Delhi-Street Business Plan for Entrepreneurs

India's capital Delhi or 'Dilli' is one of the world's oldest economic centres. Older and narrower the streets, more is the money that flows through them. Dilli is full of entrepreneurs, not your black coat-white shirt entrepreneurs but the classic Indian entrepreneurs who could be living in 3 room house and a million-dollar bank account. I am always amazed at what these old streets can teach you. It's better than Harvard's and far cheaper for sure, plus it's recession proof too.

Street Smart Genius

In one such ancient markets of Dilli was a man who brought cloth from nearby factory and sold them in streets at the same rate he brought it. Fool you may call him, but I call him one of the finest entrepreneurs I've ever met! You'll agree with me once you hear the other half of story. So he buys cloth from nearby factory and sells them at exactly same rate. It is way cheaper than the shopkeepers in front of him are selling for. People will wait hours to buy the good quality cheap cloth. At the end of day, he has empty thousands of jute bags in which that cloth came. They are sold for heavy profit. That's his business.

... That's not all

Knowing this another one sells cooking oil at wholesale rates - which is more in demand than cloth. Later he sells of tin containers - huge profit. Google is somewhat on same line. Their world-class services are free. Everyone waits for Google to buy a good service and make it free. Their business isn't services - it is ads they put on them and data they get to play with. It will take millions of dollars to get the market research data which now they get free and are even paid to collect it. What are you thinking? Write an ebook and sell it - a good business plan. Write a book and let it sell other stuff for you - brilliant plan. How can your business revolutionize by this business plan?

You are reading a post that I wrote a long time backā€”at least 14 years ago. Take it with a bag of salt.

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