Pramod from Pune makes chocolates and snacks from drumstick leaves, earning Rs 3 lakh per month from business, also gave employment to 15 people

Drumstick cultivation is done on a large scale in most of the states of India. In terms of health, the importance of drumstick is very high. Many types of multi vitamins, proteins, amino acids are present in it. Its demand in the form of health supplements has increased in the country for the last few years. Many startups are making new healthy products by processing drumstick. Pramod Pansare, who lives in Pune, Maharashtra, is also doing the same business. He has been preparing and marketing chocolates, chikkis, khakhras, snacks with the help of drumstick leaves and turmeric for the last two years. At present, he is doing business of three lakh rupees every month.

Pramod, 30, belongs to a normal family. Farming has been his family background. After completing his BTech in Food Technology in 2012, he decided to start his own business instead of a job. For some years he did the business of dates. However, it did not earn much and he had to stop working. Since the responsibilities of the household were increasing, there was no other earner in the family, so Pramod started working in a food company unwillingly. He worked there for about 3 years. During this, he got information about different food products. It also helped to understand his process.

Pramod says that drumstick is beneficial for health, I already knew this, but during work I got information that it can be used as food supplements by making products. Most importantly, we didn't even need to go far for this. Drumstick plants are available in abundance around us.

After this Pramod started trialing it at his home. He dried drumstick leaves and beans and prepared a powder. Then it was sent to the lab test, where it was found that it contains almost all the nutrition necessary for health. He also started using it in his own food. After a few days, he also got to see its effect.

Pramod says- After using it myself, I felt that it can be started at commercial level. There are many people who need healthy food supplements and would also like to take such things. After this, he packed drumstick powder and gave it to some people for use.

Fewer people were using the powder, so started making products from it

They say that some people gave a positive response after use, but most were those who took it home and kept it. They were not using it regularly. When we tried to know the reason, it came to know that due to its powder form and its test, people are less liking it. After this, Pramod decided that instead of selling it in powder form, why not convert it into a product so that it can also have brand value and more people can use it.

In the year 2018, Pramod left his job. For about a year, he focused on market research. What products can be made from drumstick, what will be their process? How many people will buy them? What will be the marketing approach? He worked on this.

After this, from December 2018, he started making chikkis from drumstick leaves and beans. They themselves prepared it and started selling it by putting up stalls. Pramod says that we had kept the price of our product very low. That’s why most of the people who used to come to our stall used to buy the product. That’s how we did marketing for a few months.

Started business with Rs 15 lakh with the help of investor

After some time Pramod got an investor. He invested 15 lakh rupees and started his work by taking an office in Pune. He registered his own company. Then gathered necessary documents including food license and started business. For a few months his work went well. After this, due to Corona in 2020, his work started getting affected. After the lockdown, his work was negligible for a few months.

Pramod says that Corona had an effect on our business, there was some loss, but there was also an advantage that after this people started emphasizing on healthy food supplements. This helped us a lot in expanding the scope of our business. The demand for our products has increased.

They say that this year when the second wave of Corona caused havoc, it was also said that the third wave would also come and it would affect the children more. However, there is no concrete proof of this. Still people are becoming aware about the health of their children. They are pushing for healthy food supplements, but one problem is that children are less interested in eating these things. So we decided to launch a healthy chocolate.

Pramod started working on it earlier this year and started marketing the chocolates in May. Right now they are making chocolates in three flavours. In which dark, white and milk flavors are included. It includes immune boosters like turmeric, black pepper along with drumstick.

How do you do marketing?

Pramod says that initially we used to market our products by setting up stalls. Gradually, when the demand for our product started increasing, some people started knowing, so we contacted retailers and big wholesale dealers. They started taking our product after trial. After this we took the help of social media and started promoting our product. We also created a WhatsApp group. Many people also order via phone.

According to Pramod, every month they are making 2 tonnes of chocolates and chikkis. Along with this, Khakhra is also prepared on a large scale. More than 100 orders are coming to them every month. Last month he also sent his product to Sri Lanka. Soon they are going to launch their own website. Along with this, they will also market their products on platforms like Amazon and India Mart.

