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Business Plan

Tuhin Sarkar, Kumar Rajan & Anupam Biswal

PRAYAS
Xavier Institute Of Social Service
Dr. Camil Bulke Path
Ranchi - 834001
+91-9006813662
anupambiswal2001@gmail.com

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i. Table of Contents
I.

Table of Contents 2

II.

Executive Summary

III.

PRAYAS 5

IV.

Products and Services

V.

Marketing Plan

10

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ii. Executive Summary

The PRAYAS is certainly a new face lift given to the age old Ghandhian idea of
Swadeshi.Through this we intend to fuse the Corporate Social Responsibility with the core
strategy of the company by keeping in mind the civil society. With the advent of Dr. C.K
Pralhads idea of consumers at the bottom of pyramid and eradicating poverty through
profit,We hereby stand in favour of putting the last first and paving a way for the long forgotten
Khadi industry.
Khadi-In the present context
In todays context the globalized generation has literally forgotten about khadi. A cascading
effect of this change has brought about the change even in the dressing style of the older
generation; which hitherto has always been seen as the main proponent of this fabric. The only
people with whom this fabric is associated today are the politicians, most of whom see more as a
ideological baggage that is a compulsion.
The two main reasons for this situation are;
1. Lack of adaptability: Khadi clothes are generally hard to maintain, however newer
variants of this fabric not only is more fine and hence comfortable but relatively easy to
maintain.
2. Limited range which in turn has limited its appeal to just the older generation.

ACTIVITIES

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The following are the major activities;

-

To involve the Microfinance institutions and NGOs in providing the requisite resources

like training, loans etc for capacity building.

Textile firms can closely work with Microfinance institutions and NGOs and provide the

necessary resources to the weavers and farmers.

The product offering needs to be a varied and contemporary with variety of garments like

cargos, kurtas etc.

The textile companies can assure, at least initially, to take up the entire produce produced

at market rate (for eg. In case of ITCs e-choupal)

Promoting Khadi extensively in own organisation. (For eg. Uniforms given to employees

could be procured from these producers)

Proper promoting and branding of this product by engaging icons like Kiran Bedi, Mohd.
Yunus, Rahul Bose etc

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iii. PRAYAS.
The PRAYAS is certainly a new face lift given to the age old Ghandhian idea
of Swadeshi. Through this we intend to fuse the Corporate Social
Responsibility with the core strategy of the company by keeping in mind the
civil society. With the advent of Dr. C.K Pralhads idea of consumers at the
bottom of the pyramid and eradicating poverty through profit we hereby
stand in favor of putting the last first and paving a way for the long
forgotten Khadi industry.
We hereby propose to link the CSR of any textile industry (feasible) with its
core strategies by introducing the Khadi industry in its activities. We will
liaise with the NGOs/ Microfinance (local) to provide financial support along
with the necessary training to the artisans. The training would be under the
oversight of the CSR activities of the company/ industry. Through this we
will be acting as the service provider by providing our intellectual
ideas to link the dying Khadi industry with the very vibrant and
discussed CSR and the fast growing Microfinance working at its
backdrop. This business would be driven by the CSR and majorly
supported by the Microfinance.

Mission Statement:
Improve the status of Khadi and increase its overall demand in order
to carve a niche in the textile industry along with the upliftment of
the rural artisans.

Company Goals and Objectives:

To help position Khadi garments as garments of choice across
various age-groups and to satisfy the growing demand for Khadi.
According to a recent survey there is a strong demand for Khadi products in
both the domestic and international market. Therefore, alleviating this
industry to the next level- by increasing its supply as per the new

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demands, and catering for the needs of both national and

international markets.

