paper of fate, ink of opportunity! (bi)

fortune turned its back
on one of my childhood friend AV.

the life of the guy who was good at studies
and better at dreaming
was torn to pieces
by the hands of fate.

(not discussing what happened in detail to protect his privacy)

this man was reduced to dust.

he had little money left.
he had no confidence in balance.

his education had been cut short.
his experience was non-existent.
he had no background of business.
he had no heart left for one.

but he had a family to support.

suicide was not an option.

he prayed
nothing happened for good.
but he got the courage
to stay afloat.

he cried
nothing happened
but he got the solace
to hang on.

then he got a ray of hope
just one ray
small one.

there were lot of offices and residential businesses
near where he lived.
all kinds of shops were around
except
a xerox machine.

he bought a second hand machine
in instalments
hire the corner of a shop.

the first day
he made twenty rupees.

on a hundred and first day
he made two hundred rupees

five thousand days have passed
he has his own premises
he has xerox machines of all sizes on earth
besides many more types of machines.

the fate has said sorry to him
and made friends.

he has accepted the apology
with humilty.

drugs, anyone? (bi)

atleast one drugstore (medicine shop)
is required
for every locality.

there are lacs of lacalities in the country
(lacs of)
where there is no drug store nearby.

a million stores are waiting to be opened!

anyone interested?

if u don't have a pharmacy diploma
either go for one
or hire someone with one

there are many medicine wholesellers / c&fs / companies
which give stock on credit!

(getting permission for a drug store
is difficult
but not impossible.
see the movie "guru" for some motivation!)

corners for businesses exist.
but they are in the corners.
u need to search!

think small before u think big! (bi)

"its not in my blood."

is the reply of most of us

when asked

"why don't you do a business?"

how many of us fear the word

"business"

why?

fear of failure!

myth that business requires a lot of money

myth that business requires m.b.a. or some training

myth that to do business you have to be from a business family

myth that you have to have a business sense in the blood or in the head to be successful in business

fear of selling caused by fear of salesmen

fear of rejection!

the reasons for not doing are innumerable.

and one reason is enough to do it

"want to do it"

--

a word of caution"

after you are decided

start small.

think small before you think big!

learn to stand before you learn to walk

before you learn to run

before you learn to leap

before you learn to fly....

everything will come

naturally, gradually, automatically....

just go with the flow

slowly, under control!

think big once

make the rough road map

then shut it, forget it!

thereafter think small, 

do it

think some more

do it as well.

build the elephant in slices!

you successfully sold yourself while proposing

you successfully sold yourself in the interview

you successfully sell yourself everyday when you dressup

you successfully sell every word and line you utter

you have what it takes to be a big businessman

only start small

and keep walking

with the johnny walker spirit!

any doctor around? (bi)

thousands of mbbs, ayurvedic and b.a.m.s. medicos
are unemployed.

millions of people don't have quick access to medical attention.

demand is there

supply is there

paying capacity is there

so, what is missing?

....business sense?

....inertia?

....alignment?

....enterpreneur-spirit?

....looking for grapes to fall directly in the mouth?

if all such medicos were just to put a signboard outside their home

"XYZ clinic"

and spare one corner of a room inside for their practice

it might kick start or warm start a business

which can snowball into a decent one as the word of mouth spreads.

every trained medico is needed out there.

bread and butter (bi)

there is an old man in shimla
who wanted to do some business
but didn't have much money.
he didn't have money for shop
he didn't have money for raw material
he didn't have any mba
(rather he might not be even a matriculate).

but he had to do something
to support himself and family.

then
an idea struck him.

he bought ten breads
twenty butter packs
fifty paper plates
one knife
and located one wooden apple box.

he located a corner for himself in the city.
turned the box into a makeshift table
started making bread-butter toasts.

who would have bought those?

well, scores of hungry daily labourers passing that way
spotted him
and became his customers.

ten years down the line
you can still see that old man
doing the same thing
at the same spot
in the same way!!!

the only difference
- his turnover now is
rs. two lac per month
with a margin of rs.40000

he spotted a need
and aligned his resources to it!

(every street is paved with gold! - kim woo choong)

chai-samosa? (bi)

food is one of the three things

that will always sell

irrespective of any form and degree of recession!

earth is full of hungry souls.

there are always more taste-buds around

than the number of hands to feed them!

this is one of the fastest and sure-shot

business idea.

just find

something fresh and tasty and affordable to eat,

find your corner in the world

and start selling.

(if you can't take care of permission and logistics, forget what you just read

and stop searching for ideas.)

if you are good in making samosas

dream to sell a million of them a day.

McSamosa?!!!

if you can't cook anything

hire people.

if you don't want to do even that

look for a supplier!

and mind you!

there are millions of tea-thirsty people in every corner of this country

who have to do without one

just for the reason that there wasn't any supplier around them

when they needed it

or when they just wouldn't and couldn't have said no.

and don't jump to the idea of opening and selling five star tea straight away!

as CKPrahalad said

their is wealth

at the bottom of the piramid!

==========================

there is a business opportunity

at any place

at any time!

just need an eye for it!

specialize in what you do.

standardize it.

do it well.

keep improving it.

multiply it.

take car(e) (bi)

shockingly

almost every second car that crosses me

has one or more

small or big

dent(s)!

nobody likes a dent on the car!

then why don't people get it done?

is it time factor?

is it availability of places where ONLY dent/paint job is QUICKLY taken care of?

is it the approachability of those places?

nobody is focusing on this niche segment, especially in tier II and tier III cities.

why not and how about

opening opd's for small denting painting jobs?

how about pick and drop facility for the same?

how about doing it at owner's place?

how about mobile vans for the same?

how about the facility to do the job in the night and getting the vehicle ready by morning?

how about the business of refurbishing old cars? many people want to keep the old car provided it is renovated.

how about superfast washing bays at highly convenient on-the-way places?

per capita cars in india are very very less as compared to developed countries.

the future is mind boggling.

the numbers of vehicles will rise exponentially.

there will be severe shortage of roads.

traffic sense is terrific (!!!)

so there isn't going to be any dearth of patients for car opd's.

how about used car sale/purchase organised business.

how about building paid parking lots?

a dollar for the idea? (bi)

many of my friends (at times, even just-recently-strangers) ask me for some business idea.

it has happened so often that i am tempted to start a series on all the business ideas that pop in my head.

it is worth mentioning that the ideas i am going to share are for individuals (though later on these can be expanded to any level (afterall, if the concept of burgers can be converted into a worldwide chain, anything can be - no product or service is small, only the thought is the limit).

the ideas are based on the unmet needs and opportunities that i see all around me in daily life.

investment required may be as less as a few hundred bucks (even zero!)

this is a no-holds-barred and no-ego-in-business series.

this will be more tempting for the unemployed youthful souls with fire in the belly and hunger in their eyes!