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HOW TO BECOME A SACHIN TENDULKAR OF YOUR BUSINESS
How to become a Sachin Tendulkar of your business Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Vandana Luthra, and Vipul Jain share their entrepreneurial stories
How to retain key employees Opportunities in conservation of monuments Where did all the money go? Business of custom shoemaking VOLUME 3 ISSUE 03
Opportunities in plant tissue culture How many people can you supervise? Creating a value proposition for your biz
entrepreneur of the month/
Harish Kumar, Maharaja Whiteline investor of the month/
Sandeep Murthy, Sherpalo Ventures columns/ The fight for resources Dancing with the giants Lessons From the dragon economy Should your brand scream 100 pages including cover
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How to become a Sachin Tendulkar of your business
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contest 76 Write a Business Idea The idea can be as crazy as you wish, but should somehow link to the picture
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opportunities
70 investor of the month
Plant Tissue Culture 36
Sandeep Murthy
Custom Shoemaking 64
Sherpalo Ventures
strategy Creating a Value Proposition 28 Sandeep Murthy is focused on investment opportunities in India
from the blogs How many people can you supervise? 68
blogs/columns 18 opportunities
Conservation of monuments
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta 16 Vijay Anand 62 Rupin Jayal 80 Anurag Batra 91
events Preservation of heritage sites offer a number of opportunities for private players
sector Medical Devices 40 Personalized Gifts 54
DELL SMB Mentorship Forum 31 ET Event 47 Startup Saturday: The Next Stop 74
32 entrepreneur of the month
Harish Kumar Maharaja Whiteline
others Exchange 8 Feedback 12 Where Did All the Money Go? 82 Online Resources for Aspiring Entrepreneurs 88
Kumar talks about his entrepreneurial journey, successes, challenges, strategies, and more... DARE.CO.IN | CONTENTS | DECEMBER 2009 5
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the opportunity in healthcare
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alk into any hospital in the country and you are overwhelmed by the sea of humanity that has gathered there for care and succor. The story is the same from primary health centers to super specialty hospitals and from simple nursing homes to ultra luxury setups for the ultra rich. The numbers though are dismal, to say the least. Only about 80 percent of our children are vaccinated for BCG. Hepatitis B vaccinations are not even at half that level and polio vaccinations were below 70 percent in 2008. It is estimated that just 2 percent of the population has medical insurance and even at those dismal levels, growth in medical insurance coverage is at a CAGR of just 37 percent. For effective healthcare, there has to be a tiered approach, with facilities at different levels and scales, with the focus shifting more to prevention and early detection rather than the current emphasis on just cure. Even as we build more and more super specialty hospitals, we also have to build primary health centers and district level hospitals with good facilities and good doctors. Then there are more endemic problems. There have to be enough doctors and paramedical staff. We also need to question the very basic premises on which our healthcare industry operates. The cost of educating a doctor has to come down as must the cost of primary medical care. More doctors have to be able to get admission to specializations even as graduate doctors are not required to do slave labor. Health insurance has to be affordable to at least 60 percent and more of the population, even as we must accept that insurance companies have to be profitable, for them to continue to provide the service. India has many rich traditional systems of medicine that have to be made more mainstream. Given the current state of affairs, this is a huge task, or if you look at the other side of the coin, a huge opportunity. We can blame the government for the state of affairs and continue to do nothing or seize the opportunity at hand and be the change that we want to see.
/Krishna Kumar DARE.CO.IN | BLOGS | DECEMBER 2009 7
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Exchange Submit exchange requests at: website: http://www.dare.co.in/ marketplace.htm OR email: dare@cybermedia. co.in or SMS ‘DARE <your msg>’ to 56677
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ublished: June 2009 Ashutosh Agarwal represents an investment banking company in the US and is interested in meeting project developers in the renewable energy, water management and CDM project verticals. Response: November 2009 I would like to get in touch with Ashutosh Agarwal from the US who is interested in meeting project developers in the renewable energy and CDM space. We are handling several projects in this space. Pradeep M.
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ublished: September 2009 Rahul was looking for a sales advisor for his Internet startup. He was also willing to outsource the sales activities on an incentivebased scheme. Response: October 2009 We are a consulting firm providing business development (sales) services to startups, SMEs and large companies. I would like to engage in a detailed discussion with you. Siddharth Sarawgi, Director & CEO Innoversant Solutions Pvt. Ltd Bangalore, India
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ublished: September 2009 Sandip was looking for mentors as well as people to join him professionally for helping him implement an idea in the rural/ agriculture sector and build a brand. Response: October 2009 Can you elaborate and give an outline of your idea so that I can understand it better? Suressh
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want to start emu farming in Andhra Pradesh. Can somebody please guide me with the details of this business? Sowmya
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ublished: July 2009 Alkananda was interested in manufacturing and retailing lamp 8
shades and chandeliers in the NCR and was looking for funds as well as mentors for the same. Response: October 2009 We provide mentoring and interim management services to entrepreneurs. While we do not offer financial assistance, we can introduce certain strategies and systems that will make your business ‘bankable.’ Udit Chaudhuri I am interested in starting this business with you. Please inform as to how and where you want to open the showroom in the NCR. Kamal Misra
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ublished: September 2009 Dr. Ankit Pathak has a consultancy firm, Worksure MedPharma, and wants to expand it into a contract research organization (CRO). He was on the lookout for venture capitalists for funding the project. Response: October 2009 In response to your exchange request, can you tell me what your funding expectation is? Ken
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ublished: October 2009 Arjun Rajkumar was looking for entrepreneurs as well as web designers and art directors for his firm, First 10, a direct marketing company based on the Internet. Response: October 2009 I am a web designer based in Pune. I want to contact Arjun, who is looking for a web designer for his First10 team. Rahul Shingi
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ublished: November 2009 PREMIUM Sumit Agarwal wanted to start a food business in Delhi-NCR region and was looking for people interested in this venture. Response: November 2009 What is your business model? I am intrigued little bit. We can discuss this more. Pankaj Judge
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I’m an NRI currently living in the US for more than ten years. I plan to return to India for good and settle down in the NCR early next year. I too am an alumna of BITS, Pilani (EEE). I am seriously thinking of venturing out in the food business. In fact, I’ve had a good research done through a couple of friends of mine in the last two months or so. I’m visiting India around Nov 15th to explore it further and make some decisions on the ground. If you are still looking for a partner, please let me know via email. If possible, let me have your phone number so that we can chat about it. B.P. Singh I would be interested in your venture and would really want to speak to you more on how I could be involved. Would look forward to speaking with you. Sailesh Anand I have recently taken voluntary premature retirement (VRS) from the army. I am located at Janakpuri in Delhi and am keen to be associated with you. It would be nice to hear from you. Col. K.D. Prasad I might consider your proposal as I am actively looking to open up a restaurant business. Let’s talk about your plan. Amit Tyagi It seems, we share the same passion. I also have been thinking to open something in the area of food in Delhi/Gurgaon. Let’s meet up soon and discuss the details. I am an MBA Graduate from Delhi School of Economics, DU, batch2007. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Manish Garg
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ublished: November 2009 Nayan Shah wanted to start an import/export business in the African continent. He wanted to get funding and some expert advice. Response: November 2009 Can you please tell me more about the products you would like to import/export so
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we can see if there is a possibility of working this out for us? Also let us know what kind of funding expectations you have. K.P.
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ublished: October 2009 Atul Srivastava started an HR consultancy and wanted to interact with entrepreneurs in the same field. Response: November 2009 Are you looking to network on the HR recruiting needs of the corporate houses? Please let us understand your business better so we can see if there are synergies to be met. K.P.
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ublished: September 2009 Deepak wanted funding and specific funding options for a business proposal. Response: November 2009 Please let me know more details about your business. K.P.
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ublished: November 2009 Rajesh wanted to start a BPO/KPO in his city and wanted information and mentorship. Response: November 2009 I guess you mean information regarding infrastructure and how to set it up, etc. Please revert back to me if you are still in the market to better explore your idea and see if we can come to terms on this idea. K.P.
ublished: September 2009 Shahid Ali had an optical shop in the city and dreamt of making it into a retail chain. He wanted to open an online store.
Response: November 2009 I am a web developer with the experience of developing websites/online stores. Please contact me to proceed if you are still interested. Joseph
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ublished: November 2009 Arjun wanted entrepreneurs to join his team in First10.
Response: November 2009 I am from Chennai, India. I have been into web development for the past six years but not into SEO and marketing. I am interested in your requirement and just thought of checking with you regarding the same. I am an independent consultant working mainly on PHP and MySQL. Please let me know more details on your requirement, if you feel I would be suitable. Joseph I am the owner of an India-based electric vehicle portal and I am very much interested in online startups. I have a technical background in electrical engineering and I am an electric vehicle enthusiast. I have one more portal, which is active but not being updated, and I am planning to make it an e-portal business for electrical engineering knowledge seekers. Contact me if you are interested. Murali
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ublished: November 2009 Dr. Sharma had a concept on rural healthcare and wanted to meet potential investors and team members. Response: November 2009 I want to be a part of Dr. Sharma’s team by understanding his business concept. Please request him to contact me. Naman Jain
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ublished: August 2009 Lakshmanan owned an art gallery and wanted somebody who could get orders from abroad. Response: November 2009 I am interested in getting in touch with him. Kindly forward my email ID to him. Umang Agarwal
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ublished: September 2009 V.P. Singh was keen to set up a vocational training centre for people with disabilities and ex-servicemen and was looking for experts, partners, ideas, advice and mentors. Response: November 2009 I am exploring the opportunities in food and agriculture products. I would like to know more about your offer. If you are planning to have the unit in areas near Lucknow, please share more information. Anuj Gupta
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ublished: November 2009 Ashutosh Naik wanted to start a graphics and web solutions company and wanted to get help from an angel network. Response: November 2009 Send me more details of your business plan or let’s meets up and discuss in detail. Where are you located? I am based out of NCR. Also tell me, how much investment you are looking for initially. I have some ready business to start with web designing and web solutions Company. We can start this very soon. Manish Garg
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ublished: November 2009 PREMIUM Siddharth Gurjar wanted to meet people in the travel service business. Response: November 2009 We are a consulting and e-Services Company focused on small businesses in travel/tourism and hospitality. We have expertise in helping you through our massive database and client base. We can also develop and manage your web-based backend systems to extend and manage your international web presence and transactions. Dolly Bhasin I am a like-minded person wanting to venture out into the tourism industry with a special focus on innovative tours. Where are you based out of? Can I help you out in the form of ideas/work, etc? Hema Vidhya
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ublished: November 2009 Ravi had a mango kernel business and was looking for interested people. Response: November 2009 I am interested in your business idea. Please provide me the information regarding it in detail. Bhawani Shanker Kindly send me the details about the same. Also please send me the business proposal, so that I can go through it. Nilesh Bahalkar
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ublished: November 2009 Santosh was planning to start a chain of crafts center in South Indian cities. Response: November 2009 Please give me more details on that as what exactly your plans are. Akash
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am planning to start a pre-school in Chennai or anywhere in Tamil Nadu. I am an MBA graduate. I want information regarding the process, investment, support,
legal requirement, etc to start the pre-school. Anand
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pen LX Linux was judged as the best Operating System in 2008. KalCulate is the First Linux-based financial accounting package, worldwide. Together, this gives an affordable, secure and friendly (also virus-free) business desktop to the users. The products are ready, test marketing has been done with good results and now we are looking for a funding partner to take it to the national and then international levels. More details can be obviously provided to the interested VC/ funding partner. Sudhir Gandotra
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e required a qualified lady with experience in managing a pre-school. I am planning to invest in a pre-school in Bangalore. I am a senior IT executive with plans to start the pre-school, but don’t have time to dedicate to it. Suresh Kumar
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am a post graduate and was working as HR Head for an IT firm in Pune. I have left my job to do something on my own. I am planning to take a franchise of a day care and pre-school. I am looking for an affordable option to start with. Please revert. Payal Agarwal
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’m an MBA from IIFT, Delhi and I’m involved in international trade. Send me an e-mail and we can discuss this further. Akshay Mathur
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plan to establish a pure vegetarian restaurant (Jain Bhojanalaya) with modern amenities in Jaipur`s Johari Bazar, which is the main market or at Shimla, with orchestra at dinner and tea time. I am looking for an investor. Ashok Bothra
DECEMBER 2009 | EXCHANGE | DARE.CO.IN
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Advertorial
A Collateral-free Loan For Expansion For J. Kavitha, financing was becoming a problem, till she found out about the CGTMSE scheme. n 1997, J. Kavitha set up Pacific Print Forms in Chennai with funds borrowed from relatives and friends. Her company manufactures computer stationery and undertakes printing on the same. Very soon though, Kavitha realised that to improve her business, make it grow and improve the quality, she would have to invest in new machinery, but being from a non-finance background, she didn’t know how to go about this.
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In 2006, Kavitha got a loan from a bank, but even after that she needed more money to realise her expansion plans. “I approached the bank and told them that I do not have any collateral, but have a good business. There one manager told me about the scheme of collateral-free loans of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE),” says Kavitha. Armed with this information, Kavitha approached the State Bank of India branch in Perugudi, Chennai, and a loan of Rs. 35 lakh was approved under the CGTMSE scheme. “If you go to any financial institution, they are not willing to give a loan because of lack of collateral. The CGTMSE scheme is very beneficial for people like me, who cannot provide any collateral, but want to do business. With this loan I have been able to purchase raw material, buy machinery to improve the business and improve the quality of my products overall.” This is one of the many success stories that can be attributed to the CGTMSE scheme. CGTMSE was setup by the
Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to facilitate financing without the hassles of third-party guarantees and collaterals to micro and small enterprises. The scheme is extended to both, new and existing enterprises. The maximum credit cap under the scheme is Rs 100 lakh. Lending institutions are given a guarantee cover available to the extent of 75/80 percent of the sanctioned amount, with a maximum guarantee cap of Rs 62.50 lakh/Rs 65 lakh. For micro enterprises availing credit up to Rs 5 lakh, the extent of guarantee cover is 85 percent. Enterprises operated/owned by woman as well as its units in North East India are provided a guarantee cover of up to 80 percent of loan amount. In case the enterprise is unable to pay back the lending institution, CGTMSE settles the claim up to guaranteed amount as approved, i.e principal amount in respect of term credit including interest on principal for one quarter and/or outstanding working capital advances (inclusive of interest), as on the date of account becoming a nonperforming asset (NPA), or as on the date of filing the suit, whichever is lower. All scheduled commercial banks (public sector units, private or foreign banks), select regional rural banks, or such of those institutions as may be directed by the government can avail guarantee cover this scheme from CGTMSE.
CGTMSE guarantees collateral-free loans to Micro and Small Enterprises upto Rs 1 Cr. per borrower extended by banks and Member Lending Institutions (MLIs)
Website: www.cgtmse.in
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The business of vending machines Unfortunately, most of the vending work in India works on copying an imported model. The only guys perhaps who’ve tried to do something original are the Canola guys. We did considerable work on the coffee vending machine that Cafe Coffee Day uses these days and found plenty of interesting partners willing to discover original work. Frankly, if there are enough interested people, there are plenty of ways of finding the right solution. Mahadevan Sundarraj magazine
The head and tail of wholesale price index versus consumer price index Inflation is commonly defined as a general rise in prices caused by an increase in money supply and credit. Nowadays, inflation is simply seen as a rise in CPI. This is based on the logic that with more money chasing the same amount 12
of goods and services, prices are bound to rise. To assume that more money is chasing the same number of (relatively fewer) goods presumes that the inflation (increased money and credit) comes through on the demand side of the economy. We do not automatically get to make the assumption that it will happen that way every time. It is also believed that more goods have not been produced overseas by an upcoming competitor that had its currency devalued, and so on. And can’t demand go up and down for any other reason? You could have inflation and yet the number of goods may increase faster than the desire to purchase them, resulting in lower consumer prices. While the upward and downward price movements in the flexible items even out, the violability must be factored in for understanding and targeting inflation from the point of monetary policy. Further, the wide divergence between WPI and CPI is a matter of concern. We cannot say we have tamed the inflation, as our government seems to be saying. Ramanathan A V magazine
How to use Twitter to boost your business The post is well articulated, I have been a regular reader of DARE articles and really like your “out-of-the-box” ideas. It was a great to have my picture on the cover of DARE magazine in 2007. Arijit Bhattacharyya Can you revive the Indian circus and make it a better business? It’s a great idea... I have been thinking about this since my childhood, having pity on the circus people. This industry has been neglected since ages and the people attached with this industry no longer inspire others to take this as a livelihood. I think someone should try to revamp this industry and business model. The circus industry in the West has matured to a very high level where people see this as a good medium for entertainment and spend huge money. Last but not the least, television serials
magazine
blog
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Why big retail is in a mess For branded items, the retail-chain stores may be giving discounts, but not in the case of in-house brands/unpopular brands. For example, I was purchasing at Spencer’s/Reliance Fresh/Heritage stores, and items like sugar, oils, and some not-so-popular company items are priced more than my round-the-corner super store. It is really foolish to go for these super stores thinking that we will get discounts. Once I saw a Reliance Fresh guy throwing out two/three sack full of vegetables as all of them had perished. This clearly tells the freshness of the vegetables/fruits being sold and their understanding of the products/preservation requirements. Vasudev magazine
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Five Reasons why you can’t become Sachin Tendulkar There are lots of other games available or we can create our own game to become popular. Yes, we can become Sachin Tendulkar by choosing our own game. We can play in any style to hit centuries, and achieve the goals in whatever manner we like. Good article. Gurpreet Singh
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magazine
Twelve businesses that are illegal in India Start taxing beggars and we might just see an end to this social menace. Most of them are able-bodied parasites. They refuse to work because begging is easier—casting aside shame doesn’t cost anything. I think the IT department should constitute a special cell to just go after them. There are some who are handicapped and mentally ill—such people should be rescued but the rest, especially the young women parading with babies at traffic signals should be told to get off the street! Manali Rohinesh magazine
Why calling for customer support leaves a bad taste in the mouth I just saw a poster at the Barista coffee shop that says, “Now you can send us feedback via SMS.” :-) I never heard of anyone asking for feedback and expecting them to pay three rupees or so for giving it. :-) I found it really funny. Sunil Godithi magazine
Should the RTI Act be applicable to businesses? Resistance from any section is because the basic Indian moral fiber has been shattered immensely in the last 50 years or so; hence, skeletons to hide are always there by all. Result of a so-called socialism as given by our politician. Gen Das
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How to save electricity in your office Normally, in an office environment, one switch controls many tube lights /CFLs. We have installed a cord switch (switch with a string hanging) with every such light CFL in our office. If the person is on leave or not on the seat, the light above his seat can be switched off. NN Bala magazine
Outsourcing your HR department You have brought out the advantages of outsourcing the HR function very nicely. I think while our IT & ITeS corporate houses have the capabilities of undertaking outsourced functions, they should start thinking of outsourcing their internal support functions like HR to SME companies within our country. Both the SME and the client would benefit. P.K. Sastry Watch out: Common mistakes entrepreneurs make The article has rightly pinpointed pains of all the startups. But I would rather say that it’s easy to pass the initial startup time of any enterprise. Once we set into the second stage, we start expecting more from the market and ourselves. There is a need to check at every stage whether we are delivering the things that can keep the company going on as the cost of running starts growing and the bottom line needs also rise. The topic rightly covers the personal level targets with the team members or the partners on whom we bank blindly in the initial stages and the problems that occur if the idea does not click! Sumit magazine
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Business incubator: Nothing to do with chickens! Running a commercial incubation service, with interests in the “old economy” space, I am often struck by how few there are of our ilk. Most of the incubation stuff in India, it seems, works on an “academic” center, or in the technology space. As for the VCs/PEs, they seem most interested in maximizing their returns, rather than in providing the ecosystem that will sustain their investments.
Why big retail is in a mess Efficient distribution, which includes retailing, is an essential requirement for upping the productivity bar. Nothing can eventually survive unless the concerned new activity results in a corresponding rise in the productivity of the economy. What the world is yet to understand is the fine difference between a market opportunity and an economic opportunity. It is the lack of understanding of this basic concept that had plunged the world into the abyss requiring so much of taxpayers’ money to pull the economies out of trouble. What most consultants, business associations, bankers, and venture capitalists have been focusing on in the retail sector is the market opportunity it offers. Consumers do want better retail services. That certainly presents a huge market opportunity. But the ultimate question that begs an answer is whether big retail is able to provide these better services at a lower cost. Can the market opportunity be translated into an economically-viable opportunity? I do not see that happening yet. There are two parameters that do not at all permit any favorable forecast for retailers. One, the land cost and the resultant commercial space cost. Both remain artificially high, thanks to the massive imperfections in the real estate market. The real estate market is being so unscrupulously manipulated by all and sundry, making marginally more efficient services to cash in on any market opportunity. Two, logistic quality and costs make cost-efficient retail services almost impossible. There is no assured power supply. There is no cold chain infrastructure. Transportation remains a huge bottleneck. Most retailers are attempting to adopt models that have worked in good quality logistics and low commercial space cost environments. Unless the government removes the imperfections in the real estate market and undertakes a crash program to improve logistics, the retail dream is only going to bleed. M.A.J. Jeyaseelan magazine
like ‘Circus’ (starring Shahrukh Khan) or ‘The Best Entertainer’ on Sony do encourage people to think, but not act. Saurabh
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Eleven threats that can close down your startup and how to handle them This is a very good article, but one thing I have observed here is most venture capital companies have more or less become banks, they don’t like to take anything in a startup, so why are they called venture capital investments? Except a couple of them, most are mainly based on growth capital investment. Anil Kumar Prasanna magazine
The growth of private labels Being a manufacturer of consumer products, we have had enquiries and have entered into talks with several organized retailers. Our experience shows that the knowledge level of the buyers is very limited at best. Their awareness of or concern for the product quality is only limited to maximum shelf life. Their primary concern is always their own profit margins. The 14
Twelve businesses that are illegal in India If illegal business is curtailed in India then what will happen to those who thrive on the same for their fortune? To name a few, the politicians, police (IPS), and the employees of the concerned departments? We Indians have no desire to improve the system in totality. Why zero in on ta few only? Pinak Pani Das magazine
ABCs of entrepreneurship education This is a great work and very good information. This post will really help beginners, although it is basic, it will help others immensely in the future.
