Acknowledgements - startupsristi1.weebly.com€¦ · Web viewThis increase in demand has led to surge in bad practices such as child trafficking and sale of children by poor families

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AHMEDABAD

A Project Report On

MADAD

Submitted to

Prof. Anil Gupta

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

CINE

on

30th August, 2012

by

ArnabSaha

Jackson Bodra

Susan Mary Jose

Vikash Lohia

1

Contents

Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................................3

The Domestic Help Industry........................................................................................................................4

Reason for Selecting this Sector for the Venture.........................................................................................4

Reason for Choosing this Venture...............................................................................................................4

About Madad...............................................................................................................................................4

How is it Different from the Services Offered by the Local Broker?........................................................5

How do we operate?...............................................................................................................................5

Our Target Customers.............................................................................................................................6

Value Position of the Venture.....................................................................................................................6

Market Analysis – Finding out Strategies to Address Concerns of Both the Clients and the Probable Employees...................................................................................................................................................7

Questionnaire for the Clients................................................................................................................10

Results of the Survey.............................................................................................................................11

SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................................................................11

Strengths...............................................................................................................................................11

Weaknesses...........................................................................................................................................11

Opportunities........................................................................................................................................11

Threats...................................................................................................................................................12

Work Done Till Now...................................................................................................................................12

Way Forward.............................................................................................................................................13

Appendix...................................................................................................................................................14

Excerpts of some of the interviews of clients........................................................................................14

Interview 1.........................................................................................................................................14

Interview 2.........................................................................................................................................15

Interview 3.........................................................................................................................................16

References.................................................................................................................................................17

2

Acknowledgements

We warmly acknowledge the continuous encouragement, invaluable supervision, timely

suggestions and inspired guidance offered by Prof. Anil Gupta, Professor, Indian Institute of

Management Ahmedabad, in bringing this report to a successful completion.

We are grateful to Ms. Surekha Prasad, Office Manager, NCR, Getdomestichelp.com for her

time and useful insights.

We would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Urnima,Manager - Research, Documentation and

Communication Cell,Saath Charitable Trust, Ahmedabad for giving us ideas that were useful in

our project.

We are also thankful to all the workers who willingly interacted with us and shared their

concerns and knowledge.

3

The Domestic Help Industry

The Indian domestic work industry provides employment to over 22 million people. Though this

industry provides cheap labor it is mostly unorganized and unreliable. The recent surge in the

middle class population has led to a corresponding increase in demand for domestic help. This

increase in demand has led to surge in bad practices such as child trafficking and sale of children

by poor families. While there are a few NGOs working in this industry to prevent such activities

these are very few. Madad’s verification of its employees’ background ensures that such

exploitation does not take place. We at Madad care for the welfare of our employees as much as

we do for the satisfaction of our customers.

Reason for Selecting this Sector for the Venture

With every passing day, Urban India is becoming more and more occupied. Rising expectations

regarding education and career and the increasing competitiveness in these fields have lead

people to spend more time than ever in classrooms and offices. This combined with higher

ability and propensity to spend has led to a boom in demand for help; help wherever help can be

availed. No longer would a working woman insist on cooking and cleaning for the family, she’d

rather have a maid to do that. The concept of specialization has spread from the corporate to the

households and everyone is happy to let the maalis, the dhobis, the maharajas, the ayahs and all

to do what they do best. Madad is an initiative aimed at facilitating the hire of these specialists in

an easy, hassle free manner.

Reason for Choosing this Venture

This venture has been started not with a motive of earning profits but the main aim of the venture

is to provide some basic skills to the financially weaker sections of the society who can become

employable and also to provide a support base so that they can support their respective families.

4

About Madad

Madad is an online platform where people who want a help can specify their requirements such

as gender, age, language etc. We will take their specifications and provide them with the best

match from our database of trained candidates. We help people looking for domestic help for

both short term and long term periods. We provide for domestic help positions such as cook,

house help, babysitter, driver and old people care taker. We are a one stop destination for all the

problems.

How is it Different from the Services Offered by the Local Broker?

