THE UNKNOWN ENTREPRENEUR OF RURAL INDIA Who says entrepreneurship breeds only in the most sophisticated and creative environment. Our brains believe in the acclimatization process and we think we are handicapped without those degrees and certificates. But, let me tell you this is a myth. We are ever surrounded by the jargon world and often fail to realize that, simplicity and discovering the gap between need and wants, lies behind most of the innovative entrepreneurial ventures. We have learnt a lot of concepts at our B-School, but we fail to establish the link between these concepts and how we innovate things, ideas, and beyond. Marketing Guru Philip Kotler taught us to define marketing activities for our products/services. Maslow, Mint Hertz-berg and others gave us some wonderful theories to employee motivation. Michael Porter tells us what are strategies and their relation with our ventures. A lot of other connoisseurs have come out with the derivatives of such teachings & theories. But who taught us how to innovate? I am minding myself difficulty in recalling any name. Can you suggest any name? I would be happy to know some. Well, it all lies in the tacit knowledge in the brain. Ideas come to us when we seek them the least. Intuition is never taught, it is an ability to understand one’s mind and may be something transcendental attached to it. When we think of entrepreneurship, the image of perhaps a young educated chap, belonging to a great hereditary, of either a business empire or education, comes to our mind. But let’s not be fooled by this myth as well. Let me cite some examples from the heart of India on ways entrepreneurship can be built upon. Money can be made in several ways. But coming out with that idea that affects lives and in turn helps one make money is the true essence of entrepreneurship. In Indian summers, the western part of the country scorches for water- the basic need of all human beings. Over ages, water, which is a scarcity in certain parts of the country, has been the responsibility of the Government, partly, contributed by free/ charitable water centers, known more popularly as ‘Piau’, in vernacular Hindi and related ethnicity, But there has been a question to its purity and besides, water had to be fetched. But there is more to it. Water cooler flasks of 10 litres or more has come to the rescue. Water is being filtered , purified, chilled and supplied door to door in the smallest of the village of Haryana, Rajasthan, etc., at a cost of Rs. 10 per day. Not everyone can afford the refrigerator, or the water cooler, purifier. Besides, the added electricity bill it would bear upon the person provided there is proper supply of electricity. Interesting, is not it? Next is the solution to entertainment. In a very small town of India, some person came up with an idea to provide entertainment at a very little cost, which gave birth to Centralised wired music system, and what it needs is just a speaker and a wire that will lead to the central station. Music is played almost whole day from the station, with customized touch to the ethnicity, choice of the majority- being ‘bhajans’ at dusk and dawn, etc.
Corporate are also exploring the huge consumer base of rural India. From marketing everything in smaller packs, sachets, to finding nutrition solutions to easier modes of commerce, we have it all exclusive for the rural folks. To cite some latest examples would be: PepsiCo India newer nutritional products:‘Chusti’ & ‘Gluco+’, targeted towards anaemic persons. A research says, 55% of Indian women are anemic. Besides, product pricing, distribution,’ Go-to the market is another strategy that Corporates are adopting. PepsiCo sees a billion plus consumer base for such nutritional products.
TCS has come up with a solution known as mKrishi. This service provides farmers (around half of our work force) advice about how to best go about their agriculture cycle, keeping in mind various factors like weather forecasting, other macro-economic factors, location etc. All enabled through a cell phone and web interface. (Source: Trak.in).
Several other examples can be quoted to complement the above. Besides all, the budding MBAs should realize its importance as well. On the closing note, I would like to thanks my Marketing Professor at my B-School, who taught us the importance of Rural Marketing and sent us to field in the remote villages to learn it for ourselves.
doc_958136721.doc
Corporate are also exploring the huge consumer base of rural India. From marketing everything in smaller packs, sachets, to finding nutrition solutions to easier modes of commerce, we have it all exclusive for the rural folks. To cite some latest examples would be: PepsiCo India newer nutritional products:‘Chusti’ & ‘Gluco+’, targeted towards anaemic persons. A research says, 55% of Indian women are anemic. Besides, product pricing, distribution,’ Go-to the market is another strategy that Corporates are adopting. PepsiCo sees a billion plus consumer base for such nutritional products.
TCS has come up with a solution known as mKrishi. This service provides farmers (around half of our work force) advice about how to best go about their agriculture cycle, keeping in mind various factors like weather forecasting, other macro-economic factors, location etc. All enabled through a cell phone and web interface. (Source: Trak.in).
Several other examples can be quoted to complement the above. Besides all, the budding MBAs should realize its importance as well. On the closing note, I would like to thanks my Marketing Professor at my B-School, who taught us the importance of Rural Marketing and sent us to field in the remote villages to learn it for ourselves.
doc_958136721.doc