Madurai based man gets Business Person of the Year Award 2012 in US

A Madurai-born entrepreneur has received the businessman of the year award given by an industry body at Atlanta in the US.

Arvind Krishnaswami, a native of Madurai went to the US for higher studies and subsequently settled there. After a decade of experience in industry evaluations, business strategies, data analytics and particularly devoting years in evaluating the healthcare industry revenue cycle process, he founded Medlytix in 2006 in Atlanta and wove the success story.

How to tolerate Competition in business?

I was wondering yesterday about some competition in the business in a certain city, we are facing.

There are competitions in various forms. Some of them are the businesses which just arise and they attack in the market. Some of them are the ones which were born and brought up in our company. People who worked for us, have the guts to go out and start the same concept and technique which we do in our business.

Having said that, here is the thing we need to do.

Everyone is under God's shade. Whatever god gives, depending upon your smartness and how you work hard, you take your share. Like Ilayaraja, Music director says Music is the gift of God and howmuchsoever somebody wants, they can take it.

That is in a religious sense, but from a business standpoint - Market is huge in every business (at least in the business where opportunities are there). The players can take as much as they want and as much as they can.

So, ultimately, we just need to work hard and not to be jealous about other businesses in your market. Just try to come upto speed to that level.

Be competitive and also do not loose existing customers - 2 persons for a job backup

You might have got an innovative idea, and that might be out of the blue and totally new idea to the market you are working on. In that case, there might not be any existing takers like professional competitors. But in the case of the market, which is already being ruled by non-professional experts in the field. This is a new transition where we take it away from non-professional experts in the market or we work in tandem with those non-professionals, but experts and we take it up as a corporate company.

Be careful about the competitors who might just come in, as soon as they get to know what you are doing and that is lucrative enough.

Overtake and be fast before any other competitor comes into the business or market.

Also when you deal with the consumers, give careful attention to what are the terms and conditions you are proposing. Be careful with the conditions and stay with it with the documentation. Serve all the consumers with full heart so that you are able to satisfy each and every one of the consumers.

Other things to remember in business and HR department is - at any case at least have 2 people working. If one person goes out, next person should be able to take care of the business. Every department or responsibility should be known to two persons and if one person disturbs or resigns, then absolutely another person should take care and business should run undisturbed!

Customers coming back - a bliss in Business

In one of our businesses among the portfolio of divisions from Sagana Enterprises Private Limited, there happenned a beautiful thing.

Yesterday I got a call from a customer, whom I have spoken 1 year back, when we were starting up that division. I have spoken to this prospective customer an year back and I used this call this person again and again. He does not pick or he gives it to his subordinates and he did not give me business at all. That was because market conditions were good and there were more buyers for him. There was no purpose for more advertisement for his case.

Later my another manager called him and tried and she kind of succeeded with some little success.

This time of the year, like last year, out of the blue the same customer called back and mentioned that he is interested in paying and taking up our services.

I was very happy and that shows there is definitely an impact made by the company in the market and our services are badly needed in the market.

Coco Fiber business in Coimbatore

It buys coconut husk from farmers at Rs. 100 per 1,000 husks (or coconut shells after extraction of copra) and converts it into coir rope, which it sells to companies like Kurlon, a manufacturer of rubberised coir mattresses, for Rs. 1,600 per quintal.

Over the last one year these farmers, who were earning Rs. 50 per 1,000 husks, have doubled their income to Rs. 100 per 1,000 husks.

The cooperative has introduced products like coir fibre, coir yarn, corridor mats, curled coir, coir composites, coir pith and needle felt or non-woven fabric.

The factory produces 30 tonnes of coir fibre per month and provides livelihood to nearly 400 growers, employing 40 of them directly.

The factory has been securing orders from both the government and the corporate sector. The factory at Thyagatur, which started operations in April 2010, has won orders for its coir products from Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited; Malnad Engineering College, Hassan; Kurlon; Abhay Infotech, Ahmedabad and the Karnataka Government's education department.

The Coir Board has provided technology for developing designs for products that are eco-friendly and water-proof. They are five to 10 per cent cheaper than plywood.