Transition of comic books into digital format Days of comics have gone with “Indrajal comics” (TOI). Even Indrajal comics could not have some titles. After that, there were new generation comic series. Shiv Shanker Almal magazine
online
magazine
ABCs of entrepreneurship education Just want to say it’s amazing. Thanks for sharing. This will help me a lot in learning the nuances of entrepreneurship. Keep posting the good work in the future too.
value delivered to the consumer seems to be quite low on their priority list. I once had a quality issue with a pack of papads that I’d purchased from a store of a major retail chain. I corresponded with one of their executives, and was frustrated to find out that he was not at all aware of the concept of product quality. My last and concluding email to him on the subject of product quality and consistency had the following closing remarks: “In order to bring more consistency to the product, you could, for example, think of specifying to the supplier, the thickness or the number of papads per pack. That is, provided you find the time from negotiating for the lowest possible purchase rate per kg!” Aniruddha
Five reasons why you can’t become Sachin Tendulkar I like the way the author has compared Sachin to an entrepreneur. Amit blogs
photo blog
Reducing power transmission losses is better than building mega power projects We must get some respite from long power cuts in Delhi and other parts of the country. The central government should consider a ban on electronic hoardings, billboards and other energy-guzzling advertisements, if need be, but protect the interests of the common man. There must also be “zero tolerance” for power pilferage, even by the poor. Ban on late-night parties,
Agreements signed for German financial assistance to MSMEs This was long awaited, and the grants were desperately needed. It is ideal for labor- intensive, high-tech SME manufacturers here. This is an excellent beginning.
magazine
magazine
Eight alternatives to a public issue There have been several cases of IPOs whose market value becomes much less than the issue price within a short time, resulting in huge losses for primary market investors. These are mainly fixed-income earners and common investors. What safeguard has the Securities and Exchange Board of India devised against this? Why can’t a rule be made whereby new companies or companies that are, say, less than ten years old cannot issue their shares in the market through IPOs for more than the face value of the shares? Or, let insurance companies come forward and guarantee the market price of such IPOs for a fixed term of a few years. The premium must naturally be paid by the company issuing the IPO. M. Kumar
weddings and similar public functions, and banishing day-night cricket matches must be considered seriously. Increased investment in power plants is an urgent necessity. Mahesh Kumar
magazine
magazine
Profitable businesses with products under Re. One Nowadays, different washing powders also come in small sachets so that all sections of the society can afford them. It’s really a very good measure taken by the companies to increase penetration in all segments. Rashmi Priya
SMS “DARE <your comments, questions or suggestions>” to 56677 or Drop us an email: dare@cybermedia.co.in
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TiE Delhi Women Entrepreneurs SIG Presents Workshop on
Achieving Financial Independence 11th Dec ’09 Casuarina Hall, India Habitat Centre
Do you worry if you have the right investments? Do you consider yourself financially secure? Want someone to demystify finance so you can make smarter decisions with your money? TiE Delhi in collaboration with iTrust Financial Advisors is hosting a financial awareness seminar, specially designed for women. This 5-part seminar requires absolutely no prior knowledge of finance. Just come prepared to ask lots of questions, because iTrust can help you discover your answers. Founded by graduates of the Harvard Business School, iTrust is recognized as India’s leading expert in financial planning and operates across 5 cities. iTrust is a weekly guest on personal finance TV shows on ET Now, Bloomberg-UTV, and its content is regularly featured in many leading newspapers & magazines. The seminar would cover the following: Understanding My Finances User-friendly diagnostic exercise to measure where your finances stand today against recommended industry benchmarks and your peers. How Can I Get Rich and Stay Rich Learn about good financial habits that can help you. Become aware of pitfalls to avoid in your quest to create wealth. How Can I Successfully Achieve My Goals Identify your goals (such as child’s education/marriage, buying a house etc.) and quantify them. Understand by when you must achieve them, and design a matching investment plan that suits your risk profile. Dealing With Uncertainties Are you adequately protected? Do you have financial dependents whose life will be affected if you are not around? Learn about the right amount of health and life insurance you need to protect yourself, your spouse, children and parents. My Business and My Finances Learn about best way to fund your enterprise, how to manage cash flow and receivables. Understand how to deal with competing demands on your capital when your personal and business needs all have to be met simultaneously. For registrations contact: Shilpa Yadav shilpa@tienewdelhi.org 9811388590/ 0120 4066500 Time: 10 am – 12.30 pm followed by lunch
Tie Delhi ad dec 09.indd 15
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blogs/opinion
The fight for resources Will the leaders of this country learn to ensure that resources that belong to the people do not benefit only a select few?
T /Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Once upon a time in not-too-distant past, mining magnates used to be satisfied funding politicians. Now they are themselves ‘elected representatives of the people’.
The author is an educator, an economic analyst and a journalist with over 30 years of experience in various media—print, radio, television, Internet and documentary cinema.
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he most underprivileged sections of Indian society, in particular, indigenous communities, happen to live in areas that contain the most expensive minerals. Not coincidentally, in these regions are located the country’s best, biologically-diverse forests and water systems. These lands and forests not only provide livelihood to tribal peoples -- their symbiotic bonds with the jal, jangal and jamin around them are as old as humanity itself. These territories also happen to be tracts where left-wing extremists (including Naxalites and Maoists) – repeatedly described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the nation’s biggest internal security threat -- are actively engaged in conflicts with India’s police and para-military forces. In India’s wealthiest lands reside the country’s worst-off people who have not gained from mining activities or implementation of so-called development projects. On the contrary, it can be argued that mining has resulted in a further deterioration of the conditions in which tribals live and that these projects have robbed them of their means of sustenance. Three states, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, together account for 70 per cent of India’s total reserves of coal, 80 per cent of the best quality of iron ore available in the country, 60 per cent of its bauxite and virtually all its chromite reserves. The forest cover in these three states is above the national average and all three
provinces have population profiles that are dominated by tribals and those belonging to scheduled castes. It was estimated in a 2008 publication by the Centre for Science and Environment, Rich Lands, Poor People: Is ‘Sustainable’ Mining Possible?, that an estimated 1,64,000 hectares of forest land have been lost to mining over the last six decades. Entire districts have been denuded of their forests, three examples being Jajpur in Orissa, Dhanbad in Jharkhand and Bardhaman in West Bengal. Yet, we continue to traverse this path in the name of ‘development’. The kind of corruption and venality that has been associated with mining recently made headlines. Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda started out as a menial laborer in a coal mine, then became an independent member of the legislative assembly and after barely three years in a position of power and authority, allegedly became the owner of unimaginable wealth. He and his cronies reportedly even bought mines in African nations, before tax officials unearthed some of the loot he and his collaborators reportedly stashed away. Consider the ‘Gali’ Reddy brothers, Janardhan, Karunakar and Somashekhar, whose political influence extends beyond their party (the Bharatiya Janata Party) and their state (Karnataka). Once upon a time in not-too-distant past, mining magnates used to be satisfied funding politicians. Now they are themselves
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The presence of valuable natural resources have attracted modernday mercenaries who collude with powerful local elites to grab the gifts of nature, in the process exploiting local populations and exacerbating their poverty.
‘elected representatives of the people’. Janardhan Reddy’s clout extends far beyond the Karnataka tourism department which he heads as minister – he, his relatives and his associates caused a crisis in the B.S. Yediyurappa government in November. It is often pointed out that the ‘red corridor’ that traverses through Nepal, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, stretches all the way from Pashupati to Tirupati, from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. It is clearly not a matter of chance that inequalities of income and wealth are most apparent in these regions. It is also not surprising that government of India as well as state governments are desperately trying to ‘eradicate’ the ‘menace’ of Maoism and Naxalism from precisely these areas that are being greedily eyed by mining conglomerates of all kinds, public and private, domestic and multinational. The presence of valuable natural resources have attracted modernday mercenaries who collude with powerful local elites to grab the gifts of nature, in the process exploiting local populations and exacerbating their poverty. The phrase ‘resource curse’ was first used by Richard M. Auty in Sustaining Development in Mineral Economies: The Resource Curse Thesis (Routledge, 1993). The term has subsequently been used widely in academic texts and popular journalism to describe a common phenomenon wherein the presence of natural resources – especially in developing countries, whose economies depend on minerals or forest wealth -- has contributed to corruption, conflict and absence of democratic governance. Joseph Stiglitz, in his book Making Globalization Work (Allen Lane/ Penguin, 2006) has devoted an entire chapter to the topic entitled ‘Lifting the Resource Curse’. He says the resources are both the object of the conflict and the source of the fi-
nancial wherewithal that enables the conflict to go on: “Sadly, in the struggle to get as big a share of the pile as possible, the size of the pile itself shrinks as wealth is destroyed in the fighting. Nowhere is this aspect of the resource curse more evident than in parts of Africa, exemplified by the heinous fighting between government and rebels in Sierra Leone during the 1990s that killed 75,000 people and left 20,000 amputees, 2 million displaced people, and large numbers of children psychologically damaged by having been forced into combat, or worse.” Is India going the way of certain African nations? Will the leaders of this country learn from the mistakes committed by others and ensure that resources that belong to the people – from natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin (over which the Ambani brothers are squabbling) to bauxite in Niyamgiri, Orissa (where the Vedanta Resources/Sterlite group wants to set up the world’s largest aluminium manufacturing complex) – do not benefit only a select few? Unless the government ensures that those who lose land are properly rehabilitated and compensated, sustainable mining will never be possible. This is not going to be easy since attitudes have hardened on both sides and local people in mineral-rich districts have completely lost faith in the promises and pronouncements made by politicians and bureaucrats who work under them. From Dantewada in Chhattisgarh to Lalgarh in West Bengal and Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra, the existence of any form of government disappears soon after one leaves whatever road that exists in these parts of the country. Getting out of this vicious cycle of conflict and confrontation is going to be a long and arduous exercise. Till then, the generosities of Mother Nature will not be a blessing but a curse on the most marginalized people who inhabit her bosom. R DARE.CO.IN | COLUMN | DECEMBER 2009 17
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Conservation and preservation of monuments Awareness towards heritage sites and tourism sector open more opportunities for private players /Vivek Kumar
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ou read that acid rain is destroying the marble of the Taj Mahal. You were told that the earthquake in Bhuj, Gujarat damaged many historical buildings in 2001. You can see that some illegal occupation and total indifference by authorities have rendered your local town’s fort in a ramshackle condition. Don’t worry, there seems to be some light. Indian Hotels Company signed a MoU with the National Cultural Fund (NCF) in 2001 and funded the project of conservation of the Taj Mahal executed by Archaeological Survey
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of India (ASI). The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) undertook many programs ranging from compiling reports, hosting workshops and executing conservation processes in Bhuj. At the same time, there is hope for any building or monument that has some history attached to it, to claim attention for its conservation—even if it is not listed as a monument.
History and National Importance of Monuments The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act
1958 supervises the legal formalities associated with the conservation of historical and archaeological monuments in India. This is “an Act to provide for the preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance, for the regulation of archaeological excavations and for the protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.” According to this Act, an “ancient monument” means any structure, erection or monument, or any tumulus or place of interment, or
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SOME TYPES OF JOBS INVOLVED IN CONSERVATION Grouting by pressure and gravity Pointing, types of pointing Underpinning
any cave, rock-sculpture, inscription or monolith which is of historical, archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for not less than 100 years. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/Central bodies protect monuments that are of national importance. These monuments are called “protected monuments”, which mean ancient monuments that are declared to be of national importance by or under this Act. There are 3650 ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance, which are protected by ASI. Overall, there are around 8,000 monuments protected by the government, which include temples, mosques, tombs, churches, cemeteries, forts, palaces, step-wells, rock-cut caves, and secular architecture as well as ancient mounds and sites which represent the remains of ancient habitation. However, there are huge numbers of unprotected structures that need conservation. Apart from that, monuments inherited by public and private bodies throughout India also require conservation process. Some unverified numbers give a figure of 800,000 monuments in India apart from the ones that are protected. Conservation of these sites throws a wide market of opportunities for private companies.
Rock bolting, filleting and edging Inlay work
ASI and State/Central departments oversee the conservation work of sites, however, public and private owners of buildings and sites can directly collaborate with NGOs and private companies for the conservation and preservation of their property. The conservation process may throw opportunities is these areas: inspection and diagnostic services; salvaging, transplantation, reconstruction and restoration of monuments; material used in conserva-
Tile work Glass work/mirror work/stained glass work Monitoring of cracks (tell-tales and strain gauges) Plastering (walls and ceilings), lathing, packing with lime concrete and surface treatment, water tightening the tops, purity of water
BASGO GOMPA (MAITREYA TEMPLES) Leh, India CHAMPANER-PAVAGADH Panchmahal, India DALHOUSIE SQUARE Kolkata, India DELHI HERITAGE CITY Delhi, India DWARKA DHEESH MANDIR TEMPLE Ahmedabad, India HAMPI ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE Hampi, India ISA KHAN’S COMPLEX AT HUMAYAN’S TOMB, Delhi, India The Isa Khan Complex is a walled area adjacent to Humayan’s tomb and is the resting place of Isa Khan Niyazi, a noble of influence at the court of Sher Shan Suri. JAISALMER FORT, Jaisalmer, India LEH PALACE, Leh, India NAKO TEMPLES Kinnaur Region, India OSMANIA WOMEN’S COLLEGE Hyderabad, India PARADESI SYNAGOGUE Cochin, India QUILA MUBARAK, Patiala, India
Opportunities for Private Companies
Stucco work
PROJECTS FUNDED BY WMF IN INDIA
SAINT ANNE CHURCH Talaulim, Goa, India SUMDA CHUN MONASTERY Leh, India Located at 12,700 feet above sea level in a remote part of the Himalayas, the village of Sumda Chun is accessible only by a three to four hour hike up a steep and winding river valley trail. TAJ MAHAL, Agra, India TOMB OF AHMAD SHAH Bidar, India DARE.CO.IN | OPPORTUNITIES | DECEMBER 2009 19
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What process, agencies like ASI and state archaeological departments, adopt while empanelling private consultants? Both Central and State Governments advertise for empaneling not only architects but other specialization in conservation. Once empaneled, these experts are invited to submit bids for different projects as and when they are identified. Selection is done firstly on technical capability and then financial bids are opened. Apart from consultancy, what are the other areas where private players can have business opportunities while collaborating with these agencies? The heritage property is a nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pride Heritage Management Consultant and any investment has to be developed on that premise. Opportunities for the corporate sector would be in the form of sponsorships for restoration and conservation, and it could be in the service sector for providing infrastructure (toilets, shuttles, cafeterias, etc), publications and communications.
Amita Baig
Do Indian consultants and architects have opportunities in conservation processes done in foreign countries? Indian consultants and architects do have the opportunities but it is for them to compete in the international market. Indian specialists are not building capacities or skills but rather adopting existing ones, using historic methods and have yet to develop path-breaking techniques and skills and therefore donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have an edge in the international market. Also, if a few conservation specialists in India devote even five years on a site, it would give them the edge over many foreign consultants. There is also no investment in research and development. What future change can be envisaged in terms of technology adopted for conservation process and can some Indian companies tap on that technology change? Perhaps research and development would be a huge opportunity for Indians to build scientific skills. Specialization in conservation today is akin to medicine; each facet has a specialist, like even termite treatment in a historic building. Today, the knowledge is being imported and tested on Indian buildings without adequate research and development as to whether it will suit our climatic conditions. In the absence of serious research, many of our monuments are either not getting the best skill or at worst are being experimented upon. As an established consultant, what advice would you like to give to the private companies or independent consultants who are looking to enter this market? I believe that this sector cannot sustain without increased partnership, financial, technical and management. There is a tendency, however, amongst this profession to flit in and out of projects. The difference with the specialists engaged in say Angkor Wat, is that they live and breathe the project site. Having spent so many years in this field, I think that is the only way forward. It is my belief that the heritage needs long-term commitment and not short-term prescriptions. For that, there needs to be a passion for the monument, its challenges and its sustainability. 20
tion ranging from brick, lime to wood and metals; labor and masonry work-force; scaffolding, water-proofing and foundation laying materials, architectural consultancy; and monitoring services. Amita Baig, heritage management consultant, mentioned the opportunities in the field of research and development. She said that technology is being imported and tested on Indian monuments without building infrastructure and proper research and development facilities. So, Indian architects and consultants can explore the possibilities of gaining expertise in newer technologies and grow their market value.
Outsourcing of conservation work ASI, State/Central bodies, and public and private ownerships like to outsource the conservation process to private companies. They adopt a selection process of empaneling private players and supervising the work with the help of internal teams; public or private bodies may outsource the work directly. a) Empaneling by ASI and government authorities ASI or government bodies build panels of experts, service-providing companies and sub-contractors. The selection of this panel is based on the experience and expertise. However, they also provide training so as to refine the empaneled members up to the desired standards. Whenever these bodies decide to undertake some conservation work, they invite bids from the members. The bid is selected on the skill-set and finally on the financial grounds.
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b) Public and Private Collaboration Public and private bodies desiring to hire consultants, architects, and sub-contractors can contact them directly without any governmental involvement. For public monuments, funding is one of the major issues. Once funds are secured, NGOs or private bodies can execute the process. However, if a third party is involved in funding the project, there could be some conditions on the selection of the execution bodies. Often, funding bodies want to work with experienced and trusted companies for the execution process. There is a good example of public conservation process funded by a third party: INTACH West Bengal chapter worked on the exterior facades of St. John’s Church in Kolkata—the project was funded by World Monuments Fund (WMF).
Funding for Conservation Ministry of Culture, India set up the National Cultural Fund (NCF) with a corpus fund of Rs. 19.5 crore of which Rs. two crore is being made available since the financial year 1996-97. However, NCF signs MoUs with state governments, statutory bodies, private and corporate sectors, trusts, societies, individuals and even from the United Nations and its associated bodies to get funds and conserve monuments in India. S. K. Bansal, DGM, Indian Oil Foundation (IOF), mentioned that the MoU contains conditions about the work and how it will be executed. It involves panel members from NCF, ASI and the third party funding the project. Once it has been signed, the work is executed by ASI and monitored by the panel. IOF is itself a third party funding body. It is exclusively funded by Indian Oil with an initial corpus of Rs. 25 crore and an annual contribution of Rs. 10 crore. IOF will adopt at least one heritage site in every state and Union Territory.
Mark Weber, Technical Director and Field Projects Manager visits India to work on projects funded by WMF
Some examples of projects that NCF worked upon using similar MoUs are: Taj Mahal, Agra by M/s. Indian Hotels Company; Konark Sun Temple by Indian Oil Foundation; Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan by World Monuments Fund; Jantar Mantar, New Delhi by M/s. Apeejay Surendra Group of Hotels; Lodhi Tomb, New Delhi by M/s. Steel Authority of India Ltd; Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi by Agha Khan Trust & Oberoi Group of Hotels; Shaniwarwada, Pune by Pune Municipal Corporation; Pardeshi Synagogue, Cochin by World Monuments Fund; Gol Gumbaz Bizapur by M/s. State Trading Corporation, New Delhi; Wazirpur ka Gumbad, Munirka, New Delhi by M/s. PEC; Krishna Temple, Hampi, Karnataka – Hampi Foundation, Mumbai; and Hidimba Devi Temple, Manali by UCO Bank, Chandigarh.
World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund is a private organization based in New York dedicated to saving the world’s most treasured places. Apart from providing technical expertise for conservation process in more than 90 countries, WMF also funds conservation projects. Mark Weber, Technical Director and Field Projects Manager, pro-
vided some figures regarding the projects funded by WMF in India. Over the past ten years, WMF has funded a total of 17 sites in India with over $3,500,000 awarded to projects for planning, documentation, implementation of conservation works, and site presentation. WMF makes wire transfer payments typically to dedicated project accounts of the partner organizations in different countries. These payments are made to the project partners only after a project agreement has been signed and WMF staff has approved a project scope, budget and schedule for the work. Review and approval of reports throughout the life of a project also regulate payments for projects. Payments are made in usually three or four installments for the project from agreement signing to its completion. It usually funds projects related to disaster recovery, capacity building in infrastructure, cultural legacy of the world, training and education of craftsmen and professionals, and advocacy by which they raise awareness about the importance of conservation of monuments. There are two types of projects that WMF works on: one, they fund the project after the selection process and second, where they just DARE.CO.IN | OPPORTUNITIES | DECEMBER 2009 21
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SCOPE OF PROJECTS FUNDED BY NCF Pro-active generation of projects and sponsorship to bring about visible improvements at monuments and sites, heritage complexes and their environs To bring monuments back into the lifestyle and culture of local communities Environmental development in and around the heritage sites Structural conservation, chemical preservation and refurbishment of the monuments Display of cultural notice boards, direction boards, signage, etc Providing visitor-friendly amenities Improvement and upgradation of existing museums and commissioning of new ones in the vicinity of existing cultural property Illumination of monuments Facility for tourists such as cafeterias, parking lots, landscaping, and setting up of information centers, kiosks, cyber cafes, souvenir shops, etc
provide technical services, referrals to other bodies and raise awareness about that project. For a complete guidelines as to how WMF nominates conservation projects and selects them, check this link: http://bit.ly/2pa1LZ
Some initiatives to be taken Apart from protected monuments, there are lots of sites throughout India that can be conserved. Though
unprotected structures are listed, they might not be under conservation. At the same time, the question remains how to enlist other monuments with some organizations. Furthermore, how to bring these unprotected and unlisted structures into light so that necessary action can be taken? Consultants at INTACH, Delhi, gave some insights into these concerns: If a private or public body or
DEFINITIONS Ancient Monument: any structure, erection or monument, or any tumulus or place of interment, or any cave, rock-sculpture, inscription or monolith which is of historical, archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for not less than 100 years. Protected Monument: An ancient monument which is declared to be of national importance by or under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958. Unprotected Monument: Any listed building that is not in ownership of ASI or State Department of Archaeology and is not legally protected. World Heritage Site: A cultural or natural heritage site in the member countries of UNESCO having exceptional interest and universal value. There are 27 World Heritage Properties in India out of which 22 are Cultural Properties and 5 are Natural Properties Tangible Cultural Heritage: Tangible Cultural Heritage refers to buildings and historic places, monuments, artifacts, etc., that are considered worthy of preservation for the future. This definition may include objects that are significant to the archaeology, architecture, science or technology of a specific culture or country.
