Boom in Telecom Sector: Emerging Tower Business

Ever Since Hewlett-Packard began its journey from a garage and became one of the world’s largest companies, the idea of a start-up has often been connected with humble beginnings. You pooled in some savings, quit your job and started with nothing but a laptop, mobile phone and a dream. 

Funds were initially raised in small installments and investments were also made in modest complements. To start small, learn and then expand was the route entrepreneurs took.

But what if you worked in an industry where a billion dollars is no big deal? What if you need hundreds of millions of dollars to start, and as much to scale up? Can you make it big in an industry that thrives on megabucks and compete with big business groups playing in the same field? Or should you just stick with pickle-making, sericulture, or a one-person consultancy? 

Welcome to the era of ivory tower start-ups. It no longer takes an industrial conglomerate and surname-led brand to start cash-rich start-ups. Investment companies are on the lookout for managers with entrepreneurial spirit and the right skill sets to start killer companies. And the combination is creating some start-ups in the big league. 

The telecom tower business is a classic example. From being almost a non-existent business few years ago, it now has all major telecom players scrambling to hive off their tower infrastructure to unlock value, and international players vying for a toehold in this growth story. And as India’s mobile subscriber base continues its fairy-tale run, the towers which power the cellular networks are enjoying a dream run too. 

Today, the country has 1,10,000 telecom towers. By 2012, it is projected to balloon three times as the mobile subscriber base touches 500 million. Is there room in it for an entrepreneur with the skill and the knowledge? “Yes,” according to Xcel Telecom MD Sandip Basu. 

Besides financial muscle, start-ups in this space need skilled teams that can set up towers fast and scale the business quickly. “And skilled manpower to set up and maintain towers is not easily available because it is still a relatively new industry,” says Mr Basu. This is where entrepreneurs with the knowledge and the urge to play the big stakes come in. 

In October 2006, Q Investment incubated Xcel Telecom, a standalone tower firm, and roped in Sandip Basu to manage it. Mr Basu had been eyeing the tower segment and knew that subscriber numbers made leasing towers to operators a viable business proposition. So he grabbed the chance. 

“I knew it was an emerging opportunity,” says Mr Basu. “But it is a very capital intensive business. Q Investment had done a lot of research in this phase. When I met them, Q Investment was already looking at tower opportunities.” Q Investment is pumping in $500 million into Xcel Telecom and is targeting 25,000 towers in three years both through expansion and acquisitions. 

Entrepreneurs looking to set up tower networks need not be overwhelmed by the need to raise large sums as a lot of companies were looking to finance these ventures, according to Mr Basu. “There is an assured cash stream and no ambiguity about accruals. Though the industry is new, it is not difficult to get funding (both on debt and equity) because of the huge growth potential.” 

The payback time for phone operators is typically more than a decade, but it is just five years or less for tower companies. Tower companies have been found to be 10% more capital efficient and 20% more operation-efficient than operators because, this is their core business. Monthly rents, varying from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh depending on location, don’t diminish but only see annual increases. While incremental costs go up only 10%, revenues increase by 80%. 

There are quite a few survival tips from industry veterans who say the telecom towers business is all about costs and scale. The first challenge, of course, is to secure capital at reasonable costs. “If you are putting up infrastructure at a cost of capital that is higher than that of operators like Airtel and Idea Cellular, then you are starting at a disadvantage. The ability to get smart capital and a moratorium for two-three years when you are scaling up operations is critical,” says Arun Kapur, president and executive director of the Srei group-backed Quipo Telecom Infrastructure.

Expansion is also crucial to grow rapidly. For instance, Bharti Airtel, also a player in this space, plans to add 30,000 towers in this fiscal year and that means nearly 100 towers would come up each day. 

And a tight lease on costs, that good old startup virtue, would be required too. “It is essential to have the ability to bring operating expenses down. With operators lowering the tariffs and reaching out to lower paying subscribers, they want partners who can take costs off on the operating side. The ability to innovate and bring down capex and opex is crucial,” says Mr Kapur. 

