Catalyst for Distribution network in rural sector

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Supply chain / distribution

Job Description

The people of rural India live in villages that are far flung and remote. Reaching these villages is not easy given the poor state of roads, power problems, lower per capita disposable incomes (half of the urban disposable income), seasonal consumption linked to harvests and festivals, and inaccessibility to conventional advertising. No active marketing or distribution exists to service the roughly 3.6 million rural retail points in these villages because of uneconomical "last mile" logistics. These villages as economic units are too feeble to support the scale of investment required to upgrade last mile connectivity.

While these factors are certainly problems, there is also great opportunity. There are 700 million Indians living in 610,000 rural villages who make up 41% of the consuming classes and possess 58% of the disposable income in India. These 128 million households need goods and services that are not now available to them due to lost last mile connectivity. Drishtee is seizing this opportunity and building a supply chain management system that will connect rural villagers with the products and services they need to survive and thrive.

India has a total of 610 districts. Assuming 10 blocks per district, there are 6100 blocks in the country. Drishtee is planning to carve out 5 routes in each block, covering 20 villages each. This way we can access all 610,000 villages. We tested the viability of this plan by piloting specific products in the Mathura district of western Uttar Pradesh. By the time the Mathura pilot was concluded, Drishtee was servicing 8 blocks which had 40 routes managed by 160 entrepreneurs who we call Rural Retail Associates (RRPs). We then expanded into the Moradabad District covering 8 routes in 4 blocks. Overall it had a network of over 700 retail points and handled 14 categories of products.

Drishtee aims to be the biggest supply chain manager in the rural segment. One of our biggest learnings from 8 years of operations, is to migrate from a mere network orchestrator of retail points to an integrated end-to-end SCM provider. In the next five years, we plan to service 200,000 RRPs covering 20% of rural India.

This is where YOU come in! We are looking for a bold, ambitious and driven entrepreneur who can take us to this next level. We would expect you to volunteer with us for 6 months, learning about our model and demonstrating your skill and commitment. We then would discuss the possibility of you leading and scaling this SCM model in exchange for an equity stake in the outcomes.

If you are passionate about improving the lives of those living in rural India, if you think boldly and act decisively, if you are collegial and like to learn, then we would love to talk with you. Please let us know today if you're interested in joining the Drishtee team.