1. Journey of Sahastradhara KGFS
Journey of Sahastradhara KGFS
Anupama Joshi
Anupama Joshi
18-06-2011
The journey of Sahastradhara KGFS

2. The Journey Started on 7th December, 2008

3. Pre start up
Area Selection
Travelled to Lakshar, Doiwala, Haridwar, Rshikesh……
Travelled up the hills
We decided to choose hills because of
Lack of banking facilities, remoteness,
Unchartered territory to name a few

4. The initial days were spent in trying to understand the demography
and local economy

5. We travelled across the length and breadth to understand the local
needs

6. At every turn their was something new waiting to be unearthed

7. An area which has remained mainly secluded from mainstream economy, establishing a
Model like KGFS was a challenge
“Tough times are there so you can have a good
time later on-- and really appreciate it!”

8. Meeting and interacting with the locals helped us establish our model

9. Our heart, mind, intellect, soul… we put everything to create the entity

10. FGDs
PRAs
Brainstorming
Interviews

11. The hunt started for
• Space
• Manpower
• Products
• System
And thus began the journey…………………..

12. Finalizing the first Branch….
It was decided to open the 1st branch at
Agrakhal…. 67 kms from Rishikesh
The entire team spent sleepless night getting
Things in place on the lines of brand KGFS

13. It was micromanagement when opening the 1st branch, now it takes 15
days to open a new branch

14. Fixing the technology and relay system was challenging

15. Finalizing the branch
location Branch survey
is Sign up with the landlord
Fixing the interiors
ready
… get
Furnitures, paint, texture, etc
recruitment
technology
set
Awareness meetings
go….. Inauguration

16. Opening of Agrakhal… stepping into the journey
The take off…… 7th April, 2008

17. Expanding further with new branches

18. Reaching out to customers in remote rural hills

19. 15 branches were opened in the first year of operation

20. ….. 19 branches and still counting

21. Our branches are inaugurated by village pradhan… mostly
women…. But we are still to get them as our customer

22. We offer services with a smile

23. Action in the branch

24. The first Headquarter at Rishikesh

25. Moving to the 2nd office near Jolly grant
On every occasion the team has
pitched in

26. A day @ 2nd HQ at Jollygrant

27. The road to the new HQ…..
Building from scratch
From finding Land to negotiation
And designing….. It was worth it.

28. The New Headquarter

29. A day @ the office

30. Building the team
• awareness about the organization
• Finding the right mix of talent
• Training and capacity building

31. Only 5 people turned up for the first recruitment advertisement given
by the organization

32. The first movers…. People who dared to enter into the unknown
The team was young but it had good advice and good ideas and lots
of enthusiasm

33. As we grew the buzz was created…… people from varied fields and
spheres of life came in large numbers…..

34. The selection process evolved with time and so did the preparedness
level of the applicants

35. Applicants were interviewed in depth … with large number of
applicants turning up their was a huge pool to choose from

36. Training the first set of employees…. The initial training was more
informal

37. Training… welcome to the world of finance

38. The training has progressed from informal set up to a more formal
set up….. Inhouse training centre with adequate resources

39. Ready to take challenges head on & opportunities with both hands

40. From the initial five member
team to the current 90 plus
employees…. The organization
has come a long way

41. Spreading awareness about the
organization
In the initial days we had to go door to
Door to spread word about ourselves
Convincing people was difficult in the beginning

42. Meetings were organized at the branch to generate awareness

43. As the word spread people started coming in large numbers in our
village meetings
Going the extra mile……...

44. From online enrollment at the branch

45. To offline enrollment…..Enrolling a client at their doorstep

46. To mobile enrollment….. Evolution of system to facilitate enrollment

47. Enrollment……… welcome to the world of financial well being

48. The progress in usage of technology
From landline
To V-SAT
To WI- FI

49. Product Journey
We started with one product and today we have 14 products and still counting .
We diagnose the problem and suggest remedies

50. JLG in Uttarakhand….
1st organisation to introduce
this in hills
JLG and jewel loan were the first
Product to be offered

51. Our affordable insurance products and fast settlement of claims has
created huge interest in the need for insurance

52. Investment of as low as Re 1 in Money Market Mutual Fund in
hills for the first time in 2009

53. Based on customer feedback and huge demand retailer loan was
created as people showed less interest to take group liability

54. Retailer appraisal… an intrinsic part to assess the eligibility of a
retailer

55. Real time Livestock Insurance helped save poor household dependant on livestock as a major
Source of income

56. Supplemental Loan….. A
chance to revive the lost dream
of a better future
A path breaking product which has a great trickle down effect on the
overall development of the entire household

57. Emergency Loan: Round the clock Money facility to meet
short term credit need in unforeseen circumstances has met with great
response since its inception in July 2010

58. NPS: Transforming saving behavior in the hills since February 2011
………………..live with head held high

59. Activities
People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.

60. Workplace is full of fun and
joy

61. All work and no play makes jack a dull boy

62. We are committed in giving back to society and nature

63. Community connect Programmes

64. Activities were organized for the village opinion leaders and the
families of WMs

65. Village marathon gathered lot of enthusiasm amongst all age
groups

66. Cricket Match at Khadi between team Sahastradhara and the locals was
a day full of excitement and joy

67. In volleyball team sahastradhara was crushed to defeat by the local
youth. The excitement made the crowd ask for more

68. Painting competition at Chakha was the first such event in the hills
which attracted children from all age groups

69. Audience experiencing movie hall for the first time with a message for
all

70. challenges
• weather
•Terrain
•Communication
• new entrant
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In
practice there is

71. Regular occurrence of landslides pose a great risk at times

72. In 2010 the monsoon in
Uttarakhand broke all records of
last 50 years causing widespread
destruction

73. Come what my be we always find our way out

74. Tough terrain makes it difficult to reach out

75. The inter village distances are large

76. The distance between houses inside village is also significant…

77. Lack of adequate communication devices has been a challenge in the
hills….. We have found a way out with our own relay system

78. Visitors

79. Understanding the system… visitors from airtel

80. Our model has driven visitors in numbers…. CMF team at our branch

81. Uttarakhand’s DIG crime at our branch

82. Governing Council member of IFMR trust

83. Governing Council members of IFMR trust

84. Due Diligence team keeps visiting us from time to time

85. Vijay Mahajan at our branch

86. In the company of Ila Bhatt and Mr. Vijay Mahajan

87. For the camera…. The Hollywood crew came flying to shoot our
model

88. Events…. Participating in world tourism day fair

89. With financial wellbeing comes trust and happiness

90. The journey continues

91. Thank you
Sahastradhara KGFS