Mauritius Blog Tracker

I was listening to someone’s a business idea a few days ago and that person seemed totally confident that the idea could be concretized into a viable business. In theory and in isolation, the business idea would have worked because it was based on a conventional model that satisfied the basic requirements of clients.

However, in the current Mauritian context, it was a replica of its competitor’s business model.  The core offering was identical to what the competition was already supplying on the market. It was just a conventional business idea that would definitely struggle in the increasingly competitive business environment we have today.

So I started talking about how the basic idea could be further developed into an innovative business model with an attractive proposition and transferable value. I talked about how we could study the target market and unearth new opportunities for which an offering could be developed. I proposed a fresh approach to building relationships with the target customers in order to give them an inspiring & memorable experience of the offering, which would also have a lot of human-touch. I suggested how to turn the conventional business idea into an innovative one.

But that person was not in sync with what I was saying as there was a fixation on using personal political contacts to make the conventional business take off and make money. In that person’s mind, it was clear that for someone to do business in Mauritius, they just needed good political contacts, and irrespective of what the business model and offering were, they’d be making money.

I guess that to some extent, what that person believes in can probably work for a short period of time. It could have been highly relevant and successful 10 to 20 years ago. But today, someone who has such a business mindset is definitely not going to build a lasting business. This is not the first time I am coming across such a business mindset - most Mauritian business owners have no clue how to innovate and revitalize their model and offering. And they also do not want to know as it seems they are quite comfortable with what they have acquired - They rest on what they have acquired and think it will sustain their success though time.

Whenever some people start talking about their business ideas or when you read their business plans, you can see that they think they have the best ideas that will enable them achieve great success and to be the best business. But when you look at their approach, it is the same like everyone else is doing. Unfortunately, things have changed today: What we do is important, but its how we do it that’s more important.