Fortune in an electric train!

Fortune in an Electric Train:

“If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up” – C.K.Prahalad, The Fortune At the Bottom of the Pyramid.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon as I boarded my train to Tiruvallur from the bustling Moore market complex in Chennai Central. The train was full and I considered myself lucky to find a seat albeit close to the aisle. I usually prefer the window seat because I like to gaze at the country side and the breeze sets a somnolent ambience. But this was a different day and a different experience.

Seated along with me was a cross section of what I would call India’s semi-urban population. There was an electrician, two nuns, an old couple, a couple of political enthusiasts, a group of factory workers and a bunch of school kids. I call them semi-urban because they work, pray, shop, study and conduct most of their activities in the city while living in the towns and villages surrounding it. With nothing else to do, I began to eavesdrop inadvertently. The conversations’ though banal had a surprisingly common thread running through. All of them and I repeat all of them were bullish about their careers, companies and India in general. These are the kind of conversations that would make any marketer worth his salt salivate.

My train came to a halt as it approached a station and so did my train of thoughts at the sight of the grime and commotion outside. The hawkers and beggars were having a field day with the huge crowds that thronged the station. I began to wonder as to just how we as a country could be so bullish about ourselves while lagging behind the developed countries by such a wide margin. Hope and opportunity were the two words that immediately came to my mind.

As the train started moving away; I saw a hawker who was carrying his wares, jump into the train. Through the crowd, I could see that he had made it safely. He went about his business straight away- hawking samosas. He was selling them at Rs.2 a piece. I did not buy them being concerned about hygiene, but everyone around me was interested. I could see from their expressions that the samosas were hot and tasty but I was more interested in something else. How could he deliver the samosas right where his customers wanted them at this price? Then out of nowhere came a guy supplying chilled water packets at Rs.1 each. As is anyone’s guess, these were lapped up immediately. I am tempted to add that it was a very good example of ‘complementary businesses in collusion’.

The conversations around me had by now reached a feverish pitch and I became interested in a debate that was ensuing between the two political activists. They were discussing the political implications of the regional government’s decision to give away a free color television to everyone. Here we were, I thought, trying to put up a brave capitalist face on the one hand and touching new heights in socialistic ideas on the other. But then these extremities are what make our nation so fascinating. The hawkers with their wares kept coming. There was a biscuit vendor selling freshly baked butter biscuits at Rs.1 each, a hawker selling roasted peanuts, a little girl selling a variety of trinkets, an old woman came to sell unripe guavas and even the original samosa vendor came back to sell the crumbs and leftovers that he had at a differential price. Like clock work they came with appropriate time gaps between them in an order that ensured that there was business for all. It sure would have made any supply chain manager proud. The amazing part in all this was that even if one treated oneself to each and every goody on the smorgasbord, it would have hardly made a dent by twenty rupees (that is less than half a US dollar at current exchange rates).

Discerning as these people where while parting with what they had, they definitely had the propensity to buy probably because of the inherent bullishness that I had mentioned earlier. But then, where were the organized companies and their goods? Did they not see the opportunity at hand? The legalities of the situation might have demanded restraint from them, I supposed. Then again, what did my fellow travelers have to offer these companies? Well, they had some money, definitely had time in their hands and most importantly they had the willingness to spend, a very good proposition for the likes of insurance brokers, awareness campaigners, market researchers, new product testers and everyone in this ilk.

I saw the bright yellow signage outside hinting that my station had arrived. As I got down and watched the train move away, I saw yet another vendor jumping in. These vendors and hawkers, I thought, understood co-creation of value, the importance of – communication with their customers and with their co-opetitors, just in time supply chains, carrying zero inventories, differential pricing, manufacturing close to their customers, economies of scale and scope and many more. Of course, they weren’t aware of these concepts, but out of sheer necessity and instinct, they simply understood!

They surely have a lot more to teach us. The question is – Are we ready to listen?

PS: In 2003, BBC aired a program on the Dabbawalas of Mumbai, which was part of a series on unique businesses of the world. In 2003, Paul S. Goodman and Denise Rousseau, both faculties at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration of the Carnegie Mellon University, made their first full-length documentary called 'The Dabbawallas'. According to the press release of the TV station presenting the documentary, "The film also serves as a counterpoint. Instead of asking how knowledge in developing countries can help less developed countries, this film focuses on how developed countries can learn from less the developed countries”.Back home, the Dabbawalas were invited to speak at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) meets and at leading Indian business schools such as IIM, Bangalore and Lucknow.