The sectors hustlers should focus their energies on

Herd mentality is one of the hustler’s biggest problems – doing what everyone else is doing, investing in the same lines of business. They open kiosks, rear chicken and other small hustles.

It’s understandable because the money needed to start such hustles isn’t much – there are few barriers to entry.

Competition ensures that no hustler makes lots of profits, while customers benefit from the low prices. However, these razor-thin margins, which are often dictated by suppliers, make many small hustles go bust. How, then, can hustlers remain competitive?

One is to avoid price as their only attraction. Often, one can’t go lower than their competitors without incurring losses. Alternative attractions include small things like smiles, offering credit, and other services like luggage storage or even a forum to hang out.

The best option to remain competitive is to get into sectors that have potential for growth. That’s why hustlers need their decisions to be guided by data, not hunches. There are several sources of data, collected using tax money, and most are free.

Take the Economic Survey, which is released every year just before the Budget. The Economic Survey 2018 showed that the biggest contributors to economic growth last year were food and accommodation, followed by ICT, construction, storage and transport, mining, real estate and education.

How many hustlers know this? How many bothered to check the Economic Survey? Knowing which sectors are doing well is important as you can do more business with them, being a supplier, providing goods and services.

Bigger picture

Good hustlers would go beyond supplies and diversify their businesses into growth sectors. You can start a new line of business or expand an existing business.

If you’re in real estate, for example, you could start a students’ hostel because education is doing well.

Lots of hustlers fail to see the bigger picture – where the economy is going and how it’ll affect you in the short and long run.

Let’s think out loud. Have hustlers figured out how they can make money from the Big Four, Vision 2030 and other policy shifts?

Hustlers should even go beyond the borders. The Economic Survey shows regional growth rates. Just as with sectoral growth, can hustlers follow the markets? If China is doing well, it’s a good market to invest in. Can you find out what the Chinese are looking for and provide it? If the economy is declining, it could be a great source of cheap supplies.

Truthfully, most hustlers hate books, newspapers and other ‘energy usurping’ intellectual pastimes. Yet, that could make all the difference.

You could channel your energy, and resources to the sectors and markets likely to make the biggest difference to your business. After all, you have limited resources.

One of the most powerful weapons available to a hustler is information, which is often freely available. Making use of it can give you a head start in the market. Just try it.