Yesterday, I had a lunch in the Taj hotel in Chennai (Madras) and enjoyed fresh Mackerel wrapped in banana leaves. What a dish! If I would enjoy half of my time here as I enjoyed this meal, I would run to the local ministry of internal affairs and apply for an Indian passport. You have to redefine your definition of good food after leaving this country.

India is one of the countries where hotels prove to you that they still know how to do certain things other than charging high prices. Cooking is one instance. Service with good intentions is another one. And I’m putting a lot of emphasis on the good intentions because their disorganization skills will drive you crazy. In principle, people are good hearted here and willing to do on a regular basis many of the things that we forgot in the West.

The Taj is owned by the largest company in India. They have over 10 hotels in India, all of which are very impressive, expensive and designed with good taste. In Mumbai (Bombay) you will have to pay $500 per day for a basic room in their flag ship hotel. Then you step outside to the beach that is only 100 yards away from the hotel’s entrance and see all the poverty. There are so many stark contrasts in this country.

My lunch is finished and now back to work.

One of my biggest problem that I have since the beginning is achieving a low breakeven analysis but very high fixed cost per product. One way is to reduce expenses, but since they are low already the other factor of this equation forces me to increase number of kilos per month. This is a known factor but we don’t know how to do it and this is why I’m here again only 2 months after my last visit.

In order to succeed this time I decided to conduct the micromanagement myself. Which means I must approve all the daily schedules, assign the tasks to the production employees as well as to my managers, supervising the execution of the tasks and applications on an hourly basis, collect data during lunch time instead of only by the end of the day, trying to understand the reasons for running late (due to employee performance or bad production planning due to error in collecting and analyzing previous data), reading and analyzing reports and preparing new instructions and Correction Plans (CP is the most popular term in my factory). Then I have to change and update the drafts of the company’s business/strategic plan which results in changing the business model.

All the time I feel that I am getting closer to what I envision and expected this company to be. Then I remember that India is one of those rare places where you may find yourself getting closer while you are actually drifting away from your point of destination.

In order to prepare mentally, to withstand the amazingly high humidity (85%-90% humidity and 105 F-115 F temperature), I decided to come to the office with a very simple and light T-shirt, shorts and sandals. 3 hours into the work day, I was outside of my cool office, at the administrative section when my 11:00 AM meeting showed up only 50 minutes late. I approached him together with my loyal assistant, Ganesan (One of the Indian Gods). I asked the guy for his name and he replied to Ganesan while completely ignoring me. It seems like my clothes are so poor he decided that I’m just another production employee. I forgot that in the south of India people will judge other people by the way they dress. 

End of day I return to my hotel. And no it is not the Taj. I have a meeting with my new Yoga instructor. Yoga is one of the most accurate and detailed systems that I know for “personal growth”. One day I asked my managers if they practice Yoga and then noticed some hesitation among them until Ganesan, who has been my loyal employee since day one in India, had the courage to tell me “No sir.” with a smile on his face “Only foreigners are doing Yoga in India”.

Color matching for custom blends is an issue with quite a lot of obstacles. When a prospective client comes to your salon for a new hair system the technician will either clip a tiny sample of hair from the client’s head or they will try to match the color of the client’s hair using a color ring.

The main problem with color matching is the lighting conditions in a closed room. I know there are “rumors” of special halogen bulbs that are capable of mimicking natural light. You have the option of making a nice investment and replacing all your bulbs. I consider this a MAJOR MISTAKE!  Stick with natural light. It’s affordable and accurate. If you have a window or access to sunlight in your establishment, use it. Don’t hesitate to walk outside. Make sure you are not standing directly under the harsh glare of the sunrays or you will see too much gold and red. Instead go 2-3 feet into a shaded area for indirect light. Don’t forget to take with you both the color ring and your client’s head (make sure that the body is attached) and then choose the right color from the color ring.

Several years ago we tested a few different systems for the blending department in my company. One system was an advanced light box with 3 different types of light sources in 3 different wavelengths. The mixture of the 3 lights was supposed to generate the closest possible to natural light. Considering the low price of the unit ($2,500), I tried to convince myself that it posed a reasonable solution. I stopped deluding myself. Then I tested a $15,000 computer system that has a small but accurate scanner accompanied by a small source of light. The technician scans the sample of hair and generates a reading such as: 77% Yellow, 19% Blue and 4% Red.  But I would have to run a test on the initial sample that the client sent to me and another one on the hair that we blended and then to add or remove according to the results. You try to explain to your production employees that they must blend in another 14% of blue, 3% red and deduct 5% yellow! The main problem with this system is that the small source of light was inaccurate and the manufacturer admitted it was a feature that still required research.

In most cases, a very small sample of the client’s real hair is taken for color matching. These samples are usually so small that it would be better if we call the client and ask for a description of the color and just ignore the sample. A small sample of 10 strands does not tell the whole story of the client’s hair color.

Then there is the issue of where the sample originated. Another problem of which at times can be even more complicated than the small clipping, especially if the sample is taken 1” to 1.5” from the ends of hair.  The ends are usually much lighter, up to 1 level or more, than in the center or root of the hair strand. The sample that you are sending to your supplier for color matching can be misleading and the hair system will not match the client’s total hair color. The best policy will be to clip a nice sized sample even if the client is screaming that you are taking the last of his hair. Try taking small amounts from several different areas and not only the roots. Don’t keep human hair samples on file for more than 1 year as they oxidize, even inside a sealed envelope. After the first 6 months, I suggest to check the sample on file against the customer’s color to verify the match. Unfortunately, most of us are getting older and colors can change every month.