Assignment IV

The Journey of an Entrepreneur:

Mr. Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa

Submitted to

Mr. Sohan Babu Khatri

Mentor

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Submitted by: Group 1

Abishek Joshi

Laxmi Mainali

Payal Agrawal

8th June 2019

Ace Institute of Management

Baneshwor, Kathmandu
Acknowledgement

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Sohan Babu Khatri, Mentor of
Entrepreneurship and Innovation, for providing us the opportunities to conduct this project
and prepare the report. We would like to thank him for his guidance throughout the project.

In addition, we would like to extend our gratitude to Mr. Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa, Founder,
Metro Mask for his valuable time and for sharing his entrepreneurial story.
 Table of Contents
Chapter I ................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 1

1.3 Background of the entrepreneur ............................................................................. 2

Chapter II ................................................................................................................................. 3

2.1 Beginning of Entrepreneurial Journey ....................................................................... 3

2.2 Experience and Networking brought him success ..................................................... 4

2.3 Contribution to Public Health...................................................................................... 4

Chapter III ................................................................................................................................ 5

3.1 The Products .................................................................................................................. 5

............................................................................................................................................... 6

3.2 Air Quality Awareness .................................................................................................. 6

3.3 One Man Army .............................................................................................................. 7

3.4 Clientele .......................................................................................................................... 7

3.5 Business Scope ............................................................................................................... 7

3.6 Challenges and Future Plan ......................................................................................... 8

Chapter IV ................................................................................................................................ 9

4.1 Analysis and Conclusion ............................................................................................... 9

Chapter V ............................................................................................................................... 10

5.1 Recommendation ......................................................................................................... 10

5.2 Lesson Learnt .............................................................................................................. 10

 Chapter I

The report is prepared based on our interview with Mr. Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa. Mr. Sherpa is
the founder of Metro Mask. All the details below are based on the information provided by
Mr. Sherpa in interview on Friday, May 17th, 2019.

1.1 Introduction
Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa never leaves home without his palm-sized air pollution monitoring
device. On his iPhone, he has four apps that give him timely updates on the level of air
pollution in Kathmandu and in major cities around the world. Ever since he launched
Metro-Mask in 2015, a high-tech anti-pollution mask designed in Nepal and
manufactured in China, Sherpa says he has become obsessed with air pollution.
“In my family circle, I am known as the guy who can’t stop talking about anti-pollution
masks and air pollution,” says Sherpa. This case is about entrepreneur Mr. Tashi Gyalzen
Sherpa which includes the entire story of his venture “Metro Mask”. The interview was
scheduled at NOYA Boutique Hotel, Gairidhara which lasted for three hours and those
hours were worth it.
As MBA students, it is pertinent for us not to be bound by books and theories of
entrepreneurship and live the experience of entrepreneurship through a horse’s mouth.
Hence, this case profile deals with the entrepreneurial experience of Mr. Tashi Gyalzen
Sherpa. We have tried our best to summarize his entrepreneurial story since 2015 through
this report.

1.2 Methodology
This is a qualitative study and the data were collected from primary resources. Also
secondary resources were used when required (i.e. e-news, websites and social media).
We met the entrepreneur himself at scheduled time. The objective was to write journey of
an entrepreneur for which we required lots of authentic information which was effective
by listening to the person himself. A questionnaire was prepared in advance and was sent
to the entrepreneur on the basis of which, we set the direction for the interview. The
interview lasted for three hours and we were able to take the audio record of an interview,
short video clip of Entrepreneur and group photograph as well.

