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.
Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry. Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while. Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...
Comments
Post a Comment