ENTREPRENEURSHIP ASSIGNMENT

1. PATRICIA NARAYAN:
From Rags, to Riches, this is a success story of an Indian woman entrepreneur. Patricia
Narayan, Director of Sandheepa Restaurant Chain, was not planned achievement, but more of a
twist of the circumstances that life threw before her.

1.1 A Brief History:

Patricia Thomas, 17, was studying in Queen Mary's College when she met Narayan, whose
family ran a small restaurant across the road on the Marina, where she would frequently visit to
watch chola-puris being prepared, only to fall in love with him.
In 1977, the Christian and the Hindu quietly got married at the registrar's office, with his
friends fudging papers to show that she was not underage. She was forced by her husband to leave
her house and threatened her that he would tell her parents about the transpired events. Her father
worked in the Posts and Telegraphs department and her mother in Telephones, both provided
heavy resistance to their daughters marriage once she broke the news to them.
She moved in with her husband to a rented house in Anna Nagar, only to realize that life
was anything but a Mills & Boon story. She found out that her husband was heavily into alcohol
and drugs, and that they had no money to survive, and to add fuel to fire, she found out that she
was pregnant. Failing to bring her husband off his addictions, getting beaten and abused almost
every day, she fled back to her parents place seeking help and support with her two children. Her
parents gave her refuge, but their anger wasnt a least bit lessened with the passing time. Finally
she decided that either she succumb to all the burden or fights back. Thus she fought back, bravely.

1.2 Entrepreneurship- A Beginning:

With a couple of Hundreds from her mother as investment, Patricia started making pickles,
jams and squashes at home. Her endeavor was successful and soon she found herself to be
economically independent. Patricias fathers friend ran a school for handicapped children and
allowed people to use his mobile carts if two handicapped children were employed. As she lived
near the Marina, she decided to put the mobile cart at the Anna Square on the Marina beach, since
she had seen a lot of people thronging the beach in the evenings. For this, she had to make umpteen
trips to the Public Works Department and wait for almost one year to get the permission. She
started her work on June 21, 1982. While such carts sold only tea and cigarettes, she decided to
sell cutlets, samosas, bajjis, fresh juice and coffee and tea. On the first day, she could sell only one
cup of coffee and that too was for fifty paise!
The disappointing first day sales was a huge blow to her hopes. By the encouragement and
wise words of her kind mother, she regained the hope to continue the business. The next day, she
sold snacks for Rs.600-700 which was big money for her then. As she started making money, she
added ice creams, sandwiches, French fries and juices too, and she kept thinking of what item to
add next.
This business ran from 1982 to 2003, and the maximum she made from that mobile cart
was Rs 20,000 per month. She used to open shop from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. every day, and later, she
started opening from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. for the walkers. Patricia used to personally stand there and
sell all the stuff that she made. Her dedication was so much that, never felt scared to stand there
late at night and her only thought was to prove herself and move ahead.
In an Interview, she shared these words There was a fire in me that made me believe that
I could be successful without anyone's help. I did not want to be a failure. If you have that fire,
nothing in the world can stop you from succeeding.
On seeing Patricias work at the beach, within a year, the Slum Clearance Board gave her
an offer to run the canteen at their office with a proper kitchen. The canteen was a huge success.
On Wednesdays, it was the public grievance day, so about 3000 people used to come there and she
had a roaring business. She used to get up at 5 a.m. in the morning, make idlis and go to the beach.
From 9 a.m. she would be at the canteen, then from 3.30 p.m. she would again be at the beach cart
and would be there till 11p.m. By then, Patricia had employed people to cook, and clean, and all
the cooking was done at the canteen kitchen.
Later, Patricia got an offer to run the Bank of Madurai canteen, which stopped her work at
the canteen at the Slum Clearance Board. At the Bank canteen, she served food to around 300
people on a daily basis.

1.3 A Leap of Faith:

One fine day after a bitter fight with her husband she boarded the first bus she saw and got
off at the last stop and happened to land up at the doorstep of the National Port Management
training school run by the Central Government. On the spur of the moment, she told the security
guard that I wanted to meet the administrative officer. She met the officer and told him that she
was a caterer and that she heard they were looking for a one- this was an act of desperation from
her part. He said, to her surprise that they were indeed looking for one as they had problems with
the current contractor. Patricias words, I still believe it was God who took me there. She got the
offer, which involved serving three meals to about 700 students every day. They gave her quarters
to stay and thus a new life for her. It was successful from day one. Her first weekly payment was
Rs.80,000, which made her feel so elated, having seen only hundreds and thousands till then.

1.4 Tragedy to a Successful Business:

She was nearly earning a lakh per week and was in a process of starting a restaurant when
death delivered a cruel blow by taking away her daughter and son-in-law in an accident in the year
2004. The ambulance refused to carry their dead bodies. Finally, somebody carried all the dead
bodies in the boot of a car. She couldn't bear the scene and broke down. She withdrew from her
work and other ideas of starting a restaurant faded from her mind. But her son took over her idea
and established their first restaurant. It was named Sandeepha after his lost sister. Patricia finally
got over the grief and started helping out his son with the restaurant with the renewed fire in her
heart.

1.5 Achievements:
Mrs. Patricia Narayan is now focusing on building a brand image with the able support of
her son. It is the story of a determined lady who has travelled a long way from employing 2 people
to 200 now and her earnings have soared from a mere 50 paisa to 2 lakhs per day.
She was shocked to find out how the ambulance operators treated the accident victims, thus
she started an ambulance service from Acharapakkam, the spot where her daughter lost her life, to
Chengalpet, offering services to victims of accidents as the same was denied to her daughter.
She received the FICCIs Best Woman Entrepreneur Award for the year 2010. Her success
wasnt a magic or miracle that happened overnight, it actually took her 30 years to be a successful
entrepreneur.

1.6 Our Lesson:

Success isnt a status or possession that stays with you for lifetime, or a permanent stoppage
of an accomplishment, it is rather a constant journey where you have to maintain your consistency
by putting your strength, potential, determination, and dedication in the service of your vision
irrespective of odd and hostile circumstances, time and hurdles, which you call struggle. Struggle
makes us mature to retain the success for a long time.
Pain is an inevitable part of life and it must not stop us from moving forward as moving
is life and still is dead. Patricia Narayans journey was briefly halted by her daughters death
but it did not take permanently pause.
To be a successful entrepreneur, you dont have to be highly educated (as degree doesnt
always ensure success). All you need is a genuine desire to trust your vision to accomplish your
dream anyway and anyhow, determination to create opportunity out of adversity, honesty towards
consistency on the rough way of destiny and patience to reach it and taste it.

1.7 References:
1. http://www.successstories.co.in
2. http://www.rediff.com/business
3. https://www.linkedin.com
4. http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/money-and-careers
5. http://her.yourstory.com
6. https://www.youtube.com (Path breaking story of Patricia Narayan, successful food
entrepreneur and Educational session - Patricia Narayan)

2. DHRUV LAKRA:
Dhruv Lakra started his career as an investment banker and shifted to the social sector
thereafter. He has helped a lot of social organizations scale impact through their programs, and
strategic planning. He has received numerous awards for his innovative work with the deaf and
enabling them to become independent and self-sufficient.

2.1 Education and Experience:

Dhruv is a B.COM grad from the HR College, Mumbai. He started his career as an
Investment banker in Merrill Lynch from the year 2003. Work there, didnt give him a satisfaction
he desired. He soon found out that his calling lay in the social sector.
He quit Merrill Lynch after two years to join an organization, Dasra, which involved in
various social impact efforts. There he received an in-depth understanding of NPOs and the
programs that they conducted. He personally got involved in workings of Dasra, which helped him
gain a lot of valuable experience in running an organization. He also started to advice and work
closely with numerous start-up NPOs. His work with Dasra lasted 2years and 6months.
Dhruv ended his career with Dasra and went to UK on a scholarship for an MBA degree in
social entrepreneurship from Said Business School, Oxford University, London. According to him,
he chose a one-year course so that he could quickly come back and startup on his own in India.
The intention behind the Oxford stint was to get some exposure and connections in the space. One
of his projects while in college was also in India and this is where the idea behind Mirakle struck
him.

2.2 Turning Point:

In 2008, as while Dhruv was travelling by a bus one day, he saw a deaf boy near his seat.
The boy was not able to hear when the bus conductor was announcing the arriving stations. There
were other passengers also but no one noticed this. Dhruv did. He noticed the problem faced by a
helpless boy who was aloof and lonely, cut off from the whole world and who struggled to get
down at his destination. This is when he felt he needed to do something to help the deaf people.

According to his speech, he mentioned, the deaf looks normal and demands no pity or sympathy,
but within them they conceal agony beyond words, and he felt a compulsion to make a change.
Some days later after the bus event, Dhruv received a courier delivery. He noticed that the
courier guy never uttered a single word and delivered him the parcel and then went away, the
whole transaction lasted only 30 seconds. Then it struck him, delivering couriers is a good job
without the necessity to hear or talk. This is when he decided that he would set up a courier service
employing only the deaf.

