Entrepreneur January 2012

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PLUS FABER CASTELL: SECRETS OF A SUCCESSFUL EIGHTH GENERATION FAMILY BUSINESS

THIS WAY UP

EX-INDIA CRICKETER DILIP DOSHI’S SWEET SECOND INNINGS

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201 Wil 2 Be l It cko Ma ke ns.

CRACK AT STARTUP HAPPINESS

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ASHOK SOOTA’S LATEST

ALSO SAMSUNG WANTS YOU TO TAKE NOTE NOT AT ALL SCHMOOZY: THE BUSINESS OF FASHION

table of contents INSIGHTS 18 BUDGETING, INVESTMENTS AND

FINANCIAL PLANNING Ranjeet S. Mudholkar on how the annual personal budget of post-tax income and expenses can be an effective tool in financial planning.

20 SEAL THE DATE!

Nandini Vaidyanathan on why someone should date an entrepreneur.

21 STEP CLOSER TO DOUBLE DRIP!

Bharat Banka on how most of 2011 played out as he had predicted and makes new predictions for 2012.

37 MEN WHO MATTER 38 THIS YEAR, EXPANSION WILL BE

Vishal Dhar, Co-Founder and President Marketing, iYogi

DIFFICULT Kunwer Sachdev, CEO & MD, Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd.

40 DISCIPLINED GROWTH KEY TO 2012 Dheeraj Gupta, Founder, Jumboking Foods Pvt. Ltd. 42 I AM WORRIED ABOUT ANOTHER SLOWDOWN Neelam Chibber, Co-founder, Industree Crafts Private Ltd.

44 REGULATIONS ARE OUR BIGGEST

50 SUBSIDIES MUST BE REMOVED Srikumar Misra, Founder, MD & CEO, Milk Mantra Dairy Pvt. Ltd. 52 SLOWDOWN WITH AFFECT SPENDS Rajiv Vasudevan, CEO, AyurVaid Hospitals 54 WE ARE LOOKING AT 200%

GROWTH Neeraj Kakkar, CEO, Hector Beverages Pvt. Ltd.

THREAT Yashish Dahiya , Co-Founder & CEO, Policybazaar

55 TURNING LEAN TO MANAGE CREDIT

46 A LEVEL-PLAYING FIELD IS A MUST Rajesh Razdan, Co-Founder, mCarbon Tech Innovation Ltd.

56 COMPETITION IS OUR BIGGEST

47 WANT TO OUTRUN THE

58 TIME TO GO INTERNATIONAL

SLOWDOWN Yusuf Motiwala, Founder and CEO, TringMe

Rajive Chawla, Chairman and MD, Jairaj Ancillaries Pvt. Ltd. THREAT Rajath Kedilaya, Co-Driver, YourCabs

Beerud Sheth, Co-Founder and CEO, Webaroo Technology Pvt. Ltd.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR 22 AID FROM DOWN UNDER

Australia-born Emily Harrison plans to impact India’s philanthropy space.

By Shruti Chakraborty

IN FOCUS 26 SECOND INNINGS Former Indian cricketer Dilip Doshi’s latest venture is a purely organic food store.

By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri

SUCCESS INC. 30 FAMILY TIES Faber Castell proves how a good succession plan works for a family-run business.

By Shruti Chakraborty 32 THE ETERNAL OPTIMIST Ashok Soota, ex Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of MindTree, started his second company, Happiest Minds, at 69 years of age.

By Shonali Advani

48 WANT TO BE THE GO-TO COMPANY

STRATEGY

6 Intelligent Entrepreneur  January 2012

TRENDS SPECIAL

73 IS THERE PROPER ETIQUETTE FOR VIDEO CONFERENCING? Ross McCammon writes about the subtle art of the video call.

60 2012 TRENDS AND TRICKS Read about the 10 trends that will define opportunity next year.

By Team Entrepreneur

IN CONVERSATION 80 INDIA WILL GROW 7-10%

Arvind Sodhani, President of Intel Capital, talks about venture capital, entrepreneurship and technology.