"Home designers, furniture outlets, and industrialists are choosing coir products because they are 'value for money', a substitute for synthetic fibres, eco-friendly and versatile, light on the wallet as well as on the environment, durable and weather-resistant," said Kidigannappa.

What are some of the uses for coconuts?

As Fuel

Stanton: "Right now there is a lot of oil production, but beyond that there is not much use for the rest of the coconut. We brainstormed the conventional ways to use the coconut, one idea being to modify an existing diesel engine to run on the coconut oil without making it into biodiesel. It doesn't do a lot of good to have coconut oil available to make into biodiesel if you have to use a chemical, such as methanol, to mix with it. Instead, you can preheat the coconut to about 90 degrees for it to flow through the engine. As long as you start your engine on the diesel, then switch it over to coconut, then switch it back to the diesel towards the end to get the oil out of the lines, it will work just fine."


Charcoal

"We have also looked into making charcoal with the coconut shell," says Stanton. "It burns well and burns quick, but there is still a lot of work to be done."

"Coconut does have a high energy content," admits Dr. Bradley. "Although we think that burning things is usually the least economically advantageous way to use any material."

Cooking and Food
"The coconut has several parts," explains Dr. Bradley. "Its got the meat out of which you can get oil-meal, which can be used to make bread (it also has a decent amount of protein), and is also used for animal feed."

Activated Carbon Filter
"The coconut is very dense, which makes another good application for the coconut shell, activated carbon filters (such as in refrigerator or aquarium water filters)," says Stanton. "However the demand for this is relatively low."

Gardening/Potting Soil, and Diaper Filler Dr. Bradley: "The coconut piph dust can absorb 10 times its weight, which has many interesting applications for gardening when it is mixed with peat moss, which is rich in nutrients. One of our earlier ideas we had was diaper filler. We actually bought some diapers, took the existing stuff out and ran the same tests and found that the absorbed 50 times its weight in water, so we knew we couldn't quite compete with that."

Geotechnical Netting
Stanton: "For the coconut husk which is made of long fibers with a dense piph. It can be twined into rope which is then made into geotechnical netting to be used on hillsides to prevent erosion. You can put grass seed directly into the net, put the net on the hill, and then the grass will start growing. In a few years the nets will biodegrade until all you have left is the grass holding the hillside together. This is very common in typhoon stricken countries that have heavy rain seasons."

Synthetic Fibers for Automotive Grade Interiors
Stanton: "Our first patent pending invention is using the coconut fiber as a replacement for synthetic/polyester fibers in thermal forming composites (such as the plastics found in the interior surfaces of an automobile). We replace some of the oil based synthetic fibers normally used with coconut fibers for reinforcement composites. It costs much less than synthetics, it is more environmentally friendly (safer), and it allows the farmers who live in these rural countries to make more money for the product they grow."

"11 million coconut farmers rely exclusively on the coconuts they grow for their income and they make between $1 to $2 a day, but if we could raise that to $6 or $7 a day, it would make a tremendous difference in their available lifestyle (which means they will get to eat). We could help these people, lower the costs for the product, and create a sustainable business, so it is not all based on charity."

Dr. Bradley: "Why we are looking at coconut fiber for automotive composites is because we want big huge markets, so that if we can find something that works, it will generate literally millions of pounds of demand at a much better price point. This application has the potential to dramatically increase the demand for coconut fiber over the current polyester (synthetic) fiber. Our goal would be to at least triple the income of a lot of poor coconut farmers. They typically have between six to eight family members a piece, so the total number of people to be benefited would be about 80 million."

"The coconut replacement fiber will help the poor farmer, make the finished automotive product more green, and its mechanical properties are as good if not better than the current polyester. It is kind of a win-win for everyone. Also, coconut fiber does not burn very easily, which is one of the tests that will have to be performed in order for it to be used as an automotive application."


Coir (the fiber from the husk of the coconut) is used in ropes, mats, brushes, sacks, caulking for boats and as stuffing fiber for mattresses.[42] It is used in horticulture in potting compost, especially in orchid mix.

