As I was walking home from the gym today I realized how much I am struck and inspired by the truly entrepreneurial spirit of India. Many times in developing countries entrepreneurship is born out of necessity however, whether it be out of necessity or passion, there are literally entrepreneurs everywhere you turn.
What inspires me the most is that these entrepreneurs have extremely limited resources but they still manage to get the products and reach consumers who are willing to buy their products.
There are literally hundreds of examples of this for instance: the guy who repairs shoes right on the sidewalk and works out of a wooden box where he keeps all of his tools (who said you needed a proper shop?). Or the men and women who sell hair accessories and nail polish to women on the train (brilliant! talk about a captive audience!). Or the woman who collects our trash and collects a fee from each apartment (since there is no standard form of trash collection here). These are just a few examples of the entrepreneurs that identify needs and develop innovative solutions using limited resources. No matter the outcome they are willing to take the risk and try new things, truly inspiring if you ask me!
What inspired me to write this blog post was these two women I came across on my walk home the other day (pictured below). I still am amazed at what people can balance on their heads here (the typical way to carry stuff in India). These two women were carrying beauty products in a box that they were going to sell somewhere. Talk about being mobile!
