Striving for Setting up a New Business
Lead:
What if a single child from a middle-class family with engineering or MBA degree declares that he won’t be spending the rest of his life at a cosy job? What if he chooses to take the highway to success through a business? Will his plan of turning his ideas into reality materialise? What would be the reaction of a middle-class Maharashtrian family?
Matter:
Many families perhaps agree on a single agenda – ‘Get over this obsession of starting a business and go for a decent job with assured salary’. This is a common statement as the importance of business was never emphasised in the minds of Maharashtrian families. There is no point in blaming the elderly. The seed of business must be planted in every household. This will positively affect the mentality and will be gradually deep embedded in our minds. Let’s hope that the young generation will be advised to start their own business instead of searching for a good salary job.
‘Get over this obsession of starting a business and go for a decent job with assured salary’, young Swapnil Joshi got to hear the same opinion. But he answered with calm resolve, ‘I will start my own business and will never opt for a job.’ His determination was firm. He started taking steps towards it. The whole journey of two years, towards his target, is quite an eye-opener. His promising journey will be helpful for other young people to start their own business.
Swapnil’s business is unique. He buys old clothes at the rate of Rs. 10 per kg and makes almost 50 – 60 types of artistic products like pencil pouches… mats, wallets … laptop bags, handbags… school bags. These products cost from Rs. 150 to Rs. 2,500. These products are so well designed and artistic that it is extremely difficult to believe that they are made from old clothes. Along with a Certificate of Contribution, Swapnil gives some seeds to the buyer of these products. Also, he takes a photograph along with him or her. He calls that customer Green Citizen for purchasing his products and conserving nature by recycling the old clothes. He has welcomed all his customers in this unique manner.
These days donating old clothes to the poor has become quite common in big cities. In this system, clothes just get shifted from one place to another. Many a time torn clothes are thrown away and good ones are sold. Despite this, people tend to donate clothes.
Swapnil says that he buys old clothes at the rate of ten rupees a kilo, make different types of products and sells those. He never offers them cash for old clothes but gives a receipt by deducting the price of the product they have purchased.
Thus, old clothes get recycled. Artisans get a wage as new products are made every day. Customers get good quality products. It generates employment. Thus, an eco-system is developed. The society gets benefited both directly and indirectly.
Swapnil Joshi is from Sadashiv Peth, Pune. Born in a middle-class family, he did his schooling in NMV high school. The motto of this school is ‘Never leave the task at hand unfinished.’ No one from his family had any idea about starting a business. All the earlier generations preferred jobs. His family insisted that he should also follow the safe and most preferred route for earning. Prima facie, there is nothing wrong with this age-old path. So, a boy holding the most valuable degrees like engineering and MBA wanting to start his own business was simply not acceptable to the people around him. Swapnil got the same kind of reactions which one gets while opting for the untrodden path. Finally, he decided to follow the motto of his school ‘Never leave the task at hand unfinished.’ After completing his primary education from NMV high school, Swapnil completed his graduation in engineering and MBA from MIT and Modern college respectively.
In December 2013, IIT Mumbai organised a national level competition to present a business plan along with the idea. Swapnil decided to grab this opportunity. He participated in the competition and grabbed the first prize of rupees one lakh in this national level competition. The day he got the prize, he also got a job in a software company. In January 2014 he started working as a project manager. But, he simply hated working in fixed hours. He was dragging his feet from 10 am to 5 pm. He finally left his first job, as working for fixed hours was not his cup of tea. Soon he decided to start his own software company and began the preparations. Initially, he got a few projects, but those were not up to his expectations. Though he wanted to try something different, he was unable to decide the path.
During that period, he read an article about old clothes from abroad being sent to India for recycling. These clothes are processed at Panipat. Various products are made from those clothes and are sold all over the country. He visited Panipat to find out the exact process. He stayed there for a few days. In this stay, he got the information like where they used to get old clothes, how they are processed further, etc. After returning to Pune he collected some old clothes, sent them to Panipat and got a few products made from them. But he found it difficult to work on this idea on a long-term basis. For starting a propriety business, having a good, self-owned product was must for him. He had an idea to make different types of bags, including school bags from those old clothes. He then arranged for a tailor, sewing machines and thought over some designs. Finally, he got his first product ready in December 2016. He rented a warehouse near Nagnathpaar to store old clothes. The business was named as ‘Eco Regain’. He started selling the products online by the same brand name. During this period, he got in touch with a social organization called “Maitree”. Some women were working on designing and stitching bags in projects of this organization. He got some bags made from the old clothes from this organization. Then he got acquainted with some women in stitching business through various advertisements. He trained a few of them as per his business requirements. Some of the ladies suggested new ideas for products. He made those. He experimented for at least 3 months. During February 2018 he started facing a cash crunch and even thought of quitting.
Meanwhile, two more people decided to invest in his project. This energised them. ‘Eco Regain’ opened its first outlet near Renuka Swaroop High School in Sadashiv Peth, Pune in April 2018. The place was acquired on a rental basis. All products were available for display and sale at this outlet. Women Empowerment Centre was formed in October 2018. Women were trained for producing new stitched articles through this centre. Currently, five women have been employed at this centre.
At present, a team of ten people works for ‘Eco Regain’. Along with Swapnil the team also includes Appa Jadhav (designer), Sonam Chavan (marketing), Sagar Dev (operation). Swapnil’s mother, Sujata, Prasad Kamte, Tirumurugan Chellappa and advisors Balkrishnan and Mahesh Joshi form a strong support system which provides the team strength to work. The old clothes coming to ‘Eco Regain’ are first stored in a warehouse. Then they are washed thoroughly. After segregating, they are cut according to needs for various products. Old clothes are transformed into good quality, well designed new products. Bingo! They are ready for sale. (Swapnil is well known for one more thing. He is a good actor. He used to act in one-act play competitions like (Purushottam Trophy). He also likes to write poems.
We always try to form a good impression by our dressing style. Sometimes our clothes tell a lot about our personality and our profession. The uniforms for the professions like army, police, fire brigade, and nurse create their unique identities. Our outlook towards a person changes, when we see a soldier in the army uniform. We respect them. ‘Eco Regain’ has created rucksacks and shoulder bags from the old uniforms of such respected professions.
We never try to find out what happens to the clothes these respected people once they get old or are out of use. Swapnil’s team felt the seriousness because of Mrs Madhuri Deshmukh. Last year she asked the team to make new products out of the old uniform (jersey). Everyone in the family should remember the people who joined the army. Their clothes should not remain unused, so new usable products were created from them. So, the team created side bags, travel bags and rucksacks for her. Swapnil and his team intend to create pouches, aprons, bags, wallets in the forthcoming days.
We find many youngsters expressing new thoughts and a new way of thinking in our society. They present very off-beat ideas. Such young generation should be encouraged for such futuristic ideas. Many a time the old generation tries to shackle them with their outdated thoughts. The young generation feels discouraged. Accepting the change should be a natural process. We will find many Swapnils if society adapts openness. If we extend a helping hand towards them, many capable business people will thrive in the society. Finally, a day will come when ‘Get over this obsession of starting a business and go for a decent job with assured salary’…won’t be ever heard in Maharashtrian households.
Originally Published in Yashashwi Udyojak. Subscribe Today.
