Ok. So my last post was about the changing fortunes of the Indian IT companies due to a decline in the conversion rate. My closing line was quoting a hint to the Indian government to rise to the occasion to look for means and ways to prevent the IT boom going bust. But that’s not an easy effort. There are more than 1 billion people in the country. Out of this there are about 500 million children who are currently under the age of 15 who will soon be joining the workforce. Neither the government nor any large business empire can create avenues for employment and growth for these people. It is only possible by budding entrepreneurs.
There are far too few cases to talk about when it comes to Entrepreneurship in India. But the few cases are worth talking about. V.G Siddharth setting up a chain of outlets called the Cafe coffee day is a classic example. In days when coffee was considered to be a beverage only for the elder generation, Siddharth brought in a whole new hip look for the younger generation and having a coffee mug in your hand a style statement. He wanted the youth to come in and have their own choice of coffee, munch on their favorite cake or sandwich and even check their emails. Today the Coffee day is a successful chain not only providing delight to its customers but also providing thousands of employment opportunities.
A graduate of NDA (National Defence Academy) and after serving for some years in Indian army in the aviation branch, Captain Gorur.R.Gopinath decided to take voluntary retirement and return to Bangalore. One day he heard about a story of a Vietnamese woman who returned from Paris to start a helicopter service in Vietnam to provide access to remote locations. That made sense to Gopinath. He felt that the same concept was applicable to India as well where infrastructure remains poor and many parts of the country inaccessible. Air Deccan as an idea was born then. Today it is known as company that started a revolution in the Indian Aviation industry and as a pioneer in budgeted airline service bringing in the skies closer to the common man. Needless to say this company has brought in hundreds of thousands of jobs along with it.
Entrepreneurs create jobs. Jobs provide livelihoods. Livelihoods provide a sense of confidence to provide emotional security to people who depend on us. So, encouraging entrepreneurship should be a top priority for any developing country. If India has to see herself as a world economic super power then there has to be focus on encouraging Entrepreneurs. Institutes like EDI (Entrepreneurship Development Institute) are being established with a mission to provide training and guidance to encourage and ignite young minds to take up this responsibility. It’s an ideal situation a Utopia of sorts but in the end it’s a call the Youth of this Nation has to take!
Hmmm… something to think about. entrepreneurs can be a plenty, the nation is not lacking talent in any way, IMHO, unlike other countries, in India, entrepreneurship, venture capitalism and the likes can not strive without the help of the government in the form of policies and regulations. Air deccan’s plight for hangers are a good example for the same!
I agree. Its not the ability that is missing in India right now. Its the support channel that is nowhere in the horizon. India needs resources for Entrepreneurs, to build on.
Its time for you and me, and the 50 million in the IT industry to do something.
The thing is that talent always was and is there in India. The very fact that our Indian-American brothers or the so called NRI’s are responsible for 40% of the USA’s GDP is a testimonial to India’s talent. And little is know about the share of successful Indian Entrepreneurs in the USA. Why wasnt there such a success here in India then? The reasons are the slow moving outdated Indian policies to set up a business in India and corruption at every level. But the situation is changing with much less stricter policies and regulations. What is required though is proper education and awareness on this issue to the young minds of India which will push them towards taking this daring step, this deviation from the median.
Arghhhhhhh….!!!! …..U started with ” The thing is…” Thank fully, you left the “So”
Setting up a company nowadays takes less than 1 week. You find the name you want, and within like 4 days you can register it.
You just have to decide what you wanna do though….
Encouraging entrepreneurship is fine. In my view there is no dearth of opportunity in our country. But what most folks forget is to observe a pattern in the markets. Lets take the example of Orkut. There was, is and will be a need for social networking sites or for that matter other media, but Buyukkokten found that there is need for people to network and boom, everyone’s hooked on to Orkut. India is in the stage where US was in the 70s. Touch anything with a bit of smart idea and you’ll strike gold.
Rest apart, don’t you guys thing that global warming will change the dynamics of the businesses around the globe?
I agree with Koti; policies and regulations for startups are becoming less stringent in India. All the IT and ITES companies that were enjoying tax holiday till now are going to be taxed like normal companies from 2009 (say from 3-4% to 20-30%).As a result recruitments would slow down (It already has slowed down according to an article in the TOI last week) and there would be no phenomenal raise in salaries. Start ups on the other hand would enjoy, what government calls the ‘tax holiday’. So now is the right time to start a company in India.
haha.. think hj.com is a good idea.. off to contemplate the best business model with its co-founders! lol…
hj.com anytime is a good idea
Hehehe, we are soo looking fwd to hear from the co-founders !
Yo man wassup???