Pramod says that about 15 people work with us. Most of these are women. First of all we dry the drumstick leaves. Then prepare its powder. After this, by mixing sugar-free jaggery, peanuts and glucose, prepare drumstick chikki. After this, do its quality testing and packaging work. Similarly, we have prepared a formula to prepare chocolate. We have also got a patent for it. Mix turmeric and black pepper with that formula and blend it. Then melt it through a machine. After this the work of its shaping and then packaging is done.

It is generally believed about chocolate that it harms health. Especially the children. To avoid this, the demand for organic and homemade chocolate has increased in recent years. There are many startups in the country, which are making such products. These include Delhi-based Colocal, Chennai-based Kocoatrait and Pune-based Disha Chocolate. All of them prepare and market chocolate in an organic way.

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Dr. Deepak Miglani, Email id.:- legalbuddy@gmail.com

You can fire your social media manager, this startup automates online marketing

The digital era descended on India a decade ago. Slowly but steadily, it became a matter of not choice but compulsion for businesses to look beyond print and television for advertising. Yet, lack of awareness and resources ensured that smaller players were held back, while the big names bolted forward with myriad ways facebook in online marketing.

Bhushan Patkar had finished school before all this happened. Born in Badlapur village outside Mumbai, Bhushan loved nothing more than cricket as a kid. He was not too keen to take up the science stream as his parents wished. But once he did a short-term diploma course in computer technology from Mumbai University, he knew what he loved. And quite a handful of small businesses in the country are thankful for that.

Bhushan Patkar, CEO, Dfizz.com

Bhushan went to Oxford Brooks University, UK, to do BSc (Honours) in Computing & Software in 2005. By the time he returned home, IT boom had matured in the country. Son of a national award-winning Corporation Mayor Nandakishore Ram Patkar, Bhushan was keen on e-governance. He foundedTopXS Solutions in 2008 and, among other ventures, carried out a three-year-long project that included mapping of property taxing for Badlapur Municipality.

Digitisation of data was becoming more significant for every industry. Once he figured that he wanted to take it up as a career, Bhushan flew off to San Francisco, USA, for doing an MBA from Hult International Business School, in 2011. When he came back in 2013, India’s online business industry had grown exponentially. Bhushan took a plunge and founded Arkbel Innovations for marketing solutions for real estate business.

Idea for friends

Bhushan’s friend Amit Zunjarrao runs a dhaba in Karjat, Maharashtra. Famous for its scenic beauty, Karjat was a favourite spot for tourists. But despite the marketing Amit did through Facebook, posters and portals like Sulekha.com and websites for travellers, he did not get the traffic he wanted at Aaji Cha Dhaba. In early 2015, Bhushan offered a solution to him – a template that will update the dhaba’s Facebook page with its website. If someone searches for ‘Aaji Cha Dhaba,’ Amit will get a notification on mobile and email, and can connect with them directly. “For the first year, we had little business except on weekends. But since we started marketing online, there has been 65-percent rise in the number of customers,” Amit says.

Dfizz development team

Instead of going to the metros – where clientele for online marketing is easier to get – Bhushan wanted to look at the sellers outside metros.

“I wanted to make digital marketing easy and accessible for startups and MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises] who do not have the exposure, knowledge or funds for it. It’s not just about money; I really wished to help them,” says Bhushan.

According to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, there are 36 million small units that employ over 80 million Indians. Most MSMEs cannot afford hiring people by paying Rs.30,000-40,000 per month for online marketing. But with the rising Internet penetration, consumers in Tier II and III cities are also coming online. These consumers can access only the big companies that use technology strategically, whereas MSMEs are practically non-existent online – except a few manufacturers who sell on marketplaces.

According to a 2014 report, absence of exclusive marketing platforms is one of the challenges faced by the SMEs and the startup industry in India. More than 60 percent of both small and mid-market enterprises quote lack of awareness as an inhibitor to adoption of technology to aid marketing initiatives.

