Wonderful Experience at Muchhad Paanwala (Mumbai's Millionaire paanwala)

I have heard about Muchhad Paanwala from my friends who had recommended me strongly about the delicious paan being served at this place however I never got a chance to visit this place as I hardly visit India due to my business commitments in Japan however yesterday I landed up at Breach Candy yesterday evening and happened to visit Muchhad Paanwala.

It was a wonderful site to see 2 thick moustached men sitting cross legged comfortably in a little open shop, smiling and selling paan (Betel leaf) to a constantly flocking bunch of customers.

Since I don’t consume supari (Areca nut), I asked him to serve me Meetha Paan (Sweet Paan), I was asked if i would like it cold or normal, I asked him to give me cold, soon after I give my order the paan was served to me packed in a dry leaf. I must admit that the paan was quite delicious! Infact the owner was also quiet entertaining. I requested them for a couple of pictures and they both didn’t mind. They infact informed me that they have their own website and I was even more surprised to hear that the website was created in 1998, infact they are the first and probably the only paanwala in Mumbai city to have their own website.

Although it was a short visit at Muchhad Paanwala but it taught me quiet a few lessons which I thought of sharing with everyone through my blog.

  

Create your own brandIn a city filled with numerous paan shops, Muchhad Paanwala has created a distinct identity for himself, and subsequently his product. All his people working at the Paan shop had big moustaches which truly made them unique and kept the brand name continued. No one people are willing to travel a long distance just to grab a paan as they guarantee that the paan served at his shop is somehow superior to the rest served across Mumbai.

It pays to be the firstMuchhad Paanwala was the first paanwala to have his own website in the late '90s. I guess even today he is probably the only paanwala to have their own dedicated website (http://muchhadpaan.com/). The site has a section which is used for placing orders online although I wouldn’t really know how many orders does he get on a regular basis but it sure pays to be different as it gets people talking which leads to curiosity in people and curiosity generally translates into profit.

Believe in your productI believe no amount of marketing and self promotion in this world can translate into profits over a sustained period of time if the goods are not good. At the end of the day it is quality that matters and talks the loudest. Muchhad Paanwala has earned a big reputation only on the basis of quality paan they serve and to my surprise they are quiet reasonably priced.

Treat customers well
It is the customers at the end of the day who create awareness and spread the word of mouth about your product or company, the reason Muchhad Paanwala has stayed in business for decades and  still continues to be one of the best in his business is only due to his customers and their word of mouth. If you take your customers for granted you risk losing them. Customers at Muchhad Paanwala are made to feel like they matter, and quality service has a big role to play in that. Muchhad Paanwala is believed to be Mumbai's Millionaire paanwala however they are down to earth with their customers and always wear a smile and make their customers feel home. This makes them unique from others.

Japan And India: Making Up For Lost Time



Markets like India would have been less crucial for Japan Inc had its home market not become increasingly unreliable. Across many consumer product categories, from cars to cameras, Japan's domestic market is shrinking rapidly. Japan's macro-economic problems that started after the 1980s bubble burst are well known. But the shrinking domestic market has a dimension that can't be righted by policy correction.

Japan is ageing fast, the average age is 40, compare that to India's under 30. One in four Japanese today is over 65. A decade back, about one third of Canon's business came from Japan. Today the domestic market contributes just 10% of Canon's sales. But Asia minus Japan buys 30% of Canon's products, up from 5% 10 years back.

An even more dramatic illustration: car sales in Japan in 2011 dipped by 15%. Japan experts say preference for public transport (for environment and cost reasons) combined with an ageing population is impacting car sales in Japan.

Global M&As

Domestic market performance has brought home the message to Japan Inc that the future of their businesses lies outside. This realisation is already showing up in numbers. Last year, Japan saw a record number of outbound mergers and acquisitions transactions, the highest in its history, valued at $88 billion-plus. And this M&A figure is not just quantitatively impressive, the qualitative dimensions of outbound Japanese investment in 2011 tell an even more interesting story.

India Over China

As in almost everything to do with India and business, there's the India-China debate. India now appears to have some advantages vis-a-vis China, which of course remains the bigger market for Japanese products.

The first Indian advantage is the already huge presence of Japan Inc in China. There are 8,000 Japanese companies in Shanghai alone compared to 1,000 in India. Second, India has a political advantage over China. Sino-Japanese ties are marked with distrust and suspicion. Indo-Japanese ties aren't.

In 2008-09 and 2009-10, Indo-Japanese trade was stuck at around $10 billion. In 2010-11, the figure moved up to $14 billion. Bilateral trade is likely to cross $16 billion in 2011-12, and the target for 2014-15 is $25 billion, according to Ficci.

The third reason India looks more favourable than China is that Japan Inc can build things that India desperately needs. Japanese companies can contribute significantly in infrastructure like the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.

