Just a few days back, I saw this kiddo in a school unifrom using a cell phone and immediately my thoughts rushed back to my own school days. I know I am getting old, but school wasn't that far off (did my SSC in 1997). Would I have been different today if I had access to cell phone when in school? What about the internet? My nephew googles stuff for his class projects in school, I used to go to the library and look at encyclopedias, old newspapers and magazine editions. I remember when I got my first email id made at hotmail in 1999 - 2000 and the old dial-up VSNL connection, that kept disconecting. I remember the times when withdrawing cash meant going to the bank, filling a self check, taking a token and waiting for your number to be called out. I remember the days when you would manually fill out the slip-books and the counterfoils on the checkbook to keep record of your transactions & waited for the bank to give you a statement a the end of the year? Today, I visit an ATM, use phone / internet banking to know the status of my account at any given point in time. I rarely need to visit the branch.
If I need to calculate 354 * 23, the first thing that comes to my mind is start -> Run -> calc, not a pen & paper. I blog online not in a diary which people used to gift each December, I check dates in the calender on my cell phone... gone are the days when we used to hang photographed calendars on the back of the door. My accountant uses Tally, not the paper journals and ledgers. At work, if I want some financial / operational data segregated by say department and a particular time, I just open my reporting cube, specify the parameters and pull up data. I wonder how it would have been when there wasn't such software?
We do so much at the click of a mouse, we have more information at our finger tips than we would have ever thought of, and yet, does it really improve our efficiency? Do we really use the information effectively or are we becoming slaves of the information. Have we lost the instinct to act on incomplete information? We hide behind excuses of analysis and trends and statistics??? I don't know, maybe we do, maybe we don't. Yes, information and computing power has taken us to new frontiers, be it synthesis of new drugs and chemicals, be it charting co-ordinates of a lunar satellite, be it inter-bank, global financial transactions, but at a personal level what has really changed? I don't spend time waiting at the bank branch, I don't waste time searching for something in a encyclopedia in the library, I save so much time but still I always find myself short of time. Increased efficiency, leading to spare time at hand can mean two things, you have more time for yourself and your hobbies or if you don't need time for yourself then it should lead to an increase in the collective wealth of the world. Maybe I am blind sighted by situations around me but I seem to see neither of the two.
Is the Always-On syndrome really doing us good or depriving us of our ability to think? Is being wired a convenience or an addiction like all others that just gives us a false sense of doing better than what our previous generation could have ever done? They created physical assets, real assets, we created electronic money and leverage that lead to asset bubbles. Honestly, what do I care whether life exists beyond our planet, when the life that exists here can't benefit from all the technology. I guess we are the generation that has seen both the worlds in its truest sense, caught in the transition maybe... but it is something I do need to reflect on. Is the new age of electronics really helping me grow mentally or just putting me in a cocoon of information that steals all my ability to think in abstracts, think based on common-sense and logic and not just use information as crutches to support false and feeble logic.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Book Opinion: Barbarians at the Gate
Seeing, the 
meltdown in the financial markets, with all the I-Bank bashing going around, this book would easily take the cake, though not written now, the contents give you glimpses of why banks take so much risk, why shareholder capital can get wiped out and what havoc financial jugglary can play. Not at funny as Liar's Poker, but the plot is so interesting that your first thought would be "this can't be true life... this has to be from some movie". Those of you who want to get a feel of what really motivates people, why people will go ahead and do things that you wouldn't have normally done and so on then read this book. Its every bit a thriller and requires you to have no knowledge of finance, though having a little idea about share prices, junk bonds etc would make it more interesting read.
meltdown in the financial markets, with all the I-Bank bashing going around, this book would easily take the cake, though not written now, the contents give you glimpses of why banks take so much risk, why shareholder capital can get wiped out and what havoc financial jugglary can play. Not at funny as Liar's Poker, but the plot is so interesting that your first thought would be "this can't be true life... this has to be from some movie". Those of you who want to get a feel of what really motivates people, why people will go ahead and do things that you wouldn't have normally done and so on then read this book. Its every bit a thriller and requires you to have no knowledge of finance, though having a little idea about share prices, junk bonds etc would make it more interesting read.Book Opinion: Atlas Shrugged
Who is John Galt? If you thought Fountain Head was awesome, then Atlas Shrugged will simply blow your mind out ! The entire book is so eloquently written, developing each and every character so well. I am officially a fan of Ayn Rand now. I simply can't fathom how can someone come up with such simple yet irrefutable logic that it convinces you that there can be no other truth. Anything I say would fade in comparision to the actual book. You simply HAVE to read it.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
How the world cheats you - III
When one of the DSA (direct selling agents) called me for a credit card a few years back, I bought the card since I was told it was free for life. I used it without any charges for a couple of years, then suddenly last year, I was charged Rs 2000 as fees. I call up the customer care to contest the charges only to be told that, the card was not free for lifetime and that since I had already used the card this time, they wouldn't reverse the charge. Isn't there some sort of legal requirement that the bank is supposed to inform me in writing about such changes?? Any ways I paid the amount and used the card since it was an emergency. This year when it was up for renewal I called them up and asked them to cancel the card. This time the CC promised to wait for 4 working days since she had put a request to make my card free for life seeing my credit history and that i would get a call-back confirming the same. When I didn't get the call back I called them again only to be told that it is still in process. Worried that they might try something shady again and charge me annual fees again, I told them to send me a letter stating that it was made free. Again after not receiving any letter or call back, I call the CC. I am assured that my card is made free so then I tell them, if you are serious then send me a letter. It is you who want me to use the card, I don't need your card. And I am told in no uncertain terms that no such letter will be sent.