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1.3 Background of the entrepreneur
Mr. Sherpa was born in 1980 in Kathmandu and completed his higher education from
Campion College. For the further studies he went U.S. for Fashion Merchandising
Management which is a business degree. The degree is focused in marketing and
management for fashion industries at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York.
In FIT business school he gained knowledge related to product development, fabrics, and
overall ins and outs of fashion industry. During his stay in New York, he was interned as
designer assistant for six months at Tiffany which is an American Luxury Jewelry and
specialty retailer. He was fortunate enough to get additional internship at a Company of
men’s wear called Perry Ellis in belts department as a product developer.
After completion of his bachelor’s degree, he was facing difficulty to get a job because he
was a foreign student. He was jobless for almost 7 months which was a stressful moment
in his life. And as we say that it’s never too late, he got job at Saks Fifth Avenue clothing
department store as a “Buyer’s Assistant” where he worked for 2.5 years. After 9 years of
long journey in abroad he came back to Nepal with bag full of experience and exposure in
the field of product development as well as fashion industries. He started working for
Anta a sportswear franchise from China as a CEO for 3 years. During his tenure he
studied a lot about Nepalese market and was able to connect with various business
people. The keen observation in Nepalese market and networking helped the franchise to
grow faster. His role at ANTA Nepal required him to travel a lot around the city to
inspect locations for new stores and oversee construction work at stores that were being
set up,” says Sherpa. “I did most of my travelling on motorcycles, and that exposed me to
a lot of dust and pollution.” By the time he left Anta, he was able to expand its outlets
from single store of Thamel to nine store within valley which was the only way to grow.

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 Chapter II

2.1 Beginning of Entrepreneurial Journey

By early 2015, Sherpa had quit ANTA Nepal, and he had also wrapped up R&D for his
first batch of masks. “I had two models all set for production and my plan was to launch
them in mid-2015,” says Sherpa. But in April 2015, Nepal was struck by deadly
earthquakes, and a few months later, India imposed an economic blockade on the country.
These two events forced Sherpa to put everything on hold. Sherpa finally managed to
launch Metro-Mask at the end of 2015.
The idea of Metro mask strike to Mr. Sherpa when he was working as CEO of Anta, a
sportswear franchise from China. He was CEO but he had to take care of many back end
activities. It was not like sitting on the desk and making decisions unlike other CEOs.
Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa, founder of Metro-Mask had to travel a lot everyday visiting stores
in different locations around the polluted city of Kathmandu when he was working for
Anta. During his visit in different locations, he suffered everyday from dust and pollution
while on road and indoors. To combat his allergies to dust and pollution, he searched for a
proper anti-pollution mask in every possible store here in Kathmandu but he was not able
to find one for daily use so he decided to make one for himself. The idea was not new in
other country but was new in Nepal. He knew that it was going to be difficult but he stuck
with the idea to make a mask that would help people to breathe clean. After about six
months of research, he gathered the information, looked through the designs and materials
used in the best masks around the world, and, in the process, founded the company
Metro-Mask and registered it in 2014. The company then introduced Nepal’s first high-
tech anti-pollution mask in the market in 2015. According to a recent study by the Nepal
Health Research Council, nearly 12 percent of the population—aged 20 years and
above—is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A report by the
World Health Organization states air pollution is one of the major risk factors for COPD.
“Before starting Metro-Mask, I wasn’t very aware of the severity of Kathmandu’s air
pollution, but the more I read and researched it, I grew alarmed. It was one of the things
that motivated me to go ahead and start Metro-Mask,” says Sherpa. Raising awareness
about air pollution, Sherpa says, is crucial. Being aware of air pollution, Sherpa says, has
left him with a moral weight to make his masks more accessible to the masses, which
means making them more affordable.

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2.2 Experience and Networking brought him success
The confidence for Metro Mask was the result of his years of experience working for
retail brands like Tiffany & Co, Perry Ellis, and SAKS Fifth Avenue, all in New York, in
diverse roles such as designers’ assistant, product development assistant, merchandise
assistant, and analyst which motivated him to go on.
“Working for these brands exposed me to the highest working standards and gave me in-
depth knowledge on everything from researching raw materials and working with
designers and vendors to analysing the performance of different stores,” says Sherpa. In
Nepal, his stint at ANTA familiarised him with the dynamics of the local market that
helped him to bring the Metro mask into lime light.