For the technologically-challenged

Newspaper ads do give a lot of leads to SMEs, but there is seldom follow-up. Dfizz’s integrated customer relationship management (CRM) software reports on which products get responses and sends bulk SMSes, emails etc., to customers for follow up. Their ‘virtual social media manager’ updates any addition on the original website on social media too, along with extra information on Internet. In fact, the likes of RedBus have used the strategy of engaging their customer with posts on travel rather than bore them with just ads.

Bhushan says: “Many MSME owners have iPhone6, but do not know how to leverage the benefits of online marketing. Our software makes them independent.” A major advantage is that the business owner can change the website on mobile.

Future prospects

The online marketing sector in India is fragmented, but competitive at the same time. There is hardly any entry barrier; digital ad agencies, traditional media, and even PR agencies are now doing this. Salar Mohamed Bijili, Founder and CEO of CueContent Marketing Services, says that the sector will grow with e-commerce. “A lot of online marketing is driven by price discovery platforms. More consumers coming online will only increase the demand,” he adds.

According to Salar, not many products are sold in this sector in India. “Product adaption is very low in this sector. Evangelising the products as a sector as tool to grow is the future,” he says.

Online marketing is the only way to sell products in an international market. With the promise of a ‘Digital India’, entrepreneurs are hoping for government support in terms of tech innovations.

Bhushan is in talks with Union Minister for MSMEs Kalraj Mishra and Maharashtra MSME Minister Subhash Desai in this regard. The six-month old startup-for-startups is now a 12-member team and has 30 MSME clients.

Reference:http://yourstory.com/2016/03/dfizz/

Punam Flutes – The story of how a master artist became a master craftsman

When a hobby turns into a profession, a professional expects to be able to find the superior tools of the trade, and if they are not up to the mark, he could complain, despair or look for more expensive, difficult-to-find alternatives. Yet, Subhash Thakur, a flautist by profession, did not succumb to any of those measures.

When he could not get the type of high-quality flute he needed, he did what few others would have, which is to make his own. What started off as a solution to a personal need slowly metamorphosed into the saga of Punam Flutes. Today, Thakur’s flutes are used by several artists, including the legendary Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, in India and abroad.

Thakur, who has an illustrious career playing a baansuri (Hindustani for flute), began learning under the tutelage of Ustad Fahimullah Khan in 1988 and then completed a master’s degree in music. After that, he began playing professionally, which earned him the status of a graded artist at Akashvani, Patna. “I then moved to Delhi and started a government job as a flute player with a monthly salary of Rs. 7,000,” he recounts, adding, “It was during this time that I realized good flutes were hard to come by. They were either very expensive or had to be imported. That is what prompted me to attempt making my own flute.”

That attempt was just the beginning of Punam Flutes. Many disciples of his current guru, Pt. Amarnathji, wanted him to make flutes for them too. In just a few months, Thakur realised it was more lucrative to make flutes as his income as a flute-maker began exceeding what he earned as an artist.

Thakur takes great pride in how he customises each creation, which is what distinguishes his work from mass-produced instruments. “I don’t just make any flute and ask people to buy it. For professionals and discerning artists, I study their style and make an instrument according to the range they desire.”

The Initial Days of Struggle

Thakur explains, “Flute-making is as serious and thorough of a process as is making any other musical instrument. First of all, you need to procure good quality bamboo, which is available only in North East India. Then it has to be seasoned for about three months. Following this, it has to be carefully crafted, because the position and the diameter of the holes is very important for proper tuning.”

Subhash Thakur with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia

In the early days, he struggled at each stage of the production process. Tools for making the holes were not easy to come by. He had to search for them far and wide, and in the days before the Internet, that was a difficult task. He then had to import them from the U.S. and other countries, after paying a huge sum of money. He also needed a tuner to help him craft the flute properly.

Only in the last few years has technology been easily accessible, which has allowed him to buy good quality tools and also craft his own tools to make flutes.

