Archive for February, 2007

The maximum retail price concept

Posted: February 18, 2007 in consumer activism, MRP, weights and measures
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They have been doing a lot of advertising about how we should not be paying more than the declared maximum retail price (MRP) mentioned on any packaged product.

So here I was at the international airport in Mumbai, waiting to receive someone, when I walked up to the snack counter, to find that several packaged products were being sold way above the MRP. I asked them about the MRP but they insisted on getting more. Well, I did for that time, but later, I tried to look up some government website where I could register a complaint. Finally found one which was the Weights and Measures department, located at Delhi. There was an email there, so I went ahead and put the details there. And promptly forgot about it.

Till about a week or so later, when I got an email from them. Yes, surprise, surprise! They actually responded. What they conveyed was an address in Mumbai where I could complain. It did not mention their email address. Well, since there was a reply, I just printed out my old email complaint and sent it off. And again, promptly forgot about it.

Till a few weeks later, when I received a call. It took me like a few seconds to register, who was calling. Remember I had forgotten about this matter. But on the phone they mentioned that they did follow up on the case, went and did some of their own purchases and confirmed that indeed, there were violations happening. And then they took some action against them. And they had called me just to inform me.

That was neat. That a simple email managed to generate such action, that too in government, and that they actually called back, just to let me know!

Of course, in terms of the actual matter, it was shortlived joy for me. When recently, I went to the same airport again, and I walked to the same snack bar, they were selling stuff at higher prices, all over again! When I reminded them about the raid that they had, they gave ME the items at the MRP level. But for all other consumers, they were merrily selling the stuff at prices that were highly inflated.

I have taken the step to write to the Mumbai department again, for whatever it is worth. But as for the menace to be removed from society – I wonder if it can be done at all??

My thoughts on Eklavya

Posted: February 18, 2007 in Amitabh, eklavya, saif, vidhu vinod chopra, vidya balan
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One is not going to miss a Vidhu Vinod Chopra directed film, especially one that comes after a seven year break. That is how, for a change, I did not wait to hear or read reviews and landed up in the theatre to see Eklavya.

And I liked this short (less than 2 hours) film. It looks like a period film, with palace / fort, the servants, guards etc. However some of the characters appear modern, and there are indications that the film is based in the 80s or 90s, in fact (there is a background shot of a film playing – that film was Parinda, which was an 80s release, if I am not mistaken). So in a way, it looked like a location where time forgot to tell them that the world has changed, and where the King still thinks that he rules!

Anyway, that apart, the taut story line has a lot of high strung emotions. Based on the value system of the royal lives, in a way! I mean, we have seen this in reality, haven’t we? The massacre in the Nepal palace is pretty recent, after all.

Amitabh is the best.
Yeah, what’s new, right?
But he’s pretty good, and its clearly his film, first and foremost. Amazing emotional communication without even opening his mouth. The twitches of his face, the eyes – they convey so much. The scene of the blind folded AB showing his skills is quite amazing.

Other than him, its Saif Ali Khan. Very mature role, well enacted. He has really come of age and should start getting more respect – like being treated as one of the Khans, along with Aamir, SRK and Salman!

They seem to be raving about Jackie. But I don’t know why. He is okay in a small role. Nothing particularly outstanding. The scene of his death is shown well. Vidya Balan looks good on the screen.. as usual, I may add!

And so now we have the Vinod Chopra regulars getting established. Amitabh was the key element here, but other than him, the regulars were there to see – Sanjay Dutt – Munnabhai, Parineeta, Mission Kashmir. Saif – Parineeta. Vidya Balan – Parineeta, Munnabhai. Boman Irani – Munnabhais. Jimmy Shergill – Munnabhais. And of course, the old and faithful Jackie Shroff.

As regards Eklavya, I think its worth checking it out.

SRK and KBC

Posted: February 16, 2007 in Amitabh, KBC, Shah Rukh, SRK
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So SRK has spent a few weeks anchoring KBC. How has he managed so far?

