The Price of Rice
Written by Khalid Al-Khames on April 29, 2008 – 12:01 am
The following story was told by my father and is a mini test to see if you have an eye for entrepreneurism.
In some Middle Eastern countries, prices of certain commodities are controlled by the Government. Years ago, in a small town, there were two convenience store shopkeepers - Akbar and Adam. Both shopkeepers bought rice at 10p per kilogram in 100 kilogram sacks.
Akbar sold rice at 15p per kilo, netting him 5p for every kilo sold. Adam, a Jewish business man, sold rice at 10p per kilo, cost price.
Adam’s queue was out the door and along the street whilst Akbar’s custom was far less. Akbar said to Adam “If you are selling at cost price, how do you make money?”
Can you answer the question? If so, leave your answer in a comment.
Good luck with your persuits,
Khalid.
Tags: business, Entrepreneurship, rice, story
Posted in Entrepreneurship, My Life |
April 29th, 2008 at 12:23 am
That is a very interesting question, Khalids.
One thing that came to mind was Adam is cooking the rice before selling it which would make it weigh more than Akbar rice.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Perhaps Adam is selling a larger volume of rice which decreases his cost price. Kind of like what Walmart does?
April 29th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I think the crafty Adam is using the method of drawing customers in using a cheap price and making them buy others things from his shop, just like some of the big boys do now!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Keep them coming in folks, I’m loving the possible answers!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Adam gets his investment very fast so he does not pay any rate of interest.He is building a customer base and also making their mindset that everything is cheaper which might not be
April 30th, 2008 at 12:01 am
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April 30th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
gravel was chopped into the rice?