Waste Management Articles
Here's a new article on waste management featuring Ecowise and Mr.Manik Thapar talking about waste management in India.
Manik Thapar got his hands dirty in garbage collection just after college. Despite two failed partnerships,
constant barbs and an employee strike, he rode the early days with gusto and help from family .
Manik Thapar | 28 years
Age at starting business: 23 years
Company Name: Eco Wise Waste Management Private Ltd
Seed capital: Rs 1 crore
Source of money: Family
Come to think of it, starting the business was easy. Convincing my mother—oh, that was no picnic. She loathed the idea of me returning to India from the US. Rather, she wanted me to work in Canada. But I was determined to work in waste management in India. To add a tinge of irony to the affair, it was my mother who named the company.
The Eureka moment arrived in a blizzard of complaints during an MBA in the US. Those days, the (poor) state of sanitation in India was a constant chorus of countrymen. That led to research and I espied a business opportunity. I launched a survey to gain a measure of the market and studied online about operations. I also called on a few experts.
Initially, I partnered US-based Eco Corp to sell technology to municipalities. The venture failed. Another tie-up with Canada's Stuart Energy that held a promise of $3 million to establish a processing plant met a similar fate. I was soon grappling with a dearth of capital.
I was in luck, however. My dad agreed to finance the idea, giving the first providential moment of my career. That saved me the trouble of approaching banks and financial institutions. Dad's money was also a savings buffer; I kept aside a portion for operational expenses for the first three-four months. With the money in place, I set about jumpstarting operations. The blue print: a marketing report during higher studies.
The key to execution lay in an operations system. Most of the seed capital was spent on equipment, including trucks and rickshaws, to collect and transport waste. The hiring was complete with 22 labourers. I established an office at home. With the occasional fine-tuning, the business was ready to sail.
The early days were exciting, with a stack of firsts sprouting around me. I signed the first client after I sold the idea without an appointment. My first tryst with bureaucrats was, to put it mildly, interesting because I was face-to-face with how things function in India.
There was the first opportunity to innovate, when I created an umbrella model that included collection, transportation, segregation, treatment and disposal of waste.
The heart of our business model is segregating waste into recyclable and organic materials. The first part is sold to industries such as paper mills and bottle plants that use recycled material. The organic matter is converted into compost (manure) and again sold to swathes of users. Only about 20% of clients pay for collecting waste.
There were some unwelcome firsts too. No incident was more disconcerting than being called the Great Canadian Kura King in a media report. There were stinging barbs such as a smalltime kabariwala. Collecting garbage is anathema. Everyone complains and pokes fun, but does little about it. I couldn't have had a better crash course in the hypocrisy of our society.
I was soon up against the first crisis—a strike by employees and resultant losses. It was a fledgling business, but they were demanding a hike despite earning up to Rs 15,000 a week. I retaliated by hiring daily wage labourers. The striking employees saw I wouldn't budge and came around.
The early days were packed with lessons seeded by mistakes. I was fixated on micromanagement. It was time to allow employees to do certain things their way. I was also relying on hearsay. The importance of effective communication was instilled then. Talking to people motivates them. I recognised troubles through such interactions.
Arriving at work early became a habit. That way, I was setting an example and also contributing to the business.
Those lessons continue to be handy to this day.
Still, the brickbats, strike and days when business was snailing spawned moments when I wanted to quit. An urge to look at other options took over on many occasions. But I hung in, aware that much effort and money had gone into the business. I was confident that if I stayed put, things would return to normalcy.
That's what happened. The revenues trickled in from the first month. I paid salaries with the money. A small part went into a celebratory drink with friends. I resisted the temptation to dip into a salary, though I claimed expenses from revenues.
I value my first year because it gave me biggest lessons yet. I learnt that operations are the centrepiece of any business. I drank in the value of providing a good service. That way customers embrace your company. When business grows by word of mouth, it negates the need for advertising. In my case, except for 'We help reduce your waste line' T-shirts employees wore, there was none.
To anyone looking to turn entrepreneur, I have this to say: Plan, plan and plan. Study the market. Involve yourself with every aspect of business for at least six months to gain a thorough understanding.
But no lesson is as profound as the worth of perseverance. I am a living example of that and I didn't learn it in B-school. I succeeded because I was unwilling to give up.
And my mother is a convert, now that green technology is a growing fad. I believe it has more to do with me being featured in the media.
