Salt- With a pinch of style & Expression

“No dream is so big until you start Dreaming of it. And if you do so, then you are about to realize your dreams by jus adding a..Pinch of SALT” say Mr. Pankaj Khandhar, director of SALT- fashion accessories. Salt is a concept of filling the gap of lifestyle accessories. From chic designer pieces and the latest fashion accessories to timeless classics, Salt has jewelry to suit everyone, every outfit and ever occasion. Salt reflect and interprets youth and vibrancy. From contemporary to ethnic, every piece of Salt fashion accessories presents an electric array signifying a statement in itself.

Franchise Today has unleashed the brand by knowing its origin, growth, vision, future plans and various other things to showcase SALT in franchise bazzar. Franchises Today explore the brand by having a Q & A session with its director, Mr. Pankaj Khandhar.

Shed some light on the origin of the concept for “SALT”?
SALT is an endeavor to cater to the fashion needs of ‘The New India’, promoted by SPAN Apparels. SPAN has been in the fashion industry for more than 3 decades, designing, manufacturing and exporting. So the idea was to leverage our fashion expertise by cater the daily fashion gap of women in India. SALT product range is of authentic and import-grade designer accessories.

Q. What does the company name “SALT” symbolize?

Salt (the food) has been a part of our daily life and therefore we wanted to position SALT as a part of the daily lifestyle. It essentially stands for the global quality standards we wish to work upon and a mission to enhance the lifestyle of women. SALT is also an acronym of Span Accessories and Lifestyle Trends.

Q. Which is the development phase Salt has passed from its origin to till date?

We are done with the market research and business modeling. And now are completely focused on business development with our Phase 1 launch in the top 15 cities pan India. All SALT Studios, across the nation, shall be launched on a single day with national media coverage and huge fan-fare.

Q. What inspired Salt to take the franchise route to expand its business?

In fact I’ll never use the word franchise in our case; it is more of a ‘business-partner’ model that we wish to work on. Here none of us can completely ignore the growth of each other. Every partner gets to work at global standards and a global grade product with affordable pricing.

Q. Which franchise module works along with your brand?

SALT works on a revenue sharing model. Against an upfront investment the franchisee gets tangible assets, while on the recurring model he/she only pays for the manpower. All major risk points in terms of the rent, electricity; stock, operational expenses, etc are borne by the company. For the real entrepreneurs, we have a second model where they pay the rent and walk away with more than double the profits.

Q. What kind of training and support a franchisee would get when partnering with you?

The company will be very proactive in their support. We have a pipeline of operational support in terms of manpower training, ERP software training and product/sales training. Moreover the company will bear all the marketing/branding, transportation and other supporting costs.

Q What’s your take on the futuristic view of accessories and imitation product business around the globe?

The global fashion accessories market is growing by leaps and bounds, as looking good has become very important. India is growing rapidly in this already huge segment with no practically no designer brand to serve its needs. People now aspire for authentic quality over quantity and with growing fashion sense in India (especially among the youth) only the good brands backed with fashion expertise will prosper.

Q. What are the future plans of your brand “SALT”?

We have planned several phase-wise expansion plans. But to give a futuristic view, down the line, in the next 5 years, we are planning to penetrate more than 100 cities including international geographies.

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My Own English Coaching- MOEC

To lead the education arena of the English language in specific and personality development in general is the vision which MOEC gauge. MOEC with a systematic process aims that learners are served and elevated to enhance their skill and knowledge generating capacity to utilize in a manner that meets the demand of time and social expectation. MOEC will strive for an importance of an individual personality as it has realized that it’s a world of English speaking, and for this it enhance your skill, proffered your personality with eminent of confidence to make you stand at pinnacle.

“Now learning English is child�s play” is that one belief which was explore by the chaiman of MOEC, Mr. Yashvant Vyas and the head of R & D, Dr. Dharmendra Sheth in their Q & A session with Franchise Today.

Q. What was the vision behind the origin of “MOEC”?

English is a global language. It plays a vital role in today’s world of competition an opportunities. In India, too, it is a tool for communication in all walks of life. It has indeed become the key to success. However, there was and has always been a dearth of quality language institutes that can prepare study material and provide coaching in keeping with internationally acceptable standards. Keeping this in mind, we started MOEC.

Q. Dr Sheth, why is there a steady increase in the number of learners of English?

There are many reasons why the number of learners of English is on the increase. One, there are more growth opportunities for those who know English. Two, educational opportunities have spread even to the remotest areas of the country. Third, the private education market in India is approximately worth $47 billion in 2010 and is estimated at increasing to $68 billion by 2012. Last but not least, English enjoys a high status in India.

Q. Mr Vyas, what inspired MOEC to take the franchise route to expand business?

MOEC is a market leader in the field of English Language Teaching in south Gujarat. It is one of the oldest institutes in the region with an impressive track record. Because of its commitment to quality, MOEC has carved out a niche for itself as a language institute with the highest success ratio. Our R&D department has come out with unique courses and methodology and we would like to share our knowledge with the rest of the country.

Q. Mr Vyas, what are the future plans for the brand MOEC?

After solidifying our presence in south Gujarat, we plan to start about 25 franchise centres in Gujarat in a year. After that in the next five years, we plan to have at least 100 centres all over India. We also plan to strengthen our presence in fields such coaching centres for a) computer operating, software and designing, b) competitive exams such as GPSC, UPSC, MBA entrance and recruitment exams for bank, LIC, government sector, etc.

