Category: Kharcha paani

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Become

Luxe styling at your doorstep…every month

Authentic, global brands arrive in a bag at your doorstep every month. For the fashion-conscious Indian, Fab Bag spells delight.
by Ritika Bhandari Parekh

There is a new bag in town and unlike the faux Chanel tote you may be flaunting, every item in this bag is authentic and luxurious. This bag – FabBag, for the uninitiated – comes from a startup that relies on creativity and hard work to deliver in a fast-growing Indian beauty industry.

FabBag was conceived as a beauty and grooming discovery service based on the subscription model. One can sign up online to receive a monthly bag of the best products from top global brands right at their doorstep.

Vineeta and KaushikWho started it?

When IIM-A alumni Vineeta Singh (31) and Kaushik Mukherjee (31) were enjoying their evening coffee at a Powai-based café, little did they realise that the idea of FabBag will be a major talking point among fashion lovers. The idea grew on them, and they decided to launch operations in 2012 with a 13-member team handling sourcing, customer delight, operations, technology, marketing and accounts.

Lancome, Sally Hansen, Burt’s Bees, Clinique, and Dior are just a few brands that have joined hands with the FabBag team. Members are entitled to receive both full-size and travel-sized products worth more than thrice the value for as low as Rs 333.

FabBag’s appeal lies in its simple promise of making expensive or hard-to-find niche brands more accessible to prospective buyers. “With newer global brands entering a fast-growing Indian beauty market, we just felt that we were in a ‘right-place-at-the-right-time’ situation that had to be taken to the next step,” says Kaushik.

“Both of us had a very different view of the business – while Vineeta was excited about the beauty and grooming angle, I was supercharged about building an Internet product that could revolutionise the way brands reached out to customers in India,” adds Kaushik. The company was started with an initial investment of Rs 10 lakh and managed to raise funding in its first year of operations.

Their prior experience of working on startups helped fine tune FabBag and garner the support of over 1.2 lakh fans on Facebook. Its member base is increasing on social media platforms such as Twitter (2100+ followers), Pinterest and Instagram.

Putting the bag together

Whoever thinks that procuring the cosmetics for each month’s FabBag is a simple task, should meet Vineeta to get the clear picture. She says, “Planning a FabBag involves more January fabbagscience than one can imagine. If there’s anything we’ve done in the last two years, it is learning from every box and every bag that we have shipped and collecting data points from our members for every new product that we have shipped.”

While signing up, each member fills up a fun quiz that tells the company a bit about their beauty preferences and helps them deliver products they are most likely to love. The team’s planning process starts two to three months in advance, where they take a look at the last three months’ collection of products, the audience segmentation and the brands.

Vineeta says, “We don’t repeat products, and hand-pick specific problem-addressing products from members who flag a beauty need. Lastly, we’re very selective about which brands we allow into a bag. Each brand is rated on multiple parameters of price-point, SKU mix, quantity, exclusivity, before we decide on that.”

The fashion-conscious Indian

The bag which includes a skincare product, a beauty product and a fragrance or bath product. While a large share of their subscriptions come from beyond the metros, they realised that despite being value-conscious, the Indian female is fiercely loyal and a vocal evangelist of anything she finds happiness in.

Kaushik explains, “A flip-side is that, since purchase decisions are largely emotional, a breach of service is treated akin to a breach of trust – in a way, this is good for young companies like ours. It teaches us the discipline of being sensitive to every member’s needs.”

They believe that the Tier II and Tier III cities’ demographic is a tough nut to crack but has already shown enough proof of the fact that a huge market exists for products that fall in to the ‘prestige’ and ‘premium’ brackets.

On challenges and future plans

The FabBag was earlier known as Velvette; the re-christening happened when prospective members found it difficult to locate them in the first attempt. “Our product has been fairly viral and when our members told their circles of influence about us, it was tedious to spell out the brand name every time,” Kaushik says, “By October 2013, we knew that we had to rebrand it to an easy to remember name and with ‘FabBag’ – we knew it was exactly what we had been looking for.”

The team now offers a Men’s FabBag, too. With the emergence of men’s grooming products in almost every brand and research that indicates 40 per cent of beauty salon revenues are attributed to men – they decided to run a pilot for a smaller batch of men’s bags. “Sure enough, we sold out in four days flat,” says Kaushik.

So why should everyone have a FabBag? They explain through one of their member’s words – because “it’s like receiving a carefully-selected surprise birthday gift every month of the year!” And a gift is always welcome!

(Pictures courtesy Fabbag)

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Kharcha paani

Activists fume as BEST decides to give free passes to corporators

32 city-based activists have written to the BMC chief asking why the running-in-losses BEST is being burdened with this largesse.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has, financially, been in the red for several years now. The Undertaking has tried to make up for its losses (on all its bus routes in Mumbai) by regularly increasing ticket fares, but to no avail.

