B-school debate on Conditions Ripe for Entrepreneurs
Business Today brings together students to voice their views on a significant business, economy-related issue in this B-School debate.
<em>Photo: Reuters</em>
AGREE
'Expect many more Narayana Murthys and Subrata Roys'
To foster an entrepreneurial environment a country must concentrate on developing its people's personal skills, such as knowledge and attitude, and have a supportive business environment. A Gallup report says nearly 60 per cent of Indians possess the three main personality traits crucial for success as an entrepreneur: business thinking, optimism and persistence.
In 2010, according to a Research and Markets' 2011 report, 1,500 students were trained at entrepreneurial institutions and 4,700 enrolled in entrepreneurship programmes at different business schools. This number has been doubling ever since. Thus India has a wealth of talent that could be nurtured to don the roles of entrepreneurs in the future. Many successful entrepreneurial ventures such as Capillary, Ciafo, InMobi, BookMyShow have already paved the way.
A Government of India report says there are over 26 million small and medium enterprises in the country at present. Nearly 55 per cent of them are rural enterprises. There is increased availability of financing - venture capital investments have more than doubled since 2005 through numerous angel investors. This shows conditions are ripe in India for entrepreneurship.
Raoul T. George
PGDM (HRM), XLRI
DISAGREE
'There are roadblocks galore impeding entrepreneurs'
Budding entrepreneurs in India, who while kick-starting their odyssey believe they are set for a billion-dollar opportunity, soon find a glass wall ahead of them with the red tape of regulatory and administrative bottlenecks, corruption and policy hurdles across it.
It takes more than a month to register a company, more than a few documents to open a current account and a big chunk of the accumulated profit to close a venture. Unfavourable market conditions created by import and export burdens, licensing restrictions, price controls and the ban on foreign direct investment in sectors like e-retail are further crippling growth. As far as financing is concerned, seed capital and early stage venture capital funding figures have been discouraging so far.
Lack of social legitimacy for those dealing with the uncertainties of an entrepreneurial career, together with the risk aversion tendency in Indians remains a prime source of entrepreneurial demotivation. Lastly, lack of expertise in Indian entrepreneurs in developing globally integrated businesses can be traced back to the defects of our obsolete educational system which still does not inculcate the fast-paced technological dynamism required of entrepreneurs.
Pallavi Sood
PGDM, International Management Institute
Raoul T. George
To foster an entrepreneurial environment a country must concentrate on developing its people's personal skills, such as knowledge and attitude, and have a supportive business environment. A Gallup report says nearly 60 per cent of Indians possess the three main personality traits crucial for success as an entrepreneur: business thinking, optimism and persistence.
In 2010, according to a Research and Markets' 2011 report, 1,500 students were trained at entrepreneurial institutions and 4,700 enrolled in entrepreneurship programmes at different business schools. This number has been doubling ever since. Thus India has a wealth of talent that could be nurtured to don the roles of entrepreneurs in the future. Many successful entrepreneurial ventures such as Capillary, Ciafo, InMobi, BookMyShow have already paved the way.
A Government of India report says there are over 26 million small and medium enterprises in the country at present. Nearly 55 per cent of them are rural enterprises. There is increased availability of financing - venture capital investments have more than doubled since 2005 through numerous angel investors. This shows conditions are ripe in India for entrepreneurship.
Raoul T. George
PGDM (HRM), XLRI
DISAGREE
Pallavi Sood
Budding entrepreneurs in India, who while kick-starting their odyssey believe they are set for a billion-dollar opportunity, soon find a glass wall ahead of them with the red tape of regulatory and administrative bottlenecks, corruption and policy hurdles across it.
It takes more than a month to register a company, more than a few documents to open a current account and a big chunk of the accumulated profit to close a venture. Unfavourable market conditions created by import and export burdens, licensing restrictions, price controls and the ban on foreign direct investment in sectors like e-retail are further crippling growth. As far as financing is concerned, seed capital and early stage venture capital funding figures have been discouraging so far.
Lack of social legitimacy for those dealing with the uncertainties of an entrepreneurial career, together with the risk aversion tendency in Indians remains a prime source of entrepreneurial demotivation. Lastly, lack of expertise in Indian entrepreneurs in developing globally integrated businesses can be traced back to the defects of our obsolete educational system which still does not inculcate the fast-paced technological dynamism required of entrepreneurs.
Pallavi Sood
PGDM, International Management Institute
