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reverse innovation

Single most effective way to make your brand or service stand-out from the clutter.

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Recently I was a part of a group (mostly comprising of business owners) and we were discussing the importance of marketing & sales in our businesses and how we can improve this function in order to generate more top line sales.

During the group discussion, lots of good points were tabled by each and every member and one such point was on 4 P’s of marketing which is founding principle of marketing (Kotler’s) which has now evolved to 4 A’s mainly

  • Acceptability
  • Accessibility
  • Affordability
  • Availability

 

I feel since the terminology has changed but the basic principles still remain valid. One of the important points that come under Acceptability is Consumer Behavior.

Even before SMEs or entrepreneur ventures out to launch or introduce a service they need to ensure whether there exists a market for their product or services. What does their targeted customers or audience perceives their product and services?

Entrepreneurs often forget the importance of consumer behavior and get engrossed in other 4 Ps of marketing.

It is the customer who is the core of the organization and all tasks (activities or product or services) should either make difference to his life by making his life easier. We call this approach as Customer centric approach. Evaluate your promotional ideas or campaigns, if they are adding value to your customer, or they are just another piece of boring advertising.

Consumer behavior decision examines the “processes, especially any particular triggers that compel consumers to buy a certain product.”  This is vital for entrepreneurial ventures.

Case study: Gillette launch in India.

When international giant brand Gillette entered the Indian market, way back in 1984, they brought their best sellers from US market which was primarily twin blade razor with a plastic tab on top, which enables easy removal of hairs which used to get stuck between twin blades. They did comprehensive research on this product at MIT University amongst a group of Indian students who were studying there.

The outcome was Gillette’s twin-blade product in India bombarded, they recognized that their best product failed to compel & satisfy Indian users. People who bought the razors were not satisfied with the shaving outcome.

Gillette team analyzed the core behavior of their customers and found that their best razor had failed to deliver to Indian customer’s satisfaction due to:

  • Indians tend to have rough or hard skin and hence the beard hair needed more precision shaving products.
  • India as a country always had issues with running tap water, the majority of the people used stored water in a bowl (popularly known as Mug) for carrying out their shaving regime, due to this their key USP of the plastic tab between the blades had failed since it required running tap water.
  • Indian water is hard water compared with western countries wherein the water is soft, which failed to deliver a good shaving experience.

 

Once Gillette understood this consumer segment, the company created a new customized product. Gillette Guard, the first product created just for the Indian market, was introduced in October 2010. It was priced at just Rs15 per razor. At Rs 5 for a refill cartridge, Gillette Guard met customer expectations on safety and ease of use.

In Business terminology, we call this as “reverse innovation” i.e. to develop a product that would satisfy the needs of the lower income customer.

They tweaked their communication with some more aspirations around the brand by asking the targeted customers; Are clean-shaven men more successful? Did the nation prefer clean-shaven celebrities? And the big one: do women prefer clean-shaven men? The media picked up the campaign and brand got significant reach in the minimal time span. Today, Gillette India is one of category leader in shaving products sector.

Learnings for start-ups:

Above case study tells us the importance of Reverse Innovation. In today’s technological advance systems, it’s easy to create a product or a service but it is very difficult to find a customer who would pay for your product or services. Hence understanding consumer behavior is of utmost importance even before venturing out with any kind of start-ups.

 

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 20 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in beauty, fashion and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. He has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in Middle East region. He specializes in Retail management, Product development and Brand management, Retail Operations, Sales Management and Franchising & Business Management. He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

“What business is McDonald’s into_”

What is the Business of McDonald’s?

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“What business is McDonald’s into?” was the question once asked by the founder of McDonald’s Ray Kroc to graduating students of a prestigious Management school. Most of the students quickly replied, “Selling hamburgers and fast food”.

founder of Mcdonald’s

Ray Kroc smiling replied, “We are a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)”.

A lot of us don’t realize that McDonald’s isn’t really a burger selling restaurant chain. Well, it is, but not purely. Peel back the layers and you’ll find that the corporate entity is actually one hell of a real estate company.

Former McDonald’s CFO, Harry J. Sonneborn, is even quoted as saying, “we are not technically in the food business. We are in the real estate business. The only reason we sell fifteen-cent hamburgers is that they are the greatest producer of revenue, from which our tenants can pay us our rent.”

