Some business models that work very well in the US would be an absolute disaster in countries like India with almost every city, town or village approaching megalopolis proportions...
1. Dry cleaning (used to also be called Martinising and let us not get into that here) - I mean why would anyone in India dry clean? Once you travel on a local train in Mumbai you are lucky to come out with all your limbs intact - you are not worrying about your clothing being dry or clean anymore
2. Car wash facilities - again another vain attempt to showcase your assets here in the US where everyone is in a car so there is plenty of time to admire the other person's vehicle at the next traffic light. But in Mumbai where you run the risk of non human intervention with your vehicle that can cause all kinds of goop to attach to your asset you are not going to spend more money to keep cleaning it.
3. Jimmy Choo shoes - This contraption is a deceptively ingeneous way to allow dumb Americans to part with their cash. As to the question of allowing dumb Indians to part with it - have you seen the sidewalks of Mumbai lately? Or more importantly have you seen 'a sidewalk' anywhere in India? Perhaps that may not prevent the truly dumb to subscribe to a few pairs anyway?
4. Credit cards - America runs on credit. India runs on cash (or threats).
Conversely the one business model that is 100% successful in India and cannot be replicated in the US is that of the local mandir or temple. I just cannot imagine a Hanuman in the middle of Times Square taking unauthorized space from the TKTS booth. Not that it cannot be done but there are just not enough subscribers.
Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
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