business proposal jod

8/3/2019 Business Proposal Jod

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jod, SI 663, School of Information, University of Michigan

Business Proposal

Connecting Rural India

SI 663 EntrepreneurshipSchool of InformationUniversity of Michigan

Manaswi Shukla

12 B3, Lake Lila Lane,Ann Arbor, Michigan, USPhone: 1 734 757 0900email: [email protected]

Confidential | Page: 1
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Index

1. Executive Summary

42. Market Trend

2.1 Mobile Phone Market2.2 Service providers in Rural India2.3 Service providers in Rural India

63. Business Plan

3.1 Company Name3.2 Business Concept3.3 Geographic Location3.4 System Overview3.5 Technical Requirements3.6 Competitors

3.7 Key Differentiator3.8 Sustainability3.9 Revenue Model3.10 Investment to start the businesses3.11 Challenges

9

4. Competition4.1 Competitors4.2 SWOT Analysis

235. Marketing Plan

5.1 Promotional Strategy5.2 Promotional Budget

5.3 Service Pricing5.4 Promotion for second phase

26

6. Sales Plan6.1 Sales strategy for local traders6.2 Sales Strategy for companies6.3 Advertisement Pricing6.4 Sales Projections

29

7. Management and Operations7.1 Core Team7.2 External Consultants7.3 Staff Requirement7.4 Organizational Structure7.5 Operation and Infrastructure Details

33

8. Startup Expenses8.1 Staff Expenses8.2 Management Expenses8.3 Recurring Expenses8.4 One Time Expenses8.5 Sales and Marketing

36



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8.6 Investment required for 3 months8.7 Funds Available

9. Financial Projections9.1 Monthly Cash Flow for 20099.2 Yearly Cash Flow

3810. Future Plans and Exit Strategy

10.1 Beyond Second Phase10.2 Exit Strategy

39

AppendicesMonthly Cash Flow for 2009Yearly Cash Flow

41



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1. Executive Summary

Company:Jod plans to work as a service to bridge the gap between the buyers and sellers in rural India

by helping the buyers find the right providers of products while helping the sellers improve the efficiency

of their marketing.

Service: Company will provide information helpline service (local listing search) to connect B2B, B2C and

C2C. This involves collecting information (their products and services, rates and contact details) about

buyers and sellers in local markets and list their details, which could be accessed by people in that area.

Service will also provide information to individuals in rural area related to their trades or skills, in terms ofjob openings or market forecasts, to help them improve their income.

Market: Of the next 250 million Indian wireless users, approximately 100 million (40%) are likely to be

from rural areas, and by 2012, rural users will account for over 60% of the total telecom subscriber base,

according to a report jointly released by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Ernst & Young.

Similar companies in urban India have been growing fast with the leader in this area, Just Dial, having a

revenue of Rs521 crore with a revenue in excess of Rs110 crore. It receives almost 100,000 calls a day (or

36 million calls a year); it has a directory of two million establishments across 40 Indian cities.

Competitive Advantages:The biggest competitive advantage thatJod has over competitors is its reach in

the rural areas of India which is mostly unexplored in this area at the same time has infrastructure for

information call center to be setup. Since the company will be located in a sub-urban area, we plan to take

advantage of the low operating costs as well utilize the infrastructure advantages over setting up in rural

areas.

Company will use local dialects to communicate with the rural consumers, helping better communicate the

intended information. This will help us create a different image than the urban competitors.



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Management: Management team consists of four people, including two founders of the company.

Management team is relatively young but has business knowledge in call center management. Founders of

the company have had experience of working at grass-root level in rural areas and will be able to leverage

their knowledge in this company.

Financial Targets:

Net income of the business will grow to 2,351,926 INR(USD 47,040)at end of five years with the

company balance to be 7,614,513 INR.

Opening Balance Net Income Closing Balance

2009 6,000,000 INR -868,150 INR 5,131,850 INR

2010 5,131,850.00 INR 82,915 INR 5,214,765 INR

2011 5,214,765.00 INR -1,040,441 INR 4,174,324 INR

2012 4,174,324.00 INR 1,088,263 INR 5,262,587 INR

2013 5,262,587.40 INR 2,351,926 INR 7,614,513 INR

These calculations are done keeping10-15% business growth, 10% hike in salaries and 10% rise GDP.



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2. Market Trend

2.1 Mobile phone market

Mobile phone usage is rising faster in India than anywhere else in the world, with some six million

subscribers added every month.

The rural areas in India are not untouched by this growth. NokiaTM, like other companies, realizes the role

of rural India in this trend and focuses on developing mobile phones specific for these areas. International

Herald Tribune in an article highlights how mobile phone companies are gearing up to tap the rural

market. It says, Rural India has become the next frontier for the industry's biggest players. About 70

percent of India's 1.1 billion population, 770 million people, live in villages and rural areas [Source: For the

rural poor, cellphones come calling, International Herald Tribune,

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/06/business/wireless07.1-44394.php].

Of the next 250 million Indian wireless users, approximately100 million (40%) are likely to be from

rural areas, and by 2012, rural users will account for over 60% of the total telecom subscriber base,

according to a report jointly released by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Ernst & Young. This

is a huge market which needs to tapped for mutual benefit of the companies and consumers in these areas.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/06/business/wireless07.1-44394.phphttp://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/06/business/wireless07.1-44394.php


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[Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/60_mobile_users_in_rural_India_by_12/articleshow/

3781935.cms]

This growth in mobile industry is bound to effect related industries and may drive their growth as well.

