NJ's Blog

Technology enthusiast, salesperson, avid thinking, next best thing, good things in life, blogging, eating, software

[wackynik]

Business : Call to action

I always wondered how to speed up business / sales conversion. Its all about the call to action. Only ask for the part which you can close immediately. Don't ask for unwanted details from the customer.

[wackynik]

Being 30

How does one know when maturity comes in ? I found out last night. Was at a party and got all drunk and playful which is what I used to do in my teens. The morning after I felt my body couldnt take another drink. Spent sometime talking to my girlfriend about what happened last night and couldn't remember shit. She told me that "I should ask for what I need and not just grab stuff from the kitchen" . Those words struck me like lightning - being mature is asking for what you need. I felt that I knew what I was doing in life and was happy and grateful of what I have. Being mature is understanding your body, mind and soul.

[wackynik]

India - Ministry of Corporate Affairs

I'm a big Narendra Modi fan. I believe in his model of inclusive governance, the Gujrat development model and sheer brilliance in politics. However I believe corruption is beyond him. It's upto you and me the citizens of the country to uncover the corruption.

I had an interesting experience at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs - Registrar of Companies - Mumbai. I always dreaded going to government offices. I applied for an LLP company and required name approval from them. Ideally its a 2 minute job for the officer where he searches for the name and activity and if he doesn't find duplicates he approves of the name and you get your DIN - Director Identification Number, DSC - Digital Signature Certificate within a day. I believe around the world this takes a day for processing. 

How a search is done 

This work is generally done by your chartered accountant or company secretary because they know the drill. There's a checklist which you have to adhere to and then you upload all the documents for name approval. One of the clerks in the office apparently asked my chartered accountant for a bribe of 8000 Rupees to get the name approval done because my company name was matching with another. However I had checked if my company name matches with any other company and it was nowhere close to any other company on the list.

I went to meet the concerned clerk and while I removed my cellphone to give him the SRN number, he got so afraid that he quickly told me that he isn't responsible and send me to the officer who had commented on the name approval request. The clerk was visibly upset that the director of the company had come to approve of name which means he wouldn't get his bribe as they never deal directly and the money would never reach them directly. 

Once I met the officer, he spoke rudely about not allowing the name approval because the name clashed with another company without giving any solution of what to do. Then I realised it's their way of stalling work so that a person who really wants the work done immediately will pay off and get the work done. I quickly re-submitted the application (changing the company name) and went to meet him, this time with my mobile phone in my hand and he as well got afraid and told us that it goes in a queue and you will have to wait for the approval. When I asked him how much time it would take, he smartly replied with hand gestures saying he doesn't know (still afraid of the mobile phone recording, which I wasn't because I was afraid of the backlash).

I wonder how companies would operate if the start of company formations is with a bribe. I wonder how a ministry like theirs isn't computerized at all. Files lying here and there and no timelines. I am considering filing an RTI just to see how many companies were registered in the last couple of years and if 70-80% companies paid 8000 Rupees bribe how much revenue has the government lost. Instead the government should charge me more and offer a better service like how Narendra Modi has done with the railways.

Some other serious faults in this ministry:-

1) They work from 11 to 3:30 with an hour lunch break.

2) They have no CCTV surveillance of the premise. Officers and clerks can be doing any mischief with important files.

3) There are notices of do not bribe, report bribes at every floor but the officers have been given a free hand in operating however they want,

4) There is no Service level agreement (SLA) on submission of any service request and how much time it would take to respond to that service.

Suggestions for entrepreneurs :-

The two images above is the way they search for similar companies. The way to beat them at this is - Figure out a company name and activity that they cannot find similar in the search string.

If they still find a match that is somewhat close to your company name - immediately re-submit the application online and go approach the officer who has stalled your SRN. 

[wackynik]

[wackynik]

[wackynik]

Never do business with a friend/relative

I started a business a couple of years ago.

A close friend of mine approached me for help. His employer was looking to get some work done. He later suggested I take up the project and we would share the revenue generated from that particular project and future projects sourced by him. I continued to work with him for 6-8 months on several projects and eventually fought over money issues. 

