Rottenning in my job which offers no scope for further advancement I have always been thinking of starting a new business. My wife is always terrified by my mere thought of giving up a job which offers comfortable living if not a lavish living. Well, this time my son came to my rescue. He consoled his mom saying my euphoria is not going to last for long. It seemed like an old story, I thought,....I will have to give up my dream to become one such successful entrepreneur.
I was in my low when my son came and offered me to help. He suggested me that why not search for an innovative business idea. I seemed to like the keyword: Innovation, innovative ideas, innovative ways of doing the old things. Bitten by the word "Innovation and it's close encounters I started hitting all likely keywords into Google.
I came across many great ideas which initially thought to be innovative but I wanted to hit upon a unique idea that had not been tried earlier. Sooner I realized that the Internet is full of old tried ideas and it became clear that I resign to old style of going in hibernation for some time for thinking of an idea. My wife generally is averse to my idea of going alone to some nearby spots like Khandala or Lonavala for confining myself in solitude that may help me in concentrate and think. One reason, I know if it's true, I may think of other women...that's obvious....no, no...not that I am going to thing of other women it is obvious a married woman to think in such way if her man goes out and stays at such romantic places....so my son comes again to my rescue..."Dad, why not go to our old flat"...well I must tell you that our small old flat is just 150 meters away. I liked ingenuity of my son who he is trying to help me out at the same time he is trying to protect his mother.
It was decided that we place a new A.C . and so it was done. My wife did not forget to meet our old neighbors and entrusted them a job of keeping a watch on me...nevertheless neighbors always volunteer to do such work, don't they?
It happened that I was reading Paulo Coelho, consuming bottled water and new news channels were blaring about the pollution, particularly Air Pollution in cities of India. Suddenly something happened and I knew that the whole universe was conspiring to show me a path injecting omens....
...if there is a packaged or bottled water, why not packaged air ?
I have come from the age where we were taught that water and air are the free gifts of nature and therefore never thought that we need to pay for them. But see the providence....we are happily paying for bottled water. I understand that there is a problem with water...that the water is not available everywhere...and that water even if available it should be potable.But the same can't be said about air...the air is available every where...even in the desert of Sahara...in africa's jungle and draught-stricken districts of India. So why should anybody buy a packaged air?
That was the big question....but if we could make people buy packaged air nothing like that, I thought.
One fine morning I summoned my son to find out if there is packaged air available. My son probed me, "are you serious?". I said," yes".
"Then please allow me some time to do a serious research for what you think is a great idea. But I need keys of our old flat". Anyway it was a long time that I was going to our old flat for thinking in solitude and even our old neighbours had given up keeping watch on me as one of our neighbor quipped that nothing interesting was happening in our flat.
" No problem, I said and give him the keys".
( Develop this sub-plot later...)
Son came back saying that packaged air in fact was available in some advanced countries, it is used for blowing dust.
"well, nobody is going to buy my packaged air simply to blow dust"
My question was why they needed a tinned bottle of air, they could have used blower or vacuum cleaner instead. I was told by my dutiful son that there are circumstances in which you need to use compressed air packed from a can. I asked him to probe further if people in foreign countries were using air the way we use bottled water.
"No, but governments there release pure oxygen in cities that have been polluted above a certain norm, and the money for this comes from tax collected from polluting industries.
I know that the governments here won't be releasing oxygen in the air in polluting cities let alone from the pollution taxes that they collect. They simply do not have a habit of doing so and even if they were willing to do so they will have to release oxygen through out the India, which you all will agree would be cumbersome besides stunningly expensive. I decided to shelve my idea because Indian state governments would not be buying oxygen for releasing in the air and also if they decide to do so there are already people / companies offering such services.
"Don't loose your heart Dad", my son continues " you still make the people buy the packaged air if people feel that there is a shortage of air or pure air. See how Reliance Energy declared that they can charge the differential rates during the deemed load shedding....the rates could be much higher...like mobile phone
plans...."
My question is : could there be such period when you choose not
to breathe....or breathe less air....
"the question is of quality air", my son quipped "so make cities
filled with less of pure air and then induce people to buy canned air".
"making cities more polluting?"
"No, no….only that people should feel that their cities are more polluting. You know Dad that these days there is a more and more emphasis placed on performance and so you can make them believe that they indeed need to inhale more of pure air for peak performance. It's not the question of true or false but the question is of believing and if they start believing your story may be people will buy it …canned air ….from you…that it is the question of M & A "
" Merger & Acquisition?" I was surprised. I had no inkling of such idea in my financial training.
"No, no….it's Marketing & Advertising", he quipped.
"Oh, that's alright but how people will use canned air?"
"That's a real question…we need to research on that. Using it as an oxygen mask would be too much embarrassing & inconvenient…may be as an inhaler?
Well idea is progressing in right direction, I thought.
"Will anybody buy my idea?" I asked.
"I don't know", said my son.
"I shall pay you half the profit if you help me", I retorted "in actually selling the product."
"Dad, you know I am a consultant type….I can suggest you ways in identifying resources, market, technology & make reports, prepare presentations. And you want to become an entrepreneur, so I am afraid that the whole responsibility & headache of implementation is yours."
"But you know Dad I am your son and would not like you to fail miserably like the most start-ups. Well you know dad that the latest research show that performance depends more on energy levels of a person and not on his age, sex or education…so I can get you at least one customer …the first one very quickly so that you get a head start.
"You yourself would be your first customer", son quipped.