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even an individual wants to point out some sites in an area for conservation, they can approach the municipal bodies, state archaeological departments, ASI circle offices or the regional chapters of INTACH. The monument will be inspected and listed (if necessary) so that a proposal can be developed for its conservation. After completing legal formalities and getting the required funds, the work will be started. In a similar lieu, the West Bengal chapter of INTACH proposed to conserve the Scottish Cemetery in Dalhousie Square. Taking the cue, James Simpson of the Edinburghbased conservation architects Simpson and Brown visited India with a team. They have formed a trust, The Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust, to get the funds and work on this conservation project.
Conclusion Indian conservation process is almost exclusively based on manual work while in foreign countries lots of mechanical and electronic instruments are used. The transition of masonry work to more mechanized work would be an area that is still not tested in India. It can be explored by companies here. Due to high precision involved in this work, lack of skilled labor is a major problem that government bodies face and they like to outsource this part of the work. Subcontractors can lay their hands on these opportunities. Increased awareness towards tourism, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and international events like Commonwealth Games 2010 generate considerable amount of opportunities for private companies to tap the market of conservation of monuments. The market demands precisionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; do you have passion and expertise to maintain the heritage legacy of India? R
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advertorial
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photoblogsp The many challenges in agricultural productivity and some solutions
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ndian agricultural productivity lags far behind the rest of the world. With many factors leading to this situation, there are as many innovative solutions to this problem. One look at this picture captures most of the issues. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s start with fragmented land holdings. There are very few farms that are large enough to lend themselves to intensive farming. The solution probably lies in the farmers from adjoining plots jointly tilling their land as one piece. Look at the picture and you will see that even fragmented holdings are not fully cultivable. Rock outcrops, trees and bushes, all of them eat away a good chunk of available land. Lack of mechanization is another issue. Semi-mechanized farming equipment, as seen in the picture, provides the answer, but only to an extent. And finally, lack of quality seed material adds its own bit to driving down productivity. Photo taken somewhere on the KarnatakaGoa border Author: Krishna Kumar
A make-shift cigar shop inside a plush mall in New Delhi
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ith the cigar culture picking up fast in metropolitan cities, global brands such as Cohiba, PartagĂĄs and Phillies are luring new-generation customers with competitive prices. According to a report by Euromonitor International, within the premium segment, Cohiba and PartagĂĄs dominate the market, while Phillies is the most popular midpriced brand. In the last few years, a number of cigar lounges have opened up in posh hotels and pubs, adding to the popularity of this tightlyrolled bundle of tobacco. On the other hand, cigarettes in India continued to see little growth in the last five years (except in 2007 when it declined), says the report. It also says that India has a low per capita cigarette consumption (141 sticks) compared to the global average and adds that the players are optimistic about the favorable demographics and growing income trend in the country. Author: Vimarsh Bajpai 24
DECEMBER 2009 | PHOTO BLOGS | DARE.CO.IN
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sphotoblogs Art galleries
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reached Epicentre, Gurgaon to watch a Japanese movie, which eventually I didn’t because it did not start on time. However, before the stipulated time of the movie, I had a chance to visit this exhibition being showcased there. It was named Srjanaa, putting together creation and art pieces of painters, sculptures and photographers. While speaking to some of the young artists there, I came to know how they participate in exhibitions like these and try to showcase their creations and sell them. One particular artist, Kumar Gaurav, who was barely out of his teens, told me that this was his fourth exhibition. He mentioned that one of his creations was bought by Karan Singh and is put in the Jammu & Kashmir Museum. According to an article by BusinessWeek, Indian art is definitely appreciated, but contemporary art needs a little more exposure. But in the recent past it has grown owing to the robust economy, more disposable income available and participation of young expat Indians. Corporate houses, IT companies, restaurants, hotels, and even private hospitals buy these art pieces. Can the young generation of artists expect a new and demanding market of art lovers who are ready to pour in money and buy what does not fall under everybody’s budget? Can these budding Picassos, Vincis and Michelangelos expect a growing market? Photo taken at the Epicentre, Gurgaon. Painting by Priyanka Sharma. Author: Vivek Kumar
What about the value of artificial jewelry?
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rice does matter when it comes to jewelry. Jewels are costly because of the rising prices of precious metals like gold, platinum, and silver. But psychologically, it does increase the social value of the wearer. The current wedding season saw gold touching a new high and artificial jewelry now seems to be a better option, especially when it has to be worn occasionally. One more point fueling the rise in the prices of precious metals is the conversion of funds into hard metal as US dollar slips in the market. Do you want to start a sustainable business model, which is not simply based on slippery movement of US dollar, but relies on the appeal of artificial jewelry among customers? Do you attach value to artificial jewelry? Photo taken at a shopping fair at the Epicentre, Gurgaon Author: Vivek Kumar DARE.CO.IN | PHOTO BLOGS | DECEMBER 2009 25
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photoblogs Revamping the gardens
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eople often visit parks and gardens, big or small, for relaxation. These parks, in almost every city, have walking tracks as well as areas for kids’ activities. To maintain and revamp these parks, lots of tools are used for designing and landscaping like fountains which add to the splendor of the place. Along with the municipality-maintained parks and gardens, there is a good scope of business in domestic parks and gardens as well. Hand-operated and power tools can prove to be quite handy. Tapping this market could be a challenge due to the low visibility of products but would be worth the task. Photo taken at Sector 15 Part-II, Gurgaon, Haryana Author: Vivek Kumar
Mechanization of agriculture industry
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he need for farm equipments has increased due to the shortage of agricultural labor, changing climate conditions, short lead time between two crops, need for crop diversification and augmented consumption demand. The national policy on agricultural mechanization states that it should lead to a sustainable increase in yields and cropping intensity and should apply to all types of farmers including small and marginal ones in different regions of the country, particularly rain-fed areas. Agriculture mechanization offers good opportunities in equipment manufacturing, which can be divided into various categories based on their functionality like, sowing, tilling, cutting/threshing and winnowing. In last month’s issue, we at DARE carried an article on Combine Harvester—a farm equipment that combines processes like cutting, winnowing, threshing and collection of grains. (Check out this article on: http://bit.ly/HQq9K). Agriculture being a major industry in India, the need for farm equipments seems to be huge—tapping it on a regional basis would be a good possibility to explore. Photo taken near Patiala, Punjab. Author: Vivek Kumar 26
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Value Proposition In today's technology-enabled environment, geography is no longer the core determinant on which the location of a business depends. Yet, businesses which may be geographyneutral in theory may not be so in practice, as several other factors go into creating an overall value proposition for the business. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a DARE analysis. /Aman Malik
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n this age of everything seamless, from where you operate your business is no more sacrosanct. In other words, it does not really matter in which corner of the world you operate from; you can transact any business from anywhere. Where IT and IT-enabled businesses like Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), consultancies and other businesses, 28
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within the knowledge economy and with a skilled workforce, can truly straddle across geographies without a hitch the old economy players like grain trading, textiles or mining, where the production of the chief raw material is geographicallylinked, do have some limitations and are therefore not as mobile as the former lot. Yet, the advent of technology has ensured that they can be effectively remote man-
aged from anywhere. So, at least in theory, managing most businesses has become geography-neutral, thanks to technology. Yet, in practice, the story is quite different, for technology in itself does not guarantee geographical-neutrality especially in case of businesses that typically hire a semi-skilled workforce in bulk. It is just one of the several factors that determine where businesses set up shops. Factors such
as human resource skill-sets, relative wage bill, overall ease of setting up shop and operating the same, labor laws that determine ease of hiring and firing, local customs and traditions, law and order issues and norms related to taxation, inflow of capital and repatriation of profits have a bearing on the value proposition that a place offers. Before we delve into the nittygritties of how such factors impact businesses (and analyze the same generically), let us verify their importance vis-a-vis technology as a singular determinant, using the rise of the BPO industry in India as a case-in-point, to determine the effect of such qualifiers on the capital flow across the borders. As the IT industry is entirely technology-enabled, geography per se should have little significance. Yet, things are not so straight forward. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s take the case of the global BPO/KPO/LPO industry making India its preferred destination. Human resource followed by some of the lowest wage bills in the global IT domain, were perhaps two of the most important reasons why India has managed to become the back office of the world. Also, Indians have a good understanding of the English language and they come cheap, allowing their employers to play on labor arbitrage. These factors, coupled with the fact that India and the US have complementary time zones i.e. a 12-hour time difference which means India works when the US sleeps, enabled the BPO boom that has given millions employment in the last decade. Moreover, attractive tax sops and the fact that the knowledge indus-
SECTORS THAT HAVE NEAR PERFECT MOBILITY IN LABOR 1.
BPO/KPO/LPO
2. IT
3.
BFSI
4. Hospitality (High-end hotels)
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Media (software development)
6. Logistics
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Aviation
8. FMCG
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Research & Development
try, by virtue of employing white collared workers is not unionized went in India's favor. Cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Gurgaon and Mohali not only enjoy a stable law and order situation but also have well-educated people, often underemployed. Thus, in a nutshell, the reason India secured a bulk of the back office and subcontracting business was because several critical factors fell into place. In fact in the recent past, there have been persistent fears in some quarters that the rising wage bill and the fact that countries like The Philippines might offer an equally competent English- speaking workforce at cheaper rates, might lead to a flight of the IT and ITeS industries from India. Add to that, fears of a populist regime extending caste-based quotas to the private industry and the 'new economy' workforce in states like West Bengal threatening to unionize, we are suddenly looking at the value proposition that India offered, taking a substantial hit. Now, these factors do not hold good just for the IT/ITeS industry. Generically speaking, across industry domains from manufacturing to services, most of these factors hold good albeit with some minor variations.
BUSINESSES/SECTORS WHERE THE WHOLE BUSINESS MAY BE OFF-SHORED 1. BPO/KPO/LPO 2. IT (software and hardware development, the whole system and not just the back-end) 3. BFSI (back-end support, might be a BPO function for banking, financial institutions like hedge funds/PEs, move basis tax sops, etc)
Some of the major factors that help create the value proposition that a geographical location offers include:
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Human Resources skill set (education, linguistic skills, etc): This is perhaps the most important factor that works in favor of driving businesses to specific locations. Most industries today are intrinsically linked to the knowledge economy in some form or the other and this makes it pertinent for employees not only to be skilled in specific areas but also have a working knowledge of one or more languages in which international business is transacted. Therefore, any area wishing to attract a particular business, IT or otherwise, must offer adequate vocational training facilities to prepare the potential employees. It may however happen that at times some geographical locations that do offer other infrastructural and financial incentives, do not offer adequate training facilities. In such scenarios, it has been observed that businesses often partner with local governments to set up training facilities that serve not only their needs but also of other businesses in that area. Though this leads to the development of permanent training infrastructure and adds to the cost of doing business; it might trigger the company to move into another area which has better training facilities.
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Relative wage bill: Countries like India and China have a distinct advantage as they offer skilled and semi-skilled labor at a fraction of the cost as compared to the West. Moreover, in technolDARE.CO.IN | STRATEGY | DECEMBER 2009 29
ogy-intensive industries, it has been noticed that such people are often better trained and more innovative than their western counterparts. However, rising cost of living (a direct result of spiraling inflation) has led to a higher wage bill, especially in India. Now, because China has a closely controlled currency and has perfected the art of getting economies of scale, it can keep its wage bill artificially low, thereby giving itself a distinct advantage over India when it comes to manufacturing. Also, in regions like South America and South East Asia, not only is the actual cost of manufacturing competitive, but the infrastructure is better and labor, cheaper. So, in times to come, these countries might offer stiff competition to India.
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Tax sops and general tax structure: While it may not always be possible to keep wage bills down, the negative effect of riding wages and inadequate infrastructure can be offset to a con-
siderable degree by affording incoming businesses with long term tax sops. This is one area where India, because of its growth trajectory, continues to have a distinct advantage over the developed West. Several Indian states have been competing with each other to offer lucrative tax havens to companies both in the IT/ITeS space as well as in manufacturing and services sectors. While tax incentives come at a significant cost to the exchequer, the long term incentive for the local economies is that people, often unemployed or underemployed, get permanent employment and the setting up of new industries leads to overall infrastructure development.
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Overall state of the country's polity and economy and the maturity and stability of the financial markets: Business thrives only in an environment that is secure both financially and politically. When companies move into a foreign country, the safety of their
human and physical capital assets on the one hand and financial assets on the other becomes the responsibility of the host country. Any major political or financial upheaval may not only dissuade businesses from investing in that country in the future, but a severe crisis might even lead to existing businesses shutting shops. Such a scenario will adversely impact the revenues of the host country and would also render a large number of people jobless. On top of this, a persistently unstable situation will be a public relations disaster for the host country.
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Labor laws and unionization/non-unionization of the labor: The easier it is to hire or to lay people off, the easier and more cost-effective it becomes for businesses to set up shop in any part of the world. However, most developing countries like India and China, that covet such businesses, have extremely stringent and circuitous labor laws. While the rationale behind such stringent laws is to protect the labor force in a society that does not otherwise offer any obvious social security; it often becomes difficult for businesses to operate in such environments as it impacts restructuring and rationalization of business processes which could otherwise bring economies, bring down costs and improve overall profitability.
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Customs and traditions: In some countries, local customs and traditions, often linked to the dominant religion of the place, can be a deterrent to starting businesses in such parts. Countries like Saudi Arabia follow a strict religious code which bars women from working in most industries and imposes other restrictions. Traditions are intrinsic to the social fabric of the nations and therefore cannot be wished away. In such a scenario, businesses have little choice but to align their processes as per the prevailing social norms, to the extent possible. R 30
DECEMBER 2009 | STRATEGY | DARE.CO.IN
Dr Chukka Kondaiah, Director General, National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NIMSME); Chetna Manglik, Head - Operations, plugHR; Anil Srinivas, Head – Marketing, SMB, Dell India; S Nandakumar, President, Vnvision Holistic Management Consulting
Mentorship Forum Entrepreneurs in the small and medium businesses talk of issues relating to HR, marketing and technology and take home some valuable tips to deal with them
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t is said that only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. And no one knows it better than those who run small and medium businesses. Despite contributing heavily to India’s exports and employment generation, the SMB sector is still in doldrums. The issues that haunt them are not alien but still could pinch them badly, particularly when the economy is in doldrums. To talk about them and more, the SMB Mentorship Forum was held in Hyderabad on November 10. It was the sixth leg of the event after a highly successful gathering in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Kochi. As an important center of both manufacturing and services businesses, Hyderabad and its sister city of Secunderabad is dotted with a number of small and medium businesses in diverse sectors, more significantly so in pharmaceuticals, electronics and IT. The panel at the event comprised S Nandakumar, President, Vnvision Holistic Management Consulting; Dr Chukka Kondaiah, Director General, National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NIMSME); Chetna Manglik, Head - Operations, plugHR; and Anil Srinivas, Head – Marketing, SMB, Dell India. The panel discussion focused extensively on HR related issues such as getting the right talent on board, the need for training, and retention strategies. The other issues was a blend of marketing and technology. The panelists talked of how technology can come to the rescue of SMEs and help them reach out to their target customers. On HR, some participants felt if it was worth spending money on training the staff, given the high attrition. Most SMEs feel that heat as they always have a bigger player out there who can poach talent from them offering better money. The panelists, however, stressed the need for creating the right environment and culture within the organization to try to retain talent. They focused on giving a certain level of independence to their employees so that they can try out new things. This could help employees stay back but they got to see that they will grow too as the company grows. On the marketing front, the panelists talked of how social networking could help them connect with new customers and can be quite helpful in building their brand. R DARE.CO.IN | EVENT | DECEMBER 2009 31
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entrepreneur of the month
Kumar started Whiteline to foray into the home appliances business in 1976. The company which commenced as a oneproduct company back then, today has a share of about 22 percent with a product range of over 60 products in 18 categories. Kumar talks to DARE about his entrepreneurial journey, his successes, challenges, strategies, and more...
Harish Kumar Maharaja Whiteline
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During festivals and marriages, the sales see a surge of about three times more than regular. It is much easier to cope with this when you have your own manufacturing plant
et us begin with the genesis of Maharaja Whiteline… We had a very modest beginning in 1976. Back then, I was 19 and pursuing medicine. The reason I decided to leave that and start a business was to assist my father in dealing with a financial crisis. To begin with, I got a Rs 10,000 loan from a bank to invest in my business and utilized a 100 square yards shed that belonged to my father. I converted this space into a workshop with three workmen. Why I ventured into the appliances business? Let us just say, being a science student, I have always been interested in the physics and chemistry of things. At that time, I noticed that the mixer-grinder available in the market consisted of a single jar. This jar was used for practically all kinds of mixing and grinding, albeit not designed to suit such tasks. I was thinking like a consumer, and realized that there is a good potential in coming up with a multi-jar mixer and grinder. The idea was to come out with a product that is different from what was available in the market. It is then that we rolled out our three jar mixer and grinder in the market. We also addressed many other concerns of an average consumer, such as ensuring that our products have unbreakable parts, are convenient to use, and easy to clean, etc. These small but useful innovations clicked with the market, and in about two to three years, Maharaja Appliances became a fairly visible brand. In the household appliances business, if one empathizes with the problems that the housewives face and addresses those them by creating or
L
modifying products – the market will accept the products. As of today, our company dominates a share of about 22 percent in home appliances with a product range of over 65 products in 18 categories.
times more than regular. It is much easier to cope up with such surges when you have your own manufacturing plant. Long story short, the reason is simple—one cannot control technologies and benefits in the products that one does not make.
What were the challenges you faced in the start-up phase? There were many challenges in those days. For instance, it was very tedious and time-consuming process to acquire a corporation license, electricity connection, ESI number, and such. When I started up, there were no computers or automation, and I had to do everything from being a store keeper to getting legal formalities done. Every minute seemed like a new challenge, and I developed a mindset to deal with all of it.
Can you tell us a bit about what goes into the R&D and design of products? When we set out to find out the dissatisfaction that customers were facing with the products available in the market, we ended up with a long list of problems such as constantly breaking knobs, products not being as heavy as required, etc. We make use of the data we collect from service centers of consumer appliances. Based upon this, we built a very elaborate designing center with as many as fifteen engineers working in it. What we do here is to bring out products and changes eradicate the problems faced by customers. Also, we bring out products keeping the Indian consumer in mind. For instance, we sell 1000 watts electrical iron in the market now, simply because the time when the consumers used to wear a lot of polyester clothing is gone; they mostly wear cotton now. Besides this, most Indian consumers store the iron in cupboards, and so we gave it a ceramic coating in the base to make sure it keeps scratches at bay. Of course, there is a slight reduction in profit margin to bring about these little innovations that makes a customer happy. But the important thing is that one happy customer spreads the word and brings you many more customers.
You are in the manufacturing space too instead of being just in trading. Why? There are certain benefits of being in the manufacturing space—innovation being one of the main benefits. Due to the ever-changing economy and lifestyles of the consumers, we need the flexibility to bring about the functional changes to suit the aspirations of the consumers. By having our manufacturing unit, we can execute these with considerable ease. Besides this, we get an economy to scale, helps us in diversification, and a cost benefit between 15-20 percent as compared to our competitors. In our line of business, the seasonality factor holds a lot of importance. For instance, during the season of festivals and marriages, the sales see a surge of about three
DARE.CO.IN | BIO | DECEMBER 2009 33
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e
In the near future, I see a lot of products coming in for kitchen cleaning and sanitation. Besides this, the categories of oral cleaning, dental cleaning, and beauty care products will see an increase in demand
Tell us about your JV with Electrolux. The joint venture happened in 1994-95. The idea was to do business with one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest companies. By going ahead with this JV, I wanted to learn and understand this business better and add a certain valuation to my company. However, over a period of time we realized that our interest, which was small, was getting marginalized even further as they were making a lot of other mergers and acquisitions. I also realized that the execution of the business was not keeping the Indian market conditions in mind. So, I took a call and parted ways with them amicably.
Success Mantra/ I believe if one has a clear strategy, determination, and zeal to execute â&#x20AC;&#x201C; success is inevitable. 34
In this competitive market, how to retain and increase the market share of your company? We have competition coming in from some well-established players like Bajaj, Philips, Usha, etc. Apart from that there are several small players who operate in their own local markets. That said we have set a target to be a Rs 1000 crore company by 2011-12. We are very different from our competitors and that gives us an edge above them. We are way ahead of our competition in terms of product innovations. The way our company looks into designing of the products is another factor that helps us in achieving these objectives. We also have a strong arm in customer support and we are very caring towards our trade partners. We have a fairly large sales force with as many as 150 people in the team, while our competitors have around 30-40 people. Besides this,
we also pay a lot of focus on going deep down into the market, and being visible on every shelf possible, with proper distribution and microdistribution strategies. What would you say was your first big success? My first big success was the acceptance of my first product by the market i.e. the three jar mixer grinder. I remember the way the market had accepted it and their was a sudden surge in the demand by the consumers. I soon realized that everyone involved was making good moneyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; be it the dealers, the distributors, and so on. This success motivated me and my team to do more. I have always believed in implementing small hill winning strategy before going to win the mountain. With this in mind, we have come to be where we are today. Next big things in consumer appliance space There is a lot to happen in India. The hygiene condition of an average Indian kitchen, as compared to European and American kitchens is sub-standard. So, I see a lot of products coming in for cleaning and sanitation in the kitchens. It is time for dish washers to make it big in the market. Besides this, we are sure to see a surge in products in the categories of oral cleaning, dental cleaning, and beauty care products for manicure, pedicure, body massage, head massage, etc. There is a huge scope of business in manufacturing these products to suit the Indian conditions and meet the taste of the Indian consumers. R
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Plant Tissue Culture A planned initiative from a small-scale entity could help establish a large-scale unit in manufacturing of plant tissue culture /Vivek Kumar
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f you want to produce plants when a conducive climatic condition is not available, what would you do? Which process will help you if you want to genetically modify the productive properties of a plant? Do you deem it possible to produce plants that are free from viruses and infection? The answers to all these questions lie in a technique called plant tissue culture (PTC). It is also known as micropropagation when it is used for propagating crop plants. While we talked about this technique with technical experts and companies involved in this business, we found out that PTC has good prospects for business of various crops, apart from specific and patented breeds of different plants.