Being bold, brave and taking it easy in Business and Management - Madurai Business Wisdom

As you jump into business, you keep getting to realize and learn more and more lessons in Management and Business.

All kinds of problems would come your way and we should be able to handle it easily. While the problems comes through, we should be able to handle the stress properly. Stress Management is very important for every business man.

Problems within employees might happen. An important employee might create problems in the company and do something which is not the appropriate thing to do in the Company, as per company policies and that might eventually affect the business.

Listen to music then and there when you get time, when you are in top and you have lot of stress.

Take it easy and deal with the problems very carefully and make right decisions in business - think short-term and also long-term.

Face any problem that comes into business with full courage and be bold and brave all the time.

Being in TOP is very tough, as you start the business and also as you proceed in the business in different stages of business. Keep it going and wishing you and me all the success in life, on the business and venture we are in.

Vendor should prioritize important Customers and value them accordingly!

A vendor screws up a relationship!

People are not knowing the business knack, even though they have decided to start something of their own. The entrepreneurs should know their priority. Who is important and who is not. Customers are very important. Whatever the case may be.

There was no need for chasing the customer for money. Why is he feeling insecure about the money? Have the customer delayed anytime in payment or anytime has the customer cancelled the payment? Have the C said he/she won't pay anytime? The customer has been a good customer anytime. Why should the vendor behave like that today.? Customer actually claims - "We provide around More than 50% of his business. In one situation, my customer did not pay for his work and i made sure i paid him even though i did not get the payment. May be he is narrow in his thoughts. This entrepreneur should think broad in his business. He does not have to come to office like that. He could have just called me and handled this issue differently. These many days he has done business with me and he acted silly today. May be he should grow up. But he said our office folks were silly."

Overall here are his mistakes

1) he should not have chased a customer for payment, who had been a good pay master.

2) he could have dealt this situation cool.

3) he should know who is important and do business and should not create scenes. He had definitely damaged the relationships.

4) using words were wrong like silly.

5) he argues and recommends for the candidate but he does not think from the customer's perspective that it is their income, when he feels his payment is important.

6) he could have talked cool about the fact that he cannot get Rs.100 from the candidate and he could have negotiated.

The vendor screwed it up!!!! That is what I think overall. He screwed a very important Customer of the Vendor. Things happen like this. Having had this situation, the vendor can directly sit face to face and talk with the customer and solve the matter. If the customer and vendor sit and talk, lot of issues will be solved.

A responsible Manager can save your business!

If you are looking to become an entrepreneur, there are n number of factors to be considered. You will have to have an idea, being passionate about the idea, hard work, networking, very good sales team, persistence with the idea you have etc., apart from that funding/investment, process and at last people.

Your people (human resources)strength is very important for execution of all of your ideas. Having said about the human resources, your manager can save you lot of times.

Your manager is very important and he/she can make you very successful. Instead of you taking care of lot of nitty-gritty details in the company, your manager can take care of lot of things and can help you develop the business.

Target can be set through him, reprimands of the employees can be done through the manager and also you have one person to reprimand if things don't go well in the company.

Hindustan Motors launches Road Show in Tamil Nadu Chennai, Vellore, Trichy, Pattukottai, Madurai, Palayamkottai, Nagercoil, Coimbatore Puducherry

Continuing ahead with its pan-India promotional drive, the multi-billion-dollar CK Birla Group’s automobile major Hindustan Motors Ltd. launched its road show for Tamil Nadu from here today.

The initiative is aimed at increasing customer awareness about Hindustan Motors’ existing and forthcoming products. The road show will cover cities like Chennai, Vellore, Tiruchirapally, Pattukottai, Madurai, Palayamkottai, Nagercoil, Coimbatore and also Puducherry.

Srini Rajam - Madurai personality found Ittiam Systems - Inflight entertainer

Very proud to see such personalities from Madurai - Madurai Machan!

Till early last decade, the only screen entertainment you had on an aircraft was a single channel of programmes. For the economy class passengers, a single screen was suspended along the aisle. However, in-flight entertainment has changed dramatically over the past few years. There are now screens for every seat, including in economy, and many airlines provide a large bouquet of movies, TV programmes, music and games to choose from. You can even forward, rewind and pause a programme, just as you do with a DVD player at home.

