The Indian GDP was last found to be growing at about 9.1 % and services contribute most to that all-important percentage. It is just not about “India Incredible” and the GDP, a lot of services haven’t taken off as yet in the urban sector and it leaves pretty much of India untouched as a result.
Funny though it might be, India still has a lot of juice left to be drunk. Only that we are so lazy, nonchalant and so godamned blind that we fail to see these opportunities. Look at the video below, you will know what I am talking about :
So where are we going wrong? Just what might be those opportunities that we might be so willing to pass on to the next-able-entrepreneur ?
The reason why I feel that there is a lot of opportunity here in India is because we are all still lusting and oogling at the IT and ITES industry and still haven’t explored other options. E-commerce for one is still pretty much virgin. Only the Big Bazaar’s ‘Future bazaar’, a little bit of ebay and a few other sites cater to this market. Do you see the opportunity staring at you? Virtually unlimited. Think of all the business that happens in India today - most of it happens in shops. We are a land of shop-keepers. We buy everything at shops. None of these mom-and-pop stores and even a few larger ones haven’t had the e-commerce cake yet. There goes your Opportunity No.1
Customer services is still considered to be pathetic here. If an email remains unaswered for more than a couple of hours in the United States, the service provider is liekly to lose customers. India has a different story. The service providers keep sleeping on your problems and we keep sleeping over this apathy towards us. Great going. Apart from a handful of companies here, no one seems to give rat’s shit to customers and their problems. Grossly understaffed customer service departments, pathetic spoken english skills, the customer reps don’t give a damn about your late bills and disconnected lines. You may kindly go to hell.” Can we pick up the next call please? I need to go grab my lunch”. If only you could think of something in this regard, you have your opportunity No.2.
Most businesses I seem to notice on the streets today are vague, unorganized, no efforts at marketing, the entrepreneurs wait for years for their cheap-but-so-damned-slow word-of-mouth strategies to work, No USP whatsoever, no one knows why anyone should be buying whatever-it-is-they-are-selling from them instead of buying it elsewhere. No value propositions, no websites, no blogs, no business plans, no strategy, no planning and no profits. These guys barely survive with whatever they make per month. Some business, this, eh? In case you aren’t remotely like these bunch of unaware entrepreneurs, you have your Opportunity No.3.
Think hard, buddy! Your next great idea is around atleast 3 corners now !
1 Comment Received
You are so correct.shop keepers dont even have the knowledge of the product they are selling…They get it from some where in lesser price n sell it with a margine added to it blindly..Thts it!the shop keeper knows only that much..sales girl/boy..they wont know how to treat their customer n they drive them off the store with their behaviour.
I really dont know how many ppl are buying online or how many will b comfertible with the websites.Im not!
I still feel the age old concept of stores with shopkeepers will work well in India.Shopkeepers will have that personal relationship with the customer and customer also will have a chance to see the product, feel it n wen satisfied he’ll buy it…do we have that option for all the goods sold online?
I agree the fact that shopkeeper should have some knowledge of product,language is a must, should not forget customer service etc..I say without these dont even think of opening a store.
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