July, 2010

Voices — 13 Comments
14
Jul 10

I have never

  • Seen an Ocean
  • Been to a swimming pool
  • Flown Overseas
  • Travelled on the roof of a moving bus
  • Jumped Out of a plane or a bridge (Bungee **Scary**)
  • Touched Snow – the real one, not that which is made in a fridge.
  • Seen a 3D Movie
  • Seen an Imax Movie
  • Been on a roller coaster
  • Smoked
  • Gone Serious Trekking – though i live in Nepal
  • Visited a dentist
  • Owned a camera. (not even analog once)
  • Been to a Gym
  • Seen a Lion or Tiger
  • Gone to any serious forest/jungle
  • Applied for US Diversity VISA (99% of Nepalese have probably applied once)
  • Applied for VISA of any country.
  • Gone more than 6 months in any serious day-job
  • Seen any Himesh Reshammiya Movie (this one for Bollywood Fans)
  • Been to any underground concerts.
  • Been to a discotheuqe.
  • Climed on any high speed elevator
  • Been to top floor of any high rise building.
  • Met a Chinese. :-)
  • Had a buffet lunch/dinner.
  • Seen an actual theater play.
  • Used Linux.
  • Owned any Smartphone.
  • Drank Beer (Cant’t stand the smell of that shit)
  • Been on a plane in Nepal (only flew twice in India)
  • Been to any Nepali Airport
  • Had an ICQ account
  • Neither used IRC.
  • Been on TV Camera.
  • Had a Girlfriend. :-)
  • Had a credit card.
  • Celebrated my Birthday
  • Received  gift ever from anyone ( someone send me :( )

And Last one,

I have never been admitted in a hospital.

Update # 1: Inspired ( :P ) by this post, Dinesh Bro, and Anbika have also posted there version of this post.  Thanks Guys.

Update # 2: Aakar and Sadhana Sharma has too reblogged.  Click on their name to follow to there posts.

Life in Nepal / We the People — 2 Comments
2
Jul 10

Why 90% of small businesses fail in Nepal?

There’s a tendency in Nepal and a very bad one i must say i.e. whenever a person, anywhere in Nepal thinks of starting a business he or she thinks of Kathmandu. Either it’s an advertising agency, a SME or anything else all they think is starting it in Kathmandu and by starting Kathmandu i mean all they do is target the customer of that only city only.

I think this is the reason for their failure. I have nothing bad about that city but i guess focusing your whole business operation to one city is just pretty bad decision you take on start of your business venture. I do understand Kathmandu is a big city with 3 Million population but you need to look beyond that. Though sparsely spread, Nepal has a population of about 30 Million, if you start your operation from somewhere in the middle of country and focus at least 2 development region then you get a customer base of more than 3 Million.

Let me give you an example

Wlink Communication, the leading ISP of Nepal, though it started from Kathmandu initially but now it has franchises or branches in almost all the cities of Nepal. But what about other ISPs, hardly anyone expect Wlink has even a single subsidiary in any other city., Mercantile used to have in some places but now they don’t seem to be interested in providing Internet to end user.

Subisu, Vianet, etc. etc. Name any one ISP that has countrywide presence. None. You would rather find local ISPs operating in any give city. But not a single ISP expect Wlink which has cross country operation and that is the reason why Wlink earns so much whereas other ISPs have to fight for their survival.

Take my advice, if you are planning to start a SME in Nepal, then ditch Kathmandu. Open your HQ in places like Pokhara, Butwal, Birgunj or Biratnagar and target an entire belt of that region; you will be profitable from day one. There’s a huge market outside Kathmandu which is untapped in every single niche. All you need is to look beyond the Capital and you will find yourself in much better position.