The Starbucks - India equation !!

Starbucks opened its store for the first time in India .. or is it India opened its doors for the first time for Stabucks. Either way its here now and makes India the 61st country where the popular green neons are displayed. Believe it or not but first store in India comes exactly after 13 years since their operations started in China. Chowmein - 1, Haryana (India) - 0 !!

So what made Starbucks ponder over their strategy or was it pure procrastination ? Well, the Starbucks CEO, Mr. Howard Schultz believed that the tea sipping, chuski taking Indian culture will not welcome the coffee dominated brand with open arms. What he forgot that it is the same target audience which will run after anything which is on display in a branded shop sold at a premium. Second thing was finding a suitable partner to ply their trade. The main factor here was sustainability and no better 'reliance' than Tata !! Mr. Schultz definitely got this one right. Everyone needs a partner in crime. Some actors need their rich producer dads, some cricketers need their talent rich fellow cricketers and some crooked politicians need their drivers. Incredible India !!

So whats the amount of financial benefits are we talking about ? Retail consultancy Technopak Advisors predict India’s $ 230 million cafe market will swell to $ 410 million by 2017, with the number of cafes rising from 1,950 to 2,900 in the next five years. Out of that lot, this joint venture by Starbucks hopes to open 50 stores by the end of 2012. With one at Taj Mahal hotel and other in a suburban mall already waiting to hear the gunshot before the race, it looks like Starbucks will be there surely.

When we look at the possible competitors Cafe Coffee Day, which is owned by an Indian coffee conglomerate based in the southern city of Bangalore, has around 1,350 outlets and is the current market leader. A host of international players, like Gloria Jean’s, Costa Coffee and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, are already scrambling to catch up. But the biggest rivals could well be the regional and more traditional coffee makers and providers. Typical Indian mentality will always make the average foodie go for the filter kaapi than the richer cousin.

Enough of the financial benefits and the synergies for the coffe giant, its India as a whole which also enjoys a lot more and infact takes learnings as well. For the Mumbaikars, it offered new backdrops to take photos against. So one will find all teenagers removing their camera phones and tablets and going *click* *click*. Plus the You just checked in at Starbucks, Horniman circle via Foursquare is a different issue altogether. The Medusa-esque coffee mascot of Starbucks stares down at you from a wall.

Secondly, its the free services on offer. Beat the heat and sit in an air conditioned coffee house which can hold upto 120 odd people and with our 'please adjust .. fourth seat' attitude might well as add 30 odd to it.

But finally and most importantly it taught a large set of Mumbaikars the importance of discipline. It taught Mumbai how to stand in queues. Huge lines bigger than those at Sidhivinayak temple on Tuesdays were seen just for the taste of coffee and the post brag too.

Bottomline is that when it comes to Mumbai, if Starbucks even sold 'Gola wala' sherbet for a fortune, people will line up and go gung ho about it. And the author is one of them too !!

Angel Investors give you Wings !!

Angel Investor, when you hear this word it sounds very interesting and 'out of this world'. An angel investor is NOT an investor with golden wings and a halo. Thats only reserved for the Angels on the Victoria Secret fashion show !!
Rather the definition goes like this ... 'An individual who provides startup capital to a new business and expects a percentage of ownership equity in return'. Who knew Angels were so mean, I have always come across them as something soft and cuddly and white except for those Axe adverts where its a whole new dimension altogether !!

Well for starters Angel Investors are not generic they have specialization amongst themselves too. There are like 'n' kinds of them. Lets have a look at some of them and can we find some of their dopplegangers in real life.

Firstly there are these Core Angels who are individuals with extensive business experience who have operated and owned successful businesses of their own.
We can easily find such core Angels here. For Uday Chopra & Jackie Bhagnani they had one since birth, no need to look elsewhere. Read as Dad.

Then come the High-Tech Angels who know less than these Core Angels but will invest significantly in latest trends of modern technology. No .. no .. it does not mean that Chaganbhai Patel is opening a new cyber cafe for his son Jignesh. By the way, haven't cyber cafes gone out of business ? Genuine Question !!

Next come the Return on Investment Angels, these are primarily concerned with the financial reward of their investments. Its the same case with Real Madrid and their 'Galacticos' .. dont perform and you are out the next season. Sometimes even in the same on a loan to a lesser known English club.

Enthusiast Angels are those 65 year old plus who invest just as a mere hobby. They dont take an active role in management but just want to have fun. My idol, his Royal Highness, Sir Hugh Hefner. Enough Said.

Then there are Professional Angels who are professionally employed or own and who invest in companies in their related field. Professional angels invest in several companies at the same time. King of Good Times Mr. Mallya easily fits here .. ohh wait .. he invests in companies and then tries to make it his own field. Slight twist  but almost the same. Please thoda adjust karo !!

Mentor Angels are these individuals who serve as advisors and mentors to their invested companies. One cannot look beyond Mr. Narayan Murthy. No humour here. Next please.

Finally there are these Generational Angels or the Silver Spoons with Silver Wings. These investors are the second generation offspring of successful families and are typically younger than the average angel investor, but have acquired a significant amount of business expertise from working in the family business. With the current scenario in mind, one cannot even think of any other than Mr. Robert Vadra. Second Generation - Check. Not Offspring but heir to successful family - Check. Younger than average - Double Check (He works out baby !!). Significant amount of business expertise from working in the family business alias Corruption - Raised to infinity Check !!

I am still stuck on the first para ... those Angels are way better !! *Nudge Nudge Wink Wink*

The famous Son in Law in Parallel Universe

Parallel Universe theory has bemused one and all. The creme de la creme of social thinkers have come and fallen prey to the lure of what is it like on the other side !! So why not us .. let us visualize India style !!

In Parallel Universe, there exists one powerful species who has and always exploited the commons due to their corrupt minds and supreme power. Behold Mr. Hazare and his pesky sidekick Mr. Kejriwal.

Countless allegations prone, they are sitting on piles of cash & digesting and burping out one scam after the other.

Standing tall against him is our hero, the Gandhian thinking and khaki clad Robert .. Robert Vadra and his wife Priyanka. They have this hot blooded brother in law, Rahul who dropped out of school, not due to bad grades and attitude but due to poverty and not paying fees in time. 

Robert Vadra along with Priyanka and Rahul would be on a hunger strike at Ram Leela maidan for the upliftment of poor and their basic rights. Fighting against the atrocities of people like the Kejriwals and the Hazares. The entire nation would ... not be by there side and would mind their business and move along with the daily hustle and bustle of the city. So in short they were on their own and with few handful locals by their side.

Government had this tag of being very aggressive and took prompt decisions against the bad people. Once in a while the Government would surprise people by announcing some lame decisions like FDI in Retail etc.

Here Government took their stance and compromised for a hanging-in-the-middle decision. After breaking their fast subject to Government approval they will go have a 3 bucks lemon juice from the vendor outside and reach their 8x10 place on the outskirts of Delhi where Priyanka would cook dinner for the three. Some uncanny similarity is that Mr. Rahul is used to eating from the  poor man's plate #Not.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Hazare plump as they are physically are also flexing their financial muscles and getting all sorts of favours from this organization called LFD primarily into sponsoring National level Marbles championship 'IML' - Indian Marbles League. Yeah yeah .. Buildings and other things are just subsidiaries. So basically Hazares and the clan with LFD offering a major KLPD on the people !!

For further development in this, only time will tell or our channel '3 Weeks 2 Days Tak' with cameraguy Some Pandey and reporter Some Tripathi. If you like this coverage SMS Y/N on 420 and we will pay you back your cost of SMS.

This just in: Mr. Kejriwal just issued this statement "Democratic Republic of Mango has scarcity of People eating Bananas" what it means only time will tell !!

Mr. Manmohan Singh does not speak. Yes here too !!

FDI : Finally the Day is In !!!

Government of India finally came out with much awaited declaration to allow 51 percent FDI in retail. The declaration seemed to be more of an adaptation from Karan Johar movie with that much drama rather than directly from Prime Minister's office. We have seen the inspiring 'We made a tryst with destiny' and the 'I have a dream' by the Nehrus and the Luther Kings of the world but 'Money does not grow on trees' seems like a tamer version of standard IV English essay of Delhi Public school student.

So why Retail sector ? The Retail sector of India is vast, and has huge potential for growth and development, as the majority of its constituents are as unorganized as Indian team batting lineup in T20s. The retail sector of India handles about $250 billion every year, and is expected by the know how to reach to $660 billion by the year 2015. The business in the organized retail sector of India, is to grow most and faster at the rate of 15-20% every year. Thats the exact YOY growth figure of sale of parking tickets of multiplexes when Rajnikanth movie is in session.

The retail sector of India contributes about 15% to the national GDP, and employs a massive workforce of it, after the agriculture sector. And who can forget the fact that it acts as a new avenue for some politicians to fill their pockets. Lets go FDI way .. Funds for Daily Intake !! Yayy !!

Obviously the announcement was meted by huge positive response from the opposition who lauded the decision and offered full support #NOT .. So as expected like any other Saas-Bahu lingering drama, the opposition and even the allies barked and woofed and hoped for a roll back. But to no avail TILL NOW.

So it stays, 51 percent but limited to 53 cities specially identified which the Goverment feels can cope up infrastructure wise. So the Walmarts & the CarreFours of the World are rejoicing with moist eyes and  cheques in hand ready to invest.

So lets take a look at the upside. This step will bring modern technology to the country and improve rural infrastructure to the maximum. The most important thing is for the farmer. Owing to superior technology the wastage of his produce would be minimal and this extra produce can be sold in domestic markets for more revenue. The farmers will get fair prices from the giants of the markets and lets just hope its not a false promise from those who are just tourists and dont give a fish about where India goes. And yeah Goverment earns too. Obviously we are not that selfless.

The downside is .. yes there has to be a downside .. that these giants would flex their money muscles and use our lands for their benefit and totally forget about the domestic products. Then there are countless middlemen or as some may call them meddle-men to cause discomfort. Even Ranjeet & MacMahon were better as compared to these villains. Also there are many people employed by Government, be educated or semi educated but the Walmarts and the Tescos will always want the smartest of Gangarams and Tukarams !! The kirana going out of action factor is still there.

Whatever it maybe, we cannot deny that since a decade malls and departmental stores have always shown their existence and that did not cause the kiranas to go out of business. This phase will also come and go. So Keep Calm and let the Big boys Enter !!!