YOUNGCONCEPTS

How UPS became the largest courier company by using the power of IT

2012-01-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

United Parcel Service started in 1907 in a closet sized basement office. Jim Casey and Claude Ryan- two teenagers from Seattle with two bicycles and one phone promised the best service at the lowest rates.

UPS has gone ahead to become world's largest ground and air-package distribution company. It is a global enterprise with more than 425,000 employees, 93,000 vehicles and the world's 9th largest airline.

Today, UPS delivers more than 15 million parcels and documents each day in the United States and more than 200 other countries and territories.
UPS spends more than $ 1 billion each year to maintain a high level of customer service while keeping costs low and streamlining its overall operations.

It all starts with a scannable bar coded label attached to a package, which contains detailed information about the sender, the destination and when the package should arrive. Customers can download and print their own labels using special software provided by UPS or by accessing the UPS website.
Before the package is even picked up, information from the smart label is transmitted to one of UPS's computer centers in Mahwah, New Jersey, Alpharetta, Georgia and sent to the distribution center nearest its final destination.

Dispatchers at this center download the label data and use special software to create the most efficient delivery route for each driver that considers traffic, weather conditions and the location of each stop.
UPS estimates its delivery trucks save 28 million miles and burn 3 million fewer gallons of fuel each year as a result of using this technology.

The first thing a UPS driver picks up each day is a handheld computer called Delivery Information Acquisition Device (D.I.A.D), which can access one of the wireless networks cell phones rely on.

As soon as the driver logs on, his/her day's route is downloaded onto the handheld. The DIAD also captures customers signatures along with pickup and delivery information. Package tracking information is then transmitted to UPS's computer network for storage and processing. From there, the information can be accessed worldwide to provide proof of delivery to customers or to respond to customer queries.

It usually takes less than 60 seconds from the time a driver presses "complete" on a DIAD for the new information to be available on the web.
Through its automated package tracking system, UPS can monitor and even re-route packages throughout the delivery process.

UPS customers can access status of any package through its website. They can even calculate fares, see the route and delivery period before booking a scheduled pickup.

Thus, by using the power of IT, UPS has created enormous business.

Agricultural laborer to C.E.O of USA company

2012-01-29T05:31:00.000-08:00

Every successful story has a painful beginning

and every painful beginning has a successful ending ..... Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam...

Do you think it is just a common statement. It is not a mere statement. A

philosophy of life. It is not even a mere philosophy of life, It is an alarming,

compassionate, soothing and profound answer to all the questions that always

chant in your mind. A right and correct response to the pains that you

experience in the early phases of life. It is said No pains ,No gains.

Multimillionaire Bill gates has rightly said ' If you are born poor, it is not your

mistake but if you die poor it is your mistake.’

Let me elucidate , narrate and bring into lime light of an eye opening , mesmerizing and inspiring life story of a lady who was just an agricultural labour, worked for Rs. 5 per day until 1989 now became CEO of Keys software solutions in USA and making millions of money and serving the grass roots of Indian society. Is it awe striking and jaw dropping for you ? but you need to believe and accept because you are all going to witness her, listen to her and even talk to her very soon. She is none other than Mrs. D. Anil Jyothi Reddy.

I know You become more enthusiastic and eager to know how a mediocre village woman could surpass all the obstacles of domestic as well as financial and made her dreams realized. Her success is not limited to her or her own family, the social service that she renders to the needy folk of society inspires many corporate giants to extend their hand with her to help the needy.

The financial support that she renders is not a big issue when it is compared to her life story which has become a living example for millions to take her as inspiration and face the challenges with brave heart. Now many women take her as an example and coming out with courageous hearts to brake the limiting believes as well as glass ceiling which condense their actual growth according to their innate potential.

Now here are some of the important phases in her much instigating story of her life. I know many of you even feel the warmth in your heart and wet your eyes and burst into tears by becoming panic. No, If you intend to become so, it is not liked by either Jyothi Reddy or us ,

CHILDHOOD:
Anila Jyothi Reddy was born in Narasimhula Gudem in Hanumakonda mandal, Warangal District as eldest of four children to a common peasant who has lost his employment during emergency. Her father was joined in Army but could not continue because of his attachment with the family. The military training that he had, the attitude that he developed, was given to her as inheritance. As it was very difficult for the family to meet the both the ends, he was forced to join Jyothi Reddy at BALASADAN, a government orphanage at Hanumakonda as a mother less child.

From 5th class to 10th class Jyothi Reddy stayed in orphanage by having solitary life away from home. She used to await if anyone would come and render some help. Particularly during winter season when she used to shiver like anything as her blankets were torn. May be this had a strong influence in her sub conscious and drive her to orphanages often and help the children with all that they require among all the love and feeling of belongingness. Even during summer she never used to go to her village, she used to stay in warden’s house and did all the house hold work for which she was fed.

The empathy that she shows on all the orphans is gained through her own bitter experiences. Recently she made a representation to the Government of India with all her allies to legislate the Rights of the Orphans. She strongly believes the words of Mother Teresa… “ The worst disease in the world is neither poverty nor other, lack of feeling of belongingness, being unwanted is the worst ”.

Whenever she visits the Orphanages in India she prefers to spend more time with the orphans. Even they rejoice her company… “ she is more than mother to me’’ says Ranjitha, an orphan who is being sponsored by Jyothi. If you see many college students keep on blaming their environment and parents when they fail to satisfy their wants. A sincere advice to them to visit any orphanage at least once in a year. You better understand the real pain of the life and appreciate what you really have.

MARRIAGE: Mrs Jyothi Reddy passed 10th class with good marks and she dreamed to continue her education. But her parents have contrary plans. At the age of just 16 they performed her marriage with Mr. SangiReddy because of their dire financial position. It is quiet common in rural India, many parents of girl child treat them as burden and try to remove the burden as soon as possible and perform marriage at an early stage. She was innocent and not knowing much about marital life.. time passed ..by the age of eighteen she became mother of two girls. It was very difficult for her to provide the basic needs of her children to feed them and to look after.

EARLY CAREER :
Strong determination to take care of her children made her to persuade her mother-in-law and husband to work in the agriculture to work for money. She worked for Rs. 5 per day as agriculture labour. Many other people who worked along with her on field were impressed by her attitude taught her the basics of hard work of peasants. She worked from 1986 to 89 on field till she got an interesting turn in 1989.

Nehru Yuvak Kendra (NYK) started a night school in the village to teach the basic education for adults. As there was no graduate from the village and Jyothi was the only available option, they appointed her as the volunteer to educate the adults after giving some training. It fetched her Rupees 150 per month. She gathered all the co workers in the evenings to the Centre and taught them the basic education with unique play way methods. The Inspection authorities were very much impressed by the initiative and dedication of Jyothi as the volunteer and appointed her Mandal Prerak of Hanumakonda.

ACADEMIC PURSUIT :
After being appointed as Mandal Prerak Jyothi had to visit all the centres of the Warangal district and realized the importance of education and without higher education she can not grow to next levels in life. She completed her graduation and post graduation Distance Mode from Ambedkar Open University. Even University authorities were impressed by her urge for education. She did B. Ed from Anna University and become a
government teacher. But it was not a cake walk for her.

She had to cross over all obstacles at home as well as in society. Leaving her village and staying at her work place with her children and husband and balancing family and work and making money by doing all alternative sources as the salary was not sufficient etc,, these were all the different problems higher than the Everests for any rural Indian women. Patience, perseverance and commitment are the secrets of her energy behind this passionate effort.

AMERICAN DREAM :
If the story stopped here there would be nothing much to inspire others. When Jyothi was working as inspector of schools, a relative of her who settled in America came to her place. Jyothi accompanied her during her stay and observed how much change had been taken in the life style of her America settled relative. The way her American relative was spending money for her daughters laid seeds of desires in her. She thought even she could give great future to her daughter if she would go to America and earn there.

That time onwards she made up her mind and learnt computers and started saving money for her passport and visa. After series of early failures she could get a visiting visa and flew to America with a little amount but heart filled dreams.

EARLY TRAILS IN AMERICA: As soon as she landed in America she realized it was not an easy task to settle in America. The people whom she believed would give her shelter and support turned off their faces. As money she brought from India was running off she joined as a salesperson in “ Movie Time ’’ a video shop in New Jersey. She stayed as paying guest in gujarathi family. While she was working iin Video Time a known Indian from Warangal saw her and recommended her name to his brother who owned a company called “ CSAMERICA” and she was appointed as recruiter after being trained. Later a well know company ICSA offered her a good job with handsome salary. Again she faced some problems as her visa was not approved and she went for H1 visa. She had to resign her job in ICSA and again had to work for $5 per hour in nominal jobs till she got her H1 visa.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: She went to Mexico for her VISA stamping. All the hardships of obtaining visa gave her an idea of establish her first entrepreneurship to assist the people to get their Visas. Thus Keys software solutions was initiated. It extended it services like developing software solutions and recruitment and other job providing areas. Jyothi came to America in May 2OOO and by September, 2001 she became entrepreneur. She made her cousin as partner as his partner and extended her business to become more profitable.

FULFILMENT OF DREAMS:
Her hard work, commitment and dedication fetched her the success she dreamed for. She made enough money to take care of her children and her near relatives. Her two daughters could finish higher education in America from prestigious universities and got married to well settled bridegrooms. Her dream to provide good living conditions to her daughters was fulfilled. But she thought it was not here mere responsibility. She has been always thankful to all the people who supported her. She never forgets the pains that she had throughout her life. So she decided to start helping all the needy. She wants to shed tears from the needy orphans who suffer from all inadequacies. She wants to give warmth heart to the pain tinted lives. These thoughts ushered her to take an inspiring turn to extend her service to the humanity.

SERVING HUMANITY:
It is not just a lady went to America and making some money.. and people started calling it as success. It is the attitude and humbleness of Jyothi Reddy which really made the people to notice her and started extending their service to fellow human kind. Jyothi Reddy never forgot her roots. In every visit to India she visits Orphanages, Old age homes and spends time with them, provides them financial assistance. She visits Women’s colleges and empowers them with her life experience. She stands for the orphans and represented to the government to make a legislation to safeguard their rights. She takes her success to heart and not to head. She helped many Indians to settle in America by providing initial shelter and guidance.

FUTURE VISION :
Jyothi Reddy has a vivid and constructive vision to extend her service to needy people. She wants to provide educational facilities and long term result oriented service activities. Everyone should accept the self responsibility and try to be courageous enough to face the challenges. Struggle in life strengthens the caliber of the people. She visits colleges and inspire girl students to take up the self responsibility to empower themselves. She strongly feels that every individual should stop blaming the environment and start helping themselves. God always sends his hidden helping hand through different unexpected sources. We need not to look back when we realize we are responsible for our lives.

Napoleon Hill says “ Whatever human mind believes and conceives human mind can achieve” So just believe ..believe .. believe .. you can do it…. Have your goal clear and start working on it.

LCDs in Shatabdi Express

2012-01-26T23:38:00.000-08:00

Passengers of Shatabdi trains will now be able to watch their favourite programmes on live television free of cost while on the go. In an attempt to stave off competition from both high-end Volvo buses and low-cost airlines, the Northern Railway are all set to install television screens in all passenger coaches of Shatabdi trains originating from Delhi.

In a smart move, the railways are also ensuring they will make some profit. The tender document, which was made public on Monday, states that 20 per cent of the content presented by the vendors can be advertisements. In return, the vendors have to pay a substantial amount to the Northern Railways to gain "access to the prime advertising spots."

There will be nine rakes which will have this facility. While rakes 1 to 6 will move in a link on different routes, rakes 7 to 9 will remain on fixed route. The contract will be for five years and the reserve price for coaches 1 to 6 will be Rs 14 lakh a year. The licence will be collected on an half yearly basis; the license fee will be escalated at 10 per cent after second year, 15 per cent after third and 20 and 25 per cent in the fourth and fifth year respectively.

The railways said that the entire Shatabdi network in Delhi will be covered after "very successful" trial runs on the Kalka Shatabdi.