Also, the ability to bring in more tenants on towers is important. The more the number of operators sharing the tower, the more the rent and quicker the returns on investment. With a single tenant, the gestation period can be as long as ten years. “If you get the number of tenants right, you got the business model right,” he adds. 

A big boon for the industry is the absence of any kind of licensing, though the telecom sector is highly regulated. So, the entry barriers are not high. But on the flip side, the setting up of a single telecom tower requires nearly 40 clearances, ranging from those from the Wireless Planning Commission and municipal corporation to soil investigation clearance and state electricity boards. These are, clearly, barriers to entry despite the massive need to expand telecom networks to every nook and corner of the country. While the huge demand for towers continues to make it a lucrative industry, those who started earlier are better placed. Firms which have already signed master service agreements are better than those starting up now. 

With the mushrooming of many small tower companies that have just about 50 to 100 towers in their portfolio, acquisition opportunities are also emerging in the sector. Xcel Telecom, for instance, has an acquisition war chest of $2 billion. 

5 Traits You Cannot Teach In Customer Service.

5 Traits You Cannot Teach In Customer Service

There are some character traits that cannot be taught in Customer Service..
If we could, we would because it would make the whole world a better place, not just Customer Service. We can't, therefore we work with people whom we believe to most exemplify these traits. Here are 5 you cannot teach.

1. Enthusiasm.

We see it, we feel it and boy, do we wish everyone had it.

Many people don't though. It is often reflected in their faces when a request is made and reinforced with a sullen "just a moment" that does nothing to help us believe that we are about to receive a Service which we so desperately hope is better than what Mr. or Ms. Sullen face has just prefaced us with.

Enthusiasm is infectious, contagious and outright fun. It seems the Enthusiast is everywhere, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that we have a fantastic Customer Service experience. It is reflected by the pride they take in doing the job right, the care they take making sure everything is just so and the delivery of "Is there anything else I can do for you Mr. or Ms. Customer?"

The Enthusiast is nearly extinct these days. The victim of "Faster, More, Cheaper" Customer Service.

Are you exemplifying "Faster, More, Cheaper" or are you trying to grow Customer Service Enthusiasts?

2. Happiness.

A feeling of pleasure. I have come to believe that Happiness is sometimes misused for the word Enlightened.

I know, now you think I am really off my meds. Let me ask you something. Have you ever met a person who was Happy? I mean really, really Happy? Really, when? Where do you think "Happy Hour" comes from? My point is that when people feel Happy, it leads to the ending of Happiness, or a state of Unhappiness. In other words, there is a limit.

I don't think there can be a limit to Enlightenment. Either way you think about it, it is not something you can teach. You can feel it. You can see it when another person really has it. You just can't teach someone to be Happy or Enlightened. They have to find it themselves.

3. Commitment.

The feeling one has when one decides to do something no matter the cost or the journey. The ability to see it to the end. People who have commitment are not easily swayed. They keep putting one foot in front of the other, keeping their eye on the prize, the goal, the end.

Oh, they have trials and tribulations, and when you ask them about it, they shrug and say things like "That's the way we do it" or "It needed to be done." They have little concern or care for the thoughts of others who can't see the world through their eyes. They shrug and say "It's got to get done, and I'm the person to do it." You can't teach that.

4. Belief.

The thought that someone feels completely, through and through that resonates deep inside them and tells them that they are on the right path. They don't need your beliefs, and are quite content to let you have yours.

Once it is felt between a group of people, it sings to everyone's heart in that group. A drumbeat that is felt by and played by all. It brings a natural power to a person that is unquenchable and unwavering. When all else is in doubt it is Belief that carries a person through.

I have experienced total Belief and a loss of Belief and I can tell you that when there is a loss of Belief, it literally can crush a soul. It's at these times that a person has to find that small spark, that ignites and starts the fire anew. You can't teach that.

