Innovations in business

Innovations in business refers to innovations in small businesses like that of a peddler or probably a vegetable seller. Here's something, have you ever tried making quick money, something like Rs 100 in a day. By Rs 100 I mean a profit of Rs 100 minimizing the cost of your capital. Also, one cannot be compassionate such as pretending to be blind, that would drain the shame out of you. It would not be so hard if you think creatively. Put yourself in a customer's position and think what you would be attracted to.
In and around my locality I've noticed many vendors selling jackfruits. To me, the fascination towards jackfruits has been there since childhood. I've done crazy things in childhood to get jackfruits. Having climbed jackfruit trees despite having electric wires passing through them. Some of these trees were located on someone else's agricultural lands. None of these have prevented this magnificant fruit from settling into thy stomach.
Shreesh and Anirrudh have been my inseperable friends having studied together in Srishti for slightly more than a year. We set off on an expedition to make jackfruits more popular and tastier with a good flavour.

At the start, we had to find two jackfruits. Wasn't much of a problem with a forest close by. Getting it was easy with one having to climb a tree and chopping it off. Now, our capital was free.

Soon, the jackfruit was cut with the pods removed and some jackfruits had their seeds removed. Cutting it was a really sticky process. After having removed everything, we rented a small vegetable cart and carried the jackfruit along with the other ingridients all around the neighbourhood.

Sucking on sweet jackfruit flesh dipped in honey dosen't stop any South Indian. But this is always done at home, never done on the streets. Since Indians' love for spices can never be questioned upon, we deceided to add some chat masala. In order to give a contrasting colour and a good look, we added a cherry to the plate. One plate which costed Rs 5 contained 3 jackfruits, honey and chat masala in adequate quatties and a cherry.

Our target was a school. School kids would surely have a great appetite for a unique dish like this while returning. However, on the way to the school we found our first customers who wanted plain jackfruits and bought a few. They said, a temple would be a preferable destination for selling this dish. Half way to the school, we headed back to a temple.

At the temple, we met our first clients. When asked for their opinions, they didn't seem to like it nor did they give us any criticism. Later on this dish started gaining ground with some people trying it out for its uniqueness. Between 11pm to 1pm we sold 10 dishes. Dissatisfied, we moved out.

While travelling, the owner of an idly shop wanted to have a taste. We gave him a plate and to our amusement he jumped up in joy, ordered another plate and asked people around him to try this out. More and more people came in, liking it and demanding more and faster. Occasionally we kept running out of plates, spoons and cherries. This idea gained momentum. A food critic told us that the cherry did not go well with the taste of the dish. At the end of the afternoon we sold around 40 plates. We nearly ran out of jackfruits and headed back home to eat the remaining. None of us hadn't tasted this spectacular dish until now and we deceided to try it out.

To me, it tasted like a sweet chat. The chat masala seemed to dissolve in the honey giving it a taste similar to jaljeera. I would agree with the food critic when he pointed out that the cherry had nothing to do with the dish.

We headed back home having made Rs 270 with an overall profit of Rs 110. To me it was quite an experience. I realized how hard a livelihood was for shop owners, small vendors and other poor people. Innovations can bring about a change. Some go for it and may end up well off and some find it too risky. I believe we as designers should help these people through our field in making their lives better
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These pictures would give you a different perspective of this story