Invest in India?

The big questions though are will Japanese companies set up local manufacturing bases and significantly scale up their managerial presence? Bar the auto majors who are in India, most Japanese companies still aren't talking about investment in plants here. Most of them are importing products from China, Thailand and Japan.
But Investing in India may be the next stage, say Japan Inc watchers.

Feasibility Report & Its Importance

What is feasibility report?

Feasibility report is the analysis carried out to decide on the viability of a proposed venture; basically it answers the essential question of ‘is it a viable option and should the project be implemented’. All stages of feasibility report analysis are carried out in order to answer this question.

Conducting feasibility report is quiet common for all large successful businesses to ensure they embark on a viable project, for example Microsoft have a large research department situated in many different cities throughout the globe, this department collaborates with many institutions producing many feasibility analyses a year. When examining successful businesses such as Microsoft, I discovered they will not commit to a new project without first thoroughly assessing all of the variables and reviewing the probability of success through a feasibility study.

Process of feasibility analysis...

Feasibility analysis is always time consuming and hence also tends out to be an expensive affair. Many companies pay consultants to perform analysis for their companies.

A preliminary study is always undertaken to determine if it would be worthwhile to proceed to the feasibility analysis, within this preliminary study the evaluation of alternatives is made along with brief cost and benefit analysis. A feasibility study is usually conducted after the project managers have discussed all project ideas and every possible scenario, only if the results are positive the feasibility study begins.

How does it work?

Operational factors; Operational feasibility is used to assess how well the information systems will work if implemented in the given environment.

• Define the urgency of the project
• If the project is implemented, will it be a success?
• Does management support the project?
• How do end users feel about the new system?
• People tend to resist change - can this problem be overcome?
• Can management and end users adapt to the change?

Has the proposed venture conflicted with organisational or government regulations?

Schedule factors:

• It often takes time to build and implement an information system solution; will the project still be necessary on completion?
• The technology may exist, but are there the skills available to not only complete the project but complete it on schedule?
• Is the project deadline reasonable?
• Is the deadline desirable or mandatory? What are the results of failing to meet the project deadline?

Technical; Technical feasibility is the measure of the practicality of specific technical information system solutions and the availability of technical resources. Often new technologies are solutions looking for a problem to solve:

Is the technology for the information system solution practical?

• Does the necessary technology exist?
• Is the technology proven?
• Is the technology practical and reliable?
• Are the necessary skills available to design and implement the system?
• Is there the infrastructure to cope with ongoing maintenance (problems, upgrades)

Economic; this is regularly the most important analysis made, it asks important questions;

• Is the project justified (i.e. will benefits outweigh costs)?
• Can the project be done, within given cost constraints?
• What is the minimal cost to attain a certain system?
• Which alternative offers the best return on investment?
• How much will it cost to maintain?

Import - Export Business

To start your own export import business, it is very important to know the commodity you want to trade. Once you have decided the commodity, define an international market for your product. Then while tying loose ends at the domestic front as hiring experts on shipping, documentation, claims, incentives, packaging and acquiring the commodity, it is extremely important to market your product in the country you want to export your product to. Advertising along with Market Research plays an important role too.

A whole lot of government consent and authorization is needed to start off with the shipping of the goods. Remember to have in place the license to export or import. There are taxes and duties that should be paid for.

Everything from food articles to cars, jets and even commodes and an incredible list of millions of products are bought, sold or distributed in some part of the world on a daily basis. This trading of goods is worth millions of dollars. A country tends to import products that they are not able to manufacture or produce efficiently and economically. They export goods that they can inexpensively manufacture.

Export and import of products has to be handled with complete knowledge of rules and legalities of the two countries. Certain trained individuals and experts handle the operational part as whole lot documentation and technicalities is required to ship the goods between two countries.

Japan's growing yen for Indian assets

The appetite for Indian assets is growing among investors from the land of the samurai. An appreciating yen, combined with slow economic growth, has persuaded many Japanese investors to explore opportunities beyond their national boundary, and India appears to be one of their preferences.
In the past couple of years, Japanese investors have come here to form partnerships, acquire stakes and develop alliances with domestic companies to enter sectors like financial services, automobiles, information technology, metals and others.   

The appreciation in the yen has made foreign assets very attractive for investors. Also, the growth in their economy is muted, compared to India and China. India has a demographic advantage over China. The growing trade between India and Japan is also driving some of these investments.

