Innovation

Goa has seen a major change in the way of life in the last few decades. With a tremendous increase in electricity and internet penetration, ownership of electronic products like laptops has shot up manifolds. Technology saves time, reduces effort, and upgrades the security of an individuals' work. In today’s modern, fast-paced world, technology is crucial for ease of operations and yet, it is not easily accessible to many. The scope of technology and the magnanimity of change it can bring in anyone's lives cannot easily be quantified. In these rapidly changing times, a new breed of entrepreneurs has risen to meet the demand. However, the prevalent use and throw-away culture have meant that large amounts of e-waste are generated in this process. There is a need for innovative solutions.

Laptop Factory, conceptualized and founded by Vishant Nagvekar, is spearheading this goal of making technology accessible and at the same time, conserving our precious environment. They are revolutionizing the laptop refurbishing business in Goa. Used laptops are either acquired organically through people who have the awareness and are looking for refurbishment and repair, or through one of the 750 WhatsApp groups that Mr. Vishant operates to increase awareness among the people. Laptops that are not fit for repair are nevertheless used for their parts. Every part of the laptop, from the RAM to the display, is repaired and used in building refurbished laptops. Some parts like cells of the battery are also used in making new power banks. Pick up from home services are provided anywhere within Goa. On average 30 to 40 laptops are currently refurbished every month. Up until now, the Laptop Factory has repaired around 20,000 laptops for resale. Students get extra benefits from the purchase of refurbished laptops like lower prices and technical support. A 15-day warranty is provided in case any malfunctions are found. Laptop Factory also holds an e-waste disposal certificate from the Government. About 2,000 laptops have responsibly been disposed of after using are the repairable parts for refurbishment till now.

Inspiration

Mr. Vishant Nagvekar’s entrepreneurial journey began with his venture called Laptop Factory, Goa. It was conceptualized with his interest and passion for technology. What was the purpose?

He saw that the second hand refurbished laptop market suffered from many preconceived notions. People were commonly wary about purchasing second-hand commodities because they seldom worked decently, and many suffered from horrible servicing and after-sales issues.

Mr. Vishant sought to revolutionize the entire refurbished electronics market, by addressing these issues. As informed to us, he said that his company provided complimentary servicing of a laptop purchased from them, should it have any issues.

Many times, people tend to discard laptops before the completion of their useful life. This results in the generation of huge levels of E-Waste. These laptops are still quality products and with slight modifications can be used for almost all tasks. Mr. Vishant saw this concept and after debating on the viability and feasibility, finally launched Laptop Factory Goa in 2019.

Through this venture, he aimed to make technology accessible to all, especially those who couldn’t afford to buy new, pricey laptops. He decided to purchase laptops for cheap, analyze, inspect for damages, entirely refurbish them and sell at a nominal rate.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, almost all tasks shifted online. In such times, having a laptop was imperative if one wanted to carry on working, or carry on learning. And with most of the people having financial constraints, purchasing a laptop was a necessity but the expenses were unbearable. That is where Laptop Factory came in and bridged the gap between quality products and high prices. Many students and working professionals got quality products for good prices, along with the guarantee of quality operation and after-sales support and service. This established the company in the minds of the people and today, Laptop Factory is a trusted name in the state of Goa.

Overall impact

Reduces carbon footprint and e-waste

Refurbished laptops reduce the release of scrap parts such as microprocessors, RAM, batteries, and other components in the environment. Hence it reduces the disposal of toxic elements such as mercury, lead, chromium, and other heavy metals in the environment. If these toxins end up in a landfill, instead of a recycling center, they could contaminate groundwater, surface water, or the soil around the landfill. Hence, using/purchasing a refurbished electronic device helps in a way to reduce e-waste and reduce the carbon footprint.

Controls pollution due to constant production

Buying new laptops every now and then encourages the manufacturers to produce more and more to meet the market demand. However, manufacturing more will constantly release harmful gases such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and so on, which harms the environment severely. Therefore using refurbished laptops can reduce the market demand decreasing manufacturing and polluting nature.

The customer gets a value for money product

Dead laptops are bought from the customers who are willing to give their devices at a far lesser price. They are then refurbished by a technician and sold at lower profit margins. The sole aim is to pass the benefits to the customer of these refurbished laptops. As a result, customers get it at a far cheaper price.

For example, if the MRP of a laptop was ₹40,000. After 2 years, sold it in a dead state to a technician at ₹8,000. The technician repairs and sells the refurbished laptop at ₹15,000.

A customer will save ₹25,000 if he buys the refurbished one as opposed to the brand new one.

In general, we cannot ignore the damage we are doing to the environment with our careless spending and throwing-away habits, but if we give a little more thought to products we buy, we can make significant changes and still gain all the benefits.

So reduce, re-use….and buy a refurbished laptop.

Business benefit

The most important part of Laptop Factory’s working is recycling and refurbishing the laptops. Laptop Factory’s business revolves around fixing the individual components of a laptop and when it can’t be reused, it gets recycled and therefore helps in reducing the overall e-waste in the process. This gives a sustainable approach to their resources and makes them renewable and reusable for subsequent use in other laptops. In addition, instead of purchasing new components for fixing the laptops, parts from dead laptops are used which also helps in saving the cost. The damaged products are thus repaired through a sustainable approach. The key focus is the minimum disposal of e-waste due to recycling and reusing the components and thus their motive is to transform these damaged laptops into usable ones and recycling the other parts thereby generating a source of income with it. With an increase in the demand for laptops, the company intends to grow at a faster rate in the coming future while keeping its objective in mind.

Social and environmental benefit

The developing interest in electronic gadgets implies a scope of metals and other non-sustainable resources should be mined and handled.

Nonetheless, a large number of the materials used to make cell phones, apparatuses, and other e-waste can be re-utilized once more.

These resources incorporate steel, aluminum, copper, and gold — also a lot of plastic that can be transformed into new products.

Recycling e-squander gives these materials back something to do after you're finished with your gadget while unloading e-squander in landfill implies more resources should be uncovered to make your next PC or TV. Recycling recuperates significant materials from old electronics that can be utilized to make new products. Therefore, we spare energy, decrease contamination, diminish ozone-depleting substance outflows, and spare common resources by extricating less crude materials from the earth.

There are additionally some non-unmistakable profits of recycling to consider, for example, bringing down the future expenses of non-inexhaustible materials and boosting staff resolve and maintenance.

This additionally helps people who are not as privileged to gain access to technology which is required for distance working and learning, especially during the ongoing pandemic.

Interview

Vishant Nagvekar, Founder