye - as Sukhwinder Singh would say. And karnewaale are welcome to drop me a mail at rashmi_b at yahoo.com. Will try and feature as many as possible in this space.
You can also post your stories at www.connectthedots.in/forums/
1) www.fix-all.biz
Vaidyanathan Ramachandran from IIM Ahmedabad's PGP X program has founded this biz which aims at providing 'clean, reliable and hassle-free home improvement services'.
Although the name is 'fix-all', as of now they focus only on electrical services in the city of Chennai. This needs to be communicated more clearly, right next to the number given on the homepage.
Is there a need?: Yes, certainly. There should be a lot of people willing to try such a service.
What could be better: The website is basic, pictures could be better. Some information on who are the people behind this venture would inspire more confidence.
The pricing for chhota mota jobs is Rs 90 for labour only. Which my mom thinks is high (the local electrician charges Rs 30). But for complex jobs - like an entire home's electrical fitting, I may be willing to pay a premium for reliable and knowledgeable service.
Pitfalls: What if the electricians under contract with Fix-it start doing freelance on the side. Once I have the cell no of a workman, I can bypass Fix-it and pay him Rs 50 and get my work done. Not saying it will happen, but it's a distinct possibility.
Parting advice: Training and motivation of workmen is key to the success of this venture. Polite, punctual fellows who do their job with sincerity are what you need. Uniforms and smiles would add to the attractiveness of the package.
The website name is a little tough to remember but I guess you can't have everything!
Well, great minds think alike and more so in the competitive world of business.
2) A similar service - but with its own USPs - is Liveazee.
The site is broader in scope than Fix-it. Right now they offer two services:
1) Electronics repair: TV repairs are done at your home, audio systems and DVD players are picked up and repaired at the service centre.
There is a 30 day guarantee in case the same problem recurs. Charges range from Rs 100-500 + parts.
2) Bill Pay: In a world where ECS and online payment mechanisms have reduced this hassle, there is apparently a large enough market to merit a home pick up service for your utility payments. It costs Rs 150 a month for 10 such pick-ups.
A killer app - in my opinion - is the EazeeBox where a box is installed in your society for this purpose. That makes the service far more economical. (I live in a building full of senior citizens and that makes a big difference!)
But the most unique service this site offers is a 'Home Staff Register'. The idea is to register the personal information of all your home staff - cook, maid, driver, nanny etc.
Now this is something we all know we should, but rarely do. So let's say I download the 3 page form and fill up all the details. I am not clear what is the benefit of putting the info online... May as well go to your local police station and register the domestic with them, no?
Other services like plumbing, electrical, carpentry etc will be offered on the site soon.
Is there a need?: Probably - different takers for different services.
What could be better: The website could use some user testimonials and information about who is behind the venture. Another thing - in the Home Staff Register that I downloaded I did not see any space for a photo.
Pitfalls: Same as above. Finding and retaining reliable workmen, and making sure they are working only on company payroll will be a challenge.
And again, the name. I'm sorry but it did not make much sense until I saw the website. It's Live + Eazee -LIVeazee. (Maybe, it's just me).
Parting advice: Cities where the service is available should be clearly mentioned. Since the target audience would include a lot of working couples and bachelors weekend and late evening services (upto 11 pm!) could be offered. If I am saved the trouble of taking a half day from work to get my flush fixed, I would be willing to pay a premium.
I'm sure there might be a few more young entrepreneurs in this space (like there are in juices!) . Well, the good news is the market is big enough for all. It's a completely chaotic and unorganised sector which makes it a huge opportunity, as well as a huge challenge.
In response to my last post Dhruv Kakar left this comment: "Don't these ideas look like copy cats...what is their USP....How they are different....I think something is missing... something like different...why everyone wants to be CCD or Barista....is entrepreneurship is just a fad."
Well, some years ago I would have reacted like Dhruv. Ki bhai kuch karna hai to unique karo, nahin to mat karo. But I realised there are many routes you can take in entrepreneurship.
If you have a unique idea and faith in it - go ahead. eg Give India (ref. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish).
But if you don't have such an idea.. well, you still gotta start somewhere. Sanjeev Bikhchandani started a small company producing reports - naukri.com came later. In his case, he had the idea of a job directory in 1991 but only with the arrival of the internet could he make that dream a reality.
Because he was already an entrepreneur, he could grab the opportunity and run with it.
Similarly, these juicewallahs and electrical contractors are learning what it is to do business in India. With time, they will get very good at what they do - maybe spot another opportunity before anyone else. Or simply scale up their own operations to a level where it becomes a force to reckon with.
I am reminded of Ganesh Ram of Veta (chapter 3 in my new book 'Connect the Dots'). He started by giving maths tuitions himself. Then set up an all-subject tutorial center. In time, he decided to focus only on English and set up a distance learning program. Today his company runs India's largest chain of spoken English training centres.
So, kuch kariye - as Sukhwinder Singh would say. And karnewaale are welcome to drop me a mail at rashmi_b at yahoo.com. Will try and feature as many as possible in this space.
You can also post your stories at www.connectthedots.in/forums/
Thursday, September 18, 2008
'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish' out in stores now
The inspiring stories of 25 IIM Ahmedabad graduates who chose to tread a path of their own making.
What more is there to say? Well, this is the book project I had been working on. Like a human baby, it actually took 9 months from conception to delivery (starting Oct 2007 and ending June 2008).
Soon it will be in your hands, where I hope it impacts your thinking in some small way. And acquires a life of its own.
Let me know if you have any trouble finding the book. And I'd love to hear what you feel - after reading it.
A dedicated website will be coming up soon.
Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, Rs 125. Available @ Crossword, Landmark, Oxford and well, bookshops and stalls across India
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Young Entrepeneur Series - III
Vibhor Agarwal (IIM B 2005) quit A T Kearney in Nov 2006 to join his family business in heavy engineering 'Multimax' in Meerut.
Over the phone he told me: Everyone keeps asking,"Why?". When I visit a marriage, relatives will ask - even though I am from a business family. “Why did you leave such a good job. There are so many headaches in business. Excise problems and yeh woh”.
But Vibhor was very clear.
I worked at Deutsche Bank London for summer and then at AT Kearney. So I saw what banking as well as consulting was about neither fit into my long term goals. I made a very informed decision to join my family business.
Last 12 months I have not missed consulting even for a day although I enjoyed that job also.
For me it was not so much of a risk as I was getting into an existing business, not starting from scratch. Hence no financial implications.
My dad started this business 27 years ago after graduating from IIT B but it did not really take off so he went into jewellery retailing and this business was just languishing, not professionally run, v small scale running on auto pilot. My dad was planning to shut it down so I took it over
It's a manufacturing business - hardcore mechanical engineering. I had to relearn all my engineering fundaes in the first 3 months. I am a chemical engineer, incidentally. From working on a laptop 24 hours I had to go to the shopfloor and get my hands dirty.
What have I been doing? Trying to make the company more professional (small things like documenting things in a proper format). Attract people from bigger companies with experience in this field to work here. It's v hard - giving them the right package + job security.
My dad was very hands-on operational, he never thought of getting in experienced people and delegating work to others.
The company right now is small – really small. But Vibhor has big plans. What follows is a longish description of the journey so far. (via email, in his own words). But hang on, coz it's worth reading!
Name: Vibhor Agrawal
Age: 27
Education: IIT Bombay (2003 batch), IIM Bangalore (2005 batch)
THE PERSON
Born in a business class retail jeweller’s family with not much background in academics except for my father who is also an IITian. Family known very well throughout Meerut. Schooling from LKG to Std. XII in St. Mary’s Academy, ICSE, only boys convent school, topped through most classes, passing out as school head boy and best student in school award.
Aspirations as a child, and an adult:
Wanted to be an engineer from starting. Nothing else. As adult, now am aspiring to be a successful businessman who gives back to the society through capitalism.
Would you describe yourself as a ‘regular’ child or a little different from others:
Regular child
I would describe myself as: (in terms of personality traits)
A typical Piecesan, day dreamer, soft spoken, determined, competitive, socialist in the disguise of a capitalist, patriotic, shy, etc.
Any work experience:
pre MBA: none
summer training: Deutsche Bank, London – commodity trading and securitization research desks
post MBA: 18 months with AT Kearney, management consultancy firm
Learnings from this work ex which you can apply in your current project: Several learnings – made me more professional, disciplined, more polished in dealing with people, wide experience of sectors and functions to talk about, good network of people to leverage, improved excel, powerpoint skills greatly.
Even I before IIM was a nerd. The importance of softer aspects I learnt only at IIM
THE DECISION
Did you know you would be an entrepreneur before you joined the MBA program or was the decision taken on campus.
Knew it before joining the MBA, it was only a matter of when to take the plunge.
Was there anything like an 'aha' moment when you 'knew'?
Might not make sense, but going through the Fortune 500 companies. I just knew I had to build one that made it to that list. Otherwise also, everyday in ET when I read about some businessman doing something or read about some entrepreneur making it big, I felt I was wasting time doing consulting.
Was there any course during MBA which helped to at a psychological or practical level to make the decision?
Corporate Finance and Financial Services both taught me all I needed to know about business financing.