2.3 Mirakle born:

Lakra decided to set up a courier company employing only the hearing impaired since the
employee doesn't need to communicate much with customers. In January 2009, he put in nearly
Rs.21,000 saved from his MBA scholarship as seed capital. For this to start, he needed a way of
communication, he learned the sign language. Next, he contacted a couple of NGOs working with
the hearing impaired and asked them if they would spare a couple of students to work with him on
a trial basis.
Thermax was kind enough to give us a small place on a temporary basis. Thereafter, he
hired a couple of people and started approaching companies for work. The money went mostly
into training the staff, buying uniforms and for office use. To starting clients, he offered a 15-day
trial. Before the month was over, Mirakle Couriers was open for business.
The initial months were challenging due to the training required and the need to overcome
mindsets and skepticism. One of the problems he faced was that he would never get any important
cheques or documents, only bulk mailers. However, as the clients noticed the prompt and efficient
service, the team started handling important documents as well, and the business broke even in the
first year of operations. Their first break came from Mahindra & Mahindra.
Mirakle Couriers, conceived first as a seedling in the heart of a selfless person, came into
being and started making progress, slowly but steadily. The number of customers started
increasing. It didn't happen overnight. The organization had a professional approach towards work
and a strong code of ethics. The employees had proper dress codes, well defined processes for
everything and specific responsibilities for each member of the team.
Today, Mirakle Couriers employs 50 people, handling around 65,000 deliveries a month
for 40 companies. Apart from the four members of the managerial staff, the entire team is hearing
impaired.
Mirakle has office space bang opposite Churchgate, in the heart of town, thanks to the
Aditya Birla Group. It would have cost Mirakle over Rs.50,000 a month to rent space (250 sq. ft.)
in this part of the city. Now, it uses the office free of cost.

2.4 Difficulties:
Apart from the difficulties in rising capital for the start-up, Dhruv was called a fool when
he pitched the idea to a few people but he was adamant about trying it out. After some research,
he figured out that there are groups for deaf and mute people in most big cities like Mumbai. He
talked to many people about his idea but the response was not good. However, he did manage to
get one of the boys onboard. The boy convinced two more and Dhruv had three delivery boys for
whom he needed to get consignments to deliver. He was fortunate enough to get a deal for trying
the idea out and this was the beginning of a very valuable experience.
One of the primary reason why Dhruv thought that the idea is workable was because studies
have shown that deaf people are good with repetitive operations driven activities and logistics is
mainly that. But there were a disproportional number of flip sides to this- the levels of education
in the deaf community in India (a 10th pass student couldnt add two digit numbers), the difference
of sign languages in different regions because if the regional context (the way in which a
Mumbaikar would explain something visually is different from the way in which a Punjabi would),
the huge societal barriers to deaf people working, and many more.
Creating social impact is very satisfying but when it is a commercial venture, the company
is benchmarked against the top notch companies as well. Social impact, unfortunately doesnt
really count while valuations of a company. Mirakle had streamlined operations to an extent
(mobile phones helped a lot), but their numbers werent rising. Despite having some of the biggest
names as their clients, they werent getting many deliveries because Mirakle was looked upon as
the last option for shipping. The most unimportant documents were sent via Mirakle. Getting this
trust factor in took a lot of effort. Constant feedback, rigorous training and implementing a strong
technology base were crucial to get this bias away.
Mirakle also managed to get the gender bias plaguing the community out of the picture.
Deaf and mute girls had an even taller barrier for entry into the workspace. However, the need for
work like entering data online for all the deliveries got them a few slots at Mirakle.

2.5 Huge Clients:

The company takes pride in its enterprising workforce and boast of an elite clientele that
includes companies like Mahindra, Aditya Birla Group, Franklin Templeton Investments, Victory
Art Foundation, JSW Group, Indian Hotels Company, Godrej & Boyce, and Tehelka.

2.6 Awards:

2010 National Award for the Empowerment of People With Disabilities

A distinguished award given by the President of India, Pratibha Patil, for our efforts
to empower the deaf through meaningful employment. We are most proud of this award,
as our recognition has reached a national level.
2009 Hellen Keller Award:
Role Model Supporter of Increased Employment Opportunities for Disabled
People. Individuals from within and outside the disability sector who have contributed
substantially to the cause of promoting employment opportunities for disabled people over
an extended period of time.

2009 Echoing Green Fellowship:

To accelerate social change, Echoing Green invests in and supports outstanding
emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact
solutions. Through a two-year fellowship program, we help our network of visionaries
develop new solutions to societys most difficult problems.

2.7 References:
1. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
2. http://thesalute.in
3. http://tpoi.tehelka.com (the power of inspiration)
4. https://www.linkedin.com
5. https://www.youtube.com/ (Dhruv Lakra - Oxford MBA Skoll Scholar and Mirakle CouriersA documentary by Chaitra Yadavar)
6. Various other news/journal articles