 |
JEFFREY GARTEN
Fed, We Have a Problem
Even
the Indian stock markets, despite all brave talk of decoupling, is
waiting with bated breath counting on the odds that the US will lower
interest rates on September 18. It may only be a temporary calm before
the storm...
PANKAJ GHEMAWAT
Borders And Bridges
Semi-globalisation is the big idea B-schools must work on
ANIL K. GUPTA
Explosion On Hold
B-schools in India should nurture entrepreneurial talent
R. RAMRAJ
Never Finish School
A fear of failure heads start-up blues. But it's really fun.
C.S.V. RATNAM
Thinking Is Working
Research is the weak link in Indian business education
|
| Speak up! Express yourself in our free- wheeling discussions or start those of your own. |
The Errors of Arundhati?
Bruce
Unger argues that Ms Roy consigns globalisation to a sort of
untouchability. Her napalming of it precludes what it can do for
India's interests.
Reforms
Incompatible with Democracy?
Budget Blues:
What should the finance minister's priorities be for the New Year? Any advice for him?
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Tribhuvan Tiwari |
| Ashok Bharti is trying to get Delhi slums to pay for power |
|
|
The
first thing Solomon Jayaprakash says at Maya Organic's six-day-old
showroom is: "The cause we serve is fine, but we don't want people to
buy our products because we do that. We want them to buy them
because of their exceptional quality. Our focus is on building a brand.
Sympathy is unsustainable in the long run."
It's this line of
thinking that distinguishes people like Solomon from other
entrepreneurs who work in social sectors. 'Social entrepreneurs', they
may be called, but they keep a clear focus on both the causes they
serve, and the competition they need to fight in the marketplace. | | |  | |  | | An early warning network to predict flash floods in the Northeast? Thank Ravindranath and his team of 6,000 volunteers. | |  | |  | |
| |
The area where Maya Organic is located itself exemplifies this
philosophy—it stands rubbing shoulders with multinational IT firms and
behemoth shopping malls on Bangalore's upmarket Banerghatta Road.
Maya Organic is a 'livelihood development initiative' that aims |
| |
to
create wealth and build capacities for artisans in the informal sector.
It promotes worker-owned enterprises in three main areas—lacware toys,
wooden furniture and natural fibre garments—and partners with design
schools in Switzerland, France and Germany. What began as an NGO
working in the domain of child labour grew into a company that now
sells goods under the brand name MO. "We don't look for grants, but
investments. We tell our artisans that you are not competing with the
neighbouring village but with China," says Solomon. Maya Organic has
both professional and social investors who are guaranteed a flat 8 per
cent annual return. One of the firm's recent initiatives is Labournet,
a unique database of its skilled construction workers. With details of
30,000-odd labourers, it's used to maintain the demand-supply
equilibrium. They plan to scale the database up to one lakh by 2009.
The
desire to integrate the entrepreneurial heart and head is the new
awakening across India. An indicator is the number of applications
received by the Ashoka, one of the earliest organisations to fund and
nurture social entrepreneurship. Says Ashoka's Pritha Sen: "It has shot
up in recent years. And the term 'social entrepreneurship' is being
interpreted in multiple ways." Most people who turn out to be
successful social entrepreneurs have no history of having run
businesses. Their driving force is their passion and a more-than-alive
conscience. Besides this, a big, pragmatic idea that would sustain the
vagaries of the marketplace is mandatory.
Take, for instance,
the case of P. Mukundan, who was 60 years old in 2002 and had innovated
on a stove-burner. He thought it was 30 per cent more efficient, and
wanted somebody to invest in his idea. He found a partner in Vineet Rai
and a micro-venture capital fund called Aavishkaar—they invested Rs 8
lakh for a 49 per cent stake. The company struggled for a couple of
years, but today has a million-dollar annual turnover. It is now poised
at an interesting breakthrough—it may soon introduce pure plant oil
stoves in the market.
Fascinatingly, Aavishkaar took shape due
to Vineet's desire to fund small businesses that would have a palpable
social impact. "What we realised was there were venture capital funds
that invested upwards of Rs 5 crore and then there were micro-credit
facilities that offered an average of, say, Rs 6,000. But, for a person
who wanted to set up 10 vegetable stalls, Rs 5 crore would be too much
and Rs 6,000 too less. We decided to address this gap," explains
Vineet. Currently, Aavishkaar is registered with
SEBI and has a committed capital of Rs 6.1 million as of August 29,
'07. It is expected to reach Rs 15 million by the year-end. It has
invested in 14 ventures, and hopes to add another 40-50 in the near
future.
Now,
on to Maharashtra. The stamina that a social entrepreneur embodies can
be perceived in Chetna Gala Sinha, who promoted the Mann Deshi Mahila
Sahakari Bank (MDMSB), a rural bank owned by poor women in Mhaswad in
Satara district.
|
|
|
|
|
|