BELOW ARE FEW OF THE SAMURAI SWEEP IN INDIAN MARKET

FINANCIAL SERVICES
Rs 3,000 crore was paid by Nippon Life for a 26% stake in Reliance Life in May 2011
Rs 2,731 crore is what Mitsui Sumitomo paid for a 26% stake in Max New York Life in March 2012
Rs 1,450 crore was paid by Nippon Life for a 26% stake in Reliance Capital Asset Management in January 2012

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Rs 900 crore was paid by NTT Communications for acquiring majority stake in Netmagic in January 2012

AUTOMOBILES

Denso had set up a joint venture with Subros for designing air-conditioning for cars in June 2010

SHIPBUILDING

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced technological and licencing agreement with Larsen & Toubro’s shipbuilding arm

STEEL

Rs 4,800 crore was shelled out by JFE Steel for buying a 15% stake in JSW Steel in July 2010
Kobe Steel and Steel Authority of India Limited formed a strategic collaboration in November 2010
Rs 2,400 crore was what Nippon Steel agreed to invest in Tata Steel for producing steel for the auto industry in January 2011

INDUSTRIALS

Hitachi set up a joint venture with BGR Energy System in August 2010
$200 million is what Softbank invested in InMobi in September 2011

OTHERS

Kokuyo bought stake in Camlin in May 2011


Japan today is characterised by an ageing population, slow growth rates, and near-zero interest rates. In contrast, India’s demographics and long-term growth potential are a perfect hedge to its own macro situation. Initial successes in the auto industry have spurred subsequent interest in a range of sectors, including industrials, chemicals, telecom, financials, pharmaceuticals, logistics and metals. Japanese investors, with their long-term (and) non-intrusive approach make good partners for Indian business families.

Japanese Work Culture Vs Indian Work Culture

This Article compares and contrasts the decision making processes used by India and Japan who represent one of the two powerful countries of Asia. First part of the discussion comments on the nuances of decision making in Japan and India. However, the second part questions the capability of rules in enabling quicker outcomes.

Social fabric of any culture is shaped by their history which in turn influences the way different countries or cultures conduct their businesses. The Japanese are generally known for being quick decision makers. They choose to involve all the possible stakeholders who can contribute or may be affected by the final outcome. The same approach is visible in their professional engagements too where Participative Management, involving both management and workers alike, is practiced. With Sony, Hitachi, Toyota and Suzuki being household names across the world, many believe their culture is the secret of their competitive advantage in the Automobile and the Consumer Electronics arena. Since everyone is part of the consensual decision making process, to improve quality, workers and management work together in quality circles and all of them are involved in the continuous struggle to improve all aspects of the self and of the company.

On the other hand, Historical evidence in India propounded by the Varna System, wherein the roles and responsibilities were defined according to the varna/caste of an individual – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, corroborates individual decision making. There are clearly laid down rules for the tasks and duties of an individual whether be it in family or in any social groups. Traces of this can be found out in the ancient scriptures of Manusmriti as well as one of the all time great book on Economics and Politics – Arthashastra where Kautilya examines the role of a King. On the social front, Indians believe in Karta, the eldest of the family, who is responsible for major decisions. Rest all chores are defined for individuals as per their ability and societal constraints. This is manifested in one becoming the right person for the right job. Outcome is perfect job done within an optimal time.

As is evident from the above discussion, both styles have their merits and demerits. If in Japanese method the workers feel like partners in the business, the Indian system promotes role based growth. Also, if the Japanese way invites lots of overheads in terms of cost and time, the Indian method hampers innovativeness and experimentation.

Before we move further, there is also a need to question our assumptions. A rule based system is easily scalable and replicable but not without its limitations. While rules may enable smooth transition from one state to another, they may not necessarily be the fastest way to the desired outcome.

‘Every coin has 2 sides to it’ and effective decision making is no exception. To every positive integer on the number line, there is a corresponding negative integer too. Thus, I conclude, that there is no universally applicable way to most effective decision making and sustainable decisions are a function of specific problem’s constraints.

Japanese Market - Info

Currency: Yen (JPY)

　

Working climate

• Visiting cards should be exchanged at the start of the meeting. The eldest and highest-placed person presents their card first.

• It is customary to bend forward slightly, holding the card in both hands.

What to do and what not to do

• Take an interpreter. Japanese people will be more receptive to discussions in their own language.

• Present your products in an organised manner.

• Be available and do not keep your client waiting.

Trends

• The prêt-à-porter sector is growing rapidly on the accessories market, with Japanese people becoming increasingly brand aware.

• In the fashion jewellery sector, inexpensive Japanese copies of fine jewellery are decreasing in popularity. The use of precious metals is becoming more widespread, whilst Japanese and foreign creators are focussing on design.

• In Japan, hats are becoming a fashion accessory for 20 to 30 year old women and for elderly women.

• Foulards, scarves and wraps are not in high demand in Japan, due to the boom in the silk scarf sector at the end of the nineties.

• The Japanese don't tend to make copies of products like they do in in China. They appreciate colours. French savoir-faire is important, but will not sell a product in itself. Products need to be innovative. Being "made in France" is not enough, because competition is harsh and the market has evolved enormously.