Book Review: IT HAPPENED in INDIA-Kishore Biyani
Facts:
Title: It Happened in India by Kishore Biyani
Published by: Rupa Co
Total Pages: 268
Price: INR 99
About the author: Kishore Biyani (KB) is the man behind Pentaloon Retail, Big Bazaar, Central etc and heads the Future Group (under which these stores operate). He is identified as retail Guru of India.
About the contents:
First four sections (till page 108) give introduction to KB’s early days, his family business, challenges faced, setting up of Pantaloon, struggles undergone etc. To sum up, KB faced similar problems what Narayan Murthy faced while starting Infosys or Kiran Majumdar Shaw started Biocon etc. All these people had a vision far ahead of their times and community around them were not in a position to understand and appreciate their vision. Despite severe problems in terms of funding, co operation etc, all these entrepreneurs pursued their dreams, worked day and night on it, and over a period of time have built empires every one is proud of now.
The next part about big bazaar, I find it very interesting. All facts collected about big bazaar are available in a separate post here
Next Section is about KB’s attempt as Bollywood movie maker. He tried to replicate the success of Kaho Na pyaar hein with the movie “Naa Tum Jaano Na Hum” which failed drastically. I haven’t bothered to watch that movie till date, but now knowing that KB is the man behind that, I will watch it whenever possible, just to see how he has used the movie to promote the Pantaloon stores in it.
The other (and the last one) movie produced by KB is Chura Liya Hain Tumne, which also proved to be a flop. If you don’t know, it is Kishore Biyani who introduced Rakhi Sawant and Himesh Reshamiya to the bollywood with this movie … (No further comments!!!)
Other sections of the book provide some vital insights into the retail business. By and large looks like a self appreciation through out with inputs from so many friends, business contacts, relatives writing their opinion about KB and KB himself dedicating lots of paragraphs to explain “why I’m so great”. But then, what he has achieved within a short span is out there for every one to see, so he has every right to boast about it.
What I find missing:
1. The city of Bengalooru (formerly Bangalore) is wrongly spelt in the beginning of the book as “Bangalooru” (in the page left to the dedication page). Small error indeed, but since through out the book KB claims his strength lies in understanding of local consumers and with wrong spelling of a city name, that statement can be questioned.
2. Throughout the book, “value proposition” is quoted hundreds of times, but I don’t see any consideration given to quality. Most of the goods sold in Big Bazaar are supplied from consolidators (Suppliers) and with wafer thin margin and focus on volume, I seriously doubt the commitment of these suppliers towards quality. Big bazaar is expected to conduct quality checks on third party products, so that its customers won’t feel cheated. There’s no mention of what quality assurance measures Big Bazaar has in place.
3. There’re lots of billing issues at Big Bazaar. Latest prices quoted in promos are not promptly updated in the billing system and most of the customers (unless they detect the mistake and complain immediately) end up paying more than what they thought they were paying. What measures BB has to address customer grievances etc are not explained.
4. No mention of ICICI BB co branded credit card
5. In the early pages he states all his innovations were first launched in Kolkata and then tried elsewhere in the country. However Central Mall was first launched in Bangalore and later at other places.
6. It’s not clear which part of the book is authored by Dipayan Baisha, a business writer and co author for this book. I assume he is involved in properly wording the inputs given by KB so that the contents appear in a proper sequence and logic.
Verdict: Worth reading once for those who want to know little more about Indian Retail industry.
Image sourced from http://www.mehtanirav.com/
Related: Big Bazaar: Facts you should know|
2011 Book reviews: Topgear magazine * Comical Saga * Fate, Fraud and Friday Wedding *
Title: It Happened in India by Kishore Biyani
Published by: Rupa Co
Total Pages: 268
Price: INR 99
About the author: Kishore Biyani (KB) is the man behind Pentaloon Retail, Big Bazaar, Central etc and heads the Future Group (under which these stores operate). He is identified as retail Guru of India.
About the contents:
First four sections (till page 108) give introduction to KB’s early days, his family business, challenges faced, setting up of Pantaloon, struggles undergone etc. To sum up, KB faced similar problems what Narayan Murthy faced while starting Infosys or Kiran Majumdar Shaw started Biocon etc. All these people had a vision far ahead of their times and community around them were not in a position to understand and appreciate their vision. Despite severe problems in terms of funding, co operation etc, all these entrepreneurs pursued their dreams, worked day and night on it, and over a period of time have built empires every one is proud of now.
The next part about big bazaar, I find it very interesting. All facts collected about big bazaar are available in a separate post here
Next Section is about KB’s attempt as Bollywood movie maker. He tried to replicate the success of Kaho Na pyaar hein with the movie “Naa Tum Jaano Na Hum” which failed drastically. I haven’t bothered to watch that movie till date, but now knowing that KB is the man behind that, I will watch it whenever possible, just to see how he has used the movie to promote the Pantaloon stores in it.
The other (and the last one) movie produced by KB is Chura Liya Hain Tumne, which also proved to be a flop. If you don’t know, it is Kishore Biyani who introduced Rakhi Sawant and Himesh Reshamiya to the bollywood with this movie … (No further comments!!!)
Other sections of the book provide some vital insights into the retail business. By and large looks like a self appreciation through out with inputs from so many friends, business contacts, relatives writing their opinion about KB and KB himself dedicating lots of paragraphs to explain “why I’m so great”. But then, what he has achieved within a short span is out there for every one to see, so he has every right to boast about it.
What I find missing:
1. The city of Bengalooru (formerly Bangalore) is wrongly spelt in the beginning of the book as “Bangalooru” (in the page left to the dedication page). Small error indeed, but since through out the book KB claims his strength lies in understanding of local consumers and with wrong spelling of a city name, that statement can be questioned.
2. Throughout the book, “value proposition” is quoted hundreds of times, but I don’t see any consideration given to quality. Most of the goods sold in Big Bazaar are supplied from consolidators (Suppliers) and with wafer thin margin and focus on volume, I seriously doubt the commitment of these suppliers towards quality. Big bazaar is expected to conduct quality checks on third party products, so that its customers won’t feel cheated. There’s no mention of what quality assurance measures Big Bazaar has in place.
3. There’re lots of billing issues at Big Bazaar. Latest prices quoted in promos are not promptly updated in the billing system and most of the customers (unless they detect the mistake and complain immediately) end up paying more than what they thought they were paying. What measures BB has to address customer grievances etc are not explained.
4. No mention of ICICI BB co branded credit card
5. In the early pages he states all his innovations were first launched in Kolkata and then tried elsewhere in the country. However Central Mall was first launched in Bangalore and later at other places.
6. It’s not clear which part of the book is authored by Dipayan Baisha, a business writer and co author for this book. I assume he is involved in properly wording the inputs given by KB so that the contents appear in a proper sequence and logic.
Verdict: Worth reading once for those who want to know little more about Indian Retail industry.
Image sourced from http://www.mehtanirav.com/
Related: Big Bazaar: Facts you should know|
* Book Review- Not a penny more not a penny less- Jeffrey Archur
* Book Review-Merchants of Deception- Eric Scheibler
|The 3 Mistakes of my life-Chetan Bhagat * Book Review- Raga Chintamani2011 Book reviews: Topgear magazine * Comical Saga * Fate, Fraud and Friday Wedding *
0 Response to "Book Review: IT HAPPENED in INDIA-Kishore Biyani"
Post a Comment