The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Travel

Today, a budding entrepreneur came to me for some advice. She felt that because she was starting small she did not have to think ahead. It is at the start up stage that she has more time to think, once the project is rolling there will be less time. By sheer chance when I started I got a chance to travel abroad for a conference. There was no doubt that in my mind thoughts that this was wasteful expenditure were flying all over.

Once in Singapore during the conference breaks, I contacted various moulders listed in the yellow pages and got myself three invitations to visit their factories. The visits were learning experiences. Consider this example. Back in India, I had seen moulding machines set up each with individual spaces and possible its own overhead crane. Here in a place where space was a premium, they were laid out side by side, just a meter gap between each, one crane serviced all 25 machines, similarly they was a another line on the other side. The corridor in the middle was used to service each machine, supply new moulds or take away ready parts, above the corridor was a platform with the RM feeders. In a space where in India I would have seen 6 to 8 machines, 50 were operational.

We used this thinking to good effect as we added machines in our factory. One vendor assuming we had no space refused to quote when asked. Later, he came to see how we had installed the machine we purchased from his competitor. The initial expenditure considered wasteful was actually an investment.

Over the years, this has become apart of my training. Visiting factories in different parts of the world and even India. India is also up there with the best compared to 20 years ago. When buying a large machine my french counter parts felt that we would have to also buy an automatic platform to load unload the moulding arm as was done in Europe. These systems are known to cost as much as the machine. A visit down under changed that perception. Australians seem to be more like Indians, have a jugaad mentality...they like us make it work with the most inexpensive means. In Australia they ran even bigger machines without the platforms, rather that climb up and work on an arm at a height, they inverted the arm and worked on it from the ground, brilliant. So my new machine does not have a fancy unloading station, we just work from the ground.

On the same trip, I noticed that after using a pneumatic gun to loosen the bolts, the nuts did not fall to the ground on the other side. Curious, since I had worked on retaining the nut in place without success earlier. These guys had over come my problem, I had tried to hold the nut in place by welding, however when the nut got damaged it was difficult to replace. They welded a sleeve instead and put the nut inside the sleeve, once damaged only the nut was replaced. Eureka.

Before I left for the Philippines to study, to me a factory had to be dirty, wires hanging grease on the walls floors, if there were pipes they had to leak and if there were oil sumps it had to drip. During the course I had an opportunity to visit factories practicing the concept of Kaizen. That was my moment of enlightenment, and I have never been the same again. I saw factories which were as clean as hospitals workers in white overalls. The advantage of white overalls was that if your overall got dirty it was a sign that there was a part of the factory that was not clean. I came back to India with a different perception, “FACTORIES CAN BE CLEAN”

The point I am trying to make to budding or seasoned entrepreneurs is travel and when I say travel I do not mean to sight see only, but travel to get a feel of how others do it and adapt accordingly. Get to a new place and thumb the yellow pages, there are always a few fellow entrepreneurs willing to host you, all you need to do is ask. The moral of the story travel is a great teacher. Bon Voyage

NOT JUST INTROSPECTION, ACTION REQUIRED,

• A variation to the same concept articulated earlier

Fr Savio's “Need for Introspection” in the Herald dated August 23 2013 makes interesting reading. I agree our education system needs some serious work, he highlights important issues but no solutions. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has brought out an “Education Policy” which the Bishop is struggling to implement. The policy is aimed at delivering good quality education.

I disagree with his criticism of the no fail policy. It is a good system badly implemented. Fr. Savio actually provides the solution when he states that our “one size fits all” policy is the culprit. Unfortunately it contradicts his earlier position that allowing a student to drop an uncomfortable subject will hamper his growth later. The reason kids are not interested is because they have no interest in what is being taught. He asks, why are right brain subject being marginalised.

The only reason we have Apple and it famous “I” products is because Jobs took a course in calligraphy, the rest is history. Mr. Newman, the former Principal, famously said that he has no interest in maths and only uses it to ensure that he gets the correct change back after he has paid for his goods. So learning compound interest, constructions in geometry etc were water on a ducks back.

The Goa Board has addressed this issue through circular no 55. Only one school to my knowledge, Regina Mundi has actually implemented it. So far, three students have been allowed to drop an inconvenient subject and take another. How many Principals are willing to adopt this system which allows for tailoring of the course to fit the child.? How many are aware it exists.?

This is the basis of the National Open School where they offer both right brain and left brain subjects. The reason for Principals or Head masters shying away from tailoring is also mentioned by Fr, Savio. The school has to many administrative jobs, bal rath, midday meal, election duty and the like. This surely takes away the academic focus. Why not sub contract these jobs to an outside agency. Each school complex can be managed by one set in a centralised manner which is not impossible with mobiles, internet and computers.

Once the children begin to enjoy school they will stop misbehaving and labeling of “useless or duffer” will stop and along with it the rebelling. I recall when there was a “fail policy” coming to a new class and being joined by a few kids who had failed once or twice before and actually had no hope of ever clearing. It was a matter of time before they dropped out either because they began bullying and were rusticated or because they just grew old.

Now rustication is not an option and it is frowned on by Fr Savio. When it was available did it stop misbehaviour. We have laws, jails and courts do we have less crime. Bad behaviour is a symptom and not the cause. The cause is clearly wrong fit or choice of subjects offered. So we need rules and calendars just as we cannot do away with laws because there is crime.

What we as a society should be focused on is ensuring that the child is sufficiently trained to face life. Not all want or can become Doctors and Engineers. So if a child cannot or does not want say maths or language, so be it. Let him choose something else. Without maths he cannot choose engineering later, but surely such a student is sure he does not want that career choice, he may just want to become a good Principal, let him.