Experts foresee that mobile technology will also play part in fostering the rural trade and economy. An

article by Nokia states, Mobile phones could significantly change the logistical issues faced by rural traders

and home entrepreneurs, by affording mobile-based ordering systems, delivery requests, and the ability to

make more reliable and advance arrangements with business partners or clients [Mobiles will revolutionise

seven sectors in rural India - Nokia, CKS]. With the help of technology, companies can address the issue of he

physical distance by connecting market, farmers, traders and consumers. It will ensure that the goods

produced in villages are able to reach other markets where they get the deserved price. Also, the players in

rural trade can better coordinate for mutual profitability.

Mobile phone companies which are trying to penetrate this market, realize the cost constraints in these

areas and are working on releasing low cost basic phones in these areas. One is Nokia 1208; it has a colour

screen, will cost around Rs 2,000 and contains features rural customers would welcome; one is a flashlight

[Business Line, The Hindu,

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2007/09/21/stories/2007092150010100.htm].There are efforts on

providing microfinancing in the rural areas which will increase the penetration of mobile phones in thismarket. This is a positive sign for the market which hopes to thrive on mobile industry for facilitating trade

in the region.

Not even the markets, but the people of rural India realize the power of such technologies. Struggling

artisans and tradespeople in rural India are finding that mobile phones are their ticket to better sales and

better lives. [Source:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_39/b4051058.htm?

chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business]

2.2 Service providers in Rural India

Bharti Airtel leads the market share in rural India with a 24% share and Vodafone (VOD ) in third place

with a 17% share. Almost all the players who have a large urban base in India are expanding rapidly into

the rural areas by providing innovative services.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/60_mobile_users_in_rural_India_by_12/articleshow/3781935.cmshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/60_mobile_users_in_rural_India_by_12/articleshow/3781935.cmshttp://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2007/09/21/stories/2007092150010100.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_39/b4051058.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+businesshttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_39/b4051058.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+businesshttp://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2007/09/21/stories/2007092150010100.htmhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/60_mobile_users_in_rural_India_by_12/articleshow/3781935.cmshttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/60_mobile_users_in_rural_India_by_12/articleshow/3781935.cmshttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_39/b4051058.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+businesshttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_39/b4051058.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business


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3. Business Plan

3.1 Company Name

The company is planned to be named as jod

TM. '

jod' in Hindi means 'connection' or 'joint'. The namereinforces the intent of the business to connect distantly located players in rural market and trade through

technology. The name is short and easy to pronounce.

The name was also found apt as its domain is available on Internet. Also, it does not have any other

competitor with similar name.

3.2 Business Concept

The company will bridge the gap between the buyers and sellers in rural India by helping the buyers find

the right providers of products while helping the sellers improve the efficiency of their marketing.

Currently, the markets in rural areas are separated as different islands in a sea. The service will connect

these isolated markets to empower buyers and sellers. Company will work on connecting B2B, B2C and

C2C. This involves collecting information about buyers and sellers in local markets and list their details,

which could be accessed by people in that area. The company will also gather knowledge about trades in

rural areas and distribute them.

The business can be divided into two phases, In first phase, the business will run as a call center service

which will collect data from the markets, which the consumers can get over their phone by dialing a toll

free number. In second phase, the company will release a web interface to facilitate e-trade. This would

benefit the traders as they can create their accounts on the system and manage it remotely. It will also help

the information seekers to find buyers or sellers sitting anywhere in the world. An example of such

scenario is that local artisans/craftsman can sell their products over Internet to outside world. When in full

functioning the business will provide the following services:

Phone: (toll-free number)

SMS: (toll-free number)

Internet: www.jod.com

Print: B2B and B2C Yellow Pages



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3.2.1 Information Types

At a higher level, we say that the in calling customers can ask for why, what, where and how

questions related to their individual trades.

Looking for buyers: price offered by different buyers and in markets, whole sale dealers,

how to reach there and other queries

Looking for sellers: rates, availability and sellers for materials like seeds, fertilizers, bamboo,

wood, tractor parts and other raw materials

Trade related queries: weather forecast, what raw materials to use, what fertilizers to use

etc.

Looking for jobs: Job postings by the workers to get job

Looking for skilled work: Job postings by employer to get workers

3.2.2 Information CollectionInformation will collected by touring the areas, coordinating with local representatives, crawling

existing databases and when consumers call themselves.In second phase, it will be done by loggingon to the website and initiate e-trade.

Paid employees: Company will hire part time employees, located centrally who will tour the

villages to gather information. They will also hire new employees in different villages to

collect information and market trends. The employees with local knowledge of the area willbe preferred who can collect information and pass it to a central repository.

Non-paid associates: Buyers or sellers will be motivated by their personal trade incentives

to pass their contact information and other trade details. The service will provide them with

better visibility across different markets.

Traders as Advertisers: Traders can post their information in the system as sponsored

listings to improve their marketing.

3.2.3 Information Access

Considering the literacy conditions in rural India, company will expect costumers to call them via

toll-free number. The list of methods of accessing information is as follows:

Calling to a toll free number provided by the company in their marketing drives

Writing text messages to a number provided by the company in their marketing drives



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Subscribing to periodical updates as SMS

In second phase: by logging on to the website

3.2.4 Usage Scenario

Farmer seeks information

Rama, a farmer is worried about the changing weather, he is unsure which crop can be harvested

considering the current weather and the land condition. He tries to consult his friends but everyone

seems to be confused. They had a bad time last year which led to poor earnings from the crop. His

friends decide to call jod and seek their consultation. He calls up the toll free number which and

asks the agent for suggestion. The agent advises Rama that he should go for sugarcane this season

which suits the climatic conditions. The agent also gives summary of the sugarcane prices in

neighboring markets and suggests some whole sale dealers which might be interested in his crops.

This encourages Rama to grow sugarcane this time. He then asks about where can he get the seeds

in cheap price. The agent suggests him the nearby dealers where he can get seeds.

In another village, Krishna, a farmer, wants to decide as to which market should he go to sell grains

from his farm. He calls the toll free number and asks for the grain prices in the nearby markets.

