The Good Home Makers by Inc. India

November 2011

The Way I Work

Rajeev Samant Sula Vineyards Page 64

THE GOOD HOME MAKERS

The Magazine for Growing Companies

shibanee sagar Founder Total Environment

What not to do when... Selling, delegating & marketing on Facebook Page 37

The Good

The magazine for growing companies

Home Makers Founded by the Sagars, Total Environment wants to be the 'Ferrari of homes' with meticulously designed, robustly built apartments that bring the outdoors in. PAGE 28

November 2011 | 150 | Volume 02 | Issue 09 A 9.9 Media Publication

Kamal Sagar Founder Total Environment

November 2011

contents

Bottling Happiness Rajeev Samant enjoys thinking up clever ideas to get more people hooked to wine.

28 Cover Story Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty

37 The Don’t-Do Lists

Shibanee and Kamal Sagar’s Total Environment, a real estate development company, has constructed both new designs and business rules for itself. But their unconventional ideas didn’t come in the way of raking in sales worth `170 crore and above last year.

Most of us keep to-do lists. But don’t underestimate the importance of what you don’t do. We ask 16 business leaders and experts what they assiduously avoid doing—on sales calls, at business meals and more. by jennifer alsever and adam bluestein

by shreyasi singh

Start-Up Diaries

They call themselves the travelling circus but there’s nothing flippant about One Step Up, a career counselling start-up for schools. Their mission—helping every student make the right career choice. Plus, an update on Coco Loco.

photograph by Jiten Gandhi

by rohini banerjee

This edition of Inc. magazine is published under license from Mansueto Ventures LLC, New York, New York. Editorial items appearing on pages 12-13, 18-19, 22, 37-46, 57-60 were all originally published in the United States edition of Inc. magazine and are the copyright property of Mansueto Ventures, LLC, which reserves all rights. Copyright © 2009 and 2010 Mansueto Ventures, LLC. The following are trademarks of Mansueto Ventures, LLC: Inc., Inc. 500.

on the cover

Shibanee and Kamal Sagar, co-founders of Total Environment. Photographed by S. Radhakrishna in Bengaluru. Cover design by Peterson.

november 2011 | INC. | 1

contents

November 2011

16 14

05 Editor’s Letter

06 Behind the Scenes Firms that get Jamshed Bhabha Theatre stage-ready

09 Launch

The leadership DNA The Ticker Nova’s medical ambitions The Inc. Data Bank A Skimmer’s Guide to: Demand, by Adrian J. and Karl Weber Research Corner: Are some leadership skills an illusion?

14 Get Real

By Jason Fried Why I treated my top selling product like Joan Rivers— and subjected it to a roast.

15 The Dressing Room By M. Krishna Kumar To reinvent, you need to take the time out to really think.

16 Passions

How Khanindra Barman fuses music with business

2 | INC. | november 2011

18 Balancing Acts

Strategy

By Meg Cadoux Hirshberg Often, ignorance is truly blissful for an entrepreneur’s spouse.

53 Branding Company rituals that leave a mark

21 The Goods

55 Managing Using social networks to find mentors

The Smartphone war Superlight laptops Tech Wise, by Soham Raninga: A couch shopper’s guide to smart gadgets Archiving made easy Things Rivi Varghese Can’t Live Without

Guidebook, No. 9

How to go about corporate gifting. Following Page 24.

26 Earn Your Spurs

By Jessie Paul It’s not enough to promote a brand. You’ve got to live its values.

66 I Wish I Knew Then...

V.N. Dalmia, chairman, Dalmia Continental, learnt as much from his rivals as he did in B-school.

56 healthcare Open your own on-site clinic 57 Sales Why learning to tell jokes is good for business 59 Sales & marketing Can an e-pottery studio shape a profitable plan? 60 Elevator pitch TechBuddy makes students more employable. Can they raise `60 lakh to secure their own future?

62 The Way I Work

His productivity plummets if he doesn’t get his forty winks. Rajeev Samant of Sula Vineyards on why an afternoon power nap is a must-do. as told to shreyasi singh

MAIL

The MAGAZINE for GROWING COMPANIES

—Frank Hancock, MD & Head of M&As, Barclays Capital India, Mumbai

INDIA’S FASTEST-GROWING MID-SIZED COMPANIES

Your September edition on the 500 rising stars of corporate India is absolutely brilliant. Many congratulations on a superb piece of journalism! A minor point is that I would have liked to have seen a few more profiles on top businesses along the lines of Sudhir Gensets. Carry on the great work.

SEP/OCT 2011

A superb piece of journalism

Meet India’s Fastest-Growing

Mid-sized Companies... OUR EXCLUS IVE ANNUAL RANKIN G

The Magazine for Growing Companies

...and the Superstar Entrepreneurs Who Run Them PLUS...

Why we’re just getting started... (Our No. 1 on mega growth plans) Page 42 My rags to riches story Page 50 How I paved rough paths Page 54 My ambition doesn’t allow me to sleep Page 67 September/October 2011 | `150 | Volume 02 | Issue 08 A 9.9 Media Publication

Kudos to you The economic history of the US and Western Europe shows that the growth of new firms is a central feature of economic development. Most Indian journals prefer to discuss the established firms that dominate today. Kudos to Inc. India for devoting its attention to small businesses, and for providing us with stories of how these firms start, grow, fail and succeed. ram shivakumar

Clinical Professor of Economics & Strategy, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago

MANAGING DIRECTOR: Dr Pramath Raj Sinha Printer & Publisher: Anuradha Das Mathur Editorial managing Editor: shreyasi singh assistant features editor: rohini banerjee feature writer: ira swasti Copy Desk Managing Editor: Sangita Thakur Varma DEsign Sr Creative Director: Jayan K Narayanan Art Directors: Anil VK Associate Art Director: PC Anoop VisualiserS: Prasanth TR & Anil T & Shokeen Saifi Sr Designers: Joffy Jose, NV Baiju Chander Dange & Sristi Maurya Designers: Suneesh K, Shigil N & Charu Dwivedi Raj Verma, Prince Antony & Binu MP Chief Photographer: Subhojit Paul Photographer: Jiten Gandhi

4 | INC. | november 2011

A great read The latest edition was outstanding. It was great reading. Best Regards. rupam mishra

Practice Leader, Global Mobility (Cross Border), Mercer Consulting, Mumbai

Keep up the encouragement Inc. India should continue to encourage entrepreneurs in the SME sector. This is quite a neglected area, and has, therefore, a lot of hidden potential. These companies may not be as glamorous as the dotcom type

community team product manager: mahesh ravi assistant product manager: Rajat gupta associate: deepika sharma Sales & Marketing National Manager (Events and Special Projects): Mahantesh Godi regional manager (south & WEST) Vinodh K (+ 91 97407 14817) national sales manager (inc. india) Pranav Saran (+ 91 98117 77113) manager (Kolkata) Jayanta Bhattacharya (+91 93318 29284) Production & Logistics Sr General manager (Operations) Shivshankar M Hiremath Manager Operations: Rakesh upadhyay Asst. Manager - Logistics: Vijay Menon Executive Logistics: Nilesh Shiravadekar Production Executive: Vilas Mhatre

of start-ups, but they can add disproportionate value when encouraged by magazines like yours. Banks and funding agencies might also see them in a different light because of your coverage. k.b.s. sidhu

Principal Secretary, Department of Finance, Government of Punjab, Chandigarh

To submit a letter, or alert us to an error, write to us at inc.india@9dot9.in Letters may be edited for space and style. Submission constitutes permission to use.

Logistics MP Singh, Mohd. Ansari OFFICE ADDRESS nine dot nine mediaworx Pvt Ltd A-262, Defence Colony, New Delhi–110 024 For any queries, please contact us at help@9dot9.in Published, Printed and Owned by Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Private Limited. Published and printed on their behalf by Anuradha Das Mathur. Published at A-262, Defence Colony, New Delhi–110 024 printed at Tara Art Printers Pvt ltd. A-46-47, Sector-5, NOIDA (U.P.) 201301 Editor: Anuradha Das Mathur

editor’s letter

What You Want To Be I discovered some exciting businesses at TiECon Delhi, an entrepreneurial conclave, a few weeks ago. Many of these companies are headed by incredibly driven young entrepreneurs, and we look forward to bringing them to you in our following issues. Yet, despite the leads I gathered, or the people I met, it was a session called Happiness Habits by inspirational leader Nithya Shanti that was my biggest takeaway from the event. Young and boyish, Nithya Shanti seems an unlikely spiritual coach. Yet, his fascinating life is a powerful tool for his message of living in the present and spreading happiness. Shanti studied business management at XLRI, Jamshedpur. Within a year of getting a corporate strategy job, Shanti quit, and made his way to Thailand, where he was ordained as a forest meditation monk. For six years, he lived a rigorous monastic life with nothing but a set of robes and some utensils as his only worldly possessions. In 2007, he stepped out of the brotherhood because he’d found the purpose he wanted to live for— sharing the timeless principles he’d Things I Learnt learnt. At his “happiness joyshop” In This Issue in TiE, he said that everybody, and A power nap is a real it applies particularly well to virtue. Ask Rajeev Samant. entrepreneurs, must choose a It is possible to predominant virtue they want successfully mix friendship their lives to be defined by. It could and business. Take be patience, peace of mind or a TechBuddy, Coco Loco and One Step Up, for example. quest for excellence.

I doubt if Shibanee and Kamal Sagar, co-founders and principal architects of Total Environment, a builder of homes in Bengaluru, and our cover story for this issue, have heard of Nithya Shanti. But they’ve clearly internalised his wisdom. The Sagars have built their real estate business on one basic principle—to follow their gut. Unmindful of industry convention, the couple have shown that it’s possible to stand by your design ethos, hold on to your values, and build a viable business (last year they had a turnover of `170-crore plus), even in a segment as intensely difficult and maligned as construction. Theirs is a story of admirable self-belief and passion. Read it on Page 28. The Sagars managed to figure out what was right for them. Homing into what works for you isn’t always easy, of course. Till you figure out your “secret sauce”, a feature from our parent magazine has some great rules on how to avoid blunders in everyday business decisions like marketing, negotiating or making a great presentation. Don’t miss the Don’t-Do Lists on Page 37. The past month has been wonderful for us, mainly because of the generous compliments you sent our way for the Inc. India 500 double issue. We’re delighted you found our annual ranking such a worthy read. Thank you.

Shreyasi Singh shreyasi.singh@9dot9.in

november 2011 | INC. | 5

BEHIND THE SCENES

Companies at the Heart of Everyday Life

Interiors and Architecture It isn’t just the dance and music performances on this stage that are stunning. The auditorium’s interiors are a treat to the eyes too. After the original structure was destroyed in a fire, Rustam B.J. Patell, a principal architect at Mumbai-based Patell Batliwala Manohar & Associates, imaginatively resurrected it. Established in 1979, his architectural firm has worked on projects like the Taj Intercontinental Hotel, Mumbai, the RBI building, and the entire 8-acre NCPA premises.

Seating The 1,109-seater theatre is designed to ensure that every seat has a great view of the stage. The comfortable viewing experience is enhanced by the recliners installed by Pen Workers. Currently run by third-generation entrepreneurs Anmol and Mohit Kashmiri, the Mumbai-based company was started by Munshi Ram Gulati in 1924. The 80-employee company has more than 2,500 projects worldwide to its credit. It’s quite possible that you’ve warmed their cushioned seats at PVR Movies, Inox and Fame Adlabs.

6 | INC. | november 2011

Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai

Hed tk

29.09.11 6:30 pM

Lighting

Lighting is a crucial dramatic device quat. Ut wis nit vulland ipsusci eugue magnison stage and plays a vital role in sectem dolorperit, quatum del et volobore productions likeutGiacomo Pucciniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moUptat iriure do el digna cortisi tat praessi Madama Butterfly or Shiamak etum velenibh exerciduip elisi. Dawarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s I eugait Believe.incinis Mumbai-based Sandionsed et, sequips exerilit do dolore Gemini uscing Global Engineering has velit at. Andrem installed duis alisi240 ea facinci liquatio od these dimmers to offer magnisi. Dui ea atem num dolut lore dipit productions a wide range of brightness options to choose from. Founded in 1976 by Hira Malaney, the firm has also bedecked the ceiling with light fittings that give the theatre a warm glow. The 35-year-old company has provided fixtures to The Leela hotels and the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad to name a few.

Air Conditioning The theatre design ensures that even when the JBT is empty, there is no sound of the air to clutter acoustics. Voltas has quat. Ut wis nitconditioning vulland ipsusci euguethe magnisprovided low-noise conditioners to make this sectem dolorperit, quatum del ut air et volobore Voltas, a leading brand, provides moUptat iriurepossible. do el digna cortisi tat praessi solutions for elisi. a variety of industries etum velenibhengineering exerciduip eugait incinis areas such as heating, ventilation, Sandionsed et,insequips uscing exerilit do dolore refrigeration, velit at. Andrem duis alisi eatextile facincimachinery, liquatio odwater management and more. Founded in 1954, it is a magnisi. Dui ea atem num dolut lore dipit `5,200-crore enterprise with presence in digniam, consequipsum zzrilis am nis today, nisis nim arounddolent 30 countries round the globe. am ipissecte estrud alit, quismodignis nonsequ atumsandre dolorerat, sequat irit wis-

Hed tk

Photograph Courtesy NCPA

reported by Ira Swasti

News, Ideas & Trends in Brief

launch

photo by photos.com

Brave, New Leader A “post-heroic” style is the new mantra, says a recent report In an increasingly unpredictable global economy, management leadership can be the factor that determines whether a company stays afloat (or even blooms) through multiple crises, or goes bust. But leading in an environment where changes can be sharp and swift, and demand a dramatically different readying an organisation for a future that approach from leaders—at cognitive, seems incapable of being forecast is emotional and behavioural levels. Here something leaders across the world grap- are the six megatrends and how Hay ple with. A recent report by Hay Group, Group suggests leaders will need to ‘Leadership 2030’, says leaders of the tackle them: future will need a host of new skills and 1.Accelerating globalisation (‘Globalicompetencies if they are to succeed. sation 2.0’): With the global balance of They may need to abandon much of power shifting, increasing globalisation is the thinking and behaviour that propelled them to the top of their organisations in the first place, the research Individualisation Digital lifestyle suggests. To survive over the next two decades, senior management Demographic Technology change convergence across corporate organisations will need to dramatically change their Globalisation 2.0 Climate change leadership style or risk being simply unsustainable. Working with German forecastChanging Working Patterns ing firm, Z_punkt, the Hay Group report found these changes were Corporate environment necessitated because of the six megaOrganisation trends that are altering the business Personal and team level environment. The trends will

Superhero 2.0 Global leaders need to be more than just bosses to their employees.

a given. In practical terms, this means that international companies need to adapt their global strategies to local markets—a process that will be helped by fostering local participation in decisionmaking, having more culturally diverse leadership teams and encouraging more cross-country and cross-functional collaboration. What Globalisation 2.0 makes abundantly clear is that the days of one or two “heroes” at the top of an organisation are well and truly over. This trend also says leaders will have to be collaborative and good conceptual and contextual thinkers. 2.Climate change, its environmental impact and scarcity of resources: Leaders will need outstanding cognitive skills to balance the competing demands of financial success, social responsibility and environmental custodianship. They must also act as change agents, advocating environcontinued on the next page

november 2011 | INC. | 9

The Ticker

Brave, New Leader continued...

mentally responsible business practices within and outside the organisation, and forging new levels of intra and inter-company collaboration in order to encourage team, rather than individual, solutions. 3.Demographic change: The war for talent will rage on, but with a difference. The world population is growing and ageing but there are demographic imbalances. In the industrial countries of the West and China, for instance, life expectancy is rising but populations are stagnating or declining, whereas populations in developing countries are booming. In the future, leaders will need to understand, lead, integrate and motivate teams of increasingly diverse employees. Fostering inter-generational and inter-cultural teamwork is essential, as is finding ways to engender commitment and loyalty among people of different ages, from different cultures and with different values. 4.Individualisation and values pluralism: Leaders will need to accommodate growing individualisation. The “postheroic” leader will need to balance the roles of boss, mediator and coach, allowing teams more freedom and autonomy while keeping them focused on objectives. Redesigning work processes to better suit individuals rather than the organisation has now become the norm. What’s more, with creative output recognised as a main driver for economic success, a new “creative class” is springing up. With longer periods of education and career breaks, frequent job changes and even periods of unemployment, this creative class doesn’t necessar10 | INC. | november 2011

ily fit into the conventional leadership mould. 5.Increasingly digital lifestyles: Leaders will need to embrace digital divides. Leaders must embrace the creativity, curiosity and open minds of “digital natives”, but offer frameworks and guidance where needed. At first glance, the digital natives’ mastery of technology might appear to better qualify them to lead than their seniors. However, while technological prowess can aid innovation, digital natives’ over-reliance on technology and lack of social skills equip them poorly for leadership roles. 6.Technology Convergence: Actionable knowledge of complex technologies will become a key business competence, even in non-technological fields. But the complexity of NBIC (nano, bio and informatics sciences) makes inter-corporate knowledge exchange vital, and ‘business mash-ups’ (collaborations and cross-sector partnerships) will become more common. Adaptation will become critical for survival. Willingness to integrate other players in corporate endeavours will lead to more open organisational structures and de-compartmentalised enterprises. Despite their lack of detailed knowledge, leaders must be open to–and advocate– visionary ideas. —Inc. India

School’s begun with a bang for Delhi-based Vienova Education, a private education provider after it received $3.5 million from Helion Advisors, a leading early stage venture fund, founded by aggarwal Sanjeev Aggarwal. This is Vienova’s second round of funding after 2008…There’s a flush of investments. Canaan Partners have invested $4.4 million in customer relationship management firm, Loylty Rewardz Management, while Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. will be backing the financial services arm of Coffee Day Resorts— Way2Wealth—as a part of its debt raising initiative... While others give, minting money some get: like Walt Disney Company that may acquire Mumbai-based Indiagames, the triple-play gaming subsidiary of UTV Software Communications. Disney already owns a majority stake in Indiagames via its `2,000crore July 2011 acquisition of UTV...Sequoia Capital will be investing around $22 million to acquire an undisclosed stake in Moolchand Medcity, a Delhi-based healthcare firm developing Asia’s largest single-site, multi-specialty medical campus…Finally, some TiECon news to tie things up: Capillary, a shopping analytics venture, CoCubes, an online campus recruitment firm, and Innoz Technologies, founders of a mobile-based search engine, were declared winners of the TiE-Lumis Entrepreneurial Excellence krishna mehra Awards. CMO and aneesh reddy, co-founders, Axis, EduSports capillary and HarVa were also shortlisted. —Inc. India

Surgical Precision A healthy dose of ambition

Listen up, ladies

Dell to host its meet in India

Few young companies can claim to be such a magnet for talent. Nova Medical Centers (NMC), India’s leading ambulatory or same-day surgery group, recently made big news when it on-boarded six distinguished medical professionals from hospital groups such as Fortis, Apollo and Max Healthcare. But the Bengalurubased firm hasn’t only made people news. It recently raised $50 million in fresh funding from its existing investors to expand its network of surgery centres. Part-funded by global investment firms, GTI and NEA, Nova plans to establish 25 new centres across India and the Middle East in the next two to three years. Suresh Soni, Chairman & CEO, NMC, says his group is well-poised to help Indians access the benefits of day-surgeries. —Inc. India What will the funds you have raised be used for?

