Its again a long time ago since the blog was updated. January and February was better than December and November last year.The business is picking up, but i am going through few though paths, meeting people who are very insulting and learning how to handle such people.
Whenever it is luxury product which is being sold, there is lot of convincing
that should be done. In India, most of luxury product is bought by either Politician
or Celebrity.
I would like to share a horrible experience with one of the politician named Sridhar Reddy, he actually is not a politician himself but some "CHAMCHA" for an MLA, meaning a person who says yes to anything that the politician say. I was selling my Nano technology unit Water Softener unit which is actually a costly unit, this person does not know what it is, but he wants it cheap about 90% discount to what i am offering ha ha... they even tease you / your product multiple times..You feel insulted when you speak to such people and wonder why r u standing in front of few idiots who has enormous amount of stolen money at their disposal. It took to 2 days to digest this customer.
How to handle such idiots who know nothing of the product but want that product at discount:
Based on the Advice from few business man, on how to handle these people there are few suggestions
1) Increase the price to Twice or thrice of the actual price and bring it down when they bargain, i feel it is a sort of cheap technique which people use in streets.
2) Don't sell products to customers who don't understand it even after explanation, i feel it is a good idea but it is difficult decession to loose a big order when you start a business, i have decided to ignore the order, may be a fault, but can't give up my Self esteem.
3) Understand that these CHAMCHA politicians as people who are Brain damaged, ignore their insults, if they give advance take it and execute the order or just leave the place.It is sure that they wont pay you the balance. Don't undertake the order without 100% advance.
Now, the next time i meet such a person i know how handle them. But these people can be very influential and can get you many orders.
Insults, upsets will happen in a new product selling business, but it is learning path.
Hope it is useful for someone.
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Thursday, 25 December 2008
December 08 - The Problems with recession
Recession is the buzz word in every industry during this month. Few big orders which would have possibly come is on hold, the reason being budget freeze. The running costs does not come down and no orders, how should one cope with such situations. I have been trying various methods but nothing seems to work for me. I am planning to sell one of my personal investments and invest it in my business to cover the next 5 months running costs. Based on inputs from ET i have decided to do the following during the period when the orders does not cover running cost:
1) Staying Positive :
Things like this keep on happening, for startups its even more difficult as any spending goes from the investment and also startups would not have seen recession before. Staying positive helps a lot in terms of finding new ways to reduce costs,
finding news cost effective ways of advertising/marketing. Myself, i have reduced direct marketing but planning to increase email marketing and may be Throw-away catlog in newspapers.
2) Increase efficiency:
Its easy to say but difficult to achieve, when there is no money coming in, it is always depressing and hence decreases our efficiency, i noticed it myself, i used to plan my day's marketing tasks, i recently stopped doing it, because i started feeling whatever i do to market the product, its not going to sell because of recession, but its not true, i have now realized at the end of the month that this is time when everyone spend time on increasing efficiency and not getting depressed. Its not our issue if someone else is not buying a product, we will have to do our things as usual until it is time for other to spend money on the product.
3) Ride the recession practically:
Its not just the startups who are facing problems, its everyone. So be confident and ride the tough times, this is what makes Startup enterprenurs stronger. When it is time to growth we would have the maturity to grow faster.
I am not going to loose hope and i have decided not to say the REASON as RECESSION. Lets fight the recession and grow our business.
1) Staying Positive :
Things like this keep on happening, for startups its even more difficult as any spending goes from the investment and also startups would not have seen recession before. Staying positive helps a lot in terms of finding new ways to reduce costs,
finding news cost effective ways of advertising/marketing. Myself, i have reduced direct marketing but planning to increase email marketing and may be Throw-away catlog in newspapers.
2) Increase efficiency:
Its easy to say but difficult to achieve, when there is no money coming in, it is always depressing and hence decreases our efficiency, i noticed it myself, i used to plan my day's marketing tasks, i recently stopped doing it, because i started feeling whatever i do to market the product, its not going to sell because of recession, but its not true, i have now realized at the end of the month that this is time when everyone spend time on increasing efficiency and not getting depressed. Its not our issue if someone else is not buying a product, we will have to do our things as usual until it is time for other to spend money on the product.
