March 3

After mostly working with Sundara from the Hotel and being overwhelmed with information that had to be shared with us, today we moved on to a different way of working. This Wednesday an appointment was arranged for Michel and myself at YES Bank - a subsidiary of Rabobank. We had requested interviews at financial institutions as money is needed at 5 different "layers" in the pyramid we drew. A "layer" represents a group of people with each different monetairy needs in the expansion of Janani Foods. A farmer is the bottom layer and only needs 300 Rs to hook up to the system that enables the farmer to receive crop advise to increase the yield using the right amounts of fertilizers and pesticides (F&P) etc. Of course working capital is needed for the F&P, and seeds, and those things a farmer usually uses. A kiosk is at village level and resells the goods, but also transfers the specific crop advise by IIIT. A kiosk franchisee hence needs to buy some equipment like PC and camera to have some working capital to open up a shop and have a stock of F&P, seeds, etc. This goes on like this up to the highest level in the pyramid.

We had a very open discussion at with a agri consultant at YES Bank to understand what may be improved in the present materials like business case, business plan and the way the markets and stakeholders are approached. Some issues have been identified, and after the 2.5 hours meeting, we stopped for lunch (only 50 Rs a meal) on the way back to the hotel where we worked with Sundara going over these issues, sharing thoughts and ideas and brainstorming on KPI (key performance indicators) for one of the levels.

Upon return in the hotel, we learned a plane crash had been taking place in the area where we were - the old Begumptet airport where an airshow was held -. We had not noticed the crash, but only been stuck in traffic jams - an unusual thing in Hyderabad as traffic always keeps on moving despite the number of cars, mopeds, trucks, temples, cycles, etc etc etc on the road.

We have learned that brainstorming is not a known method, as each topic was discussed and explained at length so for us it felt rather unproductive. Sundara was showing similar body language, so we called it a day around 17.15. This enabled us to get some fresh air and rest a bit before the 8 pm team meeting started to further discuss our projects.