5. Attitude.

Among all, I really want to have the ability to teach Attitude. You could point out to someone what Attitude looks like and say things like "He/She has a great Attitude, you would do well to be like this" and the person would say "Oh, I see. No problem. Attitude is adjusted to maximum. Thanks." And it would be.

Or say something like "Study this book, read chapters 3 and 4, answer the questions at the end of the chapters and you will have the Attitude you need to make it through life." Right. The world would be a much more interesting place if all of our Attitudes where in sync and working towards a common goal.

" Imagine," as someone once said. You can't teach Attitude in Customer Service.

If you are trying to teach one of these to your personnel in the hope that they will morph in Customer Service Professionals, forget it. You have a better chance of seeing Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy and The Easter Bunny playing ball on your front lawn one morning.

Concentrate on finding those people who best demonstrate these traits.

Help them grow their own Enthusiasm, Happiness, Commitment, Belief and Attitude. You will be much happier with the results. (Or Enlightened).

This article is written with the hope that you do something with the thoughts and ideas presented here. Take action and make a difference.

Reference:
Leonard Buchholz
About the Author
Leonard Buchholz is a Certified Trainer, Speaker and Author. Seminars include subjects like Customer Service, Management and Communications. Known for "High Touch" seminars, participants have takeaways that include 3 immediate goals and long term learning. Leonard is also a dynamic Keynote speaker that can launch your event with enthusiasm and charisma.

Building A Core Team.

START-UPS NEED TO WAKE UP TO THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING A CORE TEAM

It’s the quality and performance of the top few executives that decide the success of any new business, says S Srinivasan

FOUR months ago, Bangalore-based optical networking company, Tejas Networks, staged a coup of sorts by roping in 46-yearold Rangnath Salgame as its president. Mr Salgame had made his name by developing a $1 billion business in India for global networking giant Cisco. Technology industry veterans were surprised to see him move to a company with revenues of less than $100 million.

Mr Salgame had then said he was surrendering to his entrepreneurial impulse and the temptation to build a product company out of India. Tejas was lauded for getting a visionary leader for its core team. The next news, many expected to hear from the small company, was how it had crossed another revenue milestone.

But, the news that came out of Bangalore was different and stunned the industry. Mr Salgame suddenly quit Tejas under conditions that neither he nor the company explained. His profile was removed from the company website and Mr Salgame was tight-lipped. A job that was negotiated over a year crumbled in just 16 weeks. Was it a clash of vision, a clash of personalities or a systemic defect at Tejas? But one thing was clear: the core team that Tejas was putting together failed to stick together.

The incident highlighted how difficult it is even for a company, with a solid grounding, to build and keep a core team. For a startup, the difference between success and failure is primarily the result of the quality of its few top champions and their collective endeavour. But entrepreneurs often grapple with issues within this small group and lose much energy that could otherwise be spent on building the business.

“Some entrepreneurs think they need to know and do everything. This is wrong,” says business mentor Saurabh Srivastava, who has proven his team-building skills at a number of technology companies and also in the founding of software trade body, Nasscom. He says it is not practical for a business executive to have all the skills and strengths required to take a start-up to success. A small team with common beliefs is a key necessity.

Founders must evaluate their strengths and weaknesses objectively before deciding to build a core team, he says. This exercise will expose the gaps that must be filled and the areas that must be reinforced. MS Pillai, founder of Sadhana Centre for Management and Leadership Development, says that many great businesses have failed for want of a cohesive top team. “You may be anybody. But without collaboration, without mutual dependence within a small group of people with complementary strengths, it is extremely difficult for you to achieve lasting success,” he adds.

A human resource expert, who specialises in senior executive search, said one-man shows may be good enough to achieve the proof-of-concept in a business, but a core team, often with skills brought from outside, is necessary for the firm to move to the next level. “As an entrepreneur, you may be the initiator of business. But it is not the rule that you must be the leader too. The leader can be another person in your team,” explains founder chairman of Executive Recruiters Association and Sampoorna Computer People managing director Satish Doshi.

