Case of Surja - The Entrepreneur

Surja Maity was from the family of tailors. He learnt sewing from his father. They owned a ramshackle shop. Their business grew only during the months of festivities where people came to sew their new clothes. Whatever they earned was spent in buying essential things of life. Surja grew restless. He was determined to lead a comfortable life.

 

Surja was approached by a person dealing with hosiery goods. He put up a business plan to Surja. Surja was supposed to buy a special sewing machine which sews hosiery clothing like vests, undergarments and Tees. All bulk orders from different hosiery manufacturers would be placed to Surja. 

 

Surja was worried. The special sewing machine costs around Rs. 90,000/- and also he needs special experienced craftsmen. He approached the local money lender who refused to help him. He approached many a banks who demanded huge collateral security which he unfortunately did not have. His friends, relatives all shooed him away. Surja thought his dream will always remain a dream. Lastly he approached his local councilor who arranged an interest free loan of Rs 50,000/- from a government scheme. For rest of the money Surja pawned his ramshackle shop.

 

He bought the sewing machine. Everyone in his family was eager to start their new journey from poverty to posterity. Order came in trickles. Surja’s wife garnered all the support. She taught the other women folk who were else busy quarreling among themselves in front of the road side tap the art of sewing hosiery products. Slowly Surja’s family bought two more sewing machines. Many reputed hosiery brands placed orders to him.

 

Eight years have passed by. Surja has built a new house. The locality women folk flaunt their newly found economic status. Surja has employed about fifty women who earn around three thousand rupees a month. Surja is happy. He has given something back to the community.

Case of Govindo - The Entrepreneur

Govindo Chakraborty is an atheist. Many a days he went to bed hungry. There was no money. His father did not send him to school as he could not afford his education. His other three brothers passed out from reputed colleges and got jobs.  Not knowing what to do, Govindo boarded the next available train from Howrah station not even aware where it was going. The train took him to Punjab. He was fourteen years old then. He spent the night at the platform. He approached a Sardaji for a job. The Sardarji took a liking for Govindo and took him to his home.

 

 Govindo learnt that Sardarji was in sports gear manufacturing business. He had a large factory making cricket bats, hockey sticks, carom boards, cricket balls, footballs all manufactured under a reputed sports brand. Govindo was wander struck how with precision they made those cricket bats. Govindo made up his mind; it is this business which he has to do. His lack of education would not hamper the progress.

 

Govindo was a quick learner. He grasped the intricate details. The special type of wood, the seasoning, the measurements ----- Govindo learnt it all. This was the profession that kept him alive mentally and physically. On his twenty fifth birthday,  Govindo boarded a Kolkata  bound train. He was determined set up his own sports manufacturing activity in his hometown.

 

Govindo along with a handful of craftsman started making cricket bats and carom boards for local youngsters. It was fun. Soon it became a hit with the youngsters. They helped to spread the word all around. The goods were of good quality and priced moderately. His enterprise flourished. People from neighbouring districts came to buy his products in bulk. Govindo started to send his consignment to neighbouring states.

 

Govindo Chakraborty has now thirty craftsmen working under him. He has opened five shops and a warehouse. He still does not visit any place of worship.  

 

But he is still an entrepreneur at heart loving what he does best!

 

Note:

This story was contributed by Mr. Sitendu De. Grateful for his contribution.

Case of Suresh Sen -- The small entrepreneur

Suresh Sen migrated to Kolkata from Faridpur, Bangladesh immediately after independence. It was just after independence and employment was scarce. Not knowing what to do he joined a ceramic making factory as an apprentice. He got a pittance with which he was unable to maintain his family. Suresh Sen used to work throughout the day trying to learn the tricks of the trade.

 

A decade past by. Suresh was deft in handling the job. He knew well almost everything of ceramic clay pottery ---- the types of clay, the right temperature, designs, marketing of the products. Suresh had a dream of opening a ceramic factory of his own. He approached four of his friends who were also in the ceramics profession to pool in their resources. They agreed.

 

They had built their own dream factory and started by selling bone china pottery. Selling was brisk but volume was large. He had to acquire more space for keeping his finished products. Another problem arose was of different designs and the luster of the product. He had to keep pace with the designs. With Chinese one up in the race he had to compete with them. Soon he started loosing in the race. His sales figure dwindled. His friends deserted him taking away their share of profits. His workers did not desert him. They had faith in this man.

 

Suresh was crestfallen. He thought heavens had fallen. His savings were unable to sustain him for a long time. He wondered around for advice. Many consultants drove him away. Suresh was not to be cowed down for long. A reputed consultant advised him to change his product. They told him to switch over to ceramic power insulators. He quickly approached the power sector manufacturing units. There was huge shortfall of the products and they wanted more.