And now, surprisingly, the BEST has decided to award free travel passes to the BMC’s 241 Corporators and Committee members on its AC buses. There are 227 elected corporators and 14 nominated corporators. This idea has upset activists in the city, two of whom – Gaurang Vora and Kamlakar Shenoy – have shot off a strong letter of protest to BMC Commissioner Sitaram Kunte last week. The letter is supported by 30 other Mumbai-based activists.

The letter reads, “We, the residents of Mumbai, would like to lodge our strong protest against wastage of scarce public funds to grant free travel to 241 Corporators and Committee Members on the AC buses of loss-making BEST undertaking.

“We fail to understand the logic for this largesse by the BMC administration. The demands of our representatives are ever increasing with no collateral accountability. The Corporators have no responsibility for providing better civic conditions – like pothole-free roads, un-encroached footpaths and public open spaces, choked drains and nallahs, clean drinking water supply, better maintained gardens and maidans, etc.”

Gaurang says, “The Corporators already are entitled to free travel on the BEST buses. They were given laptops worth crores of rupees but how many use them? Do they use them to receive complaints from citizens or their feedback? Do they hold regular meetings with the residents of their constituency? Then what right do they have to demand more and more freebies at the cost of tax payers’ hard-earned money?”

The letter urges the BMC to revoke the decision, on the grounds that the “BEST is already bearing losses of up to Rs 748 crore” and further burdening it would result in fare hikes for the ordinary citizen.

“Though we have asked for a hearing on the matter, we have not been given a meeting time yet,” Gaurang said.

(Picture courtesy www.indiastudychannel.com)

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Become

Building a business on Mumbai’s traffic

Co-founder of Traffline, a traffic info service started in Mumbai, explains how he and his team made the startup successful.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It was a revolutionary idea for the country – log on to a website or app and find your nearest road route, with directions on how to get there and how much time you would need. When Brijraj Vaghani and Ravi Khemani (left and right in pic above) returned from the US at the end of 2008, however, they realised that the germ of a great idea they had could develop into something big and beneficial for India.

trafflineThe duo started Traffline in 2012, and till date, the traffic info service has been one of the fastest growing ones in the country. It is of especial use in busy cities like Mumbai and Delhi, where there is a heavy reliance on road transport. “However, India does not have a culture where one looks up information on the web or on one’s mobile phone when it comes to travel,” says Brijraj, speaking to The Metrognome from his Vile Parle office.

“Indians don’t check out traffic conditions till they are actually stuck in traffic. And even then, they avoid travelling instead of looking for alternate routes. Inculcating the culture of looking up traffic info before leaving the house, then making it a habit, was the biggest challenge for us,” he explains.

Small beginnings

Brijraj and Ravi set up Birds Eye Technology in 2011, and Traffline started operations in 2012. India is a very rich market for traffic apps, Brijraj says, because of the “multiple modes of transport, the multiple routes you have, especially in Delhi.” He adds, “We got together with two more guys – Sushant Bansode and Rizwan Ansari, and got working on Traffline.”

“You must build a good team, and you must be willing to go out there and sell your idea. Going out on the field is crucial. You cannot build your business sitting in office,” Brijraj says.

The start was frustrating – where were they to source data from? “The infrastructure to map and source data did not exist, not just in Mumbai, but even in Delhi and Bengaluru,” Brijraj says. “We had to actually go out on the field and collect data. Our initial data came from GPS installed in cabs and private vehicles. We also approached the Mumbai traffic police, but they were not helpful at first. It was tough.”

The team started work with field operations, renting out servers from Amazon, and procuring office space. “We procured angel funding in the first year. This took care of our inter-country travel, staff salaries, business development. Building the software itself took up to Rs 15 lakh,” Brijraj says.

Traffline has just received its third series of funding. “With every phase of funding, we expand our staff and business a bit more,” Brijraj explains, adding that Traffline aims at a presence in 10 Indian cities by the end of year 2014.

How does one start a business like this?

There is no substitute for ground work and market research. “What is the need for such a service? Who will benefit? What are the ways to make the business more user-friendly? Entrepreneurs must ask themselves these questions,” Brijraj advises. “There must be a plan at the very start – how much money will be needed, what are the business development plans, what kind of promotion are you looking at?” he adds.

Money is a crucial element in a business like this, more so, because the returns come in much later. “You have to build your database first, generate awareness, get users hooked. Once the business becomes stable, you can scout for funding,” he says.

The big ‘F’

Procuring funding is a step that most start-ups falter on. But it’s simple, actually. “A good idea is to take money from friends and family at the start – they are least likely to bother you about returning the money and will be patient with you more,” he advises.