Nova aims to be a leading player in surgical healthcare delivery in the Asia Pacific region. Over the next three years, we plan to invest $100 million to set up 25 ambulatory surgery centres in India and the Middle East. By 2015, we will also set up 30 IVF clinics in this region. Your fundraising is based on the hypothesis that demand for ambulatory services is picking up in India. Yet isn’t scepticism a challenge for you?

More than 70 per cent of all surgeries can be performed in a day surgery centre without a need for overnight hospitalisation. Not only does this reduce the cost for the patient/insurance company, the patient and their family can go back to the comfort of their own home. Often, this also means avoiding risks of hospital-acquired infection. Day surgery/ ambulatory surgery centres are well established in the West, with more than seven in 10 surgeries in the United States falling into this category. In India, less than 20 per cent of surgeries are conducted in this format. At Nova, we’ve already performed 800-plus day procedures. We are confident this can bring great value to all stakeholders—patients, doctors and insurance companies.

A Good Treatment Suresh Soni wants to take Nova Medical to 25 centres within the next couple of years.

How does your centre make faster recovery possible, when recuperation time is so long in conventional hospitals?

Advances in medical technology, pain management and expert surgical care make it possible for a patient to recover faster. The surgeries we do at Nova use minimally invasive techniques. For example, smaller incisions minimise blood loss. They also prevent damage to nearby tissues and lead to reduced inflammation. All of this shortens recovery time. Advanced anaesthesia techniques have also helped in facilitating faster recovery. Also, patients look up to doctors for advice on all aspects of their treatment, including the length of stay. If a surgeon advises a patient that the procedure does not require an overnight stay, the patient is happy to go along with it. We have great doctors.

Technology giant Dell plans to host the third edition of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) event in Delhi, in June 2012. Explaining its India focus, DWEN says, India is the perfect and natural choice for the event as it shifts from a developing nation to a robust economic powerhouse. In fact, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, India is set to overtake the US and emerge as the world’s second-largest economy on the basis of purchasing power parity by 2050. But even as the number of female entrepreneurs is growing at a rapid pace, research indicates that women entrepreneurs have weaker traditional business skills and less access to established business networks than men, in most emerging markets. Dell had launched the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network 2010 to encourage women entrepreneurs and give them a vibrant platform for networking. It was piloted in Shanghai, China, during the World Expo. The second edition took place in Brazil earlier this year. These annual events have connected women founders, CEOs and leaders of high-growth businesses to share best practices, challenges, and celebrate the impact women-owned businesses have on the global economy. The World Bank and The World Economic Forum both report that women-owned businesses can be the tipping point for a global economic comeback—the reason why Dell continues to host the event in emerging economies.—Inc. India november 2011 | INC. | 11

A skimmer’s guide to the latest business books

inc. data bank time off

Average number of vacation days employees receive annually:

The book: Demand: Creating What People Love Before They Know They Want It, by Adrian J. Slywotzky and Karl Weber; Crown Business. The big idea: Successful companies recognise that a gap exists between what people want and what they buy when they can’t find better alternatives. These companies create demand by designing products that produce an emotional connection with consumers, remove their hassles, and every day in every way get better and better. The backstory: Slywotzky has written several excellent books about how companies make money. Don’t tell. Show: Slywotzky presents dozens of enjoyably detailed case studies. He includes some of the usual examples (Zipcar, Amazon’s Kindle) as well as some surprising ones (Eurostar trains, the Seattle Opera).

27 13

Portion of Americans who typically don’t use all of their vacation days:

34%

Average number of vacation days per US employee that go unused: united states

japan

france

germany australia

Expedia

e-commerce

pet peeves

Amount spent shopping online in the first quarter of 2011:

Employee personal habits that business owners find most annoying: Sloppy grooming habits:

(up 12 per cent from the previous year)

If you read nothing else: Chapter Two extols companies that identify and eliminate pain points for customers. For example, after health care company CareMore examined the problems seniors were having with navigating the medical system, it introduced new services, including free transportation to appointments. Chapter Four explains how to transform a product from something that sounds good to something people actually buy.

Share of online orders that include free shipping:

Food for thought: Any product could always be a little better, every customer a bit more satisfied. How do leaders assess at what point improvements succumb to the law of diminishing returns? —Leigh Buchanan

4 million

12 | INC. | november 2011

Crunching the numbers

47%

Portion of customers who say they are at least somewhat likely to cancel their order if free shipping isn’t offered:

40%

29%

Fundraising on behalf of child:

Untidy work area:

Reeks of smoke after break:

Too loud on the phone:

8% Pungent smells from food:

61% ComScore

Too many personal calls:

Manta

office supplies

Amount of paper used in US offices each year, in tons:

Talks too openly about beliefs:

500

Sexy attire:

Number of sheets used by the average worker each year:

Environmental Protection Agency

—Compiled by Andrew Shafer

research corner

Visionary Leadership or an Illusion? Great leaders are often described as having a certain magnetism. But according to new research, that special something could have less to do with charisma than with a tendency to obscure the way they get things done.

A skimmer’s guide to the latest business books

The book: The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer; Harvard Business Review Press. The big idea: The single most important thing business leaders can do to improve morale is help employees feel they are making progress at work. The backstory: Amabile, a professor at Harvard Business School, and Kramer, a psychologist, set out to study “inner work lives”: the perceptions, emotions, and motivations that govern employees’ reactions to workplace events.

The Findings In the study, “Managerial Mystique: Magical Thinking in Judgments of Managers’ Vision, Charisma, and Magnetism,” researchers found that when people aren’t aware of the means by which a leader’s success is achieved, they tend to view that person as charismatic and visionary. It’s similar to the way a magician wows onlookers by obscuring the workings behind his tricks, says Maia Young, an associate professor of human resources and organisational behaviour at the University of California, Los Angeles. Young co-authored the study with Michael W. Morris and Vicki M. Scherwin, two business professors from other universities. “If you ask people if they believe in magical powers, very few of them would say yes,” she explains, “but they make subconscious decisions that reflect a different answer.”

The Methodology Participants were surveyed online in three stages. First, they read a description of Apple chief Steve Jobs and rated him on traits such as “gifted” or “has a way of making things happen.” The results showed that the higher they rated him for these traits that conveyed a “magical aura,” the higher they rated his ability for tasks such as forecasting economic trends and setting business strategy. Next, participants rated two fictional employees, and, in the end, judged an employee who “had a way of making things happen” to be more visionary and talented than the employee described as a “hard worker.” In the final experiment, participants showed they were more physically drawn to visionaries, even preferring a congratulatory hug from a fictional “visionary” CEO to one from a “hardworking” boss.

The Takeaway The findings seem to suggest that leaders should keep the nitty-gritty details of their jobs under wraps. However, Young cautions that this type of impression management could have negative effects if not handled carefully. For example, if a manager spent his or her tenure concealing the processes that helped the company grow, it might prove difficult to find a worthy successor. —J.J. McCorvey illustration by shigil n

Horses’ mouths: The authors asked employees from various companies to submit daily diaries. They found that accomplishments and setbacks on work projects had huge effects on morale, greater than recognition or financial incentives. The voyeur factor: The book quotes liberally from diaries. Eavesdropping on the goings-on at these (unfortunately anonymous) companies is both fascinating and disturbing. If you read nothing else: Chapters Five, Six, and Seven lay out steps for improving employees’ inner work lives, including expeditiously supplying a team with extra help and emphasising that its work is important to the organisation. Food for thought: Incremental accomplishment is touted in several recent books, including titles by Robert Sutton and Peter Sims. Are we seeing a movement away from Jim Collins’ Big Hairy Audacious Goals? —Leigh Buchanan november 2011 | INC. | 13

GET REAL BY JASON FRIED

Let the Insults Fly

Want to learn what your employees really think? Stage a Comedy Central-style celebrity roast of your top-selling product Once a year or so, everyone at our company gets together for a week

to hang out, work together, and socialise. Because 37signals consists of 28 people located in nearly 20 cities around the world, these gettogethers are rare—and important. Before our most recent get-together, in the summer, I wanted to focus on improving our products. I felt we were getting a little complacent. Sales were rising, and customers seemed happy, but it seemed as if it had been a long time since any of our products had gotten materially better. We weren’t adding as many killer features as we used to. A couple of days before the crew arrived in Chicago, I found myself watching a celebrity roast on Comedy Central. The guest of honour was Joan Rivers. One at a time, comics like Carl Reiner, Gilbert Gottfried, and Tom Arnold took the stage and just ripped poor Joan to shreds. “When Joan was born, the doctors took a look at her and said, ‘Holy shit. We’re going to make a fortune on this one,’ ” quipped the show’s host, Kathy Griffin. “And then they got on the Mayflower and set sail for America.” The camera cut to Rivers, who was laughing just as raucously as her tormentors and the live audience. That’s when it hit me: What 37signals needed was a roast. We wouldn’t be ripping on any individuals. Instead, we would roast one of our products. I figured the best victim would be Basecamp, our project management and collaboration software. Basecamp has long been 37signals’s most popular product—and as a result, it was also the most sacred. Of course, because every employee works on Basecamp in one way or another, we’d also be roasting ourselves. It wouldn’t be as racy, or nearly as funny, as the filleting of Joan Rivers, but discussion would be no-holds-barred. The crew gathered in the small theatre at our headquartres. I announced the Basecamp roast. I saw some smiles, though I wasn’t sure if they reflected anticipation or anxiety. To break the ice and set the tone, I went first. I put an image from Basecamp’s “people” page up on the screen and began discussing the process by which users invite others to join a particular project. It’s pretty simple and seldom leads to complaints from customers. But there are some rough spots if users don’t complete the process in exactly the right way. I tried to join a project and made some intentional mistakes. The ensuing error messages sparked some laughter in the crowd. I doubt an outsider would find it funny, but to those of us who really know Basecamp, seeing those messages was like an inside joke—at our own expense. It turned out that a lot of us had been unhappy with the invitation process for a while, but no one had ever made an issue of it. The roast made it an issue. More people chimed in with their own gripes. We embarrassed ourselves. And it felt really great.

14 | INC. | november 2011

Once we had dispatched with the invitation process, we moved on to more features of Basecamp. Ryan, a senior product designer, attacked a form that was particularly confusing; Ann, from our support team, savaged a sentence that made no sense. Yes, Basecamp is a huge success, but it was full of flaws. The roast helped get this out into the open. How was this different than the usual product meeting? For one thing, everyone was there. Designers, programmers, customer service folks—everyone had an opportunity to rip on something without worrying about hurt feelings. People understood the spirit of the roast and felt free to take a jab. The next day, we started fixing some of the stuff that was brought up in the roast. And over the next few weeks, we began working on solving some deeper problems that emerged through the laughs. The roast even spawned some new ideas that will be making their way to our customers in 2012. The roast hit all the right notes: It brought us together, generated some laughs, broke the ice on the first day of a long week together, highlighted a bunch of issues, and motivated us to dig in. I have a feeling 37signals has a new company tradition. Jason Fried is co-founder of 37signals, a Chicago-based software firm, and co-author of the book Rework. illustration by PC Anoop

THE DRESSING ROOM BY KRISHNA KUMAR

Pitfalls of Incremental Success A growth in numbers isn’t enough. To really feel fulfilled, step back and think—have you reinvented yourself?

For the new age executive, Monday starts losing market share as the morning blues are passé. The new breed model gets fossilised. It isn’t an eventuality restricted breezes through the first two days of the only to products and market week banking on reserves of energy from places. An international tennis the weekend. Friday issues are resolved in star might find his spate of defeats a jiffy, weekly targets are recalibrated and work accelerates at full throttle. Come have eroded his popularity. To Wednesday evening, ennui sets in and reverse this, he may train harder, appoint a new coach and a fitness energy levels start to deplete. By Thursday, trainer or switch to a new racquet. ambitions are distant dreams. Running But he will soon discover that the show is the end by itself. these are only incremental It was on one such Thursday that a changes. In fact, he might start good friend—a highly-visible CEO of a losing to players ranked lower. fast-growing mid-sized enterprise— Stay Safe, Be Foolish Does he too become a fossil? called me. After the mandatory small Don’t just avoid the missteps, think Our conversation ground to a talk, he got to the point. He wondered if about your big moves. halt. As a keen sports enthusiast, we could have an impromptu coaching session right away. He sounded less than his cheerful self and I instantly agreed. the tennis player example had struck a chord with my Discussions soon veered towards his future. Over the past seven years, he had friend. I could sense him internalising what we were talkbuilt a successful IT services firm. He had a great team and was financially well- ing about. He seemed keen to push the envelope. “Tell me rewarded. As an effective manager, he had created an aggressive work culture with how to make a difference,” he demanded. But I wasn’t an product introductions, tight delivery schedules and periodic reorganisations. His advisor, I reminded him. He would need to do that hometeam was motivated. His office was buzzing. Yet something was missing, he said. work himself. All I reiterated was that he needed to work As we spoke, I could sense a definite sense of discontent—not so much from what out how to do an “innovation paradigm shift”. I gave him he was doing but the manner in which he was doing it. He agreed vigorously when a list of questions to help him get started: I put that diagnosis forward. Is the work I am doing now meeting both my personal “Incrementalisation leads to fossilisation,” I announced, somewhat grandly. I goals and long-term vision—the vision with which I was met with a stoic look. So I explained. Basically, I asked him to recall the last time originally started my business? he had stepped back from his schedule to really think. He couldn’t remember. The What am I not doing to realise my full potential? pace he’d set for himself hadn’t allowed him to reinvent himself. Where should I expand and grow to realise my dreams? “Isn’t it true that over the past few years your company has largely been doing He promised, more to himself than to me, to begin the same kind of work? You might have sold the changes as exciting and innovative asking those questions. As we closed, he hoped it would be to your employees. But by working on incremental improvements only, you are okay if he called again to talk about this. I agreed. Next gradually being driven to a fossil-like situation,” I said. He considered what I had Thursday is still seven days away, I told myself. said carefully. Finally, he agreed. But he defended himself by saying that this mode of working had kept the firm running in the past few years. I gave him the example of a car manufacturer who releases a new model each M. Krishna Kumar is a master trainer and professional coach year. It makes for sound business sense, of course. But the so-called new models specialising in transformational leadership. An internationallycarry incremental design changes—a superior seat, a smarter looking dashboard certified tennis coach, he’s also the founder of Kinesis Sports, India’s or aesthetically pleasing rear lamps. Think of what happens to manufacturers like first ISO 9001-2008 certified tennis training institution. You can find these, I urged. Soon enough, “new models” stop generating buzz and the company him at www.isecindia.in. illustration by PC Anoop

november 2011 | INC. | 15

PASSIONS

Life Outside the Office

“I don’t do it for the money even though I make money from it.”

16 | INC. | november 2011

Khanindra Barman

Being born in the Northeast gave Khanindra Barman that extra gene which made him groove before he could even walk. It’s an inheritance that he never gave up—not even as a Delhi-based software engineer. Here Barman spun rock and retro three nights a week as a DJ at TC—one of the city’s most popular clubs. But spinning tracks or stringing computer codes wasn’t enough. In 2005, Barman got his act together with Pankaj Bhatia, a work buddy, to launch The Vil’age, a north Indian restaurant in Bengaluru. “We dreamt of being entrepreneurs. One day we just quit and began to realise our dreams,” recalls Barman. Six years on, their company, KP Groups, runs three night clubs, two restaurants, three spas and a boutique hotel in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Ask Barman a.k.a. DJ Kay Mikado about the tune that defines him best—music or entrepreneurship—and he’ll tell you that he isn’t himself without either. These days, he spends five hours in his home studio recording new tracks. So far, he’s produced 108 deep house and progressive titles. His music gods Pink Floyd Dave Matthews Band U2 Dire Straits Radiohead Most memorable gig “My performance at Cloud 9, a club in Shillong, was fantastic. Though it was a small crowd of 300-odd

people, there was great energy. They all understood my music.” Usual haunts He gets the crowd grooving to his music four to five times a month at The Beach and Zero G in Bengaluru, One Lounge in Pune and the very-buzzing Blue Frog in Mumbai.

photograph by S. RAdhakrishna

reported by Ira Swasti

Balancing Acts BY Meg Cadoux Hirshberg

“Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me”

To know, or not to know, about the company’s problems? For the spouse, that is the question.

