eFarm : A Farmer To Consumer Agri Supply Chain

Network

The Agri-Supply Chain Crisis :

Background The eFarm Solution
Market Potential & Competitive Landscape
Operations Overview
Technology Behind eFarm :
Overview Benefit to farmers and
buyers Timeline
Highlights
FAQ

Presented By : Venkat and Valli

Founders , eFarm
www.efarm.in
HO : 11 Loganathan Mylapore, Chennai ,
colony, Tamilnadu
 Harvesting of
Terminal markets to
Vegetables
•Unorganized, unregulated, unprofessional & neighborhood wholesalers
unprofitable
• Lack of demand/supply data
• No reliable sales, distribution, marketing
1
channels
• Poor logistics and storage 5
• A Middlemen‟ dominated market
•No IT/ERP usage – decisions are adhoc and
arbitrary Regional mandi to Wholesalers to Retailers
4 Terminal markets near
A local mandi large cities
auctioning 2

Local to Regional mandis

for Auction
6
Loss in transit
40%
Retailers to Dining Table
Price hike
3 End to end
> 400%
7
  Farmer’s REAL needs – Not money but Marketing !!
 They are not even getting break even price – inspite of all
subsidies & assistance
 There is severe Labour shortage as young adults disinterested in
farming activities
 Land is plenty – but water is scarce
 Rural – Rich (Large farmers) , Urban – Poor (Poor
vegetable vendors)
 Largescale Migration to city from villages in search of
stable jobs
 Rapid urbanisation , Loss of prime land
 Need to shift from Supply driven to Market driven
 Market Scenario
Data Value Notes ITC, Nilgiris,
Fruits & Vegetables (Total market) 668800 Cr Organised + Unorganised Reliance, More,
Big bazaar etc all
Organised segment 8216 Cr < 1.2% of total market put together !!!

Total Volume of fruits & vegetables 100 Million

produced Tonnes India is a World leader in
PRODUCTION but still
Amount processed 1% World avg ~ 40%
IMPORTING our food to
Amount exported 1% Not in top 25 in world exporters meet local demand

Wastage in transit & handling 40% ~ Rs 40000 Crores lost revenue

Even a 1% reduction
in wastage will
Average per person monthly 68 Rs 11% of monthly expenses on food generate additional
expenditure in F&V (Urban) 5 crores in profit to
Avg. per person monthly 8 kgs farmers !!!
consumption of F&V

Over 60% involved in agriculture & related Typical scenario for a metro city in India with 5
activities, but contributes less than 20% to Million population :
GDP. Growth rateY-O-Y is just 2% owing Daily demand : 1250 tonnes
to lack of professional management & Daily sales : Rs 1.2
focus
Source : IMAGES F&R Research Study , Govt of India , Dept. of Crores
 The Farmer :
 Mandi system does not offer stable , sustainable price realization
 Organised retailers don’t pick lower grades , have long credit periods
 The Lorry drivers :
 Lorry booking agents/brokers take 40% of cut. Fluctuating rates and
high stress work
 The Sellers :
 Organized retail : High investment , Poor supply chain, Low
volumes
 Unorganised retailers : Sabjeewallah/push cart vendors :
▪ Missing link and unsung heroes of the supply chain. (Over 90% of
volume retailed here)
▪ No proper benefits / finance / support
 The Buyers :
 Housewife : Fluctuating costs, Poor quality
 Hotels / Food processors : High costs, Unreliable suppliers
 Exporters : Poor standards / quality , High logistics cost
 The eFarm Vision : The Big Picture
A shared platform connecting all stakeholders
Value added resellers
Sorting , Grading , Processing, Packing

Storage
Warehouses

Bulk buyers
Exporters

Farmers eFar
Cooperatives
Collection centers m
Kiranas
Self Help
Groups
Hawkers

Village ICT kiosks

Phone booths Logistics Fleet Small Independent
Mobile operators operators transporters Intra-city small
tempos
 Create a network of farmers, intermediaries, logistics providers, distributors and
retailers
‘Organize’ the ‘un-organized’ rural to urban supply chain to create sustainable prices
for the rural members of the chain
Create a shared sourcing/marketing/distribution/retailing platform which is a
combination of offline delivery mechanism with online IT systems :
IT based B2B order matching/fulfillment system (e.g. Amazon, eBay)
+
Low cost-efficient, „Indianised‟ logistics & delivery mechanism (e.g. AMUL, Dubbawallahs)
+
People driven Direct To Consumer Marketing / Retailing channel (e.g. HLL‟s Shakti, Amway)
+
Bottom Up Entrepreneur driven model to reach all customer
segments (Self help groups, Micro finance)

