What do you understand when you hear the word “market”? You probably might think about an open area where objects such as fruits are sold. However, this is not necessarily the definition of a market. A market is a place where buyers and sellers interact, mainly for the sales of goods and services. For example, OLX is a market that specializes in the sale of property and noncurrent assets.
It would need to be vital for sellers to have a place to interact with buyers so that they can sell the goods and services that they offer to society. This is the same for a micro-entrepreneur. There would be no point in setting up a grocery store in a place where no one lives as there won’t be any buyer-seller interaction.
Micro-entrepreneurs often face this issue when they are unable to find potential buyers for a good or service. If a good or service is not being sold to its expectations, one possible reason is that the potential buyers have not come in contact yet. It is important to note the difference between a person interested in the product and a potential buyer. A person who is interested in a product may not be willing to pay money for the product. This wouldn’t be useful for any business. However, a potential buyer is a person who is willing to pay money for this product. This type of person is more useful for a business.
It is important for a micro-entrepreneur to identify regular buyers who are willing to make multiple purchases. This often takes time for a micro-entrepreneur. If there are 1000 people who come across a product that they can buy, 100 people will be interested in the product. Of these 100 people, only 10 people will be willing to buy the product. A micro-entrepreneur must be able to build a steady customer base of these potential buyers to increase the level of income for the micro-enterprise.
However, there are some cases when micro-entrepreneurs are unable to find a suitable market or suitable buyers for a certain product. This makes it harder for them to earn income as they won’t be able to sell their products on a periodical basis. This problem can be solved with the help of market linkage. Market linkage is a big concept used by social enterprises such as the Deshpande Foundation. It revolves around a few key steps which help the micro-entrepreneur to find a suitable market or customer base. It has been beneficial for many micro-entrepreneurs and it will be discussed in the upcoming blog.