This is ridiculuous, you won't cancel my card, but at the sametime you don't confirm to me in writing that my card has been made free. Pissed, I called them again, put my phone on speaker and recorded the conversation on my cell phone for evidence and made it clear to them that if I was ever charged again I would send this recording to the RBI grevience cell and Consumer court. And they still won't give me a letter. This itself speaks volumes about their intentions and how long "lifetime free" is ... 1 yr?? I guess, assuming they have actually made it free.
This is ridiculuous, you won't cancel my card, but at the sametime you don't confirm to me in writing that my card has been made free. Pissed, I called them again, put my phone on speaker and recorded the conversation on my cell phone for evidence and made it clear to them that if I was ever charged again I would send this recording to the RBI grevience cell and Consumer court. And they still won't give me a letter. This itself speaks volumes about their intentions and how long "lifetime free" is ... 1 yr?? I guess, assuming they have actually made it free.
How the world cheats you - II
Normally when we get an LPG cylinder, the agent is supposed to break open the seal in front of us. Usually we ensure this is done, but after sometime you kind of trust that the cylinder will be fine. When we actually started using the cylinder after a few weeks, we realised that the cylinder is empty. So we take the cylinder to the dealer and told them about it. we had not expected them to change the cylinder anyways since it was after a few weeks but what was surprising was that instead of noting a complaint the dealer blamed us for not chacking the weight of the cylinder either by shaking it or weighing it. As per the dealer, the seal is not a gaurantee (I thought that's what seals were for). Nevertheless we asked for the cylinder to be replaced, with us paying the full cost. But nopes, there were no cylinders available, however we could contact X and he might be able to arrange something. So we call that person and he is like ok, buy this tea packet from me <1kg of some unheard of brand for Rs 100> and i will get you a cylinder. Plus there was ofcourse the bakshish over the full cost of the cylinder for which incidentally he refused to give us a receipt. And guess what, that tea packet was supposed to have been given free with the cylinder. So now i wonder, who was the guy who would have got an empty cylinder since I got a cylinder without having ordered it in the system. Later on I came to know from our driver that, this is normal, he doesn't have a ration card or any such stuff to formally get a cylinder. There is a full parallel distribution channel, where such cylinders are deliverd in cash. Now I wonder, how is this possible without either the dealer doctoring the records or some hapless customer getting an empty cylinder while his cylinder is sent to someone else for a premium.
How the world cheats you - I
I have a cell phone connection from a reputed MNC telecom firm. Until now I had a pre-paid connection since in the last two years I have been in different places. Now that I am back in Mumbai, I decided to switch to a post paid scheme. The mini-store of this firm from where I bought the connection plan told me that it included CLIP charges, detailed bill etc and trusting or call me lazy if you will, I took his word for it and didn't read the details. I have heard of stories of billing numbers being mixed up or being erronous and so I made it a habit of re-setting my counters and sent items in my cell phone at the begenning of each billing period and calculating my approx bill at the end of the period before resetting it for the next period. Last month, I was travelling and so I see a new section in my bill, incoming, outgoing and sms charges while on roaming. It is fine till here, since obviously the charges are different (btw did you know its cheaper to call than sms while on roaming) and so I know I had not sent more than x sms during the days when I was out of town. The bill had Rs 35 odd extra as message charges. Incidentally this month I don't get a detail itemized bill, so I call up the customer care to get a split up of this amount which I felt was wrongful. So here is how the conversation goes
Me : I have a total count of Sms in my sent items and so I know the number of SMS I sent, can you give me the split-up of this charge
CC : sorry sir we can't give you the break-up
Me : Why is that? If you want me to pay, you have to tell me what you are charging me for.
CC : Sorry sir, we don't have that data.
