To enter the Indian market, many obstacles need to be overcome: great competition, mentality, and low incomes. But business development in this country opens up a lot of opportunities
Outsourced director
The Indian market is suitable for companies with extensive experience and long-term vision. Opening a business in India needs to be approached seriously and systematically; a well-thought-out business plan is simply necessary here.
It is no coincidence that we decided to offer the BSI Global Group tourism product in India. This country has one of the fastest growing markets outbound tourism, after China. From 2014 to 2015, the outbound tourist flow here increased by 43% and continues to grow. The second reason is the devaluation of the rupee against the dollar and euro in 2015, which led to a decline in demand for travel to Europe and the USA. Taking into account all these factors, we decided to present Russia to Indian tourists as a new destination, which, compared to other countries, has noticeably dropped in price. Due to the devaluation of the ruble, inbound tourism in Russia is developing very actively, and we want to have time to occupy our niche in countries where there is a large potential for outbound tourist flow.
Registering a company in India will not cost much, but you should know that you will have to pay for the services of lawyers, without which it is simply impossible to understand the legislative intricacies of this country. Firstly, to open an office in India, you need to hire a director or head of the company, who, according to Indian laws, must be both a citizen and a resident of this country, that is, have lived in India for at least 186 days. There must be at least two directors - the second can be a person from your company, he can also own all the shares of the Indian office. To register a representative office, you need passports of directors, documents confirming their residential addresses certified by the Indian Embassy, as well as a certified contract with landlords with confirmation legal address companies. The whole process is a headache and a lot of wasted time. Before investing in opening an office, I recommend testing the market in other ways first. For example, we decided for the first time to hire a representative in India, working outsourced, from home.
Castes and salaries
Initially, we were looking for a Russian-speaking employee, a native of the countries of former USSR, but very quickly realized that there are very few such specialists there and the people of India prefer to work with “their own” due to the huge differences in culture and mentality. However, find a local candidate who speaks Russian, lives in Mumbai and has good experience in tourism, in one month - the period that we usually allocate for opening and launching a new representative office abroad was very difficult. The second difficulty that overtook us when entering the Indian market was the caste system. Despite the fact that legally all castes in India are equal, in practice it turns out that the salary of a potential employee should be higher if he is from a higher caste. This does not mean that he will perform better, but it is assumed that a specialist from a high caste has a better chance of success and forming positive relationships with other travel companies.
As a result, we found a Russian entrepreneur whose company is engaged in educational tourism in India and takes Indian tourists to study in the UK. He had two hired servants from good castes who were willing to work as our agents. Such cooperation would potentially be beneficial to both us and our partner. We were convinced: if you employ managers from high castes, you will a priori receive greater loyalty from Indian customers to your product and services.
But it soon became clear that it would not be of much benefit to anyone. Of course, we could teach these two high-caste people how to launch a beautiful marketing campaign within two months and sit back and see what happens, wondering at the same time when we will actually recoup the costs. But this decision seemed wrong to us. Managers from high castes claimed high salaries, training would take time, and there might not be any results: the partner did not give any guarantees that the investment would be successful.
Trying to find the right key to enter the Indian market, I called almost everyone I knew, and finally, the owner of the Boscolo hotel chain gave me the contact of a company that represents the interests of various companies entering foreign markets. As it turned out, this company has 20 years of experience in the market and for $1.5 thousand per month provides three managers who work for you and for other companies that do not compete with yours in business. The managers proposed to us had not only experience and all the necessary contacts in the tourism market, but also good recommendations business partners, which meant for us the prospect of getting a quick and good result. Also, according to the conditions, it was possible to suspend their work in one week if the managers were ineffective, and there was no need to fire anyone.
We had a choice - to hire several managers for $1.5 thousand, who are involved in our company and in parallel with other projects, or one manager specially allocated for us for $2.5 thousand. I realized that the first path would be more effective. The only negative is that all the managers of this company speak only English language; Accordingly, their work from Russia must also be coordinated by an English-speaking employee. But since we were simultaneously expanding our business to other countries and simultaneously entering the markets of China and Spain, there was still a need to appoint one English-speaking curator for all these areas in Moscow. That's what we did.
Total savings
During the work of our representatives in India, we began to receive inquiries from Indian clients and gradually began to learn more and more about their interests, preferences and requirements for organizing leisure and business trips. Firstly, Indian tourists are very price sensitive and this is not surprising. In India, the average salary is around $700 per year per person, so the culture of saving money is very strong even among the middle and high classes, whose representatives have the education and means to travel.
We were able to adapt the cost of the product for the Indian market, but it was not easy, so I would not recommend starting a business in India unless you already have a stable, developed business structure and a lot of experience in the market. However, it is worth remembering that in India you can easily reach high performance profitability due to the scale of the market and its dynamic development.
