Mitticool: The story of making pottery a succesful business

For the first field visited we went to the town of Wakaner, where we met with Mansukhbhai Prajapati and heard the story of Mitticool. When we arrived at the Mitticool premises, we first met the son of Mansukhbhai, Raja, who has been working for Mitticool for two years now. He showed us the showroom of the 130 Mitticool products. While Raja was explaining us something, Mansukhbhai himself entered the showroom and he showed us his innovations. The first innovation was an automated manufacturing process of tava plates, which was followed by the development of a water filter. In 2001, Gujarat was hit by a big earthquake, which affected Mansukh Bhai’s business because everything got broken and he made a huge financial loss in this period. However, a local newspaper published a story with a picture of the water filter developed by Mansukhbhai but the caption wrongly stated: “the poor man’s fridge got broken.” From that, he got the idea to develop the famous Mitticool fridge. His fourth innovation is a low pressure cooker, for which he got the idea from a student of IIMA.

The low-pressure cooker (top left), the water

 filter (left) and the fridge (middle).

After this introduction, we explained the purpose of the visit and the research and started with the interview. Mansukhbhai started telling about the harshness during his childhood, his family, moving from Morbi to Wakaner to find work, not finishing education, starting a shop with a friend, his work experience since childhood and finally about starting with the clay business.

Mansukhbhai worked in a factory but he had a strong desire to work for himself. One day in 1988 he met a moneylender, who was willing to give him a loan of Rs. 30.000 (350 EUR) with interest. With this initial investment, Mansukhbhai started the tava manufacturing company in his hometown Wakaner. His parents were also working in the pottery industry so he saw from close the suffering of people in the industry. Initially his parents were not very happy with his career choice, but he was convinced of his idea and the calculations he had made for the moneylender.
 

Mansukhbhai Prajapati explaining the production

process in his factory.

After the many clay innovations he developed, Mansukhbhai received an award for grassroots innovators from the president of India in 2009 and after that the success expanded. He got venture capital through an Indian governmental agency and knowledge support from a local grassroots incubation organization. This helped him a lot in developing and scaling the business. He also got international recognition and media outlets such as TIMES, Forbes and Discovery have shared his story – and Mansukhbhai is very proud of this.

Today, Mitticool is an enterprise that employs 80 people from the locality in manufacturing, has five people working on marketing and sales and is shipping products abroad, mostly to the Gulf States. The two sons of Mansukhbhai are also working for the enterprise – Raja for sales and Ravi for manufacturing. The path has not been easy until now, and both father and son know they need a lot of help also in the future –I assured them that I am willing to provide them help in any way possible I can.

What is grassroots entrepreneurship and why I want to study it?

When I started with my PhD, I knew that at some point I would have to do a field visit. Had I studied European social entrepreneurs, which is also a very interesting phenomenon, a field visit would have been closer to home and easier to organize. But I didn’t choose my research topic based on easiness but based on my passion – and that brought me kilometers away from home to India.

Entrepreneurs need in general financial capital (a loan from the bank or from previous entrepreneurial activities), human capital (education, skills, experiences) and social capital (the network around the entrepreneur) to develop innovations. In my research I focus on grassroots entrepreneurs, who basically have none or very little of these essential resources. Nevertheless, they managed to develop products that are bought by people living outside the village of the entrepreneurs. I want to understand the innovation process – how the entrepreneurs went from having an idea to developing a product and selling it accross India.

While it is a difficult process for any entrepreneur to convince retailers to take a product on the selves, it is even more complicated to do so for a grassroots entrepreneur. These entrepreneurs do not have the business processes (procuring, production, marketing, accounting and so on) as organized as for example entrepreneurs who have been trained at business schools. Grassroots entrepreneurship in India is also particularly interesting because it is a very hierarchical society. This is an additional complexity for grassroots entrepreneurs, who are based in a rural setting far away from the formal structures.