By Shonali Advani

22

OPPORTUNITY 82 RESORT TO NEW TACTICS New fashion moves like resort wear and designer swimwear offer entrepreneurs a number of opportunities to dig their heels in.

By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri

MONEY 88 BUY VERSUS BUILD

Read about what big companies need to consider when growing internally.

By Sam Hogg

89 HIGH ON VALUATION?

Manu Rekhi on thinking through the next financeable event is critical.

90 SMART WAYS TO FIGHT INFLATION Three effective steps to beat the price rise.

By Vatsal Shah 26

93 THE PERSONAL ECONOMY

Turn off the news of financial doom; focus on microeconomics writes J.D. Roth.

TECH DEPARTMENT 94 IS BIGGER BETTER? The Samsung Note is being touted as the next big thing in the mobile-tablet hybrid arena. But can it shake off the baggage?

By Ankush Chibber 97 MANGO ON THE RADAR

The Radar is the first Windows Phone with Mango that we have reviewed.

By Ankush Chibber

32

98 KILL 1?

The IdeaPad K1 is the first Android tablet in India out of the Lenovo stables. Does it have what it takes to kill the market?

By Ankush Chibber 99 X-ADAMO The Dell XPS 14z looks to combine the power of the XPS series with the form factor classiness of the now defunct Adamo range.

By Ankush Chibber 101 SHOW AND STORE

Your small business will do no wrong with our choice of projector and storage.

By Ankush Chibber

102 HACK JOB

Read about how to protect your business from Malware in custom apps.

By Jonathan Blum January 2012  Intelligent Entrepreneur 7

table of contents 106

THE ULTIMATE ‘HOW TO’ BUSINESS GUIDE 114 Manage Gender Diversity at the Workplace 118 Market an e-Commerce Company 120 Save Costs on Business Travel 121 Deal with Copyright Infringement 123 Create a Youth-Friendly Brand

START UPS

124 Handle Senior Management Departures

106 BRIDGING A PRIMARY GAP

NationWide, a chain of primary healthcare clinics, seeks to bridge the divide between family doctors and super-specialty hospitals in India.

By Shonali Advani

126 Set up Your First Cloud Server 130

129

110 ONE FOR THE ROAD Three startups in the urban transport space on the way to success.

By Shruti Chakraborty 110

SPEND IT 129 SILVER LININGS Juhu’s Silver Beach Café is an ideal continental dining destination.

By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri 130 COIMBATORE CALLING

REGULARS

COVER DESIGN

ARKO PROVO MUKHERJEE 8 Intelligent Entrepreneur  January 2012

10 FEEDBACK 11 RESOURCES 12 SME DOCTOR 16 STUMP SPEAK 134 BACKSTAGE

Le Meridien and Aloft have opened their doors in this southern Indian city recently.

By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri

133 BIGGER AND BETTER The Big Nasty gives the Mumbai suburbs a new bistro.

By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri

resources [Info that’s handy]

IIT GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT

T

he annual flagship event of the Entrepreneurship Cell IIT Kharagpur— Global Entrepreneurship Summit—is scheduled from January13 to January 15, 2012.

Global Entrepreneurship Summit plays host to India’s only Global Conference on Entrepreneurship. The 2012 edition of GES will witness guest lectures by various eminent personalities of the likes of Sunita Ramnathkar (Founder FEM Pharma Care), Nikhil Soman (VP Reliance Big Entertainment).

Workshops, focused on building the entrepreneurial acumen of participants are also in the pipeline. An industry talk by Samresh Shah of Cap Gemini, is one such.

A video conferencing session will serve as a conclave for discussion of opportunities and programs aimed towards promoting entrepreneurship in various Universities across the world. The conference will be followed by a discussion amongst the Entrepreneurship Cells in India about the Indian scenario and how best to go about promoting entrepreneurship in their respective campuses.

