For those seeking for entrepreneurial opportunities, they need to look no further than SMEs and Rural India. This is the theme of my Tech Talk series this week. The opportunity lies in understanding two basic questions: why are SMEs small and why is rural India poor? If we are willing to not take this as things which cannot be changed, then plenty of ideas can come up for what can be done.
At a level, both have very similar characteristics:
– they are both very large markets – invisible for the most part
– they both suffer from co-ordination failure – the various elements to provide appropriate solutions are there,but they need to be aggregated together simultaneously
– there are huge information asymmetries – meaning inefficiencies – which can therefore offer room for innovative solutions. Small things can make big differences because these segments are not optimised.
– technology can play a positive role in bringing about change, but services should come first. Think not what technology can do, but what are the services that are needed and then what are the most appropriate technologies which can be used.
– once the solutions work in India, we can take them to other emerging markets
There are plenty of entrepreneurs in India looking to do both good and well. Spend some time thinking about these two spaces and one will be able to see the entrepreneurial opportunities that are there.