The cases I am looking at, are very famous cases and various local and international newspapers have covered the stories about these grassroots entrepreneurs. I have read every newspaper article written and watched every video clip about those grassroots entrepreneurs I want to cover in my study. So, I have a good understanding of what happened in the innovation process. However, I have not heard the story told by the actors themselves – the grassroots entrepreneurs – and that is the reason I came to India. I want to meet the persons behind the famous innovations and let them tell their stories.

And why I am interested in this particular topic? These are very inspiring individuals and there are many lessons these grassroots entrepreneurs can teach anyone. My curious mind cannot stop seeking for answers to all my questions - the how's and why's of the process. I also think that these entrepreneurs have not gotten the attention they deserve from researchers, policy makers or the general public. I want to do my share and have the grassroots entrepreneurs at the core of my research.

Namaste India - Namaste IIMA

When I started my exchange studies at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad three years ago, I was really excited about the adventure. After some time, I got more familiar with India and learned also about the many layers of inequality, unexplainable complexity and the constant chaos. In the end, I shortened my trip with a few days, because I wanted to leave this stressful country behind me.

However, it was this constant stress that made my exchange in India a meaningful experience. Seeing and partially also experiencing the rooted inequality triggered my interest in grassroots entrepreneurs innovating with only scarce resources. I wrote my master thesis about the topic and one year ago started with a PhD project to continue with my research. Now I am back at IIM-A to do field work, collect data and work with local researchers (more about this in future blog posts).

Despite everything, I am really happy to be back! Lots of memories come back – the time we got lost trying to find the bus stop of our night bus, studying in the library, partying in various dorms, eating breakfasts at the Marriot hotel, travelling and all the places I’ve seen, hanging out at the Alpha One mall, and so on. And on the campus, the restaurants are still the same and the people who work there are the same. The same chai guy makes still that amazing chai – all these years I have not been able to find chai that would have been even slightly as good as that chai! The same fruit guy is still on campus making fruit plates, sandwiches and juices. The guards at the entry gate, in the library and at the female dorms are also still the same.

The Indian students are still studying hard and exchange students planning their next trips. The university has accepted again 70 students, mostly from Germany, France and Italy, but also a few from Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Poland. I met a handful of the exchange students already, and also my dorm mates are very friendly and helpful. The studio-type apartments are for married couples, so I am staying in same student accommodation as last time I was here. This way I get to meet local students, and I have already been invited for lunch to meet everyone from our dorm. So, even though this is not for studies but for work, I want this to be a equally memorable experience.

Working at the European Commission

My workplace in Brussels is one of the six Executive Agencies the European Union has, the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME). The primary role of Agencies is not to work on policy making but to help to manage the various EU programs. The EASME is in charge of for instance the Horizon 2020, the Eco-Innovation initiative and LIFE programs. Established by the European Commission, the EASME has to report to seven different Directorates-Generals (DG) in the Commission depending on the program in question. The most frequently I have come across DG Environment, but others are for example the DG RTD (Research & Innovation) and DG CLIMA (Climate Action).

Ideally, the Agency acts as a communication channel between the European Commission and organizations in the different member states - be it SMEs, research institutions, NGOs or public bodies. The feedback the Agency receives from beneficiaries would then be reflected in future EU programs and policies. As a working environment the Agency is very unique - it has both elements of the bureaucratic EU procedures but also its own dynamic atmosphere. This type of working environment is new to me but I managed to find my own place within the team rather quickly. 

I was surprised by the lack of a formal dress code. Basically people dress to feel comfortable at work, and my colleagues wear everything from nice dresses to jeans with a nice sweater. The rule of thumb is that for meetings with external people, the look is more professional than when being among equals in the office. 

On average everyone working in my Agency speaks three languages - English, French and their own national language. Knowing French is useful both in the office and on the streets but I unfortunately do not speak a word of it. Even though it is not a requirement, the assumption is that everyone speaks French and the chitchat is often in French, which I am unfortunately not able to follow then at all.