Madad’s main proposition to its customers is trust. At Madad, we do a thorough check on the

background of all potential candidates before they are entered into the database. Police

verification of candidate details helps to build trust between the hirers of the help and the worker.

Madad also offers convenience as customers can choose from a wide range of options in

different aspects such as role, language, age, experience, religion etc. Customers also have the

flexibility of specifying short periods for which they will be employing a worker.

All the domestic help workers will be well trained according to services they will be providing.

so that the clients could be rest assured of the services they will be providing with. Not only are

the domestic help we provide well trained and groomed for providing you the best services. The

venture also trains them in basic hygiene so that they maintain a good hygiene and cleanliness at

the clients’ places.

The venture will do a background verification of all the domestic help that will be provided -

from their address, family background, criminal background to the very last health and hygiene

verification. So the domestic help provided through the venture will be very reliable.

How do we operate?

The venture will have a tie up with NGOs working in slum areas in the city. There we could find

a good base of people who have got basic education and are unable to find jobs who will be the

5

segment of people who will look to register with our enterprise.. We then look for the people

who are ready to work as domestic help in the various categories of ours.

The NGOs will train them so that they gain expertise in handling the modern day demands from

the clients. There will be a contract between the NGOs and the enterprise such that from

providing them technical details to speaking, general etiquettes, to maintaining hygiene we

develop them in all domains. A detailed database of the well trained and groomed workers will

be maintained and uploaded in the website so that they could be the ones from whom the clients

can choose.

When a client logs on to the website, he places his demands in respect to various criteria’s

he/she has. Then the demands of the clients are matched with the details of the registered people

in the database. Immediately the results will be displayed and the client will be informed of the

progress. Then interviews will be held so that the client gets to choose his/her preference. If the

client feels satisfied with a particular domestic help worker he hires him. The rates and the other

terms and conditions are also developed.

This is how the needy clients looking for domestic help with certain criteria will be assisted by

the venture in finding them the domestic help with the required skills of their preference.

Our Target Customers

Initially, our target segment would be middle to upper class city dwellers. The venture will open

mainly in metros as there is a high concentration of families with working parents in metros and

as the need for domestic workers is generally the highest in metros.

6

Value Position of the Venture

Madad will form a link between the NGOs who are constantly directing their efforts in providing

the financially weaker people opportunities to lead a better life and the people who are in search

of a reliable, skillful, trust worthy and a domestic help of their choice. It will relieve the clients

from the headache of finding out a domestic help, details of their help, getting his verifications

and other such hassles.

Market Analysis – Finding out Strategies to Address Concerns of Both the

Clients and the Probable Employees

Before starting the team tried to do a complete analysis of this market trying to get a complete

idea about the demand possible from the city of Ahmedabad. In order to analyze the market size

for such a service, we decided to conduct a survey in the city of Ahmedabad. We distributed a

questionnaire amongst the people. The overall questionnaire was designed so that there are no

unambiguous responses and very little scope for bias. Form layout was made suitable e.g

personal information was requested at the end. The questionnaire have questions presented in

logical sequence starting from information regarding their residential area ,the number of family

members , the present number of domestic helps in their house, the average payment for such

help, their interest for availing this facility and the willingness to pay for such a service. The

questionnaire and excerpts of some of the interviews are placed in the appendix.

The questionnaire aimed at finding the perfect target segment of the population who has the

financial stability to afford such a service and also to determine the price they will be ready to

pay to avail such a facility.

7

Ngos involved in skill-development and empowerment programs for the under-priviledgedClients searching for background verified , etiquette learned, multi-skill domestic helpMADAD

We also talked with some players with ventures same as ours in other cities and also tried to find

out their experience in this sector and the issues in this business.

One of the agencies which we contacted was ‘getdomestichelp.com’. This agency is operated by

alums from Kellogs, ISB and IIT and is operational in NCR, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and

Mumbai. We contacted Surekha Prasad over phone and email, she has been working with this

agency for over 4 years and her expertise lies in client relations, training and placement. We sent

her a list of questions over the email. The questions we asked with the reply are as follows:

1. Is the demand of domestic help more than the people you register? If yes then what is the

difference of demand and supply on a yearly basis?