Based on the information, he decides which market is profitable for him.

Dealers share prices

Ramesh is a small dealer for tractor parts in 'Kankaria' village in Uttar Praadesh, India. He has

competitive rates for his products but is unable to expand his business due to lack of demand in his

village. He feels that nearby villages don't know about the prices he offers business and villagers go

to city thinking that they will get a better deal there. He calls up jod and updates them on the

catalog of products he supplies and the prices he offers. He states his interest to be advertised

when callers ask for tractor products. The agent handling the call fixes the deal and sends a person

from jod to collect the payment and get the papers ready for agreement. This way when people ask

for tractor parts, the agents tell them about Ramesh's shop and the competitive prices he offers.

Ramesh has been successful in in increasing his sale.



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3.3 Geographic Location

As discussed earlier, the service is designed to work in rural India. Initially we will concentrate on Northern

India because of the local knowledge in those areas that the founders of this company have. Operating in

these areas will also to avoid language barriers during the start of the business while using Hindi as the

language for interacting with the call center.

The business plans to start from the district ofJhunjhunun, Rajasthan, India as one of the founders

belongs to this place and has gained knowledge about the area over years. The already formed contacts in

nearby villages will be helpful for the company.

The district has five 'Tehsils'

52 major villages in the district

Population persons 19,13,099

Literacy per cent 73.61

Working Population per cent of population 33.42

Cultivators per cent 68.24

Agricultural laborers per cent 10.78

[Source:http://bpl.rajasthan.gov.in/Jhunjhunun1.SHTM]

This provides us a target consumer base of around 520,000 to start our business with. We also plan tocover neighboring districts as soon as we cover the initially planned villages. Following villages will be

covered in initial drive of collecting information as well as marketing and sales

List of Villages for the business

Delsar Khurd

Adrash Nagar (Bagar)

Alsisar

Bharonda Kalan

Raipur Jattan

Pilani

Bagar

Kalipahari

Khetri

Togra Sawroop Singh

Khiror

Kumawas, Nawalgarh

Lalpur

Luttu

http://bpl.rajasthan.gov.in/Jhunjhunun1.SHTMhttp://bpl.rajasthan.gov.in/Jhunjhunun1.SHTMhttp://bpl.rajasthan.gov.in/Jhunjhunun1.SHTM


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Bahadurwas

Bakara

Baragaon

Bharu Bissau

Chanana

Chirana

Chirawa

Dundlod

Dhamora

Gudha

Jakhal

Jakhar Ka Bass

Jhajhar

Jharodha

Keharpura Kalan

Mahansar

Malsisar

Mandawa Mukangarh

Nawalgarh

Nua

Sefraguwar

Ranasar

Singhana

Sultana

Surajgarh

Taen

Tamkor

Udaipurwati

Kisari

Next growth of business will be inJaipur district. Jaipur is growing as a IT hub in India and the company

hopes to get technical talent from the district as well.

Population persons 5,252,388

Literacy per cent 70.63

Total working population per cent 29.17

Cultivators per cent 40.05

Agricultural laborers per cent 5.66

Household industry manufacturing, processing servicing and repairs percent 14.71

No. of small scale units: 19,544

There are around 2344 villages in the district.

This expands the opportunity to increase the user base by another 1,500,000.



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List of Tehsils in District for business

Jaipur

Jamwa

Ramgarh

Phagi

Shahpura

Phulera

Sanganer Amber

Mojmabad

Bassi

Chaksu

Kotputli

Viratnagar Chomu

The third drive will be in districts with rich agricultural occupation like Ganganagar. Further is the

business growth plan when it will cover entire Rajasthan under its network. We have identified 157 major

villages which will have representatives from the company.

List of 157 major villages in Rajasthan for business expansion

A

Amarpura Jatan

Arathwada

B

Badangarh

Bagar, Rajasthan, India

Bagra, MarwarBakhasar

Bamnera

Bana (Village)

Bansi

Barodiya

Bathot

Bhagwatgarh

Bhainsrorgarh

Bhangarh

Bhaniyana

Bharunda

Bhiyar

Harnawa

Harsawa

Harsh, Sikar

Hasampura

Hudiya

J

JakhalJasol

Jeenmata

Jhadoli

Jhajhar

Jhansal

Jirawala

K

Kalibangan

Kalipahari

Kalwa, Rajasthan

Kankwadi

Kanswa

Nakoda

Naliasar

Nana, Pali

Napasar

Narhar

Nayagaon

NindarP

Pacheri

Padampura

Palsana

Palthana

Paner

Parasrampuria

Pirana, Rajasthan

Posalia

R

Raipur, Rajasthan

Ramdevra



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Bhukhredi

Bhuma

Biramsar

Birkali

Birodi, India

Bishangarh

C

Chand Khedi, Kota

Chandlai

Chandravati

Changoi

D

Dabra, Rajasthan

Dadrewa

Danalpur

Daspan

Degana

Deorala

DesuriDhadhela

Dhanop

Dhuan Kalan

Dudhwa Khara

F

Fadanpura

Fefana

G

Gadarmala

Gagarwas

Garal

Ghanghu

Kari, Jhunjhunu

Katrathal

Kayadara

Khajuwala

Khandip

Khatushyamji (Town)

Khejarli

Khichan

Khimel

Khinwasar

Khirnal

Khuri

Koliwara

Kudan

Kudki

Kusuma

L

Ladhana

LadpuraLakhau

Lalgarh (Rajasthan)

Lampolai

Lampua

Longewala

Luna, Rajasthan

M

Mandholi

Mandwala

Mangloona

Meadi

Modran, Rajasthan

Ramsin

Ranakpur

Rani, Rajasthan

Ratkuria

Rohida

Roru

Rosawa

S

Sahawa

Sai Dham Rani Rajasthan

Salamsingh ki dhani

Salasar

Salawas

Samdari

Sanderao

Saroda

Sarsanda

Sewari

ShekhsarSiana (Rajasthan)