Clarity of vision is important, Brijraj says. “You have to be clear in your head about what your business is, where you want it to go. Merely attending an investors meeting with a PPT will not help. Be honest, do your groundwork, and be clear about your expectations. You will find that people will invest in your business.”

Other key elements

Apart from funding, he says, other challenges are running the business from day to day. “At the start, it can be daunting and very frustrating,” he says. “Perseverance is key. And trafline-team-300x160always start a business with a good co-founder that you can trust.”

In the case of Traffline, Brijraj handles the business development side while Ravi looks after daily administration, finance and project management. “You must build a good team, and you must be willing to go out there and sell your idea. Going out on the field is crucial. You cannot build your business sitting in office,” Brijraj says.

In Mumbai, Traffline has now developed an excellent working relationship with the traffic police. “We worked together a lot during the recent Syedna funeral, and the Ganpati festival last year. We sit in their control rooms and issue alerts. This has happened after continuous follow up, and the traffic police see value in our services. Now they call and inform us about closed roads or traffic restrictions,” Brijraj reveals.

Key tips

Brijraj confesses that he took his time coming around to the idea of working on Traffline full time. “If you are sceptical or have the least doubt, work on the project part time. But keep researching the model constantly. Take the plunge to join it full time only when you have the confidence to do so.”

Be patient till the money comes in, he says. “Now that we are known and that we have funding to back us, naturally the expectations from us have increased. This means that we have to scale up our operations faster, grow our consumer base exponentially, come up with better products. Venture capital is like rocket fuel – it can take you from one spot to another very quickly, and people will also be willing to work with you more if you have funding,” he says.

(Pictures courtesy Brijraj Vaghani)

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Learn

Newbie at work? Read this

Daunted about being the newbie at work? Follow these simple tips and become one with the office in no time.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Shweta Jagdale’s first job was as an intern in a newspaper office in Mumbai. “I was still in college, and I was very intimidated by all the senior journalists who did such important work for the newspaper. I was the only intern in the department, and apart from assigning me work, nobody would speak to me at all,” she remembers.

Then she decided to reach out. “I realised that I was new there, and they didn’t need to speak with me, I needed to speak with them. So I started by offering to share my lunch with the girl who sat nearest to me – once the ice was broken and she started taking an interest in me, slowly the others also followed suit.”

Shweta was immensely touched when, on the last day of her internship, the entire department gave her a farewell party. “It was unheard of to have a party for an intern, but they all grew very fond of me. I had broken the ice with them without sucking up or trying to appear more intelligent than I was – I worked hard, asked for work in my free time, ran errands for them in office. Today, I am still in touch with most of them,” she says.

Not everyone knows how to forge healthy working relationships at work, however. Says Sandhya Warick, HR professional with a management consultancy firm in Mumbai, “Most new employees are shy and awkward. While this is understandable, they must have enough self-confidence to introduce themselves to their colleagues and try and forge a working relationship.”

These are a few tips for a newbie at the workplace:

Be presentable. Dress smartly, keeping in tone with the overall dress code of the office. There is no need to be dowdy or plain, but wait before you bring out the miniskirts or cut-off jeans. “The first impression is the most crucial one. Your clothes, hair, shoes, bag must all be presentable,” says Sandhya. “The first few days of the job are spent in meeting with department heads and senior colleagues, so you must be well groomed at all times.”

new person at workWait to be assigned a work station. Most offices scramble to get a work station ready after the new joinee has already entered the building. However, if a work station is being readied for you, politely ask the department in-charge for a temporary place to sit. Do not express annoyance if a permanent seating arrangement is not worked out for days. You are the new person there, so throwing your weight about, even if justified, will be seen in a poor light.

Keep your desk clean. We are allowed to be messy at home, but it is just bad manners to be messy at work. A new joinee’s workstation is expected to be tidy at all times. You will have to give it a fair bit of time before you ‘claim’ your space with photographs and cheerful posters and unwashed coffee mugs. Especially since most of us share a desk with colleagues, we should be very careful to see that our stuff does not inconvenience others. Be sure to clear your desk before you leave.

Don’t keep your eyes on the clock all the time. The entire office will surreptitiously watch to see what time you start packing up to go home. “It is an unwritten rule that the newest person waits for a few minutes after the last person to head home, at least for the first few days. Once the office becomes familiar with you, you can start leaving with the rest of them,” Sandhya advises. However, it is a good idea to finish the day’s work before leaving. Just because others in the office can afford to put off work, it doesn’t mean you can.

Understand your work from the right people. Your key responsibilities, the chain of command you have to follow, who you must report to and who should report to you – you will have to understand these as soon as possible. This will ensure that you follow the office’s rules and don’t inadvertently step on any toes. Also, any mistakes you make will reflect poorly on you, though your seniors might be a bit lenient in the beginning.