3) Ride the recession practically:
Its not just the startups who are facing problems, its everyone. So be confident and ride the tough times, this is what makes Startup enterprenurs stronger. When it is time to growth we would have the maturity to grow faster.
I am not going to loose hope and i have decided not to say the REASON as RECESSION. Lets fight the recession and grow our business.
Friday, 28 November 2008
More Challenges
Challenges:
Its a long time since my update, the reason being, i wanted to put something positive, it has been hard 2 months may be because of general problems in business environment, I did get few few orders but the operational cost exceeded than expected and hence could not make any margin.
Learning:
Never reduce your margin to get the order. Normally when getting orders become difficult the general idea is to reduce the margin and hence reducing the cost to get the orders to stay in business, i have learnt that it is a bad idea to reduce the margin.I was convicing myself that i would get furthur reference, but the idea of barganing goes as reference, any reference from the installation will be a reference for a low cost product and not a refernence for a great product at lower cost, references do not speak technically about the product but speak about the cost of the product.
Learning for people in business:
I have learnt the following from people in business, i understand its common sense but it is very difficult to follow:
- Reduce the cost on other areas and not on Margin.
- Increase the product range to target customers
looking for Quality low cost product.
It is very easy to say this, but when it comes to operation, there would be no place to reduce the cost. I have now figured out few cost reducing stratergy for my business.,
E.g: For every installation we used to buy a default set of acessories required and was validating the purchase for future use, now I have reduced the accesories purchase to only to the required amount, not in excess, we no longer buy 20 feet long pipe, we buy exactly how much is required, also identified supplier who case give small pieces of pipes.
I am deeply worried about the ongoing attacks on Mumbai, it has brough a very negative sentiment, I am very happy that there is geat sense of unity felt all over
the place to fight these ****** terrorist, we will all have to fight these idiots in some way. Politicians are not worried about this instead they are worried about the forthcoming elections, are these people worth the respect and fame they get.
Its a long time since my update, the reason being, i wanted to put something positive, it has been hard 2 months may be because of general problems in business environment, I did get few few orders but the operational cost exceeded than expected and hence could not make any margin.
Learning:
Never reduce your margin to get the order. Normally when getting orders become difficult the general idea is to reduce the margin and hence reducing the cost to get the orders to stay in business, i have learnt that it is a bad idea to reduce the margin.I was convicing myself that i would get furthur reference, but the idea of barganing goes as reference, any reference from the installation will be a reference for a low cost product and not a refernence for a great product at lower cost, references do not speak technically about the product but speak about the cost of the product.
Learning for people in business:
I have learnt the following from people in business, i understand its common sense but it is very difficult to follow:
- Reduce the cost on other areas and not on Margin.
- Increase the product range to target customers
looking for Quality low cost product.
It is very easy to say this, but when it comes to operation, there would be no place to reduce the cost. I have now figured out few cost reducing stratergy for my business.,
E.g: For every installation we used to buy a default set of acessories required and was validating the purchase for future use, now I have reduced the accesories purchase to only to the required amount, not in excess, we no longer buy 20 feet long pipe, we buy exactly how much is required, also identified supplier who case give small pieces of pipes.
I am deeply worried about the ongoing attacks on Mumbai, it has brough a very negative sentiment, I am very happy that there is geat sense of unity felt all over
the place to fight these ****** terrorist, we will all have to fight these idiots in some way. Politicians are not worried about this instead they are worried about the forthcoming elections, are these people worth the respect and fame they get.
Friday, 17 October 2008
Meeting with Key members of Karnataka Power Sector
I am pleased to say that i got an opportunity to meet big people in the Power sector in Karnataka. It was a 5 hours interactive meeting with the board involving Mr.K.Jairaj, I.A.S, Pricipal secratory, Energy Department, President FKCCI, President BCIC, Managing director BESCOM, Managing director Ms. Latha Krishna Rau, KPTCL, Mr.Hiremath, M.D, KREDL and leading industrialist in Karnataka.