Business Philosophy:
The most important consideration in our business plan is that we are
successfully able to sell our idea regarding the possible venture in Khadi,
i.e., to produce the quality products which in turn would be collected by the
textile industry from the Khadi Bhandars. This would further require the
marketing and distribution in the markets. The finished products made
should be of the required quality standards; further ensuring that the entire
products to be bought by the industry in order to sustain the entire model.
The Microfinance plays a crucial role by providing the initial financial
support and also providing the necessary training in coherence with the
CSR of the industry.
The basic idea is to offer a better and a varied product offering that can
fulfill the requirements of the age-group of 20 years- 40 years and thus be in
a position to be the garment of choice. Our proposal is to offer the
target audience a wider and better variety of clothes by adapting
contemporary designs and making the garment more comfortable. The FabIndia model can be emulated and direct outlets can be opened to cater to
the tier-II and Tier III cities in the later stage.
The industry to be ventured is certainly not new nor is the product. As this
entire idea is linked to three major fields of works, we would be related to
all of them. These are as follows:
KHADI INDUSTRY: this industry is now long forgotten and only seen in
few election campaigns else in national/international ramps (fashion).
Clearly it stands to get the required attention as more and more demands
are being felt for the Khadi, just that we dont have the right service
provider. We can easily revamp it to the next level and it can address the
growing fashion demands of the youth, comfort statements of the middle
aged and of course an always dear product for the aged ones. We can thus
be a pioneer in getting this notion started and thus take the first movers
advantage.

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CSR: this concept is often criticized for its approach which is seen to be an
eye wash. This is a relatively new concept and here we are foreseeing a new
style of business ethics through linking the CSR with the companys core
competency and eradicating poverty through profits. Certainly there lies
wider scopes and future for CSR. In short term more and more companies
to get involved in these kinds of operations to work in the direction of rural
marketing and development activities. In the long term we foresee this to be
a tool to address various problems of the nation as a whole.
MICROFINANCE: its a totally virgin industry just occupied by only 5% of
the entire available market. Its main strategy is to work on profits by
financing the non bankable people and make them free of the clutches of
poverty. Its growth avenues lie in its successful outreach, making products
and services as per the demand (flexible) and the best possible recovery.
Many more such organizations would be soon seen in the Indian Rural
Market and the best use of them can be made by showcasing the potential
customers and areas of development.
In order to keep our services workable and sustainable, we will be
continuously providing the new avenues of work for the Microfinance,
linking more and more textile industries with the Khadi.

SWOT

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Strengths

Weaknesses

Eco-Friendly

Lack Of Appreciation

Reflects Indian Culture

Labor-Intensive

Versatility of Khadi

Lack of infrastructure

Tax Exemptions

Lack of training in business

methodologies

Economic Growth

Lack of awareness

Low cost

Employment generation

Fashion

Opportunities

Threats

Potential for exports

Competition

Emerging trend

Survival in fast-growing
technology

Capturing an untapped
markets

Legislative impact

Generation of employment

Growing consumer preference

One of the important strengths inherent in Khadi is that it can be worn during all
seasons as it stays warm during the winters and is equally comfortable during the
summers. It provides more desired comfort with the quality rising. It will provide
more employment opportunities in the rural front, thus a economic growth in the
small scale industry sector. This addresses the burning topic of GREEN
ENVIRONMENT at the global front. This will be a fashion revolution and a boon to
young generation and pleasant surprise to the old at a very affordable cost.
One way of doing away with the coarseness of the cloth and give it a more
appealing look can be by mixing varying degrees of silk at the making level by
providing proper skills to the artisans and bringing in the fashion statements from

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the students and alumni of NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology: as
interns and fests). The Microfinance will cater for the major financing for the
machine- tools, training and making of better quality Khadi. The marketing part
will be covered initially by the textile industry itself along with its major line of
products. The CSR will also focus on the advocacy part including the training and
making policies for the use of the finished products, also in its own industry
employees.
The major opportunity which lies within the perceived idea is that we have better
market at low cost and the best part is that its novice. As we can also plan in
future for the Public Private Partnership, it can be tax exempted. There lie
immense foreign trade opportunities as per the ever growing international
demands.
The immediate competition would be with the fashionable- existent apparel
industry. The first mover advantage and the low cost, fashionable, and all user
products will mitigate major challenges imposed. The governments interest in
Khadi, Rural and Handloom (Small Scale) will be aiding to keep up with the
legislative issues.
The dynamic and fast developing service industry along with the three major
sectors (previously discussed) provides numerous avenues of business. But, all
these being already existent and functional, we just need to congregate all of these
to make a profitable venture. We personally having the management skills in all the
core departments of marketing, development and human resourcing should make a
perfect match for the outset.
Legal form of ownership
As this will be a service venture, we would start with the Sole proprietor form of
ownership i.e., we will be the intellectual service provider for all the three sectors
(CSR- textile, Khadi and Microfinance- Joint Liability Group model) and getting
them for a common cause. In future as we foresee this venture will grow rapidly,
we propose to make direct outlets through the Franchising model.

