Page 33 - DMGT310_ENTREPRENEURSHIP_AND_SMALL_BUSINESS_MANAGEMENT

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Notes

Case Study Shanti Batteries

hanti Batteries was established by the late Mr Santosh Kumar way back in 1961. At
that time it mainly manufactured batteries for four-wheelers. It had made its name
Sin the local market, was getting good clientele, was obtaining good return on
investment and Santosh was quiet happy with his earnings. But in 1994 he met with a
fateful accident on the road and after a series of operations, in order to save his life doctors
had to amputate his legs. It was a real testing time for the family, for the sole earning
member of the family was completely bedridden. He had a family of six – his wife, three
children (Priya 20, Sudhanshu 19, Mayank 12) and an old mother all dependent on the
earnings coming from Shanti Batteries. It was during this period that Sudhanshu left his
studies and took over his father’s business. Sudhanshu, with his sharp business acumen
and father’s guidance, was able to bring back the business in running condition within a
year. But Sudhanshu was himself not satisfied as he was looking for more opportunities.
After a market survey he found that power cuts (load shedding) were a problem growing
day by day. The reasons for power cuts were rising consumption and the government’s
inability to supply enough power to the people. Sudhanshu found an opportunity in this
problem and decided to expand his business from just manufacturing batteries to
manufacturing and assembling inverters. He discussed the business plan with his father
and got a go ahead from him.

The Industry
The inverter industry in Hapur was in its nascent stage. There were a very few local and
national brands. But since the entry barriers were very low, the number of small operators
had grown drastically within a period of one year. Hapur at present has 28 inverter
manufacturers in all and three of them were in the same local area as Shanti Batteries.
The Product
The key features of the product include:
(a) MOSFET based PWM Technology.
(b) SCR Phase control Constant Current & Constant Voltage (CC/CV) Charging to
give longer battery life.
(c) New Technology SCR + Transformer Electronic Controlling. (long battery life &
charging even at low voltage 140V)
(d) Battery Status on front panel
(e) Automatic overload reset with buzzer warning.
(f) Automatic Inverter ON at input below 110 VAC and above 290 VAC

Automatic Pre-Information with buzzer at the time of low battery (discharged)
condition.

Fast changeover when power goes (within less than 10 milli seconds) -
Regulated Output Voltage & Frequency on inverter mode (safe for appliances)
Inverter mode (safe for appliance)

PCB’s on connectors (safe side and easy to service)
Contd...

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