Here are some key things I learnt :-

1) You would always undervalue your service/talent when dealing with a friend/relative.

2) Money conversations are fucking awkward.

3) You cannot be point blank rude when you hear something wrong/incorrect from the other end.

4) You will always give a discount for your services even if you do bill them.

5) Almost 90% of the work is free consulting. As conversations are casual in nature.

6) In my case, it left me with a scar because the projects lasted for long - It has affected my way of dealing with other clients.

7) I tend to lean towards the easy deals and not be pragmatic.

8) Once bitten by a bad experience, your mind is cluttered and you cannot believe in yourself and your service/talent.

9) I question my morals in this case. As I knew it wasn't correct to accept a deal like this. 

10) You would have to lie to the world about your dealings as you know you look bad in their head. You lie to not loose respect from others.

[wackynik]

Met a 14 year old Startup

Confused ? How can a 14 year old company be called a startup ?? Well I was too, only to meet the owner of the company who explained to me why.

The gentleman who I met was a typical bania. He had a brilliant business acumen and I learnt a lot from him. He runs the company like a startup and has a few principals. Following are his business principals (in no particular order) :- 1) Do something that you know you can survive. So when the time is bad, you know you can still survive and make a living. 2) Always build a product that you know your going to get money from it. Take the money in first and then build the product within a month but never do any development free of cost. Try and build a budget of the product based on the budget of the customer. If that's not possible, try and get a commitment from the customer that he'll get more customers at the price he wants the product. 3) Always have more knowledge than your customers. For eg. When you are pitching to a CFO and you have to get the financial manager into confidence, you can tell the financial manager that I would build 1 report for you that will make your job easier - and you know that report addresses to his pain (without the CFO being aware about his subordinate having that report) 4) Have a team of Spartans - basically people who can survive on their own even in a recession. 5) If the company isn't doing well, to each his own. In survival its every individual for himself (The hunger games or 300 movie comes to mind) 6) Growth is when 1 individual who can do a job in 10 days - if he has to do the same job again, he should get it done in 5 days. 7) Every product/service is a startup on its own. Everything would have its own P&L. This makes it easier to identify a problem and a solution. 8) The core team shouldn't know the whole business. They should be aware of only their business. For eg. The R&D person should only understand R&D and shouldn't get into the CFO or CMO (marketing) functions. 9) Always target a specific vertical and prove yourself in that vertical. Then look at other verticals which are aligned to your business. 10) Choose customers wisely. His approach was a SaaS model and he doesn't approach any manufacturing customers because manufacturing customers would never understand SaaS model, they would always work in a mindset of a Capex model (like how they purchase machinery) and other assets. Don't approach businesses who are small and who are only looking at cost. 11) Have minimum liabilities. His office happens to be very close to his house, he doesn't require a car. He considers a car a liability. A completely new perspective. An aggressive business approach and I must say I found it very realistic in the Indian scenario. 

[wackynik]

Crony Capitalism Vs FDI Single & Multi Brand Retail

We're in between elections season now and most of us are aware that "BJP" would emerge as the single largest party. We also know the future PM's close links to Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. Adani group have the largest ports, logistics and warehousing facilities and Mukesh Ambani is the largest retailer in India. BJP will not allow FDI in multi brand retail and probably will try to form unions with the existing FDI approved single brand retail stores. Reliance and Adani would emerge victorious as Foreign investments would prove unprofitable. Employees of retail firms would eventually find working for reliance (Indian retailers) better as foreign players wouldn't be able to nurture talent with low margins. This is crony capitalism at its worst. Sad but true. Let's hope I'm proved wrong and my heart lies with the millions going to be employed in the retail sector.

[wackynik]

Foreign Direct Investment in Retail

FDI in retail is fantastic. International companies would invest in India and eventually everyone would get jobs and the competition would increase. Essentially benefitting the customers, vendors and a handful of employees.

In a country like India, there has to be a regulation where these companies shouldn’t be allowed to exploit the employees. If that’s taken care off - eventually retail would be a very promising career for millions of Indians.