According to the plan, an eight-inch LCD TV screen will be installed behind every seat in Executive Class and Chair Cars in six Shatabdi trains originating from the capital. The trains which are being considered for installation of TV sets include Amritsar Shatabdi, Kalka Shatabdi, Lucknow Shatabdi, Bhopal Shatabdi, Ajmer Shatabdi and Dehradun Shatabdi.

The tender added that the cost of development, management and maintenance, including audio and video content, internet surfing and games will be borne by the contractor.

10 New Innovative Ways to Make Money Online

2012-01-22T23:14:00.000-08:00

So you want to ditch your corporate cubicle and join the ranks of web workers? But you have a mortgage, maybe a dependent or twos? You can make money in the new economy, though it might not be as easy or cushy as keeping your old economy job.

1. Offer your professional expertise in an online marketplace.

Elance covers everything from programming and writing to consulting and design, while RentACoder focuses on software, natch. If you’re a graphic designer, check out options like Design Outpost or LogoWorks–you don’t have to find the customers, they’ll come to you. Wannabe industry analysts might sign up for TechDirt’s Insight Community, a marketplace for ideas about technology marketing.

2. Sell photos on stock photography sites.

If people regularly oooo and aaaaah over your Flickr pics, maybe you’re destined for photographic greatness or maybe just for a few extra dollars. It’s easier than ever to get your photos out in front of the public, which of course means a tremendous amount of competition, but also means it might be an convenient way for you to build up a secondary income stream. Where can you upload and market your photos? Try Fotolia, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, and Big Stock Photo.

3. Blog for pay.

Despite the explosion of blogs, it’s hard to find good writers who can turn around a solidly-written post on an interesting topic quickly. GigaOM is always looking for bloggers with great content ideas and solid writing skills. How do you get noticed? Comment and link to blogging network sites. Write blog posts that are polished and not overly personal (although showing some personality is a plus).

4. Or start your own blog network.

If you like the business side of things–selling advertising, hiring and managing employees, attracting investors–and have the stomach to go up against the likes of Weblogs, Inc., GigaOmniMedia, b5media, maybe you should make an entire business out of blogs. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll get a lot of time to write yourself though.

5. Provide service and support for open source software.

Just because the software is free doesn’t mean you can’t make money on it–just ask Red Hat, a well-known distributor of Linux that sports a market cap of more than four billion dollars. As a solo web worker, you might not want to jump in and compete with big companies offering Linux support, but how about offering support for web content management systems like WordPress or Drupal? After getting comfortable with your own installation, you can pretty easily jump into helping other people set them up and configure them.

6. Online life coaching.

Who has time to go meet a personal coach at an office? And don’t the new generation of web workers need to be met by their coaches in the same way that they work: via email, IM, and VoIP? You could, of course, go through some life coaching certification program, but on the web, reputation is more important than credentials. I bet Tony Robbins isn’t certified as a life coach–and no one can argue with his success. For an example of someone building up their profile and business online as a coach, check out Pamela Slim of Ganas Consulting and the Escape from Cubicle Nation blog.

7. Virtually assist other web workers.

Freelancers and small businesses desperately need help running their businesses, but they’re not about to hire a secretary to come sit in the family room and answer phone calls. As a virtual assistant, you might do anything from making travel reservations to handling expense reimbursements to paying bills to arranging for a dog sitter. And you do it all from your own home office, interacting with your clients online and by phone. You can make $20 and up an hour doing this sort of work, depending on your expertise.

8. Build services atop Amazon Web Services.

Elastic computing on AWS is so cool… and so incredibly primitive right now. Did you know that you can’t even count on your virtual hard drive on EC2 to store your data permanently? That’s why people are making money right now by offering services on top of AWS. Make it easier for people to use Amazon’s scalability web infrastructure like Enomaly has with elasticlive, a scalable web hosting platform built on AWS.

9. Write reviews for pay or perks.

If you blog for any length of time on a particular topic–parenting, mobile phones, or PCs, for example–you will likely be approached to do book or product reviews. You can get free stuff this way, but are you selling your soul? Is there any such thing as a free laptop? These are decisions you’ll have to make for yourself, because no one agrees upon what ethical rules apply to bloggers. Even less do people agree on services like PayPerPost that pay you to write reviews on your blog. Check out disclosure rules closely and see whether such a gig would meet your own personal standards or not.

10. Become a virtual gold farmer.

A half million Chinese now earn income by acquiring and selling World of Warcraft gold to gamers in other countries. If you’re not a young person living in China, this probably isn’t a viable option for you. But what’s intriguing about it is the opportunity to make real money working in a virtual economy. People are making real-world money in Second Life too.

- Rohit Pathak

Facebook 'eyeing IPO in second quarter of 2012'

2012-01-22T04:07:00.000-08:00

According to inside reports in the US, the social networking giant isaiming to raise $10bn (£6.41bn) in the long-awaited listing, which will act asan important marker for valuations of digital companies.

MarkZuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive, has spoken publicly of hisreservations about an IPO and kept the social network private for longer thanmany expected.

However,it is due to pass the 500 investor mark by the end of this year, meaning itwill be obliged to disclose its financial information in any case, underSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules.

Two weeksago, Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn and a significant investor inFacebook said that Mark Zuckerberg will choose to float Facebook nextyear.

“I suspectthat Mark [Zuckerberg] will choose to go public because the company has to putin a lot of financial work in order to make the necessary filings and so hemight as well make sure he benefits employees and ultimately the company fromthe level of work that’s already involved," he said.

“Goingpublic would benefit Facebook in lots of ways - namely having public currencyto do acquisitions. So Mark [Zuckerberg] might as well get the benefit as wellas the cost. Given that logic - I would suspect that some time in first half ofnext year, he will engage in the IPO process.”

In thesummer, Facebook was thought to be preparing to float by October or Novemberthis year, but it is understood to have delayed its initial public offeringuntil 2012 because it fell $400m short of its target revenues for the firsthalf.

GoldmanSachs which has a significant investment in facebook had been thought to be thefront runner to lead the listing, but according to US reports Facebook haseschewed banks and lawyers in order to prepare its own prospectus.

Its chieffinancial officer, David Ebersman, told some bankers that he is sceptical aboutwhat investment banks could bring to a Facebook IPO given it is already such ahighly sought after investment.

Cellulon Evo Mouse - Your finger is your pointer

2012-01-22T01:26:00.000-08:00

Celluon, a well known computer peripheral manufacturer has recently announced about the launch of it’s latest high-end innovative mouse into IT electronics market named as Cellulon evoMouse. The evoMouse is the evolution of the computer mouse. With the evoMouse, your finger is your pointer and there is no more pushing around a physical mouse.

The evoMouse works on nearly any flat surface and requires very little space. It tracks effortlessly to your comfortable and natural movements. With the evoMouse, you can control the cursor, click and select, double-click, right-click and drag with basic hand gestures.

Celluon evoMouse

Celluon evoMouse Specifications :

Evolution of the computer mouse
Finger works as a pointer
Works almost on any surface
Little space needed ( space saver )
Using your fingers you can control the cursor, click and select, double-click, right-click and drag with basic hand gestures
Multi-touch functionality including scroll, rotate, zoom, forward and back
Works with all desktop & laptop PC
EvoMouse can even be used for handwriting recognition with your finger or a pen
It connects via Bluetooth or a standard USB port

Celluon evoMouse

Steps in questionnaire design

2012-01-22T00:08:00.000-08:00

It is important that the questions are unloaded, to avoid any researcher bias. It is also important that the information collected must be believable and unbiased. Just as researcher bias has to be avoided, respondent bias must also be avoided.

Further, there must be a flow in a questionnaire. For example, "How many children do you have?" and then "Your marital status?" is improper.

The questionnaire should be pre-tested before final printing. The pre testing should be for the following.

Are the questions clear to the respondents?
Is the researcher getting answers to the questions? OR does the respondent understand questions in the same way as the researcher does?
Are there any terms or words requiring explanation?
Are there sensitive 'spots' or 'questions' which respondents would feel uncomfortable with and would not want to respond to? Typically, these could be questions relating to respondent's income, age or personal particulars. To avoid such drawbacks, put these questions with multiple choices in different ranges. Also, with regard to income, it is best to ask annual family income as it is less threatening.
What is the time that an average respondent is taking to complete the questionnaire? It is important to remember that long questionnaires lead to fatigue and also puts off the respondent. Non response or in appropriate response is very common in a long questionnaire. So the key is in avoiding respondent fatigue by preparing a small questionnaire.
Does the customer feel interested in the research project? Is his/her interest sustained while responding to the questionnaire?
Is there a logical flow among the questions?

These are the basic steps that you should follow in order to have a successful questionnaire.

Did you know majority of iPhones are not manufactured in US.?. How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone manufacturing..

2012-01-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

The i-phone economy

When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley’s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president.

But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke,President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?

Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.

Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.

Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said, according to another dinner guest.

The president’s question touched upon a central conviction at Apple. It isn’t just that workers are cheaper abroad. Rather, Apple’s executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that “Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most Apple products.

Apple has become one of the best-known, most admired and most imitated companies on earth, in part through an unrelenting mastery of global operations. Last year, it earned over $400,000 in profit per employee, more than Goldman Sachs, Exxon Mobil or Google.

However, what has vexed Mr. Obama as well as economists and policy makers is that Apple — and many of its high-technology peers — are not nearly as avid in creating American jobs as other famous companies were in their heydays.

Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States and 20,000 overseas, a small fraction of the over 400,000 American workers at General Motors in the 1950s, or the hundreds of thousands at General Electric in the 1980s. Many more people work for Apple’s contractors: an additional 700,000 people engineer, build and assemble iPads, iPhones and Apple’s other products. But almost none of them work in the United States. Instead, they work for foreign companies in Asia, Europe and elsewhere, at factories that almost all electronics designers rely upon to build their wares.

“Apple’s an example of why it’s so hard to create middle-class jobs in the U.S. now,” said Jared Bernstein, who until last year was an economic adviser to the White House.

“If it’s the pinnacle of capitalism, we should be worried.”

Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhonemanufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”

Similar stories could be told about almost any electronics company — and outsourcing has also become common in hundreds of industries, including accounting, legal services, banking, auto manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

But while Apple is far from alone, it offers a window into why the success of some prominent companies has not translated into large numbers of domestic jobs. What’s more, the company’s decisions pose broader questions about what corporate America owes Americans as the global and national economies are increasingly intertwined.

“Companies once felt an obligation to support American workers, even when it wasn’t the best financial choice,” said Betsey Stevenson, the chief economist at the Labor Department until last September. “That’s disappeared. Profits and efficiency have trumped generosity.

How Reliance became a market leader in tele - communication

2012-01-21T03:32:00.000-08:00

It was in 1999 that the Late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance empire laid out the mission for Reliance Infocomm as being one of "making infocomm tools available to people at an affordable cost which in turn can help people overcome literacy and the problem of mobility."

Between 1999-2000, Reliance Infocomm built the backbone for a digital India and on Dec 28, 2002 it commissioned its Pan India network.

This network is a high capacity integrated (wireless and wireline) and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network designed to offer services that span the entire infocomm value chain, ie, infrastructure, services for individuals, organization, applications and consulting.

It was in July 2003 that the company introduced a special offer under the brand name 'Monsoon Hungama' in which it offered instant multimedia mobile phone and connection just for Rs 501.
Following this, it set a world record in ten days when it acquired 1 million customers.

Soon the company launched its internet connection cable for individuals at a special price and in the same year it launched its fixed wireless phone.
The 'R-World', ie, internet hotspots, created a world record of 10 million downloads on the first day of its launch.

In January 2004, the company acquired FLAG Telecom and merged it with Reliance Gateway. This acquisition helped it offer long distance call service to India from the USA at a much cheaper price than all other service providers in that country.

Reliance was the first company in India to introduce the prepaid international calling card which could be refilled at customer's convenience.

In 2005, Reliance India Mobile announced a mega rural plan to cover 4 lakh villages and 65 crore Indians by the end of 2005.

