Help the duo Start-it Up!

Can I meet the team of e-kabbadi please? Mr. Khandelwal who was one of the
top venture capitalists of India asked Professor Gupta of NIM, Delhi. Yes, of course.
Let me take you conference room no. 2 where we can call them. Professor Gupta,
E-cell coordinator of NIM Delhi replied. While the duo was walking towards
conference room no. 2, Mr. Khandelwal continued, Mr. Gupta, the panel has already
taken its decision and it will be announced soon by the chair. But, I wanted to meet
these two young boys before I catch my flight to London in the afternoon. I like their
idea and I might think of investing in this idea if they are really capable of
operationalizing the plan.. Sure sir! I have already informed my student
coordinator to bring them here. I also like their idea of connecting technology and
Clean India mission. Professor Gupta replied quickly as they reached conference
room 2.

So boys, tell me how are you going to market your business? Mr. Khandelwal
asked Rohit and Sagar, the two graduating electronics engineering students from
National College of Engineering, Mumbai. Rohit started explaining, Sir, We have
planned to target university/college campuses, malls and housing societies in our
first phase. We will arrange small awareness campaigns and well be collecting e-
waste through e-bins and small trucks from these places. We will also be working
closely with different student teams in universities to help us in creating
awareness.

Excellent! Good idea! What are your target locations/cities in the first phase? How
many trucks will be collecting e-waste from these locations? How will you process
this e-waste? Mr. Khandelwal threw a volley of questions at the young boys.

Sir, I would like to start from the third question Sagar quickly responded and
continued, Sir, We will not be processing this waste in our first phase i.e. almost for
next 18 months. Regarding the number of cities we are thinking of Mumbai and
Pune in first phase and regarding trucks we are not yet sure how we are going to
plan it.

Well! I like your idea and marketing plan. But, you need to plan in detail for your
operations. How many locations are you planning to target, when would you start?
How many trucks would you be using? How are you going to define your capacity?
What will be outsourced and what will not be? These are some of the important
aspects you should work on thoroughly. Anyways, you can meet me again with
answers to these questions. On 1st June i.e. after 10 days I will be coming to
Mumbai and will be staying for 2 days at Sun International, Bandra. I would like to
see you there with a comprehensive plan. All the best. Mr. Khandelwal walked out
of the room and moved towards the dining hall of National Institute of Management,
Delhi.
About e-kabbadi team: Rohit and Sagar, final year B.Tech (Electronics Engg.)
students at National College of Engineering, Mumbai, refused the placement offers
of big technology organizations to pursue their dream business plan. Rohit and
Sagar wanted to tread on different path but in the same field of electronics
engineering. They always kept track of different initiatives of the Govt. of India and
used to discuss their role in it. Sagar was very keen to do something to contribute to
Clean India mission as an engineer. It was a 3 day workshop on Digital World
which triggered a very different business idea in these two budding engineers. The
last session of the digital world workshop was on Mother Earth and Electronic
Waste where the different aspects of e-waste were discussed. The statistics
discussed in the workshop were unbelievable and eye-opening. The major concern
discussed was awareness about e-waste. Rohit saw a business opportunity in the
problem of e-waste management and he discussed the idea with his best friend and
classmate Sagar. Sagar found a very strong link with Clean India mission and they
developed the business idea. Further, they approached the entrepreneurship cell in
their college and discussed the idea of doing business in e-waste collection and
management in India. The E-cell coordinator asked them to write down in detail the
business idea, business plan and present it to them and also suggested them to
start participating in B-plan competitions. They also won the first Business Idea
Competition held in Mumbai. Their mission statement is - Effective collection and
disposal of e-waste from all cities in India and contribute to the cause of clean India.

Now, while waiting for their train at New Delhi Railway Station, the duo was worried
about the concerns raised by Mr. Khandelwal. Can you help them to answer Mr.
Khandelwals questions with a comprehensive plan addressing strategic issues?

[About E-waste: Rapid changes in technology and emergence of digital world has
resulted in a surplus of electronic waste around the globe. According to one of the
UNEP reports the amount of e-waste being produced could increase as much as
500% over next decade in countries like India. Today Indias E-waste production is
13 lakh metric ton and its growing every year by 25%. India has many recycling
companies but the awareness about collection and recycling is very poor.]

References & Additional Readings:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste

2. http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/publication_electronic/E-Waste_in_india.pdf