Sunil Vitkar owns two handcarts and a mobile food van and makes close to Rs 10,000 a day. The 35-year-old,who also supplies tiffin to the employees of IT firms located in the Viman Nagar area of Pune,wants to start a catering business and operate out of a real shop. A dream he may soon be able to achieve,thanks to the students of the Europe Asia Business School (EABS) in Pune. For,15 students of EABS are working with vendors like Vitkar as part of a project that will give them a chance to apply the concepts of microeconomics that they learn in class and help small businesses grow. The idea was conceived by Professor Richa Vyas and EABS Director Nikhil Agarwal as a voluntary assignment for the students last year. We chose to work with organisations at the bottom of the pyramid because we believe that for the overall growth of the economy,the progress of vendors and other small businessmen is very important, says Agarwal. What initially began as an experiment in the previous year,with two students adopting a local tea vendor near the school,has become a full-fledged activity this year,after the vendor managed to not only boost his own business but also open a proper shop of his own, he says. The school has taken up the project in collaboration with Young Indians,which is a part of the Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Entrepreneurship Forum based in France. The four-month project,which began on January 1,will see the students charting the development of the vendors. In case the businesses are not seen to have developed adequately,the next batch of students will take over. The concept is a two-way learning process,Agarwal says. It provides practical management experience to students,and the vendors learn how to structure their business, he says. Gargi Kumari,who has adopted a local flower vendor,says,When I started observing the vendor,Sameer Mahapatra,I saw that not only was his kiosk not kept clean,but everyday wastage was very high. We are chalking out a plan to make the place look better and to limit the wastage of flowers and ferns. Nimesh Marfatia,who works with Vitkar,says,Vitkar is very clear about what he wants. What he is unsure about is how to achieve it. I have suggested that he improve the hygiene in his stalls and put up the menu on a board so customers know whats on offer. Other plans include introduction of new items,improving customer relations and bringing the workers together. With 15 vendorsmost of them illiterate or semi-literate immigrants from nearby villagesnow adopted by the students,Agarwal aims to help 100 such vendors in the next year and also to take the project to rural areas. Working with the rural populace is a different challenge,as the basic barrierslanguage and villagers opposition to new ventureshave to be overcome, Agarwal says.