People who helped/ hindered your decision
My father – my biggest influence and teacher
My IIT thesis guide, Prof. Shenoy – a very practical businessman prof who runs a very successful net based business while teaching in IIT. He kind of pushed me to take the step sooner than I had thought.
How did your family react and how did you handle it?
Contrary to others, my family was extremely happy considering I was coming back to run the business.
I knew I could not get into my family’s traditional jewellery business as it was not my cup of tea. I liked the little heavy engineering business my father had started 25years ago but was lying dormant. So I chose heavy engineering even though it was not even one-tenth the size of jewellery business.
THE PROJECT
We are manufacturing heat exchangers and pressure vessels (tanks and columns) for chemical plants, power plants, fertilizer plants, sugar plants, etc. Basically plant equipments.
Are you enjoying it?
Yes very much. I liked engineering as a subject and am glad to be back to it.
How is it different from what you would have been doing as an MBA employed by someone.
As a consultant, I was building financial models, powerpoint presentations, process design documents and other analytical work.
As a businessman, I am meeting different people, taking decisions, doing a bit of everything from marketing and sales to IT and operations.
The basic setup was already there. I planned the experienced team of people I needed, the infrastructure improvements and the companies to target for getting orders.
Which MBA models/ fundas, if any, are you using in this project. Or is it a question of unlearning everything :)
The funda of people management which I guess I learnt a bit while doing team projects in MBA and during my job.
What is your business model. Is there anything new or different about it vis a vis the general industry practice?
Our business model is to deliver on quality and time while matching competitor’s price. In general, most small businesses of our size in our industry, try to get by with low quality work.
Any example of how your company is taking a fresh or different approach to the business in terms of strategy/ marketing/ product design etc.
As an educated MBA, I know the worth of having good experienced people in the business, the worth of providing them the right environment to work, of motivating them when they are down and of paying them well for their services. Unlike services sector, manufacturing sector is not that people friendly. My approach has been to apply some of the basic things of services sector to manufacturing such as strong HR, good website and a good working environment.
Is your relative youth and inexperience an asset in some ways?
It helps to be asking basic presumption breaking questions to my employees and my father. I am teaching my company to leverage the computer more greatly while doing design and costing (earlier done on paper), to cooperate with customer rather than fight, to imbibe quality not as a statutory requirement but as a basic need for good business.
THE PRACTICAL STUFF
Was raising funds an issue?
Until now, it hasn’t been as it has been bank rolled by my father, though he is a tough investor making us justify any demands. Next year, we will have to take loans from banks. Might rope in some businessmen friends of father to invest.
Your experience with banks and institutions (negative or positive)
Slightly negative.
Your experience with angel investors/ VC funds.
Not yet approached any, as ours is an old economy business.
THE PROSPECTS
Current turnover is Rs. 1 Cr flat. I expect to reach Rs. 100 Cr. in 5 years.
Key milestones, so far:
Conversion of company from Proprietorship to Pvt. Ltd. This meant an evolved employee policy with all benefits. Also cleaning up, painting and formalizing all the processes in the factory according to ISO 9000 framework.
Are you satisfied with the pace and scale you have achieved so far
Nope. I’ve taken my time to learn our business, to learn customer expectations and employee expectations. I haven’t yet cracked any major order myself.
What is your vision of the business 5 years from now
A national brand name, known for its engineering solutions.
Do you see yourself running this company 10 years from now
No, I hope to give over the operational work to professionals. I also hope to get into other sunrise sectors 5 years later.
Would you actively seek a sell-out before that time?
No, not as of now. Unless I am assured of the benefits of a sell out to the company and its employees and to me, I wont sell-out.
THE LEARNINGS
High points of being on your own
1. Do work at your own pace, sometimes very fast sometimes slowly.
2. Immediately take decisions that have an impact. Not having to do unnecessary long analysis.
3. Being able to put in place systems and procedures that have streamlined the work instead of the daily fire fighting that was going on before me.
4. Most importantly, not feeling as if I am doing work. So there are no work hours. The time in office zips by since there are so many things to do. Every little achievement brings immense satisfaction. Every little challenge pushes my thinking for new ideas.
Low points of being on your own
1. No company of similar aged colleagues to socialize with, to bounce ideas with, to take breaks with. Working alone and aloof in a cabin.
2. No more frequent flyers or stays in 5 star hotels. Not that it matters much.
3. No more multi-crore projects for big clients. No more meeting with rich and famous clients.
At such a time, what kept you going
The dream of seeing my company name in the papers, the dream of recruiting people from IIT/IIM for my company, the motivation that I have to go forward in life rather than go in circles of a job.
Things you wish you'd known when you started:
On a practical level, the whole tax structure such as excise, etc. On a personal level, how to recognize the right and wrong people and how to do business negotiations.
Any particularly tricky areas/ problems. How you overcame or are tackling them.
Business negotiations. Its complex and you have to be really tough. I am still learning the tricks by doing little negotiations and by watching my father and others do it. I was aware of this lacuna in me during my MBA as well hence I took a negotiations course. But that was a bit theoretical and naïve compared to real business situations.
Is the execution of your project going along planned lines, or is reality very different...
eality is very different. Many times I think I’ve achieved success only to return from near end point. This applies to many situations of recruiting key people or getting orders from customers. But with each failure, I am learning and doing it a bit differently next time.
Running a family owned concern – any issues of who is the boss etc?
Generation gap was one of the concerns floated by my AT Kearney superiors as well. However, me and my father have divided work between ourselves nicely. I handle all HR, marketing, development initiatives. He handles all finance and government related statutory issues. While there are debates and differences of opinion sometimes, there is a healthy mutual respect that lets us own our decisions in our domain. Since he too is well educated (IIT Roorkee, IIT Bombay), he understands and appreciates reasoning and logic. I think we compliment well.
Going forward, he plans to pass over his part of the job to me while I find competent people to handle my department. He would then concentrate purely on the jewellery business which he now finds more peaceful to do.
THE PRICE
Any chance you'll go back to corporate life?
Not as of near future. This business has to go down really for me to think about returning to a job.
What happens when you meet batchmates who are I-bankers and consultants? Any regrets?
Absolutely no regrets. Luckily I’ve worked through both I-banking and consulting environments. So I know what I’ve left willingly. It was a well calculated and thought out move and I haven’t regretted it one bit.
If you had to do anything differently what would it be?
One is I would have left consulting after another 6 months of experience by which time I would’ve been promoted to be an associate. Various personal and business factors pushed me into leaving earlier than I had planned.
Second is I left behind several small opportunities to leverage which I would’ve leveraged had I known my own business better that time. For instance, I interned in Toyo Engg during IIT. Today, I know Toyo can be a major customer for us, but I don’t have any personal contacts left in that company to leverage.
What are the factors which you think will be key to your company's success
1. Change in mindset of our shop floor people from a ‘chalta hai’ attitude to ‘chalta nahi hai’ attitude. They need to develop their skills and imbibe quality in their daily lives.
2. An owner’s urgency to business actions and decisions needs to be inculcated in every employee. Once he starts thinking of this company as his company the change will be there to see.
3. Meeting customer’s delivery times. Many big competitors in our field are failing in delivering quality product on time.
Any advice to ppl like you who may be choosing to become entrepreneurs after and MBA.
1. Select courses that you think will help you become better entrepreneurs than better grades for jobs.
2. Know your business better. Have a broad business plan on paper. This will help you spot opportunities early and leverage them better.
Should one go for work ex of 1-2 years and then undertake entrepreneurship?
I seriously think one should work for few years before taking the plunge. It really makes a huge difference once you’ve worked under somebody. Plus it makes you more professional, more responsible, gives you a few initial networks to leverage, etc. etc.
Is what you are doing now your ultimate goal or more an interim learning period
My ultimate goal is not constrained by any sector or type of business. The ultimate goal is to build a sustainable company – one that stays long after I am also gone – managed by professionals and in the process make a name for myself. My goal is also give back to the society by recruiting people, through corporate social responsibility and to contribute towards making India an economically developed nation.
Starting with a running business has saved me atleast two years of entrepreneurship pangs of building basic infrastructure, getting government approvals, getting initial finance, etc.
Living in Meerut after Mumbai and Bangalore. Is it an issue at any level with you?
Only at socializing with my IIT/IIM friends most of whom are in Bombay Delhi or Bangalore. Yeah in addition the traffic sometimes frustrates me. But otherwise, I am so involved in my work that it really doesn’t matter whether my office is in meerut or Mumbai.
In future, yes it will become an issue once I have family and kids. In this regard, I plan and hope that my business will reach a size where I can move my offices to Delhi while still running the work shop in Meerut.
When you speak to Vibhor you get a clear sense of his passion and determination. And you can't help but feel he is going to make a huge success of whatever he decides to take up in life. Meerut ya Manhattan.
We’ll keep track of his progress - watch this space!
Earlier in this series
Young Entrepreneur - I (Prakash Mundhra, Blessingz)
Young Entrepreneur - II (Mom's Kitchen)
Over the phone he told me: Everyone keeps asking,"Why?". When I visit a marriage, relatives will ask - even though I am from a business family. “Why did you leave such a good job. There are so many headaches in business. Excise problems and yeh woh”.
But Vibhor was very clear.