The areas of discussion was
1) Generating more power by various means.
2) Government support for Renewable energy and Enterprenuers
3) Current Problems with Power shortages, (like T&D losses in different states).
The board provided lots of data, which was very useful, it thought i would share.
For all information on Renewable energy development in Karnataka visit www.mnre.gov.in they suggest that information on customs, government subsidy, excise, income tax etc are available in this website.
They also spoke about important topic based on "PUNE" model, which involves load sharing, invloves buying power from local consumers running generators in diesel etc etc.
It will be pages and pages to discuss about these, but i would able to provide the information i have, to anyone interested. I am trying out a new Energy project, pilot project would be comissioned by the end of October 08 or Mid november 08.
The areas of discussion was
1) Generating more power by various means.
2) Government support for Renewable energy and Enterprenuers
3) Current Problems with Power shortages, (like T&D losses in different states).
The board provided lots of data, which was very useful, it thought i would share.
For all information on Renewable energy development in Karnataka visit www.mnre.gov.in they suggest that information on customs, government subsidy, excise, income tax etc are available in this website.
They also spoke about important topic based on "PUNE" model, which involves load sharing, invloves buying power from local consumers running generators in diesel etc etc.
It will be pages and pages to discuss about these, but i would able to provide the information i have, to anyone interested. I am trying out a new Energy project, pilot project would be comissioned by the end of October 08 or Mid november 08.
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Processed few good orders
Now after processing few orders i have decided to share my "temporary" hapiness and challenges i faced during the process. The orders which are processed are for a product which is first of its kind in India as far as i know, hence it was a more complicated to make the customer go for a new latest technology product rather than conventional product.
Challenges:
1) It took me 2 complete months to convince ONE customer and during the process i had to travel to the customers place about 14 times explaining him about the product. Finally it turned Postive, and also turned to a REFERENCE.
Lesson Learned: Such customer may at first glance look very troublesome but once they are convinced, they do the marketing for us.
2) They were days when I too did not know information about questions asked by the customer, but i gave a very fast response to his query, which i felt pleased the customer.
3) Spent 75% of my margin / Profit on Travel and accesories required to answer the customers questions.
Leasson Learnt: Cosider any costs that would occur when you first give a quote, the quote cannot be changed later and should also match the industry. Keep enough margin so that you don't incur a loss, it can be at cost but not loss.
4) Learning about taxes is a very difficult task, within India, within state there are various taxes regulations like Octrai, CST, KST, VAT. As one of my orders for this Nano technology product was outside my state, i had to go through all the legal regulations and finally handle them.
5) Transportation seems very easy, problems like damages to the product, packing, Delivery charges will occur. Luckly for me i had all the problems together, the product packing was damaged, hence repacking had to be done, there are package experts, and government prescibes packing standards, Box types etc etc., and for Airworthiness the packing should be hard plastic and should be certified for Airworthiness. Complex man.
But now i have gone thorugh all these. Any one have any questions i can pass information i know.
Happiness:
1) This first customer acted as a reference and got me one more order, this time i did not do any explanation, all i did was sent the order and got the payment.
2) Confidence is starting to increase, may be bcos of getting orders.
Challenges:
1) It took me 2 complete months to convince ONE customer and during the process i had to travel to the customers place about 14 times explaining him about the product. Finally it turned Postive, and also turned to a REFERENCE.
Lesson Learned: Such customer may at first glance look very troublesome but once they are convinced, they do the marketing for us.
2) They were days when I too did not know information about questions asked by the customer, but i gave a very fast response to his query, which i felt pleased the customer.
3) Spent 75% of my margin / Profit on Travel and accesories required to answer the customers questions.
Leasson Learnt: Cosider any costs that would occur when you first give a quote, the quote cannot be changed later and should also match the industry. Keep enough margin so that you don't incur a loss, it can be at cost but not loss.
4) Learning about taxes is a very difficult task, within India, within state there are various taxes regulations like Octrai, CST, KST, VAT. As one of my orders for this Nano technology product was outside my state, i had to go through all the legal regulations and finally handle them.