What is plant tissue culture (PTC)? Put in a simple term, plant tissue culture is a technique that helps regenerating a whole plant from a small tissue or a cell. This is achieved in a suitable culture medium under controlled environmental conditions. The outstanding advantage of PTC is that a plant can be developed from any part of the mother plant. However, when it comes to micropropagation for crops, meristematic tissue such as shoot tip is considered to be ideal. There are various plants and crops that can be propagated through PTC, but they often require different culture mediums and also different environmental conditions. Nowadays, PTC is used on various types of fruits, flowers, medicinal plants and even trees. Here are some examples: Fruits: Banana, pineapple, strawberry Cash crops: Sugarcane, potato Spices: Turmeric, ginger, vanilla, large cardamom, small cardamom Medicinal plants: Aloe vera, geranium, stevia, patchouli, neem Woody plants (trees): Teak, bamboo, eucalyptus, populus
Business model M. Thomas Jacob, President and CEO of LJ International, mentioned that a company involved in PTC can work on two fronts of business. The first one includes catering to individual breeders who want their patented or particular species propagated. Many individual breeders from foreign countries provide the mother plant or the specimen to the companies and the copmanies propagate it. The mother plant or specimen is patented in the name of the individual breeders and it canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be used by the company to sell to other customers. In case of LJ International, the company exports 90 percent of its production to customers in different countries. On the second front, the companies will be asked to produce the mother plant also and then propa-
gate it. In this scenario, the specie of the plant might not be patented by the individual breeders. Apart from this, the companies can modify the properties of a specie that is not patented and launch the new specie in the market. The customers for this model could be plant breeders in foreign lands, agricultural departments and even farmers.
Market scenario Dr. Shiv Kant Shukla, Dy. Manager, Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) mentioned that India has a production capacity of 300 million plants per annum, of which around 70 percent is actually produced. According to Shukla, by conservative measures, the market size is estimated to be more than Rs 200 crore with an annual growth of 20 percent.
BeneďŹ ts of PTC Rapid multiplication of plants Limited requirement of mother plants Uniformity of properties among the planting material Disease-free planting material Increased productivity Non-dependence on environmental conditions DARE.CO.IN | OPPORTUNITIES | DECEMBER 2009 37
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Indian laboratories and companies currently cater mostly to international markets. However, with increasing awareness about the advantages of tissue culture raised
plants, such as improvement in yield and quality; there is a noticeable increase in the domestic consumption as well. The major domestic consumers of tissue culture raised plants
Processes Involved in Plant Tissue Culture
include the State Agriculture Department, agri-export zones (AEZs), Spice Board, the sugar industry and private farmers. Apart from this, the paper industry, medicinal plant industry and state forest departments also constitute this market.
Establishing a a commercial unit It is desirable to have a unit located in a moderated climate condition, because PTC is done under controlled climatic conditions, and extremity of environment adds to maintenance costs. An uninterrupted supply of water and power is also desirable. In terms of space and infrastructure, there are some areas that are indispensable in a unit: 1. The most important work area is the inoculation room where the core activity takes place. It needs to be as clean as possible with minimal air disturbance. 2. After this, the growth room or the culture room is an equally important area where plant cultures are maintained under controlled environmental conditions to achieve optimal growth. As there would be varieties of plants that would require different culture conditions, it is often advisable that there are more than one growth rooms. 3. Then comes the washing and media preparation room where the culture would be prepared. The glassware washing area should be located near the sterilization room. Minimum number of doors and windows should be provided in this room. 4. A separate area for the storage of chemicals, apparatus and equipments is also important for a manufacturing unit.
Financial considerations The major challenge in starting a new PTC unit is the capital. The cost of establishing a commercial PTC 38
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M. Thomas Jacob President and CEO , LJ International What services does your company provide for tissue culture? We provide contract production of customized patented varieties, initiation services to introduce elite mother plants into cultures, development of protocols for micropropagation of new products, and training of man power. What are your target markets, both domestic and international? Our PTC products are exported to countries like Columbia, Ecuador, USA, Holland, Germany, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and China, etc. We export 90 percent of our production to different countries. What is the scope of business in plant tissue culture for Indian companies? Plant tissue culture finds wide application in agriculture-related business and can be used effectively to mass produce elite clones of a variety of plants where other forms of propagation are not viable. As plants are produced in controlled conditions, production is not dependent on climatic condition. PTC is mainly used in the floriculture industry, but can also be used effectively in forestry and for propagating medicinal plants, etc.
unit is largely dependent on the production capacity of plants that the company intends to produce. For instance, a unit producing eight to ten million plants a year will ask for a capital of around Rs 5 crore. For entrepreneurs who want to start on a smaller scale, setting up a hardening unit for secondary hardening process is a good option. Procurement of primary hardened tissue culture plantlets from established micropropagation units and undertaking secondary hardening would be an option that new entrepreneurs can adopt. As the business grows, they can increase their functions and establish a full-fledged micropropagation unit. According to a report prepared by BCIL, a secondary hardening unit with a capacity of three lakh plants per annum would have finance requirements of Rs10 to 20 lakh for fixed assets and Rs16 to 20 lakh for recurring costs per annum. At the same time, a good number of state and central financial assistance schemes are offered to
encourage entrepreneurs in taking up this business. Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), National Horticulture Board (NHB), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) are bodies that provide central financial assistance. Apart from this, individual states and financial institutes also offer schemes.
From a business point of view, this certification ensures that the products and services of a unit have a wider appeal. Government bodies and departments do not use products from a company that has not been certified by NCSPTC system. For more details about the procedure and guidelines of this certification, check this link: http://bit. ly/3dVFM8.
Need for certification
A bright future
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India has established a National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants (NCSTCP). This certification ensures that laboratories or manufacturing units are producing quality planting material through virus diagnosis and genetic fidelity testing. This certification also ensures that tissue culture raised plants are free from viruses and other fastidious pathogen and also that the tissue culture raised plants are true to the type.
With an estimated market growth of around 20 percent per annum, the future of PTC seems bright. More research and focus on developing technologies for cash-crops, medicinal plants and commercial plants can open the market to wider prospects. As recommended by BCIL, collaboration and networking closely with research institutes would ensure that the manufacturing units are abreast with new technologies and changing trends. R DARE.CO.IN | OPPORTUNITIES | DECEMBER 2009 39
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Dinesh Puri MediVed Innovations On medical devices
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hy did you get into this business of manufacturing sophisticated medical devices such as the pacemaker? My background is in the devices space. A few years ago, I was looking at where to next deploy my energies and where I could make a bigger impact. Technology has made a very huge impact on the society in India. I am quite fascinated with what Indian pharmaceutical companies have done in making medicines affordable for the emerging markets. The model here was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;can we replicate what pharmaceutical companies have done in the medical devices space to improve the quality of people and make it a viable business.
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MediVed is a medical devices company that manufactures, develops and sells active implantable devices like cardiac pacemakers and leads. DARE caught up with Dinesh Puri to speak to him about MediVed and the intricacies that go behind starting a sophisticated medical device company.
The thought came about three years ago. When I studied the medical devices landscape further, I found that 90percent of the medical devices industry is controlled by the western world–US and Western Europe. It was even more interesting that 90percent of their revenues came from the western world. So I thought that how can you have people who live outside the western world consuming less than 10percent of these devices. In the case of pacemakers, the penetration level in the US is about a 1,000 per million population, and Western Europe has 1,300 per million. In India'scase of it is just 15 per million. In China it is 50 per million. This was the motivation to get into the field of medical devices. Did you start from scratch or did you acquire a firm? We couldn’t have developed a new device from scratch because the regulatory approvals in this space are quite cumbersome. By the time you do lab studies and animal studies, etc, it takes six to seven years before your device is ready for the market. We acquired the business of a South American company. They have been in this business for the last 30 years. The manufacturing facility in Bangalore got commissioned in 2009. That’s how MediVed came about. There are a lot of processes that go into manufacturing a pacemaker.
How much time does it take to manufacture it? There are single-chamber pacemakers and duel-chamber pacemakers. Then there are pacemakers with rate response and without rate response. Rate response means that when a patient with a pacemaker indulges in physical activity such as running or walking upstairs, his heart needs to beat faster. A rate responsive pacemaker senses activity and automatically adjusts the heartbeat. What makes them sophisticated is that various sciences go into it—microelectronics, micro-engineering, polymerization, laser welding, etc. The pacemaker is almost a computer. It has a chip inside it. Several things have to be looked into like battery life, no leakages, etc. Each pacemaker goes through 75-80 manufacturing operations and an automated test protocol. It is tested four times during the manufacturing cycle. How are the pacemakers that you make, cheaper compared to those manufactured by global players? In the US, these devices sell for $4,000-8,000. In India, we sell them between $1,000-2,000. It is a fact that many of these western companies also sell at lower prices than in the US. Our focus is to make the devices more relevant for our markets. In the US, everything is paid for by insurance. So people replace the devices every four to five years. In India, we
are not used to that; we want the device to last for much longer time. In most emerging markets, 80percent of our healthcare is paid for by the patient. In our markets, we will have to find our own solutions. How do you manage to reduce the manufacturing cost? One is because of the value addition that we do while manufacturing. Our cost of a factory operator is onesixth of that of a US operator. The second part is that there is a significant amount of innovation that you can do in device engineering. Design to cost is a very significant element of high-tech manufacturing discipline. We have done some very considerable innovations in being able to refine the manufacturing engineering technology. All this with the very core principle that there would be no deviation in quality. How difficult is it to be able to get the right talent for manufacturing medical devices? India has a phenomenal base for manufacturing skills. There is a very good ecosystem available here for many technologies. India has a very good talent pool. If you are hiring factory operators to work under sophisticated microscopes, you have to have the right ability to hire for skill sets. We do that. We have stringent training processes and operator qualification processes. R DARE.CO.IN | SECTOR | DECEMBER 2009 41
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The annual EmTech India conference brings Technology Reviewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission to life by showcasing the most important emerging technologies and explaining their impact on you, our audience. It is more important than ever to be aware of the latest technological innovations set to impact your business and fuel economic growth. EmTech India gives you access to the most innovative labs, companies, and entrepreneurs from around the world and shows you where to lead your organization in order to stay ahead of the curve. Meet and greet close to 1,000 leaders in business and technology, including CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, policy leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and venture investors.
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before the headline 2010 EVENT HIGHLIGHTS Meet the 2010 TR35 India! First ever India TR35 Awards to recognize the outstanding innovators under the age of 35. Young individuals whos superb technical work holds great promise to shape the next decades. We reward ingenious and elegant work that matters to the world.
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Innovation Live! 18 “Lab to Market” technology demonstrations directly from R&D centers across industries
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A one-day workshop conducted by MIT Media Labs, that showcases the cutting edge developments coming straight from the world’s top technical university.
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New! MIT Alumni Meet: A special MIT Alumni session focussing on transitioning innovation in the Indian context - how can India lead the Innovation revolution, and become a world leader in R&D.
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photoblogsp Biodiversity of India
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ndia offers unique biodiversity across its landscape. The Indian map is strewn with forests, mountain ranges, plains, wetlands, plateaus and marine environments. Apart from offering excellent options for research work in geography, archeology, and biology, this diversity also offers a wide range of tourism options. From the bone-chilling experience of the Himalayas, you can also experience extreme heat as you move downwards towards south India. From the aquatic and marine frolic of western and southern India, you can experience the dry spells of Rajasthani climate. The forests of eastern India and the fields in northern India give you a diverse variety of flora and fauna. In the wake of climate crisis across the world, some green tourism ideas could click. Agriculture-tourism is one of them. Who is ready to explore this opportunity? Photo taken from a hilltop in Puttaparti, Andhra Pradesh Author: Vivek Kumar
Eateries and fast-food restaurants
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n one of my blogs, http://bit.ly/3pUcuc, I wrote about how eating joints and restaurants are becoming quite popular in the wake of people looking to go out and eat. Apart from tourists and high-class gentry, lots of youngsters try to grab the opportunity to visit fast-food restaurants. Weekends are often marked by a quick bite at these joints. Some popular fast food restaurants that are omnipresent across India include KFC, Café Coffee Day, Barista, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. In my above mentioned blog post, I wrote about thematic and cultural-based eateries that showcase a regional or an Indian touch in the infrastructure and operations—is it possible to replicate the chain or franchisee model in thematic eateries? Can a haveli in Haryana have a similar venture in Tamil Nadu showcasing regional cultural aspects? Photo taken at Sector 8, Chandigarh Author: Vivek Kumar
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sphotoblogs What lens you want to see through?
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SLR cameras are becoming increasingly popular with photo enthusiasts. India has emerged as a major market for digital cameras. A lot of people are spending good amount of money to make sure that they get a high-quality digital camera. Some famous brands popular in India now are—Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Sony. What makes these DSLRs most sought after are factors like MPS (megapixels), FL (focal length), MRP (maximum retail price), AP (actual price), and how much proficiency the user has in using all the features of the camera (given that he/she is not a professional camera person). Talking about the camera lenses, the important thing to look out for is the focal length along with the aperture size that one wants. It should be noticed here that a lens made for Canon won’t work for Nikon. Camera apparatus and lens have an electronic connection, which limits the uses of cross-brands. Auto-mode works on this principle where the camera adjusts the focus using a motor that is often built in the lens itself. This condition is called “lens mount”. The basic camera kit offers a lens of around 18-55 mm. However, there are different lenses offering micro and tele-shooting options, based on the requirements of focal length, zoom level, and aperture size. To make sure that you make an appropriate purchase of the camera lens (given the fact that camera lenses are often costly and match the camera apparatus itself ), it is wise to read some expert ratings or customers’ reviews. Different camera manufacturers use different technologies like Nikon providing its own range of lenses under the name of Nikkor. Are you ready to answer the question—what lens you want to see through? Photo taken at a Nikon distributor in New Delhi Author: Vivek Kumar
Lighting up the occasion with creative ideas
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irthday parties, weddings, corporate meets, graduation days, and even general gettogethers are occasions that involve a lot of back-end planning to make sure that things run smoothly. Right from the catering to the seating arrangement, music/dance to the activities and material, management demands a lot of attention. Providing new concepts of celebration and enjoyment do add flavor to these occasions. Can event management companies explore the creative edge of these occasions? Photo taken at a child’s birthday party. Author: Vivek Kumar DARE.CO.IN | PHOTO BLOGS | DECEMBER 2009 45
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photoblogs A blooming flower
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lowers are beautiful to watch in their blooming season. They often exude a bewitching aroma or vista, catching your mind to marvel at their beauty. Behind the beauty lies the business. Flowers are sold in varied products like bouquets, floral baskets, flower arrangements and garlands. Apart from this, flower seeds and tissue cultures offer lucrative business opportunities. The Indian floriculture industry is doing well at the international scene also. Though Kerala is a major producer of flowers, coastal regions in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are also pitched as potential growing areas. Given the chance, can you think to tap this industry: think and perhaps you will find it? Photo taken on the roof of a house in Nabha, Punjab Author: Vivek Kumar
Being tiger—A national property
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he National Tiger Conservation Authority overlooks the “Project Tiger Scheme”, which was launched in 1973 as a centrallysponsored scheme of the Government of India. The tiger is the national animal of India and is a major concern of attention as it is one of the key factors for maintaining ecological balance of nature. A new project having potential of IT usage is being considered called “Tiger Atlas of India.” This project might involve: 1. Mapping, data acquisition and GIS modeling 2. Field data collection and validation 3. Data maintenance, dissemination and use To achieve this objective, a great deal of software and hardware would be needed. Business opportunities in R&D, software development, data collection, data testing, and hardware are on anvil—precision and high-quality expertise could be the demand. Are you ready to face the tiger? Photo taken at The National Zoological Park, New Delhi Author: Vivek Kumar 46
DECEMBER 2009 | PHOTO BLOGS | DARE.CO.IN
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ET Entrepreneur & Innovation Conclave The event was both informative and inspirational for aspiring entrepreneurs and those in small and medium businesses.
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f entrepreneurship is about risk taking, then there was no dearth of risk takers at the ET Entrepreneur & Innovation Conclave held in Gurgaon on November 25. The event witnessed a wonderful mix of those entrepreneurs who brought with them substantial experience in running their own business, and those considering moving off the conveyor belt to start on their own. Organized in the backdrop of the economic slowdown that is slowly fading into oblivion, the event saw innovation as the dominant theme. The participants, many of whom were prospective entrepreneurs, got a wonderful opportunity to interact with industry leaders. The guest of honor was H P Kumar, CMD, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC). The special address was made by Anil Bharadwaj, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME). David Wittenberg, CEO, The Innovation Workgroup welcomed the participants and set the ball rolling. The session on finance gave a good insight into the biggest pain point of any entrepreneur to raise funds. Some of the panelists felt that
Yogesh Bansal, CEO, ApnaCircle.com
(L-R): David Wittenberg, CEO, The Innovation Workgroup; Pradeep Gupta, CMD, CyberMedia; Rajiv Mittal, Group Director, SME, Microsoft; Sushil Mittal, CEO, Innovo Thinking; Dinesh Goel, CEO, Ideas Infinite & Deepak Woolens Group; Yogesh Bansal, CEO, ApnaCircle.com
banks should be more proactive in their approach towards SMEs. The event proved to be a useful platform to learn from veteran entrepreneurs on how best to manage finance. The panelists in this session were Rakesh Kapoor, MD, IFCI Factors; Vijay Shekhar Sharma, MD, One97 Communications; Lt Col HS Bedi, CMD, Tulip Telecom; and Navyug Mohnot, CEO & Founder, QAI India. The session on technology was all about using technology as an enabler to help reduce cost of operations, improve employee engagement, provide a platform for powerful marketing campaigns, and deliver information to customers. The panelists included Pradeep Gupta, CMD, CyberMedia; Rajiv Mittal, Group Director, SME, Microsoft; Sushil Mittal, CEO, Innovo Thinking; Dinesh Goel, CEO, Ideas Infinite & Deepak Woolens Group; Yogesh Bansal, CEO, ApnaCircle. com. Some panelists pointed out that technology is the biggest leveler â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all those applications that are avail-
able to large corporations are now at the disposal of SMEs. Yogesh Bansal of ApnaCircle.com shared with the participants his experience as an entrepreneur. Yogesh moved to India in 2006 to start ApnaCircle.com, the social and career networking website. The panelists in the session on marketing were Puneet Batra, Managing Partner, Adglo, Kunwer Sachdev, MD, Su-Kam, Dinesh Agarwal, and CEO, IndiaMART.com. The discussion focused on frugal marketing strategies for startups. The panelists stressed the need for understanding your audience better and then making targeted marketing campaigns. The panelists also talked on segmentation, outdoor marketing and the power of social marketing. The concluding remarks were made by David Wittenberg. R To know more about this platform and for participation in future programs in your city, please send an email to gaurav.bansal@timesgroup.com DARE.CO.IN | EVENT | DECEMBER 2009 47
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How to become a Sachin Tendulkar of your business We recently celebrated 20 years of masterblaster Sachin Tendulkarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glorious innings in the world of cricket. Sachin, who made a striking entry into cricket as a teenager, is now the highest scorer in International cricket. His passion, commitment, perseverance and the winning streak match that of an entrepreneur who takes risks, tries, fails and again bounces back. DARE spoke to the founders of three companies who are either celebrating their 20th year in business or are older than that, to find out what qualities can make an entrepreneur, the Sachin of startups.
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id you have a mentor, like Sachin had Sunil? No, I did not have any mentor when we started. In those days the networking opportunities and platforms for entrepreneurs starting out were very few. Today organizations such as TiE have managed to create a great eco-system for start-up entrepreneurs in India – mentors, investors, networking and education. Sachin gave up the captaincy to be a better player: Did you ever think likewise? You cannot build a fast growing large company through micromanagement. You need to have great leadership at all levels in the company. Scaling up is about letting go – to the right people and putting in processes at the same time.
Sanjeev Bikhchandani Founder, Info Edge (Naukri.com) Annual Turnover : Rs. 274 Crore
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When out of form, Sachin handled criticism with poise, only to bounce back in style. How did you deal with critics both within and outside while going through a rough patch? Can you cite some instances? For the first seven years we drifted and did a lot of small stuff before we launched Naukri. And then after we launched Naukri, we bootstrapped it for three years. Financially, this was a very difficult decade. And then, after we raised venture capital, the dot com meltdown hit us. So, all in all we had fourteen years of very difficult times. We dealt with critics by ignoring them and going about our work. If it’s the passion for the game that keeps Sachin going strong, what is it that drives you to set higher goals as an entrepreneurs and as a person? When you are not working for money but for a cause that gives meaning to your life you find the energy.
DECEMBER 2009 | STRATEGY | DARE.CO.IN
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id you have a mentor like Sachin had Sunil? How important a role did that mentor play for you? Everyone who is successful has to have a role model. Someone who is there by your side when you need them. A friend, philosopher and guide whose support is rock solid and he is also your worst critic at times. My role model/best friend and guide is my husband Mukesh. A man of few words and great business action. Like you shift gears in a car while going uphill, he helped me shift gears of my business from a personalized set up to India’s largest beauty empire. And he has a large part to play in the commercial success of VLCC. Sachin gave up the captaincy to be a better player: Did you ever think likewise? While I am still very involved in the direction of where the VLCC Group is headed, I focus more on R&D, Customer Delight and Service Delivery Quality. The day-to-day management of over 225 VLCC outlets across 86 cities in 7 countries, manned by over 8000 employees is handled by an extremely competent group of professionals. This allows me to focus on issues that will ensure the continued relevance of VLCC as an enduring concept. Incidentally, the current board of directors of VLCC Health Care. comprises of only two whole time directors(and I am not one of them!) and six independent directors. So yes, giving up “Captaincy” of sorts has certainly made me a better player. When out of form, Sachin handled criticism with poise, only to bounce back in style. How did you deal with critics both within and outside while going through a rough patch? Critics are your best friends. As long as their criticism does not stem from jealousy. Objective criticism helps you to constantly raise the bar on product and service delivery. I have had my share of stubborn people who did not change their lifestyle, for example, and then blamed their failure on our fool proof systems. I have always dealt with criticism with peace and patience. If it’s the passion for the game that keeps Sachin going strong, what is it that drives you to set higher goals as an entrepreneurs and as a person? What drives me are successful stories of then and now. What thrills me are clients in whose lives VLCC made a significant difference for the better. That for me is true success that stems from the heart and soul.