The best part of the day is of course the lunch break and coffee break together with other trainees. The building we work in hosts besides EASME also many research related EU institutions such as the European Research Council and DG RTD. My fellow trainees are a mixture of researchers, social scientists and engineers. Some are almost done with their Master's degrees while others have already completed PhDs and Postdocs. They come from all across Europe and have an international background. And most importantly, they are extremely funny people so we laugh a lot and the lunch break really feels like a break from work!

About the past days in #BrusselsLockdow

Friday the 13th we were having friends over, laughing and playing games, until someone said that there's a terrorist attack going on in Paris. Everyone grabbed their phones to check with people they know, to check the news and to update each other about the news from sources in different countries. We were also worried about the security situation in Brussels, but it was only during the following days that we started to understand how serious it all was. Some of the terrorists shooting at innocent people in Paris were Belgian and lived in Brussels, there were house raids and suspects were arrested.

Monday afternoon from the 20th floor of our office
building - Brussels seems to be sleeping.

The week following the attacks in Paris I still considered life normal, even though every morning two soldiers greeted me while passing the entrance to the garage of the Berlaymont building and two or three more were patrolling inside the Schuman metro station. Friday, when my colleague left, he said to me "hope to see you on Monday" instead of wishing me a good weekend - everyone was tense because of how things were developing. After work I took the metro as usual and was mentally preparing myself for the gym. At the metro station I heard announcements that there has been a disruption in the metro service and that the metro was running late. My line of thought went from "oh no, I hope it is not a terrorist attack" to "hmm, I guess these kind of things happen" to "oh the metro is here already" and by the time I was running on the treadmill I had already forgotten about the metro. Knowing what we know now, it probably wasn't something that just happens.

Then Saturday morning I read an email from my mum - the terror alert level of Brussels has been raised to the highest possible level and that the metros are closed. I had decided to go to the library and decided that no terrorist will stop me from doing my plans. I took the bus, which was surprisingly empty, walked to the library, which was closed and it didn't take me long to realize that the only people on the street were soldiers and tourists. On my way home I stopped by at our local supermarket and bought canned food to prepare myself for the worst. Saturday evening I went with my Irish friends to our pub around the corner, and the streets were completely empty which is abnormal for a Saturday night. Sunday I stayed at home and in the evening I hoped to hear good news - that we could start the week like this had never happened. Unfortunately the opposite was true and through Twitter we found out about the actions the police was taking in different parts of Brussels - until the cats took over Twitter. I went to bed not knowing how the next morning would look like, if I could go to work and how I would get to office if it was possible to  go.

On Monday morning I was hesitating. The police had arrested many people the previous night but life was far from normal. The threat level remained at 4 and therefore the exceptional measures remained. Thus, the metro wasn't running, the schools, creches and universities were closed, the shops, malls and cafes in different shopping streets were closed, my gym was closed. I thought again to myself that I need some normality in this extreme situation and decided to walk 2,5 km into town to get to work instead of taking the bus. I was among the few who dared to take the step as there was very little traffic and my office building was half empty but my colleagues was very happy to see me. On Tuesday the situation remained the same and I walked to work. There was definitely more traffic on the street and more people in the office. But still everything closed: shopping mall, library, museums, gym, metro, schools, universities. After four days of everything being closed, on Wednesday the shopping malls opened again, my gym was open and the metro was running again. On the street it looked like normal but soldiers were patrolling in front of government buildings and hotels. I went quickly into town today - to enter a shopping mall I had to show my backpack and there were not many people comparing to a normal Wednesday evening.

It is hard to say if I am scared or not. I want things to be normal, I want to go to work, joke about stupid things and move around freely, but under these circumstances it is not really possible. It gives me confidence that also other people are going out, taking their kids to school and go shopping. We are just citizens with very limited information on what is really going on. The only thing we can do is life our lives, follow the instructions given by the authorities and not to take too big risks. Worst thing is that other people are worried about me walking into town. Second worst thing is that, even when all the terrorists have been caught, we will not be close to the end, I'm afraid.

