Dabbawalla. If you REALLY want something done right . . .

What a business! It's called Dabbawalla.

More than 100 years old. 5,000 employees, two-thirds of whom are illiterate, most of whom are barefoot. Six Sigma-certified. They average one error in every 6 million transactions: a 99.9999% accuracy rate. It exists only in Mumbai, India.

They deliver lunch.

Businessmen here work hard. They don't often take time out for long leisurely lunches in restaurants. Their wives are often working at home. He would appreciate a hot, home-cooked lunch. (Or, so would their kids in school.) She cooks it and packs it in a special container. They pick it up, deliver it from his home to his desk, and then return the container that afternoon. Addresses are coded with a series of colors and symbols, similar to our 9-digit zip codes, that lead to his desk. Even folks who can't read do it perfectly. Some of them have been invited to lecture at India's finest MBA programs.

200,000 deliveries a month. No high technology. They go years without making a delivery mistake. Most deliveries cost less than $1, except from the distant suburbs.

We actually saw a TV show on the BBC about this business before we left the States. Talk about the right idea and the right business at the right place at the right time! The things we could learn . . . !!!

For more information:

http://www.mydabbawala.org/general/aboutdabbawala.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabbawala