Building a business : The Library On Cart case study : Chapter 12 Business plan

The business plan review

Cost of books 8000/ fixed cost
Cost of cart 8000/ fixed cost
Cost of magazines 12000/ fixed for one year but include in running cost @ 1000/ per month
Cost of cart operator 8000/ month

Fixed cost per cart 16000/
Running cost 9000/ + 1000/ emergency (cart repair etc.)

Revenue 150 per member per month
Some daily users @10/ per book

To keep our heads above water we need
10000/150 we need 60 members per month. 30 offline 30 online

We’re clocking 1.5 a day approx from day one πŸ™‚ if we work 2 shifts.
Working hours 6:30 – 8 morning
5- 7:30 evening
We should be able to cross it.
If we open for another 2 hours in PN market we can do better business πŸ™‚
These hours are wrong:/
6:30-8 Rock garden
It has the same pool of people every day. Once members have been roped in it’s difficult to get new ones. 6:30 is very early. People start stopping by around 7.
5-7:30 East Patel Nagar is a better location. Hours should be 6-9.

Market has a very big pool of people in comparison. Every day the pool changes.

Next month if we manage to retain 50% of our 30 customers and add another 30 more offline we’re at 45 members in 2nd month πŸ™‚ 6750/ + some daily billing
By 3rd month we’re at break even offline. It can self support.
We’re viable I think
The offline module needs only 60 offline members to run. It has a limited pool of people. People living nearby. Potential is in Online. It will generate money by tapping all Delhi and NCR

Problem
Locating cart operator
No other

Possible solutions and scope of the idea
The carts are economically viable
They can solve job employment problem for at least a 1000 people if not more in Delhi alone.
There are more than a 1000 colonies in Delhi. Each has kids and elders who want to read. 60 members per colony is crumbs.
Actually our numbers are
6th – 21st May
We’ve 21 members in 16 days. 14 working days if we exclude Monday. 1.5 per day by that calculation. Currently I have no support. No background, no word of mouth, no advertisement.

We should cross 30 in the first month. Eventually more. By second month 45. Online membership can give us 30 at least! Like Wrapd online LOC online will be free of cost. Offline will pick the bill of rent and staff.
As word spreads if we can clock 3 bills a day we’ve
30 *150=4500/ extra revenue.
If we open 1000 carts
4500*1000 is…………. πŸ™‚ per month

Another idea is to run these carts in societies and RWA
They pay 20000/ refundable security deposit
They give us 5000/ per month fixed for giving them the library with latest books and magazines. That’s it.
They just have to make 35 members to recover cost. Any above is theirs to keep. The guard can man the cart. No manpower requirement.
Win
Win
Win πŸ™‚
If this works
5000*1000 RWA = :0 per month. Anubhav you can go to Spain πŸ™‚ Ritu you can buy your plot πŸ˜‰
It won’t happen easily but it is doable.
This is the ultimate business module in my eyes.
We’ve bypassed rent expense
Manpower expense
And investment in a way. 20000/ refundable security can set up the cart.

Nobody can run a library in 5000 per month.
We can keep rotating the inventory. Every month 30%, 40%, 50%….changed πŸ™‚ Whatever we decide.
Each RWA will have let’s say 1000 books at any given time. If they’ve a need for more because the idea is popular they can take a second membership at 20000/ security+ 5000/. Or we can go for some bundled program. These are minor issues. Can be sorted.

Another idea is to run this service for schools. Since our carts are mobile they can cater to so many people. 8-5 carts are lying idle. Neighbourhood schools can share the cart. Reduces spending on individual libraries.
It’s a highly useable idea. We’re limiting ourselves by limiting our imagination. It can do whatever we imagine it to πŸ™‚

Anubhav will integrate all carts into one humongous library. The idea can be copy pasted easily all over India πŸ™‚
One can access any book on any cart in one city.
You can return any book at any cart in one city. Travellers in another city too πŸ™‚
Payment can be made by card paytm or cash
To encourage entrepreneurship of employees revenue sharing can be done

Why don’t we solve the cart man problem by housing it in a shop?
The USP is ease of access and visibility
Low operational cost. Rent will kill the idea. 5/ a day will become unviable.

Why don’t we solve the cart man problem by tying with NGOs?
That’s what I’m going to try next. I’ve my figures.
Your figures can’t be generated by someone else. You’ll give your all. No one else will. You’ll have to do the ground work. No one else can.

Conversation between Anubhav and Neeraj
N: If we succeed we’ll copy paste the idea all over Delhi πŸ™‚
Kya karna hai? Ek cart pur he toh kaam karna hai
A: Ha karna he padega. Jaldi. Entry barrier bahut low hai
N: Nahi. Entry barrier bahut bada hai.

He’s looking at the money cost
I’m looking at social cost
Success is yours for taking if you are willing to pay the price.

PS to Vasudha
Do we make the cut and get a call from SAIF partners Vasudha :)))))
If you are tech focused so are we :))))) All our carts are tech enabled ? Carts are the warehouse for our online store

Share this post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.