Thus Reliance has set the entire industry on fire.

Rajnikant website which runs without Internet

2012-01-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

All the numerous Rajnikanth jokes flooding the country did not affect the superstar. As the actor has now got a website 'allaboutrajni.com'.

The fun part is that this website runs on Rajni power, ie, without the internet.
The site will not work the moment you switch on your internet connection.

This is a new concept and the initiative was taken by desimartini.com.

The site got over 10,000 visitors within the first hour of its launch.

This is a great answer to all the jokes circulating the country.
This site has proved that It is Rajnikant who can do the impossible.
Here is the link to the website http://www.desimartini.com/allaboutrajni.htm

Avon - The giant who failed in India

2012-01-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

Avon was the world's largest seller of beauty products operating in 135 countries. The company entered India in the late 1996.
Avon opted for MLM in India while worldwide it was known for its door to door direct selling success.

Before Avon, Oriflame International was the first international major to begin network marketing operations in India in 1995.
Avon's decision to adopt network marketing was led by the belief that in India, door to door salespeople were treated with great in-difference.
However, this led to Avon losing its focus on its stronghold of having a strong end user focus.

Besides, the company could not make the shift in mindset that multi level selling required, as MLM required a strong distribution push mentality, which was very different from the hard selling to the end users that Avon was good at. The company had also lowered its advertising expenditures.

The then Director, David F Gosling said, " It was a mistake to adopt multi level system when we weren't good at it. We soon realized that we should stick to what we knew best."

For Avon, MLM simply turned into a recruiting machine and it was difficult to ensure that the distributor down the chain was not thriving on the performance of his recruits without actually performing himself. Also, Avon held back the much needed distribution push as the company gradually lost faith in the system.

Withing 2 years, Avon switched back to door to door selling.
Avon's decision to opt out of MLM setup came as a major setback to the industry.

Buyer - an enigma, few facts marketers need to be aware of

2012-01-20T07:50:00.000-08:00

Most consumer buying situations involve emotions. These are closely interwoven with reasoning processes. If a customer is not emotionally attached to a brand, he will not buy it even if the price and other factors meet his criteria.

Much of consumer behaviour emanates from the subconscious mind however most marketers assume that consumers think and act from the conscious part of their mind.

Most marketers fail to understand that the psychological and physiological aspects of a consumer's behaviour is related to his culture and society.

Marketers believe that consumer memories are sharp and a consumer remembers what he says. In reality, our memories are far more creative, constantly changing without us being aware of it.

The assumption of a consumer thinking only in words leads the marketer to assume that consumers can be motivated to believe and internalize messages the way the marketer desires.
A consumer is not a robot with a blank mind.

Kodak files for bankruptcy

2012-01-19T23:04:00.000-08:00

Iconic camera and film company,whose value has sunk below $150m from $31bn 15 yrs ago,is struggling to survive in the digital age;ironically it had invented the digital camera

The more than 130-year-old photographic film pioneer founded by George Eastman in 1880 said it had obtained $950 million credit from Citigroup to keep it going.
The loan and bankruptcy protection may give cash-strapped Kodak time to find buyers for some of its 1,100 digital patents.
We look forward to working with our stakeholders to emerge a lean,worldclass,digital imaging and materials science company, Chairman and Chief Executive Antonio Perez said in a statement.

However,the filing in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has raised the specter that the 132-year-old trailblazer could become the most storied casualty of a digital age that has whipped up a maelstrom of economic and social change.

Kodak once dominated its industry and its film was the subject of a popular Paul Simon song,but it failed to embrace more modern technologies quickly enough,such as the digital camera ironically,a product it even invented.Its downfall hit its hometown of Rochester,New York,with employment there falling to about 7,000 from more than 60,000 in Kodaks heyday.Its market value has sunk to below $150 million from $31 billion 15 years ago.
Eastman,a high school dropout from upstate New York,founded Kodak in 1880,and began to make photographic plates.

To get his business going,he splurged on a second-hand engine for $125.Within eight years,the Kodak name had been trademarked,and the company had introduced the hand-held camera as well as roll-up film.
Nearly a century after Kodaks founding,astronaut Neil Armstrong used a Kodak camera the size of a shoebox to take pictures as he became in 1969 the first man to walk on the moon.

Pilot lands plane at the wrong airport ! ! ! :-O

2012-01-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

An Alliance Air flight carrying 32 passengers from Thiruvananthapuram was supposed to land in Kozhikode, however the funny situation was, it landed in Kochi.

There was utter confusion when the pilot and the crew announced that they have landed in Kozhikode and when the passengers got down, they saw it was Kochi airport.

After the incident, the pilot told air traffic controllers that he thought it was Kozhikode and landed the plane but it turned out to be Kochi ! ! !
The Airline told the reporters that the pilot received wrong air signals, which he couldn't follow and landed the plane in Kochi.

Indigo Airlines - India's youngest and the most successful Airlines

2012-01-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

Indigo Airlines, India's private low cost airline owned by Interglobe Aviation, was launched by entrepreneur Rahul bhatia and investor Rakesh Gangwal.

It was launched in August 2006 with a service from New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati making it the youngest Indian airline.
It followed the model of efficient, low cost operations by attracting customers with low fares.

Despite market instability, India's youngest airline has completed a successful first 5 years of domestic operations. The largest low cost airline, Indigo posted posted an 18% growth in net profits, even as all other airlines, except SpiceJet, made huge losses.

Profits jumped from Rs 551 crore to Rs 650 crore in the financial year ending March 2011, making a third straight year of profit for the carrier.
Among rivals, low fare carrier SpiceJet was the only one that made profit during the year - Rs 101.16 crore, up by 64.62%.

Market share of Domestic airlines

Indigo Airlines - 19.6%
Jet airways - 17.6%
Kingfisher Airlines - 16.7%
Air India - 16.6%
SpiceJet - 16.1%
JetLite - 7.2%
Go Air - 6.2%

Interesting Facts

In 2011, at the Paris airshow, IndiGo confirmed an order for 180 planes from Airbus. The total deal was about $ 15.6 billion. The order was for 150 A-320 neos and 30 A-320 aircrafts. The neo version of aircraft was 15% more fuel efficient which made the airline save $1 million per aircraft per year.
Its advertisement "sleep with your wife tonight" won the carrier an award in the low cost category at the Asia Pacific Awards in 2010 in Singapore.

Price Skimming (Penetration Pricing)

2012-01-17T02:50:00.000-08:00

Ever thought why did Levis sell its 'Strauss' segment denims (jeans) at a price of just INR 1000 - 1500 one year back? And now suddenly it has increased the starting price to INR 2399 ?

Just to penetrate into the Indian market when local brands used to rule.

This concept is known as 'Price Skimming'.

It refers to the fixation of price below the average cost.

This is done as a part of strategy to make room for oneself in the market.

Once the product becomes acceptable, the price would be raised step by step.

Many of the foreign producers are, at present, following this strategy for penetrating deep into the Indian markets.

To begin with, the price is kept very high and the buyers get a rare satisfaction of buying and using high priced consumer goods. Later on when the demand tapers off, the price is reduced. This method is usually followed where the product is fancy or distinctively new but its real worth in terms of quality is very low.

Many of the so called imported jeans, watches and innumerable other products are being sold in the Indian market at a skimming price and becomes cheaper.

Sales Maximization - Basics

2012-01-17T02:20:00.000-08:00

Maximization of sales should be the main objective of any business rather than maximizing profits. In practice, businessmen normally promote sales subject to the limitation that costs incurred are fully covered.

So long as profits are high enough to keep stockholders satisfied and contribute adequately to the financing of company growth, management will bend its efforts to the augmentation of sales revenue rather than to further increase in profits.

Survival is the central motive of any firm. The ultimate goal of survival can be achieved by following a set of survival objectives based on five survival functions.

1) Growth; 2) Profit; 3) Goodwill; 4) Quality of the product; 5) Reasonable share of the market.

In the short run, a firm may not even try to make profits but should concentrate on sales and market share.
It should aim at earning goodwill and should try to improve the quality of its products.

Once a reputation is made, profit maximization can be practiced for long term survival.

Check this link - Web Based Timesheets

"The Quest for nothing" - 5 stars

2012-01-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

Recently there has been a craze of fiction novels by Indian authors. However readers have very few options as most of the novels are based on love stories. Except few authors like Chetan Bhagat and Amish have best selling novels in their kitty.

Other mindlessly start publishing love stories which has seen a decline in sales.

From no where a new author Anurag Anand, came up with "A quest for nothing". This book not only has a love story, but its main theme is corporate deceit.

One of the best selling novels which our readers have also liked.

Congo to Anurag Anand for this milestone.

- Youngconcepts Team

Network Marketing - still WRONGLY/MISTAKENLY considered unethical in the country

2012-01-15T23:19:00.000-08:00

With over 10,000 MLM or Network Marketing companies operating in India, this Industry is still considered as "illegal" in this country.

Reason?

Out of these 10,000 companies, 90 % have run away with the public's money. The most recent case was that of SpeakAsia. The biggest network marketing scam of over 2000 crores or $ 400 million.

This country has the largest population after China, thus it is very easy for any company to create a distributor base here as people keep falling in this trap.

Another reason is that be it any legal or ethical organization, if someone fails to create a stand, his negative attitude is spread like plague among the people close to him, hence creating a web of anti - mlm people.

With so many fake organizations, firms like Amway, Herbalife, E-Biz, HLL etc find it difficult to operate in some parts of the country. Still these companies have been there for so many years and have given this country some shining entrepreneurs who have been an inspiration for millions.

David Solomon of Herbalife once said if Indians keep the negative attitude aside, they can work wonders in any field. This country requires young enthusiastic individuals who can be an inspiration for others to do something.

Keeping this in mind, YoungConcepts is making a documentary film on Indian Network Marketing Industry to show its true colors. Let there be more Sunny Aroras in this nation.

Cookie Man to open 27 outlets via franchising

2012-01-15T22:47:00.000-08:00

Cookie Man, an Australia-based fresh baked cookies brand is planning to open more than 27 outlets pan India this year via franchising. Presently, the brand operates 43 outlets which are a blend of franchised and company-owned outlets.

The brand offers franchise partnership in three formats kiosk, store and express. Cookie Man kiosk requires an area of around 80-100 sq. ft with an investment of Rs 10-11 lakh, for a store the area requirement is 300-500 sq. ft and an investment of Rs 30-35 lakh. Cookie Man’s Express format is mainly located in airports, atrium, lobbies etc. It demands an area of 32 sq. ft.

Cookie Man, launched in India in January 2000 by Australian Foods (I) Pvt. Ltd, it offers a premium range of cookies made from unique recipes refined over 50 years at an exclusive R&D centre in Australia. Cookie Man offers a unique, high quality and value for money products with Australia’s traditional flavour.

Source - franchisee india

DTDC - created hundreds of millionaires

2012-01-14T23:22:00.000-08:00

It all started with a vision that India would witness phenomenal economic growth with the biggest drive coming from tier 1 and tier 2 cities. With this vision, Subhasish Chakraborty, the Chairman and Managing Director founded DTDC which has gone on to become the leading courier and logistics company of India.
Since its incorporation in 1990, DTDC has created the largest no of franchisee network in the country. Now it has an average franchisee rate of 1 per working day.
Its franchisee model in quite unique. It has four types of franchisee models.

Single Unit Franchisee
This is the most basic form of the franchisee in the DTDC system, which covers more than 95 percent of its network and contributes to 75 percent of its business. This type of franchisee represents a small territory or a particular pincode. They are responsible for the development of the business and serving the customers within a limited territory.
Master Franchisee (MF)
Master franchisee represents an area within the city limits of the Regional Office, with one or more of the reporting franchisees under its purview. In addition to the role of the Single Unit Franchisee, the MF is responsible for operations and development of the other franchisees within its territory.
Super Franchisee (SF)
Super franchisee represents an independent territory or district within a region, with one or more reporting franchisees. It acts as an extended branch that is responsible for business development, operations and servicing of the clients. They are a key member of the system and the appointment procedure for SF is different from the two franchisees categories mentioned above.
Corporate Franchisee (CF)
An experienced individual from the industry, with basic office infrastructure, an investment capacity and business contacts with corporate houses, is eligible to become a DTDC Corporate Franchisee to promote its products and services. This is a highly specialized form of franchisee, which the company appoints selectively. All the above franchisees are responsible for the protection of the DTDC brand and image in their territory or area of operations.