Vandana Luthra Founder, VLCC Group Annual Turnover : Rs. 500 Crore
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id you have a mentor like Sachin had Sunil? How important a role did that mentor play for you? I was deputed to the Taj Hotels Company to set up and head the Information Systems Department for computerization in Taj Group. The CEO of Taj, Ajit Kerkar, could be called as mentor for me. He entrusted me with a lot of responsibilities at a very young age. It, at some level, gave me a lot of confidence to start my own venture and it also directed me to information technology. This at that time was not a very preferred option if you happened to be from IIM Ahmedabad: you end up joining banking, FMCG, or Hindustan Liver. So the first few years of your life are very influential in shaping your career. Sachin gave up the captaincy to be a better player: Did you ever think likewise? If you are happy with the size and you want to run that efficiently, then I think you continue to micromanage it. But if your goal is to scale, then you can’t go on scaling if you are micro-managing. So, you will have to build a team and you will have to let go and become a coach rather than a person who does everything. So the rule changes: you become a coach; you have to mentor people and develop them and take chances with them.
Vipul Jain Co-Founder, Kale Consultants Annual Turnover : Rs. 150 Crore
When out of form, Sachin handled criticism with poise, only to bounce back in style. How did you deal with critics both within and outside while going through a rough patch? Can you cite some instances? We all grow through that, whatever you call it: lean patches or challenges. In case of our company, we did an IPO. The IPO was extremely successful in year 2000 at the height of the tech world and dot com boom. So our share price jumped manifold and later on it started coming down to unrealistic levels; and then September 11 happened. So people thought that airline industry is gone and people involved with this industry are gone. Our share price came down to extremely low level. Soon after the IPO, the share price was Rs. 700/- and at its lowest end, it was Rs. 17/-. So you have to take it all in your stride and not get carried away either way. You have to find your compass within. You need to be realistic about what you doing and if you are making and continue to believe in yourself—very important to believe in yourself. If it’s the passion for the game that keeps Sachin going strong, what is it that drives you to set higher goals as an entrepreneurs and as a person? I think what keeps me going is the fact that there is no one else to win. Apart from that, I enjoy what I am doing because at the end of the day, if you don’t enjoy what you are doing, you won’t do it. R
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Personalization of products and gifts, though a well established concept outside the country, is still in infant stages in India. The concept has of late seen an upswing and is estimated to become a Rs 5,000 Crore industry in India in the next few years. Bansal set up Myntra. com and entered this ďŹ eld in 2006. In this interview, he gives us a variety of insights of this sector.
bout the market for on demand personalization of products and gifts I came across the field of personalization about 5-6 years back. I noticed a lot of innovation happening in the area of personalization of products. However, these were all in countries other than India. The idea of this business is simpleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;inputs are taken from the customers and the product is worked upon as per the inputs. While some people ask for simplistic personalization such as printing their name on a product, there are some who desire more complex personalization like custom made furniture, toys, and such. There was no such model available in India; at least not as an organized sector. To come up with the initial business model and plan, we tried to relate the overall Indian market context with what was happening in the
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Mukesh Bansal Myntra.com On personalization of products
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personalization field across the globe. For visibility, in the earlier days, we focused mostly on our tie-ups with large number of portals - such as CricInfo, IndiaRocks, iBibo, BigAdda, etc. The idea was to leverage on the sizable traffic that all these sites had. Later on, we started our own online marketing using SEO and SEM. Besides this, we did some local radio campaigns in Bangalore; were able to get reasonable press coverage and a combination of all such activities. We have not gone ahead with mass media advertising yet, as we do not have the on ground presence to take full advantage of such advertising. We are just a small company with only 70 people, with offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. As for the back end of this business, we have tie-ups with numerous vendors across the country, who we source raw material from and at times outsource the order fulfillment. Besides this, we have tie-ups with four courier companies, who take of domestic as well as international deliveries. We have a dedicated client servicing team; customers can send us an email or call our customer service number. In case of genuine problems, we offer free replacements and so far our metrics of customer satisfaction is very high. We have a huge list of designers who keep fresh designs coming in. These designers are mostly freelancers, who we encourage to send us designs that we could use, and with every sale of a product with that design they can earn royalty. To keep track of all this, we bank on our technological expertise and have developed a custom system to take care of all logistics and processes involved. Coming to competition, there are many players operating locally, spread across the length and breadth of the country, albeit in a highly unorganized fashion. We are also seeing several other players coming into the online business with similar
offerings. But like I said, this sector is vastly untapped and holds a lot of potential in the next 5-10 years. What would you say were the key factors that helped you get funded? Fortunately, in the last five years, we have seen a lot of VC firms coming to India. We have had three rounds of funding for Myntra.com. The initial bootstrap funding happened with me putting in some money to get things going. In about nine months, around August 2007, we got some angel funding. Last year, around September 2008, we raised a serious round of investment of about 5 million dollars, which was contributed together by three different funds. The investors are looking for companies with good ideas and exceptional team with a promising business model. For them, if they believe that the business has the potential to become a large business; only then it’s worthwhile to put in their substantial amount of capital. Besides this, what helped us was the fact that we were 6 people in the management team, mostly IIT graduates with 8-10 years of work experience. However, yes, getting funds has been difficult since the last 6 to 9 months, but I am sure that things will soon change. Where is the big bucks—corporates or individuals? Both have their own advantages , the volumes come from corporates but the margins comes from consumers. We started off as a primarily online business. Over a period of time though, the business model has evolved. While we have a strong focus on consumers, we have a lot of inquiries coming from companies and colleges. So, we have developed a B2B business model to cater to that. Some of Myntra’s major corporate clients are Yahoo, Mphasis, SAB Miller, Accenture, and the various IIMs & IITs. Myntra has also designed
and set up brand shops for large corporates like Tech Mahindra, Birlasoft & Headstrong. Also, we are expanding to retail by implementing a online-offline sort of hybrid model. The idea is to reach out to a much bigger set of consumers through this offline point of sales. The rate of returning consumers has been good for us so far - both online and offline. This hybrid model is at its infancy stage, where we have tied up with Reliance Web World and several other gift shops, where the customer gets to see and touch the products in person, as well conveniently pay by cash. As for the online tie-ups, we approached various portals asking them to offer this service at no additional costs to them and worked out a revenue sharing deal with them. We have a business development team who approach these online portals as well as corporates in a systematic manner. It takes a long time to explain, convince and get the contract, but in the end we succeed at it. Global slowdown definitely must have hit this line of business, right? There has certainly been an impact of the slowdown. Many a companies reduced their budgets on corporate gifting around this time. However, we are a very new entrant in this largely untapped market that has a huge potential. It is too early for this market to be affected by macro level market trends. When one is trying to increase the market share very marginally, say from 0.25 percent to 5 percent, there is not much scope for a slowdown to affect the overall growth of the company. Yes, the average corporate customers’ order size has gone down, but we have clocked from 40 customers to 300 customers in this time frame. Keeping this in mind, this financial year we are targeting to grow three to four times as compared to the previous year. R DARE.CO.IN | SECTOR | DECEMBER 2009 55
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How To Retain Key Employees
While companies deploy various strategies to hold back their key employees, it is the opportunity to learn and grow in an unshackled environment that works best. /Vimarsh Bajpai 56
DECEMBER 2009 | STRATEGY/RETENTION | DARE.CO.IN
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he economic slowdown wrecked havoc in the job market globally. In most developed countries, employers laid off employees in hordes, creating an apocalypse of sorts. Developing countries including India faced similar upheaval, but not of the sorts seen in the Western nations. The virtual war for talent that used to be the order of the day till more than a year back, suddenly turned upside down as recession hit the developed world, creating a ripple effect in India. As companies shed flab in terms of their human resources, the dynamics between the employer and the employee took a major shift. Yet, there was something that did not change. This was the necessity to identify outstanding talent and leadership within an organization and the need to retain key employees. A number of HR professionals whom DARE spoke to, talked of the challenges of identifying the key employees first, and then retaining them.
makes an employee important for an organization. Or if it has more to do with the leadership and talent an employee brings to the table. In case of the startup, the core team that gives the first push to the organization could be considered key. “Every company has tree types of players: A-players, B-players and C-players. Key employees are A-players who have significantly contributed to the top line and the bottom line of the company over a period of time. The top 10 percent talent of the company at different levels is the key employee,” says Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access. He believes that it is not the seniority or the designation that matters; instead it is the role that an employee plays which makes him key for a company. Instead of getting swayed by heavily-loaded designations, it is more the talent, risk-taking capa-
bility and leadership qualities that go a long way in determining who becomes the key employee and who does not. Agrees Tariq Akbar, CEO, Legalease. “Key employees are those who are capable of showing leadership qualities, all the way down to the individual foot soldiers, have the ability to work independently, and to take on responsibility. And it is not the prerogative of the senior management,” he adds. For some companies, it is the networking and contacts that one has in the industry that could earn him a significant place in the company. However, that too has to be complemented by the core understanding of business processes.
Who are key employees? One wonders if it is the criticality of function or difficulty to replace that
One wonders if it is the criticality of function or difficulty to replace that makes an employee important for an organization. Or if it has more to do with the leadership and talent an employee brings to the table.
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You can have Albert Einstein in your organization, but he will not give results if he does not have his heart on the job. Employees do not like to be shackled. They want to learn and be empowered. — Ronesh Puri Managing Director, Executive Access
The company should give as much information and insights into itself at the time of hiring. At the top management level, one should not discover something inappropriate at a later stage. — Ganesh N Prabhu Professor, IIM-Bangalore 58
“The value of networking depends on what job is at hand,” says Puri. Those days are over when moving in the right circles was a very important thing, he says. “For certain jobs, networking does become critical. But now you have brilliant people who are much in demand and they don’t socialize,” he adds. “If one performs well and delivers good results, he/she is a key employee,” says Ganesh N. Prabhu, professor of corporate strategy and policy at IIM Bangalore. “At every level, there are key employees who are making an impact on how the firm is viewed in the outside world,” he adds. Prabhu believes that those employees who have customer interface are most certainly important because they are in a way, the face of the company. No matter how significant an employee is, no one is indispensable. Attrition is a reality today, no matter which industry we talk of. Some experts believe that to some extent it is good because new employees bring in fresh ideas to the table and are able to contribute significantly to the growth of the organization. “A while back, companies moved away from the bucket approach and started differentiating based on their assessment of “high potential” and “critical resources”,” says Gita Dang, Founder Director, Talent Advisory Services. “Companies now have planned attrition. They are very concerned about those in Category A (employees) but not about Category B. Category C is dealt with on a case-by-case basis,” she adds.
How to retain key employees? No company wants to lose their bright employees to their competitors. Even during the slowdown, companies tried to hold on to their key performers because it became important to stay afloat. Things are now changing for better, and it is only a matter of time before the
war for talent will begin again. It becomes pertinent to work on some retention strategies that can help you hold back your key employees. Here are some points to focus on: Create diverse opportunities To know what works best in holding back employees, we try to tackle the question from a different angle. Why do people from senior management level? Is it money, power, growth, or risk appetite? “Some of them get bored doing what they are doing,” say Puri. “Everyone wants to grow. Somehow if they find that growth is not happening, they leave,” he adds. Indeed boredom could cause the best of the talent to seep out. No one wants to hang around with companies that do not give their key employees enough opportunities to work on diverse projects. Senior management people need newer challenges to work on and are more likely to quit if they do not get a conducive environment. “Have enough businesses for them to handle. If you have hired people who are capable of running a part of the business almost independently and you do not give them that opportunity, then they would leave,” says Prabhu. This explains to some extent as to why startups find it difficult to retain employees. A new firm would not have many diverse activities and could make a senior employee feel stranded after a while. But that does not mean startups can’t hold back talent. “In a startup (as opposed to a large corporate house) each individual plays a disproportionately critical role. Keeping this perspective in view, it’s critical to recognize those unhappy employees who adversely affect and impact the others and often times let them go,” says Dang. “It’s equally important to hand-hold and motivate those who have a positive impact on colleagues,” she adds.
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Offer scope for learning While it is believed that learning and training are only meant for employees at the junior and middle level, it is not so. Those at the senior level within an organization also look for opportunities to learn in the areas they operate in, and beyond. Thus it becomes imperative for any company to provide the environment that promotes learning. For example, a senior member of the marketing team might be interested in knowing about finance or HR, which he believes would contribute significantly to developing his holistic understanding of business functions. Instead of dissuading such employees, a company should facilitate such learning opportunities. “Employees want that there should be some learning for them. They want to ensure that they get new exposure,” says Puri. “The organization should invest in developing them. Both small and large companies can do this. In fact, small companies can do this even more,” he adds. Intrapreneurship and empowerment Management consultant Gifford Pinchot coined the word ‘intrapre-
neur’ back in 1978. He later dealt at length on the subject in his bestselling book, ‘Intrapreneuring: Why You Don’t Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur’. Pinchot elaborated on the importance of freedom to think and act within a corporation. He also showed how companies could stay on the leading edge by fostering intrapreneurship at all levels of corporate hierarchy. No organization can prosper if its employees feel shackled. Empowering them by giving them the freedom to experiment and take calculated risks can help retain talent. This could also develop a culture of innovation, where every employee can pitch innovative ideas for products or services or business processes. “Most CEOs leave if they feel shackled or not empowered. Empowerment is very important at the senior management level,” says Puri. Many at the senior level look for fresh challenges, and if an organization fails to offer challenging opportunities, there is a high chance of talent seeping out to either join another firm or start on their own. “There should be a culture of intrapreneurship in an organization,” says Prabhu. “Every person of the company should be willing
It becomes imperative for any company to provide the environment that promotes learning.
Those persons who directly affect our bottom line and top line operations such as manufacturing, sales, etc are key employees. Our salaries are low compared to the market, but our attrition is also very low. — B.R. Mohan Head-HR, Everest Industries
A while back, companies moved away from the bucket approach and started differentiating based on their assessment of “high potential” and “critical resources”. — Gita Dang Founder Director Talent Advisory Services
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Key employees are those who are capable of showing leadership qualities, all the way down to individual foot soldiers, have ability to work independently, and to take on responsibility. It’s not the prerogative of the senior management. — Tariq Akbar CEO, Legalease Solutions
It is very important to have a succession plan in place within an organization. Giving ample learning opportunities goes a long way in retaining employees. — Nandita Gurjar Sr. VP and Group Head-HR Infosys Technologies 60
to promote it and not hinder it. If a company has been running for 20 years with a top-down approach, and suddenly you want to change, it won’t happen,” he adds. “The way companies treat their employees goes a long way in retaining. A company needs to show a greater degree of loyalty to its employees,” adds Akbar. “Give enough scope to employees to voice their concerns,” says Prabhu. Values and ethics This is an absolute must. Not only does it affect the work environment within the organization, but it also contributes significantly to how a company is perceived in the outside world. This has to percolate from top. “You need values and ethics of the highest order,” says Puri. “You can be the most successful company, but talent will not want to join you if your values are questionable,” he adds. Create second-rung leadership Much of the problem with sudden exits of key people can be resolved by having a second-run lineup of leadership. It involves mentoring, training and giving the right environment and opportunity for middle and junior level employees to grow. Scuttling them could prove costly. “It is the most critical aspect but a number of companies ignore it,” says Puri. Somehow the middle and the junior level are taken for granted, he adds. “Your middle level is as important as your senior management level. Great companies will give a lot of importance to it. Companies can ignore this at their own risk,” he adds.
Values and ethics contribute significantly to how a company is perceived in the outside world.
Prabhu feels that a lot of focus should be put on hiring the right people. To ensure that employees fit well into the organization, it is necessary to screen them properly at all fronts before taking them on board. Then identify the most promising ones and nurture them for leadership roles. “The process starts right from the time you start recruiting; a critical mistake entrepreneurs make is to recruit employees in a hurry. Whoever comes along, they hire and then they regret their decision,” he adds. Further, says Prabhu, “Some of the best CEOs are those who bring in a lot of people who are better than them on the next level. It is more an exception than the rule,” he adds. If you are able to get people who are potentially better than you, then succession will happen naturally, he adds. Creating the spread of promising employees at the next level would help solve the problem of indispensability. The moment a key person moves on, there will not be a vacuum, as you would have a competent person ready to take over. R
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INDIA TR 35 Young Innovators Under 35
Nominate for the 2010 India TR35 now! http://www.technologyreview.in/tr35/nominate.aspx
Do you know someone who should be on our annual list of outstanding innovators under the age of 35? Nominate them now for the 2010 list! Winners must be under 35 as of October 1, 2010. Since 1999, the editors of Technology Review have honored the young innovators whose inventions and research were found to be most exciting; today that collection is the TR35, a list of technologists and scientists, all under the age of 35. Their work—spanning medicine, computing, communications, electronics, nanotechnology, and more—is changing the world. India TR35 is a list that would now recognize the outstanding innovators under the age of 35 from India. We are searching for individuals whose superb technical work holds great promise to shape the next decades. Our goal is to recognize the development of new technology or the creative application of existing technologies to solve problems. We also reward ingenious and elegant work that matters to India and the world at large—not just to peers in a particular field or industry. Technology Review will showcase the TR35 finalists, including the Innovator of the Year, in the March 2010 issue. We will also recognize the finalists at our EmTech India Conference on March 8-9, 2010 in Bangalore. You can nominate yourself or the brightest people that you know for the 2010 class of India TR35 using a simple form on our website: www.technologyreview.in/tr35/nominate.aspx. You can also visit the frequently asked questions section at http://www.technologyreview.in/ tr35/faq.aspx. If your question is not answered there, feel free to contact the project’s editor Srinivas at srinivasch@cybermedia.co.in or on +91-80-43412000—extension 241
Project editor: Chandan Srinivas Rao e-mail: srinivasch@cybermedia.co.in Tel. +91-80-43412000— extension 241
The nominations close on December 31, 2009
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blogs/opinion
Dancing with the Giants Things to keep in mind while planning alliances with established players
O /Vijay Anand
While every small company in the world dreams of partnering with the industry leaders, the bitter truth is that the bigger players get spoilt with choices.
Vijay Anand is an entrepreneur who has experience starting and building various technology startups, starting at the young age of 16. He is currently the Incubation Manager at RTBI, an incubator in IIT Madras that focuses on building rural-focused businesses. He is also the founder of Proto.in, India’s premier technology showcase event and is involved in various initiatives that are shaping up the emerging entrepreneurial scene in India. He blogs as The Startup Guy at www.vijayanand.name and tweets regularly at www.twitter.com/vijayanands.
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rganic growth isn’t a strategy that is embraced wholeheartedly by most early stage companies. The first plan by most companies is to attempt to take a crack at the market, prove, grow and maybe even flip within a decade. Organic growth means at least a couple more decades—which might explain the hesitation and unattractiveness of that route. While both roadmaps have their share of pros and cons to consider, no matter what route you take, one step which you cannot ignore would be to partner with the existing players to expand your customer reach. Here are some things to consider while putting that down on your roadmap.
Get your timing right While most of the world is quite thrilled about the telecom boom in India, there is also a horror story that is rarely told. While the customers demand cheaper prices and operators do everything in their power to cut down overheads; the casualty in most cases has been the vendors who provide the infrastructure, applications and software to these giants. Almost a year ago, there were more than fifty startups that one could identify – one with potential to grow into bigger companies. Today none of them exist. The moral of the story is not to avoid the bigger players (aka the incumbents), but to know the right
timing when to approach them. If you go to them with a product that has not seen the light of the day, and you ask them to tap into their customer base to pilot your product, there are very high chances that they will take advantage of the situation. At that stage, the move by the bigger player is also justified since they are taking a risk by exposing their customers to an unproven product. Remember the reason why you are doing this tie-up: to expand your market reach – in effect, start with a proven set of subscribers before you go there.
Pick and choose the right partner While you might not like the idea of organic growth but in the process of building a company, you would have to make that choice. While every small company in the world dreams of partnering with the industry leaders, the bitter truth is that the bigger players get spoilt with choices. That said, you also do not want the tables turned by partnering with another startup which might need you more than you need them. The key to a good partnership is to have mutual benefit and better the experience that is already being offered to the customer base of both the companies. Take your time to identify who these players are—in some cases it might not be the biggest, but the second biggest who will take on your deal and put the right resources behind it.
DECEMBER 2009 | COLUMN | DARE.CO.IN
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Every recommendation counts
The one reason why I would suggest even working with a zero margin deal with bigger players is you can leverage them to win other paying customers.
Remember, the goal here is to build credibility and ramp up the kind of customers you have, and eventually get to the point where you can pick and choose whom you want to partner with. Strategy plays a major role when you get to that state, but getting there means planning it from day one. If you are one of those companies who have a strong value product, there will be plenty of folks who will praise you for what you are building. But all of those words vaporize when you have to put together a value proposal for the partners that you are targeting and to show them that you have a happy customer base. Get all those recommendations in writing, and also request if you can share their testimonials in your marketing brochures. Every drop adds up.
Keep an eye on the revenue stream What would you guess would be the second biggest reason why companies die (the first being lack of revenue)? The answer would be: the inability to scale up and meet the demands. You get the market excited about what you have, and do a bad job at delivering it; or you ask your partner to find someone who can execute your plan and deliver it according to your quality standards. Part of the reason why companies fail to deliver is because they get stretched pretty badly on their financial side. You start cutting corners here and there, and it starts to show and you don’t have the brand to cushion your delivery. Whatever the deal you make with any partner, the rule is simple: cover base costs. You can work on zero margin profitability, but not without anything. One majorly underestimated fact by most early stage companies is that growth comes with a significant cost. While getting funded to improve your infrastructure is one way of doing it (and a bad route at that),
the best way is to prove the value to your partner and to get them to cover at least your working costs for what you are delivering them.
