Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

(A Constituent of Symbiosis International University)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ASSSIGNMENT

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Dr. Amit Kumar Jeet Makadia (D-21)

Piyush Gaurav (D-35)

Saurabh Sangwan (D-48)

5th January 2017

Introduction___________________________________________________________________

APJ abdul kalam Prajapati is true scientist

India is known for its fertile soil from time immemorial. This theory was once again flashed in
front of the whole world when Mansukh Bhai Prajapati, a conventional clay craftsman, presented
a natural refrigerator operating without electricity. The fridge was ideated towards the not so
effluent section of the society. An ecofriendly and energy free solution for refrigerator amazed
everyone. Its popularity is such that developed in Gujrat but has huge market share in south India.
Chennai and Hyderabad are its largest customer base. Its main product line includes the mitticool
refrigerator, Non sticky clay tawa and low cost water filter. All of them utilizing a right mix of the
clay and mud from Indian soil.

Company background__________________________________________________________

The company is originally based in Gujrat, started by Mansukh Bhai from Nichimandal village of
Rajkot. It all began in 1988 when Mansukh Bhai left his job. He took a loan of 30000 to start his
own earthen plate manufacturing factory. He made changes in the roof tile making hand press and
modified it to develop a hand press machine. It had a capacity to produce 700 earthen pans on
daily basis. He set the price for a pan around .65 paise and was able to sell the whole batch within
2 days. This he carried out for sometimes. However soon he realized that the feedbacks are
negative about the tavas (pans). It was more about the durability of the product. To solve the issue,
he stared experimenting with the process of making them. He tried different varieties of clay and
changed the ratios of mixing the ingredients. Mitticool refrigerator has been featured at a
conference organized by the Centre for India and Global Business, Judge Business School,
University of Cambridge, UK in May 2009. Bosch and Siemens Hausgerte (BSH), Germany, one
of the worlds largest home appliance companies, have also written to GIAN and showed interest
in the product.

It was in In 1990, when he finally registered his company. In 1995 a bulk order of water filters
was placed from Nairobi , kenya.. Finally, the Trade Mark Mitticool was registered in 2001.
The mitticool Refrigerator idea________________________________________________

It was in Jan 2001 Gujrat earthquake, when Mansukh Bhai lost all his stock in the mass destruction.
It cost him a huge loss in business. In feb 2001 a local Gujrati daily carried a photograph of one of
his broken water filter. It was captioned below Garibi ka fridge toot gaya[The Broken fridge
of poors]. This very caption however misguided, hit him with an idea of developing a fridge
which is economical, ecofriendly. Basically it should be used by poor who do not have access to
electricity like urban areas. He began his actual work on refrigerator in 2012. He came in contact
with GIAN (Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network), which supported and guided him in
different stages of the product development. Over a period of three years he tried all different
combinations of soils and clays to come up with the final working version of Mittiocool
refrigerator in 2005.

The innovative concept__________________________________________________________

The fridge worked on the concept of evaporation. It does not need electricity or any other power
source for functioning. The cooling principle used is similar to of an earthen pot. It makes it cost
friendly to a great extent. It helps in preserving the original taste of fruit and vegetables. It is also
capable of increasing shelf life of certain vegetables from 5 to 6 days. This innovative and welfare
idea was also supported by the NID (National institute of design), Ahmedabad. They helped in
improving the design across the different phase of the project.

The market___________________________________________________________________

Aspiration is something which is common to all the Indians, rich or poor, engineer or a farmer.
This is what makes mitticool a much needed and successful venture. In fact mitticool aim is Our
aim is to provide all luxurious things to country wide peoples who cant imagine to afford
electronic goods . Hence it automatically creates such a market potential for this idea. India which
is still 68.8 % rural and with huge market demand. Refrigerators have become a necessity if we
see India climatic condition across the geography. Almost every household in cities and urban area
has refrigerators in their home.
Trends & problems observed by the entrepreneur before venturing in the opportunity____

Mansukh Bhai comes from a family of traditional clay craftsmen. He has derived the idea of most
of his innovation from the traditional household practices. In one of the INK talks he mentioned
his inclination towards the lifestyle of his ancestors. As per him most of our ancestors use to live
a healthy and longer life without having faced medical issues like weak eyesight or hair whitening.
He believes it was mainly due to their cooking habits and the clay utensils that they used in daily
chores. Once he asked for price of coated pan and he was shocked to know it costed around 400-
500 Rs. It was then he decided to make his clay pans Teflon coated within an affordable price
range of 100-150 Rs. It clearly shows that whole idea of Mitticool is for and from the rural setup
in India exclusively. Having lived and seen the village life in Gujrat helped Mansukh Bhai a lot in
all his innovations. He understood the need of large section of India and inability to fulfill it due
to poverty. His most famous and widely recognized idea of mitticool refrigerator was also inspired
by poor people of society. He reasoned to himself that everyone should get equal opportunities.
When he read in a newspaper article about the broken fridge of poor he thought why can there
be one actually. He knew the poor electricity in Indian villages and even the cost of electricity is
not affordable by many. So he invented the mitticool fridge which was energy friendly and utilized
mix of 5 different clays from his very own village. He always felt the difference between the rich
and poor. For example, he felt that rich get purified water but poor have to use ground water or
even sometimes pond water. To bridge this gap, he made a 0.9-micron water filter by using clay
on his own. He installed it in clay pot already made by him.