Me : what do you mean, so you are telling me you came up with this charge but you don't have data about what you charged me for and how this number came up. So what did you do, did you just pick a random number and decided to put it to my account? I want to speak to your manager.
CC : Sorry I can't transfer the line to my manager
Me : ok give me your name
CC : I can't give you my name
I disconnected the phone.. this is ridiculuous. Everytime I call the CC, after the call is over I get an SMS that tells me I spoke to so and so and whether I would like to give feedback etc.. and guess what, this time I didn't. Interesting isn't it, what ? do they have like some kind of a flag in the software which the CC guy/gal can set to decide whether to ask for feedback or not? If yes then whats the point of asking for feedback if you only want to listen to the feedback when the customer was satisfied, why the sham?
I decided to call again, knowing that in all probability this time it will be another cust rep. Also I decided to take another approach
Me : Hi, until now I was getting a detialed itemized bill, I didn't get it this time can you check?CC : you have sent a request to de-activate itemized bill
Me: I didn't send any such request, besides why would I do that since I am not paying anything extra for it, its a part of my tarrif plan.
CC : I can tell you how to activate it, sms to
Me: And will I be charged for this?
CC: No, its free.
Me : Ok, so when will I get the detailed bill
CC : by
ME: But that is beyond my bill payment date, so won't I be charge a late fee
CC : Yes, you pay the bill on time
Me: then whats the point of a detailed bill if I can't contest the charge, I am not saying I won't pay, I will pay on the same day I get the detailed bill, don't charge me late fee
CC : We can't do that
Me: Then how can I contest the charge
CC : What charges?
Me :
CC: we can't do anything about it, you will have to get the itemized bill
Me : Ok, I sms to right and I won't be charged right
CC : No, you will be charged Rs 50 for the itemized bill
Me: But why, its free in my tarrif plan
CC : It is free only for the first 3 months
Me: Then why did your mini-store tell me that my plan had it free for life, I want to log a complain against that mini-store, how can they promise things not included in the plan?
CC : Which store was this
Me: (i tell them)
CC: We don't know why you were told that, but it is not free
Me: Ok then I want to log a complain against them.
CC: Sorry I can't log any complaints
....
So this is how it is, I have to pay more than the charge difference to find out why the charge difference. Its simply not logical... and this coming from someone who claims they care and are always ready to help.
I didn't pursue it since I am to refute that charge, the expense I would have to incurr would be more than the saving. So this is as good as saying, if we overbill you by Rs X as long as it is less than the charge we charge you to get the details, don't bother because we will pocket the money. So even if you pad Rs 10 in each bill, if you have 1 lac customers, you have added Rs 10 lac per month or 120 lac annually in revenue. Shouldn't TDSAT / TRAI make itemized bills compulsary??
Me : I have a total count of Sms in my sent items and so I know the number of SMS I sent, can you give me the split-up of this charge
CC : sorry sir we can't give you the break-up
Me : Why is that? If you want me to pay, you have to tell me what you are charging me for.
CC : Sorry sir, we don't have that data.
Me : what do you mean, so you are telling me you came up with this charge but you don't have data about what you charged me for and how this number came up. So what did you do, did you just pick a random number and decided to put it to my account? I want to speak to your manager.
CC : Sorry I can't transfer the line to my manager
Me : ok give me your name
CC : I can't give you my name
I disconnected the phone.. this is ridiculuous. Everytime I call the CC, after the call is over I get an SMS that tells me I spoke to so and so and whether I would like to give feedback etc.. and guess what, this time I didn't. Interesting isn't it, what ? do they have like some kind of a flag in the software which the CC guy/gal can set to decide whether to ask for feedback or not? If yes then whats the point of asking for feedback if you only want to listen to the feedback when the customer was satisfied, why the sham?
I decided to call again, knowing that in all probability this time it will be another cust rep. Also I decided to take another approach
Me : Hi, until now I was getting a detialed itemized bill, I didn't get it this time can you check?CC :
Me: I didn't send any such request, besides why would I do that since I am not paying anything extra for it, its a part of my tarrif plan.
CC : I can tell you how to activate it, sms
Me: And will I be charged for this?
CC: No, its free.
Me : Ok, so when will I get the detailed bill
CC : by
ME: But that is beyond my bill payment date, so won't I be charge a late fee
CC : Yes, you pay the bill on time
Me: then whats the point of a detailed bill if I can't contest the charge, I am not saying I won't pay, I will pay on the same day I get the detailed bill, don't charge me late fee
CC : We can't do that
Me: Then how can I contest the charge
CC : What charges?
Me :
CC: we can't do anything about it, you will have to get the itemized bill
Me : Ok, I sms
CC : No, you will be charged Rs 50 for the itemized bill
Me: But why, its free in my tarrif plan
CC :
Me: Then why did your mini-store tell me that my plan had it free for life, I want to log a complain against that mini-store, how can they promise things not included in the plan?