In the early years of Stonyfield Yogurt, my husband Gary and I acted like

the three wise monkeys. When it came to the company’s finances, I covered my eyes and ears so as to see and hear no evil. Gary went along by covering his mouth. I embraced ignorance (or innocence, as I prefer to call it) for emotional survival. The company was hovering near bankruptcy, and I couldn’t bear to learn the gory details portending its demise. I knew I should know what was going on. Our entire future was on the line. But I wanted to listen to a financial report the way I watch the movie The Shining: running out of the room during particularly terrifying scenes. I wish I could have been the supportive spouse who listens sympathetically, then calmly puts everything into perspective. As it was, Gary accepted our don’t-ask-don’t-tell pact because it prevented my fear from making him crazy. He avoided what he calls the double penalty—intense stress at work compounded by intense stress at home. After a day spent putting out fires, he didn’t need my alarm ringing in his ears. Launching a company is a risk couples assume together. But unless they are equal business partners, only the entrepreneur has first-hand knowledge of every hurricane and hiccup. The CEO comes home to a spouse whose interest is mixed with anxiety. Sometimes, beneath the query “How was your day?” lurks the plea “Reassure me, or at least don’t say something that will leave me cowering in the coat closet clutching a vodka tonic.” 18 | INC. | november 2011

Most couples don’t know right away how much about the business it’s optimal to share. Spouses may start out as enthralled spectators, closely following every play and—even when the home team is hopelessly behind—cheering from the stands. Some continue that way. But others discover they have low tolerance for trouble and would just as soon remain in the dark. Entrepreneurs, meanwhile, adopt reticence out of self-preservation. As one CEO put it, “Entrepreneurs have people freaking out on them all day long. We don’t want the same thing at home.” The ensuing silence stifles conflict and drama. But it also forces the entrepreneur to shoulder the burden alone. That can send him into what one spouse I talked to called battle mode: quiet, tense, and toxic. The spouse, meanwhile, worries about the entrepreneur and also worries about whatever unknown catastrophe the entrepreneur is worried about. Couples become disconnected from huge chunks of each other’s emotional lives. Communication frays and with it, empathy. “Ultimately, I was willing to sacrifice some intimacy to avoid conflict,” Gary told me. illustration by Prince Antony

Balancing Acts

A business can be an endlessly fascinating subject that encourages the exchange of ideas and eager speculation about the future. Or it can be a marriage’s third rail, which a couple dares not touch for fear of shock waves. Risk is easier to live with when you have some degree of control. Entrepreneurs are hands-on with their companies; confidence in themselves translates into confidence that they can weather any storm. And because they see the big picture, they have perspective. They can distinguish between things that kill and things that make them stronger. Spouses, by contrast, have little power beyond the right to advise and—occasion-

me realise that the hurdles I jump every day at work are, to non-entrepreneurs, the equivalent of jumping out of a plane without a parachute,” Richard said. Even spouses who work together need not be equally informed. Keeping information from a partner may sound patronising. But if that partner deals poorly with adversity, there are good reasons to do so. Employees and customers take their cues from the owners. I spoke with one CEO whose husband manages sales at her company. “I feel like I can handle our precarious financial state better than he can,” she told me. “If he knew how close to the line we’re cutting it, I’m afraid he would spiral into a negative place, where he’d feel all this wasn’t worth it. My fear is

One way to defang bad news is to limit when it’s shared. ally—consent in business decisions. Their impotence increases their fear. Lacking the thorough context and nuanced understanding that come from working in the business, they may magnify problems or focus on the empty half of the glass. “I worry,” one spouse told me, “but I don’t say anything. The problem festers, and then I get angry, because I don’t have any money or solutions to fix things, and it’s not my responsibility to solve it.” Entrepreneurs, in turn, keep quiet to save their spouses’ agonising about matters beyond their control. Richard Haig once shared everything with his wife, Pam. Then he started Haig Service Corporation, an alarm company in Green Brook, New Jersey. Richard recalls the evening he told Pam that the company faced higher estimated taxes because it had had a good year. The “good year” part barely registered with his wife. But she lost sleep over the tax bill. “I considered it just another day at the office,” Richard told me. “I was dumping 10 times the weight on my wife’s shoulders than I felt on mine.” Now he avoids discussing the company at home. “Her reaction made

that he’d walk into every sales meeting with customers with his head hung low. Frankly, I think he’s grateful to me for taking on the burden of the worry.” I admire couples that talk with absolute candour about the company, and whose relationships benefit from the common interest. Paul Williams, president of Isite Design, a digital consultancy in Portland, Oregon, tells his wife, Leah, everything. “When it comes to business, ice runs through her veins,” said Paul. “She doesn’t get stressed. Without our collaboration, I’d be missing a confidante and valued partner.” Still, I couldn’t help wondering whether Isite’s track record—one unprofitable year out of 14—made that openness easier. Leah acknowledged that an unstable business would have made information sharing more challenging. “I would have just wanted him to fix it,” she told me.

ant subjects from tainting every part of the day. Mitchel Harad of San Francisco owns a business consultancy. His wife, Kristin, has a financial-planning firm. The couple sets aside 30 minutes every week for a formal business meeting to discuss both companies and the family’s finances. All that needs saying gets said in that half-hour, so worries don’t rear up unexpectedly as husband and wife are brushing their teeth before bed. “At that hour, even innocuous issues blow up,” said Mitchel. Bad news is also less chilling when families hedge their bets. Dan and Allison Turner can discuss any development with equanimity because they have a Plan B if something goes wrong at TCG, Dan’s IT government contracting firm in Washington, DC. “I don’t know how entrepreneurs function without a personal safety net,” said Dan. “We’ve laid out things we can do—like sell our house and buy a less expensive one—if cash gets tight.” During one tough period, Dan didn’t take a paycheck for three years. “I remember worrying but not second-guessing,” said Allison. “Our backup plan made any worstcase scenario less scary.” As for me, I was most comfortable hearing about Stonyfield during board meetings. There I received a detailed snapshot of the company, stripped of emotion. And it was reassuring to watch Gary address problems coolly and professionally while his audience reacted as though everything were normal. As my husband embarks on new, uncertain ventures, he knows from experience that there are good times and bad times to talk to me about his businesses. “The good times are when you’re relaxed and feeling upbeat, or when you’re in the company of others who react calmly,” he told me. And the bad times? All the rest, Gary said.

So, knowledge is scary. But, outside the

Garden of Eden, ignorance isn’t bliss, either. What couples need are strategies to calmly and productively discuss their companies’ fortunes. One way to defang bad news is to limit when it’s shared. That at least stops unpleas-

Meg Cadoux Hirshberg (mhirshberg@inc.com) writes a regular column about the impact of entrepreneurial businesses on families. She is married to Gary Hirshberg, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm. november 2011 | INC. | 19

Your Business Toolbox

The Goods

Smarten Up Dial in for the latest must-have smartphones With an ever-growing variety to choose from—Android, Symbian, iOS—buying the best-of-the-best smartphone isn’t an easy choice. Each has its own advantages. Check out what fits your bill. —www.thinkdigit.com

photo courtesy company (5)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

The Xperia X10 Mini Pro is one of the smallest phones in this segment, thanks to a compressed slide-out keypad. The size makes it comfortable to use both as a touchscreen or keypad phone. Although the flat keys could have been better with a slight bulge, key response isn’t bad. The rubberised finish on the battery cover helps with the grip. From a design point of view, this new model is a big improvement on the earlier one. However, what we loved the most is—it performs best when the signal strength is less than 25 per cent. price: `15,861 Illustration by Shigil N

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini

This Sony sibling comes with just a 3-inch touchscreen and no physical keypad. The updated design and materials used for the new Mini make it easier to hold and use than its predecessor. While most of the phones feel as expensive as they are, the Xperia Mini is built to feel a lot more expensive than it actually is. But the goodness doesn’t end there. Samsung’s TouchWiz, Motorola’s MotoBlur or even LG’s UI aren’t as good looking as its TimeScape UI. It comes with Android 2.3 pre-loaded, which no other phone, except its sibling, comes with. price: `13,380

Samsung Galaxy S

The Samsung Galaxy S looks and feels like a smartphone with a 4-inch display. The Super AMOLED display on the phone is one of the best ones around. Its vivid colour is at par with the iPhone and better than its rivals. It loses out a bit on build because despite its comfortable to-use form, it’s essentially a ‘plasticky’ body. Its TouchWiz UI is somewhat bland too. Even though it doesn’t have a flash for its camera, the phone’s image and video recording quality are good. It runs neck to neck with the iPhone in terms of performance. price: `31,500

LG Optimus Black

The LG Optimus Black is one of the most classylooking devices in this segment. It falls into the big-screen touchphone category since it comes with a 4-inch display, but somehow doesn’t feel that big. Even though the iPhone wins hands down in terms of build quality, the LG Optimus Black follows closely behind. As far as the user interface goes, LG’s Optimus User Interface 2.0 is the best among high-end smart phones as it offers a wide variety of widgets. The layout looks pretty good too thought it cannot match the display of the Sony Xperia siblings. price: `20,990

Apple iPhone 3GS

The Apple iPhone 3GS has set a benchmark for other smartphones with its look and build. Even though it has the lowest resolution among highend smartphones, the display is amazing. Its crispness and brightness levels are just great for videos and web browsing. It may be considered a heavy phone now, but wins hands down in terms of build quality. What the iPhone doesn’t have is a UI skin like the Android phones, but that also makes it unique. It doesn’t have a flash to complement its camera either, but the brand name is nearly impossible to ignore. price: `19,990 november 2011 | INC. | 2 1

the goods

Products + Services

2 3

Must-Haves

My partners and I run a Web design and video production firm, so it’s essential for us to know how visitors are using our clients’ websites. Earlier this year, our SEO partner recommended an analytics tool called Crazy Egg, and now we’re huge fans. Instead of using numbers to report site traffic, Crazy Egg uses colour-coded maps. The heatmap, for example, shows the “hot” and “cold” spots on a site: Areas getting few clicks are blue; popular spots are red. The confetti map displays clicks as tiny speckles, with each colour representing the source of the click. I can filter the view based on the source or the search terms visitors used to get to the site, which is really helpful for SEO. When I show clients maps of their websites, they understand our design suggestions immediately. We also use them to analyse our site. For instance, using a combination of both maps, we noticed that two portfolio examples on our homepage weren’t getting many clicks from key sources, so we redesigned the page. We recently upgraded to Crazy Egg’s standard plan, which costs $19 a month and tracks 25,000 users on 20 active pages. The service makes it easy to analyse and explain Web activity, which makes my job a lot easier. —As told to J.J. McCorvey

2 2 | INC. | november 2011

Featherweight Contenders Thin and light, but heavy on features For years, Apple’s MacBook Air has dominated the ultraportable notebook market. Now, PC makers are rolling out a slew of new superlight laptops with slim profiles and loads of features, including webcams and powerful processors. We tested three of them, along with the latest MacBook Air, to see how they stack up. —J.B. 1. Sony Z Series VPCZ212GX/B

We typed quickly on this 2.57-pound laptop’s springy keys, and videos looked vibrant on the 13-inch screen. During our test, the laptop, which has an Intel Core i5 2.3GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid-state drive, took 50 seconds to copy a 500MB file. The battery lasts eight hours. cost: $2,000

2. Samsung Series 9 NP900X1B

This 2.31-pound notebook, which has an Intel Core i3 1.33GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid-state drive, copied a 500MB file in 38 seconds, the secondfastest time here. We liked the springy keyboard, but videos looked drab on the small 11.6-inch screen. The battery lasts seven hours. cost: $1,250

3. Asus U36SJC

An affordable option, this 3.6-pound laptop has an Intel Core i5 2.67GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive. It copied a 500MB file in 41 seconds, and the battery lasts up to 10 hours. Two drawbacks: The keys were a bit rigid, which slowed down typing, and the 13-inch screen looked a bit washed out. cost: $1,000

4. MacBook Air

The 2.96-pound MacBook is fast: It copied a 500MB file in just 35 seconds. The laptop, which has an Intel Core i5 1.7GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive, has springy keys and the best sound quality of the bunch. But videos looked dark on the 13-inch screen. The battery lasts seven hours. cost: $1,600

A true blue multi-tasker

Get a range of options with this new colour printer Canon’s new range of colour printers is several machines rolled into one. The image RUNNER ADVANCE C2000 Series allows you to print, scan, copy and fax. It has a 5.7’’ TFT touchscreen that adds colour to an otherwise drab design. It also lets you define permissions for different users and control the amount of coloured pages being printed. Its best feature though—you can create a single button to carry out several tasks like print, e-mail, fax, scan and archive a document. You can also plug in a thumb drive and directly print, scan or review documents on the screen. The printer’s one-time cost will pinch your budget hard though. price: Above 2.5 lakh. —Ira Swasti

courtesy company (5)

My favorite Web analytics tool andy crestodina, co-founder and strategic director orbit media studios, chicago

Products + Services

the goods

tech wise soham raninga

A couch shopper’s guide Get the best out of global online stores With international shopping sites a click away, days of waiting for the NRI cousins to arrive with the latest gizmos are thankfully over. Now, one can order away, free from the worrisome custom duty and shipment cost pangs. Still a headache remains: just how do you pick sites that offer you the best deals? And, which products are best bought online? Here’s my pick: ebay Global Easy Buy: This one’s my

favourite. I recommend it strongly for the newbie international online shopper. Global Easy Buy gives you the final prices in INR after including custom duty, shipping and handling costs. What you see is what you pay. The engine is straightforward enough. Also, the robust buyer protection mechanism minimises chances of frauds or lapses in transactions. Plus your eBay India login details work on Global Easy Buy—no need for a separate account. Shopyourworld.com: Barely two-years-

old, SYW grabbed centre stage with the iPhone 4 launch. It was one of the few sites selling officially unlocked iPhone 4 handsets. The site specialises in new products— those that are weeks or months away from hitting the Indian shores. For example, you’ll find the Sony S, the latest Android tablet yet to be launched in India, on its pages. Be prepared to shell out a premium for bagging the latest gadget though. Another unique offering by SYW is the ability to shop across multiple online stores—with all prices in INR to make it easier. For example, if you go to Amazon. com from SYW, it loads a modified version of Amazon’s shopping portal with prices in INR for all products available at www.amazon.com. These prices do not include service charges, custom duties and shipping costs.

Tip: So before you go card-crazy, keep in mind the additional costs (service, duties, handling). They push up the quoted price by 25 to 35 per cent of the original. Also, allow for seven to 15 days for delivery. Look at your purchases through the following prism. Do they justify the additional costs you are shelling out? Generally, accessories are a good starting point. Cases for phones and tablets are generally cheaper from these stores. In the US, the accessories market is mature with several options available at every price point. The product quality is better than what you’ll find in India. I ordered an Otterbox Defender iPad Case from eBay Global Easy Buy for `1,685 (all costs included). Popular Indian e-tailers were selling it for `4,500. Also accessories are hassle-free products: there’s less scope for damage in transit. What experience has taught me by now is that while ordering online, shipping can make or break the deal. I was severely tempted to swipe my card for a set of bookshelf speakers—Wharfedale Diamond 9.1. Priced below `8,000 on the SYW, they were a brilliant deal. However, after adding the shipping charges, the cost climbed to almost `16,000. Shipping rates can get pretty tricky this way. If a product crosses five pounds, rates nearly double. So, you’ve got to watch out for these hidden expenses. Try to apply a rule that has always worked for me—order stuff you can’t get here. Camera lens adapters, iPad car kits, privacy filters for laptops or speaker stands for Hi-Fi speakers are rare here or are exorbitantly priced. The quirky and the unusual are always good buys. One last tip: before you click, figure out the warranty. —Write to Tech Wise at soham. raninga@9dot9.in

Here and after, always

Make archiving a breeze with this digital warehouse We have all spent hours finding that elusive file, that missing folder or that single e-mail that lies buried in the inbox. Imagine if you could save all of them in a single place. Canon’s new business software, Therefore, does just that. Instead of just storing files within folders and those within more folders, Therefore enables the user to save documents of different formats in one place. So, one can archive e-mails, hard copies and electronic documents around a particular task or conversation in a structured manner and in a single place. For easy retrieval, just label the files appropriately. The software also helps retain older versions even if one updates them regularly. Therefore allows users to design workflows electronically. With simple drag-and-drops, the user can create a flow chart of activities: mail Document X to Person A for review, fax it to Person B for signatures and print out a copy for home. The software also comes bolstered with solid security features. Every document is authenticated with a digital signature that lets one specify which documents can be accessed from the “vault”. The administrator can also trace the person accessing documents and when it’s being used. In case of sensitive information, the software allows files to be destroyed forever. —Ira Swasti november 2011 | INC. | 2 3

the goods

Beyond Business

Things I Cannot Live Without...

Couch potato My quest for knowledge ends with late-night television

Book-bound I am your regular nerd. I can’t really think of my mornings without reading e-books on the Kindle

Truly connected Have to always stay connected

Founder, CustomerXPs

Rivi Varghese He’s your regular Mister Dexter. The right and

Phone-dependent Whether at office or home, my Android’s right next to me

2 4 | INC. | november 2011

left halves of Rivi Varghese’s brain work in tandem to create smart software solutions. Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, Varghese found CustomerXPs in 2006 to create intelligent solutions for banks by connecting the dots between psychology and technology. Varghese believes in artificial intelligence. AI solutions, he adds, is the key to making customer-bank relationships more human. His motto—if time is money, information is currency. So he swears by his Android phone, Google Alerts and a 3G stick to stay informed. Forever curious about how the mind functions, he begins his day by reading e-books. After office, he winds down by tuning in to National Geographic and Discovery to get his knowledge fix. —Ira Swasti

...and What I Covet To see the day when customers would go, “I love this bank.”

Everything you need to know to run your business in today’s economy

: : : : : : : : : : : A monthly guide to policies, procedures and practices

Remove booklet along dotted Line

go about Corporate Gifting In today’s competitive marketplace, businesses across the board are making every possible effort to keep their best customers from switching suppliers and their top performers from throwing in the towel. Gifting is one way to show your clients and employees how you value them. Corporate gifts send out a strong message that you are committed to continuing a gainful relationship. When done well, gifts, and the cost you incur on them, can be an investment with a long payback period. The right gift can build customer loyalty and increase bottom lines. A crossindustry survey by consultants Bain & Company shows that with every 5 per cent increase in customer retention and loyalty, profits increase considerably—from 25 to 95 per cent. Besides, not all clients need to be on your gift list. You can focus on key clients who bring in the lion’s share of profits. According to the Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 rule or the law of the vital few, the best customers may number only one-fifth but they account for four-fifths of sales. Likewise, rewarding top-of-the-line performers motivates staff, helps engender loyalty and team spirit, and maintains a sense of intimacy as a company grows. Your company might have ended one round of gifting with Diwali. But if you’ve missed that, or want to do a better job for New Year’s, follow these pointers. Express gratitude to your clients and employees, and while you’re at it, boost sales. —Charu Bahri

Vol. 02 No. 09 | inc. guidebook

go about Corporate Gifting : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Establish Encouraging Guidelines Define reward-worthy activities: The first step in establishing a corporate gift rewards programme is to determine how much the business can set aside for gifts. The budget determines what activities can be rewarded, and how. At the same time, the value of a gift must be commensurate with the action, else the purpose of gifting is defeated. For instance, customers may feel insulted if they get a token gift in return for sizeable orders. So, draw up different categories and decide what ordering levels are rewardworthy. For employees, identify who— the individual or the team—and what actions you seek to award. Rewarding outstanding job performances is common place. But stellar behaviour can be appreciated as well. Start-ups, even if they are cash-strapped, may find it beneficial to recognise employees that go the extra mile or put out great ideas that help improve the company or save costs. As a rule, it usually works better to reward measurable achievements/ sales. That way, employees or clients to reward are selected objectively—keeping favouritism out of the picture . Get employees’ and customers’ perspective: A study by employee motivation agency Maritz shows big gaps between rewards given out by managers and employee expectations. According to Maritz, 55 per cent of employees agree that the quality of their company’s recognition programme impacts their performance. Still, only one in 10 employees is completely satisfied with these efforts. The study also revealed inc. guidebook | Vol. 02 No. 09

that 64 per cent of employees would appreciate a greater choice of rewards. So, asking employees for ideas can throw up more likable gift options that

centage of reward points. That’s why Metro Shoes has adopted a loyalty programme offering high returns—4 per cent,” affirms Jaiprakash J Desai, CEO, Metro Shoes. Metro Shoes also give customers surprise gifts to bring that added cheer. Where employees are concerned, while it is important to be consistent in handling gifting, try to avoid awarding the same person again and again. Explain the awards criteria clearly so that all the employees understand that they have a fair chance of being recipients and feel motivated to work hard. Gifts must also be given soon after the achievement else they lose their charm.

