The journey so-far: What did we learn?

Porosh embarked on the journey of serving senior citizens of Kolkata a little more than two years ago. Since then our motto has been to bring about a difference to their lives as most of them feel vulnerable with children not being around. This realization dawned upon us after coming across several such instances first-hand.

However, the purpose of this article is to share with you our learnings in establishing and managing Porosh. This will also offer you a glimpse of Porosh’s work culture. So, here it goes:

a) Need assessment: The story of first six months was all about pure leg work. It included assessing the needs of the senior citizens and what Porosh could offer. Early on we realized that there was no point in trying to do everything. With experience we gradually increased the portfolio of services on offer.

b) Seed money: Contrary to popular perception that substantial seed money is required to start a venture is not always true. For Porosh it was certainly not so. The journey of Porosh did not call for financial assistance apart from the contributions made by the Co-Founders.

c) Ploughing back profit: From Day One the guiding principle of Porosh has been to grow the operations at own pace by ploughing back profit. In the recent past, we have been approached by a few financiers but have always declined such unsolicited help. After all, such financial assistance comes with a lot of conditions. Obviously, we do not want to lose the autonomy to take our own decisions and grow Porosh in line with the vision we have for it.

d) Under promise, over deliver: The core of Porosh’s work philosophy is centered around ‘under promise, over deliver’. When we receive calls from prospective members (or, their children) we lay thread-bare the services on offer. However, we continue innovating on ‘value added’ services. Thus, when new services are offered at no extra cost the members are pleasantly surprised.

e) Handling stressful situations: Porosh offers ‘24*7 Medical Emergency’. This is one of the key services which is instrumental in either making, or breaking the reputation of an organization like ours. The situation becomes particularly stressful when emergency situations are required to be tackled during odd hours (like 12 mid night, or 3 am) and that too during Covid times. By the grace of God we have never let our members down till date.

f) Patience: We realized quite early the virtue of patience for starting a venture. Impatience, after all, does not hasten the pace of achieving goals. The outcome in future is dependent on meticulous groundwork done in the present. Fruition of our efforts need not necessarily be in sync with the deadline we set for ourselves. There are unforeseen contingencies beyond our control. Under such circumstances instead giving-up in a huff we put concerted effort to understand what is going wrong and how can we plug-in the gap.

g) Learning from mistakes: Mistakes happen only when one works. While it is true, it is also advisable to own-up mistakes than justifying unless there are concrete evidences to the contrary. Porosh is no exception. We always discuss and try to understand the cause behind negative feedback/ review and attempt at rectifying those.

Hope you have enjoyed reading the article. We may not have shared anything unique but getting an opportunity to present our experiences with you will atleast help you develop a better understanding about Porosh and its commitment to assisting the senior citizens.