ENTREPREUNERSHIP SERIES: Kerala youth turns coconut plucking into a hi-tech job

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-04-03/news/31281523_1_coconut-pluckers-kerala-youth

Kerala youth turns coconut plucking into a hi-tech job
PTI Apr 3, 2012, 01.10PM IST

Shortage of trained nut pluckers is a grim farm sector problem in Kerala but for 37-year-old Selvin Chacko coconut plucking is a hi-tech profession involving car, mobile and even a dedicated website.

While many youngsters looked down upon coconut plucking as a less-esteemed career, Selvin from Changanassery has opted for it with \\\"career pride and pleasure\\\" and keeping in tune with the changing times he is using modern facilities like mobile phone and website to get connected to customers.Travelling in the car helps him save time as he can rush from one coconut garden to the next.

Selvin says he climbs 40 to 45 trees a day earning not less than Rs 30,000 a month. His phone number and profile are available on a website launched in the name of 'Changathikoottam', a gathering of trained coconut pluckers.

A failed business man, Selvin said coconut plucking has helped him to rebuild his life.

\\\"I have tried my luck in a number of enterprises but could not succeed. Finally, I started looking for a job which could give me a steady income. After some search, I found coconut plucking a gainful career as there is a huge demand for coconut harvesters in Kerala,\\\" Selvin said.

After his schooling, Selvin became a bus conductor and even bought two buses eventually. But the bus business failed soon and he was pushed into debt-trap.

Father of three kids, he later joined a weeklong coconut climbing training programme conducted by the 'Krishi Vingnan Kendra' in Kumarakom near Kottayam.

He gets an average of 100 calls a day from various parts of the district. Apart from wages, he also charges petrol price for the assignments outside the district.

\\\"Though I mastered the nuances of tree climbing and nut plucking, I had to face stiff opposition from my family and traditional coconut pluckers in the inital days,\\\" he said.

\\\"My family and community members complained that I humiliated them by entering in the profession while conventional nut pluckers blamed me for charging lower wages.\\\"

Of late, he had also turned a trainer, having helped a dozen youth learn the job.

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Sunny Leone a true Canadian DESI now back in India !.

Case Study II:

My tenant in India lost his job in a IT major set up his own group friends to implement SCM in a small way out of his home and he is now doing a turnover of INR 4Crores in about 6 years. My contribution was when he lost his job I told him he can backpay rent when he was comfortable. He did it in about 3 months.

This is in Bangaluru. He has now started lunch packet service to companies around Bangaluru after hiring 2 cooks from our home.

He is B.Sc (Physics) by education.

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Sunny Leone a true Canadian DESI now back in India !.

Case Study III:

There was this professional who was hit with a medical condition and became partially in active.

He tied up with a dentist and bought a van refurbished it to perform dental examination.

The dentist and his team go to various companies to perform dental exam free of cost. When they spot a problem they give a quote 25% less than market. The client has a choice to anywhere further.

They are doing good business now in a span of 2years.

They are helping the people who do not typically think about Dental care.

While they are building their client base.

The company is happy that they are providing healthcare at minimal cost.

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Sunny Leone a true Canadian DESI now back in India !.

Please add your personal stories with your gain, clients gain and the social gain out of these experiences.

May be this will inspire others to make a living.

Ideas are cheap but making them working is hard.

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Sunny Leone a true Canadian DESI now back in India !.

Ash:
Being in India I can truely belive your story though some CD's may not. Mumbai went though a golden period pre and post recession.
Still Mumbai is still so virgin. There are a lot of places where still multi storied development can take place. Mumbai has potential of growing for the next 20 years (with the same economic development) and so in Bangalore. There are the two cities that I have visited recently and studied.
Peace

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Hmmmm.. time to move back to India

TK, Here we come

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SS
Reiki Grand Master

SS,
You are welcome.
But can you adjust your quality of life in India is the big question.

Peace

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.