The budget determines what activities can be rewarded and how help you achieve what you set out to do—have happy employees. “Informal interactions with a representative sample of employees are best suited to understand employee needs and motivations. Building a personal rapport with employees is also useful. Companies must balance set policy, budgets with employee expectations,” opines Ritul Pathak, manager, human resource and administration, Pioneer India Electronics. “Items that staff have ‘window shopped’ but postponed acquiring due to budgetary constraints will be appreciated the most,” suggests Mahesh Tibdewal, partner, Siddharth Enterprises, a corporate gifting company. Likewise, a rewards programme must offer clients gifts they will appreciate. It is important to understand that there is no one-size solution that can please everybody. Set rules: The best reward programmes are simple, immediate, transparent and attainable. “Nowadays, customers expect prompt gratification for their patronage. Sometimes, their purchase decisions are dominated by the per-

Choose Attractive Gifts

Pick carefully: The perfect gift, much like the perfect employee, isn’t easily achieved. To begin with, beyond a recipient’s needs, the choice of gift also depends on the occasion. For a pharmaceutical company’s silver jubilee celebrations, Legend Overseas, a gifting and promotions company, suggested a set of four stainless-steel, German-silver coated glasses. Having a great gift idea isn’t enough though, explains Tejas Murarka, director, Legend Overseas. Quality is also an important consideration as it reflects the image of the company. “In the end, items that will not end up stashed in a cupboard or be passed on to someone else are the best gifts, for both employees and clients,” adds Murarka. “An innovative item that has value for money price tag, brings a smile to

the recipients face and is used for a long time is the perfect gift,” says Gaurav Bhagat, owner, Consortium Gifts. “Avoid extremely personalised gifts—these usually have limited usage and can even embarrass the recipient,” cautions Tibdewal. Gifts are meant to enhance goodwill. Be innovative: Gifts help build customer loyalty. But giving innovative items increases your chances of being remembered. So, think out-of-the-box . “Avoid done-to-death options,” cautions Bhagat. Gadgets have become the preferred choice for employee gifting. “Computer accessories and gadgets make popular gifts as they are not industry-specific and are intended for

personal use. Custom-shaped and custom-printed pen drives are popular gifts for clients—these can be preloaded with presentation or corporate films,” adds Murarka. Branded products—apparel, accessories or electronics—at discounted prices also make attractive gifts. “Client gifting is all about marrying uniqueness with a higher perceived value. Our clients Blackberry, RBS, Grohe, and Airtel all agreed that a roller pen from the famed designer duo Shantanu & Nikhil made a great gift—pure luxury at a great price,” adds Bhagat. Focus on branding: Corporate gifting is a form of advertising, brand recall and developing brand loyalty. Still, “subtle

branding works better than overt branding as customers can be wary about using ‘branded’ gifts,” says Murarka. Experienced gift vendors can help you come up with suitable ideas.

Go Beyond

Corporate gifts can prove handy not only to retain existing employees and customers but also to win back customers who have “strayed”. Old clients can be easier and less expensive to win over than cold prospects. Sometimes, all it takes to bring a customer back is to follow up a surprise gift with a great rewards programme. In return, loyal customers will keep the till ringing. That’s precisely why gifting is a winwin or a “wow-wow” proposition.

go about Corporate Gifting : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Need more gifting ideas?

It may seem impossible to cough up money for gifts during recessionary times. But it is all the more important to reward high performers and good clients when the going is tough. Gifts help keep hard-to-please clients. Gifts also help stimulate staff performances and that is certainly worth every effort, especially when you are trying to escape the doldrums. Read on for gift ideas that go beyond cutting a cheque:

Gifts with sentimental value: A bouquet of flowers and a birthday cake delivered home are small gifts with high sentimental value that work for employees as well as customers. Gifts reinforcing corporate policy: A company emphasising a workplay balance could gift its employees and customers free hobby classes, spa therapy vouchers, tickets to a concert, a subscription to a favourite magazine, and so on. Quasi-financial gifts: Quasi-financial rewards having high utility value work best for employees at the lower rungs of the corporate ladder, especially during a recession. Such gifts include items like petrol/diesel coupons to help employees cope with rising gas prices, toys or books for their children, etc. Gifts related to the workplace: A good parking spot or a new desk and chair are gifts no doubt. But use such gifts with caution—since employees may believe they are entitled to them as a right.

Notes:

Customer loyalty programmes: A few tips A few more points to consider are: Customer loyalty programmes are best suited to retail outlets, restaurants, and travel companies that interact with clients regularly and can easily spread word of the promotional offer. Businesses looking to encourage existing clients to refer more customers their way would also benefit. Gifts are more memorable than discounts. But you could choose to introduce a points-based reward programme for all your customers, whereby they can redeem accumulated points for gifts. Or, you could simply gift surprise items to your best customers. The latter route would be more exclusive and is better suited to businesses relying on a few key accounts. Points-based reward programmes should be implemented across board. They are also suited to businesses undergoing many transactions with clients.

Resources

Understand your staff: http:// www.maritzresearch.com/en/ shared-content/Maritz-Poll/2006/ Maritz-Poll-Bosses-Not-On-theSame-Page-as-Employees-Regarding-Recognition.aspx Gift ideas from http://www.greenconcept.co.uk/

Rewards on a budget: http://www.

inc.com/guides/2010/04/rewardingemployees-on-a-budget.html

Starting a customer reward programme: http://www.inc.com/

guides/2010/08/how-to-start-a-customer-rewards-program.html

inc. guidebook | Vol. 02 No. 09

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Earn Your Spurs by Jessie Paul

The invisible brand

CEOs and founder-owners must really live their company’s values. Every intangible supports or negates your brand. The death of Apple’s Steve Jobs led to an outpouring of grief on the internet. Many, who used his devices, felt it as a personal loss. Others referred to the movies, such as Toy Story, created by Pixar, as having babysat their kids. And yet, in the middle of this praise, there were a few dissenting voices. Had he paid child support for his first child? Was he sometimes rude to employees? Did he contribute to charity? What’s that got to do with the product? Not much really but it is part of our overall perception of the brand. It’s a testimony to his superb orchestration of both Apple and his personal brand that the naysayers were a very small minority. Ra.One is Shah Rukh Khan’s latest offering. It’s being advertised everywhere. Most of the PR was blah but a headline about SRK vowing to quit smoking if this film was a success did catch my eye. What’s his smoking got to do with the film? Nothing, but it is part of our overall perception of brand SRK and Ra.One. Many CEOs say they care for their employees and value their clients. A good test for that is how good is the coffee? Within the constraints of money and logistics, wouldn’t you want to make available good quality refreshments that you would enjoy

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too? What’s the coffee got to do with the product? Nothing, but a bad cup of coffee leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and shapes your perception of the firm too. One firm made a big deal of being egalitarian. Yet, only meetings with a board member in attendance were entitled to cookies. We can write it off as “that’s illustration by Shigil N

earn Your Spurs

the way the cookie crumbles” but it also shapes your perception of the brand. In my experience, the response time to an e-mail is significantly faster for chairmen and CEOs than for other inhabitants of the C-Suite. I’ve often wondered about the causality—do they become chairmen because they are quick on the draw or do they respond quickly because, as chairmen, they don’t have much else to do? I think it’s the first though I know many of you will be tempted to opt for the second. Here’s why—if your response time is slow, opportunity is likely to knock once and leave by the time you show up to answer the door. You could argue that others saw the e-mail and deemed it unimportant for a speedy reply. Possibly, but opportunity is

ramp, to the in-flight announcements, to the self-service clean-up is intended to convey a single message. Kingfisher is another which has consistency of the “fun” platform across a variety of products. And their chairman lives his brand which adds value. The Taj chain of hotels is clear that the guest must come first—a value that some employees underlined with their lives during the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai. Disney is another firm which understands that everything it does impacts the brand and tries very hard not to stray from their core family values platform, be it licensing, movies or their theme parks. Disney also understood way before many others that it’s important for its employees to live the brand. They refer to their employees

Educate your employees on what it means to live the brand. Are your employees proud to be your brand ambassadors? usually disguised, so applying that filter is unwise. More so, if as the editor of this magazine pointed out to me, your vision statement is to be timely! Vodafone has a very memorable brand image—cute dogs and now ZooZoos. Yet, for me, the brand is today also associated with trying to sue a customer over a public dispute about alleged deficiency of service. Oh, I’m sure there were a lot of reasons that drove them to this, but this intangible runs counter to the cute, friendly image that their core brand portrays. Where I’m going with this line of thought is that there are many intangibles which support or negate your brand. These intangibles are usually not related to the core brand or product but are important nonetheless. If they work in you favour, they can add immense value, and if they are negative, they can destroy your brand. Very few brands think through all the touch points. Indigo is one good example. Everything from the booking process, to the

as “cast members” and what they can do once they are on “stage” is clearly defined. This is an area that I think more companies can work on. The first step is to be clear about the company’s values. Second is to put policies in place that reward those values. And third is to educate the employees on what it means to live the brand. Have you done that? Are your employees proud to be brand ambassadors? Ah, I hear you say, isn’t that kind of Orwellian? Like brainwashing? It depends on how you do it. Let’s say that you know what you’d like your firm to stand for, and the kind of people you’d like to have. You would then hire for those characteristics. So if you want your company to be innovative, you should hire people who have some past track record of being innovative. If you want cheerful service, you should hire people who are generally happy. When you couple this with policies that support this kind of profiling, you have a winner.

Zappos.com, a shoe company fabled for its excellent service, actually offers its new employees money to—hold your breath— LEAVE. One week into its rigorous four week training programme, it offers employees $3,000 if they want to resign. They’d rather have employees who buy into their vision than folks who are hanging around for a pay cheque. Apparently, less than 2 per cent of the hires take the money and run. Contrast this with many firms in India which expect their trainees to shell out between `50,000 to `2 lakh if they want to quit in the first two years. The “employees are key to our success” claim seems rather hollow when you have to rely on a “bond” to keep them coming to work every day. And to expect these handcuffed employees to espouse values like innovation, risk-taking and creativity, is well, a leap of imagination. But wouldn’t you be loyal to a brand which cared for you, where the customer care executives were not measured on Average Handling Time but on Average Happiness Index? Wouldn’t it be worth investing in cultivating these values among your staff members? And enabling them to live these values, and rewarding them for it? I think a big part of this though is whether the CEO lives the brand personally. How many of us have been disappointed that the CEO whose company says it values your business shows up late for a meeting? Confused because a firm which says that every penny matters sends its CEO by a private jet? As a CEO, it’s important to write down your values and then figure out how to espouse them in everything you do. People like Azim Premji and Narayana Murthy are respected because their personal brands are in sync with their public personas and with that of their firms. Is yours?

Jessie Paul is the CEO of Paul Writer, a firm that also hosts India’s largest community of B2B marketers at www.paulwriter.com. She is also the author of No Money Marketing, a business bestseller. november 2011 | INC. | 2 7

Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty With Total Environment, the Sagars have paved a new kind of business path. BY shreyasi Singh photographs BY S. Radhakrishna

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The Quintessential Builder It’s buildings, not business that takes up most of Kamal Sagar’s time.

The “Details” Goddess Shibanee Sagar knows her apartments—sometimes right down to where the flour is kept.

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Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty

PHOTO CoURTESY Total Environment

amal and Shibanee Sagar have truly taken the road less travelled. Founders and principal architects of Total Environment, a Bengaluru-based real estate development firm, this husband-wife duo certainly aren’t your regular builders—both by design, and by nature. In an industry that thrives on mass-scale housing and broken promises, the Sagars’ business foundation is laid on attention to detail, unprecedented customisation and an unyielding aspiration to make homes, not houses. That this took them to a turnover of `170 crore last fiscal, from sales of 109 apartment units, is incidental, they insist. Even after 15 years, sensitively designed, wellbuilt and lived-in homes continue to be their only vision.

In 1997, while working on their second project, Green is the Colour, a residential complex of 44 apartments on Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta neighbourhood, Shibanee and Kamal Sagar, the project’s architects, decided they wanted each flat to have a garden. “An apartment without its own garden just didn’t feel like a home,” says Kamal. So, the duo added floor area to their units, and gave every apartment a cantilevered terrace garden, essentially a little sit-out with a patch of green. Each garden was designed to be of double height, facing different directions on different floors so that each got enough sunlight for the plants to grow. The only hitch: customers had paid up according to the square footage of the original design, and refused to fork out november 2011 | INC. | 3 1

Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty

more money. Still, the Sagars didn’t budge. “We actually did it for free,” they say. The decision squeezed further the tiny profits—`8 lakh—they ended up making on that project. It wasn’t an easy call, especially because Green is the Colour was to help recover the `20 lakh-plus they had netted in losses with their first project, Cirrus Minor, a year before. But design trumped commerce. They brought the outdoors in, and planted deep roots for their firm’s ethos, aptly named Total Environment. A terrace garden might be almost mandatory for upmarket residential projects today, say the Sagars. But, in 1997, no residential complex boasted of a terrace garden in every apartment, anywhere in the world, they claim. “We introduced the concept. It sounds dramatic, but it isn’t. It’s a simple idea that is quite easy to implement.” Since then, every Total Environment home—600-plus over the past 15 years— has come with a garden. “We just don’t build without one.” Much like the way that tiny patch of green has flourished into larger, more innovative gardens in their subsequent projects, Total Environment has also blossomed beautifully. Last year, the 365-people company, which has till now completed more than 28 residential and corporate projects, notched sales of more than `170 crore. Though its footprint is mostly limited to Bengaluru, with recent forays into Pune and Hyderabad, the Sagars are now being noticed as builders of high-quality, award-winning homes. The Foundation The au contraire streak of the Sagars has been a constant companion for Total Environment. Co-founded in 1995 with three of their friends (all of them were in their mid20s), the company was laid on a simple foundation: to make homes worth living in. Young and idealistic, they managed to sell out their first project, a residential complex of 12 apartments called Cirrus Minor, within a month, mainly because of Kamal’s impressive work at the Poonawalla stud farms in Pune, right after his architecture degree from IIT Kharagpur in 1992. Each flat in Cirrus Minor was sold for around `10 lakh. But the young entrepre3 2 | INC. | november 2011

Kamal Sagar

Early designs The events, inspirations and experiences that have shaped Kamal Sagar

Kamal did his Bachelor’s in architecture from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (1987-1992). More than his professors, he credits his alma mater’s cavernous library for being his real source for learning. “It was the largest technical library in Asia. It had every single journal from the 1900s. I’d spend a lot of time reading through the works of masters like Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruce Goff, Bart Prince and Alvar Aalto, trying to be inspired by them.” Yet Kamal wasn’t a class topper. “I never conformed. I got mostly Cs and Ds. I didn’t care. Because I didn’t need to go to the US, I didn’t need great marks or recommendations from my professors. I found most of them very disappointing anyway.” He chuckles, “When I go back to college to recruit now, some of the professors claim they could see I’d be a big architect. I’m not sure if that’s true.” Inspiration is found anywhere, he says. For him, stories of passion, of people like painter Van Gogh or aviator Howard Hughes, who were willing to do anything to get their craft through, strikes a definite chord. Music is another huge influence. “In my home office where I design, I listen to music all the time.”

Favourite buildings Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water House in Pennsylvania, USA; Moshe Safdies’s The Habitat in Montreal

Favourite musicians Ahmad Jamal (jazz pianist), Pink Floyd, Beethoven, The Allman Brothers Band, Jerry Garcia, Charlie “Byrd” Parker (jazz guitarist)

Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty

“In my mind, thI’m a builder in the traditional, 15 century way. I like building nice structures. Whatever else it takes to do that, I’ll do it.” — Kamal Sagar

Shibanee Sagar

Early designs The events, inspirations and experiences that have shaped Shibanee Sagar

She might not have known then that she would eventually be an architect but Shibanee Sagar began thinking about spaces even as a child. “I spent my early life living in places which weren’t originally designed to be a home. My grandmother’s house in Ambala, for example, was a strip of shops with extraordinarily high ceilings. It was converted to function as a home,” Sagar remembers. “It got me thinking about how space could be converted and used.” A graduate of the JJ Schools of Arts, Mumbai, Shibanee values her professional education for showing her the path to walk

Favourite building Farnsworth House, designed by Mies Van Der Rohe. It’s all about less is more—the building is very simple, functional, fits beautifully into the environment that it has been built in, and is still quite stunning.

Favourite architect Bart Prince. His work is very organic and very relevant to its environment.

“There’s no idealism here. We don’t dissuade people from buying. We have to sell, of course. But design has always been the priority. Commerce comes in second.”

on. Beyond that, a creative person is really the sum total of her life influences, she says. At college, that experience came from meeting a large number of very celebrated architects, many of whom came to JJ School as guest faculty. “That exposure was wonderful. These were successful people. They were secure and encouraging.” Yet, trawling through the pavement bookshops—for architectural magazines from around the world—in Mumbai’s Fort area is an equally cherished memory.