Sinsini

Siwana

Sonana Khetlaji

Suin, Rajasthan

Sultana (village)

Sultaniya

Sursura

Sutot

T

Tadavas

Tajsar



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Gogamedi

Gogunda

Gordha

Gothra Bhukaran

Gudha

Gura Sonigara

H

Hadecha

Moondwara

Mousampur

Mungathala

N

Nagari (Chittorgarh)

Nagbavji

Nai, Rajasthan

Tanot Mata

Thathawata

Tilonia

Togra Sawroop Singh

V

Varman

3.4 System Overview

Phase 1

In the first phase of the implementation, we plan to have a centrally located call center in Jhunjhunun and

will support the villages in Jhunjhunu district. Placing the call center in Jhunjhunun ensures easy access to

infrastructure which could be initial bottle-neck in locating the call centers in villages. Lower cost of living

and infrastructure at Jhunjhunun keeps a control on project budget. Moreover, Jhunjhunun town has a

good mixture of people from surrounding villages which would provide the business with local knowledge

of that areas as we hire people from the town.

In the Diagram Below:

[1] Information Seekers: People call the centrally located centers to get information related to their trade.

Can you please let me know the grain selling price in Jhunjhunun grain market?

Can you please connect me to a wholesale dealer for the weaving thread?

[2] Traders: Local listings are posted by the traders, on calling these centers. This information is stored in

centrally located servers which can be accessed by the call center employees.

We are buying good quality grains at 10 Rupees per Kilogram for wholesale

I opened a new whole sale shop near 'Shingri' and have all kinds of threads for weaving. We can also

deliver thread at home if told a day in advance



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[3] Information providers: Information providers collect data from the market daily and pass to the call

center. In return, they are payed for it.

The best price of grain in the market today is offered by Chandan Dealers which is 11.25 Rupees

Phase2

In the second phase of the implementation, the company will introduce web service to support the

telephony. This will allow information providers and seekers (buyers and sellers) to enter and access

information online. Gartner predicts massive growth of Internet usage in India, especially rural India in his

report [Source: http://www.rediff.com/money/2001/aug/14net1.htm]. With the increase in Internet usage

increasing in rural areas, company hopes to utilize the platform to improve services and ensure better

reach.



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Website will also create a platform for local artisan and craftsman and small scale industries to sell their

products in urban consumers and even international consumers. This will be done as the individuals and

industry owners can add the products and contact details on the site.

During this phase, the company will hire employees in remote village who will provide information to the

company over phone. These employees will be hired on a contract bases. We see following advantages of

hiring in these remote locations:

Creating job opportunities in Villages

Taking advantage of the parochial knowledge of the employees

Reducing the cost of call centers further

In the Diagram Below:

[1] Information Seekers: People call the centrally router which distributes the call via web telephony,

based on the location of incoming call and availability of the agents.

[2] Traders: Local listings are posted by the traders, on calling these centers. This information is stored in

centrally located servers which can be accessed by the call center employees.

[3] Information providers/Call Canter Agents:Agents are located remotely and collect information

themselves and feed the data into the system. Company plans on utilizing available contact center

management applications to better route and manage calls and agents.



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3.5 Technical Requirements

SIP Phones

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol, widely used for setting up and tearing down

multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls over the Internet. [Source: Wikipedia]

MySQL Database

MySQL is a free Database provided by SUN Systems to store information. Business needs this to save data

gathered from the traders and other information providers, so that it can be accessed by the call center

agents.

Call Center Application

The call center will utilize Web based applications for the management to track calls and manage historical

records of call for billing purposes. These application also facilitate distributing voice call over web. Some

of the features that such applications provide:

SIP integration: Voice call over Internet



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Call Routing: Route calls to different agents based on certain parameters

IVR: Interactive Voice Response to facilitate callers to reach agents

Multi channels: Voice/e-mail/chat

CRM Integration: To manage the content related to agents, their operations and information

collected about callers and trades

Real-time call monitoring

Agent desktop: To handle incoming calls

Founders of the company have close contacts with known services in this area for small scale industries are

provided by Transera Inc.[http://www.transerainc.com/transera/Home/ContactCenter2.0.html] or Drishti

[http://www.drishti-soft.com/]

Servers

Call center will utilize Iris 1102 server which would run a open source Linux operating systems like Ubuntu

or Fedora. Following are the configurations for the server:

1x Intel Xeon or Core 2 Duo

Intel 3210 Chipset

Up to 2x SATA Hard Drives

4x DDR2 800/667 DIMM Slots Up to 8GB Memory

[Source: Pogo Linux,http://www.pogolinux.com/products/specifications?system=125]

3.6 Competitors

Just Dial Service [http://justdial.com]

Just Dial works is an information helpline based on a similar concept, running in major cities in

India. The company caters to over 70 million unique users. As of today, this search engine covers

200+ cities in India. It is one of the most successful local search on phone/Internet in India. They

support phone, Internet, Wi-Fi and Print. The company has no presence in the rural areas.

MTNL/BSNL Help-Line

This is a yellow pages on telephone. The main purpose of this service is to provide telephone

number of known business or individuals. They only support telephony.

http://www.transerainc.com/transera/Home/ContactCenter2.0.htmlhttp://www.drishti-soft.com/http://www.pogolinux.com/products/specifications?system=125http://www.pogolinux.com/products/specifications?system=125http://justdial.com/http://www.pogolinux.com/products/specifications?system=125http://justdial.com/http://www.drishti-soft.com/http://www.transerainc.com/transera/Home/ContactCenter2.0.html


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Yahoo! Local Search[http://in.local.yahoo.com/]

Yahoo! Provides local listings for business and services based on location and keywords. This is

prevalent in cities in India. It only supports Internet media to serve the results.