A few of the participants in GEC will include Shailendra Vyakarnam, Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Learning, Cambridge

University, and Minet Schindehutte, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University. The Global business plan competition, Empresario and Envision, the product design competition saw entries from around the country, at the close of the preliminary round in November. The finals of the competitions will be part of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which acts as a finale of sorts to the year-long activities of E-Cell.

Another event of mention is the Startup Camp, which aims to help Start-ups to recruit the finest talent of IIT Kharagpur students for internships/jobs while giving them an opportunity to meet the biggest VC and Angel Investors in India present on campus. A glimpse of the investors – Navam Capital, Intellicap Ventures, Mumbai Angels, Indian Angel Network, Seeders. 30 startups from various sectors ranging from social ventures to healthcare to technology, from across India participated in GES 2011.

Date: January13-January15, 2012 Venue: IIT Kharagpur Contact: Pranita Padalwar (+91 9564250322) Website: www.ges.ecell-iitkgp.org/

TECHFEST 2011-2012

I

IT Bombay, under the patronage of UNESCO, aims to discover the best ideas and innovations from across the nation that would reform and revolutionize the present day India via its Techfest 2011-2012 from January 6-January 8, 2012. Good ideas are common—what’s uncommon are people who’ll work hard enough to bring them about, says Ideate motto. Believing that all India needs is an idea, a belief and a vision to spark a revolution, Ideate invites everyone to lend a helping hand to the society and improve lives of millions. After all, the secret of getting ahead is getting started. Four genre are open to participation—Utkarsh, Earth, Elixir and Inspire India. While Utkarsh invites technological solutions to present day rural problems, Earth seeks to innovate and explore smart methods to deal

with energy and environment crises. Elixir on the hand invites solutions and innovations that stand a chance to conquer the major healthcare challenges the world faces today. Meanwhile, Inspire India is your chance to spark a social revolution, think, innovate and redesign.

A team may participate in more than one genre of Ideate.

However, if the same idea is presented in more than one genre, then the team stands a chance of winning in only one of those, though it may get other benefits based on the discretion of the judging panel.

Date: January 6-January 8, 2012 Venue: Mumbai Contact: Harshad Sukalikar (090768 80907) Website: ttp://www.techfest.org/home/event/ideate

TECHNOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP FESTIVAL 2012 The annual technology and entrepreneurship festival of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur called Techkriti is being organized in Kanpur from the 27-30 January 2012. The festival will have talks, workshops, events and competitions around technology and entrepreneurship and will give away prizes of upto 25 lakh rupees through them to participants.

IIT Kanpur’s efforts in encouraging entrepreneurship amongst students has been commendable. There will be workshops on cloud computing, animation, entrepreneurship, robotics etc. Competitions will include events in robotics, business presentations, aero-modelling, software etc.

IIT Kanpur in its previous editions of Techkriti has been host to talks by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, David Morrison, Director, Lunar Science Institute, NASA, Ashish Gupta MD, Helion Ventures Partners, Sanjeev Bhikachandani founder, Naukri.com, amongst others.

Accommodations for the event are available on the campus upon registration for the event.

Date: January 27-30, 2012 Venue: IIT Kanpur Contact: Prashant Bafna +91 90058 50150 Website: http://www.techkriti.org/

2012  Intelligent Entrepreneur 11 To read more, grab the JaunuaryJanuary 2012 issue of Entrepreneu To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in

in focus

Second Innings Former cricketer Dilip Doshi’s latest entrepreneurial venture takes the organic route.

By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri

W

hen a company called Entrack Organic Haus Pvt. Ltd., based out of Rajkot in Gujarat, recently launched their first purely organic store in Ahmedabad, not too many eyebrows were raised. Organic Haus, a state-of-the-art organic store designed and conceptualized entirely by German experts, will market organic food and other entirely organic household products imported from Germany.