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iv. Products and Services

The services provided by us would be in the form of ideas, liaison, and proper
marketing through the textiles. We would harp on the fact that the success of our
venture would lie on the quality products and their sale ability. The products
would contain apparels (Indian formals/ traditional, casuals, etc.) in the form of
Kurtas, Shalwars Suit, shirts, trousers, jackets, etc.
Creating a consistent pull for the product by tying up with the various retail and
fashion houses would be necessary. Eg- Megamart is an Arvind Mills initiative with
pan-India presence. As Arvind Mills is a mill it can be involved in the abovementioned way along with providing the required shelf-space to these products.
The charges for the services provided by us would be based on the quality services
provided to the CSR (textile) and the Microfinance for providing each of them the
underlying scope to better their business profitably. These would be basically on
the line of existing consultancy market.

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v. Marketing Plan
Market research
No matter how good your product and your service, the venture cannot succeed
without effective marketing. And this begins with careful, systematic research. It is
very dangerous to assume that we already know about our intended market. We
need to do market research to make sure were on track.
As this business model is all about the present textile industry (Khadi Related), we
would make efforts to find the existing demand and provided supply. Also the
quality of goods present, along with the detailed analysis of the interests of the
CSR and Microfinance.

Market research
There are two kinds of market research: primary and secondary.
A present scenario Secondary research is carried out through the published
information such as industry profiles, trade journals, newspapers, magazines,
census data, and demographic profiles. This type of information is available in
public libraries, industry associations, chambers of commerce, from the present
microfinance industry, and from government agencies. E.g. KVIC portals,
Microfinance.com, Ethical Performance.com, documentaries of C K Prahalad, Rural
Journals like Yojana, Kurukshetra, Karmayog.
[Ref: www.fibre2fashion.com, www.kvic.org.in, www.articlebase.com. etc.]
Primary research means gathering our own data. For example, we could do our
own traffic count at a proposed location, use the yellow pages to identify
competitors, and do surveys or focus-group interviews to learn about consumer
preferences. Professional market research can be very costly, but there are many
books that show small business owners how to do effective research themselves.

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The surveys can be carried out on different stakeholders like the Khadi Bhandars,
Microfinance institute (present), customer surveys, CSR team (management),
fashion designers and the artisans.

Economics
o

The capital investment in this venture would be basically with the

infrastructure for building the office, along with the charges for legal
entity. The initial funding for meeting these can be through
procurement of loans from the banks (as appropriate). The personal
systems can be used for the initial computing work.

The exclusive database of the customers would be maintained along with web blog
provision for different marketing ideas, advertisement of new products, online
complaints, etc. for the other customers we would provide with book post
pamphlets (no charges also for post) to write their reviews, suggestions and
complaints.
Promotion
The initial promotion will be the baby of the textile industry and will be done as a
part of their usual promotion strategy. Basic advertisements through low cost
media (print and visual), radio propaganda, CSR advocacy, Governments
promotion of new Khadi etc.
Also as the shelves will be provided next to the existing apparel selling counters,
the very visibility will always be there.
Promotional Budget
The budget will be covered as per the textile industrys strategies and not much
needed to be allotted separately.
Before startup- About 1% more than the usual expenditure on promotions shall be
required.
Ongoing- Will become negligible and will only be required on launch of new
products.

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Proposed Location
The proposed location initially will be the Tier II and Tier III cities and towns in/
around the textile industry. This can be extended depending on the demands and
feasibility.
Distribution Channels
This will be same as that of the textile industry. Future needs can be catered with
new franchise.