Ans - When we started the company as very few people were aware of what we were offering, it

was difficult to find clients. Slowly down the years as people became aware of our offerings

through word of mouth. We were able to build a large client base. Right now overall we are

facing shortage of supply of domestic help. For “live in” domestic help we are facing shortage of

workers but for full day and half day domestic help we are neck to neck.

2. How many days on average in a month do a temporary help get employment from your

enterprise?

Ans - We do not place our workers on temporary basis. We only provide permanent placements

for our workers.

3. Which are the jobs for which the demand is the high – cook, drivers,maid, nanny, elderly

care? What is the rate for each person?

Ans - Out of the services we provide the demand for maid and cook are in particular very high.

However for nanny and elderly care we don't have sufficient number of clients.

The rates vary from city to city, but largely in the job category it also varies according to the

contact from full time, half time or live-in etc. The kind of contract we are able to provide the

salary of Rs. 3000/- to Rs. 10000/- Per month. We do ensure that a worker is getting the daily

wage rate.

8

4. Are the people registered with your agency can be registered somewhere else or work on his

own at the same time?How do you ensure that the people would always be available when

you call them or when there is demand?

Ans - The people who are employed full time and live in with the clients cannot be registered

with any other agency or work on his own somewhere else at the same time. The workers

working on temporary bases are allowed to work on their own in their free time. The wage rate

we provide is higher than what they get working normally; this ensures that workers are

available whenever we call them.

5. How do you ensure the back ground check of your registered domestic help personnel?

Ans - We are in tie up with an agency which does the background check of the registered

workers. They check the government documents (PAN card, ration card etc.), criminal records

and local residence verification.

6. How do you ensure the safety of the clients and their property from the people whom you

send as help especially in cases of help for elderly or physically challenged people?

Ans - We do not mechanism to ensure the safety of clients and their property besides verifying

the background check of our workers. However in case of miss-happening we dedicated to help

our clients in any legal procedures.

7. How do you address the concerns of safety of your clients?

Ans - We answer the safety concern of our clients by showing the previous track record of our

workers placed with our clients. Along with that we have got the background check done through

the agency. So the workers registered with us are very trustworthy.

8. How do you collect feedback?

Ans - We collect the feedback from our clients on a monthly basis. we mail our feedback form to

their email Ids and get the responses. We then analyse the shortcomings of the workers and give

then training in that domain.

9

9. If a client complains about the person whom you have sent accusing of theft, or willful

slowness of work or angry outburst, how do you handle such situations?Do you take action

against the concerned domestic help?If yes, then what actions do you take?

Ans - Whenever a client makes any complain, we try to ensure that the client’s complaint is

addressed and he/she is provided with a new worker. But if we feel that the client is making any

unjustified demand, we try to negotiate with the client. But if he/she is unwilling to cooperate,

we stop serving that client.

We also interacted with 12 workers which included three dorm cleaners, two CT workers, one

delivery person each from Dominos and McDonalds, two cooks, one electrician, one laundry

person and one driver. We tried to find out their concerns and thereafter to find out means to

address their problems. We also learnt about their monthly earnings, the number of hours and

days they get employment, their salary expectancy based on labor intensiveness and time

required to work. We found that most of them have changed their job even for a small salary

increase in spite of the new work being more labor intensive and time demanding. We also found

that the workers were apprehensive about losing their job and being badly treated by their

employers. They had a good perception about agencies which provided employment as these

agencies provided them with job security and better work condition, wage rate and compensation

structure.

We also contacted 2-3 NGOs working in Ahmedabad to find out the slims form which they are

employing, their training programs, their probable terms and conditions of contract if they try to

form a pact with our venture, the problems they face and the legal issues involved.

Questionnaire for the Clients

The questionnaire used in our survey is given below. It was a mixture of open ended and closed

ended questions

1. Do you have domestic help in your house?

2. If yes, no of helps in your house

3. What jobs are done by them?

10

4. How many hours do they work at your home?

5. No of days in the week they come to your house

6. What is the approximate money spent one each of them?

7. How many leaves do they take in a month?

8. What do you do in such times?

9. Will you like to have a temporary domestic help for 1 or 2 days in case of absence of

your permanent domestic help?