SPIN WIN It is only the few who knew the story of the man behind this entrepreneurial venture, who were excited. And for good reasons too. For the Chairman and Managing Director of Entrack, a company established in the U.K. two decades back and present in India since 1994, is a graying 60-year-old who answers to the name Dilip R. Doshi. In his youth, he was a lanky, bespectacled left arm spinner who made his Test debut well after his 30th birthday, one of the two cricketers in the world to have emerged so late and still take over 100 Test wickets (the other being the legendary Australian spinner Clarrie Grimmett). His Test debut was delayed by several years because the famous spin quartet of Bedi, Chandrashekhar, Venkatraghavan and Prasanna.

Once he gave up the game, though, Dilip Doshi made sure no one could delay his other plans in life. And so started his career as an entrepreneur, a very successful one, we might add.

NEW BALL GAMES The ex-cricketer wears many hats today. A selfconfessed “huge” Rolling Stones fan, he has attended over 180 live shows of the rockers and is fast friends with Mick Jagger. But this mild-mannered, pure vegetarian Gujarati gentleman who loves his music to be “hard and raunchy,” (“I hate slow numbers,” he recently told a fellow journalist) runs a tight ship as an entrepreneur. Organic Haus, which has just opened its Ahmedabad store, will soon venture into other markets, notably Mumbai and is also planning a shop-inshop presence across India. It was in 1984 that this Rajkot-born, adopted son of Kolkata (where

26 Intelligent Entrepreneur  January 2012

he lived and spent most of his playing days) founded Entrack in the U.K. where he had settled after retiring from the game. Then, in the mid 1990s (1994-’95), he set up operations in India.

Few may know of this, but Entrack handles and represents more than 20 international brands in India. Some of the brands Entrack represents in India and abroad include Mont Blanc, Burberrys, Chirico watches and Canali. “I am a simple man and love the best things in life,” he laughs.

THE ORGANIC ROUTE So, what’s so great about his new venture and how different is this for an entrepreneur till now dealing purely with fashion and lifestyle brands? “This is lifestyle too, isn’t it,” he retorts.

“Organic food is all about a healthy lifestyle. Also good living and good healthy food are my twin passions,” he reasons.

The world, he says, is going towards healthy food and people are now watching what they eat. It is the best time, says Doshi, to get into the organic food business, since the market potential is huge. So, Doshi and his team, including his daughter Visakha, spent the last two and a half years researching about organic food and lifestyle products, spending weeks in Germany (“where the organic food market is valued at Rs.27,000 crore, more than the organic food market of all other countries combined,” says Doshi) to finalize their plans for this new venture.

“I was really impressed by the way they produce organic food, the way the workers work, the manner in which the organic farmers are looked after and encouraged in Germany. No wonder their products are the best,” he says.

He then struck a series of agreements with several German organic food and lifestyle product manufactures such as Rapunzel (which makes organic chocolates, organic cereals, organic cooking oil that does not lose its good qualities even after cooking).

The products he has are also hugely varied.

From organic tea, cereals, oil, chocolates, jam and other products, Organic Haus stores every kind of food you can imagine and the store is designed

HEALTHY MOVES: Dilip Doshi and (below) products available at Organic Haus

in w ay so that one can find things for breakfast, lunch and dinner in separate areas, one after the other. It also has various lifestyle products such as organic soaps and toiletries, organic weight-reducing packages and recipes and even has a live organic salad and pasta counter.

Doshi’s foray into the organic food market is fuelled mainly by the realization that it presents a fantastic business opportunity at a time when the whole world, including India, is waking up to the goodness of organic food and including organic products not just in their daily food intake but also in the other products they use, from soap and shampoo to slimming products and beauty treatments. “It is an irony of sorts that we gave the world organic food and now we are waking up to it again because the developed world has announced its good values. We lost an opportunity to be market leaders which we should have been for a thousand years,” says Doshi.

He is pragmatic yet passionate about his business. “You get into business in areas you are passionate about. That is why I went into the lifestyle business. Similarly, organic food is something I have always sworn by. In my house in London or in Rajkot you will always find organic food as far as possible. I am a pure vegetarian and I have always been very particular about my food,” he says.