Going online was the next logical step

Once you have a great product, the next step is to publicise and sell it. When it seemed like the whole world was shifting to the web to accelerate sales, it was Pt. Amarnathji’s son, who advised him to expand his business online. He helped Thakur register a domain name and create a website back in 2004. Another friend, also a professional flautist, helped design the site and now maintains it.

“If you are a manufacturing company, going online is the logical thing to do to increase the reach of your business. A .com domain name is the obvious solution if you want to extend your reach internationally,” says Thakur.

Punam Flutes has a good presence on social media too. His wife Punam, after whom the business is named, takes care of that aspect. The social media page and the website also feature messages to and from artists who use his flutes, including the likes of Prem Joshua and Naveen Kumar, who are noted for their ad jingles and the haunting theme from the movie Bombay.

“About 50 percent of our sales come from people who know me personally, artists and students, as well as those who have heard of my reputation. The remaining comes from purely online sales, of which nearly 25 percent is from foreign countries,” he explains, adding that he gets quite a few people from the U.S. and the U.K. who approach him for customized flutes.

Deeply focused on making high quality flutes available to passionate artists, Thakur never thought selling online would help the business the way it has. He finds the change in the Indian mindset quite remarkable: “Indians have taken to this ecommerce thing quite well. Of late, a lot of my sales are due to my website and being on platforms like Amazon andFlipkart.”

Thakur’s advice to anyone who wants to start a business and take it online is to focus on the fundamentals: “You need to understand everything about your line of work in depth, and you should be aware of every aspect of production and sales. Only then will your company prosper.”

Reference:http://yourstory.com/2016/03/punam-flutes/

Why change is the only thing constant for your business

We have come to an age where organizations catch up to each other within a few months. The only way to keep your competition at bay is to innovate and change. Change your product offering, its price, service quality, etc but do not change the core identity. In business, it is vital to realize that when you are a market leader, you have to be at least 6 months ahead of your competition and when a market follower, you should aim at catching up with the market leader within 3 months.

The business landscape in today’s world is characterized by changing trends and events which keep happening every now and then. This at times, takes several business leaders by surprise. Technology giants have been burned to the ground simply because they did not change with time. The greatest example being of Kodak, which at one point of time was the market leader of the Camera and peripherals industry. They did not adapt towards digitization and felt the emergence of digital imaging was just a momentary phase. Soon came the wave of Digital Cameras and emergence of companies like Cannon and Nikon, which took the industry by storm. Eastman Kodak’s failure is because of its leaders who refused to adapt to the change in technology. It truly was an entrepreneurial failure.

Another aspect one must consider, is to realize the need to upgrade it. Several businesses in the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) space adapt by means of change of packaging, seasonal discounts, charm pricing and so on. Why do you think several app developers often offer updates to their consumers? They are not always bug fixes but at times are major changes that keep them glued to the app. The famous “Ping Ping” brand Blackberry is one such brand that did not change and did not offer its patrons a more user friendly, open-source version of the operating software like Android. Within no time, major players like Samsung emerged and entered from the backdoor and dethroned the once considered Smartphone giant. Samsung not only became the market leader but also left Blackberry so far behind that they are still figuring out how to change for the better.

The future belongs to those who are quick on their feet and embrace change. They are innovators like Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page who are constantly innovating and changing what they offer without deviating from their USP. Facebook still continues to be a Social Media platform but with a twist of offering several new features every now and then. Likewise, Google continues to be a search engine which has gone on to change the way we market our products now. As a business owner, you can either choose to embrace change or perish like the ones we have mentioned above.

Just like Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”

If you too have entrepreneurial dreams, you need to have faith in your Chatur Idea. You will always wonder who will fund this idea and from where will you find investors. In that case, you can participate in the #BeAChatur Contest and not only be mentored, but also stand a chance to win a whopping Rs.10 Lac funding for your dream startup idea.

