Impact entrepreneurship – Balancing profit and mission

India is abundant in human capital and talented minds, and of late, there is no dearth of entrepreneurs in the country. But entrepreneurship isn’t just about making profit.  It’s about building businesses that make a difference in the world. In other words, its problem solving and making money by taking the roads less (or never) travelled. Businesses that solve problems and thereby impact and influence the lives of people grow exponentially in the shortest time span. When such businesses work wonders, the world grows and transforms right before our eyes. Impact entrepreneurs (coined by Adam Levene) at the helm of such initiatives help tackle some of the toughest challenges of our time. Simply put, they never sell, instead, they solve problems.  Sandith Thandasherry is one such impact entrepreneur who came up with an innovative and futuristic solution for inland water transportation. An IIM-Madras graduate and founder of NavAlt Solar and Electric Boats, Sandith is the man behind India’s first solar-powered boat, Aditya.

Source - www.motivateme.in

Aditya, operating between Vaikkom and Thavanakkadavu, is propelled by electric motors that are powered by a 50kWh Lithium battery pack. The boat carries about 1500 passengers every day. Aditya takes 22 trips each day, travels at an average speed of 6knots, and covers about 55km from 7.00 am to 7.pm.  Each trip involves a 13-15km journey, and the daily energy cost is just Rs. 163. Do a bit of math and the result will surprise you – In a year, Aditya saves about 35,000 liters of diesel and 22 lakhs in energy costs, along with preventing the emission of 94 tonnes of CO2. Isn’t that an amazing achievement, given the growing environmental problems that we face each day? Solar ferries like Aditya can put an end to the rising pollution menace; reduce energy consumption, noise, vibrations, and so on by leveraging the benefits of a whole host of futuristic technologies in boat manufacturing. Aditya, a catamaran, is ergonomically-designed with comfortable cushioned seats, and contain a music system and television. An exhaustive analysis of the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) indicates that solar ferries like Aditya are way more advantageous than both conventional and modern diesel ferries. Furthermore, unlike diesel ferries that cannot withstand passenger overload, catamarans like Aditya ensure better and reliable margin of stability when it comes to handling passenger overload. 

Despite having navigable waterways, inland water navigation in Kerala has always remained neglected or underutilized. Sandith managed to turn things around with Aditya, a 75-pax solar ferry. Why solar boats? Solar powered boats are the most feasible ways to leverage our waterways and improve connectivity. When compared to conventional and modern diesel ferries, solar ferries ensure better safety, comfort, and pleasure. They are cleaner, viable, comfortable, and eco-friendly and the operational costs are surprisingly reasonable. Entrepreneurs like Sandith can thus devise both problem-solving and problem-preventing solutions at the same time, and turn disruptive ideas into world-changing business ventures. They are unconventional, creative thinkers who approach problems without getting affected by prevalent constraints and stigmas. Moreover, they are calculated risk takers who can balance risk, opportunity, innovation, and business acumen to provide optimal, futuristic, and sustainable solutions.  We need more such impact entrepreneurs who can elevate themselves above the current and future problems and discern opportunities from every obstacle or challenge that we face daily.

Go-Jek to take a big leap forward

Of late I’ve been trying to learn about ride-hailing companies and global ride hailing market in detail. A recent online article which I read had an interesting information on an Indonesian ride-hailing firm, Go-Jek, one of the most promising startups in Southeast Asia. Google, Temasek, and Meituan-Dianping are gearing up to invest in Go-Jek, and this might skyrocket its value to a whopping $3 billion. KKR and Co LP and Warburg Pincus LLC, its existing investors, too might join the new funding round.

For those who haven’t heard about Go-Jek yet, here is what I learned about the ride-hailing startup. Founded by Nadiem Makarim in 2010, Go-Jek is a leading provider of on-demand transportation, food delivery, logistics, and mobile payment services in Indonesia. It was founded with the aim of bettering the lives of underemployed motorcycle taxi and cab drivers, by providing a whole new set of opportunities in the form of transportation and food delivery orders. Go-Jek, which began as a bike taxi company, currently has over 200,000 drivers across 25 cities in Indonesia. Why bike taxis? They are highly effective in most of the busy and congested streets in Indonesia. Over the years, Go-Jek has grown by leaps and bounds, expanding their business and advancing into car-hailing and several other areas like grocery and meals delivery services. GoCar, its car-hailing service, is similar to Uber and Singapore-based Grab. The Go-Jek app was launched in 2015. The app has till now amassed about 10 million downloads, with a user rating of 4.3 on Google Play Store. It is quite admirable (Uber enjoys a 4.2 rating and so does Lyft, whereas the rating of Grab is 4.5.).

In addition to its commendable presence in the home market, Go-Jek has a strong development team in India as well. The company acquired C42 Engineering and CodeIgnition in 2016. Go-Jek has bettered the lives of almost a million bike taxi and cab drivers, and empowered as many as 100, 000 restaurant partners and many other small and medium businesses across Indonesia.  Isn't that a praiseworthy achievement, given the intensifying market competition and increasing customer expectations? Recently, Go-Jek acquired three financial technology businesses Kartuku, Midtrans, and Mapan, thus foraying into digital payment services, aiming to become a major player in Indonesia’s payment sector. Go-Jek may soon expand their business with overseas operations, boost rider and driver subsidies, and develop their digital payment business.  The new magnanimous funding will undoubtedly give Go-Jek an upper hand while facing market competition from deep-pocketed competitors.

Southeast Asia’s largest internet economy, Indonesia alone is home to nearly 261 million people. Yet, the current Uber CEO said in a statement that Southeast Asia is unprofitable (as per a TechCrunch article). I can't figure out the rationale behind his words, given that Southeast Asia has more than 600 million customer currently.  It sounds like a defensive effort to conceal Uber's inability to keep up its foothold in Southeast Asian market. Growth of ride hailing industry in the region is expected to hit $20.1 billion per year by 2025, says a report co-authored by Google. Will Go-Jek become the next Uber or Grab, or surpass them all in growth, profitability and customer satisfaction? Have to wait and watch.