2012  Intelligent Entrepreneur 27 To read more, grab the JaunuaryJanuary 2012 issue of Entrepreneu To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in

success inc

FAMILY TIES Faber Castell has proved how a good succession plan can work wonders for your brand.

By Shruti Chakraborty

F

amily-run businesses in India account for about 67 percent of all listed companies in India and account for market capitalization of more than Rs.250 crore, according to a report by Credit Suisse.

Even though family businesses are a centuries-old concept in our land, a company running through into its eighth generation is a rare find.

Stationery-maker Faber Castell recently celebrated 250 years of its foundation and has seen through eight generations in that span of time. We caught up with 70-year-old Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber Castell, Chairman, Faber Castell, during his recent visit to India, and asked what it has taken his family to make it this far. Count Anton, sitting in his suite at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai, says that the most significant growth came to his company in the fourth generation. The company was started in 1761 by Kaspar Faber, seven generations before him. Fourth generation head of the company, Baron Lothar von Faber, registered the brand name and undertook a thorough modernization of the family business.

Of course, the company has not been untouched by issues characteristic of other family businesses. While Baron Lothar took over the business from his father, his brothers wanted to begin separate pencil businesses. Eventually, however, Baron Lothar was able to bring them into the family business and designate specific segments of the business to each. While one of his brothers was sent off to set up the subsidiary of the company in the U.S., his other brother took care of manufacturing activities of the company.

Count Anton says that the most important thing has been the fortunate presence of capable people in each generation. “You need to have a structure, you need to ensure that one person in the family can make the

decisions or influence decision making significantly. If you cannot ensure that and if the members of the family keep fighting on decision-making issues, then you can’t make it this far,” he claims.

“Good managers and a portion of luck,” he says, is what’s needed to make a family business work. You cannot expect members of the family to hold all key managerial positions. “You have to compromise with that. If you do depend on family members to hold all key management positions, eventually you will have to compromise on quality somewhere. Family members should only be taken into the business on the grounds of capability,” says Count Anton.

Coming up with an effective succession plan is a concern for every familyrun business. Count Anton says the aim of such plans should be to keep them as professional as possible.

Having worked as an intern at Faber Castell, and as an investment banker, Count Anton had to prove his capabilities before taking over from his father. His son, he says, works for a well-known management consulting firm. “You should never force your children into the company,” he advises. In the situation that there is no one in the family who wants to actively participate in the running of the company, a controlling position in the board can be given to a member and professional managers should be allowed to run the business.

While in each generation the head of the company has a different approach in dealing with things, for Faber Castell, he says, the only thing that stays consistent through the generations is the values and focus on quality from the manufacturing point of view.

He closes our conversation with a one-line advisory for all family-run businesses: “Run your family business like it’s not a family business.”

"YOU NEED TO ENSURE THAT ONE PERSON IN THE FAMILY CAN MAKE THE DECISIONS OR INFLUENCE DECISIONMAKING SIGNIFICANTLY."

30 Intelligent Entrepreneur  January 2012

PhotosŠ Neha Mithbawkar

2012 ď‚„ Intelligent Entrepreneur 31 To read more, grab the JaunuaryJanuary 2012 issue of Entrepreneu To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in

success inc

THE

ETERNAL

OPTIMIST Ashok Soota, former Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of MindTree, stakes claim to this description by starting his second company, Happiest Minds, at 69. Talking to Shonali Advani, Soota shares the plethora of events that have shaped his story so far.

T

here are two sets of people in this world. Those that make the best of the opportunities that come their way, and those that spend all their mental energies on the what-if’s. That is, the optimists and the pessimists. So, when most 69-year-olds are enjoying their post-retirement days, there are some that break the mould and find something interesting and innovative to do with their lives. Ashok Soota is such a person. In August 2011, he announced his second venture, Happiest Minds, an IT services firm in Bengaluru. Not ready to call it quits, he’s decided to run a company with happy employees because they bring in and keep customers happy. To call him an optimist would be apt.