The second feature of Indian tourists is that they only eat their own food. Dumplings and compote will not tempt them, and it is considered quite normal for families to go on vacation with their own cook. They also often prefer entertainment on vacation that is unusual for traditional tourists, for example, the circus, as well as non-standard excursions, for example, along the Moscow metro, instead of museums and similar attractions.
Currently, it costs about $1.5-2 thousand to maintain the BSI Global Group representative office in India. This amount includes the representative’s salary and operating expenses. Also, a separate expense item is the travel of the representative to industry exhibitions and seminars - from $1 thousand to 3 thousand, depending on the event.
Today, the representative office works with more than 600 tourists with an average order bill of $850-900. A large share of requests falls on outgoing group tours and excursion programs in Russia. Taking into account the dynamic growth of the Indian tourism market and the increasing demand for travel to Russia, plans for 2017 include 1-1.5 thousand clients per month.
In 2016, the volume of India's outbound market amounted to 18 million people per year, and in terms of the growth rate of outbound tourism, the country is ahead of China: the share of market growth in 2015 was 33%. The prospects for business development in the Indian market are undoubtedly excellent, if only you enter it correctly and carefully weigh all possible risks.
Oleg Ignatiev, director of the tourism holding BSI Global GroupThe final part of the interview with Vladimir, the owner of a Russian restaurant in India. You can find the previous part of the interview. At 24 years old, he already knows from his own experience what business is in Goa and is happy to share the specifics of entrepreneurship abroad with readers of our blog. You won't read this anywhere...
Business in GOA - we work in a relaxed manner, but very clearly...
Vladimir: “We started in mid-November, in 3 days I completely outlined the picture that I would like to see - there should be no canopies here, only open space, open air, I understood perfectly well that we were sacrificing hours, because... this is a roof and the heat here subsides only at 5 and you will have to open only after 6 pm, but here an atmosphere of chill-out, air, roof will be created... Immediately I imagined pallets, that these are not some kind of Indian furniture, but pallets, I don’t see that here saw. There is plenty of this in Moscow, but there is nothing like it here, we need to bring something here. We found where you can buy them here, I found a suitable design on the Internet, and again we made them ourselves - we attached the backs, we built the tables. At that time, the bar structure had already been built and I began to think about what style of bar we needed and settled on wood, because... wood is always associated with loft, with chillout. We went to a sawmill and cut down a tree that was suitable for us - that’s how we got a bar counter, it wasn’t glued together, we cut down the tree, and that’s how we installed it. Immediately I wanted to make wooden shelves in the bar and a bamboo roof over the bar. In fact, the interior is quite simple, but it has its own zest, because... we did not clutter the restaurant space with various decorations. We placed flowers, installed pallet tables with glass on top, and installed glowing lamps under the tables. Despite the fact that the space here is quite large, the colors still create a feeling of coziness, and if you look around, there are palm trees, trees, and several mango trees everywhere. It is these natural settings that create the right atmosphere, so I didn’t want to clutter it all up so that people coming here could look around and enjoy nature!
Ed: “Please tell us a few words about the cuisine in your restaurant. As far as I see, you didn’t start making an Asian menu here?!”
Vladimir: “I wanted to give guests the right to choose. Asian cuisine is specific in its own way and not everyone likes it, but I wanted to make sure that when people come here they can choose what they like! This is how the current fusion menu was born! We have 5 different types of cuisines on our menu! The first one is Georgian. I have traveled a lot in Georgia and I really like the way they cook there. The second is Italian. Italian cuisine is easy to prepare and I think everyone loves it. The third cuisine is Indian. Well, that goes without saying, because... We are in India and people who come here first want to try Indian dishes. The fourth cuisine is Russian. The idea of Russian cuisine came about because, in addition to package tourists Russian people come to GOA who live here for a longer period of time, for example a season, and they miss Russian food. The fifth cuisine is Pan-Asian. I couldn't let go of the idea of Asian cuisine and we made it on our menu. In total, 5 types of cuisines with 5-6 dishes each, at the moment we have 28 food items on the menu that you can try from each country. And I like this concept much more, because the visitors who come to us are very happy with such an assortment.
Editor: “Working in GOA - what is it like?! Your impressions of working here"
Vladimir: “I find it very cool here because it’s not stressful here! In general, I think that the restaurant business should be easy. For example, in Moscow, and I think throughout Russia, this type of business is very intense. My staff who work here are somewhat relaxed, thereby creating an atmosphere for visitors that they are on vacation and should relax. This does not mean at all that he does not have any service scripts, but it is very important that, for example, the waiter feels in a pleasant atmosphere - like at home! For example, in Moscow this is impossible, because... there everything works according to a different system - it is more rigid. Everything here is softer, more loyal and I really like it. The main thing is that everything is clear! Such features are associated, for the most part, with the general mentality of Indians - they all work in a relaxed manner, but they work for a long time. My guys work in a relaxed manner, but they work quickly; for me, the speed of return is a very important aspect that I monitor and can find fault with. Because our visitors are still accustomed to Russian serving times. As a result, we came up with something unique: combining the Indian work atmosphere - relaxation with Russian service.”