Our goal
• Build a nationwide agri-supply chain network platform - Enable fair, efficient & reliable
business across the community
• Make agriculture self sustaining and curtail erratic fluctuations in price/quality
• Generate job opportunities in BOP socio-economic strata in rural and urban areas
 Price Organised Players
•Premium stores Low volumes, Hit
(Organic etc) High
•F&V focussed by recession and
stores (e.g low profitability
Pazhamudhir
Low Volu
•Branded Retailers Nilayam)
Premium stores
(Reliance , More me Volume,
etc) :Sourcing and
, High •Push
price
carts High price •Kirana stores regular supply issues
, street
vendors Terminal markets
Volume Lack of
standards,
•Regional/Terminal
markets
transparen cy,
High trader/broker
Low Volume,
•Commodity Low
dominated
exchanges (e.g.
Volume, Price
SAFAL) Push carts &
Kiranas Local
•Village mandi Low price presence to end
customer , but high
As eFarm connects all players and acts as buyer wastage
or seller in different segments, it will have a wider
eFarm footprint and better control on end to end
profitability
 eFarm Registers the
1 farmers, transporters and other
intermediaries with basic details
such as produce type, volume,
expected price range etc., Advance amounts are collected from
4 buyers
eFarm identifies key buyer .Payments are made to farmers
2 segments and identifies preliminary and intermediaries upon d- elivery.
for the products. eFarm consolidate
the Orders from buyers (B2B)
received through phone, email and The vegetables are sorted and graded at
walk-in to make one consolidated
5
the eFarm Distribution centers and
demand list delivered to respective customer locations
(B2B)
eFar-m sourcing managers track
3
prices across different areas and feed
in the data. The central order
matching system determines best
source, location and logistics The orders are delivered immediately
channel for fulfillment. 6 through delivery vans,push carts etc to end
customers

Lessons learnt, feed back and data analysis conducted on the order received is shared with
7 the members in the chain. This helps to optimize the operation continuously and increase
the value creation across the chain.
 Catering/Hotels
Cooperatives Hub and Spoke Model
Producer For Scalability and Organic
Corporations
Growth
Exporters

Rural Urban
SHGs Forward Logistics ( Fresh
Collection Distribution
Centres Produce) Centers
Food Processors
Reverse Logistics ( Manure , Farmer supplies)

Bulk buyers

Small & mid sized farmers

Retailers /
Mom & Pop stores

… organic growth
and expansion
•IT Systems usage : NIL
•Management team : Illiterate and average age of 55
•Age of company : Over 150 years
•Customer Segment : From slumdwellers to crorepathis
•Operational efficiency : Six sigma !!!

The Mumbai Dubbawallahs !!!

•Key success factors : (video English Hindi)

•Highly decentralized operations – agile, flexible , scalable

•Use of low cost transport medium – trains
•Use of human power for last mile delivery – No Fuel related hikes
•Strong customer relationship – personal , localised
•Simple coding, routing, labelling system – operates even without electricity !
•Delivery excellance – fixed time , professionalism
Fix the process
first
And THEN
Implement
technology
Otherwise will be
a failure …..
Open source
Tools &
technologies
AgriXML
As a dataXchange
format
Collaboration and B2B trading
platform
•Content : Daily pricelists,
Schedules, Trends ,
Buyers guides
•Order management
•Search / Track items
•Delivery tracking
•Agri specific social
networking

Backoffice Systems
•Customer
relationship
management
•Supply chain
management
•Mobile/SMS
gateway interface
ICT Technology and the BOP
segment : Challenges
• High illiteracy
• Even amongst educated – Mostly local language skills only
• Low computer skills , Low internet penetration Technology Adoption amongst BOP
segment
• Highest and fastest penetration : The mobile phone
eFarm Interface points • Self taught the phone interfaces , usage
• Voice call centres / BPOs (local language ) • Pay full price for new models , talk time
• Natural language IVRS ( 2 way – automated
messages)
• SMS

Voice and the Visually challenged

• Enabling voice interface to reach out to the visually disabled
• Voice activated systems , JAWS
• Employment opportunities as call centre/inbound/outbound agents
Production data
• Produce name, variety
• Grade
• Typical yield at harvest
• Harvest cycles
• Cost price at farm gate

Farmer information
• Name
• Address
• Contact number
• Preferred mode of payment
• Bank / Post office details
• Photo
• Attestation
Tools and
calculators to assist
farmers in
determining their
Sale price

Click to open ->

 Koyambedu
nadu tomato
(data courtesy : TNAU-INDG market
information portal)

Where to sell ?
At what price ?
Head to head comparisons
across
Markets
Ottanchatram
Insight - Support level prices and nadu tomato
inflection points

High / Low variations

Identifying „hoarding‟
and
 (data courtesy : TNAU-INDG market Koyambedu : Sambar onion
information portal)

What is the demand for a

particular product variety in Koyambedu : Nagar Onion

specific market?

