Mine is a family business that has grown large. I am looking to list on the market and a requirement is to bring in ‘independent directors' on my board. How does one select board directors?

- B.P. Mishra, Kolkata

Mishra-ji, ‘independent directors' are a very important part of Indian boards today. Selecting one should ideally be through a process driven by a committee of the board and an external partner, if you already have one. This way, the neutrality required is maintained. Most Indian boards in the past have preferred looking at names that look and sound comfortable from the point of view of knowing the person to be close enough to be of help and not distant enough to be a hurdle to work.

While more professionally run bigger companies are today reasonably neutral in the kind of directors they bring in, smaller companies still write a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom for themselves by bringing in directors who are just too close to the business.

I for one love to sit on boards where I can really make a difference, and where I can be myself and where I can criticise what I don't approve of and accept what I am really comfortable with. Being professional in your disagreement without being disagreeable is important. Look for that trait as well in your director.

What is the biggest challenge you see in the fledgling e-commerce industry in India?

- Venkatesh Parthasarathi, Mumbai

Venkatesh, the challenges are many. The first big challenge is one of trust. Consumers do not trust in e-commerce as yet. There have been just too many faults in the system. The last-mile delivery issue is yet to be cracked. Trust in credit card transactions is yet to be established as well. Also, trust in retailers as entities that speak the truth and deliver the truth is yet to be established as a norm. The gaps are, therefore, many. All that needs to be corrected.

In India, only a select set of sectors such as retail and travel are reaping the true benefits of e-commerce. These are typically those segments that offer a complete Internet experience in terms of making an offer, and culminating in delivering the same online immediately. IRCTC.co.in is a classic example here. You can look for a train, compare routes, buy a ticket and get the ticket delivered as an output on your printer. This is the complete online fulfilment model. This works best.

The user of e-commerce is one from the new generation of impatient consumers. They love immediate fulfilment. Remember, we are talking to the scratch-card generation now. A generation that expects fulfilment at the scratch of a card, or the move of a decisive mouse.

Other sectors will grow as they mature in their abilities to offer quicker delivery and fulfilment models.

The second key issue to address is the one of online credibility. I do believe the industry needs self-regulation to ensure this. We possibly even need an industry regulator who will trawl every site and ensure that there remains no portal that is out in this space to fool the customer. I have a big worry about offerings made on group buying sites in this space, for instance. Many promise the sky and deliver the gutter.

On the whole this is promising space, though. We have a young population that is Internet-enabled. Fifty-four per cent of the population is below the age of 25. This is a prime e-consuming set. This set is very impatient. This set is hungry for brands. Hungry for offers, even. This set has little time to waste in physical shopping environments even. Time is equal to good money for this set. All this points just one-way: e-commerce. A very robust e-commerce future for this country.

Today, we have 73 million users of the Internet. The e-shopper is a subset of this number. This very number is slated to boom. The prognosis is a multiple of 2.5-3 in just two years. As this happens, e-commerce volume and value will grow. As of today the size of all e-commerce in India is just about $9.3 billion. Expect this number to grow in big multiples. Single-digit multiples for a start!

Start-ups have little money. How do they invest in brand building?

- Rohini Bhalla, New Delhi

Rohini, start-ups are typically strapped for cash. I agree. More often than not, however, most start-ups confuse branding to be a cash-intensive process. Not true.

My recommendation for start-ups is to invest in a brand mentor rather than in an advertising agency. Most start-ups understand their businesses better than anyone else who might be hired to do their business. Therefore, all you need is a brand mentor. Get one, and insist that your entire effort needs to be vetted forever on the basis of low-cost branding initiatives.

Market research is indeed the first step. Here I recommend small sample sizes, run by yourself rather than outsourced to a specialist agency. Everything else will follow the insights you gather from market research. Market research helps you build your basics right. And once your basics are right, nothing can really go wrong. Get your brand mentor to forever hold your little finger and guide at every step then on.

Harish Bijoor is a business strategy specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.

askharishbijoor@gmail.com

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