Ed: “I wanted I would like to hear a few words about the features of Indian business. How is your relationship with your Indian partners?!
Vladimir: “Before going into business with the guys, many of my compatriots who live in India told me their bitter experience of how often unpleasant situations happen in business with the local population. The main problem is that they always think that we are just guests here and are nothing but tourists. At any moment something unpleasant can happen - you can be deceived, cheated... I always understood this and theoretically I was ready for this. But I chose the right people, because... my partners’ mentality is somewhat different from the vast majority of Indians - they are educated guys, they studied in England at an MBA school and I feel quite comfortable with them. Plus, my intuition tells me that everything will be fine, maybe that’s partly why I decided to start this business in GOA. Many problematic situations arise for Russians who do business here, because... they all do business for Indians. And there are 100% of them here, because here you are first and foremost a tourist. You are not given a free hand and are not allowed near the business, so the success of the entire event depends on the choice of a partner.”
Ed: “Are you ready to move to India for permanent residence and call it your first home, and come to Russia for vacation?!”
Vladimir: “To be honest, I’ve already thought about this question. I really like GOA, but I am for constantly expanding my boundaries and discovering something new. Specifically, now I don’t see myself as a resident of this state, because in any case, there remains an internal patriotism that asks to return to Russia. More likely no than yes - I don’t see myself here on a permanent basis!
Ed: “There is very little time left until the end of the season here. Are you going to return to Moscow? What are you going to do there?!”
Vladimir: “Perhaps I won’t go to Moscow. Maybe I will go to another country, there are thoughts about Montenegro, Bulgaria or Europe. Again the sea, again warm and again work of course. At the moment, I firmly know what I want - I want to learn and develop, so that I can later use my experience in my projects. Now I will look for the place where I will develop, and it doesn’t matter whether it will be Russia or some other country.
Ed: “Is there room for a family in your future life?!”
Vladimir: “At the moment, I’m imbued with the idea that I need to get myself back on my feet, no matter how trivial it may sound. You need to educate yourself first! I am now raising myself at some points and I understand that I am not yet fully ready to start a family. I want to approach this with maximum responsibility, so that my children can take something from me and learn something from me. We have already thought about this, but decided to hold off a little, we need to work a little, put in some hard work.
Ed: “Are you planning to open your own establishment in Moscow?!”
Vladimir “I’m still inclined to answer “no.” There's huge competition there. And in order to survive there, the restaurant now needs something grandiose and unusual, but I don’t have such ideas yet. Now I see this business from the outside and understand that I don’t want to get involved. And then we are talking about completely different amounts, other investments... I see the restaurant business for myself in many countries, but not in Russia!
Ed: “Thank you for a very interesting story about your life and your business in GOA. We wish you and your projects success and prosperity"
Vladimir: “Thank you and see you in GOA!”
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India is an exotic, contradictory country, not very expensive to live in and favorable to small business. Anyone can do it without any special obstacles, including foreigners. This is precisely what attracted entrepreneurs Vasily Popov and Olesya Prokhorova here, who are now developing several projects in India. Vasily and Olesya told the portal site about what local realities they had to face and what commercial success in this Asian country depends on.
Vasily Popov. He graduated from the Altai State Technical University (specialty in world economics), then moved to Yekaterinburg, building a career in the companies Energomashkorporatsiya and ABB-Engineering. Lives in Delhi with his wife and three children. Graduated from Altai State University(specialty "journalism"). Immediately after graduating from university in 2003, she left for Yekaterinburg, where she worked on television. She traveled a lot in Southeast Asia, wrote children's books for the Moscow publishing house "White City" and articles for the Profi-travel portal. She came to India with her designer husband and son.
$1000
for all formalities
When Vasily Popov first came to India in 2006, he had a contract with a Russian company. “I lived on the embassy territory, I didn’t even see Indians every day,” he laughs. When the project was closed a year later, Vasily returned to Yekaterinburg for a short time, then again got a job in India - and eventually finally settled in Delhi.
“In 2008, a partner from Russia, Denis Gazukin, came to me. In Barnaul, he had one of the first companies that dealt with payment terminals. We decided to build the same business on Indian “fields,” recalls Vasily.
Starting a business in India was not difficult. The foreigner only needed a passport with a business visa, and all other formalities were taken care of by the law firm
Approximately $1,000 and one month were spent on registering the company, and about another $6,000 on opening production and renting an office. No particular difficulties arose at this stage - Indian firms do everything clearly, and the state is generally favorable towards small businesses.
Subtleties of mentality
The difficulties began later. As it turned out, in order to reach at least some kind of agreement with the Indians, it is necessary to hold countless meetings, negotiations, write dozens of letters and make many calls - the locals are not inclined to make transactions without prior acquaintance and lengthy discussion.
“It took us about a year to install terminals in the metro - all this time we discussed the details. As the Indians themselves joke, people here aren’t slow, they’re just in no hurry,” Vasily sneers.