— Shibanee Sagar

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Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty

neurs had got the math wrong. Building to their specifications—mirror polished kota stone floors, imported craftmaster doors, form-finished concrete beams, wire-cut brick masonry from Kerala—the project cost climbed up to `1.32 crore without including team salaries, office rentals and other costs. Kamal, the group’s nucleus, was advised to tone down the specs and bring it within the `1.2 crore capital that they had. “But that seemed like a pointless way to go about it. We plunged right into it and built it the way we wanted to,” he recalls. The losses hurt, but they also gave the company a fait accompli—build more to break even. “There is no idealism here. We have to sell, of course. But design has always been the priority. Commerce comes in second,” says Shibanee calmly. Short of cash, they needed to sell the flats in advance to fund land acquisition and begin construction. At the time, Bengaluru was becoming a global technology hub. Kamal saw an opportunity here and made presentations to IT firms like Wipro, Infosys and others, offering to build housing for their employees. Employees of Microland and Sasken signed on Total Environment, and imaginatively-named projects like Green is the Colour and Bougainvillea followed. Their aesthetic but functional, eco-conscious yet technically superior homes, undoubtedly pleased customers. And their idealism also found many takers. One of their early land sellers (for the Green is the Colour site) in the late 1990s, was amazed that they had sold the land they bought from him to Microland at exactly the same price—`500 per sq ft—without any margin at all. He offered the couple (by then their other cofounders had amicably drifted to pursue other career options) two adjacent plots of land without an upfront payment. “Pay me from the proceeds of the sales in the project,” he told the young couple. “This was a turning point. We sold our apartments in the open market at `1,200 sq ft,” Kamal recalls. It finally led them to profits at the turn of the century. The Innovations More than proving business sustainability, the Sagars’ skill has been in learning quickly. 3 4 | INC. | november 2011

“A lot of the actual designing I manage to do only at home. There’s no peace of mind in the office.” — Kamal Sagar

Within their first few projects, they saw the gaps other developers weren’t plugging. For one, they realised that the practice of “force fitting” families with different needs—ageing parents, pets, children—into a standard home layout led to dissatisfaction and ad-hoc renovations. “At the site, we’d see people ask construction staff to move this wall, and add that shelf. There would be requests to change marble to tiles. It was crazy because there was so much breakage and redoing. Timelines would also go haywire,” Kamal says. So, the couple decided that after they had sold the apartment to a family, they would sit down with them to understand their specific needs and aesthetic sensibilities. These would be worked into the flat design and a new customised plan put forward. Their early customers, many of whom are repeat buyers, admit it has been this approach, more than anything else, that has made them Total Environment “converts”. “I remember spending around three hours in a marble store on Hosur Road with Kamal and Shibanee. Even in choosing the colour of the laminate for the kitchen, they’d be involved,” says Jessie Paul (also an Inc. India columnist), who bought her first-ever home in Green is the Colour. Since then, she’s invested in other Total Environment projects like Free Bird, The Good Earth (where she lives now) and Windmills of

Your Minds. In an era, when mass-scale housing is the real profit-spinner for construction companies, nobody allows you this level of customisation, Paul says. Anand Sukumar, another Total Environment faithful, and CEO of GK Vale, an iconic chain of photography stores in Bengaluru, agrees completely. In 2004, when his family bought two 1,950 sq ft flats in Shine On 2, he gave the Sagars a wishlist—convert the six bedrooms into a four bedroom apartment. There were several columns on which the building’s foundations were supported and breaking them was problematic, he remembers. Some of them could be broken down, others couldn’t. Sukumar still marvels at how beautifully they adapted the flat. “Today everything in the apartment seems like it was done by design, as though

Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty

In perfect sync

Two creative people working together, as partners in design, and in the business is bound to be tricky. Does it make it easier that they are married? Or are the fault lines even more sensitive? Kamal and Shibanee Sagar tell us how they maintain a healthy distance, both at work, and from work. Like many great companies, Total Environment also started at home. “The living room and the lobby was the office. The bedroom was home,” they recall about their start-up days in 1995. Gradually, the work set-up shifted downstairs to accommodate a growing team. But lunch continued to be served for the entire staff in the dining room. There were no work-versus-life boundaries. Kamal confesses this wasn’t because of lack of trying. “Initially, we tried consciously to keep a balance. There were big fights over work discussions post office hours.” Now, he adds, they don’t even bother. “We talk work all the time now,” they both say. Shibanee worked out of home a lot in the past few years, so that she could bring up their young children. And Kamal’s entire library is in their home office. “I manage to do a lot of the actual designing at home. There’s no peace of mind in office,” he says of their corporate set up in Whitefield, Bengaluru. While at work, they’ve devised a simple solution to keep creative clashes at bay. Each project is headed by one of them—the other can offer ideas and suggestions. Whoever owns that project takes the final call. “We haven’t had too many conflicts that way. If Kamal has a good idea, I support him. He does likewise for me. As long as we can figure out whose idea is better, we are fine,” says Shibanee matter-of-factly.

this is how it was planned to be. Also, our interaction with them was phenomenal,” he says. Though Sukumar continues to invest in residential and commercial properties by established builders (Mantri and Brigade) across Bengaluru, he says if he’s buying his home, he wouldn’t look at anything but Total Environment. “No one else can give you the feeling that you’re actually building your own home, like they can. It isn’t about buying into a project.” Shibanee, who Paul calls the interior design whiz of the two, says she has fond memories of these houses. In fact, she remembers being so involved in some of the apartments— right down to where the 10 kilo rice and wheat tins would be kept in the kitchen— that the joke in their office was, “If you can’t find the dal, you better ask Shibanee.” Clearly, their gut proved right. Customisation became such a selling point for them that over much of the last decade, Total Environment has spent more than `10 crore in converting this insight into a software tool called eBuild. The software helps customers see for themselves what’s possible and what’s not, and how the changes—walls knocked down or moved around, flooring or kitchen counter material altered—that they want will eventually look. Every time the design is altered, eBuild also shows the subsequent cost impact. The software has helped them streamline the customisation process, and is less human resource intensive. Neeraj Bansal, associate director in KPMG’s real estate practice, says customisation can definitely be a niche differentiator for a builder in the crowded residential market. He cautions though, that when trying to scale up, as Total Environment wants to, customisation requires a sound backend and mature processes. “You have to get the inventory and procurement right,” explains Bansal. Total Environment is confident they’ve got that covered, thanks to the two key decisions they took early on: bringing all construction in-house and creating their own capability lines; and by taking on the unglamorous, messy job of managing their properties. That’s smart thinking, KPMG’s Bansal admits. “Many prominent builders are now re-looking at their facility managenovember 2011 | INC. | 3 5

Built on Bricks, Grit and Beauty

First among equals

Here’s the Sagars’ pick of projects that have been landmarks in Total Environment’s journey, and why:

1. The Good Earth, Bengaluru: “We integrated an existing gulmohar tree into the project. When we finished, the building and the tree looked like they had grown together. That was a huge high. This was also the first time we were able to use the special brick we’d been developing. Normal bricks are 9 inch by 4 inch. They look like blocks. But we like our buildings to be inviting, not intimidating. To achieve that, we needed to have more horizontal lines and do away with blocky, vertical lines. We worked with a brick-maker in Kerala to come up with thin and long bricks, 12 inches by 2 inches.”

ment because they’ve realised that seeing this as a long-term objective, not an endof-the-cycle function has many advantages. Better-maintained properties appreciate more, and it helps to continue relationships with customers.” As has been their style, the Sagars were early movers of this logic. Every project since Cirrus Minor, their first, continues to be maintained by them. It’s helped them to improve on their design, and to understand what was working and what wasn’t, they say. “Everything we’ve done is planned,” says Abraar Ahmed, a civil engineer who has been with the company since 1998. Take their woodworking unit, he says. Because they could not control the quality they sought by contracting out their carpentry requirements, Total Environment set up its own woodworking factory. “Our shop floor is only 25 per cent occupied. We’ve planned ahead for the next 20 years,” claimsAhmed. 3 6 | INC. | november 2011

3 2. Bougainvillea, Bengaluru: “As we customised and built more homes, we realised that we were ending up furnishing the apartments as well. But we weren’t able to benefit from economies of scale, since orders came in parts. Also, for customers, good furniture weren’t easy to find. Most of it had to be forcefitted. We decided then that we’d sell our apartments as completely furnished homes—with beds, wardrobes and entertainment units. We did this to an incredible detail like where somebody’s National Geographic collection would go, or where their ties and socks would be.”

The Master Plan Windmills of Your Minds, their 24-acre, 400unit project in Bengaluru’s Whitefield is their most ambitious yet. Started in 2007, it was the prototype of the duplex apartment at Windmills—and it’s strategically placed advertisement in publications like The Economist—that first catapulted Total Environment to recognition beyond its hometown. “Every developer from around the country came to know of us,” says Kamal, admitting the attention took him by surprise. They’d build the prototype (where the pictures in this story have been shot) because they were finding it difficult to sell the large, 5,924 sq ft apartment, which today costs upwards of `4 crore. The high-profile project has given them several sleepless nights too. During the recession in 2008, many customers backed out, and others defaulted on payments. Through its journey, stretched timelines have been Total Environment’s Achilles Heel. It’s an

3.Windmills of Your Minds, Bengaluru: “We had a large canvas of 24 acres. We wanted to provide a very different experience from anything we’d done in the past. The large 5,924 sq ft duplex apartments were inspired by Miles Van de Rohe’s Farnsworth House, a 1,500 sq ft glass box placed in the middle of a 60-acre property. We wanted to create that kind of feel in a multi-dwelling project with close to 400 homes. So we designed a large 1,000 sq ft garden complete with bamboo trees, a water body and a wooden deck. Every room in the apartment opens out into the garden.”

accusation the Sagars bristle at but can’t ignore. After the hype it had gathered, and the kind of clientèle it had attracted, they knew they had to ensure that—sales or no sales— work continued on Windmills. So they approached several banks to invest into the project. In March 2009, after Kamal made a presentation to HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, the bank put in `130 crore through a structured deal (part equity, part return). Today, phase one of Windmills is complete. Nearly 100 units, each one of them completely customised, have been handed over. Along with finishing Windmills, they’re also excited about spreading their footprint to Hyderabad and Pune. “We’re looking at `250 to `300 crore in turnover in the next couple of years,” they say, after much prodding. “But that’s not a milestone. Numbers have no meaning. They don’t excite us at all,” claim the Sagars. Fortunately, some things never change. Hitting braver aesthetic milestones remains their only aim.

PHOTO CURTESY Total Environment

The Don’t Do Lists

Most of us keep to-do lists. But you’d be a fool to underestimate the importance of what you don’t do. With that in mind, we asked 16 business leaders and experts to share their own don’t-do lists—the things they assiduously avoid doing or saying when going on sales calls, planning business lunches, motivating employees, and more. There’s a lot to learn here (“Don’t trust your gut” when designing a logo, for instance). And plenty to argue with (“Do not be afraid to recommend someone else’s business or product” to a prospective client. Really?). Our two cents: Don’t not read this story. By Jennifer Alsever and Adam Bluestein november 2011 | INC. | 3 7

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imaging by Shigil N

the don’t-do lists

Delegating

The Art of the Handoff

Managing, to a large extent, is the art of effective delegating. But how much and when to hand off? We asked Ted Roden, founder and CEO of New York City–based Fancy Hands, a personal-assistant service that sweats the details for hundreds of busy executives.

expect someone to get inside your head. 1Don’t

There are certain things people are picky about but may not realise. Booking flights is very personal, as it turns out. If you need a window seat at least five rows from the nearest child, you’re probably better off handling it yourself—unless you really articulate the particulars you want.

Don’t assign too much.

Delegated tasks should be small enough that you shouldn’t need to check in too often. If it’s a longer-term project, agreeing on a check-in schedule up front is better than just popping your head in and saying, “How’s that thing going?”

Don’t hesitate.

Delegate things that let you focus on the parts of your job that only you can do. In my case, being a user of my service enabled me to build the company while I continued working my day job, writing a book, and helping care for a newborn. I’ve been able to operate as a much larger company because of being able to delegate.

Don’t micromanage.

You need to give someone enough information to get the task done, but it’s not appropriate to tell someone how he or she should do the work. Specify what you need and why you need it, and try to give the person the freedom to get the job done as he or she sees fit.

5 Don’t lose faith.

Delegating is harder than you expect, and it will take you some time to get used to how to work best with members of your team. Even people with the world’s best assistants will tell you there was a rough patch in the beginning.

Illustration by Prince Antony

Dealmaking

What not to do if you want to avoid a lawsuit

When Silicon Valley players need legal advice, they turn to Ted Wang. A partner at Fenwick & West in Mountain View, California, Wang counsels venture capitalists, investment banks, and businesses that range from emerging start-ups to some of the biggest names on the internet, including Facebook and Twitter. 1. Don’t do a handshake deal.

As soon as you can, you want to establish agreements with everyone working on a project. Get in writing who gets what and how long they have to stay to get it. 2. Don’t forget about the consultants.

You need to set expectations with anyone doing any kind of work that has an intellectualproperty element. Any software or aspect of a business plan—you need to get the rights to it. The best choice is to have a lawyer document everything; the next best is to get it written in a basic way that

everything anyone does for the company is owned by the company. 3. Don’t sugarcoat things for potential investors.

The personality-type that starts a business is optimistic. But you’re not doing yourself a favour by saying this is a sure thing. Several of the new companies fail. And acknowledging the possibility is not foolish. Sometimes, when I circulate an investor questionnaire, I make it a point to put in bold, all caps— “YOU COULD LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY”. If people are not comfortable with that, they should not invest.

november 2011 | INC. | 3 9

the don’t-do lists

Business Meetings

Four steps to the perfect power lunch

Julian Niccolini, co-owner of the Four Seasons restaurant in New York City, has been in the restaurant business since 1977. Among his regular clients: Henry Kissinger, Barbara Walters, Barry Diller, and Mort Zuckerman.

1. Don’t reserve online. Make and confirm your

reservation with a human being. This allows you to confirm your seating preferences—you want a table where other people aren’t going to hear your conversation—and make sure the restaurant has the name of your guest, too. It helps things go smoother than usual.

2. Don’t leave the check to chance. Whoever makes the reservation usually pays the check. When you’re going to a very important meeting with a person you’ve never met, make sure the restaurant has your credit card number ahead of time. Selling

Three things you never want to do—if you want to close

John (“Grizz”) Deal, co-founder of Denverbased Hyperion Power, is a salesman’s salesman. During his career, he has gone on thousands of calls, hawking products as diverse as software and satellite imaging and nuclear power generators.

3. Don’t be late. If you’re the host, show up early

to make sure you have the table you want. If not, ask to change it. We’re here to make your visit enjoyable.

4. Don’t be a stranger. Make one restaurant your place. If you fly United all the time, they upgrade you. If you’re a regular at a restaurant, you can expect better treatment. We will remember what you like and dislike.

1. Do not dump your marbles on the table.

When you go into a meeting, you’ve got two guys staring at you with an empty pad of paper. It’s intimidating. The natural inclination is to get it all out, because you’re afraid they’re going to walk out of the room. Don’t go into a meeting immediately saying, “Here’s what I’m selling.” Don’t just re-create what is on a brochure. Introduce yourself, and listen and figure out why they think they’re there and why you’re there. I’ve seen great salespeople turn into infomercial guys. They get a patter down, a standup routine, and create a one-sided conversation. By just getting people talking, I’ve seen sales calls turn into partner meetings and turn into investor meetings.

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2. Do not work so hard closing that you close the door.

There are lots of reasons a deal might not close. Some people may be excited about your product, but they may not be able to afford it, or the timing might not be right. Some sales people just dump them and move on. I categorise those people as advocates, as opposed to potential customers. I send them Christmas cards and ask them if they want to receive our newsletter. You’re making them part of your team instead of being a customer.

3. Do not be afraid to recommend someone else’s business or product.

As much as one-third of the time, I recommend someone else’s product because we don’t fit their needs. You could try to push them through the sales process, but eventually they’re going to figure out you’re not a good fit. This way, you make friends in the industry. I say, “You tell them that I sent you.” Maybe your competition will do the same for you. If you put the best interest of your customer first, you’ll make money.

the don’t-do lists

Raising Funds

Developing perfect pitch

Steve Jurvetson is a managing partner at the Menlo Park, California–based venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which has backed companies including Skype, Tesla Motors, Synthetic Genomics, and Hotmail. He and colleague Marta Bulaich have met with hundreds of entrepreneurs; here are some of the most common mistakes they see. Leadership

What not to do when your co-founder is also your spouse Soon after co-founding their event-planning website, Eventbrite.com, in 2006, Kevin and Julia Hartz tied the knot. They’re still hitched—with a daughter and a baby on the way—and their San Francisco business is as successful as their union. To make it work, they’ve come up with their own special marital work rules. 1. Do not overlap.

julia: Divide and conquer is

our No. 1 rule. There’s clear delineation in the business. I am focused on people, culture, hiring, and retention. kevin: I am focused on product and operations. julia: We broke the rule once last year, when we were looking for new office space. kevin: We were doubling up on work and not communicating. It created unnecessary strife. 2. Do not throw your spouse under the bus. julia:

That means no secrets. We don’t keep any secrets from each other personally or professionally. kevin: So if Julia is coaching an employee and she tells me, I cannot betray that trust and meddle. We’re also publicly supportive of each other. When your spouse makes a decision, you support that. There is a fine

line between challenging ideas and undermining decisions. 3. Do not downplay your marriage. julia:

We are a husband-andwife team, and it’s widely known among our customers, competitors, and investors. It’s part of our story. kevin: There are always challenges with brother-brother, brother-sister, wife-husband teams. Teams like that will often downplay the situation, but we always bring it up and discuss it with investors. We’ve raised $80 million. 4. Do not leave your marriage at home.

julia: A lot of couples act one

way at work and another way at home, but we don’t have two different modes. We announced my pregnancy at an all-hands meeting with 150 people. kevin: That’s the tone we’ve chosen to set.

1. Don’t assume everyone knows what you do. Practice your presentation

with your grandmother, children, anyone unfamiliar with the space, and see if they can understand what you’re doing. Not every VC will have expertise in your area, and you need to be able to convey your value proposition at a comprehensible level.

2. Don’t lose track of time, be late, or get caught up in small talk. It just

subtracts from your precious presentation time. And turn off your cell phone—it’s distracting, and likely most distracting to you.

3. Don’t be rigid. VCs often pepper

entrepreneurs with questions that take them by surprise or get ahead of the presentation flow. Be nimble enough to drift from the script. “I’ll get to that in 10 slides” is a frustrating answer.

4. Don’t pass the buck. Understand your data. Try to avoid the “I’m not sure how we got those numbers— our CFO did them, and unfortunately, he’s not here” situation. 5. Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability.

Omitting or discounting competitors undermines your credibility. If you can admit areas of concern, if you acknowledge a potential challenge, your strengths will be all the more compelling.

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Branding

What not to do when designing a logo

Milton Glaser is one of the most celebrated American graphic designers. Most famous for his “I Love NY” logo, the New York City-based designer has spent decades creating logos and developing corporate identities for hundreds of businesses, large and small.

1. Don’t trust your gut. Everyone is an expert.

Starting Up

Will it fly?

Mellie Price knows a thing or two about turning an idea into reality. She is the founder of Austin-based Front Gate Tickets, one of the nation’s largest independent ticketing companies. She is also founder and managing partner of Source Spring, an Austin-based angel investment group. And as a lead mentor at the Capital Factory, a start-up accelerator in Austin, she has worked with dozens and dozens of founders looking to bring ideas to life.

They don’t like blue, or they want fatter letters. It’s hard when you have a manufacturer who’s been making something for 50 years and thinks he understands the subject—but designing logos, he doesn’t know anything about anything. I try to convince clients there’s a rational process involved.

2. Don’t focus-group it to death. It’s a nightmare presenting a logo to a board of eight people and trying to find consensus. It’s amazing how much mediocre work there is, even in the face of so much collective energy and marketing groups. At the end, you have something that is weak and ineffective and looks like 100 other things. 3. Don’t just do it. The worst trend is the Nike swoosh. So many clients and designers think of a logo as being a peculiar kind of shape that stands out from others. But there has to be a fundamental editorial proposition behind the logo.

1. Don’t overthink.

Create it, deploy it, listen to feedback, iterate based on what you heard, and do the cycle quickly instead of sitting around and talking about your product or service. 2. Don’t be shy.

I’m a big fan of getting a lot of input. When people are reluctant to give their ideas away, the real fear is that the ideas don’t have enough depth to be unique. Be deliberate in whom you talk to, though, and seek out specific expertise.

3. Don’t try to please everyone.

When you get feedback from a lot of people, you’re going to get mixed messages. Lots of people stand still in the face of that. I’m a big proponent of making a decision and letting the truth appear. Don’t be a chameleon and try to be everything to everyone. 4. Don’t overreach.

When showing an early concept to prospective customers or investors, less is more—and it better not be crappy. Instead of

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something with a lot of features that don’t work, I’d show a simpler product that’s not broken. 5. Don’t waste paper.

Before they know if an idea is even viable, people often spend ridiculous amounts of money papering things up and worrying about things like corporate governance. I’m not suggesting

you move ahead without a term sheet, but make it a simple one, outlining expectations in plain English. 6. Don’t put off the pivot.

If you’re committed to a weekly cycle of truth evaluation, you’ll know when you’re beating a dead horse. Each year at the Capital Factory, there’s a company that substantially changes what it’s doing from the original demo pitch. The ones that do so quickly and gracefully tend to be more successful.

the don’t-do lists

2. Don’t hide

from unhappy customers.

