Doing the unusual does raise eyebrows. Businessgyan met some entrepreneurs who do unusual businesses to earn their usual bread and butter.

Panel Discussion organised by TASMAC & Businessgyan

                                   A brief introduction of the panelists-

 
M.D. Riti from Riti's Murder Games organises murder mystery games for corporates for team building purposes, and for parties.

Rajesh from Theatre Capital provides training to corporates on various topics by conducting theatre workshops

Saumil Majumdar from Sportz Village organises sports events for children and corporates.

Rumi Sikdar from Ants & Partners and SAFAL, trains individuals from not so  well-to-do  backgrounds, to help them become independent.

 Balaji: When you give your business card to people, what is their reaction?

Riti: My business card has a knife going through the logo, with blood splattering and a gun. The card conveys excitement, and it is genuine because I am excited about what I am doing. The people are extremely receptive, but converting them into business is not easy.

Rajesh: My card says that I am a theatre consultant, so the general perception among people is that it is all about acting only.

Saumil: They say I play for a living. They are curious to know how I make money out of my business in India. Everyone relates to sports.

Rumi: My card has two parts. The first one is about "Ants and Partners". Ants are the most hardworking creatures; they are social and also great team players and we just like them. The other part is "SAFAL" which means ‘success' and it is an acronym for Skills Academy for Appropriate Livelihoods. Livelihood is a concern for everyone; it generates curiosity, they want to know more about what we do and how we go about it.

Balaji: What was the inspiration, the driving factor for your ideas?

Rumi: A person should have a viable source of income to lead a proper life, and take care of his family. That was the main source of inspiration for me. I have seen very poor people in Gujarat and West Bengal. I feel sad for them, as they are unable to earn a sustainable income in spite of fertile land and resources available. Thinking on these lines I decided to come up with SAFAL.

Saumil: I used to play football in the US where people loved their sports while the scene in India was different. One of my friends in the US was in tears because his  country's football team did not qualify for the World Cup. When he came to know about India's position in the World Rankings, he told me that I should be ashamed of myself. I felt that something has to be done, and let's give it a shot.

I have been an entrepreneur for 8 years but doing business in the sports arena was an aspiration and not an agenda. Today people's socio-economic status has improved and one can get a job easily, and funds can be raised comfortably too, so I thought of going ahead with this idea.

Rajesh: 13 years ago, I was pushed into a play where I learnt about acting. It became my passion and I was infatuated with  it. It gave me a high, and it hasn't left me. It has been fueling my ideas and drive. Through theatre, I am contributing to people, helping them become confident, making them realize their potential. It is a great feeling, very fulfilling and rewarding. Had it not been for theatre, I would be just another face in the crowd.

Rumi: The actual germ of creating murder mystery games came from small silly games we play as kids. I played games with my small daughter and I created new scenarios, with strange characters. It is exciting to play detective and solve mysteries, enjoying the experience.  The games have evolved; can be played socially and also be used for training people.

Balaji: How did you develop your ideas ?

Rajesh: I was a consultant for NIE and used to teach children, referring to latest stories making them aware of the world around them, using theatre techniques. We developed modules for different age groups. Companies contacted us to train their employees using theatre. We had actors acting as managers, with real issues. The feedback was tremendous. Today we have modules for leadership, public speaking, confidence building, stress busters, team building, and behavioral concepts. We have started a movement, called Indian Arts Movement, a network of artists and art aficionados, to use art in places you normally don't use art.

Saumil: Our service is very simple. We help kids play. The people who use it define it. We had a plan, to provide a safe place for kids to play. We started with a small ground in HSR layout, made it child safe, asked parents to pay a monthly fee. Then we morphed it for corporates too. We realized that the desire to play was alive in everybody but facilities were missing.

Rumi: We had a proper business plan before we began. There was a question of funds. We approached NGOs (Non Government Organizations) for funds, but they were not ready to do so, as we were a fairly new organisation. We could not ask our participants to fund us, as they are not from well to do backgrounds. Thus it was self-funded. We were training the candidates and the corporates would not have to re-train them. We had a business model, which could generate funds. One was that the candidates pay us back as they get work. Today Venture Capitalists are approaching us and we are planning to scale it up. We started in Karnataka and moved to Tamil Nadu. We have big plans.