CC : Which store was this
Me: (i tell them)
CC: We don't know why you were told that, but it is not free
Me: Ok then I want to log a complain against them.
CC: Sorry I can't log any complaints
....
So this is how it is, I have to pay more than the charge difference to find out why the charge difference. Its simply not logical... and this coming from someone who claims they care and are always ready to help.
I didn't pursue it since I am to refute that charge, the expense I would have to incurr would be more than the saving. So this is as good as saying, if we overbill you by Rs X as long as it is less than the charge we charge you to get the details, don't bother because we will pocket the money. So even if you pad Rs 10 in each bill, if you have 1 lac customers, you have added Rs 10 lac per month or 120 lac annually in revenue. Shouldn't TDSAT / TRAI make itemized bills compulsary??
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Keep Climbing
It’s a long way to the summit
To snow-caped peaks and clear blue skies,
Where not a soul in sight, you hear not a single cry.
To the soulful solitude of pristine glaciers,
To the promised wonderland in the deepest recess of your mind.
It’s a long way to the summit
To the pinnacle of glory,
The dizzy heights of success
The zenith, where all else
Beneath your wearied feet lie.
It’s a long way to the summit
The journey takes it toll
Will you let morbidity into your soul?
Which of the seven sins will you commit?
It’s a long way to the summit
The climb is steep, the valley deep.
Do you have what it takes?
To knowingly force others into making mistakes!
To sink their boats, snatch their life-jackets,
So that only you stay afloat?
It’s a long way to the summit
Will you succumb to the peer induced stupor
Of a promised utopia at the top
Or will you snap out of the hallucination
And see the truth!
The utopia at the top is just a dream
The lure of which shackles your will
Only the climbing harness of fear and greed
Urge you on.
Wake up and make a choice!
Will you cut your harness
And go into free-fall,
Trusting the gust of wind
To soften your landing
Or will you keep climbing
To the abyss of hell
© 2008 Sanket J Dantara
To snow-caped peaks and clear blue skies,
Where not a soul in sight, you hear not a single cry.
To the soulful solitude of pristine glaciers,
To the promised wonderland in the deepest recess of your mind.
It’s a long way to the summit
To the pinnacle of glory,
The dizzy heights of success
The zenith, where all else
Beneath your wearied feet lie.
It’s a long way to the summit
The journey takes it toll
Will you let morbidity into your soul?
Which of the seven sins will you commit?
It’s a long way to the summit
The climb is steep, the valley deep.
Do you have what it takes?
To knowingly force others into making mistakes!
To sink their boats, snatch their life-jackets,
So that only you stay afloat?
It’s a long way to the summit
Will you succumb to the peer induced stupor
Of a promised utopia at the top
Or will you snap out of the hallucination
And see the truth!
The utopia at the top is just a dream
The lure of which shackles your will
Only the climbing harness of fear and greed
Urge you on.
Wake up and make a choice!
Will you cut your harness
And go into free-fall,
Trusting the gust of wind
To soften your landing
Or will you keep climbing
To the abyss of hell
© 2008 Sanket J Dantara
Monday, May 12, 2008
Book Review : Buffetology - Mary Buffet and David Clark
In contrast to How buffet does it, this book was a big let down. It has two parts, one about the philosophy and the qualitaitve part and the other advanced buffetology which has some number work done. It is a 319 page book but doesn't give you any thing other than the same thing Pardoe says in 150 pages. The so called quantative part and advanced buffetology is at best something lifted from a basic / entry level finance text book. NPV calculation, calculaing expected values and P/E multiples etc. It was a major let down.
Book Review : How buffet does it. - James Pardoe
This is a very easy to read book, with 24 simple tips. It is a qualitative without any numbers but makes a good read. It explaines the buffet philosophy in a very staraight forward manner. For example, how you are not buying stock but a share in the business and thus you must focus on the economics of the business. The concept that the price at which you buy determines your returns and so on. All in all a good read
How do you deal with imitation products?
I was recently at the local general store to pick up some stuff and I saw right behind the main counter a series of chocolate packs that look exactly like ferrero rocher except that it wasn’t ferrero rocher. There were atleast six different brands which looked exactly like ferrero rocher right from the golden covering with dark brown paper to the round shape and transparent box including the design on the cover box. Of the six brands I saw one was named chichero gocher. This got me thinking, how do you deal with such imitator products if you were ferrero rocher.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Hitched ?
