Business owners often ask me “Which industries, do you think, have good potential in India?” My response has always been “Practically any”.
Let me give you an example: We all know that India has been going through an IT and BPO boom for years now, with companies running 24X7 offices where young Indians answer customer calls and write code for organizations from Seattle to Sydney. One such location which has a concentration of such IT companies is what’s referred to, as the IT Corridor, in Chennai in India- an area called OMR. Thousands of youth, male and female, throng from all over India, to work here. Through the day and night, there is either one batch coming out of their work day or another is just entering.
So, does this mean that an IT company in Canada or the US should open an office there, get orders from global companies and service that with local, trained, less expensive talent? Of course yes. You don’t need a rocket scientist to tell you that.
But that’s not all. Year on year, along that IT Corridor, other businesses have sprung: restaurants, housing, cineplexes, laundromats, supermarkets, hostels, apartment complexes, malls, hotels, schools, hospitals, cabs on call, air-conditioned bus routes…we can go on. And, that is one road in one city, in a country that has some sixty odd cities with a population of over 1 million. To round off this anecdote, would you be able to guess the busiest restaurant down that corridor? Domino’s Pizza.
On a Friday evening, at this OMR Domino’s, about 200 diners or those coming in for take-outs would have passed through its doors…. in the space of some 15-20 minutes. And this, for a brand that primarily ‘delivers’ the world over [Take a look at the delivery bikes parked in front of the store on some quiet:) morning in the picture].
So pizza brands and laundromats are unlikely but hugely successful and ever-growing off-spring of India’s IT boom.
We can then talk about the Infrastructure boom, the Retail boom, the Education boom, the Youth boom, the Urban boom and many others….but you get the drift.
The India Opportunity: Who do you know, who would benefit?
Rmagine 