The most interesting fact about DTDC franchisee is that it takes only INR 50,000 - INR 1,50,000 for setting up a single unit (Rs 50,000) and MF (Rs 1,00,000) units.

Many individuals have been benefited through this model.

It has created almost a hundred millionaires in this decade.

Click here to read the success stories of some individuals.

MotoRazr is back

2011-11-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

One can recall 'Motorazr V3i', way back in 2006, when it used to rule the Indian Urban market. After winding up all its operations from India in 2009, Motorola once again tried to penetrate the 'now most competitive' Indian market in 2011.

It launched its first model EX115 in March 2011 but it flopped.

Ex Kings Nokia and Motorola are no where to be seen now. Micromax and Samsung have most of the market share.

But Motorola is out with a bang. It has come up with the world's thinnest smartphone called Droid Razr, the next gen Motorazr.

The 7.3mm smartphone is equipped with 4.3-inch Super Amoled qHD display and a dual core 1.2GHz processor backed up by 1GB of RAM.

This smartphone is set to be launched in November and will be priced in the 30k range.

Google to buy Yahoo

2011-11-10T18:57:00.000-08:00

Google, known for acquisitions, has bought over 100 online businesses in a short span of time, is now trying its hand on Yahoo.
Yahoo, which had a downfall in the market share after Google entered in almost every sector of the online space, has somehow managed to save its existence.
Earlier Microsoft tried to overtake Yahoo for an undisclosed price.
Yahoo has made several attempts to enhance its business, however, its been constantly downgrading its market. Recently, Carol Bartz was fired from the position of C.E.O
Industry sources believe that Google is on the final stage of buying a major stake in Yahoo, but the amount will be much less than what Microsoft had offered earlier.

Kingfisher Airlines in trouble

2011-11-10T18:05:00.000-08:00

Kingfisher Airlines has been asked by The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to explain why it cancelled over 80 flights in the last 72 hours.
The airline, owned by billionare Vijay Mallya, has been running through troubled times as over 100 pilots have resigned due to non payment of salaries.
Some facts about the Airline are as below :

Suffered a loss of over Rs 1000 crores in 2010 - 11
Over Rs 7000 crores of Bank loans. (Debt)
The airline owes Rs 600 crores to the state run HPCL for fuel.
BPCL has stopped providing fuel due to non payment of Rs 250 crores dues.

Vijay Mallya said "Decision to reschedule and cancel flights was taken to cut losses. We are only ensuring loss minimization by flight rationalization and enhanced revenue through reconfiguration."

Vijay Mallya shuts down Kingfisher Red

2011-10-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

Vijay Mallya has stopped the operations of Kingfisher Red segment of its Airlines service. Mallya said many of the customers prefer Kingfisher Class service over Kingfisher Red and having achieved the five star status, there is no point in competing in the low fare market.
Kingfisher class is the only airlines service in india which has a five star status. Kingfisher Red was competing with other Airlines in the low fare market. It had limited in flight services.
Industry experts believe that Mallya has taken the right step at the most appropriate time.
Debt ridden Kingfisher Airlines has won investor interest with this decision. The total debt is estimated to be over 7000 crores.

Design/ Visual Journalist

2011-09-28T00:28:00.001-07:00

The Lowdown

A design/visual journalist needs to grasp a story and present it in the best fashion to aid

reading and navigation, using images, graphs, charts, illustrations/caricatures or a virtual

salad of these. These can be used as value-additions to articles that have very little text.

Or, it can be a standalone infographic requiring no article to support it.

The Payoff

An apprentice with a reputable media house may get a stipend of R3,000 to R5,000 per
month. Do not be surprised if it has a no-payment policy, but do insist on a certificate
when you complete your internship. After that, a trainee (some companies absorb
summer interns) in a top media house may expect R10,000 to R15,000 a month.

As a visualiser, the package could be R20,000 a month. From here on, the compensation
depends on performance and contract. An art director makes more than Rs 1 lakh a month.

Skills/Traits

Ability to assimilate information quickly and conceptualise
News sense to understand what is to be highlighted
Drawing skills for making infographics and illustrations
Good at team work and coordination
Ability to master computer applications quickly

Getting there

You can opt for any subject combination in Class 12, though fine art, and social sciences

are preferable. (The Central Board of Secondary Education offers graphic design to

senior school students.) After that, get a degree in fine arts/design in India or do a visual

journalism course abroad. Many private institutes also provide the relevant training in

various softwares.

Institutes and URLs

. College of Art, Delhi

http://www.colart.delhigovt.nic.in/

. National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

www.xaviercomm.org

. Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi

www.jmi.nic.in

. Sir JJ School of Art and Sir JJ School of Applied Art, Mumbai

http://www.mu.ac.in/colleges/finearts/mumbai.html

. MS University of Baroda

www.msubaroda.ac.in

India - richest nation of the world?

2011-09-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Indians have $1456 billion in Swiss banks.

This amount is about 13 times larger than the country’s foreign debt. With this amount every indian gets Rs.50,000.

Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours.

After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of the interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.

Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of the following countries:

Top five

India---- $1456 billion
Russia---$ 470 billion
UK-------$390 billion
Ukraine- $100 billion
China-----$ 96 billion

Now do the maths - India with $1456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined. Public loot since 1947: Can we bring back our money? It is one of the biggest loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) since 1947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen. The list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear.

Yahoo's CEO, Carol Bartz fired from her job

2011-09-09T02:10:00.000-07:00

Yahoo's CEO, Carol Bartz was fired from her job by Roy Bostock, the company's chairman on 6 September 2011. The decision of the Yahoo board to fire her was largely based on her dismal performance.

Yahoo's CFO Timothy Morse took over as interim CEO.

According to a survey by Glassdoor, Bartz’s approval rating among Yahoo employees declined quarter after quarter to a dismal 24% in the second quarter of 2011, before bouncing slightly to 33% in the third quarter. The figures implied that two-thirds of Yahoos had no confidence in Bartz.

Bartz started her career in yahoo in 2009 with a 90% approval rating.

Bartz, a tech heavyweight veteran was brought in as CEO in 2009 to replace co-founder and then CEO Jerry Yang after he resigned in 2008. Her term however failed to bring in much direction and success for Yahoo in the last few years. Revenue and earnings began to slip. Yahoo’s brand also become fuzzy as Bartz announced a shift towards being a digital media leader with original content in early 2011.
(Source - www.jagranjosh.com)

Buying a business is much more hassle free than starting a business

2011-09-09T01:02:00.000-07:00

Many of you reading this must have thought about starting a business or buying a business or subscribing for a franchisee at some point of your lifetime.
Whatever it be, it takes a whole lot of dedication, hard work and availability to resources. By resources, we mean capital, workforce, contacts etc.

Starting a whole new business is a very frustrating process. Limited capital and resources can sometimes make you back out.
Developing contacts, cracking deals and hiring right people for the right post is the foundation of any new business. Most entrepreneurs fail in their startups because they are not able to carry out the listed activities properly.

But how many of them have thought about buying an already established business or a franchisee?
LESS THAN 10 %.

You should analyse why did your startup fail? Its just because you were not able to manage it properly. But when you buy a business or franchisee, you get an already established management, availability to all kinds of resources. It is the time to practice what you like. Such as you like marketing your brand name, then other activities can be handled by the rest of the team.
After you start making profits out of your new franchisee, you get to learn the ins and outs of a business. Then, maybe you should re-try to start the business you always wanted to and failed in it for the first time. Sounds good. isn't it?

Buying a franchisee always minimizes your risk to loss. You can learn a hell lot of things from your franchisee businesses and later apply them to your own startup.

I am the standard

2011-09-06T03:16:00.000-07:00

Best opportunity for a college drop out

2011-09-06T02:23:00.000-07:00

Dropping out from college is a very heavy task to do. It is always very frustrating and can be depressing in some cases. It requires a lot of persuading, both to yourself and your parents.
There can be many reasons for making this decision, Some feel college is a heavy waste of time, some have too many backlogs to handle, some are interested in some other areas etc.

But finally when you have taken such decision, you need emotional and financial support.
You are all alone with everyone to pull you down with their comments and views.
But to start with, you need a platform from where you can start building your career.

Joining a BPO is the best option among drop outs. BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) is different from a call centre. Few years back, there was no career in a call centre.

But if you see the growth opportunities in this sector, then you can assess that it is the best platform to give you a good start.
Joining an International BPO can earn you a decent income to start with with unlimited incentives. 6 months in this sector, then see what magic you can do on yourself.

You need to be good in communication skills and should carry yourself properly.
Keep a track on your expenditure and keep investing your money in a good SIP (Systematic Investment Plan).
During the process you can get into any MLM program. MLM means multi level marketing or network marketing. Your dedication to work should be very high. Always keep in mind you are not a graduate and you have limited time and opportunities. Make best use of both.
Never be depressed, just stick to your plans and make best use of every opportunity that comes your way.
College drop out is making one of the fastest groups in recent times. In most of the cases, dedicated individuals make it big in their respective fields. So do not worry if you are a college drop out.

Actual Procedure of buying a land in India

2011-08-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

Read the first part of this article by clicking here.
Once all the initial checks are made and the land to be bought is properly examined and the negotiation of the price is done, comes the process of actually buying the land.

The first step of actually buying the land is to draft an agreement between the parties involved in the transaction. An agreement is made to make sure that none of the parties involved in the transaction change their mind and go back on what has been decided about the transaction.

This agreement has to be made on Rs.50 stamp paper.

The agreement should cover the following basic things:

Agreed cost of the land between seller and buyer
Advance amount given by the buyer
Time span in which the actual sale should take place
What procedure has to be adopted if any of the parties default on the agreement
How the losses have to be covered if any of the parties default
Particulars of the land

An experienced lawyer should carefully draft this agreement. Many a times, because of an agreement that is not well drafted it becomes possible for one of the parties to default and get away with it.

A long with this agreement, the agreed advance has to be paid by the buyer. After the document is drafted and verified it has to be signed by both parties and two witnesses.

The next step is to prepare a title deed. You could get the title deed written by a government licensed “Document Writer”.

Even lawyers can prepare the deed, but the document can only be computer printed or typed, not handwritten. Only those who hold the “scribe license” can prepare handwritten documents. Make sure all the details mentioned are accurate.

Registration

The land is to be registered in a sub registrar office. If there is incorrectness in the documents after registering, new documents with the correct details have to be registered and depending on the incorrectness, the registration expenses will have to be repeated.

Make sure that the title deed is registered within the time limit mentioned in the agreement.

Along with the title deed, the other documents that are required for registration are:

Original title deed
Previous deeds
Property/House Tax receipts
Torence Plan (optional) etc. plus two witnesses are needed for registering the property.

What is a Torence plan?

Torence plan is a detailed plan of the property prepared by a licensed surveyor that will have accurate details of the measurements including width, length, borders etc. This plan is needed only in some specific areas.

For land costing more than 5 lakhs, the seller should submit either his Pan card or Form Number 16 during registration.

Expenses

The expenses involved during registration include Stamp Duty, registration fees, Document writers/lawyers fees etc.

The stamp duty will depend on the cost of the property and varies from location to location. 2% will be charged as the registration fees. Document writers fees also depend on the cost of the property and varies with individuals. There is a percentage prescribed by the government as Document writers fee and they cannot charge more than the prescribed limit.