I recently received a mail from a friend with the subject line "wedding inviation". It had a nice body which said how this was the most important day of her life and how it would be so nice for us to share it with her and stuff like that. The actual invitation was as an attachment (as is the new trend now a days, scan the invite and email it) The first attachment was the cover page, with a nice ganeshji, very exquisite. The second one was the inner page of the invite written in the typical wedding format, nice font and all, until you actually read the content. It went like "It is 20 days for the 1st of april, let me be the first one to wish you april fool"
Well, I was just discussing marriage with this friend the previous evening so she couldn't have picked a worse target. Well but the evil in me got really excited with this email. I like to see how people, friends in particular react to things like these. So I went ahead and sent it to my friends and the replies were fun. Interestingly except for a couple of guy friends, most replies I got were from my female friends.. . I got replies ranging from
"Wow, that is great news, wish you happy married life" - read the invite at least :)
to
"Sorry can't make it, I am getting married on the same day ;) "
and
"Gosh, you are at it again aren't you, abh jab sach me shaadi ka invite bhejega tab I won't believe you" - so much for crying wolf, Can't blame her actually, had played a similar prank on her sometime before ;)
and some others were
"Idiot, I actually downloaded the attachment and opened it. If it would have been real I would have kicked you for not telling me when we spoke online"
"For once I really think you were getting hitched"
"Ya sure, apne biwi baccho se saath aaunga" - this coming from an unmarried freind
"Even before opening the mail I knew ki teri koi nautanki hai" - kyu ? meri shaadi nahi ho sakti kya :(
"You never told me you were getting married"
"So is this a joke or are you really getting married, I'm confused"
and so on...
It was totally worth the effort ;)
Thanks to all my friends so taking it so sportingly and apologies if you found it in bad taste :)
Well, I was just discussing marriage with this friend the previous evening so she couldn't have picked a worse target. Well but the evil in me got really excited with this email. I like to see how people, friends in particular react to things like these. So I went ahead and sent it to my friends and the replies were fun. Interestingly except for a couple of guy friends, most replies I got were from my female friends.. . I got replies ranging from
"Wow, that is great news, wish you happy married life" - read the invite at least :)
to
"Sorry can't make it, I am getting married on the same day ;) "
and
"Gosh, you are at it again aren't you, abh jab sach me shaadi ka invite bhejega tab I won't believe you" - so much for crying wolf, Can't blame her actually, had played a similar prank on her sometime before ;)
and some others were
"Idiot, I actually downloaded the attachment and opened it. If it would have been real I would have kicked you for not telling me when we spoke online"
"For once I really think you were getting hitched"
"Ya sure, apne biwi baccho se saath aaunga" - this coming from an unmarried freind
"Even before opening the mail I knew ki teri koi nautanki hai" - kyu ? meri shaadi nahi ho sakti kya :(
"You never told me you were getting married"
"So is this a joke or are you really getting married, I'm confused"
and so on...
It was totally worth the effort ;)
Thanks to all my friends so taking it so sportingly and apologies if you found it in bad taste :)
Monday, March 17, 2008
Reflections on the past two years at IIMA
Sometime back, a freind had asked me how we (IIMA people) solve a case. What is it that we do differently when we solve a case and when I thought about it, my honest answer was nothing different. We still do the same things, we look at the data, we analyse it, and give our recommendations.
So what is different about an MBA from IIMA?
Now that I have spent 2 years here and am on the verge of graduation, I was stumped by this question and spent some time reflecting on the two years here and how it has changed me. Well in my opinion, the biggest value add that I received from the two years here was more personal than academic. (yes all the assignments and cases and discussions did help me think in a more structured manner)
The rigorous first year is the key I'ed say. When I came here, I had no idea that I was capable of working so hard. Sleep at 2 am and be ready for class at 9am day after day. Nightouts, read 100-200 pages daily. Be prepared with the basics and the class starts assuming you know the basics. Plus couple this with being part of campus activities. When I look back, though the second year has made me a bit lazy, but if it really came to it, I can do it again and it won't scare me.
The two years here have really seen me stretch myself to the limits, and I am much more confident of my abilities than I was before I came here. Learning to manage your time well, so that you can also make time for some other things you like and not get caught up finishing your academic work, increased stress resistance and even higher failure tolerance. Outside of IIMA each one of us was probably amongst the top in our respective colleges, once you come here, you realise that there are others far better than you. First there is denial, then you taste failure, then you decide that its time to work harder and you improve on your past performance. It its things like these that have been the most value add to me, not the thousands of cases we did, yes they did matter, they did help in broadening our outlook, but in my opinion I value the personal growth more.
So what is different about an MBA from IIMA?
