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There is a beautiful saying that always it’s not necessary to do extraordinary things; sometimes ordinary things also can be done in an extraordinary way.

The quote reminded me of a person who was a cycle boy in Nestle and I knew him during my very short stint in the Company. The cycle boys are generally appointed by the distributors on a daily wage basis to supply chocolates and candies to small pan shops. It’s a uniquely thought of micro distribution channel.

This cycle boy generally used to come back to the distributor twice during the day to refill his stocks, whereas other such boys used to come back in the evening with their half sold stuff. One day, I decided to go along with this cycle boy to find out how he exhausts his stocks twice in a day.

So that day, I also took a cycle and started with this cycle boy, who was in his mid twenties then. The first thing I noticed that he paddles his cycle fast, real fast. I found it difficult to keep pace with him.

Normally, when any FMCG company markets their products, the retailers look for credit. But for smaller items like chocolates and candies, Nestle at that point didn’t use to offer credit. And this cycle boy took that as a challenge and made that his unique selling proposition. I discovered, that he is offering seven days credit to all pan shop owners. There I intervened and asked him how he is doing that. He smiled at me and said that everyday evening, he deposits the money to the distributor for the sold out goods. And he extends this credit from his own daily wage.

I was stunned !! That means this guy keeps his daily earning blocked for a period of atleast seven days. And thus he contributes in his own small way towards the huge business of the company. Really, small things can also be done in a big way.

And all this he did inspite of having a lean and weak leg, which he was gifted by nature due to an attack of polio in his childhood.

Small steps towards the great world. 

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