 

Once again the factory smoke bellowed from the chimneys. Production gained momentum. Now he made only ceramic insulators. There were no friends as partners. His grown-up sons and daughter-in-laws helped him. Within a couple of years he bought another factory at Kalyani, 15 kms from Kolkata. Many people approached him for work. But he trained them in ceramic making so that they earn their livelihood. Many people under his influence opened up shops selling ceramic products. They also earned handsomely.

 

There was a stream of mourners when Suresh Sen died. After all the people owe to him a lot.

Was he a successful businessman or did he only listen to advices? What made him successful? How did he contribute to society?

Entrepreneur King; his Pink City & the Future

Maharaja Jaisingh - 1688 - 1743 - (photo taken from the murals of the Jaipur museum).

Maharaja Jaisingh was an exceptional king. Amongst many of his great achievements in the 18th century was building of the city of Jaipur, which is still intact, vibrant and fully operational. But he built this city with a purpose. He wanted it to be a great trading center rather than a fort like city which was the prevalent style during those days.

And he hit upon a very novel idea. He thought to turn his subjects into micro entrepreneurs and traders so as to transform his desert kingdom into a wealthy and flourishing one. With this in mind he built small shops within the city with wide roads for transportation of goods. He also wanted to make it aesthetically pleasing. Therefore all buildings were made out of pink colored stones from which the city got its name the 'Pink City', where none of the buildings could be built beyond a certain height.

It was a rather exceptional idea to rent out these newly constructed shops in the heart of the city to commoners rather than to noblemen of his courts. He charged them a very small rent in exchange of letting them run their family business from these spaces for commerce. Even after 200 years of their existence the value of the rent has gone up to measly sum of Rs 30/- a month (under $1). The idea was not profiting from the rentals but letting people learn and do business and add wealth and cultural value to the princely state of Jaipur. A casual round of the place shows us the great variety of trades and professions the people were engaged in, most of which continues till this day. Businesses are passed down from one generation to the next. Artisans (read freelancers) flocked to this place from all over India not only to enrich the culture of the place but also put a permanent signature of their unique quality at affordable prices.

This had far fetching repercussions and implications on the development of the nature and structure of Indian businesses, some of which are the following:

1. Created a class of astute and die-hard business families called 'Marawaris'. They hate to do anything other than business.

2. Augmented the concept of 'family business', which is the prevalent style of doing business in India.

3. Promise and trust were the cornerstones of doing business where verbal agreements were equally honored like written agreements.

4. Promoted local crafts that pulled together designers, artisans, businessmen, freelancers, entrepreneurs, job seekers all over India especially from Bengal and Gujarat. The impressions of their fine art work of Bengal and Gujarat seem to be all over the place in Northern India, which even found a prominent place in Muslim and Mugal artifacts. Over time people from Gujarat were also sucked into becoming small and big businessmen but Bengalis stuck to their nomadic freelancer and micro entrepreneur life style. In that way they not only became the second largest community scattered all over India but also the eleventh richest community in the world.

5. Preservation of traditional crafts and professions till date, which the British wanted to obliterate with standardization of their products supported by efficient transportation connecting thousands of villages across India. It is in the desert region of Rajasthan that they miserably failed to push their concept of standardized and cheap products carried through an efficient railways system. This happened because British goods did not suit the local needs or matched the culture of the place. Their products weren't life centric as the traditional products were.

6. This brings up the unique topic of designing 'life centric products'. For instance, in these markets, one would find a blanket that weighs about 100 grams, which can be folded into a very small size. The unique life centric feature of such a blanket is that it is cool on one side and warm on the other. Such an artifact is completely life centric to the nomadic tribes of the region. It is light and small to carry and can be used both in the daytime when temperatures soar and in the night when the mercury dips too low. The brass vessels used for storing water serves as another live example of a life centric product. People in the desert have used brass vessels for storing brackish water to turn them into potable drinking water for centuries. So the traders still sell brass vessels so useful in a place used to having scanty or no rainfall during the whole year. Even today, these traders are busy selling such life centric wares, which as I saw kept evolving over time with changing contexts.