I worked at Deutsche Bank London for summer and then at AT Kearney. So I saw what banking as well as consulting was about neither fit into my long term goals. I made a very informed decision to join my family business.
Last 12 months I have not missed consulting even for a day although I enjoyed that job also.
For me it was not so much of a risk as I was getting into an existing business, not starting from scratch. Hence no financial implications.
My dad started this business 27 years ago after graduating from IIT B but it did not really take off so he went into jewellery retailing and this business was just languishing, not professionally run, v small scale running on auto pilot. My dad was planning to shut it down so I took it over
It's a manufacturing business - hardcore mechanical engineering. I had to relearn all my engineering fundaes in the first 3 months. I am a chemical engineer, incidentally. From working on a laptop 24 hours I had to go to the shopfloor and get my hands dirty.
What have I been doing? Trying to make the company more professional (small things like documenting things in a proper format). Attract people from bigger companies with experience in this field to work here. It's v hard - giving them the right package + job security.
My dad was very hands-on operational, he never thought of getting in experienced people and delegating work to others.
The company right now is small – really small. But Vibhor has big plans. What follows is a longish description of the journey so far. (via email, in his own words). But hang on, coz it's worth reading!
Name: Vibhor Agrawal
Age: 27
Education: IIT Bombay (2003 batch), IIM Bangalore (2005 batch)
THE PERSON
Born in a business class retail jeweller’s family with not much background in academics except for my father who is also an IITian. Family known very well throughout Meerut. Schooling from LKG to Std. XII in St. Mary’s Academy, ICSE, only boys convent school, topped through most classes, passing out as school head boy and best student in school award.
Aspirations as a child, and an adult:
Wanted to be an engineer from starting. Nothing else. As adult, now am aspiring to be a successful businessman who gives back to the society through capitalism.
Would you describe yourself as a ‘regular’ child or a little different from others:
Regular child
I would describe myself as: (in terms of personality traits)
A typical Piecesan, day dreamer, soft spoken, determined, competitive, socialist in the disguise of a capitalist, patriotic, shy, etc.
Any work experience:
pre MBA: none
summer training: Deutsche Bank, London – commodity trading and securitization research desks
post MBA: 18 months with AT Kearney, management consultancy firm
Learnings from this work ex which you can apply in your current project: Several learnings – made me more professional, disciplined, more polished in dealing with people, wide experience of sectors and functions to talk about, good network of people to leverage, improved excel, powerpoint skills greatly.
Even I before IIM was a nerd. The importance of softer aspects I learnt only at IIM
THE DECISION
Did you know you would be an entrepreneur before you joined the MBA program or was the decision taken on campus.
Knew it before joining the MBA, it was only a matter of when to take the plunge.
Was there anything like an 'aha' moment when you 'knew'?
Might not make sense, but going through the Fortune 500 companies. I just knew I had to build one that made it to that list. Otherwise also, everyday in ET when I read about some businessman doing something or read about some entrepreneur making it big, I felt I was wasting time doing consulting.
Was there any course during MBA which helped to at a psychological or practical level to make the decision?
Corporate Finance and Financial Services both taught me all I needed to know about business financing.
People who helped/ hindered your decision
My father – my biggest influence and teacher
My IIT thesis guide, Prof. Shenoy – a very practical businessman prof who runs a very successful net based business while teaching in IIT. He kind of pushed me to take the step sooner than I had thought.
How did your family react and how did you handle it?
Contrary to others, my family was extremely happy considering I was coming back to run the business.
I knew I could not get into my family’s traditional jewellery business as it was not my cup of tea. I liked the little heavy engineering business my father had started 25years ago but was lying dormant. So I chose heavy engineering even though it was not even one-tenth the size of jewellery business.
THE PROJECT
We are manufacturing heat exchangers and pressure vessels (tanks and columns) for chemical plants, power plants, fertilizer plants, sugar plants, etc. Basically plant equipments.
Are you enjoying it?
Yes very much. I liked engineering as a subject and am glad to be back to it.
How is it different from what you would have been doing as an MBA employed by someone.
As a consultant, I was building financial models, powerpoint presentations, process design documents and other analytical work.
As a businessman, I am meeting different people, taking decisions, doing a bit of everything from marketing and sales to IT and operations.
The basic setup was already there. I planned the experienced team of people I needed, the infrastructure improvements and the companies to target for getting orders.
Which MBA models/ fundas, if any, are you using in this project. Or is it a question of unlearning everything :)
The funda of people management which I guess I learnt a bit while doing team projects in MBA and during my job.
What is your business model. Is there anything new or different about it vis a vis the general industry practice?
Our business model is to deliver on quality and time while matching competitor’s price. In general, most small businesses of our size in our industry, try to get by with low quality work.
Any example of how your company is taking a fresh or different approach to the business in terms of strategy/ marketing/ product design etc.
As an educated MBA, I know the worth of having good experienced people in the business, the worth of providing them the right environment to work, of motivating them when they are down and of paying them well for their services. Unlike services sector, manufacturing sector is not that people friendly. My approach has been to apply some of the basic things of services sector to manufacturing such as strong HR, good website and a good working environment.
Is your relative youth and inexperience an asset in some ways?
It helps to be asking basic presumption breaking questions to my employees and my father. I am teaching my company to leverage the computer more greatly while doing design and costing (earlier done on paper), to cooperate with customer rather than fight, to imbibe quality not as a statutory requirement but as a basic need for good business.
THE PRACTICAL STUFF
Was raising funds an issue?
Until now, it hasn’t been as it has been bank rolled by my father, though he is a tough investor making us justify any demands. Next year, we will have to take loans from banks. Might rope in some businessmen friends of father to invest.
Your experience with banks and institutions (negative or positive)
Slightly negative.
Your experience with angel investors/ VC funds.
Not yet approached any, as ours is an old economy business.
THE PROSPECTS
Current turnover is Rs. 1 Cr flat. I expect to reach Rs. 100 Cr. in 5 years.
Key milestones, so far:
Conversion of company from Proprietorship to Pvt. Ltd. This meant an evolved employee policy with all benefits. Also cleaning up, painting and formalizing all the processes in the factory according to ISO 9000 framework.
Are you satisfied with the pace and scale you have achieved so far
Nope. I’ve taken my time to learn our business, to learn customer expectations and employee expectations. I haven’t yet cracked any major order myself.
What is your vision of the business 5 years from now
A national brand name, known for its engineering solutions.
Do you see yourself running this company 10 years from now
No, I hope to give over the operational work to professionals. I also hope to get into other sunrise sectors 5 years later.
Would you actively seek a sell-out before that time?
No, not as of now. Unless I am assured of the benefits of a sell out to the company and its employees and to me, I wont sell-out.
THE LEARNINGS
High points of being on your own
1. Do work at your own pace, sometimes very fast sometimes slowly.
2. Immediately take decisions that have an impact. Not having to do unnecessary long analysis.
3. Being able to put in place systems and procedures that have streamlined the work instead of the daily fire fighting that was going on before me.
4. Most importantly, not feeling as if I am doing work. So there are no work hours. The time in office zips by since there are so many things to do. Every little achievement brings immense satisfaction. Every little challenge pushes my thinking for new ideas.
Low points of being on your own
1. No company of similar aged colleagues to socialize with, to bounce ideas with, to take breaks with. Working alone and aloof in a cabin.
2. No more frequent flyers or stays in 5 star hotels. Not that it matters much.
3. No more multi-crore projects for big clients. No more meeting with rich and famous clients.
At such a time, what kept you going
The dream of seeing my company name in the papers, the dream of recruiting people from IIT/IIM for my company, the motivation that I have to go forward in life rather than go in circles of a job.
Things you wish you'd known when you started:
On a practical level, the whole tax structure such as excise, etc. On a personal level, how to recognize the right and wrong people and how to do business negotiations.
Any particularly tricky areas/ problems. How you overcame or are tackling them.
Business negotiations. Its complex and you have to be really tough. I am still learning the tricks by doing little negotiations and by watching my father and others do it. I was aware of this lacuna in me during my MBA as well hence I took a negotiations course. But that was a bit theoretical and naïve compared to real business situations.
Is the execution of your project going along planned lines, or is reality very different...
eality is very different. Many times I think I’ve achieved success only to return from near end point. This applies to many situations of recruiting key people or getting orders from customers. But with each failure, I am learning and doing it a bit differently next time.
Running a family owned concern – any issues of who is the boss etc?
Generation gap was one of the concerns floated by my AT Kearney superiors as well. However, me and my father have divided work between ourselves nicely. I handle all HR, marketing, development initiatives. He handles all finance and government related statutory issues. While there are debates and differences of opinion sometimes, there is a healthy mutual respect that lets us own our decisions in our domain. Since he too is well educated (IIT Roorkee, IIT Bombay), he understands and appreciates reasoning and logic. I think we compliment well.
Going forward, he plans to pass over his part of the job to me while I find competent people to handle my department. He would then concentrate purely on the jewellery business which he now finds more peaceful to do.
THE PRICE
Any chance you'll go back to corporate life?
Not as of near future. This business has to go down really for me to think about returning to a job.
What happens when you meet batchmates who are I-bankers and consultants? Any regrets?
