Good Knight
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AHMEDABAD
IIMA/BP0232
GOOD KNIGHT
IN 1973, when Mohan boarded a second class compartment of the Jayanti Janata Express to Mumbai (Bombay) from Thrissur in Kerala in South India in search of a job, little did he realize that he would be known as ‘Good Knight Mohan in a few years’ time. Jobs came easy to this young new Electrical Engineer, but he was not satisfied. After switching jobs twice, Mohan started a trading firm to deal in ceramic insulators. While this paid for his livelihood, he experimented with the design and production of indigenous diapers from his flat in Kalina. Sales were limited and market never picked up for want of perfection. Also many people did not know then what a diaper was all about. In 1981-82, when electrical equipment industry went through a bad patch Mohan had to sell his insulator business. It was at that time that he was looking for a safe anti-mosquito repeller to protect his little daughter from mosquito bites and sleepless nights. He finally located an effective repeller in the form of a paper mat under the brand name Vape in one of the shops in Mumbai. Although the shop-keeper did not show much interest in selling it apparently to avoid any risk of nonperformance of an unknown product, Mohan bought it as he wanted to try it out. The next day itself Mohan felt that it would be a high successful product if it were marketed well and he soon took over the distributorship of the little known Vape. Although Mohan was convinced about the future prospects of Vape, the managing director of the company did not give him any support in terms of advertisement and reliable distribution. It was when Vape started fading away that he decided to explore possibilities of starting a firm of his own to manufacture mosquito mats in collaboration with Sumitomo of Japan. Technology and financing His attempts to collaborate with the Sumitomo group of Japan which had a monopoly of the technical materials, was faced with
IIMA/BP0232
GOOD KNIGHT
IN 1973, when Mohan boarded a second class compartment of the Jayanti Janata Express to Mumbai (Bombay) from Thrissur in Kerala in South India in search of a job, little did he realize that he would be known as ‘Good Knight Mohan in a few years’ time. Jobs came easy to this young new Electrical Engineer, but he was not satisfied. After switching jobs twice, Mohan started a trading firm to deal in ceramic insulators. While this paid for his livelihood, he experimented with the design and production of indigenous diapers from his flat in Kalina. Sales were limited and market never picked up for want of perfection. Also many people did not know then what a diaper was all about. In 1981-82, when electrical equipment industry went through a bad patch Mohan had to sell his insulator business. It was at that time that he was looking for a safe anti-mosquito repeller to protect his little daughter from mosquito bites and sleepless nights. He finally located an effective repeller in the form of a paper mat under the brand name Vape in one of the shops in Mumbai. Although the shop-keeper did not show much interest in selling it apparently to avoid any risk of nonperformance of an unknown product, Mohan bought it as he wanted to try it out. The next day itself Mohan felt that it would be a high successful product if it were marketed well and he soon took over the distributorship of the little known Vape. Although Mohan was convinced about the future prospects of Vape, the managing director of the company did not give him any support in terms of advertisement and reliable distribution. It was when Vape started fading away that he decided to explore possibilities of starting a firm of his own to manufacture mosquito mats in collaboration with Sumitomo of Japan. Technology and financing His attempts to collaborate with the Sumitomo group of Japan which had a monopoly of the technical materials, was faced with