7. The business models that operate are built on three vital principles -- a) Robustness b) Resilience c) Natural cycles and rhythms linked to patterns of living. They have cleverly blended the concepts of robustness/reliability with resilience into their products and business models. The products are cheap, aesthetically pleasing and reliable over long periods of time. As opposed to concepts of robustness and reliability these businesses, which have stood the test of time, primarily evolved around the concepts of resilience and patterns of living tied to Nature. The businesses were resilient to stand the test of time since they had the innate ability to detect changes in the likes, dislikes and changing demands of the people and times (a sort of collaborative effort) to quickly adjust and adapt to those changes. It means rather than think in terms of fixed and often larger volumes, scaling up, improved infrastructure etc the businesses were in tune with the patterns of living of the masses that varied with the rhythms and cycles of nature. People needed different artifacts at different times of the year hence the supply was not tuned to a pump out a steady constant volume pushed month after month over the year based on average 'customer needs' to minimize operating costs to maximize profits but churned out in variable volumes in collaboration with the customers' patterns of living to meet variable demands at different times of the year. Hence these family businesses never felt a need to grow beyond the space their small shops provided them for the past 200 years. They persevered in adapting, maintaining and creating wealth within the constraints of their given space. I was indeed fascinated by the remarkable business model that not only obviates the need for constant capital infusion to keep one's neck above water but also creates unimaginable wealth for the families and others. (See a live success story of such operating model being used as a strategy in competitive environment here)

(A glimpse of the old shops running their family businesses in the Pink City, October 2011)

My visit to the Pink City was more than enlightening. I was rewarded by sudden but deep insights in to the business psyche of the Indians and a possibe model that would serve us in the future.

The new questions that arise in my mind now are:

1. What are we doing to preserve these principles in the present context?

2. Can start ups and new entrepreneurs take a leaf out of these old lessons to model their business?

3. How can we create a platform or network of such budding entrepreneurs and make them thrive and grow over the years just like Maharaj Jaisingh did in his Pink City?

4. What we need to do to move from the business models based on robustness and reliability to a business model that primarily focuses on resilience without sacrificing resilience.

5. How can we bring down the operating, inventory and product costs through design rather than through scale ups, speed of operation and the constant need for capital infusion to increase infrastructure to accommodate growing volumes?

6. All our notions about business models and operating our businesses would change once we adopt the resilience model over robustness model. That would throw up hundreds of new questions to be answered.

I have just grown to love entrepreneurs -- design thinkers of sorts, who operate in seemingly impossible situations, solving problems with their heart & guts.

I feel this resilient way of doing business through micro entrepreneurs, where individual capital investment need not be high, holds the key to shape and inspire the future economy of the world, which presently is collapsing to its death crying out for a major transformation.

Do you think the same?

 

CL -- The Sage Entrepreneurs - Part 2

Now we shift focus to another pioneering, self sacrificing Entrepreneur Son of Mother India – Shri Ghanshyamdasji Birla (G.D.Birla).  He was born in Pilani and at the tender age of five he witnessed severe famine and whole families starving and bones of animals being picked clean in the desert.  His grandfather had started the family business of broking and trading in the then Bombay (now called Mumbai).  Sri Shivnarain Birla has also built a temple, a well for the use of all the villages and family Haveli at Pilani.

G.D.Birla’s early schooling was at Pilani and later he went to a city school in Calcutta.  The city slickers made fun of a rustic “bumpkin” for the village and the young boy preferred to roam the city streets to being teased and tormented at school.  The streets obviously were an educational forum of practical action for him for he developed into a keen sharp broker with strong nerves and skillful foresight.

He came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi at the age of 19.  G.D.Birla’s life went forward on may traders – 1) Family life 2) Industrial 3) Political-Emotional-Spiritual 4) Philanthropic and Charitable.

1)     Family life at the age of 14 he married Smt. Durga Devi she bore him a son Laxminiwas (L.N.Birla) and died when he was 19.  He again married at the age of 19 to Smt. Maha Devi.  But after a number of children she too contracted tuberculosis and expired so he was a widower at 32.  His political mentor Mahatma Gandhi advised him to remain celibate and devote the rest of his life to the country and he followed the advice.

