It took them around a month, and not a week as they thought they would need to process the plans. Gradual and steady growth is the sign of a good start.

As they progressed with their plans, they meet Uncle Prashanth at his office one day.

They discuss about the rate at which the preparations are being worked out. “The App, the categories and subcategories for the App, the website, the design, the logo, the advertisements on social media, the database formation, the bank account for cashless transaction, are being carefully and diligently handled as planned,” informed Sudhama along with his happy partners, Atmika and Shreya to Uncle Prashanth.

Sudhama added, “Even though we did not receive much encouragement from the public at the beginning, we are slowly getting an appearance and recognition in the society. I think this is the saturation point where we really need your help, Uncle.”

Uncle Prashanth wanted to see how much dedicated they were to the project at hand and now he found them deserving. So, he started revealing the long-awaited secrets of business model.

“My dear kids, to succeed in business, you all must remember that every act and move that you take should be connected to improvising Annadha Food App in some way. First of all, identify yourself with your business. Breathe Annadha and imbibe the idea of making it successful. Use the name Annadha in as many places as possible and find connections to include Annadha in whatever you talk with others,” Uncle Prashanth throwed these inspiring words, hearing which the three were energized.

“Your motive should be to gather profits without hurting others’ pockets. Decide on different strategies to cover the market. Provide interesting offers without scratching your margin. Keep your initial expenditure extremely calculated. I can suggest you few strategy makers who can help you with this,” paused Uncle Prashanth for few seconds to help them think.

“Use ecofriendly and green disposables carrying Annadha logo. Request your sellers to use those renewable packing methods. When you own the method and materials which they use to pack their preparations, you can gain a considerable amount of profit from that. Remember kids, at no point your motive should change to profit making compromising on quality,” Uncle sharply looked at the three for a nod.

“Regarding the delivery of the food, I suggest you contact the food delivery systems available in city. If you would like I shall talk to the delivery in-charge workers for our Boiler Café as they also suit the theme of being traditional. I encourage you to gather as many contacts as possible and maintain good relationship with them. Maintain a statistic of who purchases often from you and help them with your ads to buy more.”

“The one best way to earn from your app is to support ads. You earn from that and also provide a paid premium version of the same app with lot more features which can provide ad-free experience. When you grow, try to make partnerships with many more companies and provide the users a great experience.”

“These are the methods evolved over time but to create something which can make your product special, you need to do a research of the olden ways of living. The best business couple whom I suggest is Damu, thatha and Bhagiyam, paati. You can find them at the Verandah of their home discussing all matters under the sky. Approach them (Click here) and get to know their traditional ways of doing business. Although we are highly modern, it is essential to remember our roots and to keep in touch with them. This is the specialty of Mainapur,” quoted the proud citizen and took a sip of water.

After a long pause, Uncle resumed, “I like your idea of delivering the home-made food to whoever wishes to taste some. Provide the sellers the space in your App not only to exhibit their dishes and products through photographs but also space for posting a video, and feature to update their status of what’s special with them on the following day. The video may be of how clean their kitchen etiquettes and cleanliness are maintained or of the healthy ways of preparing a dish.”

“My secretary shall provide you with some contact database. You can collect whatever important contacts you need from him. I wish you all success. I have been talking continuously all the while. Have you all anything to say?” questioned Uncle Prashanth.

A “Yes” was heard in chorus from the three.

Shreya began, “Uncle, we are really blessed to have met you,” with cheers and joy.

Atmika smiled and remained silent with her equipoise.

Sudhama spoke, “Sir, we would ever be thankful to you for your support. We would definitely visit Damu, thatha and Bhagiyam, paati. Hope we get many insights from them. We would work together on this dream project and achieve. This is not only a business but an honest effort to combine traditional and modern ways. I think we may be the first to come out with this unique idea and your suggestions have enriched this.”

With an inspired heart, Sudhama, Atmika, and Shreya, left the place. In few years, ‘Annadha Food App’ gained popularity and was the most popular among the citizens of Mainapur. This not only helped the insiders earn their living but also helped to maintain harmony and happiness among the people.

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T. R. Surya, Special Correspondent, The Verandah Club