Connect The Dots

by Rashmi Bansal

What’s more, margins were much higher in

exports. And that certain...

funding from the parent company - the Maini group - run by Chetan’s father and...

Over time, these divisions attracted other clients like Leyland and Volvo - making them independent business units.

Chetan has a roadmap in place.

“Fundamentally, there is more awareness on climate change and more interest in renewable energy.”

By technology licensed from the only company in the world with 85 million kms of experience on electric cars.

Chetan squeezes in yoga thrice a week, as well as a bit of cycling.

custom

The second thing is when I found myself facing a problem, I would sleep over it. When I took a look at it in the morning… I tried to see opportunity.

hindsight,

I’ve never been the marketing type!”

In fact, Mahima is not really the kind of person you expect to see running a business.

manne...

amusing.

vermi-composting.

“Living in Jaipur, I had been exposed to handmade paper.

“I thought there was too much attention being paid to form-filling, diluting the essence of working for a cause.”

“I’m not really a marketing person. Nor am I an expert in craft - in fact I am quite

clumsy!

‘Papeterie’

“We created packaging for Darjeeling tea, meant for export markets.

Working with Udai, using age-old techniques, Papeterie produced paper which was so high in quality that when it was tested in Germany, they concluded, “This is good enough to eat!” But what actually makes handmade paper so attractive; what is the ‘eco’ element to it? Well, first of all handmade paper is completely wood-free.

Hollander Beater;

“I had a strange set of social skills - I could either talk to people in villages or in foreign countries. My regular middle class social skills were rather sad!”

“The advantage in places like Kaalpi is that even today, there are people who use the purest form of paper making.”

eco aspect is also reflected in Mahima’s attempt to make handmade paper a part of everyday life, and not just something to use as a shaadi ka lifafa.

Then, she met Vijayendra, a small producer based in Sanganer.

kiln

The discussion went back and forth.

bizarre

Initially the paper was too brittle because we used only dung! Then we started mixing cotton fibre and the texture improved.”

humour quotient.

sober motifs

“Kaalpi is an interesting place, part of the famous Chambal valley. The first time I went there they asked me, ‘Aapko Phoolan Devi ke husband se milwa kar laayein?’”

niche

“There are two kinds of growth; one is that you sell more and two is PR and publicity.

“There are physical limitations right now - the unit Vijayendra operates is very small. I’ve often been advised to expand but I can’t steal the idea from him. So we will grow together.”

Fair trade means complete honesty and transparency.

Margins are comfortable - the standard range is 40% (before overheads) but the Germans in fact always encouraged a slightly higher profit to take care of contingencies.

“When you work with small producers you get very involved in their personal problems.

My first supplier in Kaalpi - Udai - took a family dispute so seriously, that one day he simply said, ‘Ab main kaam nahin karoonga.’”

enterprise

“All I ever wanted was enough money to pay my rent and to have a regular middle class lifestyle. With enough leisure time for myself.”

skeptical

“I got divorced at that time and so I put my heart and soul into this business.

If you have an interesting idea just follow through with it! I have seen a lot of youngsters with an idea who don’t pursue it, because they are scared.

I was never scared, I never once thought, “This will not work.” Considering I am not at all business-minded. If I could do it - anyone can.

The truth is most of them don’t do anything, because they don’t need to.

The ‘Wake up Sam’ moment came when Ravi Gupta passed away at the age of 59.