Many first-time business dreamers start with the support of family and friends. It is a natural choice for those who start operating out of their homes. This strategy has both positives and negatives, experts say. The founder can use a family member, who will fill up a talent gap and communication will be easy between them, but personal relationships and professional co-existence can weigh heavily against each other, they say. So, what are the golden rules of core-team building?

FINALISE MEMBERSHIP

Entrepreneurs must draw up a list of the most crucial skills necessary for the business and assign job positions to them, experts say. For instance, writers and creative talent may be crucial for a content company, but back-end process management may be the one crucial aspect for a travel agency. So, having a clear list of priority skills is the first step. The talent mix must be individually intensive and collectively exhaustive.

SET INSPIRING GOALS

Any business idea has to be larger-than-life and even slightly unrealistic, says Mr Doshi. If a business idea was easily achievable, why would anybody want to do it? A core team comes together when there is a larger purpose they all want to serve together. A lack of this inspiration will make it impossible to attract outside talent and may eventually lead to the company straying into unimportance.

SHARE AUTHORITY AND OWNERSHIP

If an entrepreneur builds a core team and then decides to keep all the strings in his palms, his colleagues will feel under-used and lose their connection with the company’s vision. The attitude to keep all the profits and all the power to oneself has destroyed many business aspirants. “The question is simple. Do you want to have full control over a small pie or part-control of a larger pie, where that part is significantly larger than the small pie?” asks Mr Doshi.

HAVE A CLEAR LEADER

Many entrepreneurs assume they are the leader for their business. Experts say this need not be the case. The best entrepreneur hires people better than him or her and lets them direct the journey. This would lead to a situation where there could be multiple leaders within the team. The issue must be quickly resolved and one person assigned the task of leading the core team.

SET CLEAR RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Great teams fail to deliver when they start quarrelling over a decision here or a plan there. Mr Doshi feels before the team starts its first discussion, the ground rules must be set on how the members are going to work together. It must be made clear that all criticisms and suggestions are welcome and none would be taken personally. Mr Pillai says there have been start-ups, where family members got together with good intention, but suffered a fracture in their relationships due to workplace stress. Complaints about some member not contributing enough or another taking advantage of the business abound in such enterprises, he says.

ACHIEVE ENTREPRENEUR-PROFESSIONAL MIX

All core teams have to start with high entrepreneurial focus, taking calculated risks and being flexible to move fast. But as the business begins to grow, there is an immediate need to put systems and processes in place. Professional managers free the entrepreneur’s time so that he can focus on the long-term strategy. Businesses often go haywire when they fail to bring in the discipline of professional management, Mr Pillai says. “A professional in a start-up team must be the personification of an entrepreneur himself. The professional need not have a Harvard-qualification, but must have passion to create something new.”

BE REALISTIC

When hiring an outsider, it is important to understate the benefits of being in your team, because over-promising will lead to failure and frustration, experts say. Mr Doshi says it is a good idea to leave a positive surprise, such as a better title, company-paid house or a training programme, open and unsaid at the beginning. People will like them that much better if they earn it for their performance.

Even after all this, it is possible that a core member could leave. It is a contingency that a start-up must learn to tackle, but the larger question the entrepreneur must address is whether it was because there’s something wrong with the business. “If the dream had been sold and the partner dropped everything to join you but still left midway, then something may be going drastically wrong. You must ask yourself if you are being fair as a leader. Are you tolerating competing agendas? Are you not able to give direction? Are you not able to resolve conflict?” says Mr Doshi.

Article Resource:
Author: Srinivasan S. is the Chief Editor in the The Economic Times, Mumbai and the article appeared in one of their successful columns on Entrepreneurship/Start-ups called "Starship Enterprise".