This change was a result, in part, of technologies developed by a small company in Bangalore called Ittiam Systems—founded a decade ago by Srini Rajam and four others who had left semiconductor company Texas Instruments with the idea of creating innovative software systems to put on top of chips.

Ittiam developed a video-on-demand technology and demonstrated it in early 2003. "In San Diego, US, we came across three or four aviation electronics companies working with different airlines. They found the technology interesting. We worked with them and got our first order from a company that had 50% of the in-flight entertainment market then," says Rajam.

The first to use Ittiam's system was Singapore Airlines. Rajam recalls that once, while he was flying the Singapore Airlines in early years, the system crashed. When the airhostess rebooted it, he was delighted to see the 'Developed by Ittiam' message on the screen. Rajam says the system does not crash anymore, and today about 80% of the aircraft in the world use Ittiam's solution.

Rajam, 50, grew up in Madurai, did a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Madurai University and then master's in computer science from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1984. He briefly worked with Wipro Systems as a software development engineer, and, in 1985, joined Texas Instruments. He was there for 15 years—the last five as the MD of its India operations. During the period, TI India grew to be the largest R&D centre for its parent in Asia.

In 2000, he quit TI and rented a business centre. He saw an opportunity for India in a segment that was till then dominated by a few North American firms. That segment was the space between the chip—from companies like Intel, TI, Qualcomm, Freescale—and the end device like a PC or a phone. Chips are built in such a way that you can programme them with software, allowing the end device to have multiple functions. Given India's strength in software, Rajam thought it would be possible to innovate in the space. The name Ittiam is an acronym for Rene Descartes's famous line, 'I Think, Therefore I Am'—the idea was to convey that the company's biggest advantage was its people and the intellectual property they create. Today the company has 38 US patents.

Ittiam focused on video solutions and early success came in portable media players, like mp3 devices. The solution enabled devices at sub-$200, when competition was about twice that price, and it had customers like Creative Technologies, Philips and Thomson. Ittiam also found markets in video security and automotive multimedia.

The company now has a big play in smartphones, particularly those based on Android. In 2010-11, some 8-10 million smartphones, or about 5% of the global market, will be running video player and video camcorder functions on Ittiam's multimedia engine. Rajam is unwilling to name his customers for confidentiality reasons.

Companies like Ittiam provide a time-to-market advantage to customers. Some like Sony keep their design in-house. But the trend is to use third parties for systems design. "For a customer, the normal design cycle time is 18-24 months. But that can be slashed by 50-70% if they can start with what we already have. Our offerings are like a pre-cooked meal. And this is why there are such rapid innovations in smartphones and tablets today," says Rajam.

Today, Ittiam faces competition within India from firms like Aricent, Tata Elxsi and Sasken. But Rajam is looking at newer avenues. He expects the video phone market to take off this year. He's looking at extending Ittiam's expertise to areas like graphics, which drive gaming, and 3D. "The opportunities are plenty," he says.

courtesy of t i m e s o f i n d i a

Fast foods in Madurai - Chicken & Egg based restaurant

I went to KFC recently. I like the idea of a unique recipe and keeping that secret as secret.

I like the professional cooking and help. While I was there in KFC, I got an idea. Introducing such a Chicken + Egg based restaurant will be a great hit in Madurai area.

Egg is as usual cheap. Chicken is easily available and affordable. A decent fast food concept based on Chicken+Egg based foods with professional packing and easy to eat will be a great idea.

Franchisee concept would be a great help. All the best for your business. Just email maduraitimes@gmail.com, if you are going to use this idea!

Madurai Tea shop - a speciality beverage in Madurai

Earlier, I have written about Madurai Tea shops - click here to read, but please come back to this article.

