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AI Micro-Internship · ~180 min · no-code

The unit economics of a street vendor

The pani-puri thela near you is a business with margins, volumes, and working capital — run entirely in one person’s head. Interview a real street vendor (respectfully, buying something first helps), reconstruct their unit economics, and offer one genuinely useful suggestion.

Steps

  1. 01Pick a vendor you already know or buy from. Be respectful and honest about it being a school project — most love talking shop.
  2. 02Learn their numbers through conversation: cost of ingredients/stock per day, price per unit, units on a good vs. bad day, spot rent/hafta, wastage.
  3. 03Reconstruct the economics: cost per unit, margin per unit, daily profit range, their break-even day. Flag every number that’s your estimate vs. their statement.
  4. 04Offer one useful suggestion grounded in the numbers (a bundle, a peak-hour prep change, a QR display) — and record their honest reaction.

Tools: A real vendor willing to chat, A notebook, Google Sheets

Your submission

Submit the interview notes with quotes, the reconstructed economics, and the suggestion with the vendor’s reaction.