The fast-food giant came from humble beginnings. The McDonald brothers, sons of Irish immigrants, first opened up a hot dog stand in 1937 in Pasadena before venturing out to open their first restaurant. Ray Kroc, after six years of working with the McDonalds brothers, elected to buy them out and became the owner of McDonald’s Corporation in 1961.

 

Core brand strategy was coined by their CFO, Harry J. Sonneborn,

Instead of making money by selling supplies to franchisees or demanding huge royalties…the McDonald’s Corporation became the landlord to its franchisees.

They bought the properties and then leased them out – at large markups. In addition to that regular income, the corporation would take a percentage of each shop’s gross sales.

Today McDonald’s makes its money on real estate through two methods. Its real estate subsidiary will buy and sell hot properties while also collecting rents on each of its franchised locations. McDonald’s restaurants are in over 100 countries and have probably served over 100 billion hamburgers. There are over 40,000 locations worldwide, of which only 15% are owned and operated by the McDonald’s corporation directly. The rest are franchisee operated.

It’s a brilliant strategy. Being able to collect on rents helps insulate them from the ups and downs of the business. You have to make rent after all.

The success of McDonald’s can also be attributed in part to the taste of the iconic fast food chain’s shakes and burgers. But the real secret sauce has everything to do with how the company has quietly become more a real estate company than a restaurant chain.

Additionally, in the last two decades, real estate values have increased, which means the overall collateral value of the company’s property has increased, too. So when McDonald’s wants to borrow money to make new investments, it can do so at relatively cheap rates.

McDonald’s is a great example of how diversification helps to not just grow a business’s income but also lower its financial risks. McDonald’s is both a fast food and real estate business.

Learnings from McDonald’s for entrepreneurs or start-ups is that whatever business you might be having, you need to plan for “Business Insulation” i.e. to insulate it from any external factors like economic recessionary pressures or from the competition. Always try to have a backup plan which can keep your business afloat even in turbulent times.

Does your Business has a backup plan?… (If not, then reach me on riteshmohan@yahoo.com, I would be more than willing to render help to my retail fraternity members).

About the author:
Ritesh Mohan is a passionate Retail professional with over 20 years in the retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in beauty, fashion and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. He has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in Middle East region. He specializes in Retail management, Product development, Brand management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, Business Management & Empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.
 

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what is retail shrinkage

$48 billions worth of goods are lost annually due to Retail Shrinkage”- Learn best practices !!

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“$48 billions worth of goods are lost annually due to Retail Shrinkage”

Have you ever noticed while shopping in a hypermarket that store staffs are busy replenishing stocks on the self, checking or changing price tags, if “Yes”, then please read this article as it would give you insights to appreciate retail store staff’s efforts to reduce “Retail shrinkage”.

My inspiration to write this article is my attempt to help retailers manage their “Retail shrinkage” before it becomes a headache for them.

Retail Shrinkage areas.

As per retail shrinkage statistics research by Food Marketing Institute into the causes and cures of a retail supermarket, shrink indicates that 64% of store shrink is directly caused by either a breakdown in or lack of effective store operating best practices, while 36% of store shrink is caused by theft and/or misdeeds.

What Is Retail Shrinkage?

Retail shrinkage is the portion of the inventory that gets lost or stolen.

It is expressed as a percentage i.e. value of lost or stolen stock divided by overall sales.

Why Retail shrinkage causes a headache for retailers?

“Retail Shrinkage” of 4% can wipe off 12% of your Net profit, leaving the cash-strapped retailer in chaos, thinking what has hit them unknowingly.

A survey done in the United States by the National Retail Federation found annually there is a loss of approx. $48 billion to retailers through shrinkage

How to prevent Retail shrinkage in Retail?

With the advent of technology, this task has become less painful but I strongly believe in following the basic principles of Loss Prevention methodology in order to achieve your organization’s goal.

  1. Commitment from Top management and Brand owners:

    Any strategic change can only be implemented successfully if there is a complete 100% commitment from the top management or brand owners.

  2. Build a strong internal audit function:

    Develop an Environment of Loss Prevention in an overall organization by:

  3. By making employees accountable.

  4. Employees throughout the company must take responsibility for reducing shrinkage. The company should see loss prevention as equal to sales in importance.

  5. Train Staff to Follow Security Policies and Procedures:

  6. There is a need to train not only retail sales staff but also warehousing staff who are responsible for processing sales requests or sales orders i.e. reduce variances or shrinkage by correctly picking and packing an item for the store and by proper documentation data entry at the time of processing delivery notes.