Madurai Tea shops are special. You want to know the reasons, here are they -

* 365/24/7 you can get tea.
* tea with a combination of murukku anytime. But in special times like evenings, you get bajji, vada etc.,
* You are treated royal, if you are decent enough in dressing.
* 1/2 tea can be ordered. that means one tea can be shared in two glass tumblers by two individuals.
* Tea is served in glass tumblers with 3/4'ths filled with tea. Smoke is also sold anytime, even one-by-one. - 'Bossu cigarette saapteengalaa bossu?' - 'bossu neenga cigarette saappudra palakkam irukkaa?'
* A friendship is shared with a tea. - 'Bossu teaa saappudunga bossuu'.
* A conversation is started with a tea.
* A Thanks is conveyed with a tea.
* On an average, men drink like 3-5 teas in a day, when they go out.
* 'paal-tea' can be ordered - which has more milk in it. that is why it is called paal-tea.
* Any corner street or main town place you go, you can get tea.
* The number of tea shops in Madurai is infinite.
* you also get other beverages - coffee, horlicks, bournvita...
* Even in hot sun and middle of the noon - madurai folks would be drinking tea, instead they should be drinking cool drinks.
* A tea used to cost Re.1 and 50 paise. But today, it costs Rs.2, 50 paise and Rs.3.

Madurai Tea shop is Madurai's Starbucks coffee place, as in US.

What if I have to setup a tea shop and consider it as one of my businesses?? Yes, it is possible. There are two ways - either setup a roadside shop or setup an upscale one like Coffee Day or any Coffee Bar etc., as my friend used to like Visalam Coffee Bar - I have never been there...

It is a real good business to setup a tea or coffee shop in Madurai. It will turn out to be a good profitable business...Think about it!!

A Video from YouTube on Tea/Coffee Shop in Madurai

Business Success Case Analysis - All about people - Madurai Business Wisdom

A business evolves from an idea. An idea originates on a person's mind, while he/she sees a problem and there are too many people who would want that problem to be solved. Of course, the person who comes up with this idea is passionate about the whole thing.

As long as the person is a passionate about the idea, then if (s)he keeps working on that idea. The real turning point happens, when more people get attracted to the solution. People think that he is really solving the problem. This is the case when the business goes into success stage. More people get attracted into the business - automatically things would work out.

For example - Craigslist.org's Craig created the classifieds website and gave it free for all the users and visitors, while all the classified websites were asking money. Craig made the user interface simple that anybody could use it. Simplicity in doing things and do not complicate things. Now, Craig charges the "Post Jobs" feature only and that company is successful.

That is the idea. Say - you have a website - once you have considerable number of visitors, automatically you can convert that website into a business and it will fetch you revenue.

That is what I am talking about. Get many people know about business and that will reach as many people as needed and in fact much more than needed.

Overall Business Thumb rule is - Get more people to know about your business and use your services at low cost or free and they will come to know how special you are - and you will be successful, provided you serve what they need in right manner.

What does Satyam Computers's situation mean to Madurai?

What does Satyam Computers's situation mean to Madurai?

We all know the situation of Satyam today, due to mishandling of accounts/books in Satyam Computers. What does this mean to Madurai and other cities??

Please find a news article from 2007 about Satyam Computer Services in Madurai.

1) Satyam will not be buying any land in Madurai or give it up, 99%.
2) Employees from all cities and Madurai to Satyam Computers will be affected because of this already. They will be laid off and they should be searching jobs and be in job market.
3) Potential Job Oppotunities in Madurai is devastated now.

Pity situation for everyone!!

A news article from mid of 2007 -

Satyam to start center in Madurai

Satyam Computer Services will open its development center in Madurai, reports Press.

The company applied for 50 acres under ELCOT scheme proposed in the university land on Theni road. The company would commence work as soon as the government announces the approval.

The proposed campus would initially accommodate 5,000 and would be developed to 10,000-seater over a three-year period.

The company made a proposal to establish an autonomous IT academy in Tamil Nadu, under the public-private partnership funding to the Chief Minister.

Believe - Anything is possible : Madurai Theme Parks

In "Sea World, San Diego", there is a great show called - "Believe - Anything is possible" in which Shamu, a killer whale performs whatever is instructed and asked for.

The theme of the show is that Believe and anything is possible. I believe the show has to be watched by everyone, to believe anything is possible in this world.

The trainers had set a relationship with the killer whales and had trained them to do certain things. It is pretty much as if an animal with 6 senses is performing whatever is instructed.

