Ashwin Suresh, Managing Director, Megamorph Marketing Private Limited, shares his expert views on how Indian SMEs can make a difference with a “Glocal” approach in the cleaning industry.
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The diversity in India is unique. The country’s markets come in a bewildering assortment of sizes and development stages, and its customers hail from a multitude of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Their tastes and preferences evolve constantly. The speed and scale of change in Asian consumer markets can surprise even experienced executives.
A large population also poses many challenges, like cleanliness, hygiene and overall sanitation. Many in India have scoffed at the vision of a truly “Swaach Bharat”, identifying the population as the largest barrier. But over the past few years, we have seen citizens of many towns and cities take personal accountability for their surroundings. Cities like Indore, Visakhapatnam, Mysore among many others have taken the lead in demonstrating effective public private partnership to make a difference. Today the opportunity is clearer than ever.
To achieve this national mission of Swachh Bharat, the cleaning industry plays a pivotal role. MNCs face the challenge of many different “Indias” within the subcontinent. The big differences include the haves and havenots, languages, literacy, and geography; these make it difficult for a global brand to satisfy all of the country’s consumers. With the positive outlook of our manufacturing, defense, hospitality, tourism & IT industries, there is an ever-growing demand and challenge of maintaining the required level of cleanliness & hygiene.
Indian consumers demand sophisticated products and services found in the West, but at lower prices. From the rate for a simple telephone call, to finding the right solution for your cleaning needs, the Indian customer is keen to get superior quality at a good value proposition. The cleaning industry is a perfect example of the amalgamation of the two strongest visions of our Honorable Prime Minister: “Swachh Bharat Mission” & “Make In India”. There is phenomenal opportunity for many entrepreneurs & their SMEs to partner with these missions and provide employment to many skilled & unskilled workers, while contributing to the growing GDP.
The Cleaning Industry in India is growing at 40% year on year, with almost an equal share between the organized and unorganized sectors. India cleaning chemicals market stood at $ 2,388 million in 2016, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15% in value terms to reach $ 9,655 million by the end of 2026, on the account of increasing incidence of various infections, rapid urbanization, coupled with growing number of new commercial setups and increasingly stringent safety standards.
The flexibility in the laws has made it easier to start a successful cleaning company in India. There are businesses to be formed with relatively low capital investment, and the extreme demand for the cleaning services & products in the country has given a new life to the cleaning industry in India.
Over the past 20 years, multinational companies have made considerable inroads into the Indian market. But many have failed to realize their potential: some have succeeded only in niches and not achieved large-scale market leadership, while others haven’t maximized economies of scale or tapped into the country’s breadth of talent. Reason for failing is he inability to learn to do business the Indian way, rather than simply imposing global business models and practices on the local market.
The parent company paid marginal attention to local operations there and was unwilling to adapt to changing market conditions.
It is this gap that an Indian SME can capture by structuring their businesses in an organized, efficient & sustainable manner. Blending the required structure with our inherent deep understanding of Indian culture can build companies, brands & products that are reputed globally.
We, at Megamorph Marketing manufacture institutional & industrial cleaning solutions under the brand name CareClean, catering to the specific requirements of the Indian cleaning market. This experience has garnered international interest & repute and enabled us to start exports as well. Here, are a few strategic structuring decisions that we have blended into our system, which can help other SMEs to build international brands.
An Indian Advantage
Instead of building your business on an international structure of model, adding an essence of Indian culture into your business will ensure that the business & the customer are in sync. One must understand the unique challenge faced due to multiple languages in many regions and provide marketing, training & other such collaterals in regional languages as well.
Customer Centric Culture
Customer is the purpose of our existence. Every person of an organization must be tuned into understanding the needs and requirements of the customer. A holistic view of the customer is required to design & develop products that exceed expectations. Manufacturing, quality, sales, service & even your accounting systems must be streamlined to best suit the customer’s needs. A customer centric culture provides a positive customer experience before and after the sale. This would drive repeat business, customer loyalty and mutual benefits. And a customer-centric organization is more than just a company that offers good service – but one which structures itself around the needs and requirements of it’s customer as a business partner and not just a supplier.
CareClean has taken unique initiatives to train the client staff & end user on right & safe usage of our solutions. Training is provided in multiple languages and display signage of usage, dilution, etc. in regional languages as well.
Quality – Strict Zero Tolerance Policy
Quality should be a way of life in all walks of business. Quality is an attitude not just science. Every individual component that becomes a part of your finished product must be inspected, tested & certified for usage and consistency. It is only then that your front-end team of sales & service representatives can market high quality products to their clients with great confidence. Customer confidence and loyalty are always built on reliability and quality of products and services. CareClean offer products that are tested and certified for quality, environmental impact & removal of microbial organisms.
Cash & Cost Optimization
While evaluating the financial health of any organization, the optimization of the cash flow and cost is crucial. Keen and routine monitoring of cash flow will lead to good overall business health. A business owner must focus on collections of dues and equally value payment of dues to ensure a positive cash cycle in the Industry.
Automating of manufacturing unit, efficient logistics, inventory management and other such techniques will assist a business in generating more efficiencies in cost leading to better margins & higher value for the end customer. CareClean offers excellent value proposition with it’s cleaning solutions offering cost optimizations of over 40% against many international products, which is a direct benefit to the bottom line of the customer.
Logistics & Distribution network
Having an efficient supply chain management is a key factor to product success. Close monitoring of inventory levels, transit times and secondary sales can give business insights into untapped value and efficiency. Technology integration in inventory management and logistics can help business owner to track movements of their products across the value chain and ensure customer satisfaction. Prompt deliveries, minimum stock maintenance along the value chain, efficient loading & transportation will offer a high level of efficiency & control over the value chain.
By shortening delivery time, businesses can add value to customers and create loyalty. At Megamorph, the majority of all dispatches are done within two days of order processing and a highly efficient national network ensures doorstep delivery within a maximum of five to seven days even at the furthest end of our country and less than three days for most places.
To make a difference in India and International markets and become truly a global player with a Glocal approach, every organization must strive towards moving from Good to Great in all aspects of business and customer management. India enjoys a high status commensurate with its long-term profit potential and have the autonomy needed for significant results. They have to focus on growth opportunities in urban clusters. Their products and prices must be tailored to local preferences. Finally, they must learn how to market, sell, and distribute products through a variety of channels and retail formats.