Bootstrap-able business ideas to implement in a third world country?

[Dr. Fastlane]

I am working on getting sales for my SEO agency rn, but am still keeping my eyes open for other potential ventures. I was curious what you guys think about business ideas that can be implemented in a country like India that have already been done in say US?


For example, you guys have dollar shave club. Few months ago I stumbled upon Bombay Shaving Co. which is essentially trying to be India's dollar shave club. They already have investment from Coalgate-Palmolive and have 2-3 million dollars in sales.

I was curious what other niche ideas there might be that could potentially be implemented for my domestic market?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

I was curious what you guys think about business ideas that can be implemented in a country like India that have already been done in say US?

I love it. Developing markets are like a wild wild west and you can always look to more developed markets to see what works, and what doesn't. Whatever is culturally similar to America would theoretically work. Key point being... culturally similar and important to the Indian people.

I'm assuming you're in India?

 

[Dr. Fastlane]

I love it. Developing markets are like a wild wild west and you can always look to more developed markets to see what works, and what doesn't. Whatever is culturally similar to America would theoretically work. Key point being... culturally similar and important to the Indian people.

I'm assuming you're in India?

I am from India.

As far as culture and habits of the people is concerned, what a lot of outsiders fail to notice is the drastic cultural change a country like India goes through from one generation to another.

I am not privy to the American culture apart from what little I observed based on my interactions online. That being said, I believe India is the closest cultural/political ally to US at least in Asia.

India had some very regressive values historically, but they are being challenged everyday now. The changes in the coming years will be drastic, especially in terms of the economy. India expects to cash in on the huge HR dividend over the next couple of decades.

The sheer size of the market is mind boggling if the middle class continues to grow. 600 million people below the age of 25, average national age of below 30. Indian companies are already the largest private sector employer in the UK and the trend continues to grow.

I already see a bunch of American startups being copied.

These are some of the Indian startups I remember from the top of my head and their American counterparts. Some of them are unicorns, i.e. privately held companies worth more than a billion dollars.

Ola - Uber
91SpringBoard - WeWork
Grofers/Amazon Prime - InstaCart
Dollar Shave Club - Bombay Shaving Co
Udaan/IndiaMart - Alibaba
OYO - it's a hotel aggregator worth a billion plus
PayTM is like PayPal but more banking/mobile focussed. It even allows you to invest in mutual funds. Valued at $16-18 billion.
Zomato / Swiggy - Indian restaurants generally rarely did home deliveries back in the day. These two startups solved that by providing food delivery and became billion dollar+ startups.