Training a dog, cat might not be a big deal, but training a killer whale is a big deal which can eat humans as well. The animal is so huge and the show was amazing. Believe and Anything is possible in this world.

While I was watching this show in the Shamu auditorium, I thought of a business idea in Madurai.

If you have good amount of money, then invest in a vast land in outskirts of Madurai. May be in couple of years, you can build a theme park or a recreational park, not exactly like Adisayam(water theme park), but you can choose some other theme for this park. How is this business idea in Madurai - may be long-term?

Risk Apetite for an individual - Madurai Business Risks

I went to Sea World Theme park for the long weekend with my family and in-laws. I dared to go on a roller-coaster ride in the park. This ride is definitely dangerous and thrilling. The ride goes really up and down and goes wild, and feels like I am going to fall down. It gives a strange feeling inside the stomach, when it goes that fast downwards.

Overall the ride was very thrilling and scary. I was thinking about it later on and analyzing my risk taking appetite. Here is what I derived from it -

Initially, I didn't think about the risk or scary part before going to the ride. The ride was scary and thrilling. After the ride, I asked a question to myself, if I will be able to go back and ride it without fear. My answer was Yes. That is good for me. My inference from that was I am ready to take the risk any number of times, even though I knew things are risky.

Another feeling is that I felt it would be better if someone would have been there with me, so that it would be much more fun than that. Inference is partnership. It would be more fun if I have a person sharing the risks and profits.

So, my risk appetite is good enough that I can take risks and also will be able to share risks with partners.

Family pressure for Entrepreneurs in Madurai

Parents say no to risks for Madurai Small Startups

Mr.X(name hidden for privacy) resigned his day job and plans to start a company of his own in Madurai.

X is a married man, with dependants including his wife, son, dad and mom.
When a young professional resigns his day job, takes risks - there is lot of oppositions and negative advocacy from all sides. Parents think from a conservative perspective and non-risky thinking of sticking to a job and getting salary and living a normal life.

It is good to have devil's advocate, when we are having an idea and we are going to execute the same. However, it is difficult to have all of them all the time. Those inputs has to be considered for improvement, but not to impediment any success steps.

If you have a brilliant idea, which you think will be a success in the market, considering your market research; if you have a business plan to execute the plan, which is reviewed by experts and they and you think that it is a good idea, if executed properly. Then nothing should stop you from executing this idea.

My friend X is going through this phase and he is starting a company of his own. I wish him success in his venture and "Made in Madurai" is backing up his business with funding.

SG Jayaraj Group's Kodai Automobiles!!

All the very best SG Jayaraj and Nadar Sons.

By the way, if you are interested to know about SG Jayaraj and Nadar Sons and Kodai Automobiles, click here.

For other details, Madurai Times published for the group, please click here

Shri Balaji Agencies - LPG Distributor in Madurai

If you have lived with your family sometime during last 25 years in Madurai, you might have definitely used Shri Balaji Agencies's service.

Yes, they are the leading pioneering distributor of LPG (Cooking Gas) for households in and around Madurai.

Read about Shri Balaji Agencies here -

We are the leading LPG Distributor in this temple town of Madurai. For the past 23 years we have been rendering yeoman service to the LPG consumers in and around Madurai. Today we stand tall because of your unstinted support and patronage.

We earnestly thank all our customers who have been with us all through our trials and tribulations.

We solicit your continued support and valuable feedback to continually improve and upgrade our services to meet your requirements.

Here is the contact info

Madurai Software Companies: IT Exports turning to Dubai, UK/Europe from USA

Considering the slowdown in USA, weakening of the dollar in US, IT demand is getting temporarily slowed down.

IT product exports from India is changing its focus to Dubai, UK, including other countries in Europe. Exports of Indian IT products to the Middle East are expected to cross the $1.30-billion mark this year - an increase of 30 percent compared to $1 billion in 2007.

This is a way to go for a GLOBALIZED MARKET and GLOBALIZED ECONOMY in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Be aware of this fact - for the software companies in Madurai, if you are starting a business in Madurai and be benefitted/profitted.