Absolutely no regrets. Luckily I’ve worked through both I-banking and consulting environments. So I know what I’ve left willingly. It was a well calculated and thought out move and I haven’t regretted it one bit.
If you had to do anything differently what would it be?
One is I would have left consulting after another 6 months of experience by which time I would’ve been promoted to be an associate. Various personal and business factors pushed me into leaving earlier than I had planned.
Second is I left behind several small opportunities to leverage which I would’ve leveraged had I known my own business better that time. For instance, I interned in Toyo Engg during IIT. Today, I know Toyo can be a major customer for us, but I don’t have any personal contacts left in that company to leverage.
What are the factors which you think will be key to your company's success
1. Change in mindset of our shop floor people from a ‘chalta hai’ attitude to ‘chalta nahi hai’ attitude. They need to develop their skills and imbibe quality in their daily lives.
2. An owner’s urgency to business actions and decisions needs to be inculcated in every employee. Once he starts thinking of this company as his company the change will be there to see.
3. Meeting customer’s delivery times. Many big competitors in our field are failing in delivering quality product on time.
Any advice to ppl like you who may be choosing to become entrepreneurs after and MBA.
1. Select courses that you think will help you become better entrepreneurs than better grades for jobs.
2. Know your business better. Have a broad business plan on paper. This will help you spot opportunities early and leverage them better.
Should one go for work ex of 1-2 years and then undertake entrepreneurship?
I seriously think one should work for few years before taking the plunge. It really makes a huge difference once you’ve worked under somebody. Plus it makes you more professional, more responsible, gives you a few initial networks to leverage, etc. etc.
Is what you are doing now your ultimate goal or more an interim learning period
My ultimate goal is not constrained by any sector or type of business. The ultimate goal is to build a sustainable company – one that stays long after I am also gone – managed by professionals and in the process make a name for myself. My goal is also give back to the society by recruiting people, through corporate social responsibility and to contribute towards making India an economically developed nation.
Starting with a running business has saved me atleast two years of entrepreneurship pangs of building basic infrastructure, getting government approvals, getting initial finance, etc.
Living in Meerut after Mumbai and Bangalore. Is it an issue at any level with you?
Only at socializing with my IIT/IIM friends most of whom are in Bombay Delhi or Bangalore. Yeah in addition the traffic sometimes frustrates me. But otherwise, I am so involved in my work that it really doesn’t matter whether my office is in meerut or Mumbai.
In future, yes it will become an issue once I have family and kids. In this regard, I plan and hope that my business will reach a size where I can move my offices to Delhi while still running the work shop in Meerut.
When you speak to Vibhor you get a clear sense of his passion and determination. And you can't help but feel he is going to make a huge success of whatever he decides to take up in life. Meerut ya Manhattan.
We’ll keep track of his progress - watch this space!
Earlier in this series
Young Entrepreneur - I (Prakash Mundhra, Blessingz)
Young Entrepreneur - II (Mom's Kitchen)
Monday, July 30, 2007
Young Entrepreneur Series - II
Here's the next instalment, as promised.
I interviewed three young entrepreneurs making a difference to the food business. The kind that you and me want to have on an everyday basis coz we can't (or don't want to) cook ourselves.
Of course dabbas and dabbawalahs have been around for a long time. What started as a Bombay phenomenon has now become a nationwide cottage industry. The difference with these ventures is that they are building brands and have bigtime scale up plans.
Vinamra Pandiya and Ashwini Rathod run Mom's Kitchen in Pune which provides simple, homely food to the young working professional. On the other hand, Cyrus Driver's Calorie Care caters calorie counted meals for the health conscious at the upper end of the market.
The full story 'New Age Dabbawalahs' is published in this week's Businessworld and can be read here. A more detailed interview is featured below.
Interview with Vinamra Pandiya and Ashwini Rathod
Company: Mom's Kitchen
Founded: September 1 2006
Age: 26
Educational background: Vinamra (IT BHU 2005 batch, Infosys from campus placement); Aswini Rathod (NIT Allahabad 2005 batch, Cognizant from campus placement).
Vinamra and I are childhood friends. He graduated from IT BHU in 2005 and I passed out of NIT Allahabad the same year. I joined Cognizant while he was in Infosys. Initially we were in Bangalore, then we moved to Pune.
We had big dreams in our college days. Ki kuch karna hai. That coupled with the frustration of working in a big company ("at the end of the day you know, you do nothing!) led to the idea of starting a business.
Being bachelors living alone we sensed that there was a big gap in food. It is a very fragmented industry. And from the beginning we knew ki hamein khana ghar ghar pahunchana hai. We ourselves used to order a local dabba. But we felt there in no 'brand name' in this business.
Vinamra left his job while I continued to work for a while, to provide some support. We both put in Rs 1 lakh each to start it off.
Neither of us had experience in the food business, or any business for that matter. We took 1-2 months figuring out how to do and what to do.
The name, we felt was most important. The name 'Mom's Kitchen' came to Vinamra at 3 in the morning. The nect thing we did was design a logo and then a website.
Next came the cooking part. We decided to bring a couple of workers from my college mess. We didn't anyone too experienced, but someone who would learn quickly our style of doing things. The food we wanted was very simple, the way moms cook at home, with minimum of tel and masala.
They were in a government job, we convinced them to move from Allahabad to Pune and work with us.
We took a flat at Pashan Road on rent to set up the kitchen. Although the rental should have been around Rs 4000 we had to shell out Rs 7000 because we were using it for Mom's kitchen. The workers were provided accomodation in the same flat.
We started with 11 orders, 1 cook and 1 helper. The first 3 days Vinamra and I personally went to deliver the dabbas. "Badi sharm aa rahi thi ki company mein koi hamein pehchaan na le".
Then we kept one more person but of course he too was not native to Pune so we had to explain the route and rasta personally, actually go along for the deliveries. But by now we were no longer feeling ashamed. So what if we are educated, 'IT types' etc the important thing is to lead by example.
Actually with our cooks and helpers from the beginning we established a very close relationship. We felt ki yeh log hamare ssath hain. Unke saath baith kar khana chahiye. That's been the philosophy of Mom's Kitchen ever since.
Why it clicked
Now Mom's Kitchen does business differently from other dabbawalas. For example, normally you take 1 month tiffin but with us you can cancel by calling up or logging on to our website before 5.30 pm. We have made a program which makes such a customisation possible.
There is also no delivery charge. Meal costs Rs 30 each. 3 schemes - 6 day trial, 15 days (get 1 day free) or 30 days (pay for 27). The scheme works on prepaid basis and the online database tracks how many meals you have availed of.
Our promotion was mainly thru pamphlets and sticking up posters at bus stops where IT people gather. We would go at 7 am and stick up the posters. We also used online discussion forums of companies, orkut scrapping and emailing to promote MK. We handled calls personally - we offered 1 week trials to hook people. And it worked.
In the second month we had 30-35 dabbas and it steadily grew from there. Yet in January we were absolutely broke. We would skip breakfast to save money for petrol which we needed for our delivery bikes.
February was the turning point. We hit 200 dabbas and from then on there was no looking back. Word of mouth had spread, we set up a second centre in Karve nagar. 10 months after starting we have 550 customers. There are IT workers, students, senior citizens and even couples.
Actually there are about 3000 people in 'queue' (we got many enquiries after an article in the local TOI). But we are doing a controlled expansion. Our delivery and cooking systems must be able to cope. We want the processes to be scientific so we are going for ISO 9001 and six sigma also.
Each centre can cook for a maximum 250 people. So we will set up new centres - one in Vimaan nagar soon. The scalability will come with in house training of cooks and documentation of the cooking method (ie for 100 people'sal we need so much dal, so much water, this kind of pan etc). We did it when setting up the second centre.
We have 25 cooks/ helpers and 5 people in office to handle calls. Calls come in for 14-15 reasons - we have taught them how to handle them. So far we have had no complaints re: food except a very small number who find it too simple/ non spicy.
The future
Now we have investors willing to put Rs 25-50 lakhs into the business. We plan to expand to 10,000 in Pune by next year. Already we have a waiting list so it's more a question of having the cooking and delivery ability than generating demand.
We may also start a thali place which is going to be different - it will be exactly like home. Very simple food, ghar jaise curtains, newspaper - a total non restaurant feel. Max Rs 40 per thali. Whatever we do must be 'different'.
Our entire business is built on trust and personal relations. We hire only non Puneites as they are more dedicated, don't ask for too many holidays etc.
They say there is a 50% profit margin in the food industry. But given the amount of customer service and processes you have to put in we make 25-30%. The break even point is 150 meals per centre. Now we earn more than we did when we quit and down the line prjections of course make us feel v happy. Earlier our families said 'tum drunken pagal ho' for quitting secure IT jobs. NOw they also are happy.
There has been a lot of trial and error. As well as experimentation. We customised our bikes to be able to carry 36 tiffins for delivery. We were outsiders to Pune, so when MK started doing well we even got threats from locals whose business was affected. But we did not back down.
In future we will enlist housewives also to provide for 'special requests' like Andhra food etc. We will provide raw materials and pay them a fee for cooking.
We are both 26 years old. The dream is professionalise meal services in the whole of India. Companies today have fancy canteens but their khana is pathetic. First 3 days you are excited with the glass and fabcy varieties but it all tastes the same.