Google Local Search [http://local.google.co.in/]

Google provides local listings for business and services based on location and keywords. Google has

an extensive database of the listing which it also gets by crawling sites. It only supports Internet

media to display the results. The other advantage it presents to the user, is that it displays the listing

over a map.

3.7 Key Differentiator

Some of the key differentiators for the company as we realize now are:

Reach and operations in the rural areas of the country

Communication in local dialects with the end customer

Integrating B2B, B2C and 'C2C'over phone and Internet

Low cost of running business due to geographical advantage

Easy to use Interfaces for the next phase

3.8 Sustainability

Company hopes to provide job opportunities to the people in rural areas of the country. This will bebeneficial on decentralizing the job market which is moving towards few cities in country. The project

hopes to provide sustainability in these areas as people provide information themselves, use themselves and

improve trade on the way.

3.9 Revenue Model

Company sees immense opportunities to generate revenue in this sector. Company based on similar

concept called 'JustDial' has grown a lot since its commencement. It has a revenue of (Rs521 crore) with a

revenue in excess of Rs110 crore. Today, Just Dial receives almost 100,000 calls a day (or 36 million calls a

year); it has a directory of two million establishments across 40 Indian cities.

The business will run on the following:

In Call Advertisements:Voice Ads can be played over the phone, while a caller is in the queue

http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://local.google.co.in/http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://local.google.co.in/


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while waiting for the agent to attend the call.

It will be a good opportunity for companies to advertise in rural sector which is has

approximately 70% of India and generate more than half of the national income

[Source:Advertising in Rural India: Language, Marketing Communication, and Consumerism. Institute for the

Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Tokyo Press,

Tokyo, Japan. 2000.]The rural market has the opportunity for low priced products which can be

more successful in rural markets because the low purchasing, purchasing powers in rural

markets

Listing on printed Yellow pages: Company will print yearly yellow pages per district which

will have sponsored listings and advertisements.

Phone listing: Local traders can advertise their businesses as sponsored listing

Individual Subscription: Individuals can subscribe to the service by paying nominal charges to

get updates on trade interest areas.

3.10 Investment to start the businesses

The company should have at least 3 months of funds without the profit. This will be around Rs. 1,521,500

or USD 30,430. Detailed calculations of monthly cash flow is given in the Appendix ii

Total

Staff 444,000Management 180,000

Recurring expenses 147,000

One time expenses 702,500

Sales and Marketing 48,000

Total 1,521,500

3.11 Challenges

Market Awareness: On of the major challenges that company faces is creating an awareness inmarket that such a service can be helpful for the trades. In absence of any similar services in the

rural areas, this is seen as a challenge.

Getting Talent: Due to the operations being located in a small town, attracting talent in such areas

remains a challenge. We hope to build a company image which will attract bright talents to these



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areas as we grow.

4. Competition

4.1 Competitors

The competitors are divided into three major segments. First segment is directly related to the companies

business as they use

4.1.1 Telephone and Online Service

Just Dial Service [http://justdial.com]

Just Dial works is an information helpline based on a similar concept, running in major cities in

India. The company caters to over 70 million unique users. As of today, this search engine covers

200+ cities in India. It is one of the most successful local search on phone/Internet in India. They

support phone, Internet, Wi-Fi and Print. The company has no presence in the rural areas. It has a

revenue of (Rs521 crore) with a revenue in excess of Rs110 crore. Today, Just Dial receives almost

100,000 calls a day (or 36 million calls a year); it has a directory of two million establishments

across 40 Indian cities.

Ask Laila [http://asklaila.com]

'Ask Laila' provides local search results over Internet as well as phone. The business started in theend of 2007, is still establishing itself in various cities. It has over 30 million users in six cities of

the country. Starting with Bangalore, is now spreading other major cities in India like Delhi,

Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkota. It has partnered with Airtel to provide local search

service with Airtel subscription.

4.1.2 Telecommunication Services Competition

MTNL/BSNL Help-Line

This is a yellow pages on telephone. The main purpose of this service is to provide telephone

number of known business or individuals. They only support telephony. Just Dial and Ask Laila

also provide telephone service and have a better coverage in terms of businesses database.

4.1.3 Online Services Competition

http://justdial.com/http://asklaila.com/http://justdial.com/http://asklaila.com/


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Yahoo! Local Search [http://in.local.yahoo.com/]

Yahoo! Provides local listings for business and services based on location and keywords. This is

prevalent in cities in India. It only supports Internet media to serve the results.

Google Local Search [http://local.google.co.in/]

Google also provides local listings for business and services based on location and keywords.

Google has an extensive database of the listing which it also gets by crawling sites. It only supports

Internet media to display the results. The other advantage it presents to the user, is that it displays

the listing over a map.

Sulekha [http://yellowpages.sulekha.com]

Suleskha is a yellowpages services which maintains local listings for different cities. It is an

international listings like Yahoo! Or Google, covering cities across the globe.

4.2 SWOT Analysis

4.2.1 Strengths

Reach to rural areas and having a rural context: Our main strength, compared to the

competitors will be our reach in rural areas. We do not concentrate in the cities where all of

our rivals do. We plan to locate ourselves in small towns rather than cities and work on grassroot levels. The business will have a better local context than the competitors.

Local Dialects: 'jod' employees will use local dialects while talking to the customers. This

will differentiate us with other services who are located in cities and have lesser

understanding of the dialects.

Cost effectiveness: As business is located in the small towns and villages, we hope to be

cost effective in operations. With low cost of living in these areas and lower average salaries,

we should have lower cost of functioning than our competitors.

Company image:As the company works on rural areas to connect people in this area, we

hope to build an image of company which is 'for the common people'.

