Those who own their business earn more than those who work for others - and this is true even amongst street-side hawkers
A crowded market; shops of various shapes and sizes, on either side of the street,
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Meet Ajay Mishra, a hawker, who conducts his business in the Gurgaon market. In fact, you could give him any name or place him in any market. The story would be the same. He earns his livelihood peddling from his makeshift shop, a shop that is all of a medium sized stool kept on the ground and a thick wooden stick hooked to the wall behind. And what does he sell? Fake Lee belts, which hang on the wooden stick and fake Woodland wallets, spread on the stool, along with some handkerchiefs.
He has a disheveled appearance, emphasized by his tousled hair, unwashed face, sleepy eyes and clothes hanging out. He seems a little nervous dealing with the customers. He is a newcomer to this profession, having been on the job for all of four months. Or the reason could also be that he is just a kid. A young boy of 15 years, who makes Rs. 2000 a month, which he says is enough to fulfill the requirements of his family, two siblings and his parents.
All he knows about the business is the price of the goods he has and the extent to which he can let customers bargain.
Ajay Mishra is an employee who takes care of another man’s business.
Let’s meet Ajay’s employer, another shopkeeper at the same market. He is the owner of three shops - one the small stool that Ajay looks after, the other two are bigger, run by his sons, and have more variety in terms of school bags, slippers, etc.
The owner makes seven thousand per month from the stool that Ajay manages and out of this gives 2000 rupees as salary to his employee.
Now meet Rashid. And like Ajay, you could also give him any name and place him in any market. Just the size of the shop makes the term ‘hawker’ seems ridiculous to use for him. He also has a makeshift shop, made by wooden sticks nailed to each other and hooked to the wall and a large wooden cart. In scale, Ajay’s stool is no comparison to his shop!
Rashid sells fake jackets, which hang on the wooden sticks, along with woolen caps, lowers, vests and briefs spread on the wooden cart, the average item being of less value than on Ajay’s stool. Rashid, though not educated, speaks fairly good Hindi, tinged with some regional intonation. He has been in the business for more than ten years now and has the shrewdness that comes only with years of experience.
He is a tall, somewhat burly man, of around 45 years and has had this shop for the last five years on the same spot. He has a sense of authority while dealing with his customers and can easily gauge which customer would settle for what discount. He, unlike Ajay, keeps to himself the profit of around 10,000 rupees per month, Rashid has an immediate family of a wife and three sons who are in school and a nephew of twenty who helps with the business.
These stories get repeated again and again…
Another hawker, this one selling vests and briefs from a dingy small cart, earns 100 rupees per day or about three thousand a month. He too has been working for another man for the past five years.
Let’s meet one more, sitting on a low stool in the market, selling wallets. His shop is again a low stool, spread with wallets. He makes about five thousand per month and is the owner of his “shop”.
The rules, it seems are the same, whether at the bottom of the pyramid or at the top – those who own their business earn more than those who work for others!
Note: This article is based on a sample of five hawkers in one market and does not purport to be a scientific research.
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