Manoj Dawane founded an advertising technology (AdTech) start-up in Delhi, India in 2020 that provided digital consumer behaviour intelligence for targeted digital advertising without using third-party internet cookies. His patented technology solved the issue of personal data privacy created by cookie-based targeting. His unique competitive advantage would not last long and he faced three dilemmas. First, to define a clear business model that would be a balance between the core competency of the company and the emerging market opportunities. Second, to identify an alliance partner for a faster growth. Third, to redefine his go-to-market strategy for seven times growth in two years, as demanded by investors.
When they are posed with two intriguing offers on the fund-raising television show Shark Tank India, the co-founders of Menstrupedia Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Menstrupedia), Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul, are faced with a tough decision. Should they forgo the social brand they have built over several years to pursue the seemingly smart business decision of becoming a sanitary napkin producer, or should they scale up their comic business despite so many competitors in the menstrual awareness landscape, or should they do both? Menstrupedia Comic is an educational comic book about menstruation for adolescents created by Gupta and Paul in 2009. Its aim is to shatter deep-rooted, widespread menstruation myths. Although Menstrupedia has started out as a comic book producer, the company’s social impact has been enormous, with Gupta having been recognized for her social outreach efforts by organizations such as Forbes Media limited liability company and British Broadcasting Corporation. By 2022, the co-founders seek to grow their impact, and the need to scale up Menstrupedia propels them to appear on Shark Tank India. Two “Sharks” (members of a panel of potential investors) each offer them a different avenue for growth. The first Shark is in agreement with the co-founders’ vision of social change and growth, while the other suggests that they diversify their business by manufacturing and selling sanitary napkins, an immensely profitable endeavour, while using their comics as a complementary product.
In 2007, Trek Bicycles (Trek) entered the Indian market. Although Trek’s market share in India was small compared to its global presence, India held an important position in Trek’s global aspirations, and the country’s potential for growth drove Trek to enter that market. The company strongly believed in innovation and in delivering value to customers through a bundle of services and schemes. Trek operated in the country through a partnership with an Indian distributor and in 2017 set up its Indian subsidiary. The company had a first-mover advantage with respect to the sale of super-premium bicycles in India, but in 2019, after more than a decade, how could the company increase its retail network and grow the community that was connected with cycling?
Founded in 2016, Critterati was India’s first luxury hotel for pets, located in one of the most prominent residential and commercial areas of Gurgaon, India. The basic philosophy of the hotel was that pets provided unconditional love to their owners, so they deserved more than just basic care in return. The number of customers visiting Critterati over the previous three years had increased consistently from 500 in the first year to 1,200 in the second year and 2,600 in the third year. In a short time, the start-up had become a self-sustaining business. By early May 2019, the hotel’s top luxury Critterati Suite was already booked for most of June and the overall hotel was nearly fully booked for the next two months. The Critterati differentiator was an annual membership plan that had been carefully crafted to provide a package of services for one year at a cost effective flat rate. However, the number of customers who chose the membership plan was still low, at around 250, but 1,000 memberships were needed to break even. How would pet owners be convinced about the benefits of the plan? Partnering with other service providers would also increase brand awareness, but which partnerships were most important?
Care Unlimited was a start-up in Kolkata, India, engaged in providing support and services to elderly customers whose children lived far away. The venture, four years old, had garnered a clientele who strongly believed in supporting the well-being of their elderly parents. The start-up endeavoured to change the experience of old age by supporting its customers in various chores, and by meaningfully engaging them in the various activities they enjoyed. By April 2018, the set-up had captured a share of the early market in Kolkata; however, the concept that the needs of elderly people extended beyond a need for emergency services had yet to gain wide-scale acceptance. Should the founder consider adding emergency services? Or should he continue to focus on driving home the point that elderly people needed far more than emergency services? Was there a need to explore alternative ways of earning revenue and diversifying his business?
In 2018, Neat and Clean Solutions (Neat and Clean), a cleaning services start-up in Gurgaon, India, had grown steadily in its 10 years of operations. Its founder realized the importance of building trust with clients and knew that modifying the cleaning process to suit Indian market conditions and the skill set of his team was critical to outsmarting the mounting competition in his industry. However, with an increase in population and the number of residential complexes in the business’s target area, there was a huge market of potential clients available. Although Neat and Clean had managed over the years with the same set-up, its founder wanted to expand so that he could have an office, buy new equipment and more vehicles, operate in multiple strategic locations, and employ more people. Unfortunately, he lacked the necessary funds to make these changes himself. Now he must decide whether to expand the scale of his operations and who to approach for the necessary funding.
In December 2016, the founder of Nukkad, The Chaitastic Teafé Pvt. Ltd. (Nukkad), an organized tea café retail chain, was pleased to see that Nukkad had garnered positive reviews and ratings on numerous social media pages. He was proud of his social enterprise, which encompassed two cafés based in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. Since its inception in 2013, Nukkad had created quite a buzz for its distinctive initiative: it specifically employed youths with speech- and hearing-related disabilities. Its founder’s aim was to expand Nukkad to more locations so that more people with these disabilities could be employed and a larger customer base could be reached. What was the best way to achieve this aim? Should he continue expanding with his own outlets (traditional expansion) or through franchising? If the latter, what type of franchising model should Nukkad follow?
Sumith Dutta was the founder of Emerald Trail (ET), a resort near a well-known tourist destination in the Himalayas, which treated resort guests’ pets as no less important than their owners. Dutta’s passion for pets inspired him to offer this experience, which was different from what was offered at other resorts. The case details the decisions Dutta made in executing his strategy and invites students to consider how Dutta could have scaled up his business in 2017: Should he have invested in upgrades at the existing location or should he have opened a new resort in another location in India? If he opened in a new location, could he replicate his existing model? In either case, is he financially prepared for the growth?