2)     INDUSTRIAL CAREER : Ghanshyamdasji had inherited the sharp business acumen of his grandfather.  He purchased a lot of jute in his younger days and held to make a huge profit by dint of economic foresight.  During the First World War his father and he made around Rs. 80 lakhs a princely sum in those days (if you adjust for inflation).  He advised his father to set up a jute mill.  But the venerable old trader cautious and conservative by nature refused to embark on a journey into uncharted territory.  But G.D. was determined.  His determination was sharpened by insults and jibes to Indians by the European Businessmen !  Once he was not allowed to board a life because he was a non European !  Also the officer who used to sell him jute called him a “black native.”  His ears burned with outraged nationalistic pride and shame.  He secretly bought a small piece of land from a zamindar and appointed a trusted aide J.P. Mandelia to look after operations.  The British Imperial Bank refused G.D. any loan so he issued public shares and his shares were oversubscribed.  The Scottish supervisor of the Mill refused to teach Mandelia the intricacies of jute processing so G.D. and Mandelia would watch him secretly and observe his action.  They also scoured the bookshops of Kolkata and Mumbai.  Mandelia found one second-hand book on jute Technology which they pored over and made themselves knowledgeable regarding the technology.  The British controlled Jute Mill Owners association refused G.D. entry.  This made G.D. sure that the British were scared of Indians and they knew if Indians broke free of their Economic Domination their Political Domination too would be strangled and eliminated so he fought them tooth and nail and set up more industries.  By the time G.D. died he had set up Hindalco, Gwalior Rayon, Kesoram, United Commercial Bank and many other Industries.  India too won freedom on 15^th August, 1947.

3)     Political – Emotional – Spiritual views Politically before coming under the spell of the Mahatma, G.D. was a friend of the revolutionaries and even hid some guns in his office, was raided and went underground.  But from the age of 19 onwards he was a devotee of Mohandas Gandhi.  When the boys of Kolkata opened the horses from the carriage and pulled Mahatma’s carriage themselves G.D. was one of them.  He may not have agreed with the theory of cottage industry but in obedience to Gandhian philosophy he practiced the Charkha daily.  Mahatma Gandhi pressed upon his consciousness the concept of trusteeship and the disciple responded sincerely.  Under the urging of Gandhiji G.D. became the President of the Harijan Upliftment Committee.  When C.V.Raman needed some money for experiments G.D. immediately sent him the required funds.  When he came to know that the Poet Rabindranath Tagore required around Rs.60,000/- for Shantiniketan, Vishwa Bharati University he anonymously sent a draft for the amount.  G.D. Birla’s philanthropic projects are numerous – Birla’s Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, BITS Mesra, the Laxmi Narayan Temple, New Delhi, Birla Science Museum-Kolkata, Birla Planetorium-Kolkata, B.M.Birla Hospital, Bombay Hospital – the list is too numerous to quote !  He also donated money to the Aligarh Muslim University.  There is a special Saraswati Temple in Pilani covered with statuettes of famous scholars and scientists.  At his mentor’s behest he started “The Hindustan Times” and English daily newspaper to counter the vicious, malicious propaganda that was put out by the British owned English Anti-Indian Independence newspapers – that paper is still flourishing today !

4)     A little known incident in G.D.Birla’s life is that the British Bulldog Sir Winston Churchill, at that time out of Political Power, invited G.D.Birla to his country home in England.  Filled with trepidation G.D. agreed to visit.  To his utter surprise, the staunch opponent of Indian Independence was a most hospitable host to the staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi !  Needless to say both men probed each other’s minds to gather vital intelligence helpful to their opposing causes ! Mahatma Gandhi tragically was shot dead at Birla House while leading a prayer meeting.  He used to say at Birla House whenever in Delhi.

5)     If anybody is interested in reading about there 2 stalwarts I would recommend Amar Chitra Katha’s “Jamshedji Tata” and “Ghanshyamdas Birla”.  I have relied totally on there 2 publications for my factoids and pictures.  Thank you ACK, thank you Uncle Pai for such depth of research and infotainment !!

6)     In my analysis and study of these pioneering, entrepreneurial souls.  I stumbled upon one bright shining jewel of a fact – these two patriots had an overwhelming burning desire to serve the Motherland and that desire sharpened their Entrepreneurial skills to Excellence in the World of Business, Industry and Commerce ! Nisarga datta Maharaj has said “if you have a vast, deep and noble ambition to serve the world, the people, the country the Universe itself will help you – It will go out of its way to help you !” But the ambition should be noble and vast !

No IPO, NO Angel Investors, No Entrepreneurship Incubator can substitute for Vast and Noble Ambition.  Spectacular short-term burn outs like Enron or Satyam can never challenge an Arvind Eye Hospital, a Bharat Sevashram, a Wipro or an Infosys because when a mere Entrepreneur becomes an Ardha Sanyassin (sage) Entrepreneur like Jamshedji or G.D.Birla he or she becomes Unstoppable, Towering Dynamos for the Power of Good in the World !!! Here I would like to caution that smart Buzzwords may sound phonetically attractive but are actually useless in the Real World.  For instance in the environs of 5-Star Air Conditioned” comfort, a Seminar Speaker may very cleverly say “Bill Gates entered the Gates of the World Economy by selling Electronic Windows !”

But by repeating the saying a 1000 times one will not create even a mini-Microsoft !

