Reflections #8 | My first Business Plan - Concept to execution

What an exceptional thrill it was seeing your idea come to life!

June 2011 was the time I decided to wear the entrepreneur hat and head into the exciting and unknown. I was 28, purely driven by passion and the burning need for taking higher risk and ability to manage autonomy and the responsibilities that come with it.

Backed by a strong sense of customer orientation and retail direction at Decathlon, I sought permission to venture out on my own, and if things went South, for them to take me back! :) Our leader then, gladly accepted and once my conviction was established, I was set free to pursue my personal project with High Line Retail (HLR) backed by my family's unwavering support and encouragement.

It was the time of Bangalore ORR constructions and flyovers ongoing also coinciding the launch of the Volvo AC buses for local transportation in 2009-2010. A 15km commute would take a un-ending 2hrs one way each day. So how to kill all the time on hand?

READING books, and many I did, the gentle swaying in ca packed bus holding the ceiling handle in one hand and the book in other! What a journey each day started becoming.

It is during this time I came across Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run" book which caught my attention. How can we improve the everyday lifestyle of people through naturally shaped footwear!

Over the next few months I started researching everything there is to know about the concept of "Barefoot Running", the science behind it, Is it a fad, a marketing gimmick, or something that can better the lives of everyday athletes and lifestyle.

Once I was convinced there is a large vacuum in the Indian market and there was going to be a benefit to the customers via this concept and product, I decided to delve into this line of business and represent this concept as a whole with a first mover advantage!

I had no clue how to write or even structure a business plan! This is where i came across the simple and easy approach book - How to Create your own Business plan - For Dummies! :) Gave a step by step guide to write, detail, and structure the thoughts        

And there began my journey for next 45 days I was hooked onto ensuring I had everything I need to put my thoughts into action. Here are some of the steps I started thinking about:

1. Who am I going to be serving? - Market size, frequency, potential
2. How will I serve them? - Retail, Distribution, etc
3. What will be the investment needed? - Cost of imports, Frequency, Capital needed
4. What will be my source of funds? - Bank loan, investor, boot-strapped
5. Who will buy my product? - Consumer, Need analysis, Volume expected

While I went over these in detail, the search for the right brand to represent began. Networking and more networking from scratch, cold emails to multiple brands, seeking discussions, presenting the case for why this market is ripe for exploration etc.

Theme: I wanted to be in the industry of providing "Athletic & Lifestyle Upgrades"

Amidst all this exploration, discussions, PnL summary extracts, Market highlight to brands, and to convince why I was the right partner to launch in India - VIVOBAREFOOT happened, and that was the start of my immersion as an entrepreneur!

Some of the premier brands we wanted to represent and serve the market with:

1. Rudy Project - Italian high performance eyewear and sports products Kaizad Daruwala Ronak Sheth
2. Vibram Five Fingers - A new attractive concept of 'Monkey Feet' shoes Vibram Group
3. Nathan Sports - Performance products for multi-sport
4. VIVOBAREFOOT - From the founders of Clarks, solely into barefoot concept
5. 2XU - Triathlon was catching up, so wanted to bring in suitable products
6. ToeSox - Socks that fit like a glove for multi sport, and anti slip base options Carly Drelleshak
7. ZemGear - Slip on barefoot feel shoes with excellent fit and comfort. ZEMgear LLC - Enter the Zone of Endless Motion!

Finally, Vivobarefoot Galahad Clark Ben Le Vesconte VIVOBAREFOOT happened and the brand entrusted the confidence and support me in launching the range into the Indian market!

Finding a team, setting up a freight partner, applying for Trade licenses, raising a bank loan, securing support from near and dear, overcoming apprehensions of the risks am getting into, questioning the true base of why you need to leave a promising career ahead etc.

Meanwhile - All the apprehensions I was navigating to maintain focus:

• ......Your son is selling footwear? Jootha bechega beta?
• ... Why take a risk in business, employment is so secure..
• How will he make money?....Kya unnecessary hai...
• ..Will he be able to repay the bank loan?......... Ye to phas gaya bhi..
• .......Does he think doing business is so easy?........

My family stood by me as a rock and said - Go ahead. Father pledged our house as collateral and provided a 50L Overdraft Loan facility to help me kickstart the business. Soumya was equally thrilled as I was and helped build the plan, office space, co-ordinations, moral support and execution details with unwavering confidence! Thanks to this I was even able to cope.

The support sought in making the business come to life:

1. Company secretary - On recommendation, I signed up with Sumana ma'am who helped navigate the choice of company name, applying trade licenses, overseeing trade compliances, Professional tax, Labor etc.
2. Chartered Accountant - To keep track of VAT, CST filings and how to prepare ourselves for regular financial upkeep and compliances Raghunath TL
3. Logistics and Freight management - Aiyappa Madappa provided the right guidance to enable import and clearances and the entire Logistics setup.
4. PR & Media - Galvanise PR Shalini (andwemet) Singh helped pave the way for media outreach across the network
5. Banking - With Canara bank because we had an existing relationship ongoing

Partners who were signed on to explore E-commerce and Offline enablement to build the brand:

1. Myntra - Gautham V Kedoor Ashutosh and others who helped onboard and enable
2. Flipkart - Nidhi Bilimagga Vipul Gupta who helped curate the collection & extended advance payments for import and supply. Thanks to their patience, we thrived.
3. Reliance Footprint - Yogesh Gandhi Mukesh Saxena - who stepped in seeing value for the product and deployed the range across RFP stores.
4. Decathlon - Jitender Singh Placing of ToeSox and Vivobarefoot range into the stores
5. Wildcraft - The Outdoor sports pioneer Vipul Sirohi who enabled the Hiking range active at stores

All in all the daily operational and strategic decisions, merchandising, client management, customer satisfaction, product quality, brand development, financial decisions, managing profitability, controlling expenses = A great experience in living the lifecycle of building a brand / business.

Gaining the courage to take all the questions and challenges head on and then taking decisions at each step is something each one of us need to experience at least once in our life time. And I think the market is ripe to look further into the horizon for the decade ahead.

Some memories of inception:

Some of the Media publications across platforms:

Image Bank - https://www.flickr.com/photos/highlineretail/albums/with/72157628059030422

What have been some of your story of building an idea from scratch?

Do share your experiences.

#entrepreneur #journey #brand #businessplan