5) Transportation seems very easy, problems like damages to the product, packing, Delivery charges will occur. Luckly for me i had all the problems together, the product packing was damaged, hence repacking had to be done, there are package experts, and government prescibes packing standards, Box types etc etc., and for Airworthiness the packing should be hard plastic and should be certified for Airworthiness. Complex man.
But now i have gone thorugh all these. Any one have any questions i can pass information i know.
Happiness:
1) This first customer acted as a reference and got me one more order, this time i did not do any explanation, all i did was sent the order and got the payment.
2) Confidence is starting to increase, may be bcos of getting orders.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
When to start taking employees on board ?
The answer to the above question is completly dependent on the Type of business. In my case, the company is just a specialized distribution unit (The manufacturing company does everything as per my design and delivers it to me). I have been doing all work by myself, from office cleaning to CEO meetings, but i just have started relaizing that in about 2 months time i should have 1/2 employees. I have to convert all the contract technicians to Permanent technicians.
Based on the input from many business owners, they suggest to start employing someone when we exactly know what the new employee is going to be doing for the next 5 months, if we do not know that, it might not be the right time to get an employee. This decission is very important as the costs start exponentially increasing when permanent employee gets on board, their travel allowances, their holidays, their salary, their welfare fund, their personal development. So carefull thought is necessary before emplyoment decission is taken. Also the business becomes answerable to the government, if there is any issues with the employee.
Few other business owners suggest that, when the business owner feels that he cannot handle all by himself or feels he is doing lots of things, then start recruiting, but since "feeling" is perspective based idea, i would not go with this option.
With me i will wait untill i know what the new employee will be doing for 5 months. The contract employee are costing higher but i will have to continue the same for a while.
Based on the input from many business owners, they suggest to start employing someone when we exactly know what the new employee is going to be doing for the next 5 months, if we do not know that, it might not be the right time to get an employee. This decission is very important as the costs start exponentially increasing when permanent employee gets on board, their travel allowances, their holidays, their salary, their welfare fund, their personal development. So carefull thought is necessary before emplyoment decission is taken. Also the business becomes answerable to the government, if there is any issues with the employee.
Few other business owners suggest that, when the business owner feels that he cannot handle all by himself or feels he is doing lots of things, then start recruiting, but since "feeling" is perspective based idea, i would not go with this option.
With me i will wait untill i know what the new employee will be doing for 5 months. The contract employee are costing higher but i will have to continue the same for a while.
Saturday, 16 August 2008
First generation enterprenuers - After 2.5 months
After a bit of gap i am back on track to write blogs.
We have a general feeling that the first 3 months in any business would be the hardest, atleast i was thinking that after 3 months of struggle it should start getting easier, but it is turning opposite.
For the first 2 months, the only contacts you have are the people you know and friends contact. No special marketing just word of mouth. By the end of 2 months, your contacts base is empty. During the 3 month there might be a maximum of one lead because of your previous contact. By the end of 3rd month, no contacts, no orders, meaning its time to do external marketing or time to spend time and money, on Marketing your product.
I am on the verge of completing my 2nd month of business and my contact list is already empty, i have started with Direct Marketing.
My score rate for proper profit making orders is 0 currently. Huge amount of stress is building up as this is stage where money out is fast and Money in is NIL.
Any comments please suggest.
We have a general feeling that the first 3 months in any business would be the hardest, atleast i was thinking that after 3 months of struggle it should start getting easier, but it is turning opposite.
For the first 2 months, the only contacts you have are the people you know and friends contact. No special marketing just word of mouth. By the end of 2 months, your contacts base is empty. During the 3 month there might be a maximum of one lead because of your previous contact. By the end of 3rd month, no contacts, no orders, meaning its time to do external marketing or time to spend time and money, on Marketing your product.
I am on the verge of completing my 2nd month of business and my contact list is already empty, i have started with Direct Marketing.
My score rate for proper profit making orders is 0 currently. Huge amount of stress is building up as this is stage where money out is fast and Money in is NIL.
Any comments please suggest.
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