3) Customer Service

One of the best deterrents against shoplifting is good customer service. The elements of friendly, helpful service naturally conflict with the accessible environment shoplifters want.

Greeting customers when they come in the store makes them aware you notice their presence. Approaching them to ask if they need help and checking in periodically helps prevent them from feeling comfortable enough to steal.

Learn 10 hacks to kickstart your e-commerce business, click here.

4) Consider Your Store Layout:

An open floor plan where retail sales staff or service associates can see much of the store from central locations helps as well.

5) Technology:

Security cameras and electronic surveillance tags and scanners prevent shoplifting.

Electronic tags and scanners are proving to be useful tool to prevent shrinkage.

6) Preventing Non-Shoplifting Shrinkage:

Minimizing or eliminating employee theft is a challenge. Building a trusting environment with a motivated workforce is the ideal starting point. If employees feel motivated, empowered & fairly paid, they are less likely to feel compelled to steal.

It should be a common goal for all retail floor staff to prevent accounting errors and fraud. Employees need to accurately count products when they arrive and compare them against Delivery note or what the point of sales system says they should receive.

7) Annual or Bi-annual Stock audit:

Count the physical inventory in your business every year or twice a year to take corrective steps.

Case study:

shrinkage

In a recent study by an auditing firm on the Loss prevention program by studying companies like Target, Limited Brands, Best Buy, Gap, and CVS.

Their findings were an eye-opener, the average shrinkage rate of these five companies was 44% below the U.S. mean, and one company’s rate was 70% below.

Unique Processes these companies followed that made them stand apart (including points mentioned above)

Using evidence-based management. Decisions must derive from detailed and timely data, not intuition. (Most of the five companies’ store managers received item-level shrinkage data every week.)

Linking shrinkage to KPIs: Companies can help keep shrinkage on the agenda by, for example, providing regular shrinkage scorecards, linking it individual staffs KPI’s and using it at the time of appraisals.

 

YouTube video

 

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 20 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in the beauty, fashion, and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. Ritesh has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in the Middle East region. He specializes in Retail management, Product development, and Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising & Business Management. 

Ritesh is an author of the book “Simplifying Retail” – now available on Amazon

You can buy the book from

Amazon (link of amazon India)

https://amzn.to/3kM380v

Flipkart (link to Flipkart India)

https://bit.ly/2TGx2ra

Amazon ebook (link for download)

https://amzn.to/34GzVia

 

 

Retail Shrinkage areas.

$48 billions worth of goods are lost annually due to Retail Shrinkage”- Want to know industry’s best practices?

0

Have you ever noticed while shopping in a hypermarket that store staffs are busy replenishing stocks on the self, checking or changing price tags, if “Yes”, then please read this article as it would give you insights to appreciate retail store staff’s efforts to reduce “Retail shrinkage”.

My inspiration to write this article is my attempt to help retailers manage their “Retail shrinkage” before it becomes a headache for them.

Retail Shrinkage areas.

As per retail shrinkage statistics research by Food Marketing Institute into the causes and cures of a retail supermarket, shrink indicates that 64% of store shrink is directly caused by either a breakdown in or lack of effective store operating best practices, while 36% of store shrink is caused by theft and/or misdeeds.

What Is Retail Shrinkage?

Retail shrinkage is the portion of the inventory that gets lost or stolen.

It is expressed as a percentage i.e. value of lost or stolen stock divided by overall sales.

Why Retail shrinkage causes a headache for retailers?

“Retail Shrinkage” of 4% can wipe off 12% of your Net profit, leaving the cash-strapped retailer in chaos, thinking what has hit them unknowingly.

A survey done in the United States by the National Retail Federation found annually there is a loss of approx. $48 billion to retailers through shrinkage

How to prevent Retail shrinkage in Retail?

With the advent of technology, this task has become less painful but I strongly believe in following the basic principles of Loss Prevention methodology in order to achieve your organization’s goal.

  1. Commitment from Top management and Brand owners:

    Any strategic change can only be implemented successfully if there is a complete 100% commitment from the top management or brand owners.

  2. Build a strong Internal audit function:

    Develop an Environment of Loss Prevention in an overall organization by:

  3. By making employees accountable.

  4. Employees throughout the company must take responsibility for reducing shrinkage. The company should see loss prevention as equal to sales in importance.