[wackynik]

My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor

After veteran reporter Joseph Williams lost his job, he found employment in a sporting-goods store. In a personal essay, he recalls his struggles with challenges millions of Americans return to day after day.

[wackynik]

Retail Business : How to start, run and monitor ?

Retail businesses are capital intensive and require a lot of planning at the start. However if you're product is good, you understand customer behavior - there's nothing stopping you from creating your own successful retail business.

Currently working with an Indian retailer, following is what I've noticed :-

1) P&L - You prepare your Profit and Loss and pilot (forecast) what your going to achieve for the next couple of years. If you are selling multiple brands - pilot for each brand.

2) Real Estate - Ideally large retailers have a growth team who study real estate within a country and decide where to invest and what lease term to negotiate.

3) Forecast/Piloting - You prepare your P&L for a period of 2 years having 2 numbers - commitment (least number you need to do) and objective (aggressive number that you'd pilot). Your break even time for the business needs to be atleast within 2 years for every store. 

4) Department level P&L - Once you prepare piloting for the store, based on some ratios - prepare what individual department level what the P&L should look like. The department's P&L would be based on how much linear meter/foot the department takes.

http://retail.about.com/od/marketingsalespromotion/a/measuring_sales.htm

5) Satisfied Customer Family - Prepare a bible that all employees follow for their appraisals/promotion - basically a tool where the employees work for the store, their department and their family (small set of products). They are rated on a monthly basis based on their family.

Now below I'm listing the main sections of the P&L :-

Total sales with tax Total sales without tax Growth / Last Year Quantity Quantity Growth Gross margin Gross margin% Net Margin Net Margin % Total Expenses Total Expenses % Ebit Ebit % Security Ratio Stock in CC Statistical Indicators SLT Average Selling Price TO/Hour QTY/Hour TO/Sq Mt

This is done on a department level and eventually it total to the store level. Basically it's Total Sales (Turnover) minus Total expenses (addition of direct and indirect expenses). 

This is where you fill your realised numbers :-

NUMBER OF DAYS PARTICULARS Turnover With Tax Turnover Without Tax Turnover Growth Quantity Quantity Growth Gross Margin Gross Margin % Price change gap Packaging costs paid Total freight costs Total defects NQC ASS Total comm Stock Depreciation Shrinkage provision Margin Gap Expenses Margin Gap Expenses % Net Margin Net Margin % Total permanent salaries Other salaries Gross bonus Total social overheads Provision Total other costs on salaries Contract basic hours Part time contract hours Total worked hours Permanent staff Total Staff Expenses Staff Expenses % Total external rentals Total internal rentals Real Estate depreciations Electricity Other energies Cleaning Building repairs and upkeep Major repairs prov alloc Reprises PGR Total Building Costs Building Costs % Internal stationery and office material Reprography NBV non land assets Diverse material depr Transfer price non land assets Inventory ext suplies Other internal material External stationery and office material Total supplies Caretaking security Funds transport Security Tags rent Total security Ext other IT rent Country region Computer Licenses Materials maintenance Computer Help Desk Ext IT rent Int equipment IT rent Other mat rentals Waste disposal rental Websites IT Costs Movable lease payment IT services reinvoicing Total material rental Prod documents Brand registration Subcontracted prototype Research and dvpt + Quality Control exp Design and Packaging Total creation costs Inter com stores Catalog pages reinvoicing Major events Creation of Customer card cost Inter com benefit Retail area brand advert Ext catalog creation costs Int catalog creation costs Commercial events Web Advertising Traffic advertising Mailings Test missions Supplier advert invoicing Tv advertising Cinema advertising Press advertising Advert site renting Boarding advertising Radio advertising Signage cost General Advertising Internal advertising external advertising reinvoicing internal advertising reinvoicing Total advertising Ext travel expenses Int travel expenses Mileages Travel expenses plane Travel expenses train Travel expenses rent transports Travel expenses hotel Repayment Restoration Fuel Total travel expenses Fax phone Fax [suppr] IT network Ext express post Int express post Postage Total communication Logis subcontracting Recrutment fees Other int subcontr Ext storage IT subcontracting Tot subcontr services Research tax credit Licences Non property taxes Retail area taxes Other taxes Other fees Internal fees Property Fees Solicitor Fees Ext insurance Int insurance Insurance rebates Tot tax insur fees Regulated prov rever Other int income Risk prov rever Other ext doubtful debts rever Risk prov alloc Other ext doubtful debts prov Other ext income Other ext subcontacting Other ext costs Other int costs Dispute prov rever Dispute prov alloc Regulated prov alloc Price increase prov rever Foreign start up prov rever Eco depr fixed assets Price increase prov alloc Foreign start up prov alloc Doc research charges Bank services Int costs for guarantees Ext services for financing activity Int services for financing activity Contentious covering Rev Invest Prov alloc Invest prov alloc Non Building depr prov rever [Operating] Non Building depr prov alloc [Operating] Other int debts prov rever Other int debts prov alloc Tot other expenses Total overhead costs Overhead costs % Contributions Contributions % Total Expenses Total Expenses % Ebit Ebit % Security Ratio Stock in CC SLT AVG SELLING PRICE TO/HOUR QTY/HOUR TO/SQ MT