In 2017, Volkswagen Group was not satisfied with its performance in India. Tata Motors Limited, on the other hand, had been dealing with increased competition from new automobile players. In March 2017, both players made the announcement of a potential strategic alliance with one another. However, the alliance talks soon stalled over the potential use of a platform and the practicality of the business model. The question facing both companies was whether to work out their differences and move the alliance forward, or to terminate the negotiation talks and operate independently.
In 2016, the chief executive officer of the ibibo Group, one of the largest players in India’s online travel sector, faced a major decision. MakeMyTrip, India’s market leader in online travel, had expressed interest in acquiring the ibibo Group. Should the ibibo Group’s chief executive officer accept the offer and give up partial or total control of the company, in return for growing with the market leader? Or should he continue with the business he had launched in 2007, and rely on outside investment or the parent company to fund his efforts at growing the business? It was time to evaluate his strategic options.
Leader Healthcare India (LHC) was a medical devices importer firm that dealt primarily in respiratory and anesthetic devices. The company imported medical devices from U.S. manufacturers and, for the most part, performed its own marketing, sales, and service activities. In 2016, the director of LHC was concerned about LHC’s multiple failed efforts at market expansion. The company wanted to grow, but its attempts had been unsuccessful. Lack of highly trained personnel, supervisory control, and sufficient financial resources had been the key reasons for the failure. Market expansion was even more critical as LHC wanted to launch a 24/7 service in the respiratory devices business, and success with this service depended on the size of LHC’s existing customer base. How could LHC grow?
Saksham Wealth Solutions P. Ltd. (Saksham), founded in 2005, was an investment company that survived the challenges of the Indian wealth management industry and the ups and downs of the financial market. Saksham’s success was due in part to a strategy of building trust with clients and educating them about the nuances of creating wealth through various financial instruments. Transparency, assistance, timely advice, and a goal-oriented approach were considered the company’s essential services. In 2008, the company turned down a purchase proposal from top international bankers who valued Saksham at three times its annual profit. Ten years later, Saksham was four times bigger. If a similar offer were made, should Saksham take it?
In 2014, the chief executives officers of Amazon and Future Group led their companies into an alliance that, while initially successful, encountered some difficulties in regards to discounts on their retail products. With the global retail industry standing at US$25.4 trillion in 2016, and the percentage of which e-commerce made up 7.4 per cent, the partners would have to decide if they should resolve their conflict and remain allies, or if they should consider becoming independent companies again. If one partner placed a higher value on the use of discounts than the other, how much was the alliance really worth?
In 2013, Oxigen Services India Pvt. Ltd. launched a money transfer service integrated with the infrastructure of the National Payment Corporation of India. The Oxigen Wallet, India’s first non-bank wallet, allowed instant money transfers to and from any bank account over an extensive ecosystem, with a large retail presence across India using point-of-sale terminals. Oxigen was a major provider of bill payment and merchant payment services, with complete interoperability between mobile wallets and bank accounts. But newer mobile wallet players were focused on alternative strategies, and were showing rapid growth in the number of subscribers thanks to innovative services, extensive sales promotions, and varied marketing initiatives. Oxigen wanted to be sure that it was using the capabilities of the ecosystem effectively within the context of changing market dynamics. Should Oxigen continue to invest significantly in ecosystem development, as it had been doing, or focus instead on a sales-and-promotion-driven growth strategy? In the changing market, what were Oxigen’s best options for success?
The director of CPVet in Gurgaon, India, was worried. The cost of running the veterinary clinics was mounting. Was customer behaviour in India with respect to pets changing? Unlike in many developed countries, Indian pet owners were not as willing to think of their pets as their own children and care for them accordingly. However, the industry seemed to be changing and trends showed that spending on pet care was steadily increasing. Were pet owners in India ready to invest more in their pets? Should CPVet expand beyond Gurgaon? Despite the fast growth rate of the industry and the company’s first-mover advantage, CPVet faced several challenges with respect to its goal of expanding to a national level.
Bikanervala — a manufacturer of Indian snacks and sweets and restaurant chain — had a goal to put Indian ethnic food in a prominent position globally. Its initiatives taken over the years had ranged from introducing new cuisines to streamlining processes, systems and standards that helped the firm keep customers happy. Through these initiatives, Bikanervala had been able to diversify and grow both in India and internationally. But the food services industry faced a set of challenges, with the most important being a lack of availability of skilled workers. What could Bikanervala do to meet this challenge and keep at pace with the growing industry?
Sidhi was a cooperative society aimed at rehabilitating destitute tribal women living in one of the poorest states in India. Most of these women were illiterate or had only primary education. A professionally educated non-tribal social entrepreneur has helped these women to set up cottage industries and earn a decent living. Because of her own health concerns, this social entrepreneur needs to resign. Her successor needs to be a woman who can arrange for funding, coordinate the funding and training, and liaise with both the government authorities and the vendors. The challenge is to either identify such a leader among the illiterate women or to recruit an outsider, who will understand Sidhi’s needs and be accepted by the Sidhi membership.
Established in 2004, Facebook had shown stupendous growth. However, faced with the evolving mobile communication industry and increasing competition, the company was on the lookout to increase its user base by acquiring WhatsApp. Was it the right decision for Facebook to acquire WhatsApp — and at the steep price of $19 billion? From WhatsApp’s perspective, the company’s founder wanted to continue with his vision of connecting people, irrespective of the decision involving Facebook. Should WhatsApp sell its assets to Facebook or should it insist on an equity alliance instead?