Now that I have spent 2 years here and am on the verge of graduation, I was stumped by this question and spent some time reflecting on the two years here and how it has changed me. Well in my opinion, the biggest value add that I received from the two years here was more personal than academic. (yes all the assignments and cases and discussions did help me think in a more structured manner)
The rigorous first year is the key I'ed say. When I came here, I had no idea that I was capable of working so hard. Sleep at 2 am and be ready for class at 9am day after day. Nightouts, read 100-200 pages daily. Be prepared with the basics and the class starts assuming you know the basics. Plus couple this with being part of campus activities. When I look back, though the second year has made me a bit lazy, but if it really came to it, I can do it again and it won't scare me.
The two years here have really seen me stretch myself to the limits, and I am much more confident of my abilities than I was before I came here. Learning to manage your time well, so that you can also make time for some other things you like and not get caught up finishing your academic work, increased stress resistance and even higher failure tolerance. Outside of IIMA each one of us was probably amongst the top in our respective colleges, once you come here, you realise that there are others far better than you. First there is denial, then you taste failure, then you decide that its time to work harder and you improve on your past performance. It its things like these that have been the most value add to me, not the thousands of cases we did, yes they did matter, they did help in broadening our outlook, but in my opinion I value the personal growth more.
Money Money everywhere
Ever since I took the LEM course with professor Handa, I am always on a look out for some business / venture which might interest me. The more I observe the more convinced I am there there is money to be made everywhere. You don't necessarily need a splendid idea that no one had thought of before. Find what people want and give it to them and they will pay. Let me give you a few examples
1. The chai and maska bun seller at gujarat university road.
One evening while on a stroll we went to this fellow. He sells just 2 things. Tea and maska bun. ( Ok he sells coffee as well, but thats besides the point) Now lets do a simple estimation based on what we observed in the 15 mins we were there. The charges are Rs 10 for a maska bun. A plain bun costs Rs 2.50, even assuming he justs puts 10 buns from a 100gm butter pack which costs Rs 15, butter costs Rs 1.50 thus total raw material cost = Rs 4. So assuming he is an entrepreneur and so he doesn't charge himself for his labour. Thus he gets a contribution of Rs 6 for each maska bun he sells. In the 15 mins we were there he sold atleast 25-30 buns ( yeah he is famous ) So lets assume he sells say a meger of 150 buns in a day ( though I think he sells much more, lets be conservative) So he makes Rs 900 a day. He has two helpers. Now labour who does work for civil and construction is paid between Rs 40-Rs 60 a day. Lets assume he pays these helpers Rs 100 a day. Even then he makes Rs 700 a day and in a month he makes
Rs 21,000 and all of it tax-free !!! Surprised ???
Where are all the software engineers ?? We think we make money :P
2. Visa-counselling service
When we were to go to Germany on student exchange, we were going to stay for 4 months and hence we couldn't go on a schangen visa, we had to apply for a long term student visa / residence permit. Now we had guidance from our seniors who told us to apply for a 90 day student visa and then convert it to a residence permit after reaching Germany. Thats what we did. Now some other friends of ours from another management institute decided it was probably better to go to a visa agency. The agency asked them their duration of stay and based on that asked them to directly apply for a residence permit. Nothing wrong so far, however the problem is that the consulate asked them to show as financial proof, a DD drawn on a German bank to the effect of EUR 7000 ( our total 3 month expense was less than EUR 3000) and so none of them ended up going on exchange. EUR 7000 is a lot of money to show even if you will not use all of it. All this when they paid the visa agency probably a 1000 bucks.
This got me thinking. This is actually a good business. All you need to do is, go to the websites of all the consulates and download forms, requirements for the different visa types etc. Now-a-days almost all consulate websites are self sufficient. Once you have this dossier ready, you are in business. Any time someone comes, find the safest option, photocopy the relevant info from the dossier, hand it to them and take you fees. NO visa agency will give guarantee and no one will expect them to either.
There are so many other seemingly "unglamorous" businesses which nevertheless make money !!
1. The chai and maska bun seller at gujarat university road.
One evening while on a stroll we went to this fellow. He sells just 2 things. Tea and maska bun. ( Ok he sells coffee as well, but thats besides the point) Now lets do a simple estimation based on what we observed in the 15 mins we were there. The charges are Rs 10 for a maska bun. A plain bun costs Rs 2.50, even assuming he justs puts 10 buns from a 100gm butter pack which costs Rs 15, butter costs Rs 1.50 thus total raw material cost = Rs 4. So assuming he is an entrepreneur and so he doesn't charge himself for his labour. Thus he gets a contribution of Rs 6 for each maska bun he sells. In the 15 mins we were there he sold atleast 25-30 buns ( yeah he is famous ) So lets assume he sells say a meger of 150 buns in a day ( though I think he sells much more, lets be conservative) So he makes Rs 900 a day. He has two helpers. Now labour who does work for civil and construction is paid between Rs 40-Rs 60 a day. Lets assume he pays these helpers Rs 100 a day. Even then he makes Rs 700 a day and in a month he makes
Rs 21,000 and all of it tax-free !!! Surprised ???