(As told to Binoy Prabhakar)
Here's a new article on waste management featuring Ecowise and Mr.Manik Thapar talking about waste management in India.
Manik Thapar got his hands dirty in garbage collection just after college. Despite two failed partnerships,
constant barbs and an employee strike, he rode the early days with gusto and help from family .
Manik Thapar | 28 years
Age at starting business: 23 years
Company Name: Eco Wise Waste Management Private Ltd
Seed capital: Rs 1 crore
Source of money: Family
Come to think of it, starting the business was easy. Convincing my mother—oh, that was no picnic. She loathed the idea of me returning to India from the US. Rather, she wanted me to work in Canada. But I was determined to work in waste management in India. To add a tinge of irony to the affair, it was my mother who named the company.
The Eureka moment arrived in a blizzard of complaints during an MBA in the US. Those days, the (poor) state of sanitation in India was a constant chorus of countrymen. That led to research and I espied a business opportunity. I launched a survey to gain a measure of the market and studied online about operations. I also called on a few experts.
Initially, I partnered US-based Eco Corp to sell technology to municipalities. The venture failed. Another tie-up with Canada's Stuart Energy that held a promise of $3 million to establish a processing plant met a similar fate. I was soon grappling with a dearth of capital.
I was in luck, however. My dad agreed to finance the idea, giving the first providential moment of my career. That saved me the trouble of approaching banks and financial institutions. Dad's money was also a savings buffer; I kept aside a portion for operational expenses for the first three-four months. With the money in place, I set about jumpstarting operations. The blue print: a marketing report during higher studies.
The key to execution lay in an operations system. Most of the seed capital was spent on equipment, including trucks and rickshaws, to collect and transport waste. The hiring was complete with 22 labourers. I established an office at home. With the occasional fine-tuning, the business was ready to sail.
The early days were exciting, with a stack of firsts sprouting around me. I signed the first client after I sold the idea without an appointment. My first tryst with bureaucrats was, to put it mildly, interesting because I was face-to-face with how things function in India.
There was the first opportunity to innovate, when I created an umbrella model that included collection, transportation, segregation, treatment and disposal of waste.
The heart of our business model is segregating waste into recyclable and organic materials. The first part is sold to industries such as paper mills and bottle plants that use recycled material. The organic matter is converted into compost (manure) and again sold to swathes of users. Only about 20% of clients pay for collecting waste.
There were some unwelcome firsts too. No incident was more disconcerting than being called the Great Canadian Kura King in a media report. There were stinging barbs such as a smalltime kabariwala. Collecting garbage is anathema. Everyone complains and pokes fun, but does little about it. I couldn't have had a better crash course in the hypocrisy of our society.
I was soon up against the first crisis—a strike by employees and resultant losses. It was a fledgling business, but they were demanding a hike despite earning up to Rs 15,000 a week. I retaliated by hiring daily wage labourers. The striking employees saw I wouldn't budge and came around.
The early days were packed with lessons seeded by mistakes. I was fixated on micromanagement. It was time to allow employees to do certain things their way. I was also relying on hearsay. The importance of effective communication was instilled then. Talking to people motivates them. I recognised troubles through such interactions.
Arriving at work early became a habit. That way, I was setting an example and also contributing to the business.
Those lessons continue to be handy to this day.
Still, the brickbats, strike and days when business was snailing spawned moments when I wanted to quit. An urge to look at other options took over on many occasions. But I hung in, aware that much effort and money had gone into the business. I was confident that if I stayed put, things would return to normalcy.
That's what happened. The revenues trickled in from the first month. I paid salaries with the money. A small part went into a celebratory drink with friends. I resisted the temptation to dip into a salary, though I claimed expenses from revenues.
I value my first year because it gave me biggest lessons yet. I learnt that operations are the centrepiece of any business. I drank in the value of providing a good service. That way customers embrace your company. When business grows by word of mouth, it negates the need for advertising. In my case, except for 'We help reduce your waste line' T-shirts employees wore, there was none.
To anyone looking to turn entrepreneur, I have this to say: Plan, plan and plan. Study the market. Involve yourself with every aspect of business for at least six months to gain a thorough understanding.
But no lesson is as profound as the worth of perseverance. I am a living example of that and I didn't learn it in B-school. I succeeded because I was unwilling to give up.
And my mother is a convert, now that green technology is a growing fad. I believe it has more to do with me being featured in the media.
(As told to Binoy Prabhakar)
No comments:
Post a Comment