10. In which area of Ahmedabad do you live?

11. Do you own a car?

12. No of family members in your family

13. Your age

14. Single/ married

Results of the Survey

The results of the interest survey brought out some interesting findings:

Almost 80% people showed interest in such a service

75% people felt the requirement of a temporary help in the days their domestic help took

leaves

55% of the respondents agreed to pay a price higher than the per day charge of the

domestic help they had

Average no of leaves per domestic help per family – 2 per month

81% families having an average income of more than Rs 20,000/- p.m have more than

one domestic help

SWOT Analysis

We performed the SWOT Analysis for this business and we identified the following Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

11

Strengths

Unique position in the value chain

First entry – Early bird advantage

Weaknesses

Higher cost relative to the unorganized domestic help

Initially lack of trust

Opportunities

Multiple earning members in the families and hence higher disposable incomes

More urbanized lifestyle

Demand of specialists

Highly untapped market

Threats

Supply side constraint

The SWOT analysis is given below in a pictorial format.

12

Work Done Till Now

Till now we have conducted the survey and estimated a basic outline of the financials. We also

have tried to come to a final decision with the NGOs so that we can have a steady supply of

skilled man power for the clients. We also have formed a basic website and are in the process of

inculcating the features in it. This is a snapshot of our website that we have prepared till now.

13

Way Forward

As we move forward, we plan to provide other kind of services which include

Specialized work-force requiring specific skill sets e.g. gardeners, electricians, carpenters

Expansion into other cities especially Tier1 cities

Cater not only to households but also to shops and corporate offices in the form of

delivery boys or salesman

Transform into an online portal having a dispensable workforce like a travelling

electrician, travelling plumber etc

Provide other kind of services such as

Domestic help search and hire solution

Domestic help verification

Past employment verification

14

Appendix

Excerpts of some of the interviews of clients

Interview 1

26 years old, working unmarried female


A: Yes


A: 2


A: 1 driver, 1 housemaid


A: Driver- Full day; Maid- 3hrs/day


A: 7 days a week


A: Spends about Rs 800/- on the house-maid and Rs 4500/- on the driver per month


A: Driver - 2 days; Maid- 3-4 days


A: Manage alone



A: Yes


A: Chandkeda


A; Yes, a Honda Brio


15

A: 3

13. Your age

A: 26

14. Single/ married

A: Single

Interview 2

45 years old, working married male


A: Yes


A: 3


A: 1 driver, 1 housemaid, 1cook


A: Driver- Full day; Maid- 3hrs/day Cook- 5-6 hrs/day


A: All except the driver is 7 days/week, Driver only 5 days/week


A: Spends about Rs 1500/- on the house-maid and Rs 10000/- on the driver per month


A: Driver - 1 day; Maid- 3-4 days; Cook- 2 days/week


A: Find someone else for the time-being or manage alone



A: Yes


A: Navrangpura


16

A; Yes, a Tata Safari and a Honda Civic


A: 5

13. Your age

A: 45

14. Single/ married

A: Married

Interview 3

53 years old, non-working married female


A: Yes


A: 1


A: 1 housemaid who often cooks the food


A: Maid- 3hrs/day


A: 7 days a week


A: Spends about Rs 700/- on the house-maid


A: Maid- 3 days


A: Manage alone



A: No


17

A: Vastrapur village


A; Yes, a Maruti Alto


A: 5

13. Your age

A: 53

14. Single/ married

A: Married

References

http://www.saath.org/

http://www.getdomestichelp.com/

http://www.grotal.com/Ahmedabad/Maid-Agencies-C71/

http://ahmedabad.click.in/classifieds/search/1/77/maid+agency.html

18

Documents

Acknowledgements - startupsristi1.weebly.com€¦ · Web viewThis increase in demand has led to surge in bad practices such as child trafficking and sale of children by poor families