Where are all the software engineers ?? We think we make money :P
2. Visa-counselling service
When we were to go to Germany on student exchange, we were going to stay for 4 months and hence we couldn't go on a schangen visa, we had to apply for a long term student visa / residence permit. Now we had guidance from our seniors who told us to apply for a 90 day student visa and then convert it to a residence permit after reaching Germany. Thats what we did. Now some other friends of ours from another management institute decided it was probably better to go to a visa agency. The agency asked them their duration of stay and based on that asked them to directly apply for a residence permit. Nothing wrong so far, however the problem is that the consulate asked them to show as financial proof, a DD drawn on a German bank to the effect of EUR 7000 ( our total 3 month expense was less than EUR 3000) and so none of them ended up going on exchange. EUR 7000 is a lot of money to show even if you will not use all of it. All this when they paid the visa agency probably a 1000 bucks.
This got me thinking. This is actually a good business. All you need to do is, go to the websites of all the consulates and download forms, requirements for the different visa types etc. Now-a-days almost all consulate websites are self sufficient. Once you have this dossier ready, you are in business. Any time someone comes, find the safest option, photocopy the relevant info from the dossier, hand it to them and take you fees. NO visa agency will give guarantee and no one will expect them to either.
There are so many other seemingly "unglamorous" businesses which nevertheless make money !!
Food business
Speaking of eating joints, when we were at this place, I actually felt that this was a good business. Any ways margins are way high in the restaurant business, add some novelty like a Rajwadu style village setting or a maachan and people will pay the premium.
My friend pointed out that it wasn't a very easy business to do however. His reasoning was, that you need to be present all the time else you wouldn't know where your ingredients disappeared. Cooking isn't exactly an activity where you measure with a weighing scale how much atta you used in a paratha (though I know of pizza places which do that, weight the dough, weigh the cheese etc, atleast Dominos does). How do you track a few Kgs of atta going here and there, vegetables disappearing. Unless you source the food items yourself, you might get hit on the prices (assuming you have people who are not exactly honest working for you) Or how do you track spoilage ?
Today I was sitting at this food joint waiting for my order, when I overheard the conversation that the manager of the joint was having with his employee. The place had apparently made a loss of some 35-40k and he was trying to check the accounts. Finally it came down to staff eating food for free. The employee showed the register where the staff makes entry when they eat. The manager scans it and says, "this itself will account for more than half of your loss" (actually said in Hindi, but will post translated versions here)
Then he starts looking at individual items and names of the staff and suddenly exclaims "where is my name in this, even I had eaten, why is my name not here"
The employee showed him his name saying "Ya it is there, see here" to which the manager replies "Double omlett against my name, I don't even eat eggs, get me a pen let me scratch this out, I am a pundit, eggs against my name doesn't look good" simultaneously scratching out his name. Then he goes on to scan the rest of the ledger
"Omlett so many times ? I don't remember having eaten here so many times, what is the date here, 24th and 29th, that time I had still not started eating eggs, I am a pundit" scratch- scratch
And he goes on... Finally exasperated he says "Listen, I am your manager, you don't put my name here, I will make life tough for you" while laughing.
Saying this he says, "see this is the reason for the loss, from tomorrow onwards staff won't eat at this outlet, if they eat they will have to pay. I will talk to the boss and get this system in place" and then tossing aside the register, he asks the guy whats there in the kitchen, "get me dinner, I have to eat here else who will do your accounts for you. Understand else I will stop coming here and you can show your accounts to the big boss himself. Now is there paratha? rice? get me some dal along with it" And off he ate happily.
Its true, with motivated employees like these, it is definitely a difficult business to do :)
My friend pointed out that it wasn't a very easy business to do however. His reasoning was, that you need to be present all the time else you wouldn't know where your ingredients disappeared. Cooking isn't exactly an activity where you measure with a weighing scale how much atta you used in a paratha (though I know of pizza places which do that, weight the dough, weigh the cheese etc, atleast Dominos does). How do you track a few Kgs of atta going here and there, vegetables disappearing. Unless you source the food items yourself, you might get hit on the prices (assuming you have people who are not exactly honest working for you) Or how do you track spoilage ?