2.3 Contribution to Public Health

It’s long time we have been suffering from pollution and dust in Kathmandu. The
pollution was already there but no one came up with the idea to produce the mask that
will help people breathe clean. Mr. Sherpa look into this gap and came up with Anti-
pollution face masks. Anti-pollution face masks have become essential for Nepalese
living in cities with high air pollution like Kathmandu. Metro Mask’s motto is to bring in
awareness about air pollution and to provide hi-tech anti-pollution mask as a personal
solution to protect people from air pollution. According to Mr. Sherpa, someone who
purchases surgical masks or general cotton masks spends almost more than double the
amount of money in a year than someone who buys a Metro-Mask that provides a much
better protection against air pollution. “One can immediately feel the difference after
using our masks. We have hundreds of happy customers who have sent us messages
thanking us and how it has helped them breathe clean again. Spending Rs 1,500 on one
Metro-Mask is worth the investment. Our new Urban mask can last for a year if not more
even when used every day and if taken good care,” he adds.
Metro-Mask was at the product development phase when the earthquake hit Nepal in
2015. The commercial production of the masks had started but was unable to reach
Kathmandu due to the earthquake and the process got delayed. Meanwhile, Mr. Sherpa
wanted to help the people out and with the help of his close friends and family was able to
make almost 5,000 basic cloth mask and distribute in the streets and outskirts of
Kathmandu and few hundred blankets for rescue and recovery operations in the disaster
affected areas of the country.

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 Chapter III

3.1 The Products

Metro-Mask was launched with two models: City Mask and Moto Mask, priced at
Rs.1,500 and Rs.3,500, respectively. Many customers told Sherpa that they found his
Moto Mask quite expensive. The Moto Mask was made using high-grade neoprene fabric,
which, Sherpa says, was what many popular anti-pollution mask manufacturers used.
Currently, Metro-Mask has two models: Urban (available in two fabric options: cotton
and mesh) is priced at Rs.1,500, and Dispo, a disposable mask, can be used up to 100
hours, and range from Rs.250 to Rs.350.
“Urban masks have replaceable filters, and each packet of Urban mask comes with one
filter, which lasts up to a month, depending on how much pollution it is exposed to,” says
Sherpa. “Urban masks are washable, and customers just have to replace the filters.”
Both Urban and Dispo masks, according to Sherpa, are KN95 certified, and are able to
filter 99.9 percent of dust and particulate matter from the air. KN95 is the Chinese
industry standard, equivalent to the American N95 standard for filtration, and the masks
at a state-of-the-art plant in China. The masks are available at all ANTA stores, leading
online shopping sites, Himalayan Java outlets, and can also be ordered through the
company’s social media platforms.
But in a country where surgical masks and cloth masks with no filtration are available
widely and cheaply, Metro-Mask’s products are quite expensive and beyond the
purchasing power of many. “My masks cost much more than the commonly-used masks
without filters, but they offer protection against PM 2.5 particles. Prolonged exposure to
such particles increases the likelihood of heart attacks, asthma, bronchitis and other
respiratory problems,” says Sherpa.
The mask is made up of durable outdoor material and can easily last a year or even more.
Each filter is equipped with an adjustable nose clip to avoid fog build up in glasses and
goggles. "Unlike most masks that use uncomfortable ear loops, we listened to our
customers and designed a high grade elastic strap that hooks comfortably behind the neck
and can be used for long hours too", says Mr. Sherpa.

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 Metro Urban Mask: Rs.1500 with 2 filters

3.2 Air Quality Awareness

According to the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) report released by Yale
University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum in
January 2018, Nepal is one of the countries with the worst air quality. The country ranked
176 among the 180 countries surveyed. According to him, the Particulate Matter (PM2.5),
the atmospheric solid and liquid particles suspended in the air, emitted by vehicles and
brick kilns in the form of smoke are being circulated throughout the Kathmandu valley at
an alarming pace. This has led to increasing respiratory and other health problems among
Kathmandu residents.

Air pollution has become a serious issue in Nepal because it affects everybody. “People
should know more about these factors to stay away from air pollution as its adverse
impact takes a toll on their health. It is taking time, but the awareness among the people
about air quality is gradually becoming visible in Nepal,” he says.