What variety to produce ?

When to harvest ? How much

?
Koyambedu : Tamilnadu Onion
Example using onion in Koyambedu
 NENDRUM IN COIMBATORE MARKET NENDRUM IN CHENNAI MARKET

60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10
10 0

27/06/2…

02/07/2…
26/06/2…

29/06/2…

03/07/2…
28/06/2…

01/07/2…
30/06/2…
0

Nendram in Bangalore market

60
Customer : A major chips manufacturer In 50
40
chennai 30
Problem : Nendran variety availability & 20
10
quality was poor and price was very high 0

Identified alternate markets for viable bulk

sourcing from alternate markets
 Insights into customer‟s
procurement patterns and identifying
cost saving opportunities
Drill down to
details

Highlight
Dashboard summary potential
For senior management problems
and issues
for
immediate
action
 Cleaning / Packing

Financial Success Social Progress

Quality Routing
Inspection/ Grading

An untapped , niche Organizing the large

market with very
Long haul
Transportation
unorganized agri sector
few organized, of India – bottom of
entities pyramid
More income to farmers
Revenue generation , truck operators and
through better Rural Produce
Collection Centres Small retailers
Local vendors
small vendors owing to
optimization, value profit sharing across the
addition across the
chain network
Farmers

Reduced wastage in Local

Urban area
Distribution centre
Support to traditional ,
transit = more revenue Distribution eco friendly farm
practices
Has potential to , organic farming
jumpstart other agri- through better marketing
dependent ventures Compost/Manure
from waste
Food Processing
units Convert waste to
compost
A professional ly
managed supply chain
Bulk buyers
(Hotels / Caterers /
, providing low cost
is vital for tapping
Retailers)
Exports
manure back to
international markets eFarm Common Services
farmers.
Planning & Call centre / Training &
Research Technology

Potential to scale
Coordination Communication Support
Revival of agriculture
across India as core dependent livelihoods
problem is wide spread , empowering
villagers
„Pull factor‟ from rural
 Customers Major Suppliers / Farmers Consultants / Collaborators

• VGP resorts • Green earth, Nilgiris • MOP Vaishnava Women’s college

• Savera hotel • Earth trust , Ooty – Dept. of Food Science &
• • Raj varadarajan farms , padalam technology
Veggibazaar.com
• • Tamilnadu Agri University –
• NH47 / OVG caterers Ecoville – organic produce
Agri Business Incubation
• Pizzaguy • Banana farmers association, TN • ICRISAT, Hyderabad
• J’s Organo store, neelangarai • Satguna Agro , Thanjavur • PSG College of Tech –
• Voluntary Health Services • Dept. of Horticulture & Agri Business school
Hospital, taramani marketing, TN government • Hospiexchange
• Kalyani hospital, • SMILE , Nellore
• RASA – School for Special
Mylapore • Nalamagal Trust,
Children
• Venkateshwara hospital Dharapuram • Nandini – Voice for
, Nandanam • Future agro, calicut
Deprived
• Bharani hotel, • Major Collection • Indian Bank – Microsate II
Thiruvanmiyur • IFMR
• Picnic plaza, Mylapore
regions
• Around Chennai • Yes Bank / Wagenegan
• Rayar mess , Mylapore
/kancheepuram University
• SS Annamalai staff • Microsoft
• Karur, Namakkal
canteen • SMS integra mobile
• • Thanjavur
Hamilton bridge area vegetable & gateway
fruit vendors association • Ooty/Mettupalayam
• Krishnagiri, Hosur •• Silicon house hosting
• Thiruvanmiyur market traders Exnora
association • Nellore, AP Tap a wide range of expertise and
• Samanvaya
• VAREWA Access to wide range
of customer
• Theni/Cumbum base • Ichiban consulting
support structure to promote
• ….etcFrom the domestic to
export houses agribusiness
across economic pyramid!
As of August 2009
Agri India – LinkedIn Group ( > Link )
•Operational since Jan 2009