YESTERYEARS

Soota belongs to a family of six siblings. His father was in the army, which gave him the privilege of growing up across the country. By age 12, he had gone to 12 schools. “I built a huge network at a young age and got a pulse of India as a whole,” recalls Soota, Executive Chairman, Happiest Minds. The foundation years helped him adapt to rapid change, and growing up surrounded by siblings gave him multiple mentors.

Soota joined the University of Roorkee, the then premier institute in its field, to purse a degree in electronic engineering. He enjoyed a well-rounded life 32 Intelligent Entrepreneur  January 2012

as a student, taking part in sports, external events, debating and theater.

FIRST JOB AND AN MBA

After a brief stint at a company which he chooses to write off his career graph as blip, Soota joined DCM (Shriram Group of Industries) in 1965 for senior management training. In 1966 he was transferred to Usha Fans in Kolkata, a city which turned out to be a constant in his life, in the form of multiple postings in the years to come. He spent a large part of his career at the company, the then fifth-largest and premier firm in India, until 1984. “It had a great training scheme, and exposed me to multiple cultural experiences,” the soft-spoken Soota reminisces.

And life is also about luck, he believes. Whilst in the third year of his career, the company’s subsidiary in Sri Lanka had a position for an engineer, but one who could do more in the form of sales, procurement, marketing and labor functions. “When they looked at the profile of various people nobody fitted in like I did and there I landed in Sri Lanka, as the number three person in that entire firm,” he says. The role gave him a broad range of functions which Soota said he couldn’t even aspire to get in a larger set up back then.

This was 1968-’70, when the nation was idyllic sans political turmoil. For all practical purposes he was

Photos© Maximage

 Intelligent Entrepreneur 33 To read more, grab the Jaunuary January 20122012 issue of Entrepreneu To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in

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 Intelligent 37 To read more, grab the Jaunuary January 20122012 issue ofEntrepreneur Entrepreneu To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in

in conversation

INDIA WILL EXPERIENCE 7-10% GROWTH IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS ENTREPRENEUR (E): Can you tell us briefly about Intel Capital’s interest in venture capital?

ARVIND SODHANI (AS):

We’ve been investing since the mid-80s. Intel Capital investments have always been driven by a desire to pursue technology adoption and applications forward; to build the ecosystem surrounding the PC and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in technology. We announced our Rs.1,250 crore tech fund in India in December 2005 and are currently investing from that. India has a lot of entrepreneurship. It is a powerhouse of software development and hence it was appropriate to have a fund dedicated to India.

E: How is VC funding different in the U.S. versus India? What does an entrepreneur need to secure funding?

AS: The VC industry is not that substantially different from other parts of the world, other than cultural norms which are different. Environment for success and growth, or efforts made by the government to encourage entrepreneurship, are different. In China, the government goes out of its way to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in technology, by providing incubation centers, buildings and facilities.

E: Which sector will be the big game changer this decade? Where do you place your bets: mobility or consumer internet?

AS: In India, you are benefiting from a very high growth rate. India is going to experience 7-10 percent growth in the next seven-10 years and that provides a different growth opportunity for startup companies. Not like the U.S., where growth rates are not more than a couple of percentage. Criteria for investing in the U.S. will be 80 Intelligent Entrepreneur  January 2012

different from what a startup company will do in India and China. We are investing in applications, devices, software and services and data centers.

You cannot pick one and put all resources there, as they all move together. Without a wireless device or communication infrastructure, investing in data centers is meaningless as devices have to be connected.

These all go together in the form of an ecosystem and have to be invested in and pushed forward at about the same speed. As far as mobility and consumer internet go, we are investing heavily in both and the potential for each is great.

Arvind Sodhani, President, Intel Capital, talks about venture capital, entrepreneurship and technology in an interview with Shonali Advani.