Well, on account of the constraints of the format, it was inevitable that SRK would get compared with AB. I mean, he could not make major changes, so in the bits and pieces, are the comparison points. Which is where we found the irritants.

I mean, why would I want to ‘freeze it’ when I have been comfortable with ‘lock it’??
What is this nonsense about ‘Shah Rukh, mujhe gale lagao’ instead of ‘I want to quit’?

The giving away of the watch by SRK and such extravagances were a bit too much too.

So the early pronouncement was that “its not working with SRK”.

But then the shows went on. And people kept watching patiently. And slowly it seemed like he was getting there. We slowly forgot about the ‘locks’ and the ‘freezes’ were here to stay. Instead of ‘main Amitabh Bacchan bol raha hoon’, we got comfortable with ‘main Shah Rukh bol raha hoon, pehechana mujhe?’!

It is clear that after Amitabh, he was indeed the next best bet. His live programs have shown that he can really relate to an audience, get comfortable with them, get them involved with him, and in short, have them eat out of his hands.

It appears like he is reaching that very stage, in KBC too. The TRPs of yore may never return. But SRK may not be the one to blame for the same. Its the changing times and the changing preferences.

There are fewer people now, who want to sit and watch and Q&A program. In these days of reality shows, people would rather watch song and dance or perhaps a few guys holed up in a house away from everyone else.. ! Who bothers about quizzes? Its for the nerds, it would appear.

For that reason, the TRPs may never return, but the advertisers and the interested audience may yet get their money and time’s worth respectively.

Cricket Musings..

Posted: February 16, 2007 in cricket, Dhoni, Dravid, Karthik, Sachin, Saurav
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Few months back, I, like many others, had written off Saurav Ganguly. I did not see him returning back to the Indian team, except if it happened via some political manipulation.

And today, he is not only back in the team, he is one of the most consistent batsmen in the team at this time. So much for the youth brigade in the team, we have all the old stalwarts back. No Raina, no Venugopal Rao, no R P Singh, not even a Kaif. Saurav, Dravid, Sachin sounds like WC 2003 or even earlier times!

And yet, as all of them seem to be in decent nick now, it gives more confidence and comfort for us fans. At least now, if we are 3 down for something, we do not have to feel that its all over. We see hope even at that stage.

Speaking of which, I do not think we have a mature head amongst the latter batsmen – someone who can hold his end, play out the overs, inspite of wickets falling at the opposite end, and try to make a run for victory at the end. Obviously I mean a player beyond our mainstays of Sachin, Dravid, etc.

Yuvraj – maybe? But I suppose he should be a part of our main batters’ list.
Dhoni and Dinesh Karthick show a lot of promise. Whether they can be depended upon, in crisis, and consistently, is something we have to wait and see.

I am talking of players like Symonds, Shoaib Malik, Jacob Oram or even a Russel Arnold. Lets see if a Dhoni or a Karthik or an Irfan Pathan coming down the order can occupy this slot.

On to the World Cup then..

A Remote Retail Business

Posted: February 16, 2007 in entrepreneur, homeindia, startup
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When you think retail, you think walk-in, you think proximity. And yet, we are running a retail business where we are thousands of miles away from our nearest customer!

Yes, I refer to our e-retail business, running at Homeindia.com, where we have focused exclusively on customers outside of India. Even today, nearly 7 years after starting this business, it fascinates me that sitting in a small office in Lower Parel, Mumbai, we are selling ethnic Indian products to customers located in far flung areas, all over the world.

We evolved into this. Starting from a pioneering, first of its kind web-to-snail-mail service (“Online Post”) that we launched in 1998, then extending to other services for NRIs, and then to a gifting service for NRIs, and finally evolving into this present state of an e-retailer, catering to NRIs and non-Indians, outside India.

