What are the unique challenges and opportunities of doing business in India?
The reason we came to India, which may seem foolish or sane, is that it is one of the hardest markets to operate in. The unique challenge for D.light is that we provide light to people who do not have light and power to people who do not have power. Our customers are really poor and they have highly erratic income patterns, a lot on their mind, and a lot of obligations for the short amount of money that they do have; so they are very risk averse. And the alternative for lighting is highly subsidized, so the government actually pays far more than the consumer would pay every time they buy a liter of kerosene. The places that do not have electricity are often extremely corrupt and extremely hard and expensive to get to. You cannot really market to them because they are spread all over the place in areas that do not have easy access and it is not as if they are all reading newspapers and watching TV and listening to the radio and have a lot of mass media. All of these factors compound. Me
