Business environment in India is a bit different from the business environment in many developed countries; India has a boutique business environment. More specifically, procedures to get various administrative tasks done aren't exactly straightforward. They are arbitrary and a lot of human communication can get involved; bribing is one of examples. Understanding the environment itself takes time, and actually maneuvering in the environment is quite difficult. It's unlikely that those from foreign countries can smoothly get administrative tasks done. Furthermore, while I'd risk saying that most Indian people are honest and hardworking, it is easy for foreigners to get tricked by some bad apples; they might not be scammed and have a lot of money stolen, but they can easily overpay for various services. For this reason, it is advisable that you hire a reliable street smart to assist you to run a business in India.

Having a dependable accountant and a banker is essential in India even if you run a small business, and you need a street smart to find a dependable accountant and a banker for you. When you run a business in any country, it is ideal that you have a dependable accountant and a banker; however, this is not only ideal but also it is very critical in India, while having a dependable accountant and a banker is not absolutely necessary to run a (small) business in a developed country. To describe briefly, accounting and banking are more complex in India than accounting and banking in many developed countries; one of reasons is corruption. Corruption is everywhere, so this makes accounting and banking very confusing and tricky, and thus, you definitely need to get help from a dependable accountant and a banker.

Corruption is everywhere, that is, bribing is everywhere, and you need a street smart to pass bribes for you. Every single administrative task requires you to pass a bribe to the public official who takes care of it. Also passing small gifts is not an uncommon practice; this often enables you to get administrative tasks done much faster and without a lot of hassle. The problem, however, is not bribing or passing gifts as far as you are concerned; the fact that you do not know exactly when or how to pass bribes or pass gifts is the problem. This is when you need a street smart.

There are emergencies and they are bound to happen, and this is arguably the most important reason why you need a street smart to assist you. For example, you might become very sick, and you need to see a good doctor to get well. A certain financial transaction might not be going through for variety of reasons, but you might have to get it done somehow. You might need to create a couple of documents from thin air to get a certain administrative task done. There are many emergencies, and creativity is often required to get through emergencies, and you need a street smart who can help you with his/her creativity.

I emphasize that most Indian people are honest and hardworking; also India's economy is growing rapidly and there are a lot of great business opportunities. However, that doesn't change the fact that the business environment in India can become quite difficult for those from developed countries to maneuver around. It is essential for them to learn as much as they can, but I highly doubt if they can learn to maneuver around in the complex business environment in India; even if they can learn, they need a lot of time to learn. In many instances do you need to get things done regardless in business. For this reason, get a street smart when you run a business in India.