Unexpected Luxembourg

Last weekend a dear friend from Copenhagen - a fellow globetrotter - came to visit me in Brussels. We met at the railway station and the first thing we said to each other was that it would be cool to go somewhere for a day trip. Brussels has a central location both within its own country but also in relation to the capitals of its neighboring countries. And so we bought spontaneously train tickets to Luxembourg!

I've spoken with a lot of people lately about the country but no one has been very excited. It is home to banks, European parliament and tax-avoiding companies. It is small, probably boring, only high buildings. With these low expectations we could only win!

And indeed, we were positively surprised - Luxembourg was nothing like we expected. Although, we could tell that it is a small country because we received the "Welcome to Luxembourg" -text message only after arriving at the station. We bought a coffee and started to walk around. We saw the Judiciary City, the Notre-Dam Cathedral and the shopping street with mainly high end brands. We walked past the Grand Ducal Palace, went down to Grund to walk around a little and saw so many bakeries selling amazing looking pastries. And just by walking around and exploring the city we managed to fill one day - it's not that small after all!

Luxembourg City has basically everything to offer a city lover like me would look for during a city trip. It has its more modern part, but also a historical part with more character. When we were there, Christmas markets were being built, Asian tourists were walking around in groups with their selfie-stick and shopping streets were busy like in any capital city on a Saturday afternoon. The areas where we were walking were not destroyed by ugly and boring looking office buildings, but had its own appearance. 

In many aspects the city was actually very similar to Brussels and it didn't really feel like we went abroad - the weather was the same, the architecture was similar and on the street we could hear many different languages spoken, just like in Brussels. French dominated from what I heard, which is interesting because they have their own language as well. Anyway, people were very friendly and spoke better English compared to my experience so far in Brussels.

Luxembourg is also known for its castles, but we focused on our day trip only on the city. So plenty of things to explore during a next visit!

First days in Brussels

When I finished my summer internship at the end of August, I packed my bags and fulfilled a dream I've had for long - an interrail trip through Europe meeting my friends I got to know in Tanzania, Croatia and India. During my trip I stopped in Brussels with the purpose to of course eat fries, try waffles and drink a beer but also to walk through the European quarter. I did all of it but didn't have time to eat a waffle because I had to catch my train to Paris. When I arrived there I told my friends that I went to see the buildings of the European Union so that I know, where I need to be when I come to Brussels the next time and work for the EU. Who would've known then that a month later I will actually work as a trainee for the commission and live close to the headquarters of the European Commission, Le Berlaymont?

I applied in January for a Blue Book Traineeship at the Commission. In April, when I had already forgotten about the application, I heard back from them and they asked pre-identified candidates for supporting documents such as proof of language skills and the like. The documents were approved and I was shortlisted in the Blue Book. Together with me 24'000 applicants applied, only 1800 were short listed and 640 were selected to work as trainees now. The Directorate Generals (DGs), the cabinets of Commissioners and Executive Agencies of the European Commission select a trainee from the database based on their needs, but many candidates also lobby. In practice it is means sending emails to Heads of Unit to draw the attention to your application instead of the many others. I did lobby as well and was called by the cabinet of one Commissioner but I was not selected for that one, and in June I received an email that I wasn't selected as a trainee by any other unit either. Then out of the blue, at the end of September I was called on an evening if I am still available and interested to come to Brussels - I said immediately yes, of course!

  

Always when moving to a new place there are many things to arrange, and when moving abroad even more so. The Traineeship Office of the European Commission encouraged to open a bank account at a local bank, so I had an appointment in a bank close by Monday morning. Then I arranged a local SIM card - primarily to have access to 3G and a map in case I get lost in the new city. Finding a place to stay in Brussels while still living in Helsinki was not easy. Finally, I found a house with six rooms, all occupied by people who are staying for a short time in Brussels. Fortunately they are all awesome people - my superhero flat mates surprised me with a welcome dinner when I came home from a walk in the neighborhood on Sunday! The house is located walking distance from the European quarter where all the DGs are located, but my office is in town so I need to take the bus but already after two days I came to the conclusion that the metro is faster and more convenient. Today I got the monthly ticket for public transportation so now I am all set to live and
work here until the end of February.