Reference:https://www.chaturideas.com/our_blogs/Why_change_is_the_only_thing_constant_for_your_business#sthash.rJGsKJNg.dpuf

Meet the 31-year-old who is celebrating 29 days of February, each dedicated to one Indian state

Jubanashwa Mishra is celebrating the 29 days of February, with each day dedicated to a state of India. Amidst times when the ideas of nationalism, dissent, and diversity are ferociously debated, Jubanashwa is running a national integration month on Instagram, posting photos from the 29 states of India that he has travelled and explored. Under the campaign #Feb29Days29States, Jubanashwa is planning to showcase the real spirit of India which is unity in diversity.

Image: (L)- Instagram; (R)- Jubanashwa Mishra

The photos reflect his thoughts too. While Sikkim represents Buddha, West Bengal represents the life of sculptors who work day and night to create the idols of goddess Durga. Manipur represents a child carrying a toddler on his back, while Uttar Pradesh is represented by Varanasi’s inextinguishable cemetery.

Earlier in 2013, Jubanashwa had undertaken a campaign called ’28 jobs 28 weeks 28 states’, under which he toured the country, took up different jobs, and captured his experiences using his camera. The jobs he took up included that of a cleaner in Himachal Pradesh, a rafting trainee in Jammu & Kashmir, a movie marketing trainee in Mumbai, a tattoo maker in Goa, among others.

Follow Jubanashwa on Instagram here. Below are a few of his photographs which fascinated us.

To stay updated with more positive news, please connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Reference:http://social.yourstory.com/2016/02/jubanashwa-mishra/

A 19-Year-Old has developed an app that can detect developmental disorder in a child in 45 secs.

A 19-Year-Old Harsh Songra has developed a mobile app ‘My Child’ which helps parents in early diagnosis of developmental disorder among their children. Bhopal-based Harsh has developed this app with the help of his childhood friends and now his Co founders Aafreen Ansari and Shreya Shrivastava. Something that's more intriguing than a 19-year-old making a revolutionary app in healthcare section is the fact that, Harsh himself is a victim of the problem he’s addressing today. Harsh was diagnosed with Dyspraxia when he was 11 years old. Dyspraxia which is a form of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a disorder that affects fine and/or gross motor coordination. He made the app in order to raise awareness as well as diagnose the symptoms of developmental disorders as early as possible, right from the 24th month of the childbirth. 

In India, 13 to 14 percent of all school children suffer from one or the other kind of learning disability. And like most of the parents, Harsh’s parents were also unable to identify problems in their son’s development.

However, Harsh Clarifies, that this app is not trying to replace doctors, but is meant as a reference point about disorders from which the child may be suffering from. He adds that the idea behind the app is to empower parents with technology and also to ease the burdern of doctors.

Harsh is currently in his second-year computer science engineering and is a huge admirer of Elon Musk Founder of Tesla Motors. In India, he regularly interacts with Shashank N D of Practo, Lalit Mangal of Commonfloor and Ravi Gururaj, a serial entrepreneur, a business mentor and chair of the Nasscom Product Council who is also apparently mentoring the child prodigy.

The app collects data from parents like height, weight, etc. And then asks a series of questions with Yes or No option. The entire process takes 45 secs and based on the response it recommends possible areas of concern for a child and also recommends the actions to be taken.

At present, ‘My Child’ app has a 4.2 rating on Google Play with 5000 downloads.

Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg recently put the teen on the world map by applauding him and his startup on the social media. Harsh has already enrolled for the FBStart Program which is a program designed by Facebook to help early stage mobile startups build and grow their apps. Sheryl Said, "We're supporting developers like Harsh who have great ideas but can't always access the resources they need."

Pankaj Jain, Partner, 500 Startups says, “Getting information about developmental disorders and details on whom to speak with on a simple mobile app just by answering few simple questions is transformative.”

At present, My Child team has total five members and ironically the teams average age is also 19. My Child recently secured $100k in a seed round from a group of Angel Investors in India led by 500 Startups including Samir Bangara, Anisha Mittal, Amit Gupta, Pallav Nadhani, Lalit Mangal, Arihant Patni, Dr. Ritesh Malik, Deobrat Singh, Saurabh Paruthi and Singapore Angel Network.