Marketing

How to Turn a Social Network Into Your Network Andy Dunn, founder and CEO of the New York City-based menswear manufacturer Bonobos.com, owes it all to Facebook and Twitter. The social networking sites bring in a third of Bonobos’s customers and helped push sales to $9 million last year.

1. Don’t be a wimp.

People avoid Twitter and Facebook because they don’t understand it. That’s a little bit like 90 years ago saying, “I don’t get this telephone thing.”

If someone complains, don’t duck. We have the equivalent of three full-time people who handle customer service through Facebook and Twitter, and we aim to close 95 per cent of those tickets within two hours. We call our customer service people Ninjas and have made customer service a salaried job with an equity stake and hired energetic and empathetic college graduates. They work in our New York City headquartres just down the hall from the people who are designing the products.

3. Don’t blather

about yourself.

If you’re self-serving, you miss the point of what social media is about. About 80 per cent of what we say on Twitter and Facebook isn’t self-promotional. We do quizzes; we ask questions, things like, “What’s your favorite summer music memory?” or “What’s your response when someone says, ‘Nice pants’?” Be irreverent. There’s more to having a conversation than just promoting your product. november 2011 | INC. | 4 3

the don’t-do lists

Crowdsourcing

Tapping the wisdom of the crowd

In crowdsourcing, businesses take advantage of their most precious resource, their customers, by exploiting their passion, wisdom, and creativity to come up with new and innovative products. The Vancouver, British Columbia, footwear brand John Fluevog is a master of the technique. It has used crowdsourcing to design shoes and advertising campaigns. Stephen Bailey, the company’s chief marketing officer, talks about what he has learnt the hard way. Media Training

Don’t go halfway. Everyone has to be on board. There can’t be a “we’ll see what 1 happens” attitude. If the crowd makes a

In a media saturated world, it’s bound to happen: You’re invited to appear on television. For Dan Zaccagnino, that moment came in February 2009, when he got a call from The Colbert Report. Zaccagnino is the co-founder of NYC–based Indaba, an online collaboration platform for musicians. Some of the site’s users, it turned out, had created music remixes that sampled snippets from the show, and a mock-outraged Stephen Colbert wanted to discuss the possible intellectual-property infractions. The company’s website got an enormous spike in traffic after the spot aired, and several thousand of those visitors became Indaba members. 1. Don’t cram.

As a musician who’s spent a lot of time performing, I’ve learnt that there’s always a moment before a show when no matter how much more you

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decision, you have to follow through with it. Don’t bother if you lack an energised 2 customer base. If you launch a crowdsourcing initiative and no one enters, it

looks terrible, because it’s public. Talk to customers, people inside the company, and people on Facebook and Twitter to get a read on whether crowdsourcing makes sense.

Don’t bet the farm. Opening yourself up to the will of your customers can be 3 overwhelming, so start with decisions that are

not make or break for the company.

rehearse, you’re still going to mess up a chord or a song. Instead of trying to cram as much as you can, you might as well just relax and try to enjoy the experience.

communicate the concept that it was worldwide. I tried to go with whatever direction Stephen took it, but to make sure through all the silliness to get those main points across.

2. Don’t be a control freak.

3. Don’t break out the PowerPoint.

I got good advice from Colbert’s producer, who told me, “Stephen’s going to steer the interview. Don’t try to be funny—just try to make your big points.” I wanted to talk about the size of our community and clearly

No one wants to be bored by a business pitch or proposal. Rather than jam in as much information, I thought about giving just enough to make people interested and want to check out Indaba more.

4. Don’t stress.

An appearance on television may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and then, it goes by in the blink of an eye. I remember the first thing Stephen said—he pronounced Indaba wrong—and the next thing I remember is him standing up and shaking my hand. Afterward, Indaba’s public relations person said, “How does it feel to do the coolest thing you are ever going to do?”

Motivating Employees

Here’s an Idea: Stop Being a Jerk

Jay Steinfeld, founder and CEO of Houston-based Blinds.com, used to be—well, a jerk. He would criticise employees regularly and rarely dole out praise. But following the death of his wife in 2002, Steinfeld went through a period of introspection that led him to alter his management style. The change appears to have paid off: Sales at Blinds.com grew 44 per cent in 2010, to $65 million; turnover among the company’s 120 employees is 2 per cent.

1. Don’t ban the

2. Don’t discount

It used to drive me crazy to see people talking about other things at work. Now, I’m glad they’re doing it. People need an opportunity to blow off steam and feel like they are not being watched. You can’t be paranoid and creative at the same time; it’s impossible. And you’re not going to get the most out of people if you tell them to sit down, stop talking, and work. Maybe it works in prison.

Keep charity and community service at the forefront. It’s not something you do just for publicity and obligation. It trains people’s minds to think about improving other people’s lives. They’re going to improve customers’ lives, co-workers’ lives, and their own lives.

water cooler.

community service.

3. Don’t ignore

the good tries.

Years ago, I would ream out people when they failed. Now I tell them, “Hey, it didn’t work, but I’m pleased you gave it a shot.” And I say it in front of others. I want people to experiment without fear of failure.

4. Don’t leave it up to HR.

Company culture is up to the CEO. It has to come from you. Nothing happens if the top doesn’t agree or even personally care about it. But don’t make it about yourself; make it about the company. november 2011 | INC. | 4 5

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Succession Planning

What Not to Do When You Decide It’s Time to Step Aside

After serving as CEO of Salt Lake City-based retailer Backcountry.com for 14 years, Jim Holland, the co-founder, handed over control of the business in 2011 to a successor, longtime employee Jill Layfield.

Don’t assume that it’s a matter of finding another you. 1 I’m still plugged in and own a significant piece of the com-

Public Speaking

“ The vast majority of presentations are terrible.” As the CEO of Sunnyvale, California-based Serious Energy, Kevin Surace makes about 50 presentations a year on sustainability and green job creation. He admits to being more than slightly obsessive. And he is unsparing in what he thinks of most talks,“The vast majority of presentations,” he says, “are terrible.” (Fun fact: Surace is also a big fan of musical theatre.) 1. Do not use PowerPoint.

You don’t want your presentation to look like everyone else’s presentation. So, good God, use Keynote, the Mac software that combines video and images and has great transitions that flow from one to the next. 2. Do not use bullet points.

You should be shot for putting stuff in bullet points. Why would you put text on a slide? You want people

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pany, but I encourage Jill to think for herself.Because my experience is relevant and valued, Jill regularly asks what I think, but I usually pass it back to her to make the call.

Don’t underestimate the talent under your nose. 2 Often, people get wowed by the shiny resumés of rock-star outside candidates. As a result, they fail to see the value of the people they have in their teams. Because you know your own people so well, you might focus too much on their faults. But the reality is, everyone has faults—and there’s only so much you can learn about an outside candidate in a couple of interviews.

looking at you. If you need to give stats, highlight a few things people should remember, or provide the numbers in a visual context, such as a pie chart or an image. Steve Jobs will put one word up onscreen, like broken, and then talk about how he’s going to fix it. You’ve left people with the word broken. 3. Do not be self-effacing.

They came to see you, the expert. Stand up and be the expert. You’re there to entertain. People are sitting in a room, coffee is running out, the lights are dim, and they’re starting to nod off. I bring up the energy level. I have said

before, “Everybody stand up and stretch the legs. Now, we’ll all be able to learn from each other.” I’m friendly, energetic, and try to have fun. That means I never talk from behind the podium. It’s a brick wall between you and the audience. 4. Do not leave out the emotion.

Lots of people want to be careful and professional when giving a talk. I want to emote. The best musicals are the ones where the girl loses the guy, and she sings about everything it was meant to be. You cry along with her. Swing your audience’s emotions back and forth. You need to go in and say, “Here’s how bad life is. Here

is what it can be. Here’s how we get there together.” 5. Do not bore us with facts.

People think it’s all about facts. I saw a guy who stood up and presented so many facts that I wanted to kill myself. He was brilliant. But how did that benefit me? If you say, “I’m going to present 19 slides on the technology we make at Timbuck Widgets,” nobody cares. It’s boring. What they do want to hear is how you’re going to make their life better. They wasted 30 minutes of their life to listen to you. Show them how these facts are going to change their lives.

START-UP

DIARIES Tracking radical ideas from different cities

November 01-2011 elhi/Mumbai: Two B-school buddies D have found their perfect job—helping students explore their career choices. Gurgaon: Five months on, Coco Loco is going to the movies, hanging around the trade fair and travelling to Brazil. It’s all to reach that 100-machine milestone by Summer 2012.

Nearly three years after Shiv Dewan and Shadab Siddiqui launched One Step Up, a career counselling programme aimed at schools students, they have found their dream jobs. Being entrepreneurs is everything it’s made out to be, the duo says.

Delhi/Mumbai: The Careerists Shiv Dewan has a disconcerting habit of throwing questions back at you—did you always want to be a journalist, or did you take an aptitude test to figure out what you wanted to do, he asks before we can get a word in. Yet, he doesn’t wait for an answer. The chatty 29-year-old quickly establishes his point—that “career counselling” as we know it doesn’t really deliver what it promises to do. It was something he and his friend, and now business partner Shahdab Siddiqui, believed in enough to turn their own careers inside out. In 2009, the duo, batchmates from IIM Indore, set up One Step Up, a career-counselling company with a simple mission—to help school students make more informed choices, about what streams of education they should take up, or how to think about the mindboggling question of a career. Within two years, their start-up has taken several confident strides, reaching out to nearly 12,000 students across 82 schools in 15 states. Dewan and Siddiqui believe in showing, not telling. At the workshop sessions they organise for school students, typically between Class IX and XII, they begin by playing slickly-produced, very “MTV” videos that take the students through a regular day in the life of a profession (from conventional options like a doctor, lawyer and engineer, to more off-beat careers like a dramatist or a radio jockey). Produced in-house, these videos are storyboarded to give the students a real sense of what a particular professional actually entails. A presentation and activities based on various pros and cons of a profession is then conducted to help students figure out if this is something they are good at, or would like to do. “Usually, you choose from the options that you see, hear and know of either through your peers, friends or family. We thought of widening that circle and bringing in professionals into the classrooms who would honestly talk about their jobs, their yahoo moments and also those moments when the struggles didn’t seem 4 8 | INC. | november 2011

worth it,” explains Dewan. Being in the middle of somebody’s work day, and sharing their experiences, he believes, helps in getting the right picture of a certain job. “If what you see is what you like then there’s your career. If you don’t then that’s great too, because now you know what you don’t want to do,” Dewan adds. Dewan and Siddiqui wonder honestly if they might’ve been somewhere else today if they had access to really identifying what was the best-fit for them when they were in school. Dewan studied science in school, switched to commerce, then law before ending up in IIM Indore where he met Siddiqui, a fellow classmate. He also played squash for India, and seriously pondered about being a sportsperson. But after their management degree, the duo tred the expected path by taking up corporate jobs. Dewan went to NDTV’s business planning division, and Siddiqui worked in Reliance and Bennett & Coleman, till they decided to start-up. One Step Up—and countless other entrepreneurial ventures – had started to take shape in their IIM hostel room but nothing seemed like something they could fly with then. “Some ideas may be great, but they don’t make for a great market,” Siddiqui says. For both of them, the thrills of corporate life didn’t last long, and putting to action one of their numerous business plans seemed attractive. In mid 2009, while still in their jobs, they put together an informal pilot programme for ten high-school students. The response sealed their decision, and they knew they had a business winner at hand. Impatient themselves, they figured lecture-type workshops wouldn’t work. “Teenagers don’t have time to listen,” Dewan pitches in. And hit on breezy, fun, short videos as an option to reach their audience. They decided to build a repertoire of 10 videos on different professions with their own money, roughly `5 lakh. An old teacher from Dewan’s alma mater, The Lawrence School, Lovedale, recommended his programme to

Back to School Shiv Dewan, Mansi Sharma (in black) and Shobita Naithani in their comfort zone.

Photograph by Subhojit Paul

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start-up diaries

Welham Boys in Dehra Dun. It set their ball rolling. “We were still working when we received a call from the Welham Boys School in Dehra Dun. We were allotted a tricky slot: a Sunday afternoon before a special pizza lunch. It was a six-hour-long session and when the bell rang, none of the boys seemed in a rush to get their pizzas,” says Dewan. It was Dewan’s yahoo moment. A week later, he quit his day job. It took Siddiqui a few months more to cross over. In the first year, they decided to take things slow. If need be, they would hit 40 schools at most. They had meagre budgets, most of which was spent on the `15,000-`80,000 to produce the videos. They hit their targets right on spot. Within a year, they had covered 38 schools on their list, including prestigious institutions like the Doon School, Dehra Dun, Shriram in Delhi, and Lawrence School, Lovedale. Just from these schools, they’d recovered most of their video costs. Encouragingly, almost every school they reached out to got in touch for follow-up sessions. The mathematics seemed to add up. “We have two revenue models. In the sign-up model, each students pays anywhere between `10,000-`15,000 per session. In the second model, we devise curriculum-based modules for schools,” Siddiqui explains. The duo prefers the sign-up model, especially for repeat workshops in the same school. “If the students come back for more, we know we’ve done something right.” A large part of their success, they believe, has been about identifying the right schools. In every state, they first target the top five schools. If these

Update

come on board, other educators, administrators and principals become easier to access, they say. Their repeat ratio has been nearly flawless. Over the past two years, only two of the 82 schools they’ve worked with have not given them repeat workshops. Even now, they reach out to 20-plus schools every month. That means a gruelling travel schedule, and both Dewan and Siddiqui crisscross the country. Take the last two months—they’ve had workshops in Shimla, Dehra Dun, Chandigarh, Coimbatore and Bengaluru. “We wouldn’t have continued had we not loved to travel. But we love what we do. Interacting with students is wonderful,” gushes Dewan. With their enthusiasm and quick-wit, it’s easy to see that their team—now six-people strong, including Dewan’s “much-better-half” Shobita Naithani, and former TV journalist Mansi Sharma—manage to bond with the students. “We usually begin by kicking ball with them. It breaks the ice,” he adds. Their students, he says, have helped them expand the programmes. Their list of careers and jobs, 24 in total right now, for the videos come from student suggestions. In their management programmes, they might’ve have been hard-wired to draw up ambitious plans. But Dewan and Siddiqui truly live their brand name. For now, they’re happy taking it a step at a time. “We look at short-term goals, not long-term plans,” explains Siddiqui. “We have recovered our initial investment costs. One day we plan to make as much money as some of our classmates. Right now, we love where we are,” he adds. Clearly, even as they help others find what they love to do, they have themselves found their way to a perfect career. —Rohini Banerjee

On how the earlier entrepreneurs are faring on start-up land, as they build their dream firms.

Gurgaon: Coconut Boys Go Scouting Only when they come “full circle” in the NCR will the Coco Loco boys expand their network. Till then the good friends —approaching their third summer of business—are happy taking smaller steps. Step one: hit the streets and the mom-andpop stores. Step two: hire more people. After all, their turnover target of `2 crore is looming and ready to be grabbed. If you believe the Coco Loco couple —a.k.a Maynak Sethia and Savinay Jain— businesses have hibernation periods. And their winter is just around the corner, they say. After all, a tall, chilled glass of naariyal 5 0 | INC. | november 2011

pani will probably cause brain freeze in December in Delhi. But Coco Loco is warmed up with great ideas for the season, including a big-bang planned for the New Delhi Trade Fair in November. “Last year, we experimented to see where we stood,” says Sethia. “But this year, we are ready and loaded. We’ve planned a strong presence in six kiosks, especially in state stalls like Kerala and Tamil Nadu,” he adds. Excitement has been a constant companion for Sethia and Jain since June when we first profiled them. They’ve firmly

planted roots in places they wanted to, and also discovered other areas that were not on their target map, like cinemas. “Satyam Cinemas in Nehru Place agreed to a three-month trial and so far the business pilot has been successful. Before Satyam, cinemas were not on our radar. We thought it was a weekend business, and even then sales were concentrated during the movie interval,” Sethia explains. Yet their signature green-and-yellow machine is doing “decent business” at the Nehru Place site. Installations at Satyam cineplexes in Delhi’s Motinagar and Vikaspuri are likely soon.

start-up diaries

Cracking it Open Mayank Sethia and Savinay Jain are getting better and better at learning quickly—it’s what will keep Coco Loco healthy and growing, they say.

But the development the two are most stoked about is their eagerly-awaited association with Big Bazaar. They already have a machine in the Big Bazaar outlet in Gurgaon’s Ambience Mall. “They have 18 stores in the NCR alone,” says Sethia excitedly. “It opens up avenues for us across the country. It’s a pan-India leverage,” they gush excitedly. Things aren’t all smooth-sailing of course. Their entrepreneurial path is dotted with several lessons. Lesson number one: to attack the upmarket South Delhi area, they’d have to think beyond malls. Because Coco Loco is based in Gurgaon— a shopping mall haven of sorts—the nonmall game plan wasn’t something they’d worked out earlier. “South Delhi has more thriving street markets. We need numbers so now we’re identifying smaller retail and mom-and-pop stores in busy markets in South Delhi like Lajpat Nagar.” They’re hoping this focus will get them to their century—a hundred machines across the NCR by next summer. Even as they spread wide, the trick in the trade they know is in being choosy about the location. The right location ensures great sales. “To scale up, each machine needs to make sense. We must break even quickly. Too many loss-making business assets is an absolute no-no,” they add.

It’s easy to see that their focus isn’t all hot talk. The duo has the gumption to stay away from temptations, most recently by letting go of a chance to put up a machine at Mumbai airport. “It just wasn’t the right time. Putting up that kiosk would have meant a Mumbai office, warehouse, employees and capital.” Careful, baby steps is going to be their style for opportunities beyond the NCR, they firmly assert. Even at home, they’ve responded quickly.Their machine at Amity University in Noida was a real learning ground, for example. Setting up a machine on the campus proved to be a logistical nightmare because it was around 50 kms from their Gurgaon warehouse. Although the university didn’t charge them a rental, monitoring quality became difficult. “We’ve decided to focus only on areas where we have control.” It’s the basics they’re after—greater visibility, higher volumes and more efficient in-house operations.