Piloting employee related expenses :-

NUMBER OF HOURS PARTICULARS Turnover With Tax Turnover Without Tax Turnover Growth Quantity Quantity Growth Gross Margin Gross Margin % Margin Gap Expenses Margin Gap Expenses % Net Margin Net Margin % Total permanent salaries Other salaries Gross bonus Total social overheads Provision Total other costs on salaries Contract basic hours Part time contract hours Total worked hours Permanent staff Total Staff Expenses Staff Expenses % Total Building Costs Building Costs % Total overhead costs Overhead costs % Contributions Contributions % Total Expenses Total Expenses % Ebit Ebit % Security Ratio Stock in CC SLT AVG SELLING PRICE TO/HOUR QTY/HOUR TO/SQ MT SQ MT

[wackynik]

People, processes and management in retail

One week working in a retail store I have been understanding people, the processes they follow and management approach to hit their numbers and convince higher ups.

Management works to their strength, not sure if it happens all across the world however in this case the management of the store runs the store like a CFO. He makes his department and sales managers to pilot numbers on an excel sheet based on the store target. There are essentially 3 things that are taken into consideration:

Commitment (Basic commitment of a store (department wise is rolled up into a store))

Objective (What is the objective of the store : Thumb rule being 1.15 of commitment)

Realised to: Actual realisation of numbers

For eg. The store is holding a stock of 3 million dollars with over 15000 items in inventory. Ideally the commitment would be 2.5 million$, objective would be 2.875 million $ and realised would be the actuals coming in every single day. The store managers would ask his department managers/brand department managers to pilot the numbers they are going to forecast. Eg. If the yearly pilot of the store would be 2.5 million. The monthly pilot would be 208 thousand and the daily pilot would be a meager number for weekdays and a major number for weekends. Both the sales managers and department managers would have the joint responsibility to hit the piloted number. The department manager would be comped if he hits his objective. 50% of the monthly allocated variable pay would be given if he hits his commitment number and 100% bonus would be given if he hits his objective. If he is between commitment and objective, he would get a percentage of his objective target.

[wackynik]

Retail: Processes and Jargon

Retail known to be one filled processes and jargon's are so interesting. So today morning was a department manager meeting where each and every department has to give a report of their performance to the store manager. The financial controller will showcase the numbers to the team along with the store manager. An email is sent to the department managers before.

Management Responsibilities :-

The store operations manager handles the stock, negative stock, internal consumption, HR related roasters (leaves, week offs and shifts) and infrastructure (layouts, outside area, housekeeping)

The store manager handles meetings, briefing and debriefing sessions, recruitment, objective numbers, commitment numbers, conveying individual P&L's, on-boarding, appointment of daily managers, discipline in the store (nobody sits down), policies, conveying numbers and objectives to the rest of the team (customer satisfaction, numbers, products.brands performance, initiatives by other stores), appointment of a person responsible for TG's - fast moving product (impulse buyers) every month to push numbers & online strategy (fb & twitter).