Registration at registrar's office

Take all the documents mentioned above.
Submit the document along with “input form” at the token window and get the token number.
Wait till the token number is announced.
On token number being announced, all parties to the document must present themselves before the sub-registrar to admit execution of the document, photographed, thumb impression and signature taken on additional sheet of paper in presence of sub-registrar.
Pay the required registration fees and computer service charges in cash as per the receipt (Computer service charges are @ Rs.20 per page)
The document will be returned within 30 minutes of getting the receipt

Having completed all the above formalities, your land is now registered in your name. Congratulations!

Things you “must” check before you buy land in India

2011-08-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

The most important thing to do before you buy a particular piece of land you are interested in is to see whether the land can be sold by the person who is selling it. Just like how "Bunty & Bubly" sold the Taj Mahal, you do not want to be on the other side of a "Bluffmaster's" brilliant plans.

So before you even take the first step towards buying the land you are interested in, you got to check a few things.

Check the 'Title Deed' / 'Certificate of title of the land'
What is a title deed?
A title deed is "a legal document proving a person's right to property" as defined by a law dictionary. An advocate prepares a title deed after studying and scrutinizing the property and verifying that all is in order.

So as a buyer what you need to do is ask the owner of the land you wish to purchase for the tile deed and review it properly. Do not accept a xerox copy of the deed. Ask for the original "Title Deed". Some times the seller might have taken a loan and given in the original deed.

You need to make sure through the title deed that the land is in the name of the seller. Also you need to verify that he has full right to sell the land and that he is the sole owner of the land and no one else is. It would be wise to get the title deed reviewed by a trusted lawyer just to make sure that there are no loop holes.

As a buyer you may also ask for previous title deeds of the land and get these verified too by a lawyer.

Ask for the 'Encumbrance Certificate'
The next step is to demand an "Encumbrance Certificate". This is basically a certificate that says that the land is not under any sort of legal dispute. The encumbrance certificate can be obtained from the sub-registrars office where the deed for the land has been registered. The encumbrance certificate for the past 13 years should be taken and verified. You could even ask for the encumbrance certificate of the last 30 years for more clarification.

In case of pledged land
Some people may have pledged their land previously for taking a loan. In this case, it would be wise to ensure that all the loan payments have been made and that no amount is due. Ask, the seller to produce the "Release Certificate" from the bank that is necessary to release all debts over the land legally.

Measure the land
Get a recognized surveyor to measure the land and see that the dimensions, area, borders etc. are accurate as stated by the seller.

If there is more than one owner
If there is more than one owner, it would be wise to get a "release certificate" from everyone involved before going ahead with the process

If owner is not NRI
If the owner of the land is a NRI, then the seller of the land in India should be given "Power Of Attorney" to sell the land on behalf of the NRI. The power of attorney has to be signed by an officer of the Indian embassy in the presence of a witness.

(original article by Khoj Badami)
Read the second part of this article. click here

India's GDP Growth to make the Indian Banking Industry Third Largest in the World by 2025

2011-08-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

A study titled Being five star in productivity — road map for excellence in Indian banking was released FICCI-IBA-BCG on 22 August 2011, the eve of IBA-FICCI annual banking conference. The theme for the banking conference was decided to be Productivity Excellence.

According to the study, India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth will make the Indian banking industry third largest in the world by 2025. The report chalked out an action agenda for banks, based on insights from an extensive productivity benchmarking exercise conducted across 40 banks.

The report highlighted that banks have to strive for excellence on five dimensions: branch sales and service, new channels, lean operations, organisation design and bad debt management.

The report stated that branches of banks can generate higher levels of revenue for the banks. Indian banks deploy 62 per cent of staff in customer facing roles as against the benchmark of 82 per cent observed by BCG globally.

Break-out growth in usage of new channels will characterise the next decade in Indian banking. Among the new channels, mobile phones, propelled by 3G and smart phone technology, will emerge as an undisputed winner by 2020 accounting for 20-30 per cent of total transactions. ATMs have seen exponential growth in usage but are far from maturity with just about 50 per cent adoption even in metros. New channels will not only enhance the productivity but can be a source of new customer acquisition.

Indian banks, the report mentioned were to be doing well overall with industry cost-income ratio below 50 per cent.

However, there remained plenty of scope for betterment. On an average, Indian banks have about 20 per cent of staff deployed in back-office processing (for some banks, as high as 40 per cent) as against a global best of 10 per cent observed by BCG. Process re-engineering and operating model change if employed could help reduce costs, improve service, and contain operating risks.

Public sector banks were found to be under-investing in technology with spends at about 25 per cent of global benchmarks. An Indian banks average administrative overhead at about 11 per cent of the total staff is in line with what BCG has observed globally.

The banking industry was holding low headcount in HR and finance roles. Variable pay at 2 per cent of fixed compensation is far below the 12-15 per cent that is optimal for incentive compensation. The public sector as per the report urgently needed an adjustment in its compensation structure. The industry has an impressive bad debt performance and the bad debt levels in priority sectors of MSME and agriculture are significantly high.
The report suggested major overhaul of NPA management processes at banks. Some banks have alarmingly high NPA levels in relatively safe products such as home loans.

The report stressed on a whole new paradigm for risk management encompassing operating model, technology, experience and expertise retention, and minimum critical size of book.

Total Cloud Market in India estimated to reach a Market Value of $ 4.5 billion by 2015

2011-08-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

According to a study Private Cloud Landscape in India released by EMC Corporation and Zinnov Management Consulting, a management consulting firm in July 2011, total cloud market in India will reach a market value of $ 4.5 billion by 2015. The cloud market currently stands at $ 400 million.

According to the study private cloud adoption will dominate and account for $ 3.5 billion in revenues, growing at over 60 percent. The study estimated that private cloud deployments could result in potential savings of up to 50% on the IT investments on average, when compared with a legacy IT model, with cost optimization in areas such as telecom and networking, facilities and fabric, hardware, software, internal labour and external IT services.

The study based on a comprehensive survey of over 100 CIOs and IT decision makers in India across industry verticals pointed out that there is an increased preference of cloud adoption over the next five years in India.
In cloud computing, a company can store applications and information in its data centers, rather than on the local servers. The information stored and processed on computers in the data centers, can be tapped remotely through a personal computer, cellphone or other device. Cloud computing is expected to reshape the Indian IT market by generating new opportunities for IT vendors and driving changes in traditional IT offerings.

The study opined that companies that are not adopting IT today and don't have major investments in data centers and server farms will directly move into the cloud model. The total cloud spend as a percentage of the total IT spend as such is expected to rise from 1.4% in 2010 to 8.2% in 2015.

IT/ITeS, Telecom, BFSI, Manufacturing and Government sectors are expected to contribute largest to the cloud market in India, with nearly 78% of the total market.

Private cloud market is likely to create 1 lakh jobs by 2015 from 10000 today thereby providing an opportunity for students and the workforce.

The study recommended companies to invest in competency building internally to take advantage of cloud computing technologies. It estimated that the skilling and re-skilling market in India will grow fast as cloud computing becomes critical to IT strategies. Leading public and private educational institutions, along with IT enterprises are expected to play a key role in enhancing workforce skills to match the industry demand for cloud computing.

Cost of exporting - do you have the capital and resources?

2011-08-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Costs of exporting can be kept low, but can't be avoided altogether. If you're just starting, you'll face the usual start-up costs for an office, furniture, equipment, and supplies. You'll incur some initial “research costs” to identify your best markets. To enter and develop these markets, you'll have costs to gain exposure, set up sales and distribution networks, and attract customers etc.

As your exports increase, you might take overseas business trips, do more media advertising, and participate in trade shows abroad. In some countries, you may have to redesign or modify your product to meet local requirements or customer preferences.

Generally, the more you spend to prepare, promote, and adapt for export, the greater the return for your business. But don't be afraid if your funds are limited. You can start even on a limited budget. Some of the major costs involved in export are:

Employees
You may not need additional employees. One experienced person can handle the work for several clients, gathering market research, seeking overseas customers, responding to inquiries, preparing export paperwork, and arranging for delivery of the goods.

If you're already producing a product or service, you can export through an Export Management Company (EMC) or Export Trading Company (ETC) without adding or training any new company staff. EMCs/ETC’s already have relationships abroad and will incur some or all of the initial costs to find you customers and generate orders.

Some EMCs and most ETCs also buy goods outright from domestic producers (with their own money) for resale abroad. You, as the supplier, would get paid right away and would also benefit from exposure of your product abroad.

If you intend to handle some or all of the export work in-house, you should hire an export manager and train someone your staff.

Advertising and sales promotion
If you’re a new exporter, you’re probably not known outside your country. You’ll need to promote yourself to get overseas exposure.

A company Web site, with company highlights and product descriptions can be your first step. A web designer can create an attractive site for you, or you can do it yourself. You can register your “dot.com” domain for a small fee. Because your site may be difficult to find on the Internet, you should also list your company in one or more Internet/Export Directories. One such directory is: http://www.infobanc.com/There are many more such directories on the Internet.

In addition to a Web site and directory listings, you should also have printed materials for mailings, handouts and responses to inquiries, such as a company brochure, product sheets, etc. Your brochure could be self-prepared or professionally designed by a marketing firm.

Whenever possible, place free press-releases in industry journals with international circulation.

Higher cost options include paid telemarketing, media ads, and participation in overseas trade shows.

Methods to stop procrastination

2011-08-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Procrastination, is one of the biggest problems that most people have. Many people think that they do not “manage time well” and hence they get very little work done. This may be true. But, for a few people only! Most of the people, do not get any work done because they are “Procrastinators”!

Just in case you do not know, a procrastinator is someone who puts off the work that they are supposed to do for a later time!

Rationalize things! This is one of the best methods to overcome most physiological problems that you may have.
Here are the simple steps:

Realize that you are procrastinating!
Try to understand why exactly you are procrastinating
Rationalize those reasons and over come them
Begin the task

It pretty simple, you do not really need 4 steps! We have just mentioned them so that you understand what you are doing. What you need to do is, first understand that you are procrastinating, figure out WHY you are doing it, convince yourself that you are acting foolish and stop! Then begin the work.

Here is something you can use to write your thoughts. It will take 5 mins to actually do this, but it will save you all the time you spend procrastinating. So, I am suggesting that you "actually" fill out this form! I know it feels stupid, but just give it a shot…

I am delaying on _____________ because…

Reasons for delay:
1.    _________________________
2.    _________________________
3.    _________________________
4.    _________________________
5.    _________________________

Arguments against delay:
1.    _________________________
2.    _________________________
3.    _________________________
4.    _________________________
5.    _________________________

And so I was just procrastinating and I must begin the task!

Here are some other tools that will help with procrastination…

Make the tasks look small and easy in your mind. ("I've written lots of excellent papers; this is just one more paper.")

Do only a small part of the task each time. ("I'll just check out the books tonight. Later on, I'll glance through them.")

Five-minute plan: Work on something for just five minutes. At the end of five minutes, switch to something else if you want. Chances are, you'll get involved enough to keep going.

Advertise your plans to accomplish something, and let peer pressure push you forward. ("I told everyone that I was going to finish this tonight.")

Use a good friend as a positive role model. If you have trouble concentrating, study in the presence of someone who doesn't.

Modify your environment - if you can't study at home, find a place where you can study; or, change your study situation at home.

Some people find that simply writing down reasonable starting and stopping times help them get going.

Finally, you must understand that, in it's most fundamental form, you procrastinate to avoid frustration. Procrastinators, postpone to avoid frustration. So, you will have to understand and accept this. You will have to train yourself to have a higher level of frustration taking capacity. All this is easier said than done, I know! But work on it. Solve your problems….If you do you will get a whole lot of work done and will be a much much happier person guaranteed!

URL Re-direction: Making your long free-hosted website address small!

2011-08-26T01:06:00.001-07:00

There is a way in which you can reduce the size of your web site address. This is done though a process called URL-redirection. There are a few websites on the Internet who will do this for you free of charge.
The best service to make your “free-hosting” long website address short is http://www.freedomain.co.nr/

They will give you a "almost" professional website address. For example: You website address could be a short www.make-cakes.co.nr or www.goats.co.nr! It will not be some long www.hostingsite.com/goat.html etc.

