Entrepreneurial lessons to learn from roadside vendors

March 24, 2016

The chilies and spices of the streets always overwhelm us, isn’t it? But is it just the delicacies that catch hold of us? I think there is something more to it, a human relation that gets clicked within minutes.

Street vendors are all around us selling everything possible with complete dedication and loyalty. They are no less than entrepreneurs who unknowingly possess a great sense of marketing, sales and business development. The scale at which they operate may be small but the sincerity is surely unmatchable. Every day we just pass by them on our way to work either neglecting them or thinking they are too desperate to sell off whatever they have and are just poor punters. But if we take some time out to analyze how they function, we may not keep ourselves back from appreciating their hard work and potential.

Here are 5 skills which if you can successfully imbibe in your venture, you may land on something as great as you never possibly imagined.

Also Read: 007 skills every James “Entrepreneur” Bond must have!

1. Quality matters

Whenever a customer will come to a particular shop or to a roadside vendor, he/she will remember him only if he sells quality product. For instance, you must be acquainted with some particular shops in your city where the tea savour has a different level. Don’t you always try to go to that shop only? These shops always remain crowded conspicuously. Do I need to describe the profit margin they have? I guess, no, right? When your products’ quality speaks for itself, marketing is done automatically. This applies to every kind of business and not just the shops across the streets of your city.

2. Give your clients a reason to remember you

We all know the power that a “smile” holds. If you want to impress someone or just want your petty mistakes to be overlooked, it’s always the magic of a smile that plays wonders. Customers are always attracted to shops who sell their products/services with a “smile” blended in it. There may be dozens of shops selling the same product, but some of them work really well as compared to others. Can you guess the reason? The answer lies in the behavior of the vendors and how they treat their customers despite their daily monotonous way of working. Customers don’t just remember you and become recurring customers; they recommend your services to others and that’s the basic way how a business grows.

Hence, entrepreneurs should also remember that to stand out, it’s not just the service/product that matters but also how you sell it.

3. Try something different even if you fail

If you keep doing what others are doing, you will end up getting what others are getting. There are many shops which are running from generations in the same monotonous way without any creativity. There is no innovation and hence there is no fame. And then there are some who start from scratch and become the buzz of the city within moths or few years. It is the small innovations that really pay off. This may include new spicy water which a “panipuri wala” adds to his cart or just some awesome colors to the sweets that a “mithai wala” adds to his delicacies. All these are remembered and talked about and they become famous instantly.

One must keep innovating even if he/she fails because at least he/she will be missed and remembered for doing something out of the box.

So, in case of an online business or selling a product/service offline, an entrepreneur needs to remember that he/she needs to keep innovating and introduce completely new things in the market to stand out of the crowd.

4. Show the benefits to your customers

Whenever we go to a shop, for example, to buy a dress, there are certain shops which sell benefits with the dress. What I mean to say is that they explain why and how a particular dress is different, what’s the market value, it is in trend or not, the material etc. By this, customers get more influenced and keep coming again and again. Again there are some who just display dresses one after another and leave it on the customer to choose any of them. More often than not, the result is the customer leaves unsatisfied in the later case.

Just ask yourself one question- “Why should customers buy your product and not others?” I am sure this will give you enough motivation to work on your product more dedicatedly. Hence it is very important that like the shopkeepers who are doing really well, entrepreneurs also start seeing their business as a way to sell benefits. I am sure that the products/services will get updated in no time.

5. Find your customers

Street vendors are always found at the right place. Whenever you go somewhere, starting from train to any tourist destination, they are always available at your service. This is because they exactly know where their customers are and what their customers demand. The same thing applies to any business- online or offline. You need to make your presence felt in this competitive world. This can be done only when you are present where your potential customers are present. It increases your probability to sell off your product/service exponentially and also reduces the need of marketing to a great amount.