Let’s celebrate the business OF BIG FAT WEDDINGS

Indian marriages may be a very private family affair, but organising them is increasingly becoming a pursuit for professionals.

THEY say gods and angels shower their blessings from heaven when two young people get married. But at a wedding in Andhra Pradesh, there were also three helicopters. As the daughter of a rich timber merchant went round the holy fire and stuck her neck out for the mangalasutra, the choppers showered flowers on the entire town. The 10-minute adventure cost the father about Rs 10 lakh. It had a more lasting impact on Deepak Chawla, then 22-year-old, who began marvelling at the great business opportunity that Indian weddings have become.

Mr Chawla soon quit the event management company that organised the chopper spin and the rain of flowers and has started his own firm, Elan Entertainment. He has picked up experience handling the lucrative, but less colourful corporate events and has geared up for the wedding management business. “The business is a sure-shot for six months a year... People are too busy to arrange the weddings themselves. So they get wedding planners to do it.”

Nitinn Raichura has built palaces and set up beachfronts as part of his business spanning 35 years, but an Egyptian pyramid in Mumbai was a novelty even for him. A 25-foot tall structure forming the backdrop for a decor that cost Rs 14 lakh. A wedding attended by as many as 2,500 guests in lavish clothes. This was Mr Raichura’s biggest moment. It was also a sign that Indian weddings, perhaps the most elaborate ones globally, have become a veritable industry in their own right and offer a compelling opportunity for entrepreneurs.

But it is not just the lavish weddings that spell big business for entrepreneurs. It is an industry catering to all economic sections from the very poor to the very rich. Though a very private family affair, organising a wedding is increasingly becoming a pursuit for the professional. In Mumbai alone, an estimated 10,000 service providers have fashioned their business around the concept of wedding covering venue decor, saree draping, fashion designing, flowers, jewellery, make-up, nail-styling, music management, logistics, honeymoon travel, photography and a growing list of other options. With a different culture every 200 kilometres, many of these businesses are highly localised but there are certain common business themes that have a national market.

The Indian wedding defies a single description. Depending on the region, religion, caste, language or beliefs, a wedding may be over in five minutes or go on for five days. Some have horseback processions, others have tractor caravans. Some families place emphasis on clothing, others on decor, still others on music and partying. The jewellery could just be a ring or a mangalsutra or it could be a truckload. It is this variety that attracts innovative business aspirants who make a killing every time a soul in love steps into the bliss of matrimony.

Organising a wedding in India starts with the toughest customer in the world: the mother-in-law. Gender roles have changed over time, but traditionally, it is the boy’s parents who lay out the specifications but it is often the girl’s parents who pick up the tab. In either family, it is the lady of the house who dominates the negotiations and rightly so. They have better expertise in caring for family and guests and they do remember the nuances of rituals. Successful wedding business providers say an entrepreneur must master the art of working with the mothers-in-law in order to get business and achieve customer satisfaction. “Dealing with a corporate is easier as compared to dealing with a family hosting a wedding. It is very personal and it is their own hard-earned money,” says Partib Thyagarajan, co-founder of WeddingSutra. In fact, the idea for an online wedding portal came to WeddingSutra’s founders when Thyagarajan’s colleague Madhulika Mathur got married and had to go through the offline route.

Weddings in India have always been a big occasion for the women of the family and the business around weddings is no exception. Industry players say that the business is dominated by women, often rich women with a sense of feminine style building a part-time operation. “In Malabar Hills, every building will have at least one rich lady with the contacts and the skill to run a wedding related business,” Thyagarajan says. Such a neighbourhood, housing as it does some of India’s richest, also enables these entrepreneurs command a comfortable premium for their services. “If these women were to operate from Dadar or Vashi, they would be able to command only a tenth of what they are currently doing.”

