In 2018, Umar Bebak from Pantha Chowk, Srinagar, entered into a joint venture with a Delhi-based company to manufacture and sell car cleaning products in Srinagar. He had taken the leap after a training programme at the Entrepreneur Development Institute in the city. Bebak borrowed ₹10 lakh from a bank to set up a manufacturing unit, rented a shop for ₹10,000 per month and paid a security deposit of ₹2 lakh.
He manufactured polishes for car bodies and cleaners for windscreens. Owing to good early demand, Bebak hired 15 salesmen and paid each ₹12,000 a month plus five per cent commission. Things were looking up till the internet blockade. The effect it had on Bebak’s business is an intriguing case study, because it was almost entirely brick-and-mortar, except for one aspect—he stayed in touch with his customers through emails and WhatsApp.
Post the internet blockade, phone calls did not have the same effect as the discussions online had, and sales plummeted. Six months on, Bebak, 24, has not been able to pay his staff and has also become a defaulter. He travelled to Delhi to mend things with his partner company, but his staff did not wait for his return. They quit, leaving his once thriving business in a shambles.
Denne historien er fra February 23, 2020-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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Denne historien er fra February 23, 2020-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
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RECRUITERS SPEAK
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MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