After the terminals were installed, a new circumstance was discovered: local residents were in no hurry to trust their hard-earned money to soulless machines.
“We installed about 200 terminals in Delhi, including near the metro, but Indians were wary of them - due to their mentality, contact with a person is more interesting to them than interaction with a machine,” says Vasily.
According to him, other major players who tried to develop the payment terminal market in India also faced the same problem - regardless of the funds invested, no one achieved serious success in this field.
In 2012, the partners decided to freeze the project, but the company, key personnel and terminal production were retained to maintain current orders. And in 2016, the topic unexpectedly took off: large oil and gas companies, ministries and even the Indian army became interested in terminals, but information ones.
“Right now we are not investing a rupee in promoting this project, but we are monitoring tenders. Recently, for example, we won a tender from the Indian Ministry of Health for 26 million rupees ( about $380 thousand – approx. editorial staff), we will supply them with information kiosks. We are preparing to participate in other government projects,” Vasily outlines his immediate plans.
Didn't match the business plan
Olesya Prokhorova came to India in 2011. According to her, the direction for life and business was chosen spontaneously: “My husband and I had experience of wintering in Southeast Asia, but we had never been to India before moving. We decided that there is a large field for the development of suspended ceilings. Since my husband Alexander was an interior designer, he knew all the features of this product. We asked Vasily Popov, whom we knew back in Yekaterinburg, and he supported it, saying that there is nothing like that, come. And we arrived."
The couple decided to develop a business related to suspended ceilings together with Vasily Popov - they created a company Top Ceiling. The equipment was purchased in China and several demonstration samples were made. Investments at the first stage amounted to $35,000.
“Our main trump card was that there is a long rainy season, after which leaks are inevitable, stains appear on the ceilings, plaster crumbles... Local residents are forced to make cosmetic repairs almost every year,” says Olesya. “Stretch ceilings help to avoid this - even if something leaks, it’s enough to dry the ceiling and it looks like new.”
However, new technologies also encountered peculiarities of mentality: potential clients needed to see and understand how it works. So the first orders came no earlier than a year later, and greatly surprised the Russians.
“In Russia, white ceilings are most popular, and in India, multi-colored ones. Just as we purchased 5 thousand square meters of white linen, almost all of it is in the warehouse,” says Olesya. “The demand here is for spectacular luminescent ceilings - illuminated, with prints of clouds, sky, flowers...”
“We planned that we would work with stretch ceilings in the mass segment. However, now our clients are mainly large customers - hotels, restaurants, clinics. Therefore, although we reached operational payback in about a year, we have not yet achieved what was written in the business plan,” says Vasily. - At the moment, the local goal is a turnover of 12 thousand dollars per month, which, in principle, was achieved last month. And in the near future there are plans to go “to the masses” with ceilings.
Taxes – through an intermediary
It now costs just over $100 a year to promote suspended ceilings. These funds are spent on subscriptions to paid portals dedicated to construction and interior design.
“In addition, from the very beginning, we have compiled a database of more than 400 companies in Delhi who are engaged in interiors and design, and now we have a sales manager working with them. But there is a nuance here: Indian companies respond very slowly to requests. If you write to ten companies, it’s good if at least one responds. Therefore, now we are helped out by word of mouth, which has already begun to bear fruit,” explains Vasily.
In general, the attitude towards foreigners in India is friendly - sometimes they are trusted even more than locals. It is believed that the quality of imported products and technologies is higher, and working with foreigners is more reliable
However, foreign businessmen themselves cannot do without the help of local specialists, take at least taxes. The taxation system in India is more complex and confusing than in Russia, while a company cannot submit its reports on its own - this must be done by an accounting company registered in a special register.
“We hand over documents to them - invoices, bank statements, and they already prepare all the reports. The cost of services depends on the volume of business. While we had few transactions, we spent about $150 a month on maintenance, now it’s about $300. - Olesya and Vasily explain. “All accounting is done in English, so it’s easy to control.”
Tourism? Why not
The idea of another business, which our heroes are now engaged in, lay on the surface. Tourism is the very area in which many compatriots who find themselves abroad try their hand. And if in Goa, a popular seaside resort, competition in the field tourism services high (including among Russians living there), then in the northern part of the country, where historical and cultural monuments, the market is not yet saturated with offers.
“We figured, why not? We created the company Sansarafan, made a website Sansarafan.com. Nowadays they usually find us by searching for “guide in India” or “excursions around Delhi”, they learn about us through groups on social networks and from friends and acquaintances who have already visited India with our guides,” says Olesya.
Last year, the company began promoting with the help of partner agencies - mainly travel agencies that deal with individual tours. Thanks to the volume discounts that partners receive, they can offer services and excursions in Delhi and the Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur) at the same price as Sansarafan.
The company focuses primarily on individual tourists from Russia and the CIS countries, those who have already seen a lot and are ready to spend their vacation getting to know unusual sights. But at the same time, the company works not only with tourists, but also helps those who come to India on business.
