Youth Quotient: "Decision-making authority is what every entrepreneur relates to"

Even as most aspirants in the media domain dream of getting a cushy, well-paying job, Mulchand Dedhia decided to take the path of an entrepreneur. He, along with two friends, started Meter Down, an agency that specialises in advertising through autorickshaws.

Preferring the title of Chief Autorickshaw Driver, Dedhia has big plans for his organisation. We caught up with him to learn more about his entrepreneurial journey. Excerpts.

What gave you the idea of starting this unique concept of advertising?
It was almost two years after college when I was sitting at Carter Road Café Coffe Day along with my two batch mates Simi Sailopal and Ishan Mehta, who would later become my other two co-founders at Meter Down, discussing on starting something of our own. We all three have a degree in advertising and journalism, so it was very much clear that we had to start something of our own in the space of media. However, we did not want to be another agency doing regular work. After a week-long homework and brainstorming sessions, we made a list of eight innovatiive ideas which never existed in the country and had the potential to make it big by adding value to the cilent. Meter Down topped the list and a week later, we were in business.

Wasn’t it a risk to start your own venture? What were the challenges?
Initial capital and working capital are challenges for any start-up. We managed to pool in Rs 25,000 each as our initial seed fund and were very fortunate to receive payments from clients on time. We had a bigger risk in our business, because two of my co-founders quit their full time job to start working on the new project. Risks are moderate when you are young and have less family responsibilities. Our biggest challenge was that we were in a business which didn’t have any competition. We didn’t know how the market would react to our ideas, because we the first mover in the sector. It took us a while to get the entire autorickshaw community on the same page and turn the cluttered sector to an organised business.

Did you ever face the pressure to get a “safe” job?
We always had an exit strategy in place. The perks of working for an MNC may be higher than that of a start-up. However, decision-making authority, working on and implementing one’s own ideas within hours are what every entrepreneur relates to.

Tell us something about your experiences convincing clients about the feasibility of advertising on autos.
We always backed our proposal with a validated research on how the target audience of a brand is travelling within the rickshaw. In an ideal case, when a client’s media plan includes high cost hoardings and transit media such as buses and train, autorickshaw adds value to their plan with higher ROI and low cost investments. Till date, the biggest success story for a brand that has been using only autorickshaws as an advertising medium has been for Mouthshut.com. A serious client is well aware about the potential of the medium since the basic consumption of a rickshaw is at all time high, which only means more eyeballs for his branding.

Why choose autorickshaws?
An autorickshaw does about 80-90 trips a day in a 24-hour shift, which means it is on the road most of the time. Rickshaw travellers are generally between the age group of 15 years and 32 years, which include students, working professionals and women. It is the most preferred option for travelling for short distances. An average rickshaw traveller spends about 15-45 minutes in a rickshaw one way, which gives enough time for a brand to engage with a passenger. This is a very lucurative segment for most brands that cater to the masses.

What lies next in store for your start-up?
We are working on several pilot projects:
• Enabling rickshaws with free wi-fi
• Selling cellphone prepaid refills
• Installing tablets in a rickshaw