However, some times this service may not allow you to make any new accounts because they already have too many accounts. The will have a message on the site saying that they are temporarily closed so you should come back another time. In that case you could go to Google search for “free url redirection”

The only catch that these http://www.freedomain.co.nr/ people have is that they require you to put a small button on your website to use the service. Besides that the service is great.

Using the service is not very difficult also. Just go to the site, sign-up, they will ask you what website address you want, if its available you get it. Then they will ask you where should your new website address point, so you say that it should point to your old website address (the long one at the free-hosting place) That’s it!

Make money through google adsense

2011-08-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

let us assume that you have a huge amount of traffic on your website or blog and you want to make some money off it, how do you do this?

Seriously speaking there are a billion ways of doing this. We will discuss some of the basic and most straight forward ways. You can be creative and come up with other ways on your own.

The simplest way - Google Adsense
Adsense is basically a Google advertising program. If you have a blog on Blogger.com then using adsense is very simple and so we recommend that you use Blogger.com to blog.

If you are unclear what Adsense adds are and how Adsense adds look, take a look at the picture blow. (It's the add under the mouse pointer.)

Once you have these adds on your site, if anyone clicks on the adds, you will get paid. Generally, you will get paid $0.10-$0.55 (Rs.4 – Rs.25) per click depending on the type of adds you have. Some adds even pay up to Rs.45 or 1$ per click.

The adds that appear on your blog depend on the content of your blog. If your blog is about “cooking” you will get cooking adds. If your blog is about “real estate” you will get “real estate” adds. This is great, because the people who come to a “real estate” blog are probably interested in real estate. If you have real estate adds then they are more likely to click the adds and make you some money.

On the other hand, if you have a cooking blog and real estate adds then none of your readers are going to be interested in real estate so no one will click on your adds. The best part about Adsense is that it handles the displaying of the adds on its own and it matches the content and the adds.

However, if you want to be really successful with Adsense, your add placement and colors have to be done right. You always want your adds to blend into your blog. You don’t want your adds to stand out and look as if they are not part of your blog. If they stand out, then they are less likely to be clicked and you are less likely to make any money.

Adsense allows you to choose all the colors of your add. When choosing your add, make sure that the background color of your add is the same as the background color of the place you are placing the add on your blog. Make sure that the text color of your add is the same as the text color of your blog’s text. Make sure that the colour of the links in your add are the same as the color of the links in your blog. If you do this, your adds will blend in perfectly and is much more likely to get clicked and make you money.

There is a lot more to learn about Adsense and add placement and colors. But, as you start playing the game you will learn it on your own. Choosing the right colors etc. of your add comes with experience and over time you will learn all of this.

One important thing: You may think that if Google is paying per click, then all you have to do is click the adds on your blog again and again and again and you will make a whole lot of money. THIS IS A BAD IDEA! Don’t do this. If Google finds out that you are trying to “click fraud” them you will not have a blog, nor will you have Adsense adds, they will take away any money you have made. Google has all sorts of ways to find out wheter a particular click is a fraud or is real.

Technically speaking, you can start Adsense on your blog right from the start. You don’t need a large amount of traffic to start adsense. However, if you have only a few visitors per day, the amount you make from adsense will be minimal. This might get discouraging.

Adsense is only one of the ways to make money off your blog. We have talked about Adsense here because it is the easiest way for Indians to make money on the Internet. There are may other programmes and some of them don't pay in India and others require you to use credit cards. So Adsense is safe and secure and 100% works.

To make money though your high traffic blog, you could also join an Affiliate program, run your own adds, sell products and endorse products etc. etc. You will understand all these in due time.

Simple way to understand EPS ratio - Earning per share ratio

2011-08-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Even comparing the earnings of one company to another really doesn’t make any sense, if you think about it. Earnings will tell you nothing about how many shares the company has. Because you do not know how many shares a company has, you do not know how many parts that companies earnings have to be divided into. If the company has more shares, the earnings will be divided into more parts.

For example, companies A and B both earn Rs.100, but company A has 10 shares outstanding, so each share holder has in effect earned Rs.10.

On the other hand, if company B has 50 shares outstanding and they too have earned Rs.100 then each shareholder has earned Rs.2. So you see it is important to know what is the total number of outstanding shares are as well as the earnings.

Thus it makes more sense to look at earnings per share (EPS), as a comparison tool. You calculate earnings per share by taking the net earnings and divide by the outstanding shares.

EPS = Net Earnings / Outstanding Shares

there are three types of EPS numbers

Trailing EPS – last year’s numbers and the only actual EPS
Current EPS – this year’s numbers, which are still projections
Forward EPS – future numbers, which are obviously projections

How to form Partnership deed and start a partnership firm

2011-08-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

It is not “necessary” to registar a partnership with the Govt. in most states of the country. Check the laws in your state to be sure.

However, if you do not register your partnership, you will not be legaly protected from disputes between partners etc. as we have explained before. So, it is always wise to register your parnership with the Govt.

In any case, even if you choose not to register your partnership, you should still prepare a “Partnership Deed” which will help resolve problems when disputes between partners arise.

The general procedure for registering a partnership firm all over India is quite similar:

You have to prepare a “Partnership deed”
Fill in the required form at the “Registrar Of Firms” office near you.
Submit the required form, the “Partnership Deed” and other supporting documents to the “Registrar Of Firms” for approval.

Preparing the Partnership Deed

The “Partnership Deed” must contain

The amount of capital contributed by each partner
Profit or loss sharing ratio
Salary or commission payable to any partner, if any
Duration of business, if any
Name and address of the partners and the firm
Duties and powers of each partner
Nature and place of business; and
Any other terms and conditions to run the business

The partnership deed is usually not very hard to prepare through a local lawyer.

This partnership deed must be made on stamp paper as per the laws of the place of signing. The whole process of drafting the partnership deed can be done through a trusted lawyer. It should cost you around Rs.1000/- to prepare the deed.

After preparation of the deed, it must be signed by all the partners. It must also have signatures of independent witnesses.

The deed is then submitted to the “Registrar Of Firms” along with the registration form and other supporting documents. On approval of these documents by the “Registrar Of Firms” the “Partnership Firm” is established as a legal entity and can start business under the chosen name.

Things you must know about home loans

2011-08-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

There are many different Institutions that are providing home loans. There are many different offers and features. How do you decide what loan you should go in for? To help you answer that, here are a few things you might want to consider…

Best way to compare offers: Go to the different institutions providing housing loans and ask them to calculate and give you the “net” amount of money you will have to pay over 10-Yrs and the “net” amount of money you will have to pay over 20-Yrs. When we say “net” we mean that the money includes everything, the administration, processing and all other possible fees. Note all the different rates that all the different organizations give. This will give you the best idea about the different rates.

You will also have to choose between a 10-Yr or 20-Yr loan. A 20-Yr loan will mean lower EMI (equal monthly installments) but probably a higher interest rate. In the long run, you'll be paying more for your house because you will be making more interest payments.

With a 10-year loan, the EMI will be higher but the interest rate lower; thus you'll pay less for your house because it will be paid off in a shorter period of time. You will have to decide what suites your needs.

Find out about “processing fees”, “administration charges” and the “quantum of loan”. Get each institution to provide you with a written statement of all fees. Then, ask to reduce one or more of the fees. Use the lowest fees you to negotiate with other institutions. (Don’t be shy. Seriously!) You must negotiate.

If a sales person asks you to include false information on your home loan application to get quick approval, do not agree to this. Also don’t get confused into borrowing more money than you need or can afford.

A lot of Income Tax savings are possible with home loans. The Income Tax saved can be used to pay the EMI. So do not loose out on the income tax saving oppertunities.

Ideally, you should choose the bank which does not require a "guarantor" and offers home loans without "pre-payment penalty" (or a penalty for repaying loan before it is due). This helps you re-pay your loan as early as possible.

The following documents will be required if you approach an institution with a home loan request. Try to take these documents along with you. If you show them that you are a serious buyer, they are more likely to be open to negotiations:
If you are a Salaried Employee:

The latest salary slip showing statutory deductions
Form 16 (showing tax deducted at source by employer)
Proof of age (birth certificate/voter identity card/passport/school-leaving certificate/valid driving licence)
Proof of residence (phone bill/electricity bill/ration card)

If you are Self-employed:

Computation of income for the previous two years, certified by a Chartered Accountant
Profit & Loss Account and Balance Sheet for the previous two years, certified by a Chartered Accountant
Proof of age (birth certificate/voter identity card/passport/school-leaving certificate/valid driving licence)
Proof of residence (phone bill/electricity bill/ration card)

Choosing "fixed" or "floating" interest rates

Just incase you are not sure about what these mean, let us explain them first. A "fixed" rate would be a rate that would be set right at the beginning when you apply for the loan. Suppose you apply for the loan and choose a “pure fixed” rate, then if the rate of interest is 9% at the time of application, it will remain 9% for the complete period of the loan.

This could be good if the interest rates increase during the period for which you are paying the loan. This could be bad if the interest rates reduce during the period for which you are paying the loan. But, if you want a safe option, then you should go for this.

However, there is another version of “fixed” interest rates. These are “semi fixed”. This means that the interest rates remain the same for 3 or 5 years. And at the end of every 3 or 5 years, the interest rates are changed again. If you decide to go in for “fixed” rates, be very clear about the kind of “fixed” rates you are choosing.

In the case of “floating” interest rates, the interest rates change depending on basis of some other external interest rate. For example, some banks decide the “floating” interest rate on basis of their fixed deposit interest rate. And the fixed deposit interest rate generally depends on the market.

However, in some banks, the “floating” rate may depend on some "internal interest rate" that is not market dependent. This is as good as a “fixed” interest rate. It will just give an impression of a “floating” rate. So, make sure you know what the “floating” rate is dependent on, when you go for it.

Now a days, some banks even allow you to split your loan amount and pay part of it on the “fixed” and the other part on basis of the “floating” rate. Ask about this. Also ask whether there is a way to switch from “fixed” to “floating” interest rates in the middle of the tenure. If that is possible, you should be constantly vigilant of changes and make switches appropriately for getting the best rate!

Basically, the choice of “fixed” or “floating” rate depends on your situation and how much risk you can take.

Keep these few things in mind. If you are not clear about the procedure of taking a loan, do not worry about that. Just go to a institution, and tell them you want a home loan, they will be more than happy to tell you everything you want to know!

Export market entry strategy

2011-08-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Each target market needs it’s own market entry strategy. Foreign markets can differ in many ways -- in income levels, standards, climates, sizes of people and space, language, religion, cultural preferences and taboos, business practices, etc. Without a “market-conducive” entry strategy, you will not be able to use the full market potential; or worse, you could make costly mistakes.

The biggest mistake than many exporters make, is to assume that all markets can be approached in the same way. DO NOT, make this mistake!

In its simplest form, market entry plan should address 4 key points:

Distribution
Promotion
Pricing
Localization

Distribution strategy

The main options you have for product distribution are to

Sell directly to end users in the market
Sell through agents or distributors in the market
Hire overseas sales staff to cover the market
Establish overseas sales offices in the market
Establish overseas joint ventures or subsidiaries

The right approach depends on how much control you want over the process, the expected volume of sales, the openness of the market, and what is customary in each market.

Most exporting is done through “local agents” or “distributors”, or “directly”.

Click here to read another article on how to find distributors/agents for exports.

Overseas sales offices, joint ventures and subsidiaries are last-resort options. When the volume being exported is high then such methods are used. Only with such high volumes, can the high cost of setting up the “sales offices” be reasonable.

Joint ventures and subsidiaries may also become necessary if imports are subject to 'prohibitive import duties' or other restrictions.

Here we have talked about “local agents & distributors”, or “direct selling” since this is the method that will be used to most of our readers.

Selling through overseas agents and distributors

Exporting through local agents or distributors is the norm in most countries and also the most effective. As market "insiders," they speak the language, understand how business is done, and know who the customers are and how to reach them. The end-users generally prefer to deal with local agents and distributors, rather than buy direct from foreign suppliers.