We design our menus along with the cooks and promise 'no repeat' for 30 days. or money back. We take weekly customer feedbcak. Like many people said khana garam hona chahiye so we started packing food while it was still on the gas. We got demand for regional dishes like dal baati and also parathas, chhole bhature etc which we provide once a week.
The most amazing thing is the support the people working with us have given. "Inhi ki duaon se ham aagey bade hain".
Initially we promised them Rs 1800 and that too we did not pay for 4 months. And they never complained. They would get up in the morning at 7 am, then make two times ka khana, undertake delivery etc. So much hard work and no complaints.
Today we pay our cooks Rs 6000 and of course provide food, acco and mattresses etc. We feel proud that Mom's Kitchen is supporting 25 families. "Koi 5th std pass hai, koi 4 th std pass hai." They may be uneducated but they are not dumb. We constantly ask for suggestions and feedback thru a letterbox at each centre.
Also Sunday sessions where we feast together and even encourage them to discuss their personal/ inter personal problems. There is no 'sir' here, no maalik everyone is a bhaiyya. IN return we address them with izzat also eg Dubeji. We show them motivational movies like Boxer, Guru.
Woh customers se pyaar se baat karte hain, even if they are occassionally blasted by someone.
Extras we do for our customers: If someone makes a special request like 2 rotis extra we give it to them. We pack rotis in alumnium foil and some things in disposables. We're trying to build an assembly line for packing.
We are trying to check which process causes delay, how to speed it up etc. We are very quality conscious. Once the bhaturas cracked and we phoned up all customers and informed them we could not deliver the food that day. Was it necessary? We feel with food you have to be very careful. Poor word of mouth can destroy your brand name.
Right now abt 60-70- people order both times,mainly senior citizens. IT guys mainly order dinners. We may do company catering later but perhaps under a different brand name.
We tell our cooks: Subah naha ke pooja karke khana banaiye. We're planning to introduce them to yoga also. A person in a nsaty mood can't cook well can he? Remember how your mom cooked after fighting with dad?
We also had a peculiar situation where one kid preferred Mom's Kitchen food to his own mom's food because we had variety. We had to go and convince him, "Beta ma ke haath ka khana hi best hai."
My observations
The idea is simple and the case for such a service strong. But to make a success of it operationally the big challenge. And that has been cracked by Mom's Kitchen.
It's a tough business: daily production, finicky customers, tricky delivery logistics but through a mix of inventiveness and doggedness Ashwini and Vinamra have fashioned a workable system. And replicated it at a seocnd location.
Key to their success has been the bonding they've created with the workers. Something they instinctively embraced because it was the right thing and the smart thing to do. A lesson in that for many would be entrepreneurs!
Also good to see techies involved in such a hands-on business.
Mom's Kitchen got a canny feel for the market as well. A budget version of the dabba was introduced esp. for students @ Rs 25. It has everything except foil packaging and raita!
At current order levels Mom's Kitchen will do Rs 65 lakhs worth of business in the coming year. Probably more, with expansion in Pune as well as Chennai on the cards.
Here's wishing them all the very best!
I interviewed three young entrepreneurs making a difference to the food business. The kind that you and me want to have on an everyday basis coz we can't (or don't want to) cook ourselves.
Of course dabbas and dabbawalahs have been around for a long time. What started as a Bombay phenomenon has now become a nationwide cottage industry. The difference with these ventures is that they are building brands and have bigtime scale up plans.
Vinamra Pandiya and Ashwini Rathod run Mom's Kitchen in Pune which provides simple, homely food to the young working professional. On the other hand, Cyrus Driver's Calorie Care caters calorie counted meals for the health conscious at the upper end of the market.
The full story 'New Age Dabbawalahs' is published in this week's Businessworld and can be read here. A more detailed interview is featured below.
Interview with Vinamra Pandiya and Ashwini Rathod
Company: Mom's Kitchen
Founded: September 1 2006
Age: 26
Educational background: Vinamra (IT BHU 2005 batch, Infosys from campus placement); Aswini Rathod (NIT Allahabad 2005 batch, Cognizant from campus placement).
Vinamra and I are childhood friends. He graduated from IT BHU in 2005 and I passed out of NIT Allahabad the same year. I joined Cognizant while he was in Infosys. Initially we were in Bangalore, then we moved to Pune.
We had big dreams in our college days. Ki kuch karna hai. That coupled with the frustration of working in a big company ("at the end of the day you know, you do nothing!) led to the idea of starting a business.
Being bachelors living alone we sensed that there was a big gap in food. It is a very fragmented industry. And from the beginning we knew ki hamein khana ghar ghar pahunchana hai. We ourselves used to order a local dabba. But we felt there in no 'brand name' in this business.
Vinamra left his job while I continued to work for a while, to provide some support. We both put in Rs 1 lakh each to start it off.
Neither of us had experience in the food business, or any business for that matter. We took 1-2 months figuring out how to do and what to do.
The name, we felt was most important. The name 'Mom's Kitchen' came to Vinamra at 3 in the morning. The nect thing we did was design a logo and then a website.Next came the cooking part. We decided to bring a couple of workers from my college mess. We didn't anyone too experienced, but someone who would learn quickly our style of doing things. The food we wanted was very simple, the way moms cook at home, with minimum of tel and masala.
They were in a government job, we convinced them to move from Allahabad to Pune and work with us.
We took a flat at Pashan Road on rent to set up the kitchen. Although the rental should have been around Rs 4000 we had to shell out Rs 7000 because we were using it for Mom's kitchen. The workers were provided accomodation in the same flat.
We started with 11 orders, 1 cook and 1 helper. The first 3 days Vinamra and I personally went to deliver the dabbas. "Badi sharm aa rahi thi ki company mein koi hamein pehchaan na le".
Then we kept one more person but of course he too was not native to Pune so we had to explain the route and rasta personally, actually go along for the deliveries. But by now we were no longer feeling ashamed. So what if we are educated, 'IT types' etc the important thing is to lead by example.
Actually with our cooks and helpers from the beginning we established a very close relationship. We felt ki yeh log hamare ssath hain. Unke saath baith kar khana chahiye. That's been the philosophy of Mom's Kitchen ever since.
Why it clicked
Now Mom's Kitchen does business differently from other dabbawalas. For example, normally you take 1 month tiffin but with us you can cancel by calling up or logging on to our website before 5.30 pm. We have made a program which makes such a customisation possible.
There is also no delivery charge. Meal costs Rs 30 each. 3 schemes - 6 day trial, 15 days (get 1 day free) or 30 days (pay for 27). The scheme works on prepaid basis and the online database tracks how many meals you have availed of.
Our promotion was mainly thru pamphlets and sticking up posters at bus stops where IT people gather. We would go at 7 am and stick up the posters. We also used online discussion forums of companies, orkut scrapping and emailing to promote MK. We handled calls personally - we offered 1 week trials to hook people. And it worked.
In the second month we had 30-35 dabbas and it steadily grew from there. Yet in January we were absolutely broke. We would skip breakfast to save money for petrol which we needed for our delivery bikes.
February was the turning point. We hit 200 dabbas and from then on there was no looking back. Word of mouth had spread, we set up a second centre in Karve nagar. 10 months after starting we have 550 customers. There are IT workers, students, senior citizens and even couples.
Actually there are about 3000 people in 'queue' (we got many enquiries after an article in the local TOI). But we are doing a controlled expansion. Our delivery and cooking systems must be able to cope. We want the processes to be scientific so we are going for ISO 9001 and six sigma also.
Each centre can cook for a maximum 250 people. So we will set up new centres - one in Vimaan nagar soon. The scalability will come with in house training of cooks and documentation of the cooking method (ie for 100 people'sal we need so much dal, so much water, this kind of pan etc). We did it when setting up the second centre.
We have 25 cooks/ helpers and 5 people in office to handle calls. Calls come in for 14-15 reasons - we have taught them how to handle them. So far we have had no complaints re: food except a very small number who find it too simple/ non spicy.
The future
Now we have investors willing to put Rs 25-50 lakhs into the business. We plan to expand to 10,000 in Pune by next year. Already we have a waiting list so it's more a question of having the cooking and delivery ability than generating demand.
We may also start a thali place which is going to be different - it will be exactly like home. Very simple food, ghar jaise curtains, newspaper - a total non restaurant feel. Max Rs 40 per thali. Whatever we do must be 'different'.
Our entire business is built on trust and personal relations. We hire only non Puneites as they are more dedicated, don't ask for too many holidays etc.
They say there is a 50% profit margin in the food industry. But given the amount of customer service and processes you have to put in we make 25-30%. The break even point is 150 meals per centre. Now we earn more than we did when we quit and down the line prjections of course make us feel v happy. Earlier our families said 'tum drunken pagal ho' for quitting secure IT jobs. NOw they also are happy.
There has been a lot of trial and error. As well as experimentation. We customised our bikes to be able to carry 36 tiffins for delivery. We were outsiders to Pune, so when MK started doing well we even got threats from locals whose business was affected. But we did not back down.
In future we will enlist housewives also to provide for 'special requests' like Andhra food etc. We will provide raw materials and pay them a fee for cooking.