For example, last fall, Sansarafan employees actively participated in organizing filming for the Friday TV channel, which was preparing one of the episodes of the “Food, I Love You!” program in Delhi. And at the beginning of this season, participants and the winner of the international contest “Mrs. World 2016” became the company’s clients. In addition, Sansarafan showed all the advantages and disadvantages of India to the guys from Travel TV “On Your Own” (YouTube channel for active and independent travelers).
“Right now, we have all the dates booked until mid-January,” shares Olesya. - On average, during the high season we receive up to 100 tourists per month. In terms of money, dynamics are also noticeable - last year Sansarafan’s turnover was 2 million rupees, this year about 3 million ( about $29 thousand and $44 thousand respectively - approx. editorial staff). We plan to develop further in this market - we already have representatives in other cities of India, and not so long ago we began doing tours to Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.
Competition with locals
Despite all the favor towards small businesses and foreigners, the main difficulty of doing business in India, according to interlocutors, is still the need to withstand competition with Indian companies. Labor is inexpensive here, and Indians, unlike foreigners, are willing to work for very low wages.
For example, in tourism, Sansarafan often encounters a situation where private Indian guides offer excursions and tours below their cost. As a rule, this is due to the desire to get a client at any cost, and then take money from him for additional services.
“At the same time, they do not give any guarantees for the quality of their services and are not responsible for the safety of tourists or their wallets,” comments Olesya. “By the way, a similar situation can be observed in other industries.”
To survive in a fairly fierce competition, partners optimize costs. For all of the above projects, one office is rented, consisting of several rooms, where you can meet with clients or hold negotiations. All production was gradually also accumulated in one workshop, in one part of which kiosks are assembled, in another part ceilings are produced, in the third a warehouse for materials is organized.
Life hacks for those who decide to do business in India
It’s not for nothing that India is called a country of contrasts, so when moving here, you need to be prepared for anything. Here you can start a business and earn good money, or you can lose all your savings overnight.
So, while this material was being prepared, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced global monetary reform. Late in the evening of November 8, the news announced that all banknotes in denominations of 500 and 1000 rupees would be considered illegal from the next day and removed from monetary circulation. Old money can be exchanged for new ones only until November 24 (and in very limited quantities, the daily limit is 2,000 rupees) or handed over to the bank, while explaining the origin of these funds. If the amount exceeds two lacs (Rs. 200,000), then the owner will have to pay 90% tax to the government. This is such a radical measure against corrupt officials and shadow businesses.
Think carefully about what you will do. What works effectively and is sold in Russia may not be in demand at all in India. It may be worth starting the business in test mode first.
Be sociable- you will need to personally get to know partners and clients, meet with them often and negotiate. In this country, many issues cannot be resolved by email.
Remember that in India, all business is built on interpersonal relationships and connections, so it will take time to make a certain circle of acquaintances. But subsequently, all successful contacts will work for you.
Keep in mind that India is highly competitive and has a huge population.. It is difficult for foreigners to compete with Indians, since locals have lower costs and more connections. Therefore, it is better to choose areas that are not yet very developed in the local market.
Learn English (the main language of communication) and remember at least basic words in Hindi- they will be useful in everyday life.
Estimate your budget for the first time: Thus, a decent option for renting an apartment in Delhi can be found for $500-1000 per month (you need to pay the first month, make a three-month deposit, and also give an amount equivalent to a month’s rent to a real estate agency). Moreover, all apartments are rented empty - without appliances and furniture. In general, a family of three to four people can live comfortably in Delhi on $1,000 to $1,500 a month, including rent, all running expenses, and even household staff.
Shakir: Tell us about your first travel experience. Where did your passion for travel begin?
Daniyar: My first travel experience was at the end of 2010. I went to Turkey with my sister, and until the very last moment I had no idea what format our trip would take - I thought we’d come to the beach for 2 weeks, as usually happens, relax and come back. But everything turned out differently. We arrived in Istanbul to visit relatives, where my sister suggested we go not to the beach, but to Cappadocia. I agreed and we went. There we met a Chinese woman and became friends. When the time came to leave Cappadocia, on the advice of the cashier at the bus station, we decided to rush to Fethiye, to the most beautiful beach in Turkey, where there are no Russians, no Kazakhs, and the service staff had not even heard of Kazakhstan.
From Fethiye we moved to Troy, from there to Ephesus. So we traveled around Turkey for 20 days, on buses and on foot with backpacks. There I first realized that I wanted to travel further. I started reading about travel and studying countries.
Shakir: What winds brought it to India?
Daniyar: There wasn’t a lot of money at that time, so I was looking for budget country for your next trip. For some reason I couldn’t get China out of my head, then the thought of India appeared. I opened a public page on VKontakte, contacted friends who were studying in Delhi at that time, took one friend and rushed to India.