•connecting farmers, buyers , social agencies, agri professionals

, academicians , press reporters & students

•Leads on key demands , info about agri expos/conferences , trade

news , job announcements , new ideas , discussions …

•Articles on key topics :

•Agri business & entrepreneurship
•Organic farming
•Video clippings on key technologies & processes
•Buyer‟s guide to various fresh produce (for e.g. detecting
carbide mangoes, health benefits of keerai , selecting brinjal
without insects etc)
 BOP Self help groups,  Tiruvalluvar nagar slum
Segment Neighborhood  SHGs – Nivedita , MCDS
markets , Street  Thiruvanmiyur market Low
High
vendors vendors association
Middle Mom and Pop stores,  Five star classic
Income hotels , Canteens , Hospital – VHS
segment Caterers  Canteen – SS Annamalai
 Restaurants – Punjabi Dawat

Margins
Volum

High End Branded stores, High  Cut vegetables – Nilgiris ,

segment end restaurants , Surya Greens
e

Hospitals ,Food  Hotels – Savera , VGP Golden

processors beach
Premium Organic stores,Export  IFFCO Kisan Agri SEZ(Nellore)
segment  Star Agri
Low
 Organic – Pasumayagam, High
nStore,
Econut, Sunday Shanty
Lower Price Multiple buyers AND sellers - Better price discovery; transparency and
competitiveness

Better Price Demand & supply prediction - long term pricing avoids erratic daily
Predictability swings

Farm Fresh Just in Time delivery – Farm fresh produce reaches buyer as per
Produce demands

0% wastage There exists a market for everything. Left over produce converted to
targets manure which is sold back to farmers.

Job creation Agri-sector employs over 70% of our population directly. Several more
are involved indirectly across the supply chain.
eFarm becomes into a Job creation engine – employing NGOs / SHG
women / disabled across the chain

Social change ‘Organise the unorganised’ ; Create sustainable ventures across the
chain , Job creation, Promote underprivileged
eFarm won’t ‘OWN’ any of the assets – we ‘CONNECT’ existing elements which are
all independently owned and operated – Low cost of ownership

eFarm doesn’t threaten the livelihood of existing people in this trade. We help to
‘re-train’, ‘re-group’ and ‘re-vitalize’ them to become more professional and
successful in their CURRENT activities

Entrepreneur driven model, riding on top of existing networks

A ‘click & mortar’ operations - both online & offline sales

Delivery: Hub and spoke delivery model (dubbawallahs

operations). Low cost
transport (push carts, cycles) in combination with vehicles for
widest reach

A common brand called ‘efarm’, which adds value and quality to seller - New to agri
field

Technologies and processes are built to be simple, low cost and with widest reach
across customer base
 32/kg 42/kg
Eg: Ooty Carrots (As of 29th 28/kg
June 2009) 24/kg
22/kg
20/kg End
customer
5/kg 12/kg price

Farmer‟s Regional Metro Terminal Neighbourhood Kirana Branded Premium

market mandi Market market stores, Retailers Grade
(In Ooty/ (Mettupala (Chennai) (Thiruvanmiyur Push (Export)
Kothagiri) yam) Chennai) carts

500 % Price hike

Source : Ooty market traders, Chennai traders, indg.in

 Over 500% Price hike on average to customer , but no value addition

 Changes hands several times: 40-50% is wasted – which adds to
the costs
 Prices set at each intermediate point arbitrarily by brokers/agents without
any planned demand/supply data
 30/kg
Export prices
become
Eg: Ooty Carrots (As of 29th 19.75/kg viable and
June 2009) competitive

1 End
customer
3.5/kg End s see 30%
Farmers are Wholesale
6 customer drop in
paid 20% buyers see prices
higher than .5/kg a price
current 33%
prices to dro
ensure p
profitability
Farmer eFarm wholesale eFarm retail
(at Mylapore (at eFarm powered
Distribution centre) outlets and customer
deliveries)

Reduced from 500% to 200%

 Assumptions : Transport Rs 6000 for 4T truck , Operational expense @30%

 Wastage reduced from 40% to 5% owing to prior demand data , and less intermediaries
 Customers see a 30% drop when compared to prevailing market
 End retailers get better margins , promoting more sales & entrepreneurship in F&V
 eFarm‟s net margin : 30%
 Current status :
•Completed 1.5 years of pilot operations. Current turnover approx 1.5 lakhs per month
•Current daily volume of about 1 tonne per day , split across customer segments (low, mid, and high
value)
•Over 250 members /partners in the eFarm community
Apr-09
Nellore Agri SEZ ,
Indian Jun-09
delegation member First eFarm powered store at
Feb-08 May 08 Dec-08
Neelangarai
Concept Initiation Portal launched TePP Grant from Govt

