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How Safe is the Future for Safe Water?
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Excerpts
NEED TO LOOK FOR NEW AVENUES
After 30 successful years of trading in sesame seeds and oil, Harsh decided to look around for new opportunities and choose a suitable one. The increase in raw material prices (sesame seeds) because of exports, a change in customers’ tastes with their preferences veering toward refined oil, and the larger slice of the market being grabbed by the organized sector were the key factors that has led to his decision to hunt for new avenues... |
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DISCOVERY OF PRODUCT
After doing a thorough market study, he identified the product –purified drinking water– which he could supply...
IDENTIFYING THE GAP
During his market survey, Harsh found that the suppliers of purified water who were operating then were serving textile mills, banks, the industrial area, and other big giants in the field within the city of Bali...
A BLESSING
With the rise in the frequency of water-borne diseases, the government also campaigned for safe water. Doctors too were advising the residents to drink purified water.
PLANT SET-UP
To set up his water purification plant, Harsh hunted around for the vendors of the necessary machines (including a filter and chilling unit), tanks to store water, water cooler jars, and water coolers for delivering to the final customer, i.e. the retailers...
THE CREW
Harsh teamed up with his younger brother, Shyam, to look after the business. He took charge of production –procurement of water, filtration, and chilling of water, and filling and cleaning of the water coolers and jars. Shyam was allocated the work of marketing and supplying the water to the customers and collecting the payment...
THE NEW DAY
On January 1, 2012, the first batch of purified water was rolled...
FIRST YEAR OPERATION
The shopkeepers were amazed at the novel method of supplying drinking water in the retail market. They asked a few shop owners - Harsh’s existing clients about the charges, quality of water, and services offered. Within a few days, more customers were added. In a month’s time, the customer base went up to 50from 30. In three months, this number had moved into three digits and Harsh was offering his services to 100-odd customers...
SECOND YEAR LEARNINGS
The dawn of 2013 brought with it a good omen for Harsh. Sales in the first two months, January and February, escalated due to marriages and to new customers being added. People were placing orders for water coolers even for small social functions...
COMPLETING THIRD YEAR
In the third year of functioning, the trend of the previous year continued during the first quarter of the calendar year. In April, Harsh participated in a tender for the supply of water to various booths for officials during the assembly election 2014...
WAY AHEAD
Although the market for purified water had expanded during the three years in the city of Bali, many new players had joined the fray to grab the lucrative opportunity. Having a single plant in the heart of the city had proved beneficial to Harsh as other players’ units were at faraway places...
EXHIBITS
Exhibit I: Cost Structure
Exhibit II: Sales Data
Exhibit III: About Bali – The City