At the time of my first trip to India, I only had a visa for 2 months. It is difficult to obtain a long-term visa for the first time. But I stayed there longer. The night before the flight, my friends and I had a good time, and I arrived at the airport straight from the party. I was 10-15 minutes late, the plane took off without me. But I cheated and decided to exchange the ticket for the very last day of the visa validity. When I arrived at the airport, they didn’t let me on the flight - they wouldn’t let me out of the country with an expired visa. To leave, you had to go through immigration checks, drug control - in India there is bureaucracy. And while I was going through all this, I hung out in Delhi for another 3.5 weeks.
But without a visa you are not even allowed into a guesthouse, at least in Delhi, in the Paharganj region. Therefore, I stayed with the Kazakh press attaché for several days, then, apparently, I pestered him, and he settled me in the Delhi University dormitory. Every day I went from there to the migration police, sat there for a couple of hours, and in the remaining time I walked around Delhi and got acquainted with the sights.
Then I returned to Almaty. I started running a community about India on VK; at that time it was the most active public. And one day a subscriber wrote to me and asked me to accompany her mother on a trip to India - you understand, the woman is alone and afraid. I asked for the route, they wrote to me: Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Manali. I had not been to these places at that time, but here I had the opportunity to accompany this woman and, at her expense, see all these places. Super! Go. She is delighted, and I have seen new places.
When we returned from this trip, I knew that I would return to India again. To obtain a multiple entry visa, I entered American University to Delhi, paid a fee of 150 dollars, received their invitation and visa. But I didn't study there.
Then that subscriber wrote to me again, now asking me to accompany her friends. I went to India again as a professional guide (laughs).
Then I realized that you can travel and make money from it. At that time I was 22-23 years old. And so I became a guide.
Shakir: How much time did you spend in India in total?
Daniyar: 3 years. In the last year, I stopped working as a guide and opened a cafe together with an Indian.
Shakir: From here, let's go into more detail!
Daniyar: In general, I came to Goa with a group of Karaganda residents. Once in a cafe, I helped them communicate with the waiters, explained what was written on the menu. The owner of the cafe, my future partner Uday, saw how well I communicated with Russian-speaking tourists and became interested. He offered to work for him as an employee, but I didn’t want to do that. As a result, we both invested and opened a cafe in Mandrem.
Janelle: What was your share of the business?
Daniyar: 30 percent.
Shakir: Is it easy to legally register a business in India?
Daniyar: No foreigner has the right to open a business in India or buy real estate. I have 6 mopeds in India which I purchased to rent out. But according to the documents, they are registered in the name of some Indian, whom I have never even seen. But I have the documents in my hands, and in India, whoever has the documents is the owner, and it doesn’t matter that someone else’s name is written on them.
Janelle: That is, it’s enough to register a company in the name of an Indian, and you can work in peace?
Daniyar: It's not that simple. In Goa there is the Arambol police - this is the most terrible thing. They cover everything. At first glance, it seems that in Goa all the people are welcoming to you, everything is nice and cool. But in fact, Goa is a huge mafia. Even local grandmothers ask you for a reason: “Son, how are you, what are you doing here?” There is a mafia working everywhere, protected by the police.
There was a case when I first came with clients to Arambol, and then to Palolem, which is 102 km from Arambol. We go into a cafe with them, the waiter comes up to me and says: “You’ve lost some weight, my friend, you probably have a lot of work, you’re tired.” But I don’t know this person! Then I realized: they were whipping me. Although I looked like a tourist, wearing shorts and glasses, everyone knew that I was actually working, and such people are treated poorly in India.
Janelle: And what would you face for it, in the worst case?
Daniyar: The maximum measure is intimidation; it usually does not go as far as physical violence. Once, when I was already in the restaurant business, two of my waiters were kidnapped at night. I had a staff of 10 people, of whom we rented a room for five, and three spent the night in the cafe and at the same time guarded it. And so, one night I was hanging out somewhere, the manager of the cafe called me and said: “Two of our employees were stolen.” They were kidnapped, taken to the jungle, and forced to dig holes. Everything is in the best traditions of the gangster 90s. It was an act of intimidation; they were returned in the morning.
Cafes are often burned down.
Janelle: What harsh morals!
Daniyar: Those who are from Goa say so: we are not Indians, we are Goans, Portuguese. They are proud and daring. When communicating with Indians, you are the boss, they are used to it, they have this way of thinking. If you treat a Hindu kindly, you will not get anything from him. These are the kind of people who need to be driven with sticks, I even assaulted them in a cafe - I had a special bamboo stick, it hits hard. But this will not work with Goans. They take into account every word you say. They talk to each other and pass on information. Even taxi drivers, at first glance, are simple taxi drivers, and they either rent out houses or sell drugs.
I understand the locals. This is their bread, they need to earn money during the tourist season for the whole coming year, and then downshifters come who do the same work for less and in a language that tourists can understand. So the locals are tense. There was a case where a guy from Ukraine was killed. He organized tours, posted his advertisements everywhere, and he had a lot of clients. And he was eliminated.
