IIM-A student launches online Sabzi Mandi

No more trips to the market
Isn't it a pain to travel every other day to the sabzi mandi and rummage through the filth before haggling for prices with obnoxious vendors? Your life would soon be made much easier thanks to Akrosh Sharma, an IIM grad.

Mr Sharma, who hails from Surat, is all set to launch India's first online vegetable market where you'll be able to buy aloo, baigan, bhindi etc at the click of a mouse, in the comfort of your home. His website is an innovative 'online mandi' which lets you see fresh vegetables, their prices and you just simply order them. What's more, you can even specify the time at which the vegetables are to be delivered at your doorstep.

"Apart from purchasing daily vegetables, one can gift fruits using the web service. We are launching the concept of gift-packing fruits and vegetables as a ‘healthy gift’ option," says Sharma. The 'online mandi' should in all probability be a hit, especially among working couples who hardly have time to shop for fresh vegetables everyday. "Once the order is placed, customers will get the vegetables at the time specified by them," adds Sharma.

Sharma was brought up in in Vadodara and completed his engineering from MS University. He then enrolled on to IIM-A and landed a high paying job with a top MNC in Surat. However Sharma was not ready to stay in a comfort zone and quit his job to begin his own business. He launched his vegetable and fruit business in 2007 in a 10 by 10 feet shop. "I competed with the mandi and not the big stores. I created a subzi bazaar-like atmosphere in terms of product display that had well-behaved staff members dealing with customers, high sense of hygiene and no haggling," said Sharma.

As of now, his 'mini mandi' concept has crossed Rs 1 crore in annual turnover. "New concepts like these will lead to improvement of the market where the customer will have better options. An institute like IIM-A can encourage entrepreneurship in a big way. We wish it is not only IIM grads but even other entrepreneurs should come forward with innovative concepts like this," says Vardan Kabra, who was Sharma’s classmate at IIM-A.

An online vegetable market is certainly a welcome change for the desi junta, from the looks of it Mr Sharma's company might just be the Amazon or Newegg.com of India.