We are both 26 years old. The dream is professionalise meal services in the whole of India. Companies today have fancy canteens but their khana is pathetic. First 3 days you are excited with the glass and fabcy varieties but it all tastes the same.
We design our menus along with the cooks and promise 'no repeat' for 30 days. or money back. We take weekly customer feedbcak. Like many people said khana garam hona chahiye so we started packing food while it was still on the gas. We got demand for regional dishes like dal baati and also parathas, chhole bhature etc which we provide once a week.
The most amazing thing is the support the people working with us have given. "Inhi ki duaon se ham aagey bade hain".
Initially we promised them Rs 1800 and that too we did not pay for 4 months. And they never complained. They would get up in the morning at 7 am, then make two times ka khana, undertake delivery etc. So much hard work and no complaints.
Today we pay our cooks Rs 6000 and of course provide food, acco and mattresses etc. We feel proud that Mom's Kitchen is supporting 25 families. "Koi 5th std pass hai, koi 4 th std pass hai." They may be uneducated but they are not dumb. We constantly ask for suggestions and feedback thru a letterbox at each centre.
Also Sunday sessions where we feast together and even encourage them to discuss their personal/ inter personal problems. There is no 'sir' here, no maalik everyone is a bhaiyya. IN return we address them with izzat also eg Dubeji. We show them motivational movies like Boxer, Guru.
Woh customers se pyaar se baat karte hain, even if they are occassionally blasted by someone.
Extras we do for our customers: If someone makes a special request like 2 rotis extra we give it to them. We pack rotis in alumnium foil and some things in disposables. We're trying to build an assembly line for packing.
We are trying to check which process causes delay, how to speed it up etc. We are very quality conscious. Once the bhaturas cracked and we phoned up all customers and informed them we could not deliver the food that day. Was it necessary? We feel with food you have to be very careful. Poor word of mouth can destroy your brand name.
Right now abt 60-70- people order both times,mainly senior citizens. IT guys mainly order dinners. We may do company catering later but perhaps under a different brand name.
We tell our cooks: Subah naha ke pooja karke khana banaiye. We're planning to introduce them to yoga also. A person in a nsaty mood can't cook well can he? Remember how your mom cooked after fighting with dad?
We also had a peculiar situation where one kid preferred Mom's Kitchen food to his own mom's food because we had variety. We had to go and convince him, "Beta ma ke haath ka khana hi best hai."
My observations
The idea is simple and the case for such a service strong. But to make a success of it operationally the big challenge. And that has been cracked by Mom's Kitchen.
It's a tough business: daily production, finicky customers, tricky delivery logistics but through a mix of inventiveness and doggedness Ashwini and Vinamra have fashioned a workable system. And replicated it at a seocnd location.
Key to their success has been the bonding they've created with the workers. Something they instinctively embraced because it was the right thing and the smart thing to do. A lesson in that for many would be entrepreneurs!
Also good to see techies involved in such a hands-on business.
Mom's Kitchen got a canny feel for the market as well. A budget version of the dabba was introduced esp. for students @ Rs 25. It has everything except foil packaging and raita!
At current order levels Mom's Kitchen will do Rs 65 lakhs worth of business in the coming year. Probably more, with expansion in Pune as well as Chennai on the cards.
Here's wishing them all the very best!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Electric shock
There's a bomb in the mail: Your electricity bill.
Now there have been rumblings in Mumbai for some time. With Maharashtra facing acute power shortage the government has come up with an ingenious solution: charge users more.
In fact the idea is to 'penalise' those who use more. And especially business owners.
In April HT reported: All heavy power consumers of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport undertaking (BEST) will have to shell out more per unit. While households will have to pay 15 to 28 per cent more, commercial establishments like shopping malls will pay 84 per cent more.
'Heavy' use is defined as more than 500 units a month. Which in the context of a modern office is... laughable.
Well, so far all this was just the subject of academic debate. Then came our latest bill. The charges levied for May-June 2007 are exactly ... double. From a bi monthly bill of Rs 30,000-35,000, we're now saddled with a liability of Rs 68,000.
The first thing you do, of course, is check the meter. Well, that seems to be working fine. There is some increase in consumption (possibly due to summer).
So help us God. The BEST certainly isn't taking it kindly.
We are officially entering a new 'Dark Age'. "A/Cs will be put on between 11 and 11.25am every morning." Well, not that bad yet but we'll all have to be extra careful. And use fans more often.
While I wholly support electricity conservation, efficient use of resources etc the problem is there is only that much you can do in the short term. The industrial estate where my office is housed was built in the 70s. It has no clue what 'eco friendly' is about.
There are no windows offering natural light and/or ventilation. It's mobile-signal-blocking concrete all the way. Most of the new offices coming up in Mumbai are no better. They are in restructured mill compounds where you have to keep lights and a/cs on at all times.
Even if one could use natural light it would be impossible to work in the tropical climes of Mumbai without air conditioning... In fact windows have to be shut to keep out ambient noise and air pollution.
I am sure even a doubled electricity bill won't matter to very large companies whose stock price is doubling every six months. But for smaller outfits like JAM, it
could be a huge setback.
The blatant discrimination between the rate hike for households and businesses reflects the continuing socialist mindset of India. Businessmen are profit mongering capitalists who won't 'feel the pinch'.
Incidentally we in Mumbai are now paying the highest rates for electricity ... in the world.
Now there have been rumblings in Mumbai for some time. With Maharashtra facing acute power shortage the government has come up with an ingenious solution: charge users more.
In fact the idea is to 'penalise' those who use more. And especially business owners.
In April HT reported: All heavy power consumers of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport undertaking (BEST) will have to shell out more per unit. While households will have to pay 15 to 28 per cent more, commercial establishments like shopping malls will pay 84 per cent more.
'Heavy' use is defined as more than 500 units a month. Which in the context of a modern office is... laughable.
Well, so far all this was just the subject of academic debate. Then came our latest bill. The charges levied for May-June 2007 are exactly ... double. From a bi monthly bill of Rs 30,000-35,000, we're now saddled with a liability of Rs 68,000.
The first thing you do, of course, is check the meter. Well, that seems to be working fine. There is some increase in consumption (possibly due to summer).
So help us God. The BEST certainly isn't taking it kindly.
We are officially entering a new 'Dark Age'. "A/Cs will be put on between 11 and 11.25am every morning." Well, not that bad yet but we'll all have to be extra careful. And use fans more often.
While I wholly support electricity conservation, efficient use of resources etc the problem is there is only that much you can do in the short term. The industrial estate where my office is housed was built in the 70s. It has no clue what 'eco friendly' is about.
There are no windows offering natural light and/or ventilation. It's mobile-signal-blocking concrete all the way. Most of the new offices coming up in Mumbai are no better. They are in restructured mill compounds where you have to keep lights and a/cs on at all times.
Even if one could use natural light it would be impossible to work in the tropical climes of Mumbai without air conditioning... In fact windows have to be shut to keep out ambient noise and air pollution.
I am sure even a doubled electricity bill won't matter to very large companies whose stock price is doubling every six months. But for smaller outfits like JAM, it
could be a huge setback.
The blatant discrimination between the rate hike for households and businesses reflects the continuing socialist mindset of India. Businessmen are profit mongering capitalists who won't 'feel the pinch'.
Incidentally we in Mumbai are now paying the highest rates for electricity ... in the world.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Young Entrepreneur Series - 1
By accident and design, I keep bumping into young entrepreneurs. And I often write about the subject.
'Agents of Change' is a piece I wrote for the latest Businessworld. It tracks under 30s, all MBAs who dropped out of campus placement to pursue an entrepreneurial dream. Something we're seeing more of at elite bschools.
The three companies I covered are:
Sacred Moments - a company selling 'puja kits'
Prakash Mundhra (SCMHRD 2006 batch)
Indigo Edge - Medical tourism and consulting
Sandeep Ramesh, Radhakrishnan, Zerin Rahiman, Shivakumar R, Abhisar Gupta (all IIM L 2006 batch)
Brewhaha - a cafe which combines great food with the fun of gaming
Mansur Nazimuddin (IIM A 2006), Sreeram Vaidyanathan (IIM A 2005)
All these guys shared the trials and tribulations of being a start up with me in great detail. Details I could not use in the article, writing under limitation of words.
I have therefore decided to publish the full interviews in this space. Because hearing these stories may inspire/ motivate some of you out there considering entrepreneurship. And give you an idea of the hard work that lies ahead!
To lijiye entrepreneurs ki kahaani... unhi ki zabaani
Interview with Prakash Mundhra
Company: Sacred Moments
Founded: May 2006
Age: 27
Educational background: BMS (Sydenham college), 1 year work ex with family business, MBA from SCMHRD
I joined the MBA with an open mind - to do either business or service. I have a family business background (textiles).
How it all began
I entered several b plan contests while at SCMHRD and this boosted my confidence. It started with the ITC Mera Gaon Mera Desh contest. We had to develop strategies for ITC products. I chose Mangaldeep agarbattis and prepared a business plan where the company could expand into branded puja items like branded roli, branded haldi etc.
That's how I got into this area of religious products. I was in my first year at SCMHRD at the time.
The plan did not click with ITC. But I went ahead and participated in Zee TV's Business Baazigar. I won the 'mini Baazigar title, incidentally.