The Government needs to support Circular No 55 with options for courses in lieu of the standard menu. Once this is done, drop outs will reduce and smiles will be back.

The Reluctant Entrepreneur: What’s in a name

First published in The Business Goa

At the recently concluded Konkan Fruit Fest we tested our new positioning of placing many products using the brand name SHAKTI under a single umbrella. “SHAKTI for your home”. With this positioning many hitherto disparate products were aligned for the first time. While SHAKTI water tanks had a very high recognition and association with the brands values, viz: good quality, right price and timely delivery. Other products within the SHAKTI stable derived no such benefit. Infact feedback indicated that customers did not even associate the Brand with any product except tanks.

The concept trial was very successful and we learned that just using a well known brand name without a plan, even if it is your own does not guarantee transfer of brand value automatically. What we did essentially was point to the fact that SHAKTI also makes tanks, and emphasised the other products placing them around a home with the tank on the top as it is usually placed. In this way we were able to link the septic tank, the compost bins, dust bins, grease trap and planters using the line “SHAKTI for your Home”.

Before we did this we had decided to split our website into two websites, linked internally. While one set of customers know SHAKTI, they rarely relate to the Company name GMI Zarhak Moulders. On the other hand our OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers viz:John Deere, VOLVO, Putzmiester, Atlas Copco, Godrej etc never refer to our brand and know only the Company name.

Earlier searching for our website shaktiindia.com was easy for our home products customers but the website made no sense to our OEM customers. This obviously led to confusion. Another aspect kicked in once a person reached our website, difficult to separate custom moulded parts which cannot be sold or specifications cannot be given due to restrictions on one hand and regular products on the other. Here again we see the complexity caused by brand and company name. We have decided to address this issue going forward by having two websites shaktiindia.com and GMIZarhak.com, both linked internally but each having information relevant to the customer segment it addresses.

The aspect of choosing a brand name was peculiar for us as it will be for everyone who chooses a brand name. We could have used some name associated with Goa, eg coconut or Maad or Talav or even SEATEX for that matter but we choose SHAKTI keeping in mind that the name implies strength/long lasting and is easily recognisable pan India which would be our long term goal. At the fruit fest there were many selling wines and pickles without a brand name, how does a customer who wants a repeat experience find the product later or recognise it in a shop. One brand name seemed to be associated with a famous cartoonist given the name and typeface, is there a connection?

For a start up it would be good if they can consider these lessons right at the beginning so that like us they do not waste valuable time before they figure out through experience. The first thing is to choose a brand name, better in my opinion if the name has some relevance to the values the brand wants to inculcate. These days it is advisable to use the internet to ensure your chosen brand name does not infringe on anyone else’s rights. Decide early if the brand and company name have to be linked, then design brand communication accordingly. When launching new products, decide early if you need new brand name or you will use the existing name and then tailor brand communication early, biscuit companies are a good example of using a different brand name for each category of product.

The bottom line is there is a lot of value in names brand as well as company, think hard and long early on, so that you enjoy the fruits for a long time.

NOT JUST INTROSPECTION, ACTION REQUIRED

• This was written in response to a comment by an educationist.

I agree our education system needs some serious work. I disagree that the no fail policy under RTE is suspect. It is a good system badly implemented. The “one size fits all” policy is the culprit. So allowing a student to drop an uncomfortable subject will not hamper the students future growth. The reason kids are not interested is because they have no liking for what is being taught. Why are right brain subjects marginalised in this day and age.

The only reason we have Apple and it famous “I” products is because Jobs took a course in calligraphy, the rest is history. Mr. Newman, the former Principal, famously said that he has no interest in maths and only uses it to ensure that he gets the correct change back after he has paid for his goods. So learning compound interest, constructions in geometry etc were water on a ducks back.

The Goa Board has addressed this issue by allowing students to take alternative subjects if the student cannot cope with a regular subject. A path breaking initiative. This is really the basis of the National Open School system, where they offer both right brain and left brain subjects. How many Principals are willing to adopt this system which allows for tailoring of the course to fit the child.? How many are aware it exists.? Only one school, Regina Mundi has actually implemented it. So far, three students have been allowed to drop an uninteresting subject and take another. The drawback is lack of study and testing centers approved by the Goa Board. The reason for Principals or Head masters shying away from tailoring is the fact that the school has to many administrative jobs, bal rath, midday meal, election duty and the like. This surely takes away the academic focus. Why not sub contract these jobs to an outside agency. Each school complex can be managed by one set in a centralised manner which is not impossible with mobiles, internet and computers.

Once the children begin to enjoy school they will stop misbehaving and labeling of “useless or duffer” will stop and along with it the rebelling. I recall when there was a “fail policy” coming to a new class and being joined by a few kids who had failed once or twice before and actually had no hope of ever clearing. It was a matter of time before they dropped out either because they began bullying and were rusticated or because they just grew old.

Under RTE, rustication is not an option and it is frowned on by all. When it was available did it stop misbehaviour. We have laws, jails and courts do we have less crime. Bad behaviour is a symptom and not the cause. The cause is clearly wrong fit or choice of subjects offered. So we need rules and calendars just as we cannot do away with laws because there is crime.

What we as a society should be focused on is ensuring that the child is sufficiently trained to face life. Not all want or can become Doctors and Engineers. So if a child cannot or does not want say maths or language, so be it. Let him choose something else. Without maths he cannot choose engineering later, but surely such a student is sure he does not want that career choice, he may just want to become a good Principal, let him.

The Government needs to support the Board in implementing its decision to “tailor” courses as per the students likes and dislikes, with options for courses in lieu of those on standard menu. Rather than duplicate effort, the Goa Government can allow students to pick subjects from the Open School Menu. Once this is done, drop outs will reduce and smiles will be back.