Spirit of entrepreneurship always encourages one to learn more everyday. While moving around a bit for my new venture on financial literacy for common man, I moved a lot around the rural India, and found out that there is a whole lot of lessons for entrepreneurs from women in rural India. “Stay hungry, stay foolish” the proverb cited by Steve Jobs at Stanford must have meant the same, learn more, try more, work more and hence receive more. Lets’ take a point wise note of what I witnessed and learned:
1) If it needs to be done, it NEEDS TO BE DONE.
Women in rural India, where drinking water is a scarce commodity, walk miles to get drinking water for a day’s survival of their family. And this routine goes on each and every day with out a failure. there are no excuses or eleventh hour Plan B. If it needs to be done, it needs to be done!!
2) No jobs are menial.
If you need milk, you got to raise cattle and if you raise cattle, you do not frown to clean the aftermath, maintain the cow sheds and maintain cleanliness. If you are building up an asset to full-fill your family’s demands you need to put it in the DIY list and cut the cost.
3) Own your responsibility.
As I noticed, nobody told an old lady in the village to spin wheel to get some thread. Instead she spun a yarn and knit for whole of the family round the year. Owning and taking charge of a particular responsibility makes things work in a team while the rest complimented with this attitude work better in coherence.
4) Relationship with Peers.
Rural women from families with fairly low income have to work to earn a living and contribute to families. Yes, rural women too work for living and its their good connections and social behavior with peers that they maintain good relationships and work as teams, be it any basic trade. Good relationship with peers, be it for review, partnership or working as a team always comes in handy in rainy days.
Men and Women in rural areas face a lot of difficulty, not just in rearing the opportunities, but to create them and sustain a futuristic approach. Similarly, and entrepreneur faces similar difficulties, but could surely get motivated to know more about how rural people make their ends meet.