Apr-08 Jul-08 Oct-08 Jan-09 Apr-09 Jul-09

Jan-08 Sep-09

Jul 08 Mar-09 May-09

Live Trials begin Launched Organic Sales Press coverage :
Hindu, TOI, NDTV
Visits to farms
across
Tamilnadu

A Roadside
farmers auction
in a village

Govt. farmers
direct sales
market ,
Theni &
Hosur
Discussions with
Agri experts ,
Supply chain
managers,
existin g models
, industry
veterans

(centre)
Forming pilot
focus group with
representative
members across
the chain

Discussions with
NGOs
, Microfinance
, Rural banks
& self help
group
members
office and
godown at
Mylapore
, Chennai

Upgraded
vending carts
, standardised
weights and
measures

Distribution
centre at
Chennai
(godown)
 farmer,
with graded
coconuts

Small
tempos for
local
deliveries –
powered
by eFarm

Panjali picking up vegetables from our Mylapore centre

Only a eFarm
phone call mobile
away … a store at
vegetable an
vendor old age
enquiring home
prices
 Cut
vegetables

Peeled
onions
and garlic

Sorting
Grading
Over 60% of our staff have some physical or &
mental disability Natural
Agri waste Ripening
collection Of fruits
and
composting
 Innovations Tie ups with Agri eFarm office
in agriculture research and and godown at
retailing Agri business Mylapore
incubation , Chennai
Talk at MOP centres
Vaishnava (ICRISAT)
womens’s
college, Chennai

(centre)
IFMR, LIBA, ICFAI, Setting shop
Talks in
IBS, TNAU, MOP management -
Vaishnava … schools and Our home
institutions became the
(IFMR , IBS) godown & store.
Field trips to villages and Conferences
address Farmers gathering and trade shows
Upgraded
vending carts
, standardised
weights and
measures
 Train the
trainer
camps at
farms

Existing
tempo
operator
training
new
recruits
Interns from colleges

CarBazaar Organising
Format store the street
For promoting hawkers
Organic
produce in
the beach
•TATA NEN Hottest startup
2009
nominee
•IIM Kozhikode Whiteknight 2009
Business Plan contest winner
•IIM Ahmedabad Leverage
2009 Showcase shortlisted
startup
•In the press
•Entrepreneur , Sep 09
•The Hindu magazine‟s Ergo tabloid
(Mar 2009)
•Times of India , May 2009
•NDTV News , June 2009
•Featured in leading e-zines –
yourstory.in, startups.in
•Featured in Tamil press-
Kumudham
, Dinakaran
•Outlook Money , June 2009
•JADE , June 2009
•Academic
•Faculty for Food SCM course, MOP
Our Vision
•Bring people together through creative use of technology platforms ('connecting the dots' ) to form socio-economic-webs
•Create successful entrepreneurial, social enterprises which are profitable and sustainable
•Make corporate social responsibility our core business model and differentiator
•Measure success not just in financial growth , but also in the social growth in the areas we serve

• Venkata Subramanian Founder & Managing Director: (venky@matchboxsolutions.in )

MS (Computer Science), University at Albany, NY , B.Arch , IIT Kharagpur (1995) , India
12 years of experience in IT industry , lead key accounts in BFSI for Wipro, Satyam in USA.
Very strong expertise in analysis & design of complex systems , portal development ,
back office operations.
Responsible for overall strategy , technology and public relations

• Srivalli , Co-Founder, CEO

(srivalli@matchboxsolutions.in) MBA , B.Com
Taxation
8 years experience in Sales, Marketing, & Operations. Has run two start-ups and organised
fund raising for NGOs as part of CSR programs.
Responsible for operations, business development, finance, administration

