WHY WE ARE NOT GOOD BUSINESSMEN?

written by: ANURAG SAHOO

We are odias and we have a rich culture and heritage. It’s evident from the presence of temples, Odissi dance, our cuisine,etc. But have we asked ourselves a question.? Are we good businessmen?

Except from some examples, the answer is unfortunately NO. Just take a look in our cities. Whether it is Bhubaneswar, Cuttack or Angul. Everywhere the top businesses are owned by non-odia speaking people most commonly Punjabis,Haryanwis or Marwaris. I mean to say its not a harm if anybody sets up business here as we all are Indians but the question still lies with us why odias are not proving themselves to be good businessmen or entrepreneurs. Take for example BHUBANESWAR. The largest jewellery shops like LALCHAND,KHIMJI or EPARI are owned by non odias. The famous saree shops like KALAMANDIR, BANARAS BEAUTY are owned by non odias. Majority of exclusive garments showroom are also owned by non odias. I don’t want to sound like any MNS worker ad I’m against any division among races inside states.

Let’s give a thought on the possible reasons for this questions. Igot some from the activities of petty shopkeepers.

POOR CUSTOMER RELATION: odia businessmen always practice the process of short sightedness. They always try to shell some extra bucks out of a first time customer who would have been a long term customer. Thus when the first time encounter gets soar, the customer doesn’t come again and the businessman loses a customer.

LACK OF CONCERN TOWARDS BRAND LOYALTY: odia businessmen think that since the customer is loyal to us, he/she has no alternative so he/she is forced to buy from us. Therefore we can always ignore them and concentrate on newer customers. But what they fail to see is the fact that existing customers do more business than the new ones.

Still odias like DILIP RAY (already from a rich family), BANSIDHAR PANDA and many other have proved to be a successful entrepreneur. Even the legendary BIJU PATTNAIK was also an entrepreneur with a distinct vision. But we,odias have to think for long term solutions and we cannot ignore the power of customers and the need of customers relationship management.