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3.3 One Man Army
While most startups move forward with a team with experts in different fields, Mr.
Sherpa is running Metro-Mask mostly by himself. From dealing with vendor to buyer,
designing, financing everything he his managing himself. He personally visits China and
give the specifications for the mask to the experts. When we asked him why not in Nepal,
what he said was that people here in Nepal are not specific in making the mask as
prescribed, people here lack expertise, also we lack technology thus Metro mask is a
product designed in Nepal and manufactured in China. The services like graphic design
and photography, delivery services were outsourced from different firms and freelancers
as required. The company recently hired a full time delivery personal for online orders
and to deliver products to the 45 retail outlets across Kathmandu. He manages social
media, looks after the orders, and takes on the advertising part as well. “I don’t always
need these services so, I take their services only when needed,” he expresses. What he is
doing right now is on his own.

3.4 Clientele
Sports stores, bicycle stores, clothing stores and departmental stores are the company’s
major clients and the orders are delivered to their doorsteps. “From my personal
experience, I know that people don’t go on searching for pollution masks. But if they see
a good one, everyone would want to own it,” Mr. Sherpa opines. Our latest range of
masks is also available at five major outlets of Big Mart and all KK Mart outlets. The
masks are also available at all ANTA stores, leading online shopping sites (daraaz),
Himalayan Java outlets, and can also be ordered through the company’s social media
platforms.

Apart from these outlets, students are the major users of Metro mask. Students have to go
to college every day in bike, scooter and buses and the solution to beat the pollution and
dirt is Metro mask for them.

3.5 Business Scope

Mr. Sherpa, before starting the business, saw an opportunity for making a high quality
anti-pollution mask as there were a very few available in the country. He started Metro-
Mask with an investment of Rs.2.5 million which was initially funded by his family. “For
Nepal, anti-pollution masks have become a necessity rather than luxury. People know
they should wear a mask to protect themselves but most still do not know the right type of

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 mask they need against air pollution,” he shares. He says that Metro-Mask does not spend
much on advertising but sales have been picking up mainly via word of mouth and online
marketing.

3.6 Challenges and Future Plan

One of the main challenge of Metro Mask is you are selling the solution to the people
who don’t even know the problem existed. “Kathmandu Air Pollution is vulnerably
causing number of patients with upper respiratory tract infections on rise recently. With
Kathmandu repeatedly topping the TOP 10 list of cities with the highest level of air
pollution, it’s time to make a healthy investment for yourself and health,” says Sherpa.
But people were not accepting the fact, rather they were believing that the pollution is due
to the undergoing construction of Melamchi Water supply and it is temporary. So creating
the market by educating and providing awareness to the people about air pollution’s
impact to health and coming with the solution i.e. hi-tech mask was very tough. “With
prices of raw materials increasing, along with manufacturing and transportation costs,
keeping prices as low as possible is a challenge in itself,” says Sherpa. “But I know that
price is an important factor if I want to see more people using proper anti-pollution
masks. I have spent the last few months identifying areas that will allow me to lower
production costs, without compromising on quality.” Similarly, Metro-Masks are
manufactured in China, communicating and getting the samples made exactly the way I
wanted was a lengthy process. After getting it made, trying to convince the retailers that
people would buy it for Rs 1,500 per unit was difficult especially when people are still
using cloth mask costing Rs 50,” states Mr. Sherpa. At first, retailers were hesitant about
Metro-Mask so, Sherpa convinced them that only needed to pay them if they were able to
sell to customers. He says, “I requested them to let the customer decide and judge my
products.”
Mr. Sherpa has been receiving requests from customers to come up with other useful
products. “I am working in a development of a whole new category of products and very
excited about their market launch sometime early next year,” he says