• Consultants and advisors from leading agricultural universities, management schools, government
and industryof different background ,skills and experience to provide creative perspectives to solving
Combination
key problems in the supply chain area
Prices are arrived at based on fair negotiations and in advance
All grades (High/Medium/Low) produce is picked at different rates and
matched with suitable end customer preferences
By reducing wastage across the chain , farmer gets price from more
quantity sold
 Pick-up is done from farm or from local collection centers , reducing
transportation costs to farmer
Payments are made in full upon delivery , through transparent means with
proper paper bills
Data about current demand, price levels, buyer preferences, projected
volumes available for aiding in planning phase
 Branded retailers have Limited market potential – cater to only
the top 5%
eFarm has marketing channels across the sector – Slums to
Exports
 They Try to fix one end of a completely broken supply
chain eFarm works across the supply chain, and focuses
on marketing as well as sourcing
 They go for Breadth first approach to scale across geographies
(in a race to have maximum stores)
eFarm has a depth first approach , to explore a given
geography to fullest potential across market segments and
then grow to adjoining regions
 Require huge Investments
eFarm essentially doesn’t need to own any assets
Why the government or Private sector
not been able to solve this problem ?
 Farmer‟s Market : A utopian concept but impractical
 Farmers selling direct to buyers through special markets has failed as

„Selling‟ is a separate specialized activity which requires time ,

energy and additional investment
 Loan waivers and subsidies come with caveats and vested
interests
 Corruption, bureacracy and vested interest to push certain schemes

have added insult to injury to farmers

 Frequent changes in administrators & bureacrats derail most
projects
Why the government or Private sector
not been able to solve this ? - Continued
 There is no „single‟ entity owning responsibility of entire chain
 The systems are usually closed, vendor specific or too complex
that predominantly it‟s reach and volume is limited
 They cater only to the top 5% of the income/social bracket , and
that
too in metros. Hence the effects aren‟t felt at the „bottom of
the pyramid‟.
 In some cases, it has resulted in a David v/s Goliath fight where
the large retailers are trying to completely by-pass existing traders
and
small time vendors, leading to stiff resistance and negativity
Frequently Asked Questions

 So what happens to current middle men ?

 Value added resellers
 Intermediaries – Sorting, Grading, Packing, Transporting
 Storage – Dry / Cold
 Processing – juices, extracts, powders
 Distributors
 Retailers – many formats
 Doesn’t eFarm face any resistance from people/mafia ?
“Gabbar singh kehkar gaya , Jo dar gayaa , Who Mar Gayaa” –(From
a Hindi movie – One who is Afraid, is already Dead “
 Only brokers/agents make money
 Highly unceratin trade across entire chain , hence even brokers
impacted as commissions fluctuate
 Value addition and predictability brings stable revenue and
assuarnce for everyone
 Frequently Asked Questions

So how is eFarm different from a typical trader or

agent ?
Agent eFarm

Operates on commision basis on volume transacted. Rates Has worked out long term price plans with farmers /suppliers
vary daily as sourcing is from auction mandis and wholesale /transporters based on ‘cost price’ model. Prices are more stable
markets.

Has a few sources , usually from a certain radius of his eFarm is a network of networks. Sourcing is across regions. We
operation. Handles only a few items . Hence need to have offer wider variety in items, grade. This provides alternatives and
different agents to map out entire order requirement. choices to manage any scale and any risks.

Predominantly limited education , professional background eFarm is founded by an IIT alumni with over 12 years of experience
and trust worthiness. in serving Fortune 500 customers worldwide. It is a collaboration of
professionals across various industries/disciplines – agriculture,
technology, SCM , Sales & Marketing, Finance, Government and
Non-profit organizations.

Agents being mostly individuals, have limited exposure. eFarm is backed by social investors and leading banks and is
Cannot handle financial risks and uncertainties in market. financially in better position to handle the scale of growth.
 Frequently Asked Questions

 But how can someone buy vegetables online ? Thats impossible !

 Its not mandatory to use our web ordering feature. What we advocate is
„advanced planning and ordering‟ reduces wastage and ensures availability.
Customers can order through phone .
 All Orders get collated at our backoffice each day.
 Demand Supply prediction – Use statistical tools to „predict‟ demand
from walkin and adhoc customers
 Current examples – Train, bus, movie tickets
 Gradual change in mindset – From walkin , to phone-in, to paper, to
email to online forms
Why a social enterprise and not a regular corporate firm ?
• Pure corporates – Failing on greed and personal egos
• Pure govt. initiatives – Failing on corruption & bureaCRAZY
• Pure NGO/NPO – Driven by passion, but lack sustainability and governance
• Working for a social cause DOES NOT MEAN we need to be making
LOSS The middle path : Social + Business goals
Venky
venky@matchboxsolutions.in
044-43577236 , 0-98847 61354

Valli
srivalli@matchboxsolutions.in

11 Loganathan colony
Mylapore , Chennai
Tamilnadu - 600004