  5. Train Staff to Follow Security Policies and Procedures:

  6. There is a need to train not only retail sales staff but also warehousing staff who are responsible for processing sales request or sales order i.e. reduce variances or shrinkage by correctly picking and packing an item for the store and by proper documentation data entry at the time of processing delivery notes.

3) Customer Service

One of the best deterrents against shoplifting is good customer service. The elements of friendly, helpful service naturally conflict with the accessible environment shoplifters want.

Greeting customers when they come in the store makes them aware you notice their presence. Approaching them to ask if they need help and checking in periodically helps prevent them from feeling comfortable enough to steal.

4) Consider Your Store Layout:

An open floor plan where retail sales staff or service associates can see much of the store from central locations helps as well.

5) Technology:

Security cameras and electronic surveillance tags and scanners prevent shoplifting.

Electronic tags and scanners are used to signal store staff when a customer tries to slip out the door without paying for an item.

6) Preventing Non-Shoplifting Shrinkage:

Minimizing or eliminating employee theft is a challenge. Building a trusting environment with a motivated workforce is the ideal starting point. If employees feel motivated, empowered & fairly paid, they are less likely to feel compelled to steal.

It should be a common goal for all retail floor staffs to prevent accounting errors and fraud. Employees need to accurately count products when they arrive and compare them against Delivery note or what the Point of sales system says they should receive.

7) Annual or Bi-annual Stock audit:

Count the physical inventory in your business every year or twice a year to take corrective steps.

Case study:

shrinkage

In a recent study by an auditing firm on the Loss prevention program by studying companies like Target, Limited Brands, Best Buy, Gap, and CVS.

Their findings were an eye-opener, the average shrinkage rate of these five companies was 44% below the U.S. mean, and one company’s rate was 70% below.

Unique Processes these companies followed that made them stand apart (including points mentioned above)

Using evidence-based management. Decisions must derive from detailed and timely data, not intuition. (Most of the five companies’ store managers received item-level shrinkage data every week.)

Linking shrinkage to KPIs: Companies can help keep shrinkage on the agenda by, for example, providing regular shrinkage scorecards, linking it individual staffs KPI’s and using it at the time of appraisals.

 

YouTube video

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 20 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in beauty, fashion and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. Ritesh has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well in the Middle East region. He specializes in Retail management, Product development, and Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising & Business Management. He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.

 

IMG_1716

Visual Merchandising – A Silent Salesman in Retail.

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As I embark to write this article on visual merchandising which is often kept at last number in the priority list of Retail CEOs, COOs or is often left to Operations team to decide & manage along with store operation. I feel it is important to highlight the importance of Visual merchandising in brand building initiatives and developing loyal customers for the brand.

During the course of my retail journey, I got hands-on experience in managing VM teams and leading VM functions for a couple of middle-eastern brands in my retail career and I have often considered it and have given this function more priority than Marketing or advertising functions in retail mix.

It is my sincere attempt to clarify some fundamental principles of Visual Merchandising to brand owners, retailers and retail professionals so that they can re-energize their brands using Visual merchandising strategy.

Visual merchandising, also known as the ‘silent salesman’, suggests selling by display and presentation. Visual merchandising focal points are situated strategically to circulate the customer in the store and communicate the capabilities and advantages of the merchandise.

This is completed by converting a passerby to a browser with an successful window display, a browser to a spender via the process of ‘conversion’, a spender to a major spender by increasing the ‘ticket size’ assisted by the method of cross-merchandising.

Extension of Brand’s Identity and communication: Visual merchandising is an extension of Brand’s image and should be in sync with brand’s communication strategy.

Imparting outstanding Shopping Experience Visual merchandising enhances the shopping experience by creating suitable ambience, producing an image of the store in the minds of the customers via a combination of colors, display presentations, graphics, lighting, forms and fixtures. If completed in an exciting and dynamic fashion, the shopping experience would be pleasurable for the consumer and make him/her come repeatedly.

Communication Tool Visual merchandising communicates to clients the right message about the merchandise by projecting the latest trends, colors and fashion in apparel retailing. Visual displays are the great communication drivers & deliver an opportunity for retailers to sell a variety of merchandise.

Theme displays based on a season or an event is employed to promote a proper product range.

