New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Innovation, without which no business or enterprise can ever succeed, comes out of taking the customers’ feedback and suggestions in the right spirit, observed John Flannery, president of General Electric, India.
Flannery recalled how problems faced by obstetricians and gynaecologists in various Indian cities, such as lack of reliable power, little technical expertise and maintenance issues, prompted the General Electric (GE) to go in for reverse innovation of one of their ultrasound models.
The GE spent long weekends listening to their problems and developed a prototype with an average selling price less than a quarter of the top-end models.
Encouraged by the success of the product in a developing country like India, the global giant plans to take it to African and Latin American markets soon, added Flannery, who was addressing delegates at the closing day of TiEcon Delhi 2012 here.
In a session titled ‘Road Not Taken’, entrepreneurs narrated how their dreams came true.
Adil Hussain, managing director of Harvest Gold, left a well paying job after IIT to introduce a new bread into an already saturated market, according to a TiEcon statement.
Set up in 1993, Harvest Gold has captured 80 percent of market share in Delhi and the company owns state-of-the-art proprietary technology of making bread.
They plan now to expand their presence in India and abroad. His mantra: “Find a way. If the way doesn’t exist, make one.”
Gautam Bhardwaj, co-founder and managing director, Invest India Micro Pension Services, has worked in the area of pension reforms for over 15 years.
When he saw the huge need for pension for people who work as rickshaw-pullers, run roadside eateries, work as vegetable and fruits vendors, he started Invest India Micro Pension Services, the only such venture in the world.
There are 100 million elderly today in India which will double by 2030. Ninety percent of them don’t have pension as they work in the unorganised sector.
Today, Invest India reaches out to 100 districts impacting a large number of people. The venture encourages savings of small amounts every month, which is invested in regularized financial institutions.
A helpline is set up to for account holders with various information queries.
McKinsey professional Ashok Alexander, asked to head the HIV Prevention Programme, Avahan, at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, became apprehensive initially, but then gradually understood the enormity of the task and decided to take it on.
As he started speaking to sex workers, he realized that his corporate approach was just not going to work, and he realized that, this was not about distributing condoms. As he explored, he found another layer that needed quick addressing – violence.
When asked, the sex workers said they wanted Avahan to help by bringing down the violence.
So an HIV prevention programme became a violence reduction one. Avahan helped the sex workers to group themselves, and enabled legal and media support for them.
When anyone needs help, she can press a couple of buttons on her mobile and get help. The group comes to her rescue by shouting and screaming at the doorstep, gathering support from media and lawyers.
Sujata Sahu, founder of 17,000 ft Foundation, is an avid trekker.
Sahu and her husband were drawn to Ladakh and its people again and again. They started the non-profit foundation to help schools there.
There are 963 schools in Ladakh, but most do not have resources and teachers. They are currently mapping the schools making it easier to mobilize resources to these schools.
The foundation is reaching out to trekkers and tourists visiting Ladakh to give books, crayons and other materials to schools or even volunteer to teach if they have a stay of two weeks or more. This is also helping the local community as it boosts tourism increase.