Ensure you play it fair The one reason why I would suggest even working with a zero margin deal with bigger players is you can leverage them to win other paying customers. Having it on your portfolio that you do have a scalable system and a product that really delivers on its promises is possibly the golden quadrant of this game. If that is the game plan, ensure that you get the appropriate permissions from these companies if you are to cut them a deal by lowering your margins. There have been moments when I have seen representatives of bigger companies see some of their logos flashed by smaller companies as potential clients and the conversation goes on a very different tangent post that. Don’t let it get to that. Needless to say, get it all down on your agreement, so that if their legal department does get confused and sends you a notice, you have an answer in hand. All this is nothing but a high level thought on what all you need to cover. The work however starts from the day you position your product in the market, the terms you use to describe your product so that it is complementary rather than competitive (too many companies overpromise), the clear-cut negotiations, and how you handle this entire strategy. It takes the work of an amazing board, the right advisors, and a stellar team to pull off a deal. But it’s the logical next step once you’ve proven that your product has a market and can scale to a larger audience without incurring all the channel costs. Think about it, every little detail of it, most of it has to be aligned months before you even bring up that topic and sit down for that first meeting. R DARE.CO.IN | COLUMN | DECEMBER 2009 63
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THE BUSINESS OF
CUSTOM W SHOEMAKING
hat would be the number of runs made by Mahindra Singh Dhoni if he were to play with shoes made for Baichung Bhutia? What about Sania Mirza playing at Wimbledon wearing high-heeled leather shoes? What could be the plight of a contingent scaling Mount Everest if it was asked to wear sandals? All this sounds impractical and non-conducive for the job involved. The shoes seem to mismatch with the functions that they are meant to perform. Players need performance shoes based on the nature of sport and also on the nature of the ground. Military applications and mountaineering require leather shoes that can sustain tough weather conditions. When it comes to fashion, every shoe wearer may have his or her own choice. Footwear is a major component of the leather industry in India. As per the figures available from Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, India contributes about 14 percent of the global leather footwear production. In terms of shoe production capacity, India produces around 2100 million
Customized footwear options are now readily available with a wide range of materials and are also easy on the pocket. /Vivek Kumar 64
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pairs of shoes comprising leather shoes, leather shoe uppers and non-leather shoes. There are around 4000 footwear production units in India. A good number of small-scale units amount to around 80 percent of the total production. Furthermore, India exports around 115 million pairs, which means that around 95 percent of footwear production goes to the domestic market. Now, as the domestic market itself forms the major chunk of sales, the choice of shoes differs from customer to customer. Right from individual customers to corporate customers, the design, color, material and quality of the footwear differ and so does the price. This is where, we at DARE, tried to understand an option that caters to the need of customers on individual basis. It is called custom shoemaking. Right from a cobbler that sits in a corner shop of a village or a town to the bespoke shoemaker in plush markets of metro-cities, custom shoemaking has its own clientele, USPs and barriers. We tried to talk to them individually and fetch some information.
The Traditional Cobbler A low-end shoemaker or a cobbler is a traditional example of a custom shoemaker. Before footwear technology started incorporating machinery, cobblers and shoemakers provided custom shoes to their customers. At this level, the shoemaker usually works himself or sometimes involves some other cobblers to work for him. The business involves a dual-model. The first model is taking orders and preparing shoes on demand. They take the measurement of customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foot on a paper. Selection of material, style and color is offered. But these options are limited because the cobbler depends on limited sources that provide raw material. The main point of feasibility of a shoe being custom-made is the choice of the sole. Ram Kishan, a shoemaker in Old Gurgaon mentioned that the size of the sole determines whether he can custom-make a shoe or not. If the size is below a specific number, he refuses the customer who in turn has no choice but to buy shoes from the shops. The second model involves preparing shoes incorporating style
and design of high-end shoes using cheaper material. This preparation creates showpieces or marketing pairs that youngsters can pick up. They select a design and ask whether their choice of size, material and color could be incorporated in that. Price Range: Rs. 200-1500/USP: 1. Cheap price 2. Choice of style 3. Ease of repair Customer Profile: 1. Youngsters wanting design/style at a cheap price 2. Senior citizens not oriented towards paying too much 3. Laborers and workers 4. Householders who have been like traditional customers Concerns: 1. Limited availability of material 2. Time taken to make a shoe (usually seven to ten days)
The Bespoke Shoemaker (high-end custom shoemaking) A bespoke shoemaker involves a bit of technology and machinery in catering to high-end customers, who might need custom shoes for very specific purposes, even like
TRAINING INSTITUTES FOR FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY Council for Leather Exports (CLE), Chennai Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI), NOIDA Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI), Chennai
DARE.CO.IN | OPPORTUNITIES | DECEMBER 2009 65
mountaineering and military applications, etc. Special designer shoes for models and celebrities, cowboy and long shoes, corporate uniform shoes, special orthopedic shoes for people having foot-related problems, height increasing elevator shoes, military shoes, and trekking shoes are some of the variations that can be addressed with this business model. After the selection of material, style, color and design, the measurement is sent to a small scale factory where orders are processed. Usually, orders are processed on a day-to-day basis where they are collected during the daytime and are sent to the manufacturing unit in the evening. A very salient option provided in this business model is replicating very high-end shoes worn by celebrities, actors and models at an affordable price-range. Kamal of Oscar Shoes, Delhi stated that they get good number of orders around this option. Shoes worn by a celebrity in films and other functions become an instant hit with the customers and they want the same style and design at an affordable price. Kamal, like Ram Kishan, maintained the importance of a sole. He said that the only time they refuse
making a customized shoe is when they can’t get the sole. Once it is available, they can work upon on any design and material. In this case, however, size was not considered but the material of the sole. Price Range: Rs. 500-7000/USP: 1. Choice of design and style 2. Longer life of shoes comparable to similar price range 3. Ease of repair Customer Profile: 1. Youngsters looking to spend on design/style but want custom choices 2. Military 3. Mountaineering groups 4. Orthopedic patients 5. Small institutions/schools and corporate houses Concerns: 1. Unavailability of sole material 2. Time taken to make shoes (usually seven to ten days)
Designer Shoes Though fashion has always been a part of shoemaking but it was limited to the elite. However, with the boom in the retail industry around five years back, fashion designers started tapping the market and targeting individual customers.
Swati Mehrotra, owner of Swati Modo Creation talked about her venture and told that her company can make a shoe from a piece of cloth, a worn out tire or anything else that a customer wants to embed in the footwear. Shoe designers offer complete customized solutions to their clients, keeping in mind their choice of colors, materials, etc. Designer shoes can be extended to pets as well where you can get comfortable shoes designed for your pets choosing material, color, design, and other fashion elements. The latest to join the line of designer shoes are the astrological shoes. Zodiac shoes or Astro-shoes are offered to customers based on their astrological calculations. Leather is not used in such footwear because leather is believed to be inauspicious for these kinds of shoes. Price Range: Rs. 150/- onwards USP: 1. Use of waste material in shoe making 2. Wide range of price 3. Choice of design/style and addition of fashion Customer Profile: 1. Youngsters and children 2. Customers looking for element of fashion in their footwear
“Only time we refuse making a shoe to a customer is when we can’t get the sole. Once it is available, we can work upon on any design and material.” — Kamal, Oscar Shoes
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Swati Mehrotra, Owner Swati Modo Creations
How exactly does your business model work? Right from how you take orders, execute them and deliver the end product? SwatiModo is all about what one can think of a shoe. Our forte is customization—we start with a personalized session with the customer; taking all the major points into consideration like foot size, arch measurement, heel type, upper, etc. Then, the mold is created, which is an exact replica of the person’s feet. We first give the shoes for trial to understand various fitting problems and then develop the final shoe based on the customer’s response.
What is the profile of your customers and how is their response with your products? People who fancy shoes understand what it is to get the best fit or right style that can range from middle class segment to the elite! What is the choice of technology and materials that you offer to your clients? Customized products are made best with “human technology”. Our products are all handmade from stage one to the final packaging. We make shoes ranging from leather to leatherite to old rugged jeans or a saree. What is the market size and how diversified it is for your business? Indian premium footwear has grown in the last five years. Multi-brand outlets are the best bet for this business. 3. Customers who want to use some particular material that they already own 4. Pet owners Concerns: Lack of awareness among customers
Large-scale Companies When it comes to large-scale companies, the concept of custom shoemaking takes a particular shape called “institutional shoes”. Institutional shoes are made on order and comprise a good batch production size. This batch size can start from 2,000 pairs of shoes and can go up to millions. Under this model, not every pair of shoe is offered a customization option. However, one set of customized option
would be applied to all the shoes of that batch. The customer companies or institutions can have these shoes trademarked for their use. However, companies do not tend to match other company’s shoes for the sake of their individual identity. So, they do not trouble themselves with the budget of getting trademark rights. The price of these shoes falls in the low-to-mid range for large companies. The shoes wear the names of the manufacturing company, which serves a dual purpose: the manufacturers get their shoes to low-and-mid segment of users; while the customer companies get the brand value of the manufacturing company.
There is one concern that bars some companies to cater to the market of institutional shoes. It is the production capacity. Many companies face trouble in manufacturing the required order size in a given time period. Some customer companies also use these shoes for promotional and marketing purposes. This is again a good segment of the market. Overall, institutional shoes give a good opportunity of business. Some people who did not want to be quoted, mentioned that the institutional segment was a major source of sustenance during the current economic slowdown. Price Range: Rs. 1,100-2,000/onwards USP: 1. Unique style for one particular company 2. Quality Assurance 3. Brand Value Customer Profile: 1. Companies 2. Corporate Houses 3. Laboratories 4. Educational Institutions Concerns: Order size exceeding the manufacturing capacity in a given time period
Conclusion While majority of the customers do buy shoes from retail shops, there is still a good number of people who like to go for custom shoemaking. The choice of footwear is driven by a lot of factors including price, usage, material, style (regional, regular, fashion), design and size. Getting all other elements under an affordable price drives a lot of customers for custom shoes. The business of custom shoes thrives on providing all options in the best possible manner so that the customer does not utter the famous adage in disgust: Only a shoe wearer knows where the shoe pinches! R DARE.CO.IN | OPPORTUNITIES | DECEMBER 2009 67
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from the
Five Reasons why you can’t become Sachin Tendulkar Posted by: Vivek Kumar in on the Website on Nov 14, 2009, Tagged in: Sachin Tendulkar, Sachin, cricket, business 1. Because already there are seven people who share Tendulkar’s looks. 2. Because like Roger Federer, you picked a sport in which winning or losing is in your own hands and the whole team does not count or exist. 3. Because you like to move with technology and do not like to wear strips with metallic hooks on your pads, but prefer velcro straps. 4. Because you were not rejected by Dennis Lillee in the MRF Academy as unfit for fast bowling and you dreamt of becoming Curtly Ambrose. 5. Because many tried and many failed, but Sachin Tendulkar was never intimidated or imitated. But is there still something that you can try in order to become a Sachin Tendulkar in whatever occupation, profession or business you are? Probably yes; and here is what it could be: •
You could be determined to put in all of your efforts in your ventures.
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You could maintain all fairness among the raging fury of guile and cunning atmosphere.
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You could be humble yet determined; you could be gentle yet strong; you could prefer not to be outspoken, but deliver when it matters.
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You could be apt in handling bouncers, googlies, and yorkers and your shot should trouble the best opponents in their dreams.
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You might not deliver as a captain, but you could be the best team member. While this became a bit poetical, I would like to discuss it in prose as well.
Like Sachin started his career 20 years ago, a new entrepreneur would start or have started or just started it. Now, the question is: how to emulate the feat of Sachin Tendulkar in business or entrepreneurship? Is it possible to play so fair and fine for so long? Is it possible to remain nervous when you enter a market, but be confident when you reach your shop (just like Tendulkar felt when he walked down the pavilion and after reaching at the crease he felt at home)? Is it possible that you could scale a height where people of almost all categories, temperament, thinking, strategies and countries admit that this person always puts his best, and tries with his heart though he may not win every match? Now to start, you need to ensure that you pick a game or a venture that you feel you can handle. Though you may not be an expert in the beginning, but you should have the passion to pursue it long enough. Be it a retail market, be it service industry or be it a manufacturing unit. You need to ensure that you are passionate about what you are doing. Once you make the first step, you need to ensure that you put your best efforts, energies and attention to learn and develop your range of expertise. You will also need the help of your family members or team members for that matter, which will ensure that you remain focused on your core area, while they manage other stuff. You will also need to be fair with your team members while making sure that you don’t leak talks outside the unit, even if they are not encouraging. Unlike some people who lose hope in the wake of cut-throat competition, you will need to make sure that though the industry trends may not encourage gentility, you still can have your own ways and carve a niche. You might not adopt a cut-throat strategy (like sledging), but put efforts to make sure you refine your technique and make things happen. There would be economic slowdowns just like tense and tough sessions in a test match where runs seem difficult to come and you will have to play safe. Minimizing the risks and biding your time would be the best strategy to adopt. Because, while you always would like to win, a draw could also be a better option if you should foresee a loss. At the end, ensuring high standards of individual commitment and sticking to your passion should ensure that you played like a champion though you might not win every match. Then perhaps a tycoon somewhere would tell his wife: this entrepreneur reminds me of myself. 68
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Size India—Anthropometric project on Indian driving population Posted by: Vivek Kumar in the news on Nov 13, 2009, Tagged in: Indian driving, Indian drivers, furniture, ergonomics, autos, ARAI, anthropometric, 3-D body scanner
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few days back, I went to attend a night concert of Hindustani classical music presented by Dr. Sapna Kachroo. It was to be held at the Epicentre, Gurgaon. While entering the gate of the auditorium, I was intrigued by something related to mechanical engineering. Coming from this background, I stopped and asked the persons attending the set-up. The set-up was a scanning cabin put up by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune. They had set up a cabin in which there were four cameras. They were made of German technology and scanned the body of the volunteers. They were collecting a sort of database of Indian populace for a project on anthropometric size measurement and had named it “Size India”. The project is sponsored by the Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India. The methodology included 3-D whole body scanners that would take body scans in four different postures—I volunteered myself for this database and they asked me to sit and stand in four different postures that somebody usually employs when he/she is driving a four-wheeler. (On the funny side, they asked me to remove my clothes and come up with bare minimum apparel on my body!) While all the set-up and technology appeared novel to me, I was oriented towards the applications of this data. Then they handed me some literature regarding that. Some of those applications mentioned in this literature include: • Design inputs for occupant cabin/auto interior design • Important database to improve drive and passenger ergonomics • Database for ready-made apparel/garment industry • Database for shoe and helmet manufacturers • 3-D animation and computer games • Design of anthropometric test devices (dummies, manikins) • Ergonomic design of furniture and other consumer goods Interestingly, I was hooked upon the furniture ergonomic application that has to play a major role in corporate houses. IT companies and BPOs have a good need of ergonomically created furniture because a lot of sitting is required at work. I remember due to inappropriate furniture, I developed a terrible backache when I had to sit for writing articles in my home-based business. I had to buy a Godrej chair just to make sure my back does not ache—I mentioned “a Godrej Chair” deliberately because it is costly and individuals might not like to spend that much on furniture. But given the importance of your body, you have to take care of it. Overall, this whole data collection and report making would find some fulfillment if some companies or perhaps entrepreneurs come out and start taking care of ergonomics while manufacturing furniture, helmets, shoes and other consumer goods. What say you?
Span of control: How many people can you supervise? Posted by: Krishna Kumar in Ideas on Sep 01, 2008, Tagged in: research, information, enterprise
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ost small organizations and bigger ones face the question of how small or how large should a team be, for the team to be effective. One of the key issues is how much can the leader handle.
The issues are obvious. Too many people under one leader, and people cannot connect with the leader and too few team members and you are underutilizing the leader and also creating a huge hierarchy in the organization. The issue is sufficiently important enough to attract the attention of management gurus for many years. V. A. Graicunas has calculated (1933) that for n subordinates reporting to a supervisor, the total number of relationships of the supervisor is equal to n + n (n-1) + n((2^n/2)-1). Given the nth power in the equation, the number of relationships just balloon out of control for even a small number of subordinates. Typically, in practice, in shop floors you see groups tending to 30, and nearer to the top of the hierarchy, you see groups tending to five. A quick summary of the span of control issue can be found here Sir Ian Hamilton, another management thinker in his 1922 book ‘The Soul And Body Of An Army’ writes, “The nearer we approach the supreme head of the whole organization, the more we ought to work towards groups of three; the closer we get to the foot of the whole organization, the more we work towards groups of six.” How big is your span of control?
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investor of the month
Sandeep Murthy is focused on investment opportunities in India. He also evaluates and manages investments in India for Kleiner Perkins CauďŹ eld and Byers (KPCB). Sandeep is the Chairman of Cleartrip Travel Services, and serves on the Boards of Info Edge India Pvt. Ltd. (the company that runs the websites Naukri. com, Jeevansathi, and 99Acres), Cleartrip, PayMate, MapMyIndia, FutureBazaar, ZoomIn, StudyPlaces Kotak Urja and inMobi. Before moving to India in 2005, Sandeep worked in the Internet space in the US. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the Wharton School. DARE speaks to Sandeep about his stint in the US and his VC experiences in India.
Sandeep Murthy Partner, Sherpalo Ventures
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What happened over the last one year was that even if I was ready to fund an early-stage, it was very clear that these companies would require more capital beyond the resources that we would provide.
ow is the VC ecosystem in the US different from India? One of the basic things is that the VC environment is in the earlystage here. We don’t have the same base of entrepreneurs who have been there, done that. In the US, entrepreneurs are in their second, third, fourth, fifth stages of venture capital funding and have build and sold businesses, taken businesses public, have scaled companies, and understood the nuances in a very short time. In India, we do have talent who are managing companies but we don’t have a lot of entrepreneurs who have completely experienced VC funding. but we are building a lot of them today. Look at the previous generation of entrepreneurs, a lot of them moved into the venture world. Venture funds in India are filled with people who had built and sold some of their businesses from the first boom. So that group is not starting new businesses; instead they are playing a very good role of mentoring new companies. So we are stuck in a position where we are searching for qualified entrepreneurs or even young entrepreneurs who have had a chance to do some work before.
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Have you tweaked your investment strategy in the last one year? We don’t have a dedicated fund for India. We have never been under any pressure to invest aggressively. We are simply looking for good opportunities and good companies.
In our first four years here, we have made ten investments. Last year we did not make any. It has been like this because as the downturn hit, the companies that we worked with, required a lot more focus and attention, and we were spending a lot more time with them. Our priority has always been to make businesses we ultimately invest in, successful. I spent 90 percent of my time with the existing portfolios because they needed more funds as they were reducing their external resources, so we decided to step in and take on some responsibilities and help them out. We did a lot of that in the past year. Now things have stabilized, and the companies have found much more stable footing, and there approach has matured. Did you not ponder on the proposals that came to you or there weren’t any good proposals at all? We did meetings, we looked at the proposals, we evaluated them, and we tried to understand them. What happened over the last one year was that even if I was ready to fund an early-stage, it was very clear that these companies would require more capital beyond the resources that we would provide. Therefore, it was a bit of a challenge that let me fund this business knowing that 18 months from now, they would need more money, and not knowing where the world would be when the given time frame is over. For us, it is not really a valuation game at that stage.
The stage we invest at, valuations don’t shift drastically in a good economy or a bad economy. We are dealing with what’s the opportunity, what’s the capital required to prove the business model, what’s the value that we provide, and how does the entrepreneur value that. Those elements aren’t as impacted by the external environment as is the next round. So when you don’t know what the horizon is for the next round, you start worrying about various things. It’s not that we did not spend any time with new businesses. Over the last three years, I have worked with at least three companies very closely and helped them craft and develop their business on their limited set of resources. And if they could prove themselves and become profitable then we would be happy to invest more later. We would then know that future financing would be easier for them. What support did you lend to your investee companies while they were dealing with the slowdown? It was more of an operational support. In many instances we were looking at cost base, revenue base, essential costs, overhead trimming, etc. and providing an ongoing external discipline to the business. What happens is that if you are running a company, you are so focused on the day- to-day activities and if you don’t have an active investor asking you ques-
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We are not trying to tell a person how to run his business. But if they took money from us, it was because they believed that we would add some value beyond the finances.
tions every now and then, you tend to become complacent when it comes to efficiency. Isn’t that “support” perceived as interference by the entrepreneurs? We are not trying to tell a person how to run his business. But if they took money from us, it was because they believed that we would add some value beyond the finances. That is why we take a lot of time before we invest in a company. As an entrepreneur, I was on the Board of Cleartrip for two years. To me the most valuable thing was to talk to Ram (Shriram) about what we were doing. Entrepreneurs need someone that they can talk to. They don’t see that as interference.
The anecdote is that one in ten investments is successful. The numbers say that one in ten is big, three in ten are moderate, another three just return the capital, and the rest fail. 72
What are some of the mistakes that first-time entrepreneurs make? I think losing track of expenses. You are in a mad rush to grow, especially in venture funding. You have a lot of pressure from a lot of different angles. But you have to keep track of costs. I think a lot of entrepreneurs get overwhelmed. Losing track of costs is one of the outcomes of the symptom of not tracking your data closely enough. Another area is taking the time to hire. In the hurry to support growth, often companies tend to hire just bodies. First you hire the most important people, taking the time with them and making sure they are right, they fit culturally, and they understand the vision. Wrong hiring can cause a lot of pain in going forward.
Can you take me through as to how the talks develop between a venture fund and an entrepreneur? If an entrepreneur sends something that looks interesting, in an area that I know about, we usually end up having a meeting. We discuss the plan, the challenges, the need for money, competition, and the numbers to get a general feel about the philosophy behind it. At that stage, we may come to the conclusion that it’s a good business but maybe not for us. If it continues from there, we try to get to know each other more. It is like getting married. It would be nice to know as much as you possibly can. At the end of the day, we have to share a common vision, and that takes some time to develop. What kind of returns a typical VC investment entails? Is that also discussed during the initial meetings? No it’s not discussed. At that stage we are simply saying that the market looks good, the team looks good, and we seem to have a good differentiator here. Let’s go and give it a shot. Beyond that, it is hard for us to think of what we should be getting in terms of returns. What is the rate of failure in VC funding? The anecdote is that one in ten investments is successful. The numbers say that one in ten is big, three in ten are moderate, another three just return the capital, and the rest fail. In India, it is still unproven because it is early years in VC funding. R
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Headstart
Startup Saturday: The Next Stop Startup Saturday continued in November all zeal. The event was held for the first time in Pune, and continued in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata.