Coordinated displays contain items that are typically utilized/ sold/ consumed together, growing several purchases besides educating or informing the customer. Classification dominant displays contain all varieties of 1 item, are used to convey the impression of a wide selection.

Importance of VM strategy in Purchase cycle: Consumer’s perceptions, aspirations, motivations and memories play an important role in purchase cycle.

VM alters the perception and attitude of the consumers, forcing them to buy the product in a way that he/she enjoys purchasing goods thus leaving an everlasting shopping experience.

31% of the consumer’s purchases in lifestyle products are impulse purchases thus a store with good displays and theme and décor attract eyeballs, thus increasing footfalls and thus converting footfall into sales.

78% of shoppers recall store name when they liked store window display, interiors or music

How well the store presents its merchandise using displays relates to the generation of brand imagery. Involvement of sensory, emotions, attitudes during the buying process decision provides enjoyment and satisfaction to shoppers.

Visual merchandising help in following ways:

Exterior presentation:sign boards, store exteriors, store signage, window displays and banners.

Store layout:merchandise flow, category zoning, ease of accessibility of merchandise, lighting concept.

Store interior presentation: Merchandising principles, color coordination/ stories, merchandising techniques using mannequins, lighting, music etc, using props to highlight product, pricing signage’s to communicate “Hot deals”, floor and wall coverings, space design to ensure proper circulation of customers across the stores, defining hot and cold walls in store layout process.

Visual Merchandising offers a Multi-sensory experience for the store to its customers.

Live Displays are used sometimes for product displays at the entrance of the store to demonstrate the use of products. Children’s stores often use people dressed as cartoon characters to attract kids’ attention.



Island Displays are displays of merchandise found generally at the entrance of stores to announce new arrivals, special offers, etc. A display podium is erected and decorated suitably.

   

 

   Dynamic Window displays using Holographic projections

YouTube video

 

I would like to end my article with a video of my interaction with Mr Anand Kumar, Executive Director- ABRA VM&SD as he shares his wisdom of running a company which specializes in creating a visual retail environment for some of the biggest luxury brands in the Middle Eastern region. Anand shares a couple of tips for Visual Merchandising managers and Retail CEOs which is very relevant in current times of economic downturn and would help retailers develop their Visual merchandising strategy in sync with overall brand strategy.

YouTube video
 

Contact me on riteshmohan@yahoo.com in case you are looking at getting the fresh perspective of your business strategy, I would be glad to share my wisdom with my industry friends and connections.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Redefining COGS may help overcome turbulent times for Middle eastern Retailers or Is it Time for Retail 3.0 ?

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sales commissions etc which varies with sales going up or coming down.

Off lately most retailers were focusing on Rent cost and staff costs in order to reduce by bringing some kind of optimization in their efficiencies leading to store closures. They try to cut down on their expenses like marketing costs etc in order to turn around the profitability of their retail stores.

With the change in the middle eastern economy & in an era of downturn in petrodollars and drop in tourists numbers due to geopolitical conflict and drop in consumer’s spending power & tighter financing options from financial institutions has led to turbulent times for most of the retailers, who earlier depended upon opening new stores as one of the important growth metrics for gaining market share.

Future is for those who embrace reality soonest by:

  1. a)Re-look at fixed costs especially Rentals:

It’s time to treat malls/landlords as your team members and discuss the possibility of revising current lease agreements or rent-free period as any reduction, irrespective of how small it may be will help your brand keep floating in turbulent times.

  1. b)Re-look at Cost of goods sold (COGS):

The game-changer for most retailers would be in COGS, so start with listing down all the cost components of your supply chain, your freight costs, insurance costs, procurement costs, production costs (in case of manufacturers cum retailers).

Try to bring some efficiency or cost reduction in COGS; as any reduction even as low as 3%  would have a positive impact on overall P&L by min 2.5X  (since low cost of goods means better attractive pricing options for customers thus higher probability of better product sales thus increasing your top line).

  1. c)Stop overseeing Marketing cost as an expense:

It’s so wrong to consider marketing cost as an expense, unfortunately, Good accounting practices put marketing header into expense head but speaking from a business perspective, it is actually an investment that company makes over long period time to build its brand equity which is actually realized in dollars once the brand is acquired or sold. Marketing efforts pay in keeping the brand afloat in turbulent times.

