DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

While many of my female friends use cosmetic products of Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder, two of the world’s most respected brands in beauty business, they know little that a tinge of entrepreneurship goes behind these product lines.  

Elizabeth Arden (1878-1966) revolutionized American society in the early part of last century by introducing cosmetic products at a time “when the only acceptable place to wear makeup was on the stage.” A nurse by training, Arden learnt beauty techniques in France around 1912, and later returned to the US with her own products.

Similary, Estee Lauder (1906-2004) began her company by selling a skin cream developed by her chemist uncle, and “the desire to bring out beauty in every woman.” She soon became a household name in the US. In 1998, Lauder figured in the TIME magazine as the only woman among the twenty innovators who changed how the world works.    

Closer home, Shahnaz Husain has made a mark for herself around the world with her range of herbal beauty products and services. In a free-wheeling interview with DARE, Husain talks of her challenges and business model.  

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The spurt in inflation over the last six months has taken its toll on both salaried employees and businessmen. It is no surprise, therefore, that the mom-and-pop stores in Lucknow have also been hit. Like everyone else, its owners too have devised a sort of a common strategy to deal with the devil, albeit a unique one. They have resorted to toffees. This is how they do it: Say for example if your grocery bill is Rs 197, and you pay the shopkeeper Rs 200 in cash, ideally he should return you Rs 3. But now-a-days, there is a fair chance of you getting back three toffees, instead of Rs 3. Some shopkeepers would not even care to mutter a word of apology for forcing you to “buy” the toffees. However, some shrug their shoulders for not having any chillar (change) with them.

Last week, my sister-in-law, Mamata, who had been facing the wrath of the “toffee business” for quite some time, decided to deal with the menace in her own way. Instead of chewing over the toffees she would get from a particular store, she decided to collect them. Soon, she was sitting pretty on 20 toffees, collected over a period of seven days from the same store.

On the eighth day, she marched to the store with her two kids in tow, and asked for Pepsi, worth Rs 20. The kids relished it and burped in joy. When it came to paying the shopkeeper, she promptly dug into her handbag and dazzled him with a handful of toffees. Puzzled, the shopkeeper asked her what she was doing. My sis-in-law thundered: “I am paying you in your currency. Each toffee means Re 1 that I got from you. These are 20 toffees. Take it or leave it.” The man registered a quick protest and went into an argument mode. But she was not to relent, thanks to her stint as an active member of the student’s union during her college days. After a brief session marked by heated arguments, the shopkeeper took his “currency” back and cursed his fate for having to face a difficult customer like her everyday.

I think, it would not be a bad idea to have the Ministry of Consumer Affairs hire her for their flagship advert and radio program: Jago Grahak Jago.

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Competition can be good. It can force you to introspect and improve

A voice soaked in humility greeted me yesterday when I rang the local taxi stand, a stone's throw from my home in New Delhi. It was a pleasant surprise given that till last year, I had become used to the brash tone of the local cab drivers demanding unreasonable fare, and that too with an obliging connotation.

Thus, when I came to know of radio cabs last July, I couldn't help but take a quiet pledge, never to call the local cab drivers again. But yesterday (August 13) was an exception. All the major radio cab companies (Easy Cabs, Delhi Cabs and Mega Cabs) pleaded helplessness with getting me a cab for an early-morning drop to the railway station the next day. The reason: "Sorry sir. We are booked till about 11 AM tomorrow."

It was with a lot of unease that I had called the local taxi stand but was happy to hear a polite voice, for a change. I first asked to confirm if a cab could be made available to me the next morning. The guy on the other end assured me that the car would be at my door at 5 AM sharp. "We have a plenty of cabs with us. So, you don't have to bother," he affirmed. Do more people now prefer radio cabs to the local taxi service? I thought. I am not an exception then, I guess.

Today morning was even more pleasant. Although the cab that arrived was an Ambassador but the driver was dressed in an impeccable white. He was punctual and courteous. He helped me with the luggage and held the door for me.

During the short commute, I asked him what he thought of radio cabs, and if they have had any effect on his business. He didn't say yes or no. But did give a couple of reasons as to why his service was better than that of a radio cab. "Sir, these (radio cabs) charge a lot. Also, if you were to forget any valuables in my cab, you can be sure to get it back, as you know where I live. How can you track these guys," he said proudly. Good elevator pitch, I liked it. Thank God! There is competition, I said in my mind. At least, it has disciplined the cabbies at my local taxi stand. Now they have a benchmark to measure themselves against. Hopefully, the tourists during the upcoming Commonwealth Games in the city would not have bumpy rides anymore.

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Can we emulate China and Brazil?

 

·    China is the world’s largest producer of renewable energy (including large hydro) with 120GW of generation capacity by 2005, 25% of the country’s total capacity.

·    It is also the world’s third largest manufacturer of bio-ethanol, and has the fifth largest installed wind capacity.

·    Rather than become dependent on foreign technology and suppliers, China is working to ensure that a local equipment industry is built up, fostering the creation of competitive local suppliers and buying the best foreign technologies.