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hink of a group that meets on the second Saturday of every month to provide entrepreneurs a platform to share, learn and discuss their plans, ideas and experiences about running a startup business. What sort of an event do you think it will turn out to be? Full of greasy businessmen, computer geeks, nagging sales people, and hapless chicks attending because they have nothing else to do? Some college students gathering up to discuss their premature ideas, which are often at best, juvenile? A soulless tiring discussion full of business jargons that no sane person understands? Wrong. Much against the above belief, SS held in Kolkata on 14th November was absolutely opposite in every possible way. Although held on Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day, there was nothing
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juvenile about it. A bunch of young, dynamic professionals and senior students met up for a very engaging interaction. Some had come to discuss their business plans, to generate new ideas, some to engage in networking, and still others simply in search of inspiration. The energy and enthusiasm of the crowd was infectious. SS Pune is the newest of all SS events in the country. It is aimed at deepening the skills of the startup community in this city and see more successful startups evolve through the creation of a vibrant innovative ecosystem. As with other cities, SS Pune will also be held on the second Saturday of each month. An SS session is about rich discussions on topics of interest to startups in the city. “Chaos and uncertainty–two things you must learn to live with if you want to be an entrepreneur,” started Surya, the presenter for the expert talk at SS Bangalore. One of the most awaited sessions, November’s SS saw the highest number of participants in the history of SS Bangalore. Over 170 people assembled at the IIMB auditorium on this brisk Saturday morning eagerly waiting for some insights on entrepreneurship. While the event started with a series of regular lightning pitches, the audience waited eagerly for the key attraction of the day, the expert talk and discussion on “To be or not to be an entrepreneur.” “You have an idea or maybe even a lot of them. But you don’t know where to start. You are confused,” continued Surya, adding, “then you can assume you are at the right place and fit to be an entrepreneur.” A huge collective sigh of relief spread through the audience. You could almost hear them thinking “thank God, I am not alone.” R
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CONTEST
Write a business idea around this picture at http://www.dare.co.in/contest/dec09 The idea can be as crazy as you wish, but should somehow link to the picture. Detailed business plan is not required. Last date for submission: December 21, 2009.
Two winners chosen by the Editor. The prize will be shipped only within India. Winners of the last contest is announced on the following pages.
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CONTEST Open Air Events Written by Nimit, November 21, 2009 It is always nice when we go to an open air restaurant and find animals like these just loitering around on the grass. It can be an interesting idea to breed ducks, swans, rabbits which can be rented for special occasions like weddings and functions that happen in open air. Having a presence of such harmless animals can give the party a natural feel and also can keep the children involved.
Manage your stress by having a pet Written by Venkatraman, November 21, 2009 Generally people want to get something out of everything. So to become a pet lover also, they should think that as a investment, not as a expense. Business idea: One day free workshop on "Stress management by having a pet" Studies clearly indicate that people with pets live longer, have low cholesterol etc. Having pets can benefit those who suffer seizure as many pets have been found to be capable of warning or predicting such occurrences. Research findings state that watching fish in an aquarium offers therapeutic effects, most noticeably, a beneficial decrease in blood pressure, muscle tension and pulse rate. People should clearly see the benefit of having a pet by attending the workshop. And this way, a branding needs to be done clearly. And tie up with hospitals to sell the pets for people suffering in stress [almost everybody ;-)] And we don't want them to suffer with some minor problems of having a pet. All these minor problems will be taken care by the idea "easyPetServices" already suggested. So in that way, we'll provide a chain of services to the users. Target market: Almost everybody.
Time-shared rural farms Written by Aditya Sahay, November 05, 2009 The idea is based on success of Farmville on Facebook. There may be quite a few people who like to live in a farm away from the city, but may not want to be ready to take it up as a permanent lifestyle. So Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d set up a company with rural farms in a lot of countrysides across India, sell slots of min. 2 weeks to max. 3 months to willing individuals/families to stay in the farms, and not just stay but experience it all - till fields, breed/care for ducks and hens, milk cows and goats. The farm staff will assist. Revenue comes from farm output + lease money.
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CONTEST Pet tracker & easyPETservices Written by Venkatraman, November 17, 2009 Idea 1: Pet tracker Are you worried that your pet will get lost. Just put a GPS (global positioning system) chain around his neck, you don’t need to worry anymore. You can track the location of your pet through the website. A website where GPS buckle chain can be purchased online. And after that u can track your pet in real time. It can be used for animals and birds. As the size of the GPS buckle chain reduces, prize ll increase. Idea 2: easyPETservices We’ll provide a range of services for pet lovers. It’ll be one-stop service provider for all your needs related to pets. Coaching pets: Right now, there are dog coaching is available. But many people have proved that even many other animals or birds can be trained. This coaching center will coach many other pets. Camping with pets : In many hotels, pets are not allowed, so best thing to do is camping. Providing a service to arrange a camp with your pet and also providing veterinary doctors service on demand at the camping site, It’ll attract many pet lovers. Pets day care: Are you going on a trip. We can take care of your pet. Charges are per day basis. Arranging pet sitters: We are having trained pet sitters. Charges are per day basis. Relocation services: Relocating your pet to other location. Mobile Veterinary: Just give us a call, We’ll send the veterinary doctor to your house.
Madame Tussauds for pets Written by Shikha Gupta, November 17, 2009 Here is the Madame Tussauds for the rich and the famous pets. In this unique museum, the wax models of the pets of the famous personalities shall be put on display. Here featured is the duck pet of Bill Gates.
Pet Library Written by Gracelyne Fernando, November 05, 2009 Of late, India is abuzz with wildlife sanctuary & adoption center news. This picture is to promote animal adoption / Pet for a week (or a certain timeline). How many kids we know keep asking their parents for a pet – dog, cat, rabbit, duck, parrot, bird, fish, bear etc. This pet “library” (more like) helps parents let kids adopt the pets for a while (say a week) and then they can continue keeping the pet or just give it back to the Pet Library. This is really a cool concept because, either way its a win-win situation. With a membership fee, the Pet library gets funded. Also the pets get a home, get fed, cared for. This would really work out. Just imagine how many of those animals could get a home, shelter. Remember: charity always begins at home! =)
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CONTEST WINNERS LAST MONTH'S BUSINESS IDEA CONTEST
Using ‘extinct species pictures and designs’ Hari P. K. In this modern era, people expect everything should be new. Let this idea satisfy this modern generation. This picture gave me innovative ideas for following business: 1. Toy Business: Making the toys in the model of extinct species is one of the massive ideas in the toy business. 2. Art Gallery: Creating different arts of extinct species will impress people to buy our products which looks different from all. 3. Printing Business: Printing sector can use the ‘extinct species’ picture to be printed in their products. Example: Printing the gigantic picture of Mamoth, White-tailed eagle in the background of cups, visiting cards etc. This will be attractive and look different from other manufacturer’s products. 4. Fashion Apparel Business: Fashion manufacturers can use ‘extinct species designs’ in their products. Example: Printing the design or picture of ‘Labrador Duck’ in jeans pockets, T-shirts, hand bags etc, which looks fashionable and different from other wears. 5. Ceramic Business: Make products in the format of extinct species which will create a great demand in market. Needs: 1. Need to collect all beautiful extinct species picture. 2. Organize a creative team to select which design suits which kind of our products. 3. Small manufacturing unit. Advantage: 1. Since people do not have much idea about extinct species. our product will be widely accepted in the market. 2. Our products will be more impressive and it will be entirely different from other competitor.
Quack quack! Who is there ? Abishek G. This is a promotion for animal actors trained at the new animal training center for movies and short films. Beauty of this shot is that the ducks are trained so well that they are actually watching a lawn tennis tournament in a jungle resort. So the plan is to form a business, the core activity of which is to rent out well-trained animals for movies/ short films etc. Advantage: Ever growing media/cinema industry Eg: Take animal rights personnels on regular tours in the business premises to communicate how well the animals are treated and educate them on the facilities provided. Bonus: You might just win appreciation from Government/Animal rights if you move a step ahead and adopt lost animals and train them.
CONGRATULATIONS! Please allow 30 days for dispatch of prizes.
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blogs/opinion
Should your brand scream? There is a great opportunity to forge a more intimate bond with the people you seek to attract to your brand /Rupin Jayal
B “Daag achche hain” turns a moment of horror for a mother into a moment of warm bonding without needing to scream the benefits of the washing powder. This creates a far stronger bond than communication littered with meaningless acronyms and pseudoscientific claims.
The author is Director-Strategic Planning at M&C Saatchi.
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rands, today, claim to penetrate the consumer’s psyche in every possible way they can; to the extent that some even asserting that the particular brand can even change their lives! This might sound to be a bit of an exaggeration but not too far from reality. As brands jostle for mind and market space there is an increasing stridency in their communication. This isn’t just in the most obvious area of new offerings but in other areas as well. There is more overt and often more risque use of sexuality. Issues are depicted in ways that are more extreme. Sports brands, whether TV programs or providers of equipment, increasingly depict sporting contests in a language that is more gladiatorial than just competitive. There appears a greater intent to out-shout and out-shock just to stand apart from the crowd. But when the “crowd” is doing the same, it just becomes a cacophony. We live in a climate of anxiety. Yes, the world economy and especially the emerging market economies appear to have left the worst behind them. But any talk of emerging from the economic meltdown is inevitably accompanied by caveats of a W or U-shaped recov-
ery that is expected to be weak and prolonged. Hence it is not a climate of burgeoning and uncontrolled optimism like few years back. There is a sense of everything being very finely poised at the moment with the possibility of everything going belly-up with the slightest adverse provocation. In such a climate should your brand scream or soothe? Should your brand depict a quiet optimism or seek to out-shout? As channels of communication diversify and the Internet becomes an integral part of the communications mix, there is a great opportunity to forge a more intimate bond with the people you seek to attract to your brand. With such huge challenges facing the human race—economic, environmental, social, demographic, etc., brands need to bring about a meaningful difference in people’s lives and then communicate it in a way using the appropriate channels. Rather than tell the world that what you are doing is revolutionary, let the world come to that conclusion based on the facts and actions that you present to them. Show rather than tell. Rather than “hitching” your brand-wagon to the latest trend, look deeper into
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what is engaging, infuriating, exciting, scaring and delighting people and create a deeper and more meaningful connection. If technology is exciting but increasingly bewildering, become an icon of innovative simplicity that enables people to do more with it rather than waste time deciphering it. If people are concerned about the future and economic security, then enable them to find more modest ways to treat themselves to life’s luxuries. If the household budget is straining the wallet as aspirations wrestle with necessities, then advise people on ways the two can be made to work together. Can food companies help people buy bigger refrigerators, can detergent companies help people buy the latest washing machine, and can entertainment software brands help people buy the latest entertainment equipment? With enough imagination, almost any category can help people counteract anxiety and increase their sense of optimism. This needs to be done using myriad channels of communication and not just doggedly sticking to the usual mass media options. Brand stridency needs to be replaced by brand engagement. This is not just a superficial shift in terms of communication but in the way brands interact with people. From the outset, custodians of the brand need to ask “In what way, big or small, does this brand make a difference to people’s lives?” Often these custodians are laudably modest. After all how can a packet of chips make a difference to someone’s life? But if that someone is out on a date, it could become that delicious moment when two hands touch for the first time while reaching for the last chip. It could become the moment when a group of friends in heated argument bond again. It could become the means
for rapprochement between warring generations. It could become a means for a society that is still very inhibited to momentarily relax and escape from their inhibitions. And this is just talking about a “humble” potato chip! There is not doubt that different categories play very different roles in people’s lives. However, that does not mean necessarily a lesser or greater role. If that was the case then how could a component in a computer become more famous than the computer itself (Intel)? How could an “engine” that merely helps you search for stuff on the Internet become an iconic brand? How can tea try and awaken a nation from growing ennui? How can underwear create a covert sexual revolution? And how can a deodorant help the underdog gain confidence? The fact is that the real stridency in the everyday lives of people is the daily challenges that they face. Life-changing events are relatively few and thankfully mostly far between. An altercation on the road over a trivial infringement can ruin someone’s day. Forgetting an anniversary can rock a relationship. A special, unexpected ‘thank you’ can lighten the load of a strenuous time. There are infinite ways in which brands could invest in those moments and sooth or celebrate the stridency that they generate. “Daag achche hain” turns a moment of horror for a mother into a moment of warm bonding without needing to scream the benefits of the washing powder. This creates a far stronger bond than communication littered with meaningless acronyms and pseudo-scientific claims. It turns a harsh moment into one of humanity and thus creates an unbreakable emotional connect. The fundamental change of direction is to make the exclamation
a response rather than treat it as a stimulus. It is rather like when, in a given context, a person can evoke a wave of laughter with a witty one-liner. Sure he can also behave like a joker all evening and elicit a similar amount of laughter; but whereas in the former instance he will be remembered for his wit, in the latter case he will merely be seen as wacky. Similarly, in times of trouble there are those who go into paroxysms of grief and others who just quietly come to your aid;which would you rather have by your side? There are those who blanket you with concern and others who you know care about you and are available whenever you need them without the extra drama. In our lives, meaningful connections always win over stridency. And long term brands are usually ones that have discovered their own language and ability to surprise, leaving the delighted exclamations to their customers. When Steve Jobs (conferred with “CEO of the decade” by Fortune magazine) presents the latest wave of invention from Apple, his slides are a tribute to minimalism. He does not leap and bound around like a brand dervish but instead with wit, knowledge and insight engages with his legions of believers. He understands the difference between vibrant and loud. He gets people to say “wow” instead of screaming it himself. The difference is between stridency and stimulus. Perhaps greater faith in your brand and the products and/or services that it encompasses will reduce the need for stridency. The danger is, as the immortal bard Shakespeare puts it “The lady doth protest too much, me thinks” leading to communication that is “full of sound and fury signifying nothing”. Your brand deserves better. R DARE.CO.IN | COLUMN | DECEMBER 2009 81
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Where Did All the Money Go? As the share markets seesawed, bank deposits kept up their steady growth. Was it a case of investors opting for security in troubled times? /Krishna Kumar
BSE Marcap Aggregate Bank deposits Total
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he recent global slowdown (while one is still not sure whether it is completely over or not, there are no doubts at all on its global impact) saw severe constriction in the amount of liquidity in the economic systems across the world. The stock markets tanking 82
and disposable income levels getting reduced was visible throughout the world. What was not as visible was what happened to the liquidity that was available. Typically in India, there are a few standard options for deploying savings. The stock market, mutual
funds, real estate, gold and bank deposits are the most preferred options in this country. During the recession, the real estate sector was one of the worst affected and so, it is safe to assume that not too many fresh funds went into it. That brings us to gold. Gold was one of the few
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Aggregate Bank Deposits Mutual Funds - Assets under Manageent
When there is fear, bank deposit levels go up, and when there is optimism, market cap levels go up — Jagannadham Thunuguntla Equity Head, SMC Capitals
bright spots (if one might call it that) of the recession; with investors making a beeline for the yellow metal and thereby keeping its price on an upward trajectory in an otherwise downward spiraling market. Talking about bank deposits, what happened to bank deposits during this period? Did they take a hit? And how much? SMC Capital consolidated some data which proves the opposite. Bank deposits actually maintained their steady growth rate right through the tough times. The first graph depicts the changes in market capitalization at the Bombay Stock Exchange and the aggregate growth in bank deposits from January 2007 to August2009; a period which covers the boom before the bust, the bust itself and the coming-out period. As can be seen, the BSE market capitalization seesawed like a sine wave during this period, reflecting the turbulence of those times. According to the company’s analysis, “By the peak of the bull market, that is by December 2007, the BSE market capitalization was 2.35 times the total deposits held by all scheduled banks in India. And by the time the markets touched the bottom in February 2009, the market capitalization level had fallen to just 74 percent of
all bank deposits (which itself had grown during the period). All this while, the bank graph kept growing steadily, which seems contrary to the expectations. In a declining economy, with surplus cash in the system getting tight, bank deposits should also be affected. Right? In order to explain this anomaly, we need to consider the following. First of all, the Indian economy was not in a recession. India was still growing, albeit at a slower rate. So, there was surplus being generated in the system. All these surpluses, instead of heading towards the capital markets, made their way to safer options of bank deposits! It is also safe to assume that what ever cash could exit out of troubled asset classes like real estate and the capital markets also made their way to the safe havens of the banks! According to Jagannadham Tunuguntla, this is a classic example of how far optimism affects fund flows. Before we finish this piece, it may be pertinent to look at one more data set – the equity mutual funds. Assets managed by mutual funds form only a small percent of market capitalization of the stock exchanges. Needless to say, they also show the same volatility as the share markets themselves! R DARE.CO.IN | STATISTIC | DECEMBER 2009 83
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e are a well-known pre-school and day care brand in Delhi – “Brats n Cuties”. We are looking for expansion through franchising. We want to open our branches across India. Our pre-school has various features that are different from the regular pre-schools and day care. We also provide startup support, site selection support, training support and other required assistance for setting up and successfully running your pre-school. Contact us for exciting franchise opportunities. Meenakshi Sengupta
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have 170- sq. ft. space available here in Chittorgarh (Raj.) on Pratap Sentu Marg for installing ATM machine; this is the central part of the city. Kshitij Kumar Chulet PREMIUM
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am the owner of GalaKidz, a company that focuses on educating children through entertainment. Currently, we offer various classes and organize parties for children and teenagers. Now I would like to take my business further by setting up a day care/ pre-school service. Could someone please help me with information like investment, methods/process, legal procedure, etc? Sharma Vikas
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have a concept on remote healthcare services–an end-to-end healthcare delivery system for the developing world. I am looking for people who want to be a part of the core team and also angel funding to kick off the pilot. Tarunesh
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e have a play school/preschool concept with daywise curriculum. We are looking for a channel partner to promote franchiser/franchisee module. Those with 300-400 sq.ft. office space or ready to start a play school in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, or Delhi can become our channel partner. Sunil Managuli
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an Sarokar is working with socially-excluded groups on the issues of community organization, mobilization, livelihood, capacity building, gender equity, domestic violence as well spreading awareness on issues of environment, drugs, HIV/AIDS and so on. We work mainly in Giridih and Ranchi districts in Jharkhand. We are looking for partnerships to fund our project as well as provide resources for accelerating our efforts. Jorge, Dr. Y. P. Thakur
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ublished: November 2009 Dhirendra was planning to scale up his social venture in the education sector. Response: November 2009 We can definitely help you! Please drop in a line; let’s take things forward from there. Varsha I read your advertisement in DARE about partners and investors. I am interested in both, depending on the scale and quality of your work and plans. Himanshu
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ublished: November 2009 Ramesh Daryapurkar was working in the field of biogas generation from industrial wastewater and was looking to explore business opportunities in biogas storage. Response: November 2009 We have a land in Nasik and if you think this is the city where you are looking for opportunities for biogas storage, then please let us know your requirements and needs. Nilesh Bahalkar
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have completed my education from VGSOM, IIT-Kharagpur and I am working with an Indian retail organization as a marketing manager. I already have entrepreneurial experience in running an online t-shirt design firm. I have recently resigned from the services to pursue my interest in starting a crafts center
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in Chennai. I am planning to expand it further to other southern cities in due course. I am looking forward to pre-seed funds who would be interested in providing me with mentorship and funding. Vaasu
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have been working in the development sector in the area of sustainable livelihood for the last 15 years in Madhya Pradesh with a long term presence in Mandla (130 villages) and Bhopal city slums. We have a federation of 165 NGOs in Madhya Pradesh and have a close network of more than 45 likeminded NGOs. We are keen to set up a vocational training center for people with disabilities and exservicemen leading to employment in the corporate sector or self employment. We are looking for experts, partners, ideas, advice and mentors on the subject to proceed further. Anand
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am presently working (business planning) on my brainchild related to banks, which is completely unique in its functions compared to the traditional banks and does not exist in India yet. I am looking for a mentor who could assist me to execute my beautiful and practical plan. Curiously looking for guidance and support. S.P. Guruprasad
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am a CA intending to set up a firm and looking for like-minded CA professionals to join hands. Those interested can contact me. Nishant Choudhary
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e are based at Howrah, West Bengal and belong to the micro industries sector, active in manufacturing different engineering components. As a part of diversification, we are looking for some projects, preferably having alliance with engineering activities like solar energy, wind power or any other upcoming and
prospective activities. Advices, guidance, ideas and supports are solicited from consultants and any business groups. Amit Nag PREMIUM
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have been involved in developing and running several businesses that have a wide social (especially rural) footprint. My present venture is a project called ‘SoyFit,’ under which we have established a complete system of decentralized production of Soya-based health products in geographically spread out micro-industries (called ‘franchisees’), under the same raw material, quality standards and brand. Extensive training, technical support, marketing support and hand-holding are available. The project in its simplest form, requires an investment of Rs 6-8 lakh from a franchisee in typical B cities, and gives back a net profit of Rs 1 lakh, if operated on 30 percent installed capacity. We currently have five units operational in North India and are expanding to another ten by November 2009. We wish to scale it up to forty units across India by December 2009. The whole project is bankable and especially designed with youth employment in mind. Health foods have a good future presence and market due to rising health awareness. At a later date, we intend to involve more youth for marketing of this product line under micro-financing project ‘Kaamyaab Yuva’. We would like to get in touch with small entrepreneurs willing to set up franchisee units in their areas. Enablers of youth employment, angel investors, and NGOs who think they can carry this project further should contact us. Dilip Inuganti
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am planning to open a chain of cafes in India. I am looking for investors who can invest a minimum of Rs15 lakh. You can get your capital within two to three months of time. Expected rate of return is 35percent per month. To user and investors, I am planning to open a multi-specialized IT cafe with a small investment. Interested persons are welcome to register and sound advices on loans, etc will also be appreciated. Persons interested in investing in this can contact me. Balamurugan
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e are interested in contacting growing SMEs and large Indian companies looking to enter lucrative US markets. Innoversant Solutions Pvt. Ltd is a boutique, multi-disciplinary management consulting firm assisting international and domestic businesses and economic development agencies. We are the official representatives of Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA), Virginia, USA. We assist growing Indian companies with their expansion/entry into the US by locating in Fairfax County, Virginia. We at FCEDA provide a wide array of information and free and confidential services to help Indian businesses locate or expand commercial operations in Fairfax County, US. The FCEDA promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a world-class center of commerce and trade and the technology hub of the
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e are seeking for a mentor who can guide us on business opportunities available in saltrelated products. Hiten Patwa
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east coast. Every year the FCEDA assists hundreds of companies with expansion or relocation needs. Due to the close proximity to Washington DC, the Dulles and Reagan Airports, excellent access to the North American markets, a large cluster of technology companies in the county and excellent business environment, Fairfax County is one of the best locations for growing Indian companies to set up their US business. In fact, Fairfax County was recently called “one of the great economic success stories of our time” by Time Magazine. Siddharth Sarawgi
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am running a BPO concern in the vertical of publishing. Lately, we have had a partnership with a US-based concern, for which I am looking forward for a partner, who can hold 49 percent shares. The business is based out of Coimbatore. Saravanan
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am a single woman planning to start a gym. I am neither working nor an income tax payee. My business capital estimation is Rs 20 lakh. I would like to go for a
loan with less interest rate. I would like to know where can I avail a100 percent loan and how can I go about it. I have a site in Bangalore; can I mortgage that and get a loan? Preetha Devi
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am a working professional aspiring to be an entrepreneur, basically on the lookout for new ideas. Just thought about these two ideas: 1) There are many upper middle class people wanting to wear designer clothes, but can’t afford them or have to hunt around for a good fashion designer. Was wondering if I could bring a few designers under one roof and provide affordable and customized designer wear for my target customers? Need some more ideas to refine this business model and some guidance on how I can go about this. 2) People spend exorbitant amount of money on buying dresses and accessories for their marriage, most of which they never use. Can I bring in a model where I can buy them and rent it out? Is this a viable plan? Unni Vidhya
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e are a company presently engaged in field of transportation, materials supply and construction. We have experience in handling small scale consignments with some of reputed companies like L&TECC (TISCO, Jamshedpur), IVRCL pipeline
(Bihar), BSCC&C (earthwork), etc. Presently we have our own crusher in Jamshedpur for supply of stone chips with L&TECC. At present, our financial situation is not very sound and we need to finish our projects with L&TECC and also bid for fresh contracts from other companies. We require a person who can help us in providing financial assistance. It’ll be a pleasure if the person joins hands with us to fine tune our work and expand as there are a lot more opportunities in Tatanagar and nearby places. Deepak
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ublished: September 2009 PREMIUM Rahul wanted to have a sales adviser for an Internet-based startup company.