Don’t gabble. In a bid to be friendly and gloss over their nervousness, some new joinees talk endlessly with their colleagues and try to get themselves included in conversations. This is a strict no-no. You should ideally listen more in the first few days of work and never venture an opinion unless asked to do so.

Make friends without being pushy. Nobody can survive for long if forced to work alone, but take your time before you attach yourself to the nearest group. Be friendly and willing to chat with colleagues, but don’t hint that you would like them to invite you for lunch or shopping dates. “At the magazine where I worked, all the girls already had their own groups, so it was tough for me to be included,” says Monica Kakkar, stylist. “For the first month, I ate alone in the canteen.”

Wait to be invited. Don’t come across as desperate for companionship, and don’t invite yourself into a group. “Always wait to be invited, and when the invitation comes, accept graciously and without surprise,” says Sandhya.

Don’t join in the gossip. So your colleagues are gossiping about the boss, and you want to join in – but don’t. It is very tacky for a new person to join in or contribute to gossip. newbie at workBe sure to make friends in the office and hang out with people you can trust before you start gossiping.

Be sincere but not a doormat. It is a normal tendency for senior colleagues to dump a lot of work on the new joinee, because they know that he or she is too new and inexperienced to protest. Do the work maybe once or twice, but if you see a pattern emerging, politely refuse to take on work that is either not your responsibility or something that can be done later or not at all. This will set a boundary in the early days of your work with the company. Never take on work just to please your colleagues or to create a good impression with the boss.

 (Pictures courtesy careerrocketeer.com, www.managingamericans.com, www.telegraph.co.uk)

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Kharcha paani

Rs 3,00,000 for acid attack victims

State Government okays a ‘Victim Compensation Scheme’ for those affected by grievous attacks or accidents. Acid attack victims are included.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The recent case of a college student, Monica More, falling in the gap between a local train and the train tracks and losing both her arms in the process, is drawing much criticism on the Central Railway and the Government. CR, especially, was quick to react after the incident by probing the accident spot.

Meanwhile, the State Government is looking at compensating victims of crimes. Today, in a cabinet meeting at the Mantralaya, Mumbai, the Government approved a ‘Victim Compensation Scheme’ for those affected by crime in the city and the State. As per the scheme, anybody fatally hurt or rendered immobile as the result of a crime will be compensated by the Government. Interestingly, victims of acid attacks are also included in the Scheme.

As per the Scheme, which will be monitored and operationalised by the State Home Department, families of victims that die in a crime will receive Rs 2 lakh as compensation. Similarly, those who suffer permanent disability will receive Rs 50,000. Victims of acid attacks will receive Rs 3,00,000 as compensation.

The State will also offer emergency hospitalisation compensation up to Rs 15,000 and pay Rs 2,000 towards funerals.

What do you think of this scheme? Tell us in the comments section below.

(Picture courtesy www.theguardian.com)

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Kharcha paani

Will Anil Ambani reduce power tariffs for Mumbai?

Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam has threatened a protest march today if the Reliance Energy CMD does not reduce power tariffs.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

A significant result of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) recent victory in Delhi and its subsequent slashing of power tariffs by 50 per cent is that political parties elsewhere are looking to replicate the same idea. Ever since news broke of the AAP implementing its new initiatives on water and power in Delhi, Congress MP from Mumbai North, Sanjay Nirupam, has been baying for Reliance Energy to slash power rates in the suburbs. Reliance is a major power provider to the suburbs.

On January 5, 2014, Nirupam is said to have written to Anil Ambani, CMD of Reliance Energy, to revise the tariffs. Today, he is set to lead an agitation to the Reliance Energy office in Kandivali against spiralling power tariffs and has specifically asked for Ambani to be present “and address the public on his stand in the matter.” Nirupam has taken objection to Ambani’s stand that any revisions in tariffs will have to be done on directions from the Regulatory Commission – he contends that the present Delhi Government slashed power bills without referring the matter to the Regulatory Commission.

“The crux of the matter is that common public are unable to make ends meet due to [the] high cost of living in a city like Mumbai and that the Government as well as the Corporate Sector must provide relief in power tariff which has been hiked several times in the past few years. Irrespective of the fact that the Electricity Act 2003 provides for certain discounts like Fixed Charge and Regulatory Asset Charge, the Discoms must withdraw these charges as they are redundant and not justified,” wrote Nirupam to Ambani on January 11, 2014. He added, “It is also suprising to learn that huge rentals are being paid by Reliance Energy to its own principal company, which according to us is totally unjustified.”

Further to today’s morcha, Nirupam has asked Ambani to remain present and address the public on his company’s position in regard to the demand for scrapping Fixed Charge and Regulatory Asset Charge. “If he does not show up or does not clarify about our demands, we will take the agitation to the next level. We may even go on an indefinite fast,” Nirupam said.

Read more on this issue here.

 (Picture courtesy www.thehindu.com)

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