With all discussion for the contract beginning with the matriarch, the wedding solutions business has a formidable entry barrier. Youthful energy doesn’t count for much here as experience, track record and knowledge of traditions. “You need some sort of experience and grey hair to get respect from the family. If a person were to try and plan a wedding straight out of an event management course, I would call him a fool,” says Thyagarajan. No family would trust a wedding with an inexperienced start-up. So, experts say, entrepreneurs can break into this market effectively by joining hands with veterans and specialise strongly in one field.

Some families emphasise on what they need and budget doesn’t matter there. But there are several weddings where the requirements have to be fitted within a budget. As young couples increasingly fund their own weddings, the latter form will gain currency. So, entrepreneurs must have the flexibility to plan for both spending and saving, depending on the client. There is also a tendency among urban families to move to hotels and other such venues to allow for late-night partying as part of the wedding festivities. “A lot of people want to go for a five-star event with a smaller crowd” instead of large open-air venues where music and the noise of partying will have to be wound up by 10 pm, says Lloyd D’Souza of RozBridal.

Raichura says the industry is transforming with the changing tastes of the younger generation whose consumption patterns have been fuelled by the rapid economic growth over the last 15 years. “Nowadays, we see new colours, new flowers and lighting techniques in Indian weddings.” Earlier, floral decorations were mainly about marigolds and lilies, but now ‘English flowers’ such as carnations, lilium and gladiolus are all the rage. Also, “earlier we had shamianas. Now, we have iron structures that can be put up in half the time.” Entrepreneurs planning to enter the wedding business must start by watching films. Experts say Bollywood fashion, with all its bling, determines much of the style in today’s weddings. Even make-up artists of stars are found to be much in demand at elite weddings.

The stock market boom may have inspired the nouveau riche to spend lavishly on themed weddings and helicopter floral blessings, but the Indian wedding is an evergreen business irrespective of the economic conditions. The rules may change and so may the rituals, but the wedding remains the central part of Indian family life. Not surprisingly, more and more entrepreneurs are saying “I do.”

Article Resource:
Author: Jacob Cherian is the Chief Editor in the The Economic Times, Mumbai and the article appeared in one of their successful columns on Entrepreneurship/Start-ups called "Starship Enterprise".

Business of Love.

With Valentine’s Day creating a big buzz among Indians and even surpassing Diwali sales, Let us check out how well-prepared entrepreneurs are.

START-UPS TAP A BIG POTENTIAL

IF BUSINESS is your first love, the coming time is yours to woo. The hesitant flirting the Indian entrepreneur started with February 14, St. Valentine’s Day, a few years ago has now turned into a fullfledged affair. Varied trades spruce up their offers in the run-up to the Festival of Love, which industry experts say has become the second-biggest business opportunity in the calendar, even surpassing Diwali and New Year. Businesses, so it seems, aren’t falling behind the changing festival mix of Indian youth.

For K Vaitheeswaran, who co-founded online retailer Indiaplaza, business around valentine’s Day has been growing by leaps since 2006. “Direct spending on Valentine’s day is nearly 30-40% more than Diwali, making it a rich opportunity for retail entrepreneurs to boost their topline,” he says. From gifts, candies to expensive gadgets, Indiaplaza helps lovers exchange articles through the internet, across boundaries and even away from their parents’ eyes. The first time Indiaplaza tried to cash in on Valentine’s Day was in 2002, but it was a washout then, with not much ‘awareness’ about the day.

In 2003, there were protests and agitations over Valentine’s Day celebrations across the country, Mr Vaitheeswaran recalls. But the tough beginning was soon followed by a surge in the day’s appeal and business started to boom. “(The protests) created more excitement about the day’s importance. And because the protests were offline, people switched to the ecommerce website to send their gifts across. Thereafter, the sales started showing a rising trend on this festive day,” he says.

According to US National Retail Federation, US consumers alone spent nearly $13.7 billion last year on Valentine’s Day shopping. This was a 22% rise from the past five years. As for the domestic market, an independent study on the consumer markets in India, presented at the 2007 International Marketing Conference, suggests that the Western fancy has started to take roots in Indian markets as well. The study noted that Valentine’s Day sales in 2007 were about 15% higher than that during Diwali at these retail outlets and this is expected to increase by 20-25% in 2008.