Shakir: How much money does it take to open a cafe in Goa?
Daniyar: I miscalculated and invested more. But now I understand that 2 thousand dollars is enough to open a cafe, for example, in a rented house.
Janelle: How profitable is it to have a cafe in Goa?
Daniyar: I took my money when I left. But, in fact, the cafe makes a small profit - a client orders a bowl of soup, it costs 60 rupees, that’s 180 tenge. How many soups do you have to eat for you to earn a lot?
Janelle: Why did you decide to go out of business? Because of small profits?
Daniyar: I have seen everything in India, I know it better than Almaty. I wanted something new, different. But managing a cafe from a distance is unrealistic. I know Indians - they will definitely lie.
Shakir: How are things going in the cafe without you?
Daniyar: This year things are not going well. Firstly, I, a Russian speaker, am not here, and secondly, the ruble has fallen greatly. This year Goa did not receive 10,000 tourists from Russia. The fact that I speak Russian has a very strong influence. It was written on our board: we cook Russian food, we speak Russian, and this attracted many customers. A lot of people come to Goa from some Tagil, Nizhny Varovsk. They come and say: “Okay, I want borscht.” Before the cafe opened, I didn’t know how to cook, but I had to give it a try. I looked on the Internet for how to cook borscht, showed my cooks what to put in the pan and why, I see, borscht. That's how we learned. People enter a cafe and ask from the door: “Do they speak Russian here?” I answer: “Of course, they say, come in!” And such tourists will not go anywhere else, only to me. I had clients whose hotel was located next to the cafe, and they strictly came to me for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus for drinks. And from one such company of several people, for 2 weeks of their vacation, we received one and a half thousand, and, in fact, there were many such companies. It’s all just because I know how to build connections with people. In this matter, it is important to understand the client: how he asks for salad dressing, what sequence of dishes he expects. IN Goa still somehow they more or less learned to work with tourists, but in India in general there is a big problem with this - first they bring flatbreads, the client eats up this chiznan, then they bring him dishes, and he is already full.
Shakir: How to find a partner in India?
Daniyar: It's complicated. There is a 99% chance that you will be scammed. You spend money, start work, and after a couple of months they throw you away. I had a friend in India from Moscow, he poured in a lot of money, opened night bar with a swimming pool, on good level. He rented a place, and a few months later he was met at his bar with an ax and told: “Get out of here, don’t come back.” And what will you do at such a moment? You are not in your own country. People get scammed here a lot. I was lucky that the person with whom I opened the cafe is a real businessman. And I tried to make sure that business would go poorly without me.
Shakir: How are things going with taxation?
Daniyar: We didn't have a cash register. In the report we wrote that we earn 6,000 rupees a month, which is 100 dollars.
Janelle: And what percentage of them were given to the state?
Daniyar: A little. There is generally a strange system: if you want, you can pay taxes, if you don’t want, you don’t have to pay.
Janelle: What about checks?
Daniyar: And the checks are the same as everywhere else: you set the table, people get drunk, and that’s it, the check has passed. They have the same mindset, they are happy that a foreigner is straining for them, dancing in front of them. You give 2000 rupees (6000 tenge) in your hands, and that’s it, the case is closed.
Shakir: I have often heard that they poison themselves in Indian cafes. Apparently because everything is so easy to get away with. And how can a tourist protect himself?
Daniyar: SES in Goa does not work at all. But people are poisoned not from food, but from their mood when they are disdainful. My personal observation is that when a person is positive, nothing can poison him. In general, I believe that all problems are from the head. Personally, my cafe was clean, we gave the leftover food to the dogs. As for spoiled food, no one will cook extra food, it is not profitable. I really had almost no waste. Every morning at 6 am, our man went to the market to buy fresh products from which we prepared our dishes.
By the way, many people are poisoned by fish and sharks. As a rule, this happens in cafes that buy a lot and display fish. I didn't buy the fish in advance. When clients were interested in fish, I asked to place an order so that we could go and buy fresh fish, which the fishermen bring 2 times a day immediately after the catch, and cook from it.
Shakir: And finally, an important question about safety. How can a tourist go to India and return safe and sound?
Daniyar: Behave brazenly and impudently. Even women. Don't be afraid of anyone. If you start to defend yourself, not feebly, but fiercely, those around you will realize this and will not do anything to you.
The interview was recorded: Janel Rakhmidinova, Shakir Islambakiev
Photos from the personal archive of Daniyar Dustan
Oil refining startup. Now the head office of their company RRT is located in the USA, the research center is in St. Petersburg. In his column, Oleg Giyazov talks about how they opened theirrepresentative office in India.
A year ago I was designing petrochemical plants for China. It was fantastically boring. So I invited my colleague to take a chance, and we founded RRT, a research company in the field of oil refining. A year ago we only had a mathematical model new technology obtaining gasoline. Today RRT is formally a transnational company. Although the key word here is still “formal”. We have an R&D center in St. Petersburg, headquarters in the USA, and a representative office in India. We are just launching in India, and this is an interesting case.
