Can I talk to Goldeena Loadlekar?

We released these two ads in succession earlier in the month. Day before this is what happened.

Mobile rings...
Me: Hello
A girl's voice: Hello! Sir, kya mein Goldeena Madam se baat kar sakti hoon? (Sir, can I talk to Goldeena Madam?)
It takes a few seconds for me to gather what's happening. The line's silent...
Me: Aap mujhe bata sakti hain... Bataiye kya kaam hai? (You can tell me... So what is it about?)
Girl: Sir, I am calling from "xyz" technologies. We are offering web-solutions...
She completes her pitch.
Me: We already have a website and, right now, there's no requirement. Thanks.
Girl: If you have any requirement, please call back on this number. My name is...

Look what the kids found... p***!

There's this huge ground right beside the building where Mississippi is located. Sometimes, people are seen scavenging for whatever they can extract value/utility out of. A couple of days back, I spotted these two kids picking some papers up. I zoomed and clicked. This is what I found.

Incidents are symptoms. Society doesn't fail when incidents happen. Society fails when it lets such accidents happen. It fails when it doesn't have enough play spaces to offer to its young ones. It fails when it doesn't have enough people with time to spend wondering with its young ones.

Inadvertent disrespect, is it?

Early morning I called up Justdial to get in touch with some guys who offer injection-moulding services. Out of the few results I received via SMS, I picked one which was nearest to my place and dialed the number.

After an exchange of hellos and explaining how I got his number, I asked, "Do you offer injection-moulding services?"

Guy says, "Yes."

I try to explain to my requirement, "I want to get a box made in transparent plastic material..."

He doesn't let me complete. Blurts out, "Time nahi hai!"

Taken aback, I respond, "Kya matlab time nahi hai?!"

"Matlab ki spare capacity nahi hai."

"Oh, ok!" I hang up.

One of the most amazing things about entrepreneurship is bearing and negotiating your way through numerous such conversations as you are trying to set things up.

Politeness isn't just being nice on the face (and talking whatever behind the back). Politeness is a face of the respect one holds deep within for just being human and for appreciating humanness. Business or no business is at best a consequence, to which politeness, along with many other factors, contributes.

It's a machine after all

I'm talking about software programs and platforms. Martjack and many such ready e-commerce platforms say, set up your shop in a few minutes. And after that what?

It's a widely prevalent notion that set up an e-commerce shop and it's all done. E-commerce in general is growing and so orders will flow in.

Platforms are nothing but engines or machines. They consume energy, effort and skills. And informational engines are more complex than any other type. There's a learning curve to using these platforms and becoming efficient.

After the deployment of such a machine, there's still the big question. Who's gonna buy from your shop? For though google's working, it's working for all others as well. And it's working big time for the leaders who have learned and have been running the engines ever more efficiently and effectively. There was a time when merely deploying the engine would ensure some good results. But that was when there was a scarcity of such engines in the first place. Now it's all common.

The challenge again is one of connection. How? With whom? When? If this is the real challenge, I suggest do not deploy any such engines. Don't waste your time on learning machines. Instead, use the simplest and most flexible tool available and showcase your stuff in as easy a manner as possible. And spend great effort and time in connecting.

Managing the 'e' in e-commerce

Even as I try to get missi.in going, I realize it's a very different ball game and it's a mammoth challenge.

The thing is all about that 'e'.

It means we need to have good photography skills for good visual merchandising on the web.

It means we need to be good at graphic design; that in turn means we need to be good at certain popular graphic design software.

It means we need to be in general very good at structuring information.

It means we need to be good at coding.

It means we need to be good at writing.

It means we need to be good at interacting.

It means we need to be extremely good and we need to be real fast along with being good.

An exam of your own choosing

Last night, Dad said, "You must be feeling like you've passed an exam."

Just a thoughtful fraction of a second and I said, "Exactly!"

His commented in response to my update on my attempts at photographing earrings.

The thing is I didn't quite relish exams, even if I would score pretty well. Even now, some rare dream dips me in those days and fills that night with the dread of school-time exams. Guess the problem was they were imposed. Goals of organizations also felt like that on occasions. Anyway...

I work better choosing my own exams.

Mississippi Earrings

Yes, earrings! My fondness for earrings turned into Mississippi Earrings.

Online: missi.in

Showroom address is:
115, Primate,
Nr. Gormoh Restaurant,
Judges' Bungalows Crossroad,
Bodakdev,
Ahmedabad.

There are plenty of beautiful li'l surprises like these...

Updated on 5th Jan 2012.

The cost of adventure

depends on the type of adventure sought.

One is to earn money out of whatever and then spend money climbing the geographic hills and mountains.

Another is to do what you like and climb out the phases of pennilessness to make money, and then do more of what you like. It isn't as linear as the word 'climb' suggests. It isn't as linear as this blog-post is. :)

A few li'l bits about Mississippi Earrings

It has taken 4 years of experimentation and dabbling, and 5 months of full-time effort to give it a concrete shape finally.

I don't know how I took a fascination for earrings. But anyhow I did :). I think I was looking for a gift and I realized that earrings make for such beautiful gifts. Earrings add so much to a woman's face.

As and when I would save some monies, I would try to get some designs made. A lot of them came out beautiful, some of them didn't impress me much. But the response of people around was encouraging nonetheless. So the dabbling continued.

For a long time, I was trying to figure out how to afford to spend more time towards this fascination of mine. Made 'business' presentations and projections and met quite a few people... I elicited interest but never kind of got a 'nod'. Until I met Amit; I worked with him for about an year and a half before moving to Mumbai. He was ready to bet on me without seeing any presentation. But I guess, when I did make the presentation to him, he was convinced that the concept was definitely interesting enough to give a shot.

So, finally Mississippi happened.

Of course, people raised a lot of questions too. I was into a 'good' job, a 'good' company and so on... And of course, the MICA background. Guess all new initiatives have to somehow make their way out of the 'well' of past. And the well of past achievements/experiences is a really really deep one. Even to see light from that real deep well is one mighty task. I saw light :D.

I hope to sustain the momentum. And I hope to thrill those who visit MISSISSIPPI... Good day.