18 years ago, I successfully completed my post-graduation in Business Management from one of the prestigious institutions in Bangalore, Christ College. Though my specialization was in Marketing, during the course of two years, I learned various aspects of business including supply chain, time management, advertising and many more.
Little did I realize that there
was a time, way back in early 90s while in grade six, I was privy to a bunch of
fantastic management lessons in real life. This was when my dad started an ice
cream parlour named Adens in our small town of Changanacherry in Kerala. The ice
cream was of a brand named Lazza and the company that made it was in Ernakulam,
a city roughly hundred kilometres from our hometown. My first lesson in entrepreneurship.
Since dad took distribution
of Lazza ice cream in and around Changanacherry, he obviously had to arrange
for transportation of ice cream from Lazza factory in Ernakulam to our shop. Considering
the distance between the locations, he had to plan the purchase that needed to
last him for the next few weeks after which there will be a repeat of this. We
called it the ice cream run. The entire process had to be meticulously planned
since dad was a banker during his day job and he had to plan the trips on weekends.
My first lesson in planning and supply chain management.
The number of items that were
required for every ice cream run was sizable enough to be carried in ten large
containers. Dad knew a person who owned a van which was big enough to carry those
boxes. Arrangements were made to use this van so that multiple runs could be avoided,
and the trip was optimized. My first lesson in logistics.
We will start early morning
and will reach the factory in Ernakulam. Dad will have a list with the categories
and numbers required of ice creams needed that day. He will then sit with the
factory manager and while I enjoy an ice cream there, I could hear them talk about
sales and strategies towards customer satisfaction, none of which made sense to
me then. On hindsight, those were the pearls of wisdom from the lovely ocean of
business world. Many times, dad was also able to strike some good deals before he
confirmed the order. My first lesson in negotiation.
Once the order was finalized,
the boxes were offloaded from the van for the factory staff to fill them with packets
of ice creams. As this activity took a while, dad always made use of the time
for a quick trip to the city and buy some other items required for Adens including
ice cream cones, glasses, tissues etc. which were not something you could buy
from the factory. I always looked forward for this quick trip since after the shopping
it will be invariably time for lunch, and it was a great opportunity for me to
explore the restaurants around Ernakulam. My first lesson in time management.
By the time we returned to
the factory, the boxes of ice creams were safely packed and kept ready for the trip
back home. Those were the days before temperature-controlled vehicles. Hence special
type of insulated boxes was used to keep the ice cream from melting and for further
protection large frozen containers of ice were used which ensured that everything
was ok during the transport. My first lesson in quality.
The party then headed back to
the hometown and just in time to beat the evening traffic so that we reach
Adens right on time to store the ice cream safe and sound in the freezers awaiting
customers. Sometimes dad also got some posters with colourful pictures of ice
creams which promptly went on the walls of Adens which added to the whole appeal
of the shop. It was such a heartening sight to see the kids screaming and crying
with joy when they saw these images and specifically asked for them and most parents
obliged. My first lesson in marketing and sales.
Though dad is not around
physically, these moments remain deeply embedded in my mind which continues to
be my guiding light in my professional life where I need to apply the principles
of management. Something which no management books in the world ever taught me…