4.2.2 Weakness

Management with less experience: Companies management on papers is relatively new.

http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://local.google.co.in/http://local.google.co.in/http://yellowpages.sulekha.com/http://yellowpages.sulekha.com/http://in.local.yahoo.com/http://local.google.co.in/http://yellowpages.sulekha.com/


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Founders do not have any prior experience of starting or running a business. Though the

founders have worked in startups and have domain knowledge in Call center management

applications.

Infrastructure: Company lacks any infrastructure and will have to start from scratch Need to build the database: Unlike urban India where new players can crawl other sites or

work on existing databases, company will have to start working on creating a database in

rural areas and then use it

4.2.3 Opportunities

Emerging Market: It is a fast growing market. Company can take advantage of the growth

and be part of it.

Early starters: Currently there is no other similar service in rural areas, it gives an

opportunity to establish name in this market.

Employment in semi-urban and rural areas: Provide employment in these areas.

Utilizing existing networks: Airtel, IDEA and BSNL have extensive networks in rural

India. Company will be open to strike partnership with any of these companies to expand

its reach in the area.

4.2.4 Threats Just Dial: Just Dial has grown immensely in urban India. Though we believe that will

continue to improve its coverage in other cities in India, it has enough capabilities in terms

of business knowledge, infrastructure and revenue that it can enter the rural markets.

Google factor: Google has recently announced its interest in rural Indian market and

improving trade through Internet. Details at:http://www.mgovworld.org/News/google-bets-big-on-

mobile-platform-and-rural-india

Bharti Airtel: Bharti has pilot projects in rural India. Airtel has deal wth 'Ask Laila' in urban

areas which can be shifted here as well as the market grows. This especially easy and will be

highly competitive with Ask Laila's domain knowledge and Airtel's infrastructure in rural

India.



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5. Marketing Plan

5.1 Promotional Strategy

Creating promotional strategy in a rural context is highly challenging considering its mostly unexplored.

Most of the current available strategies use television as the primary media. It is successful to an extent as

it overcomes the literacy issues by communicating verbally. The reach of this media is limited with only41

per cent rural households have access to TV[Source: Hindu Buiness Line, Selling to Rural India] though its

increasing and we cannot ignore the influence of television in the area. We refrain from using this media

initially due to the cost involved in advertising in it. The cost of advertising is decided by the urban market

in India which makes it high.

There has been lot of research and successes in using unconventional medias for the rural areas. jod will

try to explore and depend on the unconventional medias during the incubation period of the business due

to their efficiency in reaching daily lives of the rural India and cost-effectiveness. Even in terms of strategy

for the campaigns, jod will create a rural context in its message. It will also scplore the option of

endorsement by any influential person in the village like the Mukhiya or the school master.

jod also plans to work withAnugrah Madison Advertising Pvt Ltd. Which is an advertising firm having

expertise in rural marketing. [http://www.anugrahmadison.com/]

5.1.1 Radio

Radio is also successful media to cross the literacy barriers to communicate. This can be effectively

used and is low cost, especially with Television getting the prime focus. The medium has gained

some interest with FM channels. jod will use radio to advertise campaigns between the 'Krishi

Darshan'(Farmer related show) episodes on 'Vividh Bharati' (Government run radio station).

5.1.2 Unconventional Print Media

Jod will use print campaigns in unconventional medias for promotion. The choice of

unconventional media is extremely important as these medias are part of villager's life. The medias

will focus at match boxes, playing cards, kites, wall paintings, calendars and envelopes.

Similar projects have been done to spread social messages as well. Please refer to a project where

http://www.anugrahmadison.com/http://www.anugrahmadison.com/


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the message of literacy was spent using unconventional medias in a graphical way:

http://www.manaswishukla.com/girl_literacy.html

5.1.3 Events

Events like different festivals and different games and sports competitions actually have a high

participation level in the rural India as other sources of entertainment are very less in those areas.

So, these events and shows offer great opportunity to reach rural India cost effectively. jod will

organize promotional stalls in these events, especially related to Farmers, Craftsman and Traders. A

good place to start this stall is in 'Suraj Kund', which is an yearly exhibition for craftsman around

villages in India.

5.1.4 Phone

Telecommunication is growing faster than ever in rural India. It is an important media in lives of

people in these areas. jodcan use this media to promote its business either by cold calling villagers

or specifically targeting traders and informing about the services and opportunities at jod.

5.1.5 Video Vans

Many brands are venturing into different ways to educate their rural consumers about their brands

and their usage through mobile shows. This initiative actually create huge awareness about thebrand among the interested people in the rural area. jod can hire vans to travel in remote places in

the region and inform people about their services. The aim of such tours will also be to sell the

service by contacting dealers in the area.

5.1.6 Charity

Charity is an important aspect in building trust in rural areas. jod will work on en cashing that over

time. The company will be on a lookout for an opportunity to associate itself to any charity in

coming future.

5.2 Promotional Budget

Company will keep Rs. 144,000 per annum for promotion. This is excluding the drives for campaigning,

sales and collecting data. This amount will be mainly used for printing promotional materials. This will

http://www.manaswishukla.com/girl_literacy.htmlhttp://www.manaswishukla.com/girl_literacy.htmlhttp://www.manaswishukla.com/girl_literacy.html


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include budget of Rs. 50,000 for the first year for video production which will be screened in villages.

5.3 Service Pricing

For end consumer there are no charges to call in. If the consumer want to list their trades and skills and

want to get updates on job opportunities or market forecasts. They will pay a nominal fee of Rs. 20 per

month which is around 40 cents.

5.4 Promotion for second phase

In the second phase of the business implementation, the companies focus will be to reach urban market as

well as a service which connects urban to global market. In this phase, company will explore conventional

medias as well which are prevalent today.