Store's objectives :-

Customer satisfaction - CRM (from POS systems, comparing customer satisfaction with other stores)

Numbers (Excel spreadsheet - Hyperion Financial Management for controlling, showing others stores objectives, commitments and initiatives , comparing margins/brand performance)

Reduce costs - Air conditioning costs - only switch on unit wise

Stock - Having stock available and ordering stock from warehouse (ERP, portal that has access to store inventory)

Availability - Availability of staff at any given point of time.

Brand, Sales Assistance - People who have all info related about the brand product, maintain data in product_id and model_no. Model no is multiple sizes in that model and product id/item code is specific to 1 item/product. (ERP, spreadsheets, portal giving access to all related info)

Following is the process:-

An excel sheet is piloted and projections are filled in - MTD (month till date)

Store manager checks, reviews it every Monday at 1 PM and has a briefing session with the department manager.

Asks about individual P&L's and why are they not aligning with objectives.

Talks about the commitment. Tracks them down and compares them to the previous commitments. Also checks it with how it stacks up the total number and margins for the store for MTD and YTD.

Talks about the initiatives. Inquires about them, asks about internal consumption for the initiative (outdoor or indoor). Also checks if it makes any sense and asks to push and corrects the signage/display boards.

Talks about plans for the week.

Makes the team aware of the other team activity and writes down commitments.

Tells the team how they rank and who they should beat (from the other stores) - on a store level.

Individual activities of each department that will lead to a better week.

Come and debrief each and every member and tell them to take actions - stock, scf's, signage, initiatives follow-up, design board help/follow-ups, margins and ideas on what to push more, more TG's

Talking about bulk orders and helping on how to get them.

Helping with availability with people from other stores in-case of recruitment problem.

Display min - Least amount Signage CSF - customer satisfaction family Peg - rods to hold the stock TG - front facing gandola FNS - Fast and slow moving report 

[wackynik]

Indian Retail: My Story

I started working at an Indian retail store to manage a department. I have 2 isle's that I manage. Responsible for a brand. Roughly around 2 isle's would compromise of 500 products which equals to 500K$ of stock.

I always wondered why people buy offline. Online products are cheaper, its shipped home directly and its hassle free. In my limited understanding of customer behavior, this is what I found :-

They come for the experience of a mall/store.

Most of them lie in the category between 1-14 year age group OR 35-80 year age group - The serious customers

For them to add the product to their shopping cart, they want to feel the product.

They want to ask someone what the product is about and why the price.

They come in with an intention to buy something that suits their need.

They are aware of the major brands and they want to ask someone what's the comparison - basically don't want to be left with a product that isn't going to be used - have been burnt in the past.

Some of them would like to talk to a sales person just to get an idea of what they buy from them - an assurance that the product is good (warranty & guarantee)

Some of them come with their family for an outing and request them for help in deciding a product.

Married men ask their wife for opinions about the product - color, look and features (like weight of a running shoe)

Women decide on under garments by themselves - they are the easiest customers. They try and they buy.

Mostly women decide by themselves - self serviced customers. I have just encountered a few women who don't know what they want and they are not generally the serious buyers.

Advanced customers know what they want and which brand will provide what - they are aware of costs as well. They need very little assistance. They either subscribe to a magazine or are well read about the products in the market.

I would like to improve the signage of the department where people would ask me less questions and could see products directly and buy them. Signage - Price, product comparison, sizes (highlighting the Indian size/UK size in shoes and Eur size in apparel), where you find the size measuring board, Trials rooms, customer testimonials about a product, where to get add on products, colors of socks shoes, boards that show what the isle's are for - running, fitness, general track pants or running tracks, general shoes or fitness shoes with write-ups about what will happen if you use fitness shoes for running and walking, write-ups about your type of foot (arched or flat) - what type of shoe would be better, write-up about the technology the product is manufactured....clearly displayed in a central area of the isle with the customer testimonials board. 

[rkfme]

The job of leadership today is not just to make money. It’s to make meaning.