Balaji: Is it a different experience starting an unusual business?

Saumil:Unusual is a matter of perspective and timing. What is unusual today may not be unusual tomorrow. Sportz Village is a business opportunity for me. If you like to do something, you can always do it in your spare time but if you are doing business, you have to devote your quality time to it.

Riti: It is completely different. You have to create a market and convert it into money, which is difficult. The idea of being unusual should not remain at that level forever, but has to be diffused into the market. People ask me to convert into a training academy, which is easy, but one should stay unique.

Rajesh: In our case, it is something that we love to do, which we have converted into a business. We decided that we would stick to theatre no matter what comes our way. We went through huge lows and highs. I have learnt more from the lows which no corporate or B School could teach me.

Balaji: How do you measure yourselves? Is it money or happiness?

Rumi: One is of course the financial part. You have to earn your daily bread. Secondly, it has to give you satisfaction. Both are important. It has to be balanced in an unusual business, else it won't work.

Saumil: The business is always larger than the individual. At the end of the day, there has to be certain financial and personal accountability.  Being niche all the time is not possible. If the sector grows, your business also grows.

Riti: If you begin as a niche, it is good. You have to convert it into mainstream. In Bangalore, you see that people with passion for something, lack the courage, self-esteem and confidence to convert that passion into a profession. At a certain point if the passion doesn't work out, you should morph it into something saleable, instead of giving up.

Balaji: What is it like working in a regular environment? Why is it mundane and boring?

Saumil: A research says that the most successful companies are those, which are boring in nature, for the employees and not the entrepreneur. Today it is exciting for all of us, but tomorrow it will become boring for us as we are doing the same thing. The events business is becoming boring for me. The participants have fun  but it is mundane for us, as we organize events every month.

Balaji: In the  book by Geet Sethi,  "Success Vs Joy", he says that there is nothing else that he would want to do, than hitting the billiard ball, and he can do it 24/7. It might be regular for him but it isn't boring.

Balaji: There is uncertainty in business, how do you go about planning the first two years of your business?

Rumi: I would advise the youth to work in regular setups, gain experience and save up to gather some funds which will work out later when they do venture into their businesses in the future. Initially, they might not have the maturity and patience to handle things. But they should not loose track of their dreams.

Saumil: There is a spectrum in which you go about doing business and the American model is good which is as follows; if we cannot raise enough funds in a particular number of months, lets stop it. They are market driven. If nobody is ready to finance it, you should give your idea a second thought.

Balaji: What tells you that you are in the right direction?

Rumi: When you get more clients, you feel that you are in the right direction. You service the client and then analyze. These inputs make you modify your service and finally you are in the right direction, with sufficient cash flows and satisfied customers.

Riti: It is a personal call, eventually if the business is profitable enough and is generating money; it is feedback enough to carry on with the business.

Rajesh: The very fact that you are in an unusual business means that you have followed your instinct. Intially the cash flows were not there; had I followed the theory of cash flows, I would have switched to a regular job. But we listened to our inner voice, Gandhiji did.

Balaji: How do you handle/analyze feedback?

Saumil: Qualitative feedback forces you outside the canvas. We saw that there was opportunity in organizing corporate sports events. We had to recheck our objective, whether we are a kids sports company or a sports events company.

Balaji: Is there any change in habits, discipline, and advice when you get into a business, by quitting your job?

Riti: You should be pushing yourself constantly. Things might not be going the right way, but still you have to stay focused.

Rajesh: When I took the plunge, I received many better job opportunities, but then I had decided to stick to theatre, I stood firm to my decision. My team is very supportive; we have done it together.

Saumil: We all have the options to take up a job anytime, but then "how determined are you to stay in your business" is the question. When Dhirubhai Ambani was asked why he attended office even after a paralytic attack, he said, "ismay nasha hai" (meaning, it is addictive, it gives you a high).

Rumi: You should be ready to work like a peon. You should be ready to work for all the 24 hours a day, since it is your company. Work hard and become successful.

 Issue BG61 April06

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