5.4.1 Television

Television has the maximum reach in India both in Urban areas. This is also increasing reach of

Television and cable network is increasing in the rural India. jod will consider advertising on

television during the second phase.

5.4.2 Internet Advertising

The second phase will also introduce the web section of jod. During this phase we will focus ondigital marketing on web and related medias. jod will work on building an image using Online

Reputation Management. This will include Social Media Marketing(facebook, MySpace et al.), Social

News, Tagging, blog marketing. We will also explore viral marketing in form of form of video clips,

interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages.

6. Sales Plan



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6.1 Sales strategy for local traders

With unavailability of Internet to a large portion of rural India (Internet usage from Rural India accounts

to 20%) has its limitation on selling products/services via it. Though Internet usage is increasing and we

hope to see a revolution in this field, we will focus on Telesales and Personal Sales.

6.1.1 Telephone Sales

Initially,the company will concentrate on telephone sales by cold calling the traders in a region and

informing them about the services and how we can help them grow their business. There are

already strong trends that the traders realize that their business can be expanded with technology,

especially mobile phones and Internet.

6.1.2 Sales Vans/Personal Sales

Vans will be used for marketing in villages as well as sales. Employees traveling in these Vans would

visit local traders in the region and explain them the benefits of listing their business with us and

the extra benefits they would get if they advertised with jod.

6.2 Sales Strategy for companies

As we ourselves become a media for advertisements, jod would approach consumer to agricultural product

companies for sales. There is a huge opportunity for companies to enter rural market which is not explored

much. Our services can provide them with a platform to do so. The method used for sale would depend

on the client capacity and would vary from personal sales to Telephone and direct mail Sales.

Advertising through jodTM would be targeted towards local region, with considerable knowledge about the

trades and occupation in the area allowing us to serve targeted advertisements. As time passes, we will have

better database of callers with their preferences, which could again help us in targeting advertisements.

Advertisers will be benefited by this as the ads will have higher conversion rates.

6.2.1 Personal Sales

The sales method will mainly be used for client with more than expected revenue of ---- In these



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cases, sales representatives will visit the client location to brief about the services and benefits

6.2.2 Telephone Sales

Telephone sales will be used to call companies and initiate talks with them. It could be followed by

personal visits as well.

6.2.3 Direct Mail Sales

In Direct mail sales, we will send brochures, pamphlets, calendars and other promotional materials

to companies, informing them about our services as an advertising medium.

6.3 Advertisement Pricing

6.3.1 On Queue advertising

This advertising package is targeted towards large to medium scale industries including consumer

good, agricultural machineries and big traders an whole sale dealers.

Rs. 2 per call for 10 second advertisements on the fist queue

Rs. 1 per call for 10 second advertisements on the fist queue

6.3.2 Listing costs local

Rs. 500 per month for spoored listing in phone search per category per zone

6.4 Sales Projections

In call Advertising

We expect the incoming calls to increase from 200 per month to 30,000 per month in a year. As the

marketing, sales and information collection drive moves to other districts, we see rise in incoming calls.

Number of Calls Revenue from Ads

Jan 200 600

February 500 1500

March 1000 3000

April 2000 6000

May 4000 12000

June 7000 21000



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July 10000 30000

August 15000 45000

September 20000 60000

October 22000 66000November 25000 75000

December 30000 180000

Sponsored Listing

We expect the sponsored listings to increase from 50 per month to 1,500 per month in a year. We see rise

during July as new employees are added to the field staff.

Number of Subscribers Revenue from Ads

Jan 50 25000

February 100 50000

March 150 75000

April 250 125000

May 350 175000

June 450 225000

July 700 350000

August 900 450000

September 1000 500000

October 1100 550000

November 1300 650000

December 1500 750000

End Customers subscription

We expect the end customer subscriptions to increase from 100 per month to 6000 per month in a year. We

see rise during July as new employees are added to the field staff.

Number of Subscribers Revenue from Ads

Jan 100 2000

February 200 4000

March 300 6000

April 500 10000



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May 800 16000

June 1000 20000

July 1600 32000

August 2500 50000September 3200 64000

October 4200 84000

November 5200 104000

December 6000 120000



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7. Management and Operations

7.1 Core TeamCEO

Manaswi Shukla

Manaswi graduated from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and has worked in Industry as

Interaction Designer at companies like Yahoo!, Trilogy and MindTree. He has worked on communication

design projects in rural India.

Manageing Directer

Pradeep Bharia

Pradeep is a Graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Having degree in Communication

Design, he has worked on various projects related to communication in rural India. He comes from

Jhunjhunun and has immense knowledge about the area. He himself has worked as a farmer in fields and

has knowledge about people in villages and their needs.

CTO, Operations Head

Suresh Kumar Vytla

Suresh is a computer science graduate. He has over 4 years of experience on working on Call Center

Management applications. He is well versed with the domain knowledge and his efforts have me focused

on making call center cost effective using web technologies.

Sales and Marketing Head

Rashmine Janita Sequeira

Rashmine has around seven years of experience in IT industry. She has worked as Testing lead and in the

Sales team for a call center software firm. She will be able to leverage her experience in sales, to apply into

the new business.

7.2 External Consultants

SK Pandey



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35/40


7.4 Organizational Structure

7.5 Operation and Infrastructure Details

Here we detail out major infrastructure items which are required during the start of the company:

On lease

Office Space 10

To Buy

Printer 1

Computer 10

Server 1

Telephone 15

Photocopy machine 1

Bikes 6

Vans 4



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8. Startup Expenses

Currency in all the calculations below is Rupees (INR). To calculate the startup expenses, the company

should have enough funds to be able to survive for 6 months.