John Seely Brown (via rkfme)

[wackynik]

Company Culture

Mantra: Stay hungry, stay grounded. hungry = highly motivated, resourceful, scrappy, determined grounded = never become complacent, never stop improving

Be clear Use plaintext for all emails and documents i.e. no unusual fonts, no bullets (just use indents) Communicate using as few words as possible and use lists e.g. 1), 2), 3) whenever possible Always respond within 24 hours; never ignore anyone; warn people one week in advance about vacation When asked a question, answer in a single sentence first, then explain your answer in greater detail Constantly manage expectations so that everyone always knows what to expect from you

Be effective Constantly prioritize and only do that which actually matters Write everything down so you don't have to remember anything; brains are for thinking, not for storing Be entirely self-directed; figure out what needs to get done, communicate it, then get it done, then repeat Always figure out the approach that involves the least amount of effort in order to achieve the desired result

Don't let the situation you're in determine the options you have to choose from (just change your situation)

Fail small repeatedly until you succeed small, then scale up your small success into a big success

Move quickly Work only on one thing at a time (never multi-task); skip tasks when blocked Perfect is the enemy of Done; get things done quickly, then constantly improve it from there Maintain a calm sense of urgency in everything you do; maximize speed at an optimal level of quality Meetings slow everything down; avoid them whenever possible via really good written communication

Be direct

Be brutally honest and upfront; better to be slightly offensive than never knowing what anyone is thinking Never hide problems or avoid conflicts; calmly talk through it until the root cause of the problem is solved Think independently (avoid groupthink); if no one rocks the boat, it comfortably goes over the waterfall It's your responsibility to teach others on how you want to be treated; don't expect them to read your mind Quickly own up to your mistakes (ignore your ego); never complain, just focus on solving the problem Constantly give feedback to coworkers as soon as you notice problems, and ask for feedback in return

Fix bad behavior Inattention to results: sloppiness, inconsistency, low quality work, lack of attention to detail Lack of commitment: unresponsive, laziness, doesn't do exactly what they say they will do Avoidance of accountability: excuse-making, evading responsibility, blaming others Politics: talking trash about someone behind their back, sabotaging others' work, gossiping Fear of conflict: hides problems, avoids confrontations, avoidance behavior when dealing with issues

Be respectful Be extremely respectful of others' time i.e. don't ask them questions that can be answered by Google Never criticize others; simply give them feedback privately one-on-one, ideally via voice (not in writing) Always give people the benefit of the doubt; conflicts are symptoms of miscommunications or systemic failures Treat everyone as an equal; don't try to please others; just do the best job you can and the rest will follow

If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything Your priorities in life should be: i) personal health ii) family iii) Company iv) friends v) everything else

[wackynik]

Pitching Growth to a mature start-up

Today I presented growth hacking to a two and a half year old startup. The company (Webengage) had an awesome product team, awesome co-founding team and awesome website. 

The company boasts of 2 billion downloads of its API and 15000 enterprise customers in the past couple of years. Incredible for any Indian start-up to reach such a stage, especially for enterprise. Their typical customers are large businesses who have their chief marketing officers evaluate the product and allocate funds from their digital marketing budget. 

The co-founders, Avlesh Singh and Amit Chatrath were gentleman. They listened to what I had to pitch and suggested how my assumptions were wrong and perhaps revisit them with a revised strategy for growth. They were open enough in admitting that they are looking at funding for growing the business and perhaps growth would become a priority then. At present the pressing pain was growing the business with enterprise sales representatives which they were clearly lacking in. 

I categorically asked them a question about why they haven't been able to close deals with such a great product and what's the general time-frame. This question rattled the sales head who was sitting in the room. He constantly threw lewd comments and bad body language which made me very conscious of his presence. Avlesh quickly stopped the discussion to make me feel better but the harm was already done. 

I immediately stepped outside their office and send a message to Avlesh about the sales head having a complete judgmental attitude which could be really bad for a startup company's culture. In my opinion people who are insecure about themselves either have to be aware of this short coming. The co-founders have to build a culture where this is discussed with the employees/sub co-founders/investors or whomsoever is the stakeholder. If they still want to continue with such an employee, a team should be built around such a person.

I've definitely decided this is not one of the companies I would like to work with. It remains to be seen if this company will be successful with its current team.