E: What are the emerging opportunities for entrepreneurs in the tech space?

AS: In India, technology adaptation is at the low end of the scale. There are opportunities in data centers, communication and infrastructure. Education is big, because in India ultimately there are not going to be enough schools to house the growing youth population and it will all have to be done online.

E: You made your first investment in the healthcare sector this year in India. A late entry into this space?

AS: We have invested in this space in other parts of the world. Our focus is on connected devices and computing all over the world. Healthcare is going to be one of those applications that is part of the overall connected world.

E: You don’t have any investments in pharmaceutical, bio-technology or retail?

AS: Our latest investment Fashionandyou is, to some extent, in the retail space. We are unable to comment on or describe what our next investment will be. We announce it as it happens.

“IN INDIA, TECHNOLOGY ADAPTATION IS AT THE LOW END OF THE SCALE. THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES IN DATA CENTERS, COMMUNICATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE.” E: How has entrepreneurship changed in India?

AS: A lot of role models are now in India. Infosys was a role model in the technology space.

The seven founders did extremely well and it is now a global enterprise and listed. That’s a fabulous example that other companies are looking to follow. India is a very entrepreneurial country, with people who are just as entrepreneurial, if not more, than in other parts of the world.

E: What do Indian businesses and/entrepreneurs lack?

AS: I don’t find them lacking in any respect.

If anything, a startup entrepreneur faces more hurdles in India than any part of the world.

E: What is your investment strategy?

AS: We do a very vigorous due diligence. We are looking for financial viability of the company as well as strategic relevance to our ultimate goal. As any VC would, we look at the founders, capability, their understanding of the market, skills and background at being able to manage a startup. We look for a management team, founders who are capable and have the entrepreneurial drive to get things done. So, basically, the right set of skills. Plus an idea, which has a total available market, that is worth pursuing. If the market size is Rs.100 crore, then it is not worth it.

Then we look at competition; if it’s already been tried out, it’s not very interesting.

E: In which regions do you see maximum entrepreneurial activity?

AS: We are investing aggressively in emerging countries. We have just started investing in Vietnam, South Africa and Turkey as well.

E: What advice do you give startups when acquiring customers?

AS: For startup companies, acquiring companies is the hardest thing to do. One of the things we do is help them with that. Offer a product tailored to meet the needs of functionality which is cost-saving. Large corporations are not looking for just a product but also good sales service.

[The author was on a sponsored trip to Intel Capital Global Summit 2011 in California]

Janaury 2012  Intelligent Entrepreneur 81 To read more, grab the Jaunuary 2012 issue of Entrepreneu To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in

opportunities

RESORT TO NEW TACTICS New fashion moves offer entrepreneurs a number of opportunities to dig their heels in.

By Sriya Ray Chaudhuri

82 Intelligent Entrepreneur ď‚„ January 2012

M

ove over six-inch stilettos, bandage dresses and structured clothes which only suit figures flaunting sizes zero-eight. Now, it’s all about unstructured, flowing garments which hide all the little love handles your New Year’s binges may have added to your figure. The fabrics are cotton, lycra and georgette and the target: You. Tapping into the desires of such young and young-at-heart people, who want to buy designer clothes and have the ready moolah to spend on such stuff, Indian designers are gearing up to address the resort wear market to the hilt.

Till now, the focus of most Indian designers has been on the ethnic and bridal wear market.

Resort wear has lagged behind as the country lacks enough clientele who are comfortable wearing designer bikinis on public beaches; in fact, the attitude of people towards the swimwear component of resort wear has made the latter still lag behind in a nascent stage in India.

But all that is changing. This was amply proved at last month’s first-ever India Resort Fashion Week (IRFW). India’s bigwig fashion designers, a handful of buyers and fashionistas landed up at the Grand Hyatt Goa for the four-day extravaganza which focused on the prime opportunities the resort wear market is now throwing up.

So, if you are a fashion entrepreneur waiting for a big break in this glamorous world, here’s how to break into the mould.

