Clean foot forward- A Success Story of Sandeep Gajakas

I’m sure nearly everyone has heard about the The Shoe Laundry a unique business started by young entrepreneur by the name of Sandeep Gajakas. It is shockingly simple yet successful business which I’m sure is a result of thinking out of the box.

The Shoe Laundry is a service which collects the sport shoes of the customers which are repaired and washed and the new looking shoes are delivered to customer at his doorstep. The reason why The Shoe Laundry is popular is because it is one of those businesses that were started with very little investment (personal savings of the business owner). The Shoe Laundry did not have an office for the first few years. The reason is simple – they did not need one! An incident where Sandeep was challenged by his engineering classmate to clean the sports shoes after Sandeep had complained about the fact that dirty shoes or rich students was something which irritated him, ignited the idea though it was put into practice after working for a couple of years after his graduation.

The business was started from his bedroom and Sandeep himself did the deliveries, pickups and management of the business. So much so that the first advertisement campaign was executed by Sandeep himself with some help from his friends. One big advantage was setting up the business in Mumbai which is a metropolitan with lot of dust and grime. The expressions on his customers faces when he delivered the shoes after cleaning was something he enjoyed the most. The charges of Rs.120 ($3) was reasonable for most people.

Sandeep moved offices of My Shoe Laundry to his ancestral place which was a little far from the city. The Shoe Laundry’s customer base grew and soon Shoppers Mart (a retail clothing and shoe store in India) started using the services of The Shoe Laundry for after sales services for their customers and soon Sandeep saw that hospitals and star hotels lining up as The Shoe Laundry customers and also the showrooms of top sport shoe brands like Adidas, Reebok and Nike were using the services as well.

The Shoe Laundry soon faced competition from about 8-10 other competitors but could not sustain because of the tight margins and the fact that the service industry is all about satisfying the customer with quality while sticking to the timelines. The shoe cleaning process is a 10 step process. Started in 2004 today the business claims the turn over to be over 24 lakh rupees a year (about $65,000 US)!

The Shoe Laundry is a classic example of how a small business can be grown despite the competition if one is dedicated and true to his work. More examples like these will prove an inspiration for others (young and old) and I hope we see a lot of businesses like these in the future which provide goods and services based on the demand that is there in a particular geographical region.

If you know of any similar business please let me know and we would be privileged to feature the business on our blog.

A Success Story: Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, Music Directors

Brothers in arms

The renowned and self made musical trio Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy share their musical journey and what it takes to pursue ones’ passion with YourStory