In my 2nd year I entered many business plan contests and won several - notable among them IIM Lucknow, TAPMI, IIT KGP, IIM Calcutta. I refined my idea - from branded puja items to puja item outlets (like Archies) but in my heart I knew neither concept would work.
Finally, in the last 8 months I arrived at the idea of 'puja kits'. With the Rs 50,000 Zee TV gave me I researched the idea and created a designer puja kit. The idea was a puja kit as 'gifting' item - for corporates and export market. For bulk orders I decided to offer customised logo printing as well.
However I did take my placement also. I got into 2 companies - ICIC Prudential and Essar. After the placement I took part in 6 b plan contests and won 5 of them. That boosted my confidence but gave me a dilemma. Was it to be the job or my business? I was to join ICICI Pru on 11th May 2006. On 7th I sent them an email declining the offer.
Thus 'Sacred Moments' was born.
Nuts and bolts
I calculated that I needed Rs 3-4 lakhs to start Of that I had 2 lakhs with me, from all the b plan contests I had won. The rest I borrowed from family/ friends.
I consulted 3-4 pandits before finalising the product. Each kit has 32 items used in the Diwali puja, including murti, haldi, roli, honey and even gangajal. There is a vidhi booklet also, which tells you how to go about the puja.
I made samples which I displayed at the Giftex exhibition in Mumbai between August 3rd and 7th 2006.
I got a really good response. In fact the puja kit received the 'best new product' award. I was sure that I was onto something big. However, I got mainly enquiries and not actual bookings. But I made the bold decision of manufacturing 12,000 kits. The kits were prepared on a job work basis, the assembly of items was also outsourced. I used my dad's old office in Masjid Bunder as a base which was very close to all my suppliers.
Of course the orders got confirmed slowly. I secured clients like TOI, AV Birla group, Link pens etc. People bought the kits for both personal gifting and corporate gifting. In the run up to Diwali the kit (which sold under the brand name 'Blessingz') was stocked at Asiatic and Akbarallys. Contacts also helped. My alma mater - the Symbiosis society - itself took some kits.
I sold 10,000 kits by Diwali. Strangely enough I got around 500 orders even after Diwali. A Punjabi family, for example, gave it to all their baraatis as a gift! Others bought the kit to present after 'Bhaagwat katha'. IMT Nagpur gave it to delegates at a conference on their campus.
The gross revenues were Rs 35 lakhs (Rs 350 per kit). After Diwali I ended up taking a 3 month break because first my sister got married and then I got married. In the new year I went back and started fulfilling demand in the export market.
In the coming year I have expanded production and shifted it to Ahmedabad which is cheaper as a manufacturing base. Yes this means I constantly make trips up and down but one good thing is the items I am packing are not very high value ,so I don't have to worry about pilferage. I also have a godown now in Mumbai.
In the following year I have plans to launch a 'grih pravesh puja kit' and a 'vehicle puja kit' also.
Lessons and Learnings
How did I manage the cash flows? Well export orders were booked on cash basis. Luckily my suppliers gave me credit. I also worked against advances from corporate orders.
I did borrow Rs 25,000 from 5-6 friends just before Diwali to tide over the cash crisis. I repaid them soon after.
How did my MBA help in the project? Well I was condident of overcoming hurdles. A small example: I needed a 20 gm sachet of ghee. Everyone told me it's not available in Mumbai. They said forget about providing ghee but that did not seem right. So I searched on the net and finally found someone in Tirupur who is packing 20 gm ghee sachets, although for hotel parcel service.
The MBA gave me optimism as well as techniques to work around problems.
Then there are small details. Like knowing people face certain problems during puja. How do you keep the photo of the God upright? We provided a small photo stand.
Then, I wanted to give a silver coin but that was uneconomical so we gave a silver 'durva'.
I think the most crucial decision was to go ahead and manufacture 12,000 kits without having a single firm order. I sold 4000 kits in the last one week before Diwali. If I did not have the kits ready I would have missed that business.
In future I also plan to launch a range of lower priced kits (Rs 200) for the retail mass market under a different brand name (Bhakti). It will have a different design and also less items. I plan to sell 50,000 kits in all this year (2007).
There has been demand to expand to 'other religions' as well. There are many many options (Baisakhi, Holi, think of all the other Indian festivals!). Basically it's a very fragmented and unorganised market.
Currently I am handling the business with 2 staff members. When I started I had asked two of my friends if they wanted to join but they didn't. Now I have a sleeping partner who basically invests but does not participate in the management of the business.
Was it worth it?
Yes there is a lot of internal job satisfaction and I made money equal to what I would have earned in a job. I made about Rs 5 lakhs for myself in the first year. Year 1 was a learning experience, my production was not so efficient so I had higher overheads.
I did take small risks all along. Like when one my exams at SCMHRD was clashing with a business plan contest I ditched the exam :)
My marketing professor Shivram Apte had rejected the business idea totally. We had a lot of argument over it back then. Today, of course, he says he's very glad he was wrong!
Yes there are 3-4 competitors I am aware of but the market is very large. There is also an entry barrier. The kirana shop types can't build a brand and scale it while the MBA types find the product too boring.
I'm 27 and recently I was invited to give a 'guest lecturer on entrepreneurship'. It felt really good!.
What struck me about Prakash:It appears that Prakash achieved 'instant success'. After all a turnover of Rs 35 lakhs in your first 6 months of business is not a joke!
The point to note is that Prakash actually spent 2 years refining his initial product idea using the business plan contest platform (both Business Baazigar and the bschool circuit)
That's a route other budding bschool entrepreneurs should consider.
I also think the way Prakash managed his cashflows is worth looking at. You don't need an angel to come finance you. Think out of the box.
Lastly, I like his 'no compromise with the product' philosophy. He went the extra mile to produce a puja kit which married utility with beauty. And did not cut corners.
It will be interesting to see how Sacred Moments scales up further. But I certainly think it can and will go places.
'Agents of Change' is a piece I wrote for the latest Businessworld. It tracks under 30s, all MBAs who dropped out of campus placement to pursue an entrepreneurial dream. Something we're seeing more of at elite bschools.
The three companies I covered are:
Sacred Moments - a company selling 'puja kits'
Prakash Mundhra (SCMHRD 2006 batch)
Indigo Edge - Medical tourism and consulting
Sandeep Ramesh, Radhakrishnan, Zerin Rahiman, Shivakumar R, Abhisar Gupta (all IIM L 2006 batch)
Brewhaha - a cafe which combines great food with the fun of gaming
Mansur Nazimuddin (IIM A 2006), Sreeram Vaidyanathan (IIM A 2005)
All these guys shared the trials and tribulations of being a start up with me in great detail. Details I could not use in the article, writing under limitation of words.
I have therefore decided to publish the full interviews in this space. Because hearing these stories may inspire/ motivate some of you out there considering entrepreneurship. And give you an idea of the hard work that lies ahead!
To lijiye entrepreneurs ki kahaani... unhi ki zabaani
Interview with Prakash Mundhra
Company: Sacred Moments
Founded: May 2006
Age: 27
Educational background: BMS (Sydenham college), 1 year work ex with family business, MBA from SCMHRD
I joined the MBA with an open mind - to do either business or service. I have a family business background (textiles).
How it all began
I entered several b plan contests while at SCMHRD and this boosted my confidence. It started with the ITC Mera Gaon Mera Desh contest. We had to develop strategies for ITC products. I chose Mangaldeep agarbattis and prepared a business plan where the company could expand into branded puja items like branded roli, branded haldi etc.
That's how I got into this area of religious products. I was in my first year at SCMHRD at the time.
The plan did not click with ITC. But I went ahead and participated in Zee TV's Business Baazigar. I won the 'mini Baazigar title, incidentally.
In my 2nd year I entered many business plan contests and won several - notable among them IIM Lucknow, TAPMI, IIT KGP, IIM Calcutta. I refined my idea - from branded puja items to puja item outlets (like Archies) but in my heart I knew neither concept would work.
Finally, in the last 8 months I arrived at the idea of 'puja kits'. With the Rs 50,000 Zee TV gave me I researched the idea and created a designer puja kit. The idea was a puja kit as 'gifting' item - for corporates and export market. For bulk orders I decided to offer customised logo printing as well.
However I did take my placement also. I got into 2 companies - ICIC Prudential and Essar. After the placement I took part in 6 b plan contests and won 5 of them. That boosted my confidence but gave me a dilemma. Was it to be the job or my business? I was to join ICICI Pru on 11th May 2006. On 7th I sent them an email declining the offer.
Thus 'Sacred Moments' was born.
Nuts and bolts
I calculated that I needed Rs 3-4 lakhs to start Of that I had 2 lakhs with me, from all the b plan contests I had won. The rest I borrowed from family/ friends.
I consulted 3-4 pandits before finalising the product. Each kit has 32 items used in the Diwali puja, including murti, haldi, roli, honey and even gangajal. There is a vidhi booklet also, which tells you how to go about the puja.
I made samples which I displayed at the Giftex exhibition in Mumbai between August 3rd and 7th 2006.
I got a really good response. In fact the puja kit received the 'best new product' award. I was sure that I was onto something big. However, I got mainly enquiries and not actual bookings. But I made the bold decision of manufacturing 12,000 kits. The kits were prepared on a job work basis, the assembly of items was also outsourced. I used my dad's old office in Masjid Bunder as a base which was very close to all my suppliers.