WHO WILL BUY IT? Why resort wear, you would ask? Narendra Kumar Ahmed, one of India’s noted fashion designers explains with his customary ease (he was once the fashion editor of a noted fashion magazine, after all), “Resort wear is what India needs now. The smart casual outfits are what we Indians wear most of the time anyway, at parties or on our travels. And usually comprising of flowing, unstructured silhouettes, these clothes also hide any body-shape flaws you might have.

So, yes, the future of resort wear is especially bright for a country like India.”

WHERE SHOULD YOU LOOK TO SELL? TRADE SHOWS

Trade shows are your best bets because it is at these that the maximum number of serious buyers is to be found. “I attend at least three to four trade shows every year, all over the world. The

good thing here is that you get a number of buyers clustered together and they have all come with the intention to buy. If you can satisfy them with your collection, they will buy,” says fashion designer Anupamaa Dayal.

Also, resort wear being something everyone can wear the world over, you can attend whichever trade show suits your budget. “Clothes in the resort wear line can be worn on the beaches of Thailand, Malaysia, in the glamorous South of France, Monaco, in Spain and Morocco as well as for a night out in Dubai, Las Vegas or Sydney.

It is this very universal appeal that has made the market for resort wear so big all over the world,” explains Manish Malhotra, the ace designer whose show was the Grand Finale of the IRFW, held at Goa’s Marbela Beach Resort.

SHOWSTOPPERS: Narendra Kumar Ahmed and (right) Pria Kataria Puri

FASHION WEEKS

These are also events which buzz with a number of serious buyers. In India, a lot of hype is generated around the fashion weeks held in Mumbai and New Delhi, as well as the smaller ones held at Kolkata, Chennai etc.

In fact, there are some designers who complain that there are far too many fashion weeks being held today and overkill is spoiling the impact India has on the global market.

However, the main fashion weeks still draw a lot of interest. These fashion weeks also encourage new and talented designers in segments like GenNext and Emerging Designers categories, which are watched with equal interest by both buyers and India’s top designers. Check out the relevant websites for more information.

Janaury 2012  Intelligent Entrepreneur 83 To read more, grab the Jaunuary 2012 issue of Entrepreneu To Subscribe, visit www.entrepreneurindia.in

back stage TRENDS WE’RE SICK OF

Whether you opened your dream business or spent 2011 crying in your cubicle, there’s one thing we all agree on: Some stuff got really old, really fast.

By Michelle Juergen

GOURMET CUPCAKES

PAMPERED PETS

We overindulged. Enough with the fancy. Let’s go back to eating cookie dough out of the bowl.

A spa for your cat? Food trucks for your dog? Swimming lessons for your turtle? They’re animals. They don’t care.

THE CLOUD What is it, exactly? Is it off-site IT? Is it the celestial jukebox? Is it cirrus? Is it cumulus? Is it a fluffy sheep? The cloud concept is as nebulous as … well, a cloud.

RECESSION EXCESS In the midst of a downturn, there’s no doubt that saving money is critical. But pancake batter from an aerosol can? Really?

CHECK-INS It’s cool when you get a free burger for checking in on your smartphone, but aren’t you tired of your mom always knowing where you are?

E-CIGARETTES The real ones aren’t good for you, and the fake ones aren’t, either, because they make you look stupid.

DAILY DEALS We all like bargains. We all like our friends. But did we really need to buy that group massage just because it was 50 percent off?

THE HUMBLE BRAG Did you have to send that passive-aggressive, self-important tweet? #getoveryourself

THE TERM “DISRUPTIVE” Entrepreneurs need to stop claiming disruption and start proving it. Innovation should be seen, not just heard about.

ASHTON KUTCHER AS TECH GURU We get it. You have money, clout and charm. Stick to acting and leave technology to the true innovators. ©Entrepreneur December 2011 by Entrepreneur Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

134 Intelligent Entrepreneur  January 2012

Illustration© Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur