Our Fledgling Steps

The aim of the assignment as I figured it was to make the maximum money using the minimum possible capital. The key to this I figured was innovation.

The idea of using jackfruit as our produce didn’t take too much of deliberations. We knew where we could get it free where we would find customers. The only question was ‘What makes us different?’.

And here is the answer.

Arriving to a consensus our first task was obtaining the fruit. But as it turned out this wasn’t much of a task. We went to the designated plot, spoke to the people responsible & returned with a couple of fruits. The question now was what was our USP. We figured these were the pieces to our puzzle.

Chat Masala(1) ............Rs 10(ish) taken from home.

Glazed cherries(1) ........ Rs10

Disposable cups (50) ............Rs20

Honey ..................free(removed from local hive)

JackFruit(2) ...............free

We met the next morning At Gautams place in Vidyaranyapura @ 8am. Our task cutting open the fruits. As u may know this is no easy task. Here is us @ work.

The process involves gently slicing the fruit vertically, pulling it open & removing the edible pods.

Getting a cart was rather more complicated, we borrowed it from the owner assuring him it wasn’t for commercial profit but for a film shoot. Yeah! Yeah! We lied!!

So at about 10.40 we set of to the location, Durga Parmeshwari temple in Vidyaranyapura. Business wasn’t as fast as we expected, at times we got bored hawking our goods. We tended to pass our time by interacting other local hawkers. At about 12.10 we were forced to make a quick exit due to the presence of the cart owner. We had made about 60 rupees till that point. With our destination unknown we set out through the winding lanes.

At one street corner a couple of people from a shop approached us. They recommended us to others in their shop & also the neighboring one. Soon there was a sizable rush & every passer by stopped & took notice. We were kept so busy we lost track of sales. I personally got quiet jittery. In the commotion we didn’t have the opening to use the camera. By this point we had made about 240 rupees.

After this rush subsided we wandered from street to street. Sales had returned to their normal slow selves. At about 3.30 we decided to return home with a substantial sum of Rs 260 in our pockets.

Our rates were Rs. 1 per pod & Rs. 5 per plate comprised of 3 pods & our special ingredients.

In hindsight our profit was only marginal. The only real reason we made any profit was the fact that we got most raw materials for free. Our selling price would have been far too low had we brought the materials. But the low prices also prompted some to come back for seconds. For a steady business a rise in prices is a must. Also, we would need to find a steady source of fruits. The recipe was a hit though. If u ever eat it again, remember, you saw it first here.

Looking at us by the cart most people smelt a rat. They did enjoy our dish but kept asking us why we were doing this. We told them it was a business experiment. They weren’t convinced and kept asking what can we expect from you in the future and I guess now I ask the same question of myself.