Do you eat momos from the guys sitting on the corner of the street ? Wrong question. My bad because Who doesn’t. The best part about them is the red hot spicy/ chutney served with them.Mouth blasting. Aren’t they ? I mean who would eat those momos without the spicy red chutney? ( I will, with ketchup :p).
What I experienced today was amazing and left me with a lesson learned just when It was meant to be. I went to the market next to my house to eat something. I noticed three momos wala bhaiya sitting next to each other at some distance( it’s a competitive world). I was confused which one should get the opportunity to suffice my hunger. And I realized that the one In the middle is very crowded. So, he must be good. Let it be him this time. I went to this guy and ordered for myself a full plate of momos. Here’s what happened Next.
*This guy had me from the very first hello.
Me: Hello, One plate of chicken momos with chutney.
He: Hello Sir, 40 Rs for 6 pieces sir.
Me: Expensive. * generally they serve 8 to 10 pieces
He: Thanks to our government.
Me: Ohhhhhhh.
Me: Tell me one thing. These guys standing next to you. Brothers? (They looked similar)
He: No sir. Competitors.
Me: Great. And u r leading the competition.
He: Oh yes sir.
Me: Confidence. Good man.
He: Thank you sir. Here’s your one plate.
Me: Thank you
Me: How do you manage to attract more customers? I mean what’s the secret ?
He: No secret sir. It’s in front of you.
Me: Taste? Yes your momos taste good, but these guys are not bad either.
He: What about the chutney sir?
Me: Same taste. Nothng special.
He: No sir, I m talking about the green chutney.
Me: Oh this, yes it is good. Better from the red one.
He: This is how I am different from these guys. They are still stuck to the red chutni.
Me: So this green chutney is green signal to channel more traffic towards the shop..
He: Yes, most of the customers tell me it is great. I make it on my own. these other guys are old. I came here only a few months ago. In the starting, it didn’t make sense to me adding a momos stall here because these guys were already doing good. It was difficult for me as I was new in the competition. There was a time when i used to sit and wait for the customers to come. I have seen days when there was no heavy sale and the other two guys used to tell me you have setup in the wrong place.You should move from here because we already have are customers bounded. But i kept my quiet. I realized that i need to come up with something different. This is when i INVENTED my own Chutney. And it is only this Green Chutney that has got me this far.
Me: Wow. Doing same thing differently.You’re a RodinHood.
He: What?
Me: RodinHood. (He kept his quiet as he didn’t get it. But for me he is the True RodinHood)
This lasted for 1 hour. In that one hour I learned two business and life changing lessons:
1.Don’t run away from the competition, accept it, face it and deal with it. Because to win the competition, you need to be in the competition.
2. It doesn’t matter what are you doing, what matters is how are you doing it. Same ideas, different approach.
Bottom line: Success is not measured by MONEY or POWER, Success is measured by your Discipline and Inner Peace. Every man can inspire you.You just need to look through him.
Lesson learnt, a ‘NO’ thought burnt.
asha chaudhry
:))))))))))
loved your analogy himanshu!
this dude seems to be another rajesh autowala in the making…. 🙂
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/and-then-there-was-light
keep the inspiring stories coming our way!
Himanshu Sehgal
Thank you Asha. 🙂
Yes, he is another Rajesh. And Instead of calling them autowala and momos wala, we should call them The Rodinhoods.
Swapnil
Really a nice read…proved again that attention to small details often makes a big difference to ones business.
Himanshu Sehgal
Thank Swapnil. 🙂
Aparna
Great!! Thanks for the share 🙂
Himanshu Sehgal
🙂
Vinay Chhoda
this post just shows how deep the entrepreneurial spirit runs in our culture…
Himanshu Sehgal
Yes Vinay. There are many people out there who just need a spark to ignite.
Kunal Shah
Amazing Article Himanshu!!
Loved the analogy. Not only because of the fact it came from a guy who we normally don’t even consider as a businessman, let alone a Rodinhood but also because of the simple way in which you have explained it!
Kudos!
Keep writing!
Kunal
Sai Rodinhood Pothuri
Loved it, this type of healthy competition helps you to think unique, creative, innovative . Competition Really Builds YOU
Himanshu Sehgal
Thanks Kunal.
Himanshu Sehgal
You don’t have to compete. You just have to do what you love.
Thanks Sai.
Arpit Desai
Good read, Himanshu !