Of course the orders got confirmed slowly. I secured clients like TOI, AV Birla group, Link pens etc. People bought the kits for both personal gifting and corporate gifting. In the run up to Diwali the kit (which sold under the brand name 'Blessingz') was stocked at Asiatic and Akbarallys. Contacts also helped. My alma mater - the Symbiosis society - itself took some kits.
I sold 10,000 kits by Diwali. Strangely enough I got around 500 orders even after Diwali. A Punjabi family, for example, gave it to all their baraatis as a gift! Others bought the kit to present after 'Bhaagwat katha'. IMT Nagpur gave it to delegates at a conference on their campus.
The gross revenues were Rs 35 lakhs (Rs 350 per kit). After Diwali I ended up taking a 3 month break because first my sister got married and then I got married. In the new year I went back and started fulfilling demand in the export market.
In the coming year I have expanded production and shifted it to Ahmedabad which is cheaper as a manufacturing base. Yes this means I constantly make trips up and down but one good thing is the items I am packing are not very high value ,so I don't have to worry about pilferage. I also have a godown now in Mumbai.
In the following year I have plans to launch a 'grih pravesh puja kit' and a 'vehicle puja kit' also.
Lessons and Learnings
How did I manage the cash flows? Well export orders were booked on cash basis. Luckily my suppliers gave me credit. I also worked against advances from corporate orders.
I did borrow Rs 25,000 from 5-6 friends just before Diwali to tide over the cash crisis. I repaid them soon after.
How did my MBA help in the project? Well I was condident of overcoming hurdles. A small example: I needed a 20 gm sachet of ghee. Everyone told me it's not available in Mumbai. They said forget about providing ghee but that did not seem right. So I searched on the net and finally found someone in Tirupur who is packing 20 gm ghee sachets, although for hotel parcel service.
The MBA gave me optimism as well as techniques to work around problems.
Then there are small details. Like knowing people face certain problems during puja. How do you keep the photo of the God upright? We provided a small photo stand.
Then, I wanted to give a silver coin but that was uneconomical so we gave a silver 'durva'.
I think the most crucial decision was to go ahead and manufacture 12,000 kits without having a single firm order. I sold 4000 kits in the last one week before Diwali. If I did not have the kits ready I would have missed that business.
In future I also plan to launch a range of lower priced kits (Rs 200) for the retail mass market under a different brand name (Bhakti). It will have a different design and also less items. I plan to sell 50,000 kits in all this year (2007).
There has been demand to expand to 'other religions' as well. There are many many options (Baisakhi, Holi, think of all the other Indian festivals!). Basically it's a very fragmented and unorganised market.
Currently I am handling the business with 2 staff members. When I started I had asked two of my friends if they wanted to join but they didn't. Now I have a sleeping partner who basically invests but does not participate in the management of the business.
Was it worth it?
Yes there is a lot of internal job satisfaction and I made money equal to what I would have earned in a job. I made about Rs 5 lakhs for myself in the first year. Year 1 was a learning experience, my production was not so efficient so I had higher overheads.
I did take small risks all along. Like when one my exams at SCMHRD was clashing with a business plan contest I ditched the exam :)
My marketing professor Shivram Apte had rejected the business idea totally. We had a lot of argument over it back then. Today, of course, he says he's very glad he was wrong!
Yes there are 3-4 competitors I am aware of but the market is very large. There is also an entry barrier. The kirana shop types can't build a brand and scale it while the MBA types find the product too boring.
I'm 27 and recently I was invited to give a 'guest lecturer on entrepreneurship'. It felt really good!.
What struck me about Prakash:It appears that Prakash achieved 'instant success'. After all a turnover of Rs 35 lakhs in your first 6 months of business is not a joke!
The point to note is that Prakash actually spent 2 years refining his initial product idea using the business plan contest platform (both Business Baazigar and the bschool circuit)
That's a route other budding bschool entrepreneurs should consider.
I also think the way Prakash managed his cashflows is worth looking at. You don't need an angel to come finance you. Think out of the box.
Lastly, I like his 'no compromise with the product' philosophy. He went the extra mile to produce a puja kit which married utility with beauty. And did not cut corners.
It will be interesting to see how Sacred Moments scales up further. But I certainly think it can and will go places.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Making it easier to jump
... into entrepreneurship. IIM A is now providing a 'safety valve' for those choosing to say no to a lucrative job from campus and chart their own path instead.
HT reports: As per the new rules framed by Placement Committee, students who opted out of the placement process this year would be entitled to appear for placement interviews for the next 2 years, should their new ventures fail to take off.
Last year, 6 IIM A students opted out, this year HT believes the number is 10 (ET reports it may be 20 - official figures not released yet). At the very least, that's close to 5% of the 250 strong batch and a definite trend. If you count the number of grads who quit within 2 years to get into entrepreneurial ventures, the number would be higher.
I think the 'come back if you wish' option is a good idea. Incidentally, deferred placewment was allowed at IIM A way back in 1993 when I graduated. Around 3 of us opted out of placement and one went back and took a job through campus the following year. But the profile of those opting outw as a little different.
All three of us were girls, for example. And we were 'in search of self' as they say. Not having definite ideas of becoming entrepreneurs (although that's the path I took after working at Bennett Coleman & co for 2 years :)
From the current lot, I don't think many will actually choose to go back for placement - but it's good to have that security. Makes the 'entrepreneurship is risky' objection easier to overcome with parents as well.
Of course one can usually hardly 'give u' in a mere two years. Because you need that time to figure out what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it! This period, in fact, is a struggle for most first-generation MBA entrepreneurs but most seem to have the clarity that going back to a regular job is not the solution.
However, I do know of one young man who has re-entered the rat race. The business he started right after placement did not take off. He went through a low phase and then decided to get back into a regular job for the time being. Was it easy? Yes and no. The IIM degree opened many doors but the key question he struggled to answer,"How do we know you'll stick around with us?"
Well the answer is - no guarantees anyone will stick around. Whether former entrepreneur or ambitious corprate-climber. It's just their destinations which will differ. The climber may move to another company while the once-failed-entrepreneur may take a risk and start up again.
Entrepreneurship is a bee. Once it's buzzing in your bonnet, you are run the risk of getting stung. But there's also the promise of honey - sweeter and healthier than a sugar coated placement pill.
More on the subject in weeks to come. I will share the trials, tribulations and truimphs of first-generation entrepreneurs in this space, in the form of interviews. They don't all have to be MBAs, of course.
If you fit the profile and have been running your venture for at least 6 months, get in touch with me at rashmi_b@yahoo.com. Would also love to hear from some of you who have dropped out this year or recently quite your jobs and are 'in the process'.
We all have a lot we can learn from each other. And perhaps, we can even do some business!
HT reports: As per the new rules framed by Placement Committee, students who opted out of the placement process this year would be entitled to appear for placement interviews for the next 2 years, should their new ventures fail to take off.
Last year, 6 IIM A students opted out, this year HT believes the number is 10 (ET reports it may be 20 - official figures not released yet). At the very least, that's close to 5% of the 250 strong batch and a definite trend. If you count the number of grads who quit within 2 years to get into entrepreneurial ventures, the number would be higher.
I think the 'come back if you wish' option is a good idea. Incidentally, deferred placewment was allowed at IIM A way back in 1993 when I graduated. Around 3 of us opted out of placement and one went back and took a job through campus the following year. But the profile of those opting outw as a little different.
All three of us were girls, for example. And we were 'in search of self' as they say. Not having definite ideas of becoming entrepreneurs (although that's the path I took after working at Bennett Coleman & co for 2 years :)
From the current lot, I don't think many will actually choose to go back for placement - but it's good to have that security. Makes the 'entrepreneurship is risky' objection easier to overcome with parents as well.
Of course one can usually hardly 'give u' in a mere two years. Because you need that time to figure out what you are going to do, and how you are going to do it! This period, in fact, is a struggle for most first-generation MBA entrepreneurs but most seem to have the clarity that going back to a regular job is not the solution.
However, I do know of one young man who has re-entered the rat race. The business he started right after placement did not take off. He went through a low phase and then decided to get back into a regular job for the time being. Was it easy? Yes and no. The IIM degree opened many doors but the key question he struggled to answer,"How do we know you'll stick around with us?"
Well the answer is - no guarantees anyone will stick around. Whether former entrepreneur or ambitious corprate-climber. It's just their destinations which will differ. The climber may move to another company while the once-failed-entrepreneur may take a risk and start up again.
Entrepreneurship is a bee. Once it's buzzing in your bonnet, you are run the risk of getting stung. But there's also the promise of honey - sweeter and healthier than a sugar coated placement pill.
More on the subject in weeks to come. I will share the trials, tribulations and truimphs of first-generation entrepreneurs in this space, in the form of interviews. They don't all have to be MBAs, of course.
If you fit the profile and have been running your venture for at least 6 months, get in touch with me at rashmi_b@yahoo.com. Would also love to hear from some of you who have dropped out this year or recently quite your jobs and are 'in the process'.
We all have a lot we can learn from each other. And perhaps, we can even do some business!
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