The biggest  markets for new products and services today lie in developing countries, and these countries represent more than 80 percent of the world's population.  Asia, Africa, and Latin America offer a wealth of new opportunity to entrepreneurs who can help customers become more productive and create wealth.  But to take advantage of these opportunities entrepreneurs need to leave their developed world perspective behind and look at these markets from a local perspective.

In India, for example, millions of consumers are getting around the crowded streets by means of unsafe scooters because they can't afford to purchase automobiles. Ratan Tata recognized the problem and challenged his company to come up with a car that would sell for under $2,500. And they did! Using the latest in innovative approaches to design and development, his team outsourced 70 percent of the components, stripped out a lot of unnnecessary features that didn't matter to customers who simply wanted to get from point A to point B, and then distributed nearly completed kits for assembly by rural entrepreneurs.  

The Nano, as the vehicle is named, not only achieved its targeted price, but it created a number of opportunities for new entrepreneurs to start businesses. Now that's real economic development!  Of course, in keeping the costs to the bare minimum, they eliminated some features that American drivers might not appreciate.  They made the trunk only accessible from inside the car; there's only one windhield wiper instead of a pair and no radio or airbags.  It has only 2 cylinders and no air conditioning, but the point is, Tata's team was able to accurately determine the minimum feature set required to provide the real value that customers  wanted.  Too many times we entrepreneurs load up our offerings with bells and whistles the customer doesn't need or want.  Spending time empathizing with how customers look at the world is time well spent.  It is expected that the cost of the Nano will go up with rising material costs, but it's still the cheapest car in the world, and it is helping millions of Indians get where they want to go.