I take the opportunity to share some stray thoughts emerging out of the learnings of our journey of the last 6-7 years:

1. While we could have opened up our store to the Indian customer, it is clear that the customer in India is very different from the customer outside India. A single brand, a single URL will be hard pressed to do justice to both of these customer types, at the same time. From merchandising, to presentation, to pricing, and to the key value proposition offered, these will be entirely different for the two customer types. Even the quality of service that one needs to give to the customer, and which one can afford to give to the customer, varies a lot, between these two markets. As an organization also, this means two different cultures or attitudes, which cannot co-exist easily. So where we see many others attempting to address both of these markets simultaneously, it is our firm belief that we need to be focused to a market, and ensure that we have the best offering for that market.

2. Back in 1998-99, the decision to go NRI or India, was a simple one. There was no serious user base or market in India, and the NRI space certainly appeared far more attractive. Today, one may actually sit back and think – where should one rather be. And of course, each one will come to their own conclusion. For us, it still remains a relatively simple question to answer. The Indian consumer still has a distance to go before he embraces online shopping, especially for products that are otherwise in easy reach of his, in the offline world. There will be some early adaptors, and there will be specific unique product niches, where traction will happen. However on a mass acceptance front, I believe, it is still a while away. On the other hand, the market outside India has got only more attractive. In addition to the NRI, we see an increasing interest in things Indian, from foreigners – Americans, Europeans, etc. With the increasing interest in India, there is an increasing interest in things Indian. And while finding the specific customer/s for Indian products in the large global population may be like finding needles in a haystack, yet, once found, these needles are made of gold and diamond tipped – essentially in terms of what they buy, the transaction size, etc. So the search is worth the while!

3. Depending on the stage of the economic boom (overall or category wise) that one gets in at, an entrepreneur may see a rollercoaster of experiences, or she may not. We have been ‘privileged’ to have seen it all! The Internet curiosity phase of 1998-99 got us tons of invites to seminars and conferences and Rotary Club meetings, as speakers. Everyone was intrigued by this monster called the Internet. Then came the boom phase of 1999-2000. Here we saw investment bankers chasing us, suddenly our own focus shifting from running a business to raising money and potentially making quick, large money. Rajesh Jain and Indiaworld helped raise our emotions (we managed to raise angel funding during those days; also got 2 acquisition offers within one year of getting funded!). Then came 2001 and the bust. A huge anti-climax. Took a while to sink in. Cutting costs dramatically (A/C usage, Internet usage, switching to cheaper dot matrix printers, downsizing team, etc.) and other corrections followed. 2001-2005 was the toughest period. More than once, we thought of winding up the business. And such phases would come and then go! We stuck it out. Did all that a typical ‘startup entrepreneur 101’ course would prescribe. Delayed gratification, working with one’s own hands, going from 2 VPs and 4 Managers to 1 Manager, 7 Executives and 5 peons, occasional challenges of meeting salary dates, etc. We saw it all. Through it all, we kept the faith – for ourselves and for the team that was left. And slowly nudged our way back into the black, conserving the little cash that was left over after the dot com bust. And on to 2005 and a new tomorrow. We just about tipped the tape on the profit line. And that gave us hope to experiment again. We ventured into tradeshows in the US and Canada, we got into high ticket product offerings (bridal wear, etc.) and also some overdue technology investments. This brought us to 2006 and now 2007. The investment climate looking better. An interest in e-retail and India based Internet consumer businesses returning. So we are geared up with an exciting business plan, and hopes of the ‘dyed in the wool’ experience finally giving us another opportunity, to have a shot at growth and leadership in this space. Yes, we could have not asked for more excitement, if we had gone to an amusement park! But I guess these are the realities of being an entrepreneur.

4. A lot of times, we have been asked if our level of customer service, or offering customized clothing, etc. is truly scalable. It is an interesting point, undoubtedly. We have worked hard at converting most of our services into processes, with the necessary checks and balances, and also converted the entire operation into a modular structure. Already we handle a 30:1 level of peak seasonal periods – which means, for periods of time couple of times in a year, we successfully scale to 30 times our average levels. It is on account of the processes that we invested into, even when our size did not necessarily demand those to be in place!

These are just a few thoughts that may make for some debate or discussion here.

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