Putting in place a middle-rung and investing in technology like enterprise solutions that allow them to track sales in real-time are critical needs. Right now, the two directly deal with their 35-peoplestrong team. “We just have one go-between employee. We manage to talk to all our ground-level employees for now, but we won’t be able to keep up this hands-on approach for long. We need a management graduate who can man the stations when both of us are travelling,” Sethia stresses. Even as the nitty-gritty of business keeps them occupied, they’re really most excited about being passionate advocates of coconut water. A research trip of sorts to Thailand and Brazil is on the cards, both of which have invested a lot of money in coconut water processing research. “They even make naariyal pani jelly and toffees. India has practically no technical know-how when it comes to coconut water. We plan to change that.” Clearly, these boys are still nuts about naariyal pani. —R.B. november 2011 | INC. | 51

Branding Why companies need to leave their mark this page Managing The new world of mentoring page 55 Healthcare How having your own on-site clinic can lead to healthy, happy employees page 56 Sales Give humour a chance. It might just help you close that deal page 57 Elevator Pitch TechBuddy trains students to find the right jobs. Will investors give them `60 lakh? page 60 The Way I Work Rajeev

Sales & Marketing Experts on how an online pottery studio can pile up orders. page 59

Samant works less than eight hours a day. But he packs each second with business action page 62

strategy Branding Create an experience Let company rituals bring out your core brand Internal branding and quirky, unusual above-the-line advertising activities are de rigueur for big brands these days. In the business of brands, what’s new and exciting now is the interactive and in-person experiences companies are dabbling with, for both visitors and clients to enable them to really experience the brand. Called soft branding, these activities aim at converting every visitor into a potential buyer of services and products, and ambassador of the brand. In-the-face advertising campaigns might build brand recognition, marketers say, but often can’t touch upon the nuances of organisational culture. Rituals like taking every visitor through an art gallery as they wait for a meeting, or engaging them in the latest console games as they pass time in the lobby are ways a company can stamp its uniqueness. “Companies are reinventing customer is king and opting for something called guest is god approach. They are embellishing their Illustration by Anil T

november 2011 | INC. | 5 3

strategy

existing internal branding practices to do this,” says Harish Bijoor, a Mumbai-based brand and marketing consultant. Take, for instance, MindTree Limited, a leading IT services company. Its Bengaluru headquarters comprises an imagination room fitted with soothing white and blue tiles, and an orchard which fashions a green leafy entrance. Every visitor to the campus is also taken on a tour through an art gallery of works by the children of the Spastic Society of Karnataka. Krishnakumar Natarajan, the company’s CEO and MD, says the practice embodies the core element of the MindTree brand—a set of values they call C.L.A.S.S. (caring, learning, achieving, sharing and social responsibility). “We believe in personifying the brand and the values that our company stands for. If our visitors can sense the culture of the company right there standing in the hallway, then it directly connects the visitors or consumers to our core values,” explains Krishnakumar. Beyond enabling the touch-and-feel of the brand, and stamping its essence on visitors, innovative ideas like these can be powerful tools for creatively using every touch point to gain more customers. Hidesign, the leather accessories brand, is based in the idyllic Pondicherry. Knowing that many of its visitors are also tourists in the area, Hidesign has worked out two detailed tours. First, is an exposure to the step-by-step process of how their hand-crafted products namely handbags, wallets, belts, are actually made. Every visitor is then taken on a tour around their green factory which has been built using mud-baked bricks from the

Creative Corporate Cultures Starbucks: Customer-nominated awards for employees. The ritual tells the customers they are the real decision-makers, not store management. Google: Google has local expressions in each of their offices to show what they are doing is really connecting the world together. For example, the Buenos Aires office has a mural and the Zurich office has ski gondolas.

factory site itself. This unique visitor culture helps the brand show-off its main attributes—attention to detail, an ecoconscious ethos and a creativity that isn’t mass-produced. “A visitor immediately identifies the work area with the brand, with its beautiful natural surroundings and the great raw brick architecture of Ray Meeker. The visit into the work area shows the passion that drives Hidesign, the painstaking step-by-step craftsmanship that creates a great bag,” says Dilip Kapur, the company’s founder. These methods can also help establish a differentiation from other players in the industry. After the BP oil spill last year, an oil major simulated a mandatory security drill for all its visitors. Beyond talking to potential customers, these rituals can also serve as a fantastic tool for employee buy-in. Hyderbad-based Electronic Arts, an interactive entertainment software company,

Innovative ideas like these can be powerful tools for creatively using every touch point to gain more customers. 5 4 | INC. | november 2011

promotes visitor engagement with their Game Room which houses consoles like the Microsoft XBOX, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii and even a regular pool table. It also doubles up as a team-building exercise. Often, employees are encouraged to make use of these facilities. The Game Room energises a visitor, as much as it helps employees come up with new ideas, especially in the collective sessions they have. Ideas for several cool games developed by the company came from these gaming interactions. According to marketing experts, a well thought-out soft branding exercise will have a positive 360 degree impact on the company—right from how the CEO conducts himself or herself, to the understanding of the company by those who make up the lowest HR level. In a competitive, talent-strapped economy, passing on your values can lead to huge benefits for any company. “Informal branding or other such creative company cultures offer distraction, softness and differentiation to a brand’s existence which is very important,” adds Bijoor. It creates a work environment that encourages open thinking and a free flow of ideas. It also humanises the company. For example, a company which offers apples to visitors at its reception desk makes them feel truly welcomed, not like well-handled or managed traffic. “Making offices like living rooms is nothing but social changes getting reflected in official practices,” explains Anand Halve, co-founder of Chlorophyll, a brand and communication consultancy. It establishes a rare visual and emotional connect. Despite the advantages, companies must consider these initiatives properly before running with them. There is a danger of over-reaching. “Companies should stick to one specific cause. Efforts must be made to build that up so that people can associate with your brand for long,” says MindTree’s Natarajan. The joy of living and imagining is the biggest takeaway at MindTree. The company logo, campus tours and the art gallery are all in sync with that goal, he adds. —S.G.

strategy

Managing Can you say externship? The new world of open-source mentoring

photo by photos.com

Kathleen Lim wanted to move up the learning curve. At

24, she had just been promoted to billing operations manager at Box.net, a $10.7 million cloud-computing company in Palo Alto, California. It would be her first management job at her first post-college employer. Box. net also wanted her to strengthen its collections department, not previously a focus. “I was looking for guidance, from best practices to how to structure my team,” says Lim. “And there was this curiosity about what else is out there. How do other organisations do it?” Greg Strickland, vice president of business operations, didn’t know just the person to help her—but he did know just the company. An admirer of the collections operation at Salesforce.com, Strickland used LinkedIn to approach several people at the $1.7 billion company. “I said, ‘We look to you guys as a model. Would you be interested in meeting with her on an as-needed basis?’ ” says Strickland. One e-mail later, Lim had a mentor: Hoang Le, Americas collection manager at Salesforce. Mentoring is the concierge service of employee development: personal and customised, more or less on demand. But an in-house mentor isn’t always easy to In externship, come by. Young companies may not have enough sealey and other industry clusters (for Luke Skywalker soned employees to go around. Even businesses stuffed example, finance in New York City and from one company entertainment in Los Angeles) in which with veterans may lack expertise in specific areas. finds his Obi Wan An external mentorship, in which a Luke Skythere exists what he calls a “culture of at another walker from one company finds his Obi-Wan at reciprocity”. Big companies advise small another, addresses both problems. “CEOs don’t have to companies. CEOs share best practices at think, Whom can I hire?” says Kim Wise, founder and networking events. Such cross-fertilisaCEO of Mentor Resources, a San Francisco company whose software tion benefits businesses by strengthening links with potential helps clients manage mentoring programmes. “Instead, they go out partners, and entire industries by raising everyone’s game. and match their people up.” Mentors, for their part, enjoy sharing knowledge and helping othBox.net was a typical underpopulated start-up when it launched in ers. And, of course, it’s flattering just to be asked. Wise estimates that 2005. Strickland estimates that at least half the employees sought outsome 65 per cent of those approached say yes. Le, a 20-year collections side guidance in those early years. With a staff of 265, the company veteran who had mentored interns at Salesforce, is typical. “I like to see now has lots of potential internal mentors—but also lots of folks with people take my ideas and make them their own,” he says. networks branching into other companies. When someone embarks Internal mentorships are meant to develop multiple skills and on a project for which internal best practices don’t exist—as Lim did leadership talents over time; their external counterparts are more with collections—executives like Strickland shake those networks to focussed and come with an expiration date. But partners with see who falls out. “One of the virtues of being in Silicon Valley is that good rapport can wander farther afield. Le has advised Lim, who there’s so much knowledge outside of our organisation,” says Box.net’s has three direct reports, on how to structure her team and which CEO, Aaron Levie. “We try to draw on the collective wisdom of our tasks to outsource. They have discussed when to stop giving credit industry to help our employees be as successful as possible.” to a customer and how long to let invoices go past due. But Le has Levie says external mentorships are a good fit for Silicon Valalso shared his philosophy on performance reviews, feedback, november 2011 | INC. | 5 5

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and motivating staff. To bolster Lim’s development, he has pointed her toward conferences and industry associations. Lim and Le have yet to meet face to face. Their first session, in August 2010, was an hour-long phone call; they now speak by phone roughly once a quarter. In addition, Lim e-mails Le with questions, and Le forwards her useful articles. Although Wise says such remote mentorships are not uncommon, she prefers some live interaction. “They can meet at lunch or for coffee in the morning,” she says. “We’ve had mentoring pairs get together for Sunday dinners with each other’s families.” External mentorships aren’t meant to be long-term commitments: Wise says high-level mentors may balk at gigs lasting longer than six months. Fortunately, employees—including top leaders—can benefit just by shadowing someone from another business for a day. Employees of the New Ywork Jets had time for that last spring, courtesy of the NFL player lockout. General manager Mike Tannenbaum urged staff members to spend one day at an organisation they found interesting to see what they could learn. Thirty did so, including Tannenbaum, who sounded out SAP CEO Bill

McDermott on the software giant’s people practices. Assistant coach Mike Devlin visited—appropriately—Coach, where a senior vice president explained the handbag purveyor’s approach to bringing new employees on board. Employees chose the skills they hoped to develop and the mentors to help develop them. The sole requirement: Stretch beyond your comfort zone. Lauren Reed, Tannenbaum’s assistant, wanted to study someone working for a high-profile person in a fast-paced business. Her guidefor-a-day: Gary Dell’Abate, producer of The Howard Stern Show. A longtime Stern fan, Reed had noticed “how Gary is able to anticipate a lot of things,” she says. “As an executive assistant, it’s a skill you really need.” In Dell’Abate’s office, Reed observed that he kept the show playing low in the background; he carried on a conversation yet was poised to spring into action. Anticipating the boss’s needs is nothing new for Reed, who has been an executive assistant before. But “working for the NFL is very new to me, and I’ve spent a lot of time this past year just learning the business,” she says. “I needed to re-hone my skills. It helped seeing someone else in another environment. I feel like I’ve been rebooted.” —Leigh Buchanan

Health Care The doctor is in A new way to cut costs: Open a clinic of your own For nearly 70 years, Reliable Production

Machining & Welding has been building undercarriage parts for construction equipment and lawn mowers. It has survived recessions, strikes, and skyrocketing steel and fuel prices. But in 2008, the Kendallville, Indiana-based business was confronted with its toughest crisis ever: paying for health insurance for its 162 employees. Premiums had risen some 25 per cent over the past two years, to $750,000 a year. Something had to change. The company had tried the usual approaches—including passing expenses on to employees, reducing coverage, and shopping for a less-expensive plan. This time, Reliable took a more radical step: It opened a part-time in-house medical clinic, complete with pharmacy, a doctor, and a four-person

5 6 | INC. | november 2011

staff of nurses and physician assistants. Employees can make appointments online and stroll across campus for appointments. They pay nothing for visits, prescription drugs, or lab work. The clinic is run by an outside contractor—WeCare TLC Onsite Clinics, based in Lake Mary, Florida—and costs the company just $144,000 a year. An insurance policy covers things such as hospital stays, emergency-room visits, and appointments with specialists. Employees pay $50 to $100 a week for the coverage—a slight increase from what they paid under the old system. Copays for care outside the clinic are $25; copays for prescriptions filled at outside pharmacies are $60. The 1,000-sq-ft-clinic, which cost $60,000 to build, has proved to be a good bet. The company slashed its annual medical expenses

more than half and its annual prescriptiondrug expenses 64 per cent, to $27,000. Those savings—along with layoffs that brought the work force to 58—helped cushion Reliable from the recession: Revenue fell from $25 million in 2006 to $15 million in 2010, but the company’s profit margin actually grew slightly, to 5 per cent. (Reliable’s head count is back to about 110.) What’s more, the clinic’s easy access prompted workers who hadn’t seen a doctor in years to get checkups; many ended up identifying conditions, like hypertension, that contribute to heart attacks and strokes. This sort of preventive care promises to keep costs down in the future. “It was a tough decision but absolutely the right one. We weren’t going to let health care drive the company into the ground,” says Greg Salway, Reliable’s chief operating officer.

strategy

Opening an on-site health care Health Care, DIY Style facility may seem hopelessly retro, akin to the company store. But Ed Reliable Production Machining & Welding opened its on-site clinic in 2009. Here’s Haislmaier, a health policy research where the company is seeing savings: fellow at the Heritage Foundation, expects to see more companies adopt 2008 2010 the strategy. Employee health care Employees covered last 100 58 costs rose 6.9 per cent nationwide Annual health care costs year, the highest one-year leap in $750,000 $275,000 seven years, according to the consultAnnual health care costs per employee ing firm Mercer. “Costs,” Haislmaier $12,476 $3,793 says, “have reached the point where Annual prescription-drug cost per employee it’s worth trying new ideas.” $1,241 $682 Most of those opening private Cost of “shock claims” (emergencies, clinics are major corporations with such as heart attacks and strokes) $225,000 $0 large work forces, such as Intel and Hewlett-Packard. How does a small company like Reliable make it work? By partnering with other organisations. insurance claims dropped 53 per cent In 2009, Reliable executives invited the from 2010 to 2011, and more people can city of Kendallville to join its new clinic. afford procedures such as annual blood The city accepted, bringing its 77 employtests to keep tabs on their health. The ees and their dependents as patients. checkups prompted two of the city’s Together, Reliable and the city have employees to shed more than 100 pounds enough people to keep the clinic open two each after learning of their health risks. days a week. Now, Reliable is looking for “The bottom line is, we want healthier more partners. It’s negotiating with a employees,” Handshoe says. “When you’re nearby 60-person manufacturing firm; if having increasing premiums and deductthe company joins, that will allow the ibles, you’re not going to spend the money clinic to open for a third day. Kendallville to get blood drawn and wellness checkMayor Suzanne Handshoe says the city’s ups.” The city pays Reliable $6,000 a year

to use the clinic and then pays WeCare $18 per employee per month. Yet shared clinics can easily get complex, says Marne Bell, a senior consultant at Towers Watson, a New York City consulting firm that has tracked the on-site-clinic trend. “Who is in charge?” she says. “When you don’t agree on services, what do you do?” (Salway says Reliable, which makes all major decisions about the clinic, has yet to encounter such issues.) The clinic’s success was no sure thing when the project began. In the midst of construction, the recession hit, and Reliable’s orders plunged 60 per cent. “We thought, Should we be spending the money on the clinic? Are we doing the right thing?” says Salway. Executives saw no other choice and plunged ahead. With oak doors, ceramic tile floors, EKG machines, and new computers, the clinic is a stark contrast to the steel-andconcrete buildings on campus. The visual difference helped win over skeptical employees. “It’s totally separate and very professional,” says Linda Laisure, Reliable’s bookkeeper, who takes her two children there. “I have never had to wait. They spend more time with you, and it’s just a lot easier.” —Jennifer Alsever

Sales Badabing, badaboom Can doing standup help close the deal? In her previous career, Alison Meyerstein was a lawyer. So as she steps onto the stage for her first comedy act, there is one small detail she knows she must clarify. “I feel obliged to give a legal disclaimer,” she says.“Lawyers aren’t funny.” Meyerstein gets a laugh. She and her colleagues at Peppercom, a New York City-based PR agency, are, in fact, all getting pretty good at delivering one-liners. That’s no accident. Three years ago, Steve Cody, Peppercom’s co-founder and managing partner, hired

a professional comic to train his staff in the art of standup. Clayton Fletcher, who regularly performs at the New York Comedy Club, comes in three or four times a year to meet with new employees and verse them in proper comedic technique, from setting up a punch line to timing its delivery. The training isn’t just for fun. Many of the skills used in crafting a standup routine, Cody says, are essential for winning over prospective clients. “If you’re a good comedian, you’re probably a good presenter,” says Cody. november 2011 | INC. | 5 7

For the company’s latest workshop, held last Anything for a Laugh Jason Green, an account executive for the New York PR agency Peppercom, in his debut comedy routine June, about a dozen employees gather in a room at the New York Comedy Club, eating pizza while Fletcher presents a 40-minute rundown of what goes into a successful standup act. Like all performers, he says, comedians strive to establish an emotional connection with their audience. “Lewis Black, he’s always miserable,” he says, “but he gets some release from sharing.” Fletcher runs through a list of rhetorical devices commonly used in standup routines. He explains how to establish a roll structure, or a succession of punch lines, and how to set up a reference to a previous joke, known as a callback. He gives the participants 10 minutes to sketch out ideas for jokes. Then, one after another, each employee climbs the stage and delivers a three-minute act. Most of the participants mine personal anecdotes for humour. Self-deprecating humour proves to be a successful tactic. “When I was 8, I was in my aunt’s wedding,” Laura Bedrossian tells the group. “My sister’s very cute, so she got to be a flower girl. What do I get to Although Peppercom’s employees often be? Yes, a ring bearer.” Account executive approach the stage hesitantly, just about Jason Green isn’t afraid to take aim at the everyone walks away with at least a few instructor—or his boss. “I want to thank laughs and a heightened sense of self-confiClayton for the comedy training, and for dence. Their performances are taped during proving to all of us that four-button sport the workshop so they can review them later, coats do in fact exist,” he jokes. “Steve may have lent it to him.” with Cody as well as one of their peers. Afterward, employees Throughout the afternoon, Fletcher dispenses advice that continue to refine their delivery in pitch meetings. A few employapplies as readily to a sales pitch as to the stage. At the beginning ees have even ventured onto a professional comedy stage, perof the workshop, he reassures the group that nerves, channeled forming alongside Cody. correctly, can enhance a presentation. “Things that make you nerClients have taken notice. Soon after Cody began his comedy vous are generally things you care about,” he says. He advises the training, Peppercom produced an irreverent podcast about repuparticipants that body movements such as crossing one’s arms tation management. That sense of play helped the company land a and turning to the side create a barrier between the performer key account with Whirlpool, says Audrey Reed-Granger, who was and the audience. Fletcher emphasises the importance of one of the appliance maker’s PR directors at the time. While responding to cues from the audience. After one employee finreviewing Peppercom’s proposal for the job, Whirlpool’s PR team ishes her act, he points out that she failed to pause to recognise the listened to the podcast and loved the wacky approach. “We found group’s laughter. “We call that stepping on your laughs,” he says. it endearing and attractive,” Reed-Granger says. “Standup is a dialogue. That ‘ha’ means something.” The workshops have also enabled Cody to identify star Cody originally sought out comedy training as a personal purpresenters among his staff. Those who demonstrate exceptional suit. While taking a comedy course in New York, he met Fletcher, poise onstage are often tapped for key client meetings. Peppercom’s who was then a trainer at the school. After completing the proemployees are often surprised by who the stars turn out to be. gramme, Cody continued to train under Fletcher and began perIndeed, in the latest workshop, Cortney Cleveland, an account manforming at small gigs around New York; Cody now appears several ager, stands out from her peers, thanks to a routine about the trials of times a month at the New York Comedy Club. As he learnt to pergrowing up as the stepdaughter of a Secret Service agent. She’s so fect his timing and adjust to his audience’s reactions, Cody realised polished that Fletcher struggles to give her a critique. “You have such that his newfound comedic chops were applicable to his day-to-day an economy of language,” he says. “After five words, there’s a laugh. work in PR. Once, after he watched his comedy tapes, it dawned on Six words, there’s a laugh. Three words, there’s a laugh.” him that his habit of constant pacing signalled a lack of confidence Then Fletcher turns to the rest of the group. “Is she rather than an abundance of energy. “I must have been doing it known for being funny?” he asks. “No? Well, now she is.” wrong at client meetings,” he says. “I was bouncing off the walls.” —April Joyner 5 8 | INC. | november 2011

courtesy company

“If you’re a good comedian, you’re probably a good presenter”

strategy

Sales & Marketing Click for pots How can an online pottery store spin the perfect plan? It was a chance pottery class with a friend, and Ruchira Bhatia was glued to it. “I instantly fell in love with the craft,” she gushes. But the sheer brilliance of the wheel lay largely unearthed. “Most artworks created by studio potters go to waste after being showcased at exhibition or galleries,” she says. On a break from her 11-year-old corporate marketing career, Bhatia decided to fuse her newly-found passion with her professional training. Saundhi Mitti (meaning damp, fragrant clay in Hindi), her online pottery boutique, was thus born in May 2011 with an investment of `10 lakh. Bhatia has got together a refreshing inventory of products that are both pretty and functional. Priced between `100 to `5,000, Saundhi Mitti offers home décor, tableware and quirky items. More than 100 studio potters and designers from 10 cities supply to Saundhi Mitti. Bhatia also encourages her customer base of around 2,500 people, to give their design ideas and explore online. Saundhi Mitti has crafted its presence on social media and blogs. But how can Bhatia now, spin her entrepreneurial wheel to win more customers? Four experts give some tips. —Ira Swasti

How would you sell that?