Music they say, can unite, cross boundaries and woo people. Wondering what inspiration can drive a software engineer ( Shankar Mahadevan) to quit his profession, an Indian ( Ehsaan Noorani) studying in California to return back to Swades, and an off beat musician (Loy Mendonsa) to get into composing. Passion for the five letter word: MUSIC. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy have created legendary music, with their movie soundtracks for Dil Chahta Hai, Taare Zameen par, Rock On, Karthik Calling Karthik, Wake Up Sid, latest musical hit Housefull and many more. Simply put, the three musketeers of Indian Music are rightly the pioneers of a musical revolution that has changed the face of Bollywood music. In an exclusive conversation with YourStory, they talk about their highs and lows in life and what it takes to excel. An interesting read for all the startup entrepreneurs trying to build value and pursue their passion.
First step forth:
Shankar: “I started learning Hindustani Classical music at an age of five. Though I pursued my engineering, I continued singing. Ehsaan, after composing some advertisements’ jingles pushed me to quit my profession as a software engineer and take up singing. There hasn’t been any looking back ever since then, rather, it has turned out to be a great step!”
Ehsaan: “ I was in Los Angeles studying music. Being the music capital of world, I learnt a lot there. After my return to India, I was involved with jingles. I did that for few years, before we three got together to compose music for our first movie—Dus.”
Loy: “ There was a lot of music in my family and hence I struck my first six strings at an age of thirteen. I went to Delhi after I grew up where I gave music for a lot of television serials like Fauji, Quiz time etc.. On returning back to Mumbai I met Ehsaan through a common friend and instantly we got together to compose music!”
Binding Force
Shankar: “ If I have to be honest, music holds us together! We compose music everywhere and anywhere. While we are traveling, hanging out, or just sitting idle. Breathless was composed during a traffic jam and similarly various others at random situations. Music is what keeps us going.”
Ehsaan: “ The pleasure we derive in creating and playing music is similar. That has been the force that has kept us together during all the lows and highs.”
Loy: “Our diversity has held us together.According to me this factor does the charm in our music. We three come from very different environments and varied school of thought. We learnt different kinds of music and we specialize in different genres. We are the Amar Akbar Anthony of music industry, with each one of us from a different faith.”
Stairway to Success:
Shankar : “ Its been a long journey for the three of us to achieve the name and fame that we share today. Coming from a middle class family, I was educated to have a risk free life post my graduation. To quit all of that and start afresh was a tough task. But one has to take a few tough steps. I had faith in myself and SEL (Shankar Ehsaan Loy) as a whole. The journey has been full of falls and struggles but we have finally got what we deserve. And that’s definitely satisfying.
Ehsaan: “ As Shankar said, it’s been a grueling path. I too, had to come back from California and start my life all over again. The transition was tough but today when I look back, I am glad that I took that decision.
Loy: “There were years when we have waited for that right movie or that right assignment. It has taken a lot of patience from all of us, but we have always stood by each other, shared our happiness , sorrows and struggles. That has been the key.”
Beyond Music:
Shankar: “Our lives revolve around music. Hence there’s music everywhere, in everything that I do. There is a song in my mind for every moment.”
Ehsaan: “I love guitars! I now have a collection of 24 guitars all together and I am glad that I know which one to play when!”
Loy: “ I am a gadget freak. I do make sure to catch up on the scientific developments in any field. I love to read about the same, be it on the web or read books on such topics.”
Message to the youth:
Shankar: “ It is very essential to do what you like! I have incorporated that in my life and here I am, a happy man. Always follow your passion and never let yourself down.”
Ehsaan: “ I am glad that I am doing something in which I derive fun. This has been my dream and I am living it. One thing that’s lacking in today’s generation is the tenacity to work towards their dreams. I think that’s something very essential. Always cherish your dreams.”
Loy: “ In today’s global village, increasingly young people are losing their identity and roots. There is a small Indian sitting inside every one of us, never forget that. It is very essential to be proud of that and reflect it in our identity, in whatever we do!”

India has more Mobile Telephone than Toilets- UN Reports

According to a recent report published by the United Nations (UN)– India has more mobile phones than toilets. This means that Indians can attend calls on their mobile phone more easily than attending nature’s call. Funny but true. The growth of the India Mobile Phone market and Telecom market is a big success story as far as numbers go. India is the 2nd largest mobile market in the world next to China. The cost of owning a mobile phone and connection is incredibly low these days. It’s quite interesting how they compared mobile phone populating to number of toilets.

Check Out this Story...

UNITED NATIONS: More people in India, the world's second most crowded country, have access to a mobile telephone than to a toilet, according to a new UN study on how to cut the number of people with inadequate sanitation. "It is a tragic irony to think that in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones, about half cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet," said Zafar Adeel, Director of United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health (IWEH). India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45 per cent of the population, but only about 366 million people or 31 per cent of the population had access to improved sanitation in 2008. The recommendations of United Nations University (UNU) released Wednesday are meant to accelerate the pace towards reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on halving the proportion of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation. If current global trends continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) predict there will be a shortfall of 1 billion persons from that sanitation goal by the target date of 2015. "Anyone who shirks the topic as repugnant, minimises it as undignified, or considers unworthy those in need should let others take over for the sake of 1.5 million children and countless others killed each year by contaminated water and unhealthy sanitation," said. Adeel. Among the nine recommendations are the suggestions to adjust the MDG target from a 50 per cent improvement by 2015 to 100 per cent coverage by 2025; and to reassign official development assistance equal to 0.002 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to sanitation. The UNU report cites a rough cost of $300 to build a toilet, including labour, materials and advice. "The world can expect, however, a return of between $3 and $34 for every dollar spent on sanitation, realized through reduced poverty and health costs and higher productivity - an economic and humanitarian opportunity of historic proportions," added Adeel.