Response: November 2009 I have done an MBA from one of the topmost institutes of the country, willing to join you to enhance your sales. Please tell me about your business in detail. Bhawani Shanker I would like to contact Mr. Rahul. G. Vijaya Lakshmi
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ublished: September 2009 Sanjay Kothari wanted to have more details on the mango kernel extraction business. Response: November 2009 I have the infrastructure and know-how about mango kernel butter making. Ravi S.
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Online resources for aspiring entrepreneurs Gone are the days when you had to run from pillar to post to figure out the most efficient ways to fire up your business. While starting a venture is still far from being “just a click away” the internet has certainly ensured that you literally do have enough information at your fingertips and that once you’ve sorted regulatory issues out, you can tap into several online resources to get yourself up an running. DARE takes a look at some of the best online resources, including some Indiaspecific ones, that budding entrepreneurs can tap into. /Aman Malik Biznik (http://biznik.com): This is an award winning effort, strictly for those looking to start businesses and does not connect job seekers to potential employers.
Cofoundr (http://cofoundr.com): A private social network where entrepreneurs can find partners make teams. Efactor (http://efactor.com): This is one site where you’ll find members across several countries. Extremely good for networking if you are looking for international business collaborations. Entrepreneur Connect (http://econnect.entrepreneur.com): Apart from the usual social networking
CEO World (http://ceoworld.biz): Lets top level management network, and therefore gives small businesses and startups a platform to share knowledge and expertise. 88
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functions, it allows users to make profiles, market their business, connect with potential partners and write blogs. First Pitch (http://fastpitchnetworking.com): This site allows real time interaction among members. Also allows members to blog, send emails, send press releases etc in a bid to facilitate exchange of business.
Partner Up (http://partnerup.com): Apart from l ooking for potential employees and business partners, entrepreneurs can also find real estate for setting up shop.
Fundfindr (http://fundfindr.com): Links entrepreneurs with angel investors, financiers and service providers. Also allows discussions, blogs etc.
Perfect Business (http://perfectbusiness.com): An extremely efficiently managed site, which, besides linking people up with each other, also gets budding entrepreneurs some much needed advice from those that have trodden the path before. Further, you can make pitches, make business plans and find investors.
Go Big Network (http://gobignetwork.com): Helps budding entrepreneurs get in touch with the works-financiers, employees, business plan experts and service providers. Linkedin (http://linkedin.com): One of the best known social networking sites, it can be a very good resource for entrepreneurs who can connect with potential moneybags and employees using the same network.
Startup Nation (http://startupnation.com): As goes the name, it is primarily supposed to be a netwoking tool for startups. Also, offers services like discussion forums, podcasts and seminars on demand. The Funded (http://thefunded.com): Lets financiers and entrepreneurs meet each other find the best match using a parameterized matrix that looks at location, type and level of funding and lets members comment on various issues and rate financiers. DARE.CO.IN | RESOURCE | DECEMBER 2009 89
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Upspring (http://upspring.com): Offers a good window to small businesses to connect with the world and offers them tools that they can use to promote their businesses.
Young Entrepreneur (http://youngentrepreneur. com): This is a global resource that aims to link entrepreneurs to academia, service providers and financiers. Also has sections where successful entrepreneurs are interviewed and important information is shared.
Start-up Duniya (http://startupdunia.com): A largely IT centric social networking site, also offers useful job listings. Pluggdin (http://pluggd.in): Apart from the usual social networking features, this site has a market research section that offers useful and in depth analysis of marketing trends.
Think Change India (http://thinkchangeindia.org): The USP of this site is that it helps provide a platform for ‘social entrepreneurship’ and ‘social innovation’ in India, one of the only sites meant exclusive for this genre of business.
India-centric resources The Indian sites, though well meaning efforts, are mostly clones of the global resources mentioned above. However, not only do they lack the scale of their global counterparts, they also have some distance to go when it comes to their instrumentality in effecting information discovery. Yet, some efforts that deserve a mention are:
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National Entrepreneurship Network (http://nenonline.org): This network, established in 2003, offers one of the best platforms in the country for entrepreneurs to connect with one another. It follows the ‘partnership approach’ which, it claims, is both scalable and effective, and has helped launch and support over 300 entrepreneurs since inception. R
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blogs/opinion
Country As An Entrepreneur: Lessons From The Dragon Economy
I /Anurag Batra
China reiterated another key trait that entrepreneurs need to have and that is to do business on its own terms.
Anurag Batra is real life, first-generation entrepreneur who is Much Below Average (MBA) from the prestigious Management Development Institute, MDI. When he is not busy writing such columns, he can be reached at anuragbatrayo@gmail.com. Anurag is the founder and editor-in-chief of exchange4media group which includes exchange4media.com.
was in China last week, three years since my last visit there; I realized that Beijing has only grown bigger and better. China’s economy continues to outperform every other economy and is the biggest investor in America. While I was there in Beijing, Barack Obama was just finishing his first visit to China and underlying China’s importance to the American superpower. All this prompted me to think why China has done so well apart from the obvious reasons that it is not a democracy and decisions are hence implemented fast and efficiently. I asked myself and few of my Chinese friends, is it because of great entrepreneurs and outstanding entrepreneurship in China or because the entrepreneurs got lucky to be in a market led by a government that was itself behaving like an entrepreneur? China was creating wealth for itself and its constituents. I started to look at China as an entrepreneur and at the lessons we all could learn, back home. Some of these were very obvious and universal truths and some were new that needed attention. My first inference was that China started early, dreamt big and stayed the course. That’s a great lesson for an entrepreneur. It’s simple, but sometimes not so easy to follow over a period of time. China is about size, scale and surpassing pre-established benchmarks. Entrepreneurs also need to do the same if they need to stay relevant and profitable in an ever changing business and socio-political environment.
China as a country, and as an entrepreneur, has almost zero sovereign risk and hence attracts talent and capital. It has another valuable lesson to teach: while you continue to build on your own enterprise, talent and your skill set, you should invest in other ventures to reap early benefits. Look at China’s investments in America and elsewhere in the world and you will see that China has played the role of a venture capitalist or an angel investor. It has huge investments in Africa and like any smart entrepreneur has a diversified portfolio. China reiterated another key trait that entrepreneurs need to have and that is to do business on its own terms. It is flexible, but by and large does business on its own terms and has made strategic choices for the long term, avoiding short cuts. You need to have a Chinese partner for most businesses including magazines. China is also working on its weaknesses as an entrepreneur like improving English literacy. It continues to encourage entrepreneurs to leverage its domestic economy. It is thriving beyond Shanghai, Beijing, Shenjen and Ghounghzhou. It has integrated technology and talent from around the world and has embraced it with traditional Chinese culture and its strengths in medicine, culture and craftsmanship. China is focusing on its infrastructure development that will itself be an entrepreneurship enabler. Countries, including India, should observe China and implement the lessons learnt to emerge successful globally and turn their disadvantages into advantages. R DARE.CO.IN | COLOMN | DECEMBER 2009 91
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Organizations DARE.CO.IN
covered in this issue, in alphabetic order; first appearance
99Acres ................................................................. 70
IIM Bangalore ........................................................ 58
Perfect Business .................................................... 89
Accenture .............................................................. 55
Indian Angel Network ............................................ 97
Philips .................................................................... 34
Apeejay Surendra Group of Hotels ........................ 21
Indian Hotels Company ......................................... 18
Phillies ................................................................... 24
Apple ..................................................................... 81
Indian Oil Foundation ............................................ 21
Pizza Hut ............................................................... 44
Bajaj....................................................................... 34
IndiaRocks ............................................................. 55
Pluggdin................................................................. 90
Barista ................................................................... 44
Info Edge ............................................................... 70
BCIL....................................................................... 37
Infosys Technologies ............................................ 60
BigAdda ................................................................. 55
inMobi .................................................................... 70
Biosense ................................................................ 97
INTACH .................................................................. 18
Biotech Consortium India Limited.......................... 37
Intel ........................................................................ 81
Birlasoft & Headstrong........................................... 55
Jeevansathi............................................................ 70
Biznik ..................................................................... 88
KFC ....................................................................... 44
Bombay Stock Exchange....................................... 83
Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers ....................... 70
BusinessWeek ....................................................... 25
Legalease Solutions ............................................. 60
Café Coffee Day .................................................... 44
Linkedin ................................................................. 89
Canon .................................................................... 45
LJ International ...................................................... 37
CEO World............................................................. 88
Maharaja Whiteline ................................................ 32
Startup Nation ....................................................... 89
Cleartrip Travel Services........................................ 70
MapMyIndia ........................................................... 70
State Trading Corporation ...................................... 21
Cofoundr ............................................................... 88
McDonald fs........................................................... 44
Sterlite Industries................................................... 17
Cohiba ................................................................... 24
MediVed Innovations ............................................. 40
Swati Modo Creation ............................................. 66
CricInfo .................................................................. 55
Mphasis ................................................................. 55
Taj Hotels Company .............................................. 52
DARE ..................................................................... 97
Myntra.com ............................................................ 54
Tech Mahindra ....................................................... 55
Dell India................................................................ 31
National Entrepreneurship Network ...................... 90
The Funded ........................................................... 89
Efactor ................................................................... 88 eGali ...................................................................... 16
National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ............................. 31
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.................................................... 18
Electrolux ............................................................... 34
Naukri.com ............................................................ 70
The National Tiger Conservation Authority ............ 46
Entrepreneur Connect .......................................... 88
NEN ....................................................................... 97
Envision Holistic Management Consulting ............ 31
New Ventures India ................................................ 97
Epicentre ............................................................... 25
Nikkor .................................................................... 45
Euromonitor International ...................................... 24
Nikon ..................................................................... 45
Everest Industries .................................................. 59
NIMSME ................................................................ 31
Executive Access................................................... 58
Oberoi Group of Hotels.......................................... 21
First Pitch .............................................................. 89
Olympus ................................................................ 45
Fortune .................................................................. 81
Open Coffee Club .................................................. 97
Fundfindr ............................................................... 89
Oscar Shoes .......................................................... 66
FutureBazaar ......................................................... 70
Partagás ................................................................ 24
Go Big Network ..................................................... 89
Partner Up ............................................................. 89
World Monuments Fund ........................................ 21
Grant Medical College ........................................... 97
PayMate................................................................. 70
Yahoo..................................................................... 55
iBibo....................................................................... 55
PEC ....................................................................... 21
Young Entrepreneur............................................... 90
IIM Ahmedabad ..................................................... 97
Penguin.................................................................. 17
ZoomIn .................................................................. 70
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plugHR................................................................... 31 Proto.in .................................................................. 97 Reliance Web World .............................................. 55 Routledge .............................................................. 17 SAB Miller .............................................................. 55 Sherpalo Ventures ................................................. 70 Simpson and Brown .............................................. 22 SMC Capital .......................................................... 83 Sony ...................................................................... 45 Start-up Duniya ..................................................... 90
Think Change India ............................................... 90 TiE ......................................................................... 97 UCO Bank ............................................................. 21 Upspring ................................................................ 90 Usha ...................................................................... 34 Vedanta Resources ............................................... 17 VisViva................................................................... 96 VLCC ..................................................................... 51 VMukti.................................................................... 96
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People DARE.CO.IN
covered in this issue, in alphabetic order; first appearance
Ajit Kerkar ........................................................................................................... 52 Allen Lane........................................................................................................... 17 Amita Baig .......................................................................................................... 20 Anil Ambani ........................................................................................................ 17 Anil Srinivas ........................................................................................................ 31 B.S. Yediyurappa ................................................................................................. 17 Baichung Bhutia ................................................................................................. 64 Chetna Manglik................................................................................................... 31 Chukka Kondaiah ............................................................................................... 31 Darshan Nayak ................................................................................................... 96 Dinesh Puri ......................................................................................................... 40 Dr. Chukka Kondaiah .......................................................................................... 31 Dr. Shiv Kant Shukla ........................................................................................... 37 Hardik Sanghvi ................................................................................................... 96
DARE is not an acronym. It represents the daring spirit of the entrepreneur.
Harish Kumar...................................................................................................... 32 James Simpson .................................................................................................. 22 Joseph Stiglitz .................................................................................................... 17 Karan Singh ........................................................................................................ 25 Kumar Gaurav .................................................................................................... 25 Laura Parkin ....................................................................................................... 97 M. Thomas Jacob ............................................................................................... 37 Madhu Koda ....................................................................................................... 16 Mahindra Singh Dhoni ........................................................................................ 64 Manmohan Singh ............................................................................................... 16 Mark Weber ........................................................................................................ 21
The red color for the R of DARE represents the fire in the belly of the entrepreneur. You could think of the D representing the face, A representing the chest, R representing the belly and E representing the feet of the human body. Hence the red R.
Mukesh Ambani .................................................................................................. 17 Mukesh Bansal ................................................................................................... 54 Priyanka Sharma ................................................................................................ 25 Ram Kishan ........................................................................................................ 65
The entrepreneur dares to do things. (S)he dares to do things differently
Richard M. Auty .................................................................................................. 17 S Nandakumar.................................................................................................... 31 Ronesh Puri ........................................................................................................ 58 S. K. Bansal ........................................................................................................ 21 Sachin Tendulkar ................................................................................................ 49 Sandeep Murthy ................................................................................................. 70 Sania Mirza......................................................................................................... 64 Sanjeev Bikhchandani ........................................................................................ 50 Siddhartha Srivastava ........................................................................................ 96 Steve Jobs .......................................................................................................... 81 Sunil Gavaskar ................................................................................................... 50 Swati Mehrotra ................................................................................................... 66 Vandana Luthra .................................................................................................. 51 Vipul Jain ............................................................................................................ 52 William Shakespeare .......................................................................................... 81
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Celebrating the land of opportunities Entrepreneurship Week India 2010 focuses attention on India’s critical challenges – and greatest opportunities
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pportunity: Anemia is the single largest cause of maternal mortality in India. 1 million deaths a year are directly caused by anemia around the world. Solution: Darshan Nayak’s Biosense produces a portable and affordable easy-to-use device for point-of-care screening and monitoring of anemia for rural India Impact: 3,000 women to be screened for anemia in primary healthcare centers in Parol and Bhatane in Maharashtra for a pilot study.
applications for 4,000 seats in IITs, 5,50,000 seats for 350 seats in IAS. Almost 80% of these applicants are from Tier II and III cities that don’t have good training facilities to face this competition. Solution: VMukti, founded by Hardik Sanghvi, has tied up with three leading preparatory schools to provide tele-education through an online video communication platform to students in Tier II and III cities Impact: In one month, 1,000 students have enrolled in 5 Tier II cities.
Reach to increase to 50 Tier II and III cities by March-end. Three young startups make a difference in the lives of 8,000 people. Imagine the impact if there are thousands of such startups transforming India’s challenges into opportunities? By exposing young people to not only the challenges but also sharing examples of existing solutions, Entrepreneurship Week India 2010 aims to trigger thousands of worldchanging ideas to tackle the big
Opportunity: India is 35% energy deficient Solution: Using cotton stock for biomass energy generation. Siddhartha Srivastava’s startup VisViva is organizing a robust form of collection of cotton stock from farmers, to enable renewable energy generation for furnaces. Two briquette units have been set up on a revenue sharing basis with farmers to produce eco-friendly fuel. Impact: A supplement to coal, the biomass energy generated by each unit is equivalent to lighting up ten villages. In addition, 4000 farmers in 50 villages in Maharashtra have benefited with a 15% increase in revenue through sale of cotton stock. Opportunity: Tough competition to get into the country’s best professional institutes. 12,00,000 96
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problems the country faces today. Running for the fourth year, lakhs of students across the country will come together to take part in the week-long awareness campaign, from February 6 to 13, to focus public attention on opportunities in today’s India. Last year, E Week witnessed participation from over 360 institutes and 400,000 students across 30 cities in India. 18 entrepreneurial organizations partnered for E Week India 2009, including Indian Angel Network, TiE, Proto.in, Open Coffee Club, New Ventures India and DARE.
E Week India 2010 Theme: India – Opportunities Within Today, India faces daunting challenges across many sectors: water, health care, waste management, energy, education. And as the pressure mounts, and the cost of technology drops, these challenges are beginning to provide enormous economic opportunities to those who solve them. Of the growing number of new and future entrepreneurs in India, how many are targeting these opportunities? Not many, and certainly not enough, feels Laura Parkin, Executive Director, NEN. Scanning the almost 600 nominees for the 2008 Tata NEN Hottest Startup Awards, the largest competition of its kind, with a national reach, one finds almost 200 IT service and Internet companies – but 3 startups in the clean energy space, and only 2 in waste management. Why? Laura believes it is a combination of various limiting factors, the most important being the information gap, where while the overarching problems are obvious, the opportunities within the challenges remain unclear, and therefore appear inaccessible. In addition, there is limited perceived glamor in these opportunities, and not many well-known stories and heroes.
IPS Academy Indore
New entrepreneurs: Upbeat and hopeful One of the rare examples of an entrepreneur who has identified an opportunity in an otherwise overwhelming challenge of maternal mortality is 27-year-old Darshan, a medical graduate from Grant Medical College and founder of Biosense. Many would get bogged down by the sheer magnitude of the problem, but not Darshan – who identified the opportunity within. Despite the odds, and against the recommendation of his advisers, this doctor put together a company that was not only successful but also had high impact. “The way I articulated my idea into action was by breaking the challenge into smaller parts, and focusing on one of them. What worked best was the multi-disciplinary team we built, comprising a doctor, engineer, management graduate and a product designer,” reveals Darshan. His company is now being incubated at CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad. According to Darshan, the climate is apt for new entrepreneurs to seek solutions whose impact is wide-spread. “Unlike in the past,
I am seeing a lot of support from policy makers, who are ready to take risks and invest in new ideas. This is an opportunity that entrepreneurs should capitalize on,” says Darshan. He himself capitalized on such an opportunity, and won a grant from Department of Science and Technology’s Technopreneur Promotion Program. Agrees Hardik of VMukti. “With technology maturing, and demand being so high, we have realized there is immense scope for growth in India, especially when it is focused on solving some critical and widespread challenges. Even the response and readiness we are seeing from prospective customers for our tele-education solutions have taken us by surprise,” admits Hardik. E Week India 2010 aims to be a celebration of these opportunities, and inspire new and future entrepreneurs in solving India’s biggest challenges. If you would like to join this movement, visit www.eweekindia.org. R More articles on www.nenonline.org. Content provided by NEN DARE.CO.IN | NEN | DECEMBER 2009 97
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DECEMBER 2009
Vol 3 / Issue 03 / Dec 09
DL(S)-17/3314/2008-09-2010 DARE
RNI No.DELENG/2007/22197. Posting Date: 5th & 6th of every month. Posted at Lodi Road HPO.
Subscriber copy. Not for sale
HOW TO BECOME A SACHIN TENDULKAR OF YOUR BUSINESS
How to become a Sachin Tendulkar of your business Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Vandana Luthra, and Vipul Jain share their entrepreneurial stories
How to retain key employees Opportunities in conservation of monuments Where did all the money go? Business of custom shoemaking VOLUME 3 ISSUE 03
Opportunities in plant tissue culture How many people can you supervise? Creating a value proposition for your biz
entrepreneur of the month/
Harish Kumar, Maharaja Whiteline investor of the month/
Sandeep Murthy, Sherpalo Ventures columns/ The fight for resources Dancing with the giants Lessons From the dragon economy Should your brand scream 100 pages including cover
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11/27/2009 5:19:15 PM