Cleverness and Smartness can never substitute Hard Work, Self Sacrifice and a Vast, Noble Ambition !

I would like to close with a saying by Swami Vivekananda, “No Noble and Great Activity was ever accomplished by mere Cleverness !”

Jamshedji and Ghanshyamji would have heartily agreed on this.

 

This is the concluding portion of the two part series. Part 1 was published on 15th August on this blog site.

Ashesh Ghosh, FCA, CEO of RollPack Pvt. Ltd. is the author of this story. He lives in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, with his wife and their son and daughter.

CL - stands for Creative Leadership

CL -- The Sage Entrepreneurs - Part 1

A ship “The Empress of India” set sail from the then Yokohama harbour to Vancouver, Canada in 1893.

On the upper deck two Indian met during their morning and evening walks and became fast friends.  One was a young unknown monk and the other was a rich Parsi trader from Bombay.  The monk and the Parsi businessman agreed starting some industry, not in mere cotton or textile but in the core sector e.g. Cement or Steel or Chemicals would help India progress from the coils of Foreign Domination !

The monk told the would-be industrialist there were 2 aspects to industry- the manufacturing aspect and the knowledge science and to run the Steel furnaces, plant and mill.  An institute had to be built for imparting knowledge in Science and Technology to Indians as the British were eager to teach Literature and Arts but not science to Indians !  Both also felt if a country has to progress the poor people can only be uplifted vide indigenous Industry and not Foreign Charity or the imaginary Benevolence of Colonial Masters !!!

The two men were Jamshedji Tata and Swami Vivekananda !!! Jamshedji was visiting the Chicago World Fair and Swamiji continued onwards to his historic address at the Parliament of Religions, Chicago but the burning words of the visionary monk left an indelible impression on his listener’s mind !

Jamshedji Tata set up India’s first Steel Plant in Jamshedpur, a hydro electric power plant at Khandala near Mumbai and the Indian Institute of Science of Bangalore.  In 1898 five years later Jamshedji requested Swamiji to head his dream “Monastery of science where in a spirit of asceticism students would worship Science !”

Reluctalantly Swami Vivekanand had to turn down the offer as he was then pre-occupied with the Ramakrishna Mission and Math Organisation.  The first Indian Director of the Indian Institute of Science was the Nobel Laureate Dr. C.V. Raman !

“Imbued with an intensely patriotic and enlightened spirit, Jamshedji started India’s first Provident Fund Scheme, 8 hours working day, planned township for workmen including hospitals and schools !!

When Jamshedji was refused entry to a hotel in Bombay as he was a non European, he built the Taj Hotel in Apollo Bunder opposite the Gateway of India.  His sense of patriotic Indian ness had been outraged at the incident but  in his magnanimity he allowed Europeans entry to his Hotel ! When it opened it was the best in Asia ! In his search for excellence Jamshedji imported pipelines from Germany, water wheels from Switzerland, Generators from America, Electrical machinery from Dusseldorf, Chandeliers from Berlin, cast iron pillars from Paris etc.

When he wanted to start the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the British Viceroy Curzon opposed it tooth and nail saying “How can Indians learn Science and Technology and where will you find students ?”

Contrast Curzon’s sayings with US President Obama’s constant exhortations to American Children “Indian students are very good in Maths and Science – Americans should study hard and catch up with the Indians !”

Curzon’s racial arrogance and White European supremacism only spurred Jamshedji onto greater determination !”

Jamshedji duputed Prof. Burjor Padishah to tour all the great Universities of Europe and USA and suggest a model for the Indian Institute of Science.  Prof. Burjor recommended the John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.

Nobel Laureate Sir William Ramsay, the inventor of neon, visited India at Mr. Tata’s invitation and recommended Bangalore as our ideal location vis-à-vis Mysore and Mumbai.  Mr. Tata said this will be a national monument & never tried to glorify his own name !

When the British Chairman of Indian Railways heard about Tata Steel he said “If Mr. Tata produces steel, I will eat up every pound of it !”

Despite such condescending attitudes and even Vice regal opposition Jamshedji’s dream projects – Tata Steel, Taj Hotel, Tata Power and Indian Institute of Science stand as magnificent monuments to his sagacity, planning, execution and team-building.

 This excellent Zoarastrian son of Mother India really lived up to the tenets of Humata, Hubhakta and H’varsta – Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Action !!!

 

Part 2 would be published on 22nd August on this blog site.

Ashesh Ghosh, FCA, CEO of RollPack Pvt. Ltd. is the author of this story. The next part would be published on 22nd August 2011. He lives in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, with his wife and their son and daughter.

CL - stands for Creative Leadership