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 Chapter IV
4.1 Analysis and Conclusion
Mr. Sherpa has zeal and tolerance enough to start his dream while performing a regular
job. Additionally, the big 5 personality trait as well can be justified by his extroverted
nature, openness to experience and reflective nature. His well-mannered nature
determines his agreeableness and his hard work along with determination reflect his
conscientiousness.
According to Mr. Sherpa, there are huge prospects in Nepal for doing business. Even just
copying the business from other countries carries large opportunities. There are so many
ways to bring disruption in the Nepali market. Metro mask is something that people are
least willing to pay for it. In a country where surgical masks and cloth masks with no
filtration are available widely and cheaply, Metro-Mask’s products are quite expensive
and beyond the purchasing power of many and Nepal is the place where people spend Rs.
10 to Rs. 50 for a mask and Mr. Sherpa brought the Mask that would cost Rs. 1500. It
was difficult to convince the people to purchase the mask.
Raising awareness about air pollution, Sherpa says, is crucial. Metro-Mask’s social media
pages have multiple posts about Nepal’s air pollution. Being aware of air pollution,
Sherpa says, has left him with a moral weight to make his masks more accessible to the
masses, which means making them more affordable.
One of the sentences that struck us during the interview was, “Take feedback from your
customers but make your own decision because you cannot make everyone happy”.
Likewise, his advice to future entrepreneurs was not to rush into anything, everything
takes time.
Similarly, his behavior of not waiting for perfect moment and making the most out of the
present resources reflects bird in the hand principle, an entrepreneurial theory. To add
more, he saw a need gap, mask to protect from pollution, and acted on it rather than
defining problems and choosing the best option to solve it.

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 Chapter V

5.1 Recommendation
Many customers told Sherpa that they found his Moto Mask quite expensive. The Moto
Mask was made using high-grade neoprene fabric, which, Sherpa says, was what many
popular anti-pollution mask manufacturers used. “I decided to follow the global trend,
which I very soon realized isn’t always a wise thing to do. I learnt a very valuable lesson.
Whether I am choosing fabrics for my masks or working on designs, I have to always
keep my customer base in mind,” says Sherpa.
What we can recommend is some people frequently ask mask for small children as well
as different in color as black. Variety in color should be brought to satisfy some section of
customer. Talking about price it is quite expensive but not expensive than using cloth
mask and changing it regularly.

5.2 Lesson Learnt

Mr. Sherpa dreamed of creating small thing but making huge differences in people’s life
and growing. He shares “in abroad people USE mask, but people here in Nepal ABUSE
mask,” (he laughed).Nepal is a country where people are conscious fueling good quality
petrol in their vehicle. But people are reluctant to pay a little more for a mask that help us
breathe clean air which is a fuel to our body. This was the gap that I identified that led to
the concept of producing hi-tech mask. “People don’t see what I see but I am very happy
doing this” because this is what I actually wanted to do and be “The Mask Man”, he adds.
This was a real live example for us to believe, to learn that when other focus on existing
problems, entrepreneurs focus on possible solutions. There is always a solution. There is
always a problem. For the entrepreneur, a problem is an opportunity to discover a better
solution. He believes in freedom, flexibility, fun, feedback, knowing market, change,
constant innovation and keep going. To add on, he said, “Don’t always take, give back to
people”. Thus, entrepreneurs are learners and self-improvers. They understand that what
you have depends upon what you do and what you are able to do depends upon who you
are. They often play hard and competitively. This high personal energy level translates as
constant enthusiasm and personal charisma that attracts other people into the game of the
entrepreneur.

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 Annex

Questions

1. Could you share your story or journey that how you came to this position today?

2. How did you get your idea or concept for the business?

3. What made you choose this type of business? How did you build your team?

4. Did your parents approved of doing business? How has being an entrepreneur affected
your family life?

5. Where did your organizations funding/capital come from, and how did you go about
getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture if any?

6. What were the challenges faced by your start up at initial phase? How long did it took
your business to earn profit?

7. How do you market your business? How are people aware of your business?

8. Do you know who your competitors are? Why do your customers select you over your
competitors?

9. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?

10. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them? Did
you ever thought of backing out from the business?

11. From whom do you get suggestions in case of difficulties?

12. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful
entrepreneur? What is your success metrics?

13. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

14. What mistakes you want to correct?

15. What would you advice to the start-up entrepreneurs?

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 Source

First Hand Data Collection

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