·    It is the world’s largest generator of hydropower, with 115GW of installed capacity at the end of 2005.

·    China also has significant potential for geothermal generation and marine power, with several pilot projects in operation and a nascent supply chain.

·    China has a rapidly developing venture capital community, with several companies focusing substantially or wholly on clean energy opportunities. It also has 200 business incubators, 30% of which have worked on creating renewable energy or low-carbon technology companies.

·    Brazil is the world’s largest renewable energy market, largely on the back of its long-established bio-ethanol industry.

·    Around 44% of its total energy production comes from renewable sources.

·    More than 75% of Brazil’s cars are flex-fuel, meaning they can run on any mix of petrol and ethanol.

·    Brazil has been the world’s leading producer of ethanol, which is derived from sugarcane in Brazil, for several decades. However, following the bioethanol boom in the US during 2006, Brazil was overtaken as the largest ethanol producer in the world.

Source: Global Trends in Sustainable Energy 2007

 A number of articles in DARE focus on the business opportunity aspect of environment as well as conservation of precious resources. One on Mini Hydel has appeared in the current issue of DARE. Some of the others are:

The Business of Better Environment 

How to Save Electricity in Your Office

Solar Energy

Waste Management 

Get A Green Office 

LEDs  

E-waste

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The developed world is grappling with the fast-growing ageing population. Isn’t it time for Indian entrepreneurs to focus on specific products and services for the elderly?

A dull weekend awaited me after I reached home on the second Friday of last month (July 11), grappling with the aftermath of a viral attack. With blowing nose, soar throat and a mild fever to blame for two casual leaves I took during the week, I had something very important on my mind. It emanated from a story on the 'products and services for the ageing population' assigned to me a week before that, and I had only done some “research” in the name of progress. With a little guilt making its way into my head, I had to work on it and finish it by Monday positively.

The Idea: In one of our informal team meetings on the shop floor, my boss Krishna Kumar (KK) wondered how the world was fast “ageing” with developed countries witnessing more gray-haired citizens than ever before. He elaborated on how Japan and many countries in Europe were seeing depleting population growth with rising number of older people to feed than younger ones to work. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of older people worldwide is rising rapidly; from about 600 million in 2007, the number of people aged 60 and older, will double to reach 1.2 billion by 2025.

Some questions we were asked to ponder upon: How will products and services change to cater to the needs of the elderly? What will happen to the insurance business etc?

One product that clicked immediately was hair color. Thanks to gray hair, the likes of Revlon and Garnier make millions of dollars selling hair-color products across the world. Which color should I pick, I’m now left wondering OR should I just age gracefully?

The Mood: Most writers would probably agree that starting a story is more difficult than finishing it. You need the surroundings that are conducive to conjure a good intro for the story, and it did not seem to be happening for me at all.

While I was still procrastinating, I got a call from my cousin, Saharsh, who was in Delhi on Saturday (July 12) awaiting a late-night flight to Singapore. He invited me for a small treat at a Connaught Place restaurant where he and his wife and two kids were eagerly looking forward to their year-long stay in the city-state, albeit on the campus of the National University of Singapore (NUS). While my cousin would work towards a one-year Masters’ in Public Administration, his wife and kids would be there to cheer him up. As we talked of and on about the various facets of Singapore, including the food, cleanliness and its superb public transport system, the discussion drew briefly towards its depleting young population and growing number of elderly people.

If the UN figures are to be believed, in 2007, 13.5% of Singaporeans were aged 60 and above, as against 8.1% Indians and 27.9% Japanese. The median age of a Singaporean is 37.5 years, as against 24.3 of an Indian and 42.9 of a Japanese. The median age of a Singaporean in 1950 was 20 years, however, this is projected to rise to an alarming 53.7 years in 2050.

Total fertility (children per woman) in Singapore was 2.62 in 1970-75. This has since continued to drop. In 2005-10, total fertility stands at 1.26. However, life expectancy at birth has grown from 78.8 years in 2000-2005 to 80 years in 2005-10. This is projected to grow to 84.6 years by 2045-50. Drop in fertility and rise in life expectancy is a deadly combo for any country; a clear indication that sooner or later it would drastically fall short of working hands.

Well, by the end of the discussion over a Subway submarine that followed a cappuccino, here I was in the mood to write the story. I rushed back home after bidding adieu to my brother, sis-in-law and my both extremely lovable nephew and niece. All through my way back home, I juggled with thoughts of a suitable intro to my “ageing” story and my brother’s year-long stay in a country that would probably want to hold the “young” man back after he gets his degree.

Singapore is welcoming young people with open arms. Several other countries are already battling it out on the global turf, trying hard to draw the young and restless into their fold. Many of them need young people desperately. Japan tops the list of such countries, followed by many of its European counterparts like Italy, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Denmark, the UK and Spain.

After reaching home, I swiftly headed to my laptop and scribbled an intro. I also thanked my cousin to have invited me over for, what turned out to be, a mood-making session, and to Singapore, a country that catalyzed my thoughts while I wrote the story.

The article ‘opportunities from an ageing world’ has appeared in the current issue of DARE.

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