Its been quite some time since I wrote my last post. But nevertheless, I have been running this Green Marathon in my head :). I discussed a few ideas on 'where to start from?' with a good friend. Now basically what we discussed was a business idea. The objective behind it was to try and target the base of the income pyramid, which has some 4.5 billion of the total 6.5 billion world population. Obviously this ratio for India is shockingly higher where above 95% of population is at the Base of the pyramid (BoP). Now at the base of the income pyramid are those who are either extremely poor or employed by very small and medium enterprises commonly known as SMEs. If we can help these SMEs realize their true potential and move up the income pyramid, we will in-effect help the millions employed by these companies also improve their living standards.

To give a little background on why these SMEs need help in the first place, there are few examples of the SME clusters of India that have either struggled for survival or have perished in the wake of globalization and mall-culture. One is the scissors cluster of Meerut (my hometown), second is the leather cluster of Kanpur, third is the textile cluster of Ludhiana and the list goes on. During our childhood days, we have seen that various states were famous for a particular product/products, but seriously, do we buy that idea anymore? Do anyone of us have any inclination of buying a pair of scissors manufactured in Meerut or leather shoes made in Kanpur or the Ludhiana fabric? No - we'll buy scissors from anywhere, shoes from woodland and fabric? huh? we are not buying it anymore, its for them to buy from whom we are buying our ready-made clothes. Although these industries still are there where they were so many years ago we have moved up the pyramid without bringing them up with us. The gap is widening. These SMEs are not being given their fair share and they have no idea about how to get it. The companies that are buying their scissors, their leather or their fabric are making huge profits by bringing them to the malls, by giving them a brand and by repackaging the stuff in a fancy way.

So what these SMEs need are people like us who can help them put in touch with the final customer or who can help them with proper branding or repackaging. It does not sound that difficult, isn't it? So why don't we develop business models around this and snatch the share away from the big players in the mall who can stay where they are (or even come down a little! thatz okk :)) while we help these SMEs move up the income pyramid.

Cheers!

Tanu