It was a wonderful session providing insight on the Indian market, presented by the author of ‘We are like that only’, Ms. Rama Bijapurkar.
Envisage and Create the Opportunity: The need highlighted by her for the companies, be it the MNCs or the Indian entrepreneurs, is to foresight a requirement and to act in advance, rather than to wait for the government to provide the opportunity and/or the infrastructure for the same. For example, on the Mumbai-Pune expressway the need for foot-bridges could be sensed at the time of developing the expressway rather than doing make-overs down the lane. (Extension of the same idea: near the foot-bridges, take-away or stop-over food joints could be developed).
Another brick in the wall: Every other firm is following the same rule – ‘Provide services to a particular class and if it succeeds, extend the same to the lower strata’. However, more often than not, the market is dictated by the mass and not by the class, nullifying the very basic premise of today’s business world. The right market for the right product offered to the right customers at the right times…
Further, the MNCs successful at other countries need to understand the Indian demography and customize their style of operation or overhaul the complete vantage-point. Remember, the apple would not fall to the ground, if the air was viscous enough to float it… The baggage (of the mantras of success) they come with gives their Indian counterparts an advantage over them.
Disclaimer: There may be gaps in my understandings of the speaker's talk. Moreover, here & there, I have included my own opinions too.
Proofread by Diwakar Kaushik - Special thanks 2 him!!!
and Ms. Rama talked about India vs Bharat divide on similar lines as the views of Prof. Madhukar Shukla, expressed in his article published in The Financial Express - http://www.financialexpress.com/news/the-two-indiasthe-haves-and-the-havenots/538576/
ReplyDeleteWhile the points you (and Ms Bijapurkar) have covered, I think there's a little more to it than just that. Having an idea in itself isn't sufficient. One needs to find a way to carry that opportunity to fruition.
ReplyDeleteThe second part also makes sense, but I think the concept of marketing or targeting a particular segment makes sense as well. For a product that could easily be targeted across the wide diaspora of Indian community, the strategy to target the masses makes sense. It really depends, I think, on the organisation.