Harsh states that funds will be used to improve the technology and the entire development of the app. He has plans to make the app into a preventive tool and as a go-to guide for parents.

Harsh is our true inspiring chatur and what he has accomplished in such a young age will inspire many young entrepreneurs in improving the quality of human life and health care sector overall.

The global statistics of children suffering from such developmental disorder is alarming, what's even more threatening is little empathy and understanding on the subject. Harsh also wants his app to transform into a help guide for the mother during pregnancy to prevent her child from unexpected disorders he wishes to empower the parents with the ability to track their child’s development easily by getting all the red flags on time. We are proud that we have young entrepreneurs like Harsh Songra in our country.

Reference:https://www.chaturideas.com/ic/A_19YearOld_has_developed_an_app_that_can_detect_developmental_disorder_in_a_child_in_45_secs#sthash.jFY26ew9.dpuf

The Team Which Has Created More Than 10,000 Affordable Computers From Scrap!

We all are slaves of technology, we want a new gadget as soon as it is out in the market. We don’t even think twice before replacing our phone just because it is a bit dated. While a lot of people are busy buying new things, there are a few people who believe in re-using what we already have.

Mukund BS is one such person. A 33-year old young entrepreneur, he truly believes that job satisfaction should be the priority and money eventually follows. An electronic engineer and an IIM graduate, Mukund was travelling with his uncle once when the idea of selling affordable computers struck his mind. That is when Renew It comes into picture.

Incorporated in 2009, Renew It started operations in 2010 with much research and hard work. “Initially I was the only one to do all the work including, marketing, managing finances, meeting clients, etc.,” Mukund says.

Mukund (Left) and Raghav, co-founders of Renew It

Renew It collects scrap computers from corporates and sells them at affordable rates to the needy people after the required repair and maintenance.

Started with a team of two which included Mukund and his cousin Raghav Boggaram as co-founders, Renew It has now grown to a team of seven technicians and sales persons.

How it works?

The business model is very simple. We tie up with the corporates and take all their scrap computers. The team of technicians work on it to convert the scrap into a working machine. The process of buying the computers from these corporates is often a long procedure and can take as long as six months.

“The system is not organized, people often tend to sell the scrap at per kg rates which is not a good idea in case of computers,” Mukund says.

The team makes sure that they provide computers to the needy at an affordable price.

After getting the scrap, the team of technicians start working on it and convert it into a working machine. The process takes around 2-3 weeks depending on the efforts required to fix the old machine.

The organization has sold 10,000 computers so far in a span of five years. “We were lucky that we had our family’s support so it wasn’t hard to arrange for finances,” Mukund says.

The challenge

Mukund elaborates on this aspect: The biggest challenge or should I say fear is that I don’t know what will be the way forward, say, 5 years later as technology is completely evolving.

When he first started working on the idea of Renew IT, computers held an important place in the society as the smartphones weren’t there. “Now when I see people doing most of their work on their phones I don’t know how useful computers will be in future,” Mukund says.

Another challenge which Mukund faces is the unavailability of right type of scrap. Also, uninformed customers is yet another issue. “Some people in not so developed areas don’t know how a computer works. So sometimes they wouldn’t handle it properly which reduces the life of a machine,” he says.

The team has successfully sold over 10,000 computers so far.

Scaling Up

The company which started in Bangalore has now extended to Hyderabad and Mumbai. They also provide after-sale services to their clients for free for one year. Started with the initial capital of around Rs. 20 lakhs. They have grown to a capital of around Rs. 50-Rs.60 lakhs.

Mukund says: “All we want to do is good work, money will eventually follow”

Lessons learnt “One thing I have learnt in this journey is patience, you just sometimes have to wait for things to fall into the right places,”says Mukund.

He also believes, “You don’t always have the answers to everything. You will make mistakes. Money is always the by product. You do the right thing, it will come.”

Reference:http://www.thebetterindia.com/10460/christel-house-india-bangalore-slums-children-education-jobs/