Q. Dr Sheth, what supports will you provide to your franchisee, and what do you expect the franchisee to do?

MOEC will:

Provide course books and teacher training on a chargeable basis
Assist in recruitment for faculty and counselors
Supply formats for promotional material
Suggest strategies for business growth and development
The franchisee is expected to:

Sign the agreement and abide by the terms & conditions
Establish a centre at a suitable location
Appoint faculty, counsellor and other support staff
Purchase course books from the head office
Undertake local promotional activities such as banners, posters, pamphlets, hoardings and road shows
Q. Mr Vyas, what is your marketing and sales strategy?

Some of the activities that we carry out to promote our courses are:

Special fee structure according to the location and occasion
Group discount
Free counselling and trial sessions
Discount for students upgrading to a higher level
Combo Pack offers
Contests to attract students
Seminars in Schools, Colleges, NGO’s, Corporates etc. to get maximised student base

Geo Information and Modeling Solutions (GIMS)

Geo Information and Modeling Solution (GIMS) is a group of professionals who are into Geo Information and Geo Modeling. GIMS are the innovators of GEO REFERENCE MODEL (GRM) a technology solution for Real Estate, construction and infrastructure projects. They have delivered more than 250 GRM projects and provided solution for various clients globally. Their training division has successfully trained more than 1200 students is last 8 years. They are Google Authorized Training Center for Google Sketch up in India.GIMS is seeking regional partners as franchisees to take care of business of the region. This exclusive opportunity comes to you with complete technology transfer for a complete range of solution.

Profelirate GIMS more by knowing its showcase in franchise bazzar from a Q & A session with its CEO, Mr. Guruprasad T N.

Q. How did GIMS come into being?

Geo Information was easily available and accessible to common man till recent times. After Google released Earth Geo data was made available free. This created lot of opportunity to develop applications. WE did required R&D and developed Geo Reference Model. That is how GIMS came into existence.

Q. In what ways GIMS different from other comapny? What is the USP?

GIMS is a company involved in development of projects on the location of Google Earth. We are also Google Authorized Training Center. We part our development expertise to train students.

Q. Any hurdles faced by you during this journey? And how you over came them?

Developing a new product and testing successfully in the market is a big task. And it is more risky. GIMS has successfully done that.

Q. How your organisation did think of foreseeing yourself into franchising business?

WE need to expand the business to the entire country. We have done the R&D, Market test, and executed 250 projects in India and abroad. The business model is ready. So expansion through franchising is the good option.

Q. What is the franchising policy that you have adopted?

We are in service industry. Ensure client satisfaction at every point.

Q. What are the eligibility criteria for taking the franchise of GIMS?

We are looking for entrepreneurs who want to invest and involve. Ability to invest and market GRM services. Investment will be in the three ranges.

Regional partner: 40 to 50 L (JV)
Franchisee : 5 to 7 lakh
Local Business Center individual with laptop and 50 K investment.
Q. What all training and support do you provide to the franchisees?

We do have a system for supporting our franchisees. We ensure that the entire technology is passed on the through our training and support them. We do have a portal developed for the purpose. We have developed application to host the projects developed by our team.

Q. What are the company’s future plans for expansion through franchising?

We have divided the country into 8 regions. Each region will have a Regional partner. All the projects of the region will be executed in the regional office. Regional office will have franchisees and local business centers.

When it comes to lifestyle with class and luxury- all you have is Coffee Culture – The Ristorante Lounge, says Mr. Gaurav Narang, MD of culture cuisine India pvt ltd. The Ristorante Lounge is termed as hippest and the most happening place by all coffee lover. The lounge concept has got the most exquisite interiors, exotic menu and thematic music Coffee Culture Lounge offers a whole new experience to the connoisseur while assisting the latter through its team of hostesses who are poise and style incarnate and are looked upon as fashion icons.

How did Coffee Culture – The Ristorante Lounge come into being?
Cafe culture in our country is not new. Ever since 2000, the cafe market has been entering every nook and corner of our country making people habituated to it. Well, a need for something much ahead of time – a concept which is much more ahead than just a regular cafe, definitely a market quite virgin for something new and unique, and consumers evolving – always looking for a better experience, and a lifestyle.
And Coffee Culture TRL was born.

In what ways, Coffee Culture – The Ristorante Lounge is different from other lounge. What is the USP?
Coffee Culture TRL is not just about being a lounge or a cafe or a restaurant. Its about a lifestyle, an experience, class & luxury. The USP of our brand is uniquely designed atmosphere, special effects in our beverages, high quality food, live music.

How many outlets do you have presently? What are you future target locations to expand?
Coffee Culture TRL format – we have 2 outlets; overall Coffee Culture – we have 5 outlets. Our target location is purely high street areas in TIER 2 and TIER 3 cities.

What kind of training and support a franchisee would get when partnering with you?
We have a proven for running the outlet successfully for which we train the franchisee and the manpower prior to opening and ongoing. The franchisee is monitored on day to day basis on the basis of audits, quality checks, customer handling, new product line, time to time changes, etc.

What are your strategies to beat your competition?
Talking about Coffee Culture TRL, our strategy is to improvise everyday; beat our own targets and be more customer oriented. We would follow the customer and not the competition.

What are your future plans for your brand?
By the end of 2011, we would have around 35 outlets. And our next five year plan, is to have around 120 outlets in India & other countries.