The Noodle Maker is a labour of love. It is said that every entrepreneur worth his weight started out with a lemonade stand in his own backyard. The Noodle Maker is a business which takes the basic concept of a “lemonade stand” and makes it more mobile and relevant for today’s generation. We Indians love our Maggi, yes; we talk of the same instant noodle brand that has been ruling the market for ages. Imagine a friendly neighbourhood stand which serves you a piping hot bowl of Maggi noodles and ice cold lemonade, a place for a good snack and great conversation.
The basic concept involves a mobile kiosk which can be transported easily and setup without effort. It has place to make and serve Maggi instant noodles and store lemonade in an ice box. Maggi can be made on a stove using 5 kg LPG cylinders. Lemonade can be premade and stored in a Styrofoam ice box. The kiosk would have enough space to store supplies, cash till and for one vendor to comfortably make and serve. The kiosk can be hooked on to a cycle and transported to any desired location. Depending on time of day, the kiosk can be setup near schools/colleges, near offices or near shopping areas.
The location and pricing of products is inter-linked, depending on area and target consumer, the products can be priced differentially. This would help offset costs which might be associated with prime locations. A single vendor would be in-charge of the kiosk; he would be trained in all tasks including food preparation, kiosk setup, customer interaction, transport and location scouting. Our aim is not only to deliver a good product but also great service. Since, Maggi is the only brand that we are selling, establishing and maintaining good relations with suppliers is a must. We can negotiate bulk discounts and a proper schedule of supply.
The kiosk would itself serve as an advertisement for the brand and would be designed to garner maximum attention. A small number of such kiosks would easily be able to serve a small city ensuring that the consumer is never too far from his favourite snack. In burgeoning urban spaces, time and money are at premium. Consumers more than ever are on the lookout for a cheap and fast solution to their problem. If finding a reasonable snack is your problem, then the Noodle Maker is your solution. A tasty and healthy snack is waiting just around the corner and we always aim to please. Market and Competitive analysis
We are basically competing in the Indian street food market worth nearly $10 billion. The market is mostly unorganised with nearly 10 million street food sellers. The market is growing at a rapid pace of about 20 % annually. The market potential is huge since there are hardly any vendors with a hygienic and healthy offering. Maggi is a brand loved and enjoyed by all Indians this would help us initially in getting a foothold. We aim to tap this market and carve out market share by our quality products and great service. By keeping our prices reasonable we aim to position our offering for the great Indian middle class.
Also, our branding efforts would reap dividends by creating goodwill and trust among the consumers. By bringing some organisation and standardisation to the market we aim to create greater value for our customers than our competitors. Technical and Economic feasibility Since our business does not involve any technological product there are no technical constraints for the business. Economically, this business is viable because it has a very low initial investment of about Rs 5 Lacs. This would be covered by us, the partners, and a bank loan. As calculated by us we would break-even in about 3 months (optimistic) to 6 months (normal).
Also, since we are selling all our products for cash the money would start flowing immediately thus helping us manage the operating expenses. The viability of this business is enhanced by cash flows which are predictable and expenses which are not capital intensive. Expansion Plans Initially, we plan to start in a city with 6 kiosks which would service the major areas in the city. But, we expect strong growth in sales and brand value and would add to the number of kiosks. After 6 months, we plan to increase from 6 to 10 kiosks. After one year we aim for 15. Further revisions would happen every 6 months.
After about two years of operation we also plan to foray into other cities either through a franchise model or self-owned kiosks. Other than expansion of business, the expansion of brand is also very important, we aim to take the Noodle Maker brand to new heights through merchandising, campus relations and advertising. At a later stage we may use the brand to foray into food-outlets and restaurants as well. Also, on the operations front we plan to create a more efficient inventory and supply chain model by investing in IT services through OnDemand vendors like
salesforce. com.