Only the Christmas season rings in bigger revenues. And it seems entrepreneurs in the country clearly aim to boost the day into first place as more and more start-ups start to capitalise on the opportunity.

Despite the pressure to buy gifts, most of the money spent on V-Day this year would keep up the trend set in the previous years. Spending would go to tokens of affection — cards, candies, flowers and nightouts. Floricultural start-up Ferns ‘N‘ Petals, for instance, is gearing up for the Cupid’s arrival in a manner unlike any other. Apart from selling flowers, Vikaas Gutgutia’s company is banking on service as a major differentiator for this year. The company has planned to offer midnight delivery service, in addition to selling cakes and chocolates with its flowers on Valentine’s Day. It is also offering its customer the choice of buying gold-plated flowers. Says Pawan Gadia, vice-president at Ferns ‘N’ Petals, who jumpstarted the company’s much-touted franchisee model, “Product innovation for such days is the key to success. You always have to think what different can you do this year which would excite the customer. A mundane run-of-the-mill product line each year does not help when you are working in such a business environment.” F’N’P is hoping to increase its Valentine’s Day sales by 40% this year, adds Mr Gadia.

What is a day of gifts without cards? According to Anil Moolchandani, founder & MD of Archies, Valentine’s Day sales account for nearly 12% of the company’s full-year sales, making it the single-biggest occasional sale period for his company. “The trick is to promote and market as much as you can when your business is linked to an occasional sale,” he says. “Essentially, occasional sales help you build a brand presence and to add to this with more and more companies joining the occasional bandwagon for this day, it is becoming easier for any start-up in this space to cash in on the Valentine’s Day sales,” he adds.

Archies, founded in 1979, introduced its first Valentine’s Day card in 1984 and it took sustained marketing efforts till 2000 for this occasion to “become critical mass for the company,” recalls Mr Moolchandani. Somebody once wondered cheekily why Valentine’s Day comes exactly nine months before the Children’s Day on November 14? The guys who make it all happen, the matrimonial websites, are also tapping into the business potential of Valentine’s Day.

Bharat Matrimony, one of India’s largest matrimony websites, sees the day as a raw material for its business. Says Murugavel Jankiraman, founder and CEO, “We are planning to ramp up the promotional activities around Valentine’s Day period considering that online activity for our website picks up around this period. Unlike other festival days, Valentine’s Day is connected directly to our core business, and it always helps to use such events, which directly relate to your core business as effective marketing tools.”

Like Bharat Matrimony, luxury bags maker Baggit too plans to leverage on this opportunity, “More than anything else, it’s an occasion to gift and dress up and clearly a fashion brand would see synergies in that. In fact, we are timing our sale this year on February 12, very close to Valentine’s Day,” says Baggit founder Nina Lekhi. “In case you have a product targeted for the youth, Valentine’s Day would be the point to test response to a particular campaign, which you might want to roll out on a larger scale later,” she adds. In short, what has worked for these entrepreneurs is the packaging of their products. “On days like the Valentine’s Day, there may be little sale in terms of quantity for many business start-ups, but the trick is to fix yourself a niche area and make it high margin business for yourself, as events like Valentine’s Day do not tend to be mass market phenomenon,” says Mr Vaitheeswaran. “With Love’s Light Wings Did I O’erperch These Walls,” said Shakespeare’s Romeo to his sweetheart Juliet.

For a start-up with aspirations to make a big mark on the competitive business stage, Valentine’s Day can give wings and plant a kiss of success on the entrepreneur’s cheeks of desire.

Article Resource:
Author: Ritwik Donde is the Chief Editor in the The Economic Times, Mumbai and the article appeared in one of their successful columns on Entrepreneurship/Start-ups called "Starship Enterprise".