Thursday, February 14, 2008

Banking for specific communities : A wonderful opportunity

Community based banks are success stories in India. Examples are: Rickshaw Bank and Sex Worker Bank.

Rickshaw Bank is started in 2004 and the central idea is the issue of an asset-based loan to the rickshaw puller for which installments are repayable on a daily repayment plan with one-year duration. Full and timely repayment leads to ownership of the rickshaw being handed over to the puller. This concept is in contradiction to the existing practice in which an equivalent amount of a daily rental fee is paid to rent the vehicle, possibly for the lifetime of activity, with no scope for ownership.

Usha Bank is started by a sex worker and it is with the purpose of providing economic security to Sex workers. Although sex workers earn in cash, they have little control over their assets. Most of their income is used to pay off power brokers within the industry, bribe local cops and provide sustenance to their families. This makes them vulnerable to extortion by moneylenders. Perpetually in debt, it is not uncommon for prostitutes to pay annual interest rates as high as 1500 percent.

Here the opportunity is clear. your business model has to suit the specific requirements that the community faces. Interested? write me to my gmail id: malapati.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Easiest way to get into Politics : Unexplored Approach!

Many guys used to ask me how to get into politics. Traditional & Popular approaches in this regard are:

  1. Becoming a cine actor
  2. Becoming a model
  3. Sports professionals
  4. Poets
  5. Through NGOs
  6. Politics as a career (I believe this could be the reason behind our system's inefficiency

I believe that the easiest way to get into politics is by offering Innovative Consumer Products/Services. It is because people generally associate themselves with the good consumer services/products and those who are happy customers could be the brand ambassadors for your politics ambitions. For example, imagine if Google founders are into an election, they would be able to gain initial traction anywhere in the world.

Actually I have started this blog so that we can come up with practical approaches for solving issues in Rural India. Past few months, I have been associated with many small start-ups focussed on Rural consumer Services. If you are interested to get into consumer services businesses, then do let me know.

My contact in this regard is my gmail id: malapati
Mobile number: Gero nime nime sics seWen tw* Gero seWen one sics fou* (written in similar-text to avoid spamming). I am available during 9AM to 9 PM