Overseas “agents” act as your representatives in the market. They develop and send sales orders, arrange payment, prepare all required import documents, and clear the goods through customs. They normally work on a commission basis and don't take title to the goods.

Overseas “distributors”, in addition to representation functions, generally purchase the goods and resell them at a profit. Many are equipped to stock, install and service the goods. In large, developed markets, agents and distributors often specialize by industry. In smaller, less developed markets, they're more likely to carry many different types of products.

Selling direct to foreign end users

Direct selling avoids intermediary costs and offers more control over price, service and level of effort. It is an option in markets with “only a few buyers”, or when you or the end users can “easily find each other”.

Direct selling is particularly used for mail order sales and now for Web-based Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) trade. An intermediary is not needed in these situations.

Career in Entertainment Industry

2011-08-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

What's it about?
A wide variety of skills can support a career as an entertainer. If one sings, one could be called to display one’s talent at parties, marriages and corporate events. As an actor, one could channelise one’s skills into doing impressions of famous personalities (film star impressions have always been in demand in India). Stand-up comedians are also seeing renewed interest thanks to television programmes that profile such talent. Dancers are also in huge demand for entertainment events. Singers and actors can also do voice work for dubs and advertising jingles.

The Payoff
While struggle is part of making it as a successful entertainer, one can sustain oneself by
doing various jobs where one’s key talent is utilised.
Having made it, the sky is the limit to what one can earn.

Skills
. High standards of fitness
. Acting/ singing/ comic skills
. Discipline
. High sense of professionalism
. Networking skills
. Mental strength
. Self-confidence
. Gel with the audience
. Showmanship

How do i get there?
Evaluate your talent and hone it with the help of professionals or through assignments.
Actors should build an acting resume, if necessary starting with student productions and
then, along with a good covering letter, circulate the portfolio to directors, producers
etc. Singers should take on voice work and jingles to build their resume. Getting an
agent does help to find regular work

Institutes & urls
. Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
www.ftiindia.com
. Whistling Woods International, Mumbai
www.whistlingwoods.net
. Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, New Delhi
www.gandharvamahavidyalayanewdelhi.org
. Asian Academy of Film & TV
www.aaft.com

Pros & Cons
. Hard struggle before one makes it
. Fame and money
. Takes time to establish oneself
. Dependence on networks
. Fulfilling to display one’s talent and be appreciated
. Can have lean periods
. Taxing work schedules
. Family life may suffer
. Delayed payments are common
. Can take an emotional toll

This glamorous industry is on a roll
A veteran shares his outlook of the entertainment world

What are the challenges in getting established in this career?
The challenges depend on which category you choose, for example, if you are an actor
you should meet the requirements from a director’s point of view, for the script he is
working on. If one wants to make it as a singer, one should have that tonal quality to
attract and compel a music director. Overall, I can say that in today’s world, being
talented is not enough — you should have extraordinary talent so that you can be
recognised.

What is the industry outlook?
The industry is on a roll, thanks to growing corporatisation. Every corporate now has a
direct or indirect connection with the industry whether it is a stage concert, company
show, award function or even a film.
This glamorous entertainment world has been very successful in attracting the interest
of the masses in increasing levels, which has in turn resulted in new performers and
creators of entertainment coming up with new concepts and ideas to make the industry
larger, day after day.

What would be the one thing you would like to change about your industry?
The change in the industry cannot be brought about by one person. Having said that,
this industry is the best industry because there are no differences among industry folk
— you can say we belong to one religion and that religion is entertainment. The only
thing I wish is that the industry would be free of hypocrites — people who tend to spoil
the industry’s name through their unethical actions, which in turn leaves a bad
impression on people’s minds.

Are there specific challenges that women joining the profession should be aware of?
In today’s world, both men and women are equal — whether they are performing or
non-performing artistes. If they are performers, then my answer would be, they should
build their resumes through any and every opportunity they get (student films etc for
actors) and follow ethical ways of reaching their goals. I would advise women to be
careful about who they trust in this industry because a lot of people here pose to be
friendly, caring and helpful but aren’t, except for a few who are very rare and maintain
their sense of professionalism no matter what.

(Sikandar Khan, director-events, Star Beats Entertainment interviewed by Pankaj Mullick)

How to find overseas buyers and distributors for your export business

2011-08-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Finding the agents or distributors for each market is crucial. You need good overseas business partners to generate sales. Agent/distributor selection is especially important. A poor sales rep. could seriously hamper you in good markets. Therefore, you want to choose carefully.

Here are techniques for finding "interested buyers" and "qualified agents and distributors".

Find Potential Buyers
You can't assume that the buyers will find you. You need to search for your own leads.

The best leads are the “first-hand leads” you uncover on foreign business trips or that your overseas reps. find for you. These leads are also more costly to develop.

If you don't have overseas reps. or can't afford overseas sales trips, give the "second-hand" leads a try. Second hand leads, are those you find out about by reading on the internet, though magazines etc. They're often very good leads too. However, since your competitors can learn about them too, you MUST follow up quickly on these leads.

Some of the best leads are for “development projects” still in the planning stage. These future projects offer opportunities for equipment, supplies and services of all kinds. They often have government support and financing.

Find potential agents or distributors
Finding and keeping good overseas reps. is a four-step process:

Identify and contact prospects in each market
Screen and select the best prospects
Contractually appoint the selected reps
Contractually appoint the selected reps

Step 1- contact and screen prospective reps

First impressions count, so what you say first is very important.

The initial message should convey:

Basic facts about your company and products
Your market objectives
The qualifications you seek in a potential rep
What the rep could expect from you (pricing, payment terms, delivery, promotional support, etc.)

You should respond promptly to all serious responses, try to answer all questions as fully as possible, and provide product information etc. Do use discretion in sending costly product samples, especially if they could be easily copied. Product samples should be reserved for the top prospects.

How can you tell who is the best after contacting all reps?

The key is to know what you want in a rep. You should identify the qualifications needed for effective representation. The requirements may vary by product, but five basic qualities are fundamental:

Experience: a rep with a solid track record as an agent or distributor; expertise in the product area; and strong connections in the user community.
Capability: a rep who can market and support the products in the way required (e.g., promote the product, train users, install and service equipment)
Motivation: a rep who is enthusiastic about the product and able and willing to give it priority
Loyalty: a rep who would not desert you for a competitor or represent a firm with a competing product
Honesty: a rep with a good reputation in the industry and good bank and trade references

When finding your rep. make sure you know the following background information on each prospect:

Current status and history, including background on principal officers
Personnel and other resources (sales people, warehouse and service facilities, etc.)
Sales territory covered
Current sales volume
Typical customer profiles
Names and addresses of foreign firms currently represented
Trade and bank references
Capability to meet your special requirements
Opinion on the market potential for your products

Select and appoint the best reps

Once you've identified the best prospects, you should formalize the appointment with an “agent/distributor agreement”. These agreements clearly specify the terms of the relationship and the responsibilities of each party.

The “agent/distributor agreement” should cover the following:

Products covered
Territory covered (e.g., country)
Degree of exclusivity
Minimum sales/purchase obligations
Responsibilities for marketing, promotion, shipping
Responsibilities for technical support, training, after-sales service
On-hand inventory requirement
Allocation of expenses
Terms of commission/payment
Handling of complaints and disputes (e.g., arbitration)
Conditions of termination

These points are negotiable. Aim for a mutually beneficial agreement that motivates the rep and protects your interests.

The rep will also ask you to respond promptly to orders, deliver the product on time, pay the agreed commission, provide training or other specified support, and pay a fair share of any joint marketing and promotion expenses.

Indian middle class 'male' consumer

2011-08-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

The middle class of India is for whom most of the advertising is targeted. Even in the lower middle class, consumer products like biscuits, talcum powder, hair oil, hair cream, toilet soaps, leather foot ware, casual foot ware, wrist watches, quartz watches etc. are purchased.

Security seeking

The middle class generally consists of security seeking people. Even though they are receptive to new ideas, they do not very readily dash into new ventures. The middle class man does not only want economic security, but he also wants emotional security.

He will not do something that is likely to upset his emotional ties. He wants social security. He wants to be part of society. He does not want to be a rebel or an outcast. Being part of society he enjoys a degree of protection. He is likely to welcome new innovations is they satisfy his sense of security. If he feels that a particular idea will help him improve his economic position or social relationships he will accept it. Anything that is likely to upset this balance is going to be discarded by him.

Credit Purchases
The middle class Indian normally lives in a fixed income. He has to manage his finance in a rigid budget. He wife selects reasonably good furnishings and uses modern cooking gadgets. He usually has a two-wheeler of this own. He aspires for the well-to-do lifestyle he sees on TV. So his purchases are generally materialistic in nature. Because of this he likes to make large purchases and pay for though the different credit facilities that are made available to him by the banks and other financial institutions.

Now days practically everything is made available to him on installment payments. The availability of credit facility acts as a temptation to buy. His desire for bringing home more and more material comforts is realized by the availability of credit facilities.

The State Bank Of India campaign of a few years ago, "Be a big shoppers! Make a big buy! Take home a car, a VCR or a sewing machine today! You can do it now with the big buy scheme..." appealed to many Indians.

The system of "credit cards" is also growing in the country at a very fast rate. It is expected that in the near future, Indians will be the biggest users of credit cards second only to America.

Prestige Conscious
The middle class Indians have many of their possessions, largely because they are "status conscious" or "prestige conscious". The middle class man’s finances may be tight and he may even struggle to meet ends. Still, he looks for more than average comforts, and plans for more material possessions. These possessions act as status symbols. By appealing to this prestige a marketer may motivate the middle class man.

Strong family ties
The middle class man is a home loving man. He assigns a lot of importance to the well being of his family. He spends a good portion of his income on the education of his children. His children get priority in his budget. He without much resistance will adjust to the changing fashions of his college going children even though these changes may be costly for him. The concept of "small family more comforts" has gone well with him. The "family tie" binds him so strongly that anything that appeals to this "human bond" will find his ready acceptance.

His son's education or his daughter’s marriage are life long dreams for him. Any thing that appeals to these dreams will catch his immediate attention.

Do read another interesting article on Indian middle class 'housewife' consumer

Methods of pricing your product Part 2

2011-08-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

For Part 1 of this article click here

Penetration Pricing
This strategy is used for new products/services trying to penetrate the market, or existing products/services entering new markets, by offering initial low prices. Such low prices will attract the customer and through continued use and purchase, they may not be discouraged by any future price increases and remain loyal to the product/service.

In other words, the initial low price that you offer may not even cover all associated costs, but when you increase the price in the future, it will compensate for the loss you made or any profits you missed out on.

For example, the first two or three editions of a monthly magazine may be offered at, say, Rs.50, but after this the magazine price increases to, say, Rs.100. Because most people will have found interest in the first editions of the magazine, they are likely to continue buying the magazine in the future.

Price Discrimination:

Price discrimination involves charging different prices for your product/service at certain times, or to different types of customers. The classic scenario is telephone services charges off-peak hours are much cheaper than peak hours. This is because they know that their service is in high demand during peak time (around 8am - 6pm) as they are the business operating hours.

Another common discrimination is offering your service at higher prices during the weekend (Saturday and particularly Sunday) as customers may find it hard to find other alternative services during this time.

The above examples are all to do with timing, but the other price discrimination is aimed at the different types of customer. In this case, the best example would be offering students a discount of, say, 10% for using your service or buying your product, you may even offer your service/product cheaper to loyal customers, say, those that have been trading with you for more than a year.

Pricing to Customer Expectations

This would involve extensive market research, as the idea is to charge what customers are willing to pay (within reason).
If your product/service is new or unfamiliar in the market, you can expect potential customers to give it a low price. Alternatively, if your product/service is popular or unique in the market, you can expect people to be more favorable toward its value.

If you adopt this strategy, you should review your research periodically, say, every six months as customers may develop a different attitude toward your product/service. Consequently, in time, customers may value your product/service differently and so you should change your price to correspond with customer expectations, whether they are higher or lower.