History with seals
You can open a company in India from Russia. Honestly, nothing complicated. You contact an Indian law firm, and they prepare the documents in 5-6 days. Then, via the Internet, you receive a DIN - director identification number. The next step is the Indian Embassy in Moscow or the Consulate General in St. Petersburg, as was the case in our case. Here you need to put several stamps.
This is more difficult. I remember how I came to the consulate. I was greeted by an Indian speaking classic “Indian-English”. That is, it is extremely difficult to understand. I tried to explain myself for 20 minutes - it was useless. Under my ear I heard a desperate “Where should I put it?!” — the courier brought water to the consulate and also could not get an answer. Finally, a woman appeared in the hall, took my documents and left. About 40 minutes later she returned: “Excuse me, what stamps and where should I put them?” I explained. The consul's assistant came out behind her: “You are the first this year who came with such documents. We need to wait for the consul so he can just look at them. Then we’ll put stamps on it.”
We waited for the consul for two and a half hours. “We need to contact the ambassador so that he can simply look at the documents. Then we will put stamps,” said the Consul General. After another hour, the documents were stamped, all that remained was to pay the consular fee.
“There is no money in the cash register. So prepare the exact amount or go for change. There’s an excellent store here on Vosstaniya Street,” the woman said. Then it turned out that the key to the cash register had disappeared somewhere. In total, I spent 6 hours at the consulate to pay 3,120 rubles and get stamps on the documents. It is surprising that it took the presence of the Consul General and communication with the Ambassador to open a representative office in India for one and a half people.
Business Delhi
After registering the company, my colleagues and I flew to Delhi to negotiate with customers. Delhi is an amazing city. In the sense that I was shocked: I was expecting something completely different. Before traveling to India, we booked a hotel on a website where it was written that the hotel was located in New Delhi, the business center of the Indian capital. “Skyscrapers, something like Moscow City, only better,” I thought then.
At the Indian airport, instead of the ordered taxi, a Stalin-era car came to pick us up. We got into a barely alive car with a windshield, there were holes where the side windows used to be, not a single device worked. The driver tried to feel the car: listened to the sound of the engine, frantically pressed the pedals and fidgeted in his seat - this was the only way the car could move and drive.
Our chief engineer Dmitry, a native St. Petersburger from an intelligent family, is principled and never swears. But on the way to Delhi, he looked out the window and repeated one word: “Tough.” It turned out that New Delhi (like Delhi) is an endless number of shabby-looking three-story houses. The streets are crowded with merchants. Absolutely everything is sold in Delhi: you can pick up a stone from the ground and start selling it - that’s normal. There are street shaving stations, instant haircuts, and fast food. At the entrance to shopping centers(tiny by Russian standards) machine gunners are on duty. Our hotel was also guarded by machine gunners. Right there, in front of the hotel entrance, monkeys gathered at the bus stop in the morning. And the locals drove them away so they could have somewhere to wait for the bus themselves. On the other hand, no one wears a traditional sari on the streets of Delhi; everyone speaks fluent English. And here there is a real cult of education, especially natural and technical education (Indian programmers are already known throughout the world, and soon they will start talking about Indian engineers as well).
The cost of real estate in Delhi is noticeably lower than in Moscow or St. Petersburg. For example, we rented an office in the business center for $200 per month. And this is not a closet with a table and chair, but an office with an area of 56 square meters. m with a two-room kitchen.
Indian prospects
Meeting the actual decision makers in India is problematic. We found the most desirable person thanks to the head of our representative office in India - Adash. The customer (the condition of the negotiations is not to advertise his name) knows Adash’s father, a famous professor, well. The status of a professor in India is highly valued. In addition, the client’s son, together with Adash, received an MBA degree from the Calcutta Business School.
The start of the negotiations was delayed by 3 hours due to traffic jams. There are virtually no traffic rules in Delhi. For example, a tractor may be driving in the oncoming lane and this will not surprise anyone. No one even honks - they just let you pass. However, the negotiations with the customer lasted only 20 minutes. But it was a fantastically effective 20 minutes.
In general, India is a complex, but wildly promising market for us. Firstly, it is huge, and secondly, the competition is weak. The main problem of our competitors is that they sell old and enough simple technology oil refining. Indians easily copy it and do not pay money for a license.
Our situation is different. Our technology is many times more effective and virtually impossible to copy. What is its essence? Now strict environmental standards for gasoline are being introduced in the world: EURO-5 in Europe, MSAT-2 in the USA, etc. For oil companies, this is a huge problem - producing gasoline according to the new standards is very expensive. But we know how to produce high-quality gasoline cheaply. It is necessary to use the technology of combining processes. Theoretically, this is a complex technology, but it gives an excellent effect. After negotiations in India, it became clear that there is a demand for our technology.
