Street Food in style (Part of our Rs. 100 idea series)

THE 100 RUPEES IDEA- ONE JOURNEY OF LEARNING AND THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME…

WE WERE TOLD TO START UP A BUSINESS VENTURE WITH AN INITIAL CAPITAL OF RS. 100. IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE BUT IT WASN’T.

THE IDEA OF OUR GROUP OR COMPANY WAS VERY SIMPLE. WE PLANNED TO SELL AMERICAN SWEET CORNS AT RATE LOWER THAN THE OTHER VENDORS.

OUR METHOD OF GOING ABOUT IMPLEMENTING THE IDEA WAS SIMPLE ‘BUY THE CHEAPEST AND SELL AT THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE RATE THE PUBLIC IS WILLING TO PAY.’ SO WE DID THAT AND WE BOUGHT OUR RAW CORNS FROM A WHOLESALE VEGETABLE MARKET. THE OTHER NECESSARY THINGS SUCH AS LEMON, BUTTER, CUPS, SPOONS, AND NAPKINS ETC. WERE ALSO BOUGHT FROM WHOLESALERS. WE HAD TO START UP OUR BUSINESS IN UNDER RS.100, WHICH WAS QUITE A CHALLENGING TASK, BUT AFTER PLANNING AND COST CUTTING WE WERE ABLE TO START UP OUR BUSINESS IN RS.85.

WE CHOSE TO SET UP OUR CORN STALL OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR SCHOOL IN ORDER TO GET A REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE WHICH WE GOT IN ABUNDANCE .THE LOCATION WHICH WE HAD CHOSEN WAS A VERY POPULOUS AREA NEAR BATRA CINEMA IN MUKHERJEE NAGAR .WE SOLD THJE CORNS IN 4 FLAVOURS-CLASSIC SALTED, CLASSIC CHILLI.OREGANO ITALIANO AND PUNJABI PATAKA.WE SOLD ONE CUP OF CORN FOR RS.20. WE HAD ALSO KEPT AN INTERSESTING SCHEME (WE ALLOWED THE CUSTOMERS WHO BOUGHT 2 CUPS TO ROLL 2 DIE AND IF THEY GOT A TOTAL SUM OF 2 OR 12 WE GAVE THEM A CUP OF CORN FOR FREE!!!) THIS ADDED AN ELEMENT OF A GAME IN OUR BUSINESS AND WE GOT AN OVERWHELMING RESPONSE FROM OUR CUSTOMERS AS WE HAD TO GET EXTRA CORNS TWICE BECAUSE THE STOCK JUST GOT SOLD OFF IN AN HOUR OR SO.

THE EXPERIENCE WHICH WE GOT THROUGH THIS PROJECT WAS PRICELESS .WE GOT TO KNOW HOW TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS TOWARDS US, TO BE PATIENT WITH THE CUSTOMERS (WE GOT MANY CUSTOMERS WHO WOULD LISTEN TO WHAT WE TOLD THEM ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND THEN THEY REFUSED TO BUY AND MANY CUSTOMERS JUST DID NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO US.), WE UNDERSTOOD HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO SELL ANYTHING AND ALSO TO EARN MONEY.

MANY OF THE ASSUMPTIONS WHICH WE HAD MADE ON PAPER PROVED TO BE CORRECT AND EVEN BETTER THAN OUR EXPECTATIONS.WE HAD PLANNED OF TRYING TO SELL ABOUT 25 CUPS OF CORN BUT ENDED UP SELLING 42! OUR STRATEGY OF MARKETING WAS TO GO TO PEOPLE INDIVIDUALLY AND TELL THEM ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND WHY THEY SHOULD BUY IT.WE SOON LEARNT THAT IT WAS THE ONLY EFFECTIVE WAY TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS TO BUY OUR PRODUCT.

THE FIRST BIG PROBLEM WHICH WE FACED WAS THE CONSTRAINT OF DISTANCE. ALL OUR GROUP MEMBERS LIVE QUITE FAR OFF FROM EACH OTHER AND IT WASN’T POSSIBLE FOR US TO CONTINUE OUR BUSINESS FOR MORE THAN A DAY.AND ALSO WE HAD TO WIND UP OUR STALL BY 7P.M. THE OTHER PROBLEM WAS IN INFLUENCING PEOPLE BIT ONCE WE GOT STARTED WE WERE ABLE TO BRING IN CUSTOMERS EASILY.THERE WAS NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM WHICH WE HAD TO FACE.

WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE A NET PROFIT OF RS.540.

WE ARE THANKFUL TO DISCOVER LIFE TO HAVE GIVEN US AN OPPURTUNITY AND A CHANCE TO GAIN AN EXPERIENCE, WHICH UNDOUBTEDLY WOULD LAST FOR A LIFETIME, AND WE WOULD CHERISH EACH AND EVERY MOMENT WE HAD SPENT ON WORKING FOR THIS PROJECT.

(Ishan, Siddhant, Rahul, Shreyans, Aakash are students of class XI at DPS Rohini as part of Discover Life's Entrepreneurship Development Program. Further in the program they are working on an interesting idea. To know more check : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washroom-Stickers/117611434972645?v=wall or their blog at http://washroomstickers.blogspot.com)

Trash can make you earn!! (Part of our Rs. 100 idea series)

The greatest art in this world is to convince your customer to make him buy your product. We "Laben" decided to start business from scrap items. The final idea formulated was to first ask for used pens and then sell the same by putting refiles in them. Pen is an item used by everyone around the globe. Most of the people throw it after use. According to a study, 30 - 40 lakh pen are thrown away everyday. So, we thought that we would "reuse" the same scrap pens and sell them bringing us profit.Our business is also working for the cause "Environment Conservation" hence we decided to REUSE. Our price quotations were

Market Price-----------Our Price

Rs35------------------- Rs30

Rs20------------------- Rs15

Rs15------------------- Rs13

Rs10------------------- Rs7

In our pamphlet, we also quoted that we would replace the pen in one day if the pen sold by Laben gives any problem.

On 4th of December, we made our first business deal.We had gone to 14 houses where we sold roughly 17 pens. The profit on first day of sale was around RS100. This is the first time in my life when i have worked hard and earned money.I'll remember this date throughout my life. The next day, I started advertising my product.I made a Facebook page; I also had sent bulk messages to my friends. Many people reverted back by giving oders of 6 to 7 pens. The best response was from the school students.In school I sold around 27 pens.

My personal views about this business idea are that this is a very stable business as it can be performed at a large scale as the market is very big, this covers up the disadvantage that the margins are less.Our total profit was Rs400.

The experience of working with LABEN was great. I think now I know how tough is the work of a salesman who goes door to door convincing people to buy his product.

I believe that this venture marks the start of my professional life.

(Pallav Bhagat is a Class XI student at DPS Rohini who is a part of Discover Life's Entrepreneurship Development Program. Now further in the program Pallav and his team are working on an interesting idea. To know more about it you can check: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laben-Paintball-War/183613558317156?v=wall)