  1. d) Look more macroscopic rather than microscopic :

Consider overall retail division of a company from its overall P&L and not by outlet by outlet P&L as practiced by most companies using SBU concept philosophy as an excuse. From my experience, I can confidently say that out of 10 operating stores, 3 stores would fall under “superstar” category and 4-5 stores would be “potential stores or close to operating breakeven stage” and 2 stores would be loss-making stores which need to be identified and closed provided brand owners or managers have gone through above checklists or points mentioned.

  1. e)Adapt or Re-tweak your business model:

Downtimes provide an excellent opportunity to businesses to look at their internal strengths & weaknesses and bring some kind of product rationalization in their offerings, streamlining their cost of procurements, better more efficient supply chain may be implemented for example Just in Time or Vendor-managed Inventory systems. Explore markets outside their operating territories as it is better to spread risk to the larger region. Look at franchising as a revenue model or even licensing.

  1. f)Adapt technology and Omnichannel strategy:

I have written previously on Omnichannel strategy in my blogs and on my LinkedIn posts. I feel sooner we retailers accept this reality better it would be for the entire retail fraternity.

Online stores are now looking towards brick & mortar stores and converting them into smart stores.

A Recent example is Jack Ma’s Alibaba who notched USD 25 Billion sales on a single day’s sale in China much higher than black Friday sales in the United States of America. (On 11th November 2017)

Alibaba is converting 100,000 small mom-pop & convenience stores into SMART stores by providing them with unified systems so that they can order, store goods and become distribution centers for these goods. Alibaba has launched an app called Ling Shou Tong, meaning “connect retail.” Convenience stores are given suggestions on what to procure and how to display merchandise. The goods are shipped from dedicated Alibaba warehouses, obviating middlemen. In theory, that improves their profit.

Hope Middle Eastern hypermarket retailers like Carrefour, Lulu are closely monitoring the transition that’s taking place as to how technology would reform the retail scenario with the advent of Machine learning algorithms and programs that are being developed.

I call this revolution as RETAIL 3.0.

Are we ready to embrace Retail 3.0 in our retail brand?

I would be more than happy to assist & discuss with all my fellow retailers to incorporate few of my learnings into their brand operations and grow in the new economy.

Check out the video on Alibaba’s 11-11 historic singles day phenomenon:

YouTube video

Management lesson learned from a Sipahi (Indian Army soldier)

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There is a saying that “There is no better teacher than Travel” and I witnessed the truth of this statement last month when I visited India for my Diwali vacations and took time off to mix this pleasure trip with some spiritual visit and decided to visit Jammu & Kashmir.

I boarded a J&K transport bus and my co-seat passenger was a Sipahi of Indian Army, who was travelling on his duty, fully armoured as a part of his duty protocol; since the seat was not spacious and weather was cold I was wearing my winter gear and I requested my co-passenger “Sir, why don’t you keep your automatic rifle on floor so that we both could sit comfortably”.

The reply from soldier was prompt- mixed with pride and humbleness, “Saab Ji, I am on duty and for us, ambush can occur anytime, and God forbids, if ambush situation arises, I should be ready for action and not waste even a second in reaching out for my rifle”

He continued “Saab Ji, its one split second that decides whether we stay alive or we die”.

I smiled on hearing this and turned towards the bus window watching the scenic beauty outside but kept thinking about one big management lesson that I learned from this soldier.

“Always remain Prepared, You may never know when opportunity struck and you need to give your best shot in order to grab opportunity”.

With so much pain in outside world due to current economic challenges, so many job losses, entrepreneurs looking for venture capital, we all can learn from this soldier i.e. Be Prepared with your Pitch presentation/ business proposals or with your enhanced skill set so when Life offers you an opportunity, You are ready to Grab it with both hands.

Love what you do, make it your passion and Never ever Give up.

Post reaching my destination, I shook hands with this soldier and gave him a hug to convey my thanks for his teachings and we bid Goodbye to each other.

                                 (Picture used for Illustration purpose only)

Somewhere back in my mind, few questions still remain….

What made this soldier, so dedicated towards his profession? What makes him sacrifice all the pleasurable things in life that we civilians run towards our whole life?

Let me tell you that soldier was not very well educated, yet he got trained in a manner that he could provide me with my life lesson.

I would encourage all my friends & Linkedin connections to share their one learning /lesson which they learned from their experience or from some stranger. It would be nice to learn by sharing our wisdom with each other.

