Since Modi begun the "Make In India" initiative, I have been fascinated by that concept. I am not writing anything about Modi's Make In India initiative or about its success or drawbacks, but this is about my concept of Make In India.
When you are opting for a place to dwell, be it for rent or purchase, what properties and components do you seek ? Generally, one wants nearby grocery stores, medical stores, hospital, school, transportation convenient, park, tailoring shop, multiplex, vegetable market etc. We need a place where most of the stuffs are available within a moment.
If these availabilities are not near-by, then you may have to go to a far place, more of a junction place, where several others like you will be visiting there to get the stuffs. So when more and more people from similar place need the same stuff visit this far place, then one business minded person will plan to open a similar store/shop nearby to that place. Example, assume that there is no tailoring shop nearby to your place and you have to visit 4-5Kms for it. Now, if someone observes that more demand is there from your place then he opens up a tailer shop within a 1KM reach.
Generalising the same example of tailoring to other services, the tailer shop situated at 4-5Kms was open over there because earlier people had to go to next town around 10-15Kms for tailoring and hence it was made available 4-5Kms as demand grew. Similarly all other services which we see around ourselves(hospital, clinic, general store, medical store, dress shop, dominos, multiplex, mall, vegetable shop, McDonalds, pani puri shop, coconut shop, bakery etc) is because people dwelling in the surrounding places are in need of such services.
Often without realising the above fact, what I generally use to do is, I never use to buy stuffs from near-by shops thinking, this is a small bakery, let me go far to that big bakery and get bread. I use to go intentionally that far and get the stuff or else whenever I was out on a vehicle, I use to get something from that bakery while returning back. I use to think, this neary-by bakery is anyway here only (nearby), anytime I want, I can get something in urgent. But if I have time, lets get on vehicle and go to that big bakery. Note :- bakery was just an example :)
Recently, when I had been to my native, I saw a new small tailor shop had opened just across the road from my home. I had to make some old jeans pants into 3/4th to wear in home (yes, I do that :P). I was wondering to take them to market but unlike as in Bangalore, I do not have bike ready to go anywhere as my wish. So I was forced to take them over there for alteration. The tailor requested to wait for 10-15mins as it will be done and I get to take them right away.
While sitting idle, observing his craft of tailoring, I initiated a small conversation, "How long since you opened this shop?" He said, it has been 2 weeks and we chatted for a while. Based on that short conversation, I got to know, how much he struggled to put a shop with investment in this area based on knowledge that, there isn't any nearby tailor shop in this area. He stays far and travels here everyday to run this shop. Since it was new and more people were unaware and rest other wouldn't want to give a try and still want to visit shop in market, he was mentioning his struggle to get customers so as just to manage bare minimum profit to pay the shop rent.
This is not the story of only this small tailor but several other small vendors nearby your home trying to provide you service but due to people's attitude(like me) they couldn't survive the business. Similarly there was new vegetable shop nearby to my home. It was so near to my home that, the old vegetable lady use to get 1 bucket of water for setting up her vegetable daily and in return she use to give few vegetables for free. I never bought anything from her as I was used to getting vegetables from 1KM away. During my last time visit to native, I witnessed that she couldn't survive the business and she closed down. Now I realise, if this shop was present, it would have been so helpful.
Similarly there are several other examples but I hope you got the hang. So from now on, I always prefer to buy stuffs from near-by shops even though when I am out and could have bought the same stuff from far shop but I avoid that. Due to this policy, recently, I witnessed and explored so many new shop vendors nearby to my home (both in Bangalore and in native). There is no need to go far for buying. This policy will also help them to expand in providing more and better service nearby.
One might argue with me that, why should we buy from a shop with poor quality and not good service just because it is nearby? I totally agree with you on this. You have the power to let him know that his product or service is not good by avoiding to visit that shop and try to go to the next nearby shop with adequate good quality or better than this one. If quality is not good, then do not visit and others will also do the same. In current world, where competition is neck-to-neck, quality and service really do matter. If he is not par with current standards, then he is bound to go down. This will give others to come up nearby trying to give better service but do not avoid giving a chance for new small vendors nearby to your place. They need your support and encouragement to continue giving the best nearby to you.
Whenever I am out to some far place to visit someone or due to some work, I prefer not to buy stuffs from there which are easily available nearby to my place. This was not the case with me earlier. I call this as My Make In India Policy. Try to enhance and increase the income/economy of the business nearby to your place rather than buying/using some service from some far random place just because you were there at that time. Whenever I get this urge to buy something which could also be bought nearby to my place, I control my urge and let it pass. Whenever I do this, I remind myself of Make In India concept. According to this, I am using totally nearby restaurant, nearby hair saloon, nearby medical store, near by panipuri shop, near by vegetable shop, near by petrol bunk, near by bakery etc. I am promoting my Make In India Policy by spending my money in the nearby services from now on. When will you ? :)