8.1 Staff Expenses

Number Per person For 6 months Total

Staff on Call Center [1] 10 6,000 36,000 360,000

Field Staff 10 8,000 48,000 480,000

Receptionist 1 6,000 32,000 36,000

Office Support 1 2,000 12,000 12,000

Total 888,000

[1]Average Salaries of call canter employees in India is around 11,000 INR. Since the business will run in

sub-urban area, the above salary is competitive.

[Source:http://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Job=Call_Center_and_Customer_Service_Executive/Salary]

8.2 Management Expenses

Per month For 6 months

CEO 40,000 240,000

Managing Director 40,000 240,000

CTO, Operations Head 40,000 240,000

Marketing and Sales Head 50,000 300,000

Total 1,020,000

8.3 Recurring Expenses

Per month Duration Total

Office Lease 5,000 6 months 60,000

Travel Expenses 24000 6 months 144,000

Computer Maintenance 500 6 months 3,000

Office Supplies 1000 6 months 6,000

http://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Job=Call_Center_and_Customer_Service_Executive/Salaryhttp://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Job=Call_Center_and_Customer_Service_Executive/Salary


37/40


Toll Free number [1] 6,000 6 months 36,000

Telephone 1000 6 months 6,000

Vans Installment 6667 6 months 40,000

Total 274,000

[1][Source: http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/apply-for-india-toll-free-numbers-increase-business-brand/]

8.4 One Time Expenses

Cost per unit Total

Motor Bikes 20,000 120,000

Office Furniture 20,000 20,000

Desktop Computers [1] 10,000 100,000

Vans 10000 40,000

Printer 2,000 2,000

Photocopy Machine 5,000 5,000

Server[2] 40,000 40,500

Total 327,500

[1]10,000 Rs is the rate of assembled PC at Jhunjhunu with configurations: 14' monitor, Intel Celeron

430 / 1.8 Ghz, 2 GB/4 GB DDR2 RAM , 40 GB Hard Drive, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet.

[2] Business needs server to connect 1-500 computers. Configuration of such computer is: Dell

PowerEdge 2970 Rack Server, 2-Socket, Quad-Core 2U Rack Server, Quad Core AMD Opteron

2344HE,4x512K Cache,1.7GHz,1Ghz HyperTransport PowerEdge 2970.

8.5 Sales and Marketing

Cost per unit For 6 months

Sales 2,000 12,000

Marketing 12,000 72,000

Legal 2,000 12,000

Total 96,000

8.6 Investment required for 3 months



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The company should have at least 3 months of funds without the profit. This will be around INR

2,605,500 or USD 52,110. Detailed calculations of monthly cash flow is given in the Appendix ii

Total

Staff 888,000

Management 1,020,000

Recurring expenses 274,000

One time expenses 327,500

Sales and Marketing 96,000

Total 2,605,500

8.7 Funds Available

Funds will be put two founders of the company which amount to INR. 6,000,000 which is USD 120,000

Total

Personal Funds (Manaswi) 4,000,000

Personal Funds (Pradeep) 2,000,000

Total 6,000,000

9. Financial Projections

9.1 Monthly Cash Flow for 2009


Jan 6,000,000 INR -1,097,230 INR 4,902,770 INR

February 4,902,770 INR -306,680 INR 4,596,090 INR

March 4,596,090 INR -278,030 INR 4,318,060 INR

April 4,318,060 INR -220,730 INR 4,097,330 INRMay 4,097,330 INR -158,330 INR 3,939,000 INR

June 3,939,000 INR -95,030 INR 3,843,970 INR

July 3,843,970 INR 51,820 INR 3,895,790 INR

August 3,895,790 INR 50,920 INR 3,946,710 INR



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September 3,946,710 INR 137,004 INR 4,083,714 INR

October 4,083,714 INR 190,974 INR 4,274,688 INR

November 4,274,688 INR 282,114 INR 4,556,802 INR

December 4,556,802 INR 230,489 INR 4,787,291 INR

9.2 Yearly Cash Flow

Calculations below show that the company will be in profit starting from the second year but due to the

work on second phase and further expansion, the company will have to use its funds. Please note that the

calculations are based on 1.2% of monthly growth of in call advertising and sponsored listing while 1.5%

growth of individual subscription.


2009 6,000,000 INR -868,150 INR 5,131,850 INR

2010 5,131,850.00 INR 82,915 INR 5,214,765 INR

2011 5,214,765.00 INR -1,040,441 INR 4,174,324 INR

2012 4,174,324.00 INR 1,088,263 INR 5,262,587 INR

2013 5,262,587.40 INR 2,351,926 INR 7,614,513 INR

10. Future Plans and Exit Strategy10.1 Beyond Second Phase

Website

Beyond first phase and initial stabilization of business, the company will focus on enabling C2C

business using mobile and Internet technologies.

Yellow Pages

Addition of printed Yellow Pages is planned beyond phase two.

Locations

Company will start diverging to other states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and

Karnataka where the growth rate of mobile subscribers is high. In Bihar, the growth rate is as high



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as 88%. [Source:http://www.ibef.org/artdisplay.aspx?cat_id=842&art_id=19310&arc=show]

Mobile Applications

Company also plans to move in to mobile phone applications through which villagers could seek

information and get updates. These updates can be payed subscriptions on weather or market

prices or they can be pay per use updates.

Rating and Recommendation systems

As company grows, it will be important to implement a rating system to bring up the good traders

in the listings and eliminate and unreliable traders or customer from the network.

10.2 Exit Strategy

In case of a buyout, the conditions will be based upon our business agreement. Example, four years from

now, based upon the above stated milestones with similar growth over an additional 12 quarters would put

annual profit at approximately Rs. 1,088,263. Using a basic valuation technique of five times profits = a

company value of Rs. 5,441,315
http://www.ibef.org/artdisplay.aspx?cat_id=842&art_id=19310&arc=showhttp://www.ibef.org/artdisplay.aspx?cat_id=842&art_id=19310&arc=show

business proposal jod

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