We have had a lot of discussion on this site on technology ventures and rightly so, given the talent pool in India. However, I think that with our changing social structure there will be interesting opportunities in the recreational services space. For instance, in areas like Health & Fitness, Tourism and so on. Think of the following:

– Will there be an entrepreneur who will set up India’s version of Lifetime Fitness or Ballys?
– Will there emerge new businesses managing sports stadiums, music and sports events and so on?
– What about innovative domestic tourism options such as specialized tours, coast-to-coast cruises?
– Will there be private equity investments in chains that take over and standardize the existing stand-alone hotels in Indian cities?
– Will there be a spate of restaurant chains post investments in the Mainland China business?

In each of these categories, there are reasonably large listed companies on the NYSE and the London Stock Exchange. I expect that over the next 5-10 years there will be several Indian companies that will emerge in these categories.

Their business models will probably be not as disruptively innovative as the next generation Web 2.0 product. But I am sure they will be fun and provide the much needed respite to technology entrepreneurs and workers.

I have written about a few such ideas on www.myopen-window.blogspot.com and would like to learn more from folks who are thinking about these opportunities.

Latest posts by Sanjoy (see all)