About the Entrepreneur________________________________________________________

Born in the Prajapati family, originally hails from the village Nichimandal of Morbi, Rajkot,
Mansukh Bhai had exposure to the clay tradition since childhood, as this was his familys
traditional profession. Being the only son and the eldest child, though he helped his father in his
work, he was more interested in cricket and other games. He used to load clay from the ponds and
fields on the donkey and ferry it to his place. Other than this, his contribution was limited as he
was not much interested in the pottery work. After the breakdown of Machhu dam of Morbi in
1979, his family lost everything and they had to migrate to Wankaner, where his father took the
job of a mason to support the family. It was here that his journey as a worker in a small rooftop
tile manufacturing unit started, which today has reached a point where he is recognized as a
successful entrepreneur.

Initial struggle_________________________________________________________________

Mansukhs family struggled with finances like any rural family in India. However, his father
motivated him to study till class ten and supported him best he can. He later joined the family clay
craft business to be helping hand also augmented the business via his small innovations. He made
machine that could make 600 clay pans in a day over the 100 that they used to make in a month
before. He also worked in a small factory to support the family best he can. He injured his left eye
while working in chimney in the very first month and had to sit in home for next eight months.
After his sight got better, in 1984, he stated a tea shop near a highway in Rajkot. However due to
criticism from family and other relatives he was forced to quit this idea within six months of
beginning.

Earlier, one of his uncles had visited him at the tea lorry inquiring about a person who would be
interested to work in a rooftop tile manufacturing unit. In 1985 he worked in Jagdamba potteries
at a salary of 300 per month. He worked there for 3 years and helped in financing the marriages of
his younger sisters. All the work that was done around him was in a traditional manner mostly. He
always felt that they never earn enough compared to the labor they put in the process. He in in the
initial stages created machine that could make more number of clay pots that increased the
production capacities. However, it was not liked by the craftsmen who were mostly older and well
suited to the traditional way. Mitticool was worst hit during Gujrat earthquake in 2001, it lost all
its stock of clay pots and pans. However, this as the turnaround for the company as Mansukh Bhai
invented the all-time best product- mitticool refrigerator. His will power and social welfare
instincts always guided in his ventures.
Findings and growth____________________________________________________________

Initially he began with money taken on loan from some acquaintances and put up his fathers home
as collateral for a bank loan. Finally, In 2006, he found an angel investor in Anil K Gupta, professor
at IIM Ahmedabad and vice-chairman of National Innovation Foundation, who gave Rs 2 lakh,
which helped repay debts. He registered mitticool in 2001 and since then the firm has employed a
number of local clay craftsmen to hone their skills. He reached breakeven in 2010.The products
are largely in demand from southern apart of India. Apart from India they receive orders from 41
nations.

Future opportunities and challenges_______________________________________________

Mansukh Bhai participated in the Saatvik-the Traditional Food Festival in 2008 where he pitched
his innovations. It was there he got so many customers and businesses interested in his product.
However, they also suggested him on improving on the product He got idea of developing clay
cooker from this fest. He further developed earthen utensils- eating cups and plates with different
capacities and sizes. He also spoke about his most ambitious project in an interview. He wishes to
make a Mitticool house for poor. It will be free of any electric device and will be self-cooled
without any AC. Its design is not yet revealed. But it is in the top of his bucket list.

THE POTENTIAL COMPETITORS OF THE ENTREPRENEUR

(Basis: Porters five forces model)

The Porters five forces model takes into consideration the threat from the following-

1. Bargaining power of the supplier Mitticool major resource is water and clay which is
mainly obtained from soil in prajapatis village. Hence bargaining power is not at all an
issue for mitticool.
2. Bargaining power of the buyer the prices set by mitticool are already in the lowest
possible range as it was always directed towards the poorest section of the society. Hence
from buyers side there is not much of stress to mitticool. However, as they are growing
their product line and bringing innovations to existing product, it might add further to
their cost which will be translated to the buyers. Also the buyers are now not restricted to
 the poor section but middle class and semi urban areas are also looking for these
products.
3. Competitive rivalry Currently there are no such ventures that could challenge mitticool
in their segment. However, their growth in the urban areas will always be challenged by
the existing market giants.
Threat of substitute products and threat from new entrants are not much of problem to the
mitticool for now. They have sufficient time and space to expand.