It is often said that there is no one who has ever succeeded without common sense.
This fact is more true of any business, particularly the service businesses and is of course, true for working professionals in formal organizations as well.
It is true for house-wives, traders, vendors and even servant-maids.
However, a common thread that runs between each of the aforesaid classes of people is something called street-smartness.
What is this street-smartness? It refers to an ability to read between the lines, go straight to street to understand what customers want, understand the intricacies of each market and then succeed in a particular field.
As the name itself indicates, this is a hugely indispensable skill, more so, in today's times of recession.
One can cite any number of examples from the real world to illustrate this.
Let us take the example of very small shops, often called "Kaiyendhi Bhavans" in Tamil. If I explain this concept, the equivalent word in any other language can be easily understood.
These are street shops, set up in every small town and cities, and these provide a huge variety of food at very cheap prices. They are mobile shops that operate for only a few hours, either in the morning, or in the evening.
In each of the South Indian States, this is a huge industry by itself. I have seen thousands of such shops in Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore, Trivandrum, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Hyderabad and in literally every single small town as well. It is now catching up in bigger villages as well.
The street-smartness of the individual businessman or woman is different, but the ones who provide good taste and also good customer service, and also provide a huge range of food and snacks are the ones most likely to succeed. In Madurai, for instance, it is not uncommon to find shops that provide, iddlis that cost one-fourth the price in the smallest of the Udipi hotels, more often, very near the mobile shops itself. However, the obvious lack of hygiene is now forgotton, as the food is served in banana leaves.
But the lesson in street-smartness is totally different. It is centered around providing at least four varieties of chutnies, and these "side dishes" are a huge hit with students, young professionals, and the tourist traffic. Morevoer, at a very less cost, one's stomach is full.
Likewise, in the organized hotel sector, the Chennai-based Saravana Bhavan group of hotels leads in street smart moves. Not only is a great variety of dishes available, the quality of the sambar -- a huge hit, with the trade secret of making such a lovely quality of sambar maintained as a big secret even today -- is the huge differentiator. Thousands of customers buy the sambar that is sold for high prices.
It is a big joke going around in Chennai. If you are three in a family, do not enter Saravana Bhavan if you do not have one thousand five hundred rupees with you. If you have a very decent breakfast, you might be poorer by this amount or more, and if you have a shortfall, you might be expected to do physical labor to make up for the shortfall!!
Street-smartness is the ability to look far beyond the obvious, to milk the gaps in a particular market, hit the jackpot consistently, and create a big brand for himself or herself.
KPN is said to be the largest private sector bus transport service in India. Based as it is, in Salem, in Tamil Nadu, KPN buses are known for their efficiency and quality of bus service. The conductors and drivers are well trained, and have good records of managing people from various backgrounds. The buses ply on several routes and the first name that comes to mind, if the regular tickets are not available in the key overnight trains, is KPN. Such is the brand name.
Cavinkare of Chennai, is another outstanding example. They imitate the marketing strategies of Unilever Limited, but do that at far less prices. Since the cost of operations is small, the company is able to sustain itself in a very competitive market.
Need for a very good quality hospital --- even at huge prices --- lead to the Apollo Group of Hospitals establishing itself as a market leader.
The makers of Passpass, a mouthfreshner priced at Re1/-, for a single sachet of the product, have also milked the gap in the market.
Reinvest money, go for the best Faculty Members, build world-class infrastructure and watch what happens. The entire scenario changes and the institutions become simply world-class. Admist a plethora of Deemed Universities, there are just two of them who simply stand out and are amongst the best in India -- the VIT University, Vellore and the SRM University, Chennai.
It requires a deep understanding of customers, tastes, buying habits and the gaps that exist in the market. It is but natural that there is always a huge market just waiting to be tapped at the lower end of the market. This market keeps on expanding since the ordinary graduates or those with low skills get salaries that do not touch five figures for as many as five years. Wives are mostly housewives, fighting a big battle to just manage to survive.
Given such realities, it is no wonder that millions flock together to buy a whole range of goods from a big shop that offers some value for money, but is often not great in terms of quality. What is more important is that the products are eminently affordable by the lower middle class.
The owners proudly declare that "huge volumes, low profit margin" is the secret of their success.
Visit the very famous Saravana Stores in T Nagar, Chennai, to understand what really goes on. The lower middle classes have nowhere else to go -- a whole range of goods, imitating the branded ones are available at prices that will shock any regular shopper.
The VIP branded luggage that sells for Rs.1910/-, has a poor cousin for as little as Rs.425/-. Each and every customer knows that the product is good enough for just three years. But they have got used to this "use and throw culture".
In this case, the location -- bang opposite the Mambalam Railway Station ---is also important. Since the access to the shop is possible from the Railway Station it is a great sight to see thousands drop in at the Railway station and head straight to the shop. The street called Renganathan Street is the busiest steet in Chennai city, with at least six thousand people occupying every inch of the street, at any point in time.
Street smartness can thus be understood from success stories. How people get the chemistry right has to be correctly understood. Once this is done, the rest becomes easy.
As a huge imperative, street smartness is needed at any point in one's life. The more one acquires it, one is bound to be very successful at any point in time.