The confidence is telling

My trip last week to Tirupati to fulfill a long-standing vow was an eye-opener. I had mentioned a part of it in yesterday's blog. The other thing that amazed me was the confidence of the rural people in eking out a living.
I was on my way back to Chennai and happened to witness and hear a discussion between an old woman and a middle-aged guy. Both were on their way to Ekambara Kuppam from Tirupathi.
The guy runs a small eatery there and sees a boom in his own small way in his business of selling bajjis (a batter of chick pea powder deep fried after raw banana, green chilli, potato or onion is dipped in it). The woman asked him about his business. He was telling her that his assistant was reporting business running into nearly Rs 750-900 a day.
It is doing well. I think I need to buy things from here (Tirupathi). That will help me a lot. His statement made sense because the price of chickpea powder was cheaper than in Ekambara Kuppam where the price will tend to be higher with a few shops in view of it being a remote area.
"I have asked the price. I think I can earn 30 paise for every one rupee. That's enough for me. I can easily get the business touching Rs 1,000 a day soon," he told the lady.
That means a business turnover of Rs 30,000 a month at a small eatery. That only affirms my unshaken belief that any business that has connection to food will definitely do well. A 30 per cent gain in Rs 30,000 turnover is Rs 9,000. Not bad when the guy puts in just four hours of hardwork!
Today, food is proving to be a big business. And it will continue to be because India is expanding as also its population and average income. But its potential is yet to be tapped fully.
The woman told the guy to start selling masala bondas. "People will simply lap it up. I had done that early and I got good income. If I light up the stove at 4 pm, it will go on uninteruppted till at least 6.30 pm," she said, looking back at her progress.
Both of them have a mobile phone, an essential for any Indian today, and the guy even called up a relative to take money from him to pay some dues including for the next month. As he was going to his shop, he was also taking with him some 5 kg of chillies to make bajji.
We haven't included the turnover that cups of tea will get at such outlets. Many Indians wash their throat at least thrice with tea or coffee. Then there is also the case of soft drinks being sold frequently during a day, especially during hot days.
That means good business and good margins. That leaves us with one question. The rural entrepreneur seems to be confidence personified. He, without any study, is sure of how his business will do. How many of our corporates are sure of the demand for their product from the rural areas? And why haven't many succeeded in marketing in the rural areas, save a few? Turn to the rural entrepreneur guys. He is your guide.

Are you listening, Marketing guys?

This blog is a professional one that will talk of trends and moves in the markets. Just not stock or commodity markets but even rural or urban markets. This will be a window in which I plan to write about things I come across during my interaction with various sources.
Often what happens is that we tend to think of a trend only in a particular way. We dismiss the fact that there could be an otherside to a prevailing or emerging trend.
Let me begin with this trend that I happened to experience during my trip to Tirupati. I travelled sitting in the second class up and down in Sapthagiri Express that leaves Chennai at 6.25 am and leaves Tirupathi for Chennai at 5.25 pm.
Seeing the rising number of mobile phone connections each month, I was not surprised over the fact that almost everyone in the compartment had a mobile with him or her. But the surprising fact is that most them had provisions to listen music through MP3 in their mobiles. (Remember, the FM channels were just not working after Tiruvallur.) Doesn't that mean rural India prefers not just a simple mobile but one with a facility to listen songs? That's something the companies producing mobile phones have to ponder upon.
The next thing left me really surprised but very happy. While going to Tirupathi, a lady sitting near the door was playing songs loudly on her mobile. No one objected to the noise. And every song that was played was composed by Illayaraja.
During my journey on return, again I found a group of four or five persons playing songs loudly. It was Illayaraja songs agin. One was Aasha Bhonsale song in the film "Namma Ooru Pattukaran" and the guy who owned the mobile sang each and every word of the song without a flaw.
After the group got down at Ekamabara Kuppam, I found another guy playing Telugu and Tamil songs from his Sony Ericcson mobile from Aarakonam onwards. Again, most of the songs composed by Illayaraja.
What made me happy was that almost everyone in the rural area was listening only to Illayaraja, something that I have always believed and trusted in. I swear that I didn't hear even one song composed by A R Rahman.
What surprised me is that day in and day out we have the FMs and the Music Jockeys drilling in our ear that the latter is great while dismissing the former in a word or two. The reality is that once we go past the city and enter the suburban, people have a totally different taste. I am sure it will be so even in North India.
That means aren't we cheating ourselves by saying X or Y is great just because a few rave about the X or Y in the city. Isn't India's heart in Bharat or rural areas? Then, why pay sky high fees for endorsement by people who may have a clout with only a limited audience in the city. Why should we go by only what the elite think or say?
Music is not all about dancing and jumping. Music is something from the heart. So, aren't we fooling ourselves when we ignore people who rule the hearts of those in rural India? Isn't it a fact that we are not giving the real ones their due? Marketing guys have something here to really think about. By the way, is or has a proper study been done on these things?
Points to ponder, guys & gals.