Today I was sitting at this food joint waiting for my order, when I overheard the conversation that the manager of the joint was having with his employee. The place had apparently made a loss of some 35-40k and he was trying to check the accounts. Finally it came down to staff eating food for free. The employee showed the register where the staff makes entry when they eat. The manager scans it and says, "this itself will account for more than half of your loss" (actually said in Hindi, but will post translated versions here)
Then he starts looking at individual items and names of the staff and suddenly exclaims "where is my name in this, even I had eaten, why is my name not here"
The employee showed him his name saying "Ya it is there, see here" to which the manager replies "Double omlett against my name, I don't even eat eggs, get me a pen let me scratch this out, I am a pundit, eggs against my name doesn't look good" simultaneously scratching out his name. Then he goes on to scan the rest of the ledger
"Omlett so many times ? I don't remember having eaten here so many times, what is the date here, 24th and 29th, that time I had still not started eating eggs, I am a pundit" scratch- scratch
And he goes on... Finally exasperated he says "Listen, I am your manager, you don't put my name here, I will make life tough for you" while laughing.
Saying this he says, "see this is the reason for the loss, from tomorrow onwards staff won't eat at this outlet, if they eat they will have to pay. I will talk to the boss and get this system in place" and then tossing aside the register, he asks the guy whats there in the kitchen, "get me dinner, I have to eat here else who will do your accounts for you. Understand else I will stop coming here and you can show your accounts to the big boss himself. Now is there paratha? rice? get me some dal along with it" And off he ate happily.
Its true, with motivated employees like these, it is definitely a difficult business to do :)
Dinner in a tree house
Recently a friend and me went for dinner to this place on Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar highway. This place has a land plot where it has made these "machans" (tree house). So the idea is that you climb on these, sit and have a nice meal. I was surprised to find that the food was moderately priced much cheaper than lot of restaurants in the city. (A punjabi veg was arnd Rs 45-50)
I was actually surprised as to why don't they leverage the ambiance they have created and charge more. Take the case of the famous "vishala" The food is strictly so - so, the variety is limited (surprisingly for a gujju thali place) and yet they charge some RS 450. On a side note "Rajwadu" is much better, food-wise, ambience-wise, service-wise and even price-wise.
I was actually surprised as to why don't they leverage the ambiance they have created and charge more. Take the case of the famous "vishala" The food is strictly so - so, the variety is limited (surprisingly for a gujju thali place) and yet they charge some RS 450. On a side note "Rajwadu" is much better, food-wise, ambience-wise, service-wise and even price-wise.
Wait it out
Very often when we are faced with a problem or something we are uncomfortable with, we try our best to resolve it, we fight it, coax it, cajole it, till it becomes acceptable to us. But you know somehow maybe its best that we leave things as it is. Quite a few times, in retrospect we find that what happened was for the best.
Here at IIMA we have a bidding system for choosing electives. Each one has certain points, based on past performance. For courses that have limited capacity, you allocate points. It is a dynamic system, almost like a stock market where the minimum bid required to win a course varies with the demand as someone or the other will up the bid. When I first came to know of this in my 1st year, I was apprehensive. IIMA doesn't give a specialization degree, it just gives a general management degree and you can signal your specialization by taking electives in that area. I came in with a finance focus and seeing that so many people were interested in finance, I was filled with doubt, what if I don't get enough finance courses, maybe I should have accepted the offer from another management institute ( there you have to decide your specialization at the time of joining and you are given a call for that specialization )
But today I am happy I didn't do that, because what I had expected a finance role to be like was completely different from what it was and post my summers I was very sure I would much rather prefer a consulting / general management kind of profile.
It was at this time I realised that this system is infact a better system. I gives me wriggle space to make corrections mid-course.
Here at IIMA we have a bidding system for choosing electives. Each one has certain points, based on past performance. For courses that have limited capacity, you allocate points. It is a dynamic system, almost like a stock market where the minimum bid required to win a course varies with the demand as someone or the other will up the bid. When I first came to know of this in my 1st year, I was apprehensive. IIMA doesn't give a specialization degree, it just gives a general management degree and you can signal your specialization by taking electives in that area. I came in with a finance focus and seeing that so many people were interested in finance, I was filled with doubt, what if I don't get enough finance courses, maybe I should have accepted the offer from another management institute ( there you have to decide your specialization at the time of joining and you are given a call for that specialization )
But today I am happy I didn't do that, because what I had expected a finance role to be like was completely different from what it was and post my summers I was very sure I would much rather prefer a consulting / general management kind of profile.
It was at this time I realised that this system is infact a better system. I gives me wriggle space to make corrections mid-course.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Truth
What do you get at 4 in the morning after 3-4 hrs of discussion on possibly anything and everything under the sun especially if the discussion was preceded by a sumptuous meal at a 5 star?
Enlightenment :)
So here are the 1st two truths
1. Life is difficult
2. People are stupid
Hahaha, no we were not drunk, nor were we on drugs !
Enlightenment :)
So here are the 1st two truths
1. Life is difficult
2. People are stupid
Hahaha, no we were not drunk, nor were we on drugs !
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