Tuesday, January 5, 2016

I do business with only women as employees..... But I am NOT a pimp.



I recently got an advertisement on my email called Netmeds, online pharmacy store. My first reaction to that was - "Shit, why didn't I think of this!". I need to give some history in order to understand why my reaction was that. I come from a generation who did not have smart-phones, online shopping and related things for the first 2 decades of their lives. I am exposed to these things from past 6-7 yrs maybe. When flip kart came first, I was skeptical because everyone was very new to this online shopping. However it got me thinking when flip-kart became a hit. The fact that most people buy books with just title/author's name, flip-kart was no different from buying a store except that the book gets delivered. The conclusion was that online shopping can easily become a success for those products which are bought only by the name it carries (I still wonder how online clothes shopping thrives when people actually want to see and feel the clothes they are buying). So when I saw Netmeds, my reaction was - "Shit, why didn't I think of this as medicines are also bought just by the name and no one needs to see and feel the medicine strip”.

When I discussed the above things with my friend, he explained to me the idea of USP (Unique selling point). The USP of online buying of books or medicines is that it saves the effort and cost of going to the shop. When we brainstormed on what new services can be provided in this changing world, Liquor-kart was an app we thought of. Still many people (especially women) are not comfortable going to a wine store to buy liquor. The app would solve that problem (which would be the USP). However we got to know the app already exists :-(

What is the connection of all these to the title of the article? Today also I had a “Shit, why didn't I think of this” moment. While cycling, I saw a cab with a woman driver. Immediately it struck that the USP of this service being safety concerns of women are being addressed to some extent. But then my mind started wandering (which it usually does while I am cycling) and the direction was how things would have been if I did intend thought of the idea and started the business venture. Then I would have been successful (hopefully) and in my imagination a friend is making the following comment - “So the feminist Vinay is finally running a business with only women as employees :-)”. But for a second, I did not like that sentence and started wondering why. The reason being once upon a time such a sentence was only associated with a pimp. Women did not have much opportunities in many areas of work and if one thinks of a exclusive women work force, flesh trade comes to the top. Others being (though not exclusively) teaching and nursing. It's good that the changing world is also in many ways changing the perspective (directly and indirectly) that women are not objects of pleasure. And if a man runs a business with an exclusive women work force, he doesn't have to be a pimp.