Happy Retailing folks!!!

Love

Can a business model of fast food Quick service restaurant transform healthcare & wellness sector_

Can a business model of fast food Quick service restaurant transform healthcare & wellness sector?

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My inspiration to write on this topic came when I was approached by a senior personnel of a reputed healthcare chain in India, resulted in our discussion about their future plans and industry overall.

My brief interaction with the senior management of this reputed healthcare chain inspired me to look at healthcare sector more closely as it is already billion dollar industry itself & growing.

With modern times as the life expectancy rate has increased and with the advent of the modern sedentary lifestyle that we all are living in modern cities have given birth to a new breed of Specialty healthcare clinics & centres/hospitals.

I initiated my research limiting myself to Eyecare clinics and my findings have truly amazed me with new age speciality eye care clinics and their business model.

Background:

I limited my scope of the study to two big Eyecare speciality clinics in Southern India, which are now spreading their wings in other parts of the country as well as in the Middle East and the Far East countries.

(I would not like to divulge names of these two eye care chains since the brand name is not important but how they have transformed their business model is what I am going to highlight in my article).

How the Journey started?

Both these chains were started by legendary family icons who were specialist doctors & now being managed by 2nd and 3rdgenerations and it all began with a noble cause which has formed the SOUL of the organization & gave them their WHY (Purpose).

  1)   Startup mentality & Positive state of mind:

Starting small but with limited resources at hand but withclear VISION in mind that they need to provide eye care to the poorest of the poor in economic strata.

Ideation & concept came from the business model of fast food chain business model i.e. turning out millions of dishes (burgers/pizzas) in shortest possible time. Serving good food in the shortest time is the main premise of any Quick Service Restaurant.

These Eyecare speciality chains have adopted the same style of operations i.e. bringing Economies of Scale in their operations by treating the maximum number of patients which drives their fixed costs to go downwards (benefit from economies of scale operations) resulting in bringing down the cost of treatment.

   2) Ethical way for imparting treatment and giving optimum satisfaction to all its patients

These chains treat eye illness like cataracts at so subsidized costs and sometimes free to poor patients who could not afford the high cost of treatments. Their costs are compensated by those patients who could afford to pay for the treatment or are covered by health insurance. Patients are told in advance as to where their fees or cost of treatment would be utilized so that there is transparency which results ingaining TRUST from higher economic strata who feels happy and satisfied that at least their money which he/she is paying towards medical treatment is being utilized to give treatment to poor patients who could hardly afford the treatment.

GIVING selflessly to society is the main objective of Spiritualism.

Such a noble thought, which has turned these brands into million dollar brands and still growing.

3)  Using technology & Six Sigma principle:

– ERP systems keep records of all patients which are made available at the click of a button to any doctor at given point of time. Patients diagnosed with cataract are given appointments for next day surgery.

– Automated queue system; clear indicators of the free patient facility and Paid patient facility.

– Daycare clinics wherein patients need not stay post-surgery but can go back to his/her home same day.

– Using Six Sigma systems:

Eliminating defects in any process – from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service is the main promise of Six Sigma processes which has helped these speciality eye care clinics to scale up faster than any other service provider.

– Optimum utilization of facility:

Treating Operation theatre as Production/ Assembly line i.e. while the earlier patient is being operated in OT, the second patient is being prepared in the preparatory room next to OT so that there is minimal wastage of time and this process brings Operational efficiency thus bringing the cost down.

4) Team management

Challenge comes when you have to manage both technical staffs (doctors) along with paramedical staffs and admin teams. How to bring all of them together and work in a synchronized way is a big task itself.

One of my core learning while studying their business model is the fact these successful eye care speciality clinics chain have mastered the way of Internal communicationright from senior management to lowest ranks of helpers.

Everybody knows what is going on and what needs to be done, they all work as a single unit.

Management has ensured that every member of these clinics shares same VALUES and Purpose (Why) as that of their founders. Their values & ethical principles have been aligned and imbibed in each and every staff member.

 If you analyze, this is the main principle behind Robert Kaplan’s “Balance scorecard” theory.

I would end my article by saluting these founders & visionaries of these Eye care speciality clinics operating in Southern India and their current management who is not only following their founder’s VISION but also showing the world a NEW WAY OF DOING BUSINESS ETHICALLY.

You can reach me on riteshmohan@yahoo.com in case this topic excites you.