Perspective

I loved living in India and miss it now I’m gone……. and yet part of me is oh so happy to be out!

Doing business and working in India is very difficult; professionally I found it engaging but at times deeply unsatisfying. Living in India is deeply difficult, yet very satisfying. Every day I meet foreigners living the same paradox – they love living in India, but hate working there.

So what is the problem?

The global business community is enamoured by the Indian growth story.  Everyone wants to be part of the roller-coaster expansion.  The statistics and projections show there is money to be made – the growth is double and triple digit, opportunities abound, the gaps in the market are ready for filling.

So why isn’t it working? Why are companies not realizing the benefits of the opportunities and why are foreign and local executives failing at this stage of the development cycle in India?

Interviews with colleagues have highlighted some shared frustrations and obstacles to succeeding in business in the Indian environment.  In this series of Blogs I will share my personal experiences and those of my expat colleagues.  These are by nature personal reflections and are pointers as to the difference in doing business in the West vs India.

In a later series I will get to grips with observations on how to make international businesses successful in India.