Destroyer Pricing:

This strategy is used as an attempt to eliminate competition. It involves lowering your prices to an extent where competition cannot compete and consequently, they go out of business.

By just reading the last sentence, it sounds very threatening to not only the competition, but also to yourself: this is what you find with all competition based pricing strategies.

It is therefore important that you recognize how threatening the competition is and research how competitive they can be with their prices: they may be able to compete with your price cuts and consequently you both, or even just yourself may go out of business.

Price Matching aka Going Rate Pricing:

Many businesses feel that lowering prices to be more competitive can be disastrous for them (and often very true!) and so instead, they settle for a price that is close to their competitors. Any price movements made by competition is then mirrored by yourself: so long that you can compensate for any reductions if they lower their price.

Your business may be considered as one of the more dominant within it’s market because you offer a service or product that is unique or popular (through branding). As a result, you may have the power to set the price in which your competitors will attempt to follow.

How to design a good product distribution system

2011-08-23T03:11:00.000-07:00

A manufacturing company manufactures products. It then needs to deliver the manufactured products to the consumers. Many times, the place of manufacturing and the place where the consumers require the products is very far away form each other.
For example: Tata Motors has a "Indicar" manufacturing plant in Pune but it's customers are all over India. So, Tata Motors needs to set up a efficient distribution system so that the products reach its consumers.
In case of some products like perishable food products etc. physical distribution is a very important part of the whole business. The transportation of "Amul Butter" to the stores that sell "Amul Butter" is a big challenge. While transportation, the butter has to be stored properly so that it does not get contaminated.
To completely understand and appreciate physical distribution, consider the case of "Amul Butter". Amul is made in "Kaira District" in Gujarat. From there it is distributed all over India and it is available at the local store near you. The destitution guys have to make sure that, every little "banya shop" on every little street of our extremely large country gets Amul Butter. To add to this enormous challenge, Amul butter is a perishable milk based product. It has to be stored and transported properly so that it does not get spoilt on the way. And while the distribution guys do all this, they have to make sure they keep the costs under control.
The above example makes one think that the distribution guys do a whole lot of work. However, in practice what they do is, set up distribution channels.

What are distribution channels?

Distribution channels are all the sub-marketers or intermediate marketers of the company. For example: selling agents, wholesalers, retailers, authorized representatives, showrooms etc. are basically distribution channels.

The distribution channel for a particular product may be:
Manufacturer - Wholesaler - Retailer - User
Manufacturer - Distributor - Wholesaler - Retailer -User

All of these members of the distribution channels also want to sell the products that they hold so they too try to market the products in their own small way.

For example: the showrooms might try to promote their showroom in the local papers and sell more of the products they hold etc.
OR
An insurance selling agent may try to use word of mouth marketing to sell more insurance policies.
OR
The local "banya shop" will keep his shop stocked with the Amul butter packets so that he does not loose business from customer who asks for Amul butter.

Using these distribution channels the company can sub-market it's product at various localized levels. Using these distribution channels, the company can market it's self in all the local neighborhoods and streets of the country.

The company has to give some commission to the people along the distribution channel. It also gives incentives to them if they sell more products. This way, the distribution and marketing of the product takes care of itself to some extent.

In some cases having distribution channels may prove to be costly as the price of the product rises at every level. So, a company may choose to by-pass all distribution channels and directly market the product and deliver it to the consumer itself.

However, whatever the method of distribution used, the products still have to reach the distribution channels or the consumer from the point of production. So we come back to the original topic of physical distribution.

The two most important factors when considering physical distribution are:

The time taken for the product to reach the consumer.
The cost of delivering the product to the consumer.

Firstly, we do not want the consumer to wait for too much time when he is waiting for the products to reach him. So we want to use the fastest product delivery system we can. But, the problem with doing this is that the faster we try to make the product delivery, the more the cost of product delivery will increase.

So, what needs to be done is to choose the "minimum service level"

What is minimum service level?

As we saw above, we cannot just reduce the time taken to delver the product and make the delivery as fast as possible. This would mean a very fast but also very costly distribution system. So, what need to be done is to decide what minimum level of service will the customers be satisfied by.

In case of a car, for example, we may say that the minimum level of service is set to one day. This means that, the car has to be delivered within one day to the consumer. So, the distribution system/distribution channels of the company should be designed in such a way that the car can reach the consumer within one day flat. One day is the minimum level of service desired.

If a company keeps the minimum level of service too high, it risks loosing customers. In today’s competitive environment, if a car manufacturer delivers a car in one week and it's competitors deliver the car in one day; the care manufacturer will loose business to the competitors. Today people will not wait a week if they can get something in a day.

The minimum level of service should be at least at par with your competitors. If it is not, you better be selling some spectacular product or you are soon going to be out of business.

On reading the above paragraphs, one may tend to think that the physical distribution system is only related to transportation of goods from the company to the consumer. However, physical distribution is a whole lot more.

Some of the major aspects of physical distribution are:

Transportation
Warehousing
Inventory Management
The problem with Inventory and Warehousing

Transporting a car from the car manufacturer to the customer every time an individual order is placed would be very costly. Not only would this be costly, but also it would take too much time and the time of delivery would exceed the desired minimum level of service.

For example: if a car manufacturer is situated in Pune and an order for the car is placed in Delhi, it would take 3 days for the car to be delivered to Delhi. Also since only one car is being delivered at a time, the cost of delivery would be very high.

Because of this the concept of warehouses and inventory is introduced. The car manufacturer has a warehouse in Delhi or around Delhi. The warehouse is stocked with cars. Whenever an order is placed in the Delhi showroom for the car, the car comes from the warehouse instead of the company. This is obviously much more faster.

However, there are some problems with this system. If the warehouses and the number of cars in the warehouses (inventory) is not managed by the company properly, it could prove to be very costly for the company.

For example: If the warehouse is not stocked properly, then a situation may arise where a customer is waiting for the delivery of a car but there is no car available for delivery. He may have to wait for the car to come in from the company. This will take a lot of time. The customer will cancel his order and book a car somewhere else.

In the case of buying cars this is less likely to happen. However, in the case of a small product, if the distribution system is not good, the products will not be available in the local stores and if this happens the consumer will buy something else and that will be the end of that consumers loyalty.

So, in conclusion, the warehouse/stores/retail outlets must never be under stocked.

However, even if they are over stocked there will be a problem. If a car manufacturer keeps his warehouse overstocked and full of inventory, he has lot of money tied up in the cars that are waiting to be sold in the warehouse. Because of this he has less money to run his business and make the next batch of cars.

Also, since he has so many cars in the warehouse there are threats like, the warehouse catching fire and this cars being destroyed etc. For this he may choose to insure all the cars in his warehouse but that too will add to the costs of overstocking the inventory or overstocking the warehouse.

So warehouses cannot be overstocked either. In conclusion, warehousing and the amount of inventory in the warehouses is a tricky subject. It must be managed effectively or it will prove to be costly for the marketer.

Please Note: The above text only covers a basic idea of what is involved in designing a distribution system. There are books and books written on this subject.

Most of our readers are people starting or running small business. This marketing subject is less important to them as compared to other subjects so we have not given it too much stress. However, there are many good books available on this subject.

Methods of pricing your product

2011-08-23T01:56:00.000-07:00

Pricing is another big part of the marketing mix. Choosing the right price and the right pricing strategy is crucial to the marketing process.

The price of the product is not something that is fixed. On the other hand the price of the product depends on many other factors. Some times the price of the product has got nothing to do with the actual product itself. The price may act as a way to attract target customers.

The price of the product is decided keeping many things in mind. To understand what all this means, let us look at the different possible pricing strategies one can adopt.

Cost based pricing:

This the simplest form of pricing. In this pricing strategy, you take the "Cost Price" of the product and you add to it how much profit you would like to make per unit sold. What you get is the “Selling Price”.

It's very simple logic: Cost Price/unit + Profit/unit = Price/unit or Selling Price/unit

To understand this better, consider you make 100 units of a product and it costs you Rs.10 per piece. Now you decide that you would like to make a 2% profit. So you charge Rs.2 extra per product and keep that is your profit.

This seems to make sense. However, this pricing strategy is very crude. This pricing strategy is independent of the market and your target consumer. Besides this, in the production of product, these must be some "fixed cost" that is independent of the quantity produced. This cost may not be directly accounted for in this system.

Contribution pricing:

This type of pricing method is a modification on the above pricing method. In this pricing, the equation is something like this:

Cost Price/unit + Small contribution to "Fixed Costs" = Price/unit

To understand how this equation works consider this. Suppose there is some plant that makes a product that has a Cost price/unit of Rs.30. Assume that per month there is a fixed cost of Rs.10,000 for the businesses running, marketing, advertising etc. Also assume that the per unit contribution to fixed costs for the plant is Rs.10. This makes the total cost or price of the product Rs.40.

Now assuming you sell 500 units of the product. Your total sales will be:

"Rs.40 x 500 = Rs.20,000"

Out of this Rs.30 per unit will go into replenishing the "Cost Price/unit". Since the cost per unit was Rs.30/unit the money spent as cost price is recovered. Also Rs.10 per unit will go toward the contribution for the "fixed costs".

That makes Rs.10x500 = 5000 toward the fixed costs. But the total fixed costs are Rs10000. So selling of 500 units gives the manufacturer a loss of Rs.5000.

On the other hand if he were to sell 1000 units, as we have seen above the cost price/unit of Rs.30 will take care of its self. The contribution per sale to the fixed costs would be Rs.10 x 1000 = 10000. This would also take care of the fixed costs. But in this situation even though there may be no loss for the business, there shall be no profit either.

Consider the case where the business manages to sell 1500 units of the product. In this case the Cost price per unit would be taken care of as seen above. But the contribution to the fixed costs would be Rs10 x 1500 = 15000. This exceeds the fixed costs of Rs.10000 by Rs.5000. So the business would make a profit of Rs.5000.

In this method of pricing, the more sales you make the more profit you make. If you make sales below a certain amount, in this case sales below 1000 units you will face a loss.

This pricing method is also independent of the target market, competitors, consumer buying capacity etc. However, it does account for all the costs that are taken up by the business.

Companies generally use this pricing strategy when they have a whole range of products. They will sell the products that are doing well at a higher price with a greater contribution to the fixed costs, and they will sell the products that are not doing so well with a smaller or no contribution to the fixed costs. They use the products that are doing well to make up for the fixed costs and generate profit. On the other hand the lower pricing on the other products will be targeted at increasing the market share of these products or penetrating a already competitive market.

Work back method of pricing:

This method is a strategy that is most useful for small businesses. Say a business sells 100 products each month and the total costs (fixed, promotion, total cost price etc.) for the month are Rs.1000. Suppose the business owner expects to cover all his costs and also make a return (or profit) of 50% (being a total of Rs.1500). Therefore the business owner sells his products at: Rs.1500 / 100 units = Rs.15 per product.

If this price seems too expensive compared to prices of other similar products, or is a price that will effectively reduce demand, the most feasible solution would be to try and sell more units. This is so that the costs and expected return can be spread over a larger number of products consequently lowering the price.

This is very similar to how increasing the units sold increased the profits in the previous situation. In another scenario if a competitor was charging Rs.100 for, say, a car service, and your business, as a result of using this pricing method, charges Rs.120. To stop the effect of losing customers to the cheaper business, you could upgrade your service to cleaning the car also. It may require slightly longer hours, but the extra quality in the service will compensate for the extra in price. In this case you could always use positioning and product packaging, labeling etc. to justify the extra price for your customer.

Market skimming:

Market skimming is a pricing strategy that can be used if the product you bring to the market is a completely new innovation. Since there are no competitors. The consumers will be willing to pay even a large amount for the product if required. So the product highly priced. The idea is that so long as the competitors do not bring the same product into the market, you can enjoy monopoly and hence a huge profit margin so you rather enjoy it.

If you decide to use this pricing method and enjoy large profits you could use one of the above mentioned price determining methods with a large profit margin to decide your price. Once the competition enters the market you price will have to fall so that you stay competitive.

Second Part of this article - Click here