PITCH NO. 3: Explore exhibitions Durva Gandhi, founder, Breathe Arts, an online art gallery I liked some of the products online and tried buying a platter for `950. But the additional `500 for deliveries and taxes put me off. If they deliver locally without these charges, it might work better. They could provide products in multiple colours to make combinations for dinner sets. Besides that, if they could tie up with online portals for a one-off exhibition or do on ground exhibitions every three months, it’d help create brand awareness.

PITCH NO. 1: Connect with interior designers Srikant Sastri, country chair, Vivaki India Most online portals selling pottery are usually extensions of a brickand-mortar retail outlet. So it would be a good idea to use LinkedIn and target high-end interior designers or architects to push your products through them. Saundhi Mitti can create a forum for such professionals, co-opting them as ‘subject matter experts’. This would provide a leadership stance as well as build reputation. PITCH NO. 2: Package as gifts Ankit Kedia, director, Manjushree Technopack, an integrated packaging solution provider Saundhi Mitti looks like an interesting business, especially the idea of ‘e-commercing’ it. But Ruchira must think of an alternate brand name as the current one is difficult to recall and pronounce. Most of their products make excellent gifting ideas. So they could include options for gift wrapping and writing personalised messages for the recipient. She may also approach a leading coffee brand to give away ‘free espresso shot’ cups made by Saundhi Mitti.

Clay Play Can the whiff of moist earth entice more customers to this pottery store?

Feedback on the Feedback I stick by the name Saundhi Mitti because it’s evocative and unique. I loved the coffee tie-up idea and the gift packaging. We have been positioning Saundhi Mitti as a gifting option this Diwali, and are talking to architects and interior designers. We’ll definitely work on the website. Since 70 per cent of our pieces are one-offs, multiples cannot be stocked to bring down courier charges. We are already exhibiting our products in Delhi NCR, and look forward to expanding to different cities within the next one year.

PITCH NO. 4: Pep up the website Sudip Dutta, MD & CEO, Aporv, an online handicrafts retailer Pottery items are fragile and so Saundhi Mitti’s 30-day return policy should be made more visible on the website. It’s hidden as of now. The site doesn’t have too much information on the product either. People like to first read about the product online and then buy it. Since people are looking at images online, it’ll help to have more than one picture of the item from three different angles. Three pictures should do the trick. She could also partner with shop-in-shop models with exclusive online handicrafts retailers for product visibility. november 2011 | INC. | 5 9

The Right Focus

For the TechBuddy team, business is about being a good friend.

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Photograph by Subhojit Paul

strategy

Elevator Pitch TechBuddy Consulting helps students become job-worthy. Can it tutor investors to give it 60 lakh?

Company

TechBuddy Consulting Founders

Prasoon Gupta (in picture right) Abhishek Sharma (in picture centre) Ankush Sharma (in picture left) Nikhil Chowdhary Tanmaya Mathur Location

New Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai Number of employees

Founded

November 2008 Revenue last month

2.25 lakh

Projected revenue for next year

95 lakh

Business model

TechBuddy conducts skill training programmes with colleges and students. Fees are mostly borne by students Charges for services

5,000 to 15,000 per student Size of client base

500 plus students across 15 educational institutions Funding sought

60 lakh

Funding sought for

Online and offline marketing, and to develop the technology platform

The Pitch “TechBuddy nurtures college graduates. It works on their strengths

and helps them focus on their interests thereby enhancing their employability. Our short-term and long-term GyanBuddy programme modules offer students standardised quality content, developed and delivered by industry experts. The syllabus is relevant and updated. We focus on practical applications to make the programmes interesting and effective, which guide students to opt for careers in their interest areas. By helping students find jobs that they wish to keep, TechBuddy helps lower industry attrition rates. Because we can deliver content both physically through our centres and virtually through our TechBuddy platform, this is a scalable model. This hybrid approach differentiates us from other similar market offerings.” —As told to Charu Bahri

Investors Weigh In PROVE YOUR WORTH

TWEAK the MODEL

HIGHLIGHT KEY DIfFERENTIATORS

TechBuddy’s success in attracting investors depends on getting it right. Our experience suggests that it helps to tailor design packages for students coming from different streams. That helps serve the target placement market better. At the end of the day, it’s the programme’s quality and result which will attract funds. If the programme delivers, the charges ( `5000-`15,000) will contribute to healthy revenues. The pitch must clearly show how the results are being measured. Are previously unemployed students getting placed in jobs of their choices? Are students who had job offers in hand, being able to improve upon their options?

Investors are likely to wonder why the company hasn’t been able to scale up—500 students in three years is not a very large number. Training to bridge the educationindustry gap may be offered in several ways. It could be a part of the curriculum, it could be imparted directly to students or institutions may offer this training to students as an add-on service and pass on the cost. There’s a lot that may be done by way of developing a business model. The pitch must describe what kind of training is being offered and how well it can be offered online. For instance, investors might question the feasibility of imparting soft skills training solely online.

India’s private education sector is slated to be worth around $40 billion. It’s expected to grow by 70 per cent in three years. TechBuddy Consulting is in a highgrowth space. But it needs to put in more work on its business plan. It needs to mention names of its competitors. If it genuinely believes that it offers a unique service, then the team must show how its services differ from what is already available— investors will want to see how TechBuddy stands out. The team must demonstrate the break-even point and risk factors. Lastly, any investor will be interested to see a clear exit and fund deployment strategy.

Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Professor, IIT Madras, Chennai

Meena Ganesh, CEO & MD Pearson Education Services, Bengaluru

Srini Chakwal, MD Redclays Capital, Bengaluru november 2011 | INC. | 61

strategy

Rajeev Samant | Founder and CEO, Sula Vineyards

“My 20-minute afternoon power nap is absolutely sacrosanct.” It’s impossible not to envy Rajeev Samant, founder and CEO of Sula Vineyards. His business can-do is admirable, of course. In just 11 years, he’s used his smarts and the grapes on his family’s Nashik farm to create a new industry for India. Since 2000, when Sula launched its first white wine, Samant has splashed the warm and rich colours of wine across our big cities. Today the company holds over 65 per cent of the market share and thanks to Samant, Nashik is India’s wine capital. But it isn’t the 10 million bottles he hopes to sell annually by 2013 that is enviable. It’s the fact that Samant has blended for himself a perfect life—part urban business tycoon and part earthy grape farmer—that makes one go green.

As told to Shreyasi Singh | Photograph by Jiten Gandhi

Sleep is very important to me. I need at least seven hours of sleep every night. Any less

and I’m sleep deprived. That’s a childhood habit. My parents put me to bed early and I always got my full 10 hours of sleep. Till today, I find it hard to wake up without an alarm clock. Typically, I am awake by 7:30am.

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strategy

A Beautiful Life Rajeev Samant canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t choose between his city and country lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the beauty is in balancing both.

strategy

A cup of black coffee later and I’m ready to hit the gym by 8.30am. I visit the gym at least three to four times a week. After an hour of weights training with my personal trainer, I follow it up with half an hour of cardio. The day I miss out on my gym routine, I am grumpy throughout the day. Fitness has been an important part of my life since I was 12. It’s a habit I’ve never let go either through college, while working in California or during the early years of building Sula Wines. You can’t neglect your body. Do that, and you’re taking 10 years off your life. Because I’m rushed most mornings, there’s never enough time for a sit-down breakfast. All I manage to grab is a fruit smoothie— typically a seasonal fruit—often from my own orchard. One of my life’s joys is my organic orchard and vegetable garden at the Nashik vineyard. We grow a lot of tropical fruits. Once in office, I have a bowl of fruits or muesli. This is my routine most mornings. It changes a bit during winters though when I prefer a run around the Mahalaxmi Race Course rather than workouting out indoors. When I’m in Mumbai, which is about 15 days of the month, I’m at work by 10:45am. I work a little less than eight hours a day. But my pace is intense and it doesn’t flag through the entire day. I don’t believe in wasting time. Often, we hold standing meetings. It’s like boom, boom, boom—action points done, targeted and move on to the next meeting. I have laser-like focus throughout my work day. In Nashik, at the vineyards, where I spend around eight days a month, the pace is very different. I slow down there. There, my home is a five-minute walk from the vineyards and office. When I walk over to the winery, my dog comes with me. It’s a different way of life. It’s very rejuvenating. One of the reasons behind setting up Sula Wines was that I wanted a life both in the city and the country. It’s not a geographical distinction of two locations. It’s like a left-brain, right-brain balance. In Mumbai, I focus on sales, marketing, branding, strategy and legal or board issues. Nashik is different—it’s quality, wine-making, production, cultivation, farmers, hospitality, beauty and landscaping. It’s like keeping two jobs. In the evenings at Nashik, I call my senior management over for strategy meetings or just a round of gossip over dinner. We uncork a bottle of wine that we haven’t tasted before, in my outdoor dining area. It’s a beautiful place with a patio that has bougainvillea and passion fruit growing on trellises.

This life has been tailor-made by me for me. I’ve always envied the European way of life. Do your work in the city but spend six weeks in summer in your country home. That’s the way to live. When I came back to India from California in the early 1990s, I knew I wanted something similar. At the time, I was also reading a book which philosophised that people shouldn’t live their entire lives in cities. It shrivels your soul. However, don’t ask me to pick a favourite between Mumbai and Nashik. I can’t. That would defeat the point.

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ut whether in Mumbai or Nashik,

one thing’s absolutely sacrosanct— my afternoon nap. After a light lunch of salad or steamed veggies and dal, I need my 20 minutes of power nap. I have a couch in my office and woe to any employee who disturbs me then. I put on my earplugs at 2pm, and in three minutes flat, I’m oblivious to the world . Twenty minutes later, my alarm wakes me up. The power nap has been part of my work day ever since I began working. I used to take my shut-eye even when I worked for Oracle in California. At that time I didn’t have a couch—I wasn’t senior enough—but fortunately I had a room with a wooden door that could be shut. I had a pillow stashed away under my desk. I’d shut my door, put the pillow on the carpet and take a nap. My colleagues would laugh but everyone was allowed a 45-minute break during lunch. I’d grab a quick sandwich and use the rest of the break for the nap. Till today, if I don’t grab my winks, my productivity plummets in the afternoons. And that’s not an option right now. Sula Wines is growing frenetically. This year alone, we will sell more than five million bottles. Last year we sold four million and the year before three million bottles. The pace has been incredible. Eleven years into the business and we are still growing at the speed of a start-up. Within two years, we should be hitting the 10-million bottles mark a year. I don’t see too many challenges in getting to that point as far as production is concerned. Setting up another winery or getting another vineyard planted has become somewhat of a process for us. That’s why my current focus is on creating new markets and figuring out a new business strategy. We’ve done a great job so far in making wine popular in Mumbai and in western India. Slowly, Delhi and the NCR are catching up as well, as is Bengaluru. However, these pockets need to grow bigger. The deep red of wine needs to spread across India. China, now one of the top 10 producers and consumers of wine, has shown that you just need to put wine in front of people, and

strategy

“I can be daunting for new employees. I don’t tolerate mediocrity. ”

they’ll take to it. My biggest concern: how do you get a whiskeydrinking state to sip wine? Say Punjab for instance. It has the lowest per-capita wine consumption. But boy, they do love their drink there. We have planned to do 1,500 tastings across the country this year. Ideally though, we should follow the Chinese and conduct over 5,000 tastings per annum. We recently had great success with one of our cheaper wines—a port. We promoted it with soda and ice in a regular whiskey glass in the permit rooms of Mumbai. And it took off like nobody’s business, so much so that the whiskey guys have been left wondering what happened. How could port wine be so popular? I was deeply involved in the promotion. I told my people clearly that we couldn’t expect “permit people” to pour wine into fancy glasses and taste it. It just wouldn’t happen. So I called my entire sales force team over. I was the bartender for that meeting. I served them this ice, soda and port combo. It tasted great. So we began giving out whiskey glasses and little recipe leaflets with our port wine bottles. Sales have gone through the roof. We need other creative ideas like this to grow. I am very entrepreneurial at heart. Fresh ideas and experiences keep me going. I start to fret if something new doesn’t happen. It’s a good thing, I think. It imbues the organisation at every level. We are constantly looking for new avenues of growth, new ways to augment our offerings. Sula is going through a transition right now. At the size we are in, we need a good blend of both professionals and those who are more daring and entrepreneurial in their way of thinking. It’s a good place for a company to be in and I hope we can be in this place for a long time. I’d hate to have just professionals who are running systems. I’m sure that’ll get boring. I’m told I’m a tough boss. I can be daunting for new employees. I expect excellence and don’t tolerate mediocrity. I’ll spot a missing figure in a spreadsheet. Those who work with me quickly realise what I expect and they adapt. I absolutely hate it when people don’t take ownership. I don’t let people get off the hook. On a weekend, I sometimes go through my sent e-mails to check which ones didn’t receive

a response to. I forward them to the same people, asking them what happened. I don’t like doing this. But I want people to tell me if they have a problem. Staying quiet doesn’t help. In business, all pieces need to come together. Everybody needs to respond. hat’s not to say I never procrastinate. I have

to confess that when it comes to writing a difficult e-mail or a representation letter to a state government, I try and put it off. I tend to avoid meetings with bureaucrats and government departments. But you can’t get away from it. I have a full life beyond work. The minute I’m out of office, I prefer to be untethered. I don’t answer every call or every text. If you start doing that, you’re finished. You have to let go. Also, I’m an incorrigible optimist. Once I’ve done something, I don’t see the road behind. I also take out time for things I like to do. I’m a voracious reader. I subscribe to The Economist which I read cover to cover. Online, I subscribe to Financial Times and The New York Times. I’m always trolling for bits of information on social media and quirky marketing tricks. In fact, I am curious about everything. At some point, it all just comes together. Every summer I take a month or two off. I spend this abroad, maybe in the US or, more and more, in Europe. I love Paris. On a holiday, I taste a new bottle of wine every day. I don’t go to formal dos or wine events. I just try everything I can get my hands on. While visiting a friend in Valencia (Spain) in July this year, the first thing I did after getting out of the airport was to visit the supermarket. I bought 12 bottles of wine and loads of cheese. Even when I’m in London, I typically get a small service apartment and try out a new bottle with friends before going out for a meal. I’m quite social. I like to go out, meet people and party. In fact, I prefer my city life on the weekends. I’m still single. Nashik isn’t the best place for a Friday and Saturday night. On weekdays in Mumbai though, I’ve begun a peaceful yoga routine in the evening. I think I need to meditate. And some gentle asanas are the perfect way to end the day. november 2011 | INC. | 6 5

I wish I knew then...

V.N. Dalmia, chairman, Dalmia Continental His father passed away when V.N. Dalmia of Dalmia Continental was barely 24. From then on, he’s pretty much been on his own, dabbling in almost everything from tourism, biscuits, cement and finally olive oil, in which he built his empire. But more than anything else, Dalmia’s grateful for the missteps on the way and for his rivals. It’s these challenges that have taught him several lessons and made him determined to grow. He wants to learn a new trick of trade daily—otherwise he might as well pack up and retire, he stresses. My lessons in entrepreneurship began early with my father, the late Ramkrishna Dalmia. From being a small-time stock market speculator he went on to build Dalmianagar—the largest industrial complex in Bihar—from scratch. He introduced me to entrepreneurship, while my brother, Gun Nidhi, proved to be the patient guru after I lost my father. My management degree at the Darden School of Business helped too. Sometimes people you meet lead you to your calling. As did my classmate, Fiona Roche, who introduced me to olive oil. One crusty piece of bread dipped in olive oil was all I needed to be a convert for life. I still knew nothing about it. But knew it would strike a chord in a country where heart diseases were rising sharply. Before I could jump in, I had to restructure Dalmia Continental. After the project feasibility study and getting the paperwork done, when it came to deciding on a brand name, I went for Leonardo. It was Roche’s Italian boyfriend’s name. Because Leonardo was really my baby, it’s taught me the most about business—that a CEO must learn to drive his own enterprise. Though you can’t be everywhere at the same time, some bitter

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ucts. That niche focus gave us snob appeal, I believed. But I had to learn quickly that olive oil was going to take time to gain acceptance. We had no other product to sell so our costs remained uncovered. I worked to launch canola oils, table olives, pasta and nonalcoholic beers in quick succession to add to our offerings. I extended the Leonardo brand to synergistic products—it’s a strategy that we replicate for all our brands. More than anything else, a lesson that I value is that to be successful, you have to sell a product which adds value to the lives of consumers. WithTabling Health V.N. Dalmia needs to believe in out that raison d’être, it’s diffithe product he sells to do better than the rest. cult to do well. Ensure that the product is of the best quality experiences have taught me to be alert, and is rightly packaged. We cemented our choose people judiciously and institute leadership position in olive oils and made checks and balances in the system. Gut and our brand identity by being conscious of feel is fine. But there’s no other way to get to this. Even now, when I see somebody ask the pulse of the business apart from MIS for a bottle of Leonardo at a grocery store, reports and other processes. everything in my journey seems worth the The purpose of business is to make a while. —As told to Rohini Banerjee profit. But at one time I almost forgot that. I was foolishly arrogant about my business. I wanted Leonardo to be the best olive oil company, not an importer of food prod-