The Best Time to be an Entrepreneur in India

 

Seventy years after independence, one year after the launch of Start Up India and Make in India initiatives, never before in India’s history, has there been a better time to be an entrepreneur.

We have moved far from the age of big business dominating and crushing competition, to top industrialists and corporates today, donning the role of mentors, sharing their entrepreneurial journeys and providing support to keep this momentum going. There is a certain pride in seeing Indian start-ups make it big.

The momentum is strong, with veterans, professionals, students, women entrepreneurs, policymakers and investors, everyone celebrating entrepreneurship. Over the last few years, we have seen innovations in solving some of India’s most pressing problems. How do we get farm produce to end consumers more efficiently, so that the customer pays less, and the farmer earns more?

Many new-age entrepreneurs today don't come from traditional business families; they need a supporting ecosystem to nurture them. The entrepreneur ecosystem - Incubators, accelerators, mentors, investors, are playing a great role towards actualising the vision for start-ups in India, especially at the grass-root level.

First generation entrepreneurs, to next generation traditional family businesses with a radically transformed approach towards new venture creation that is collaborative as well as competitive.  In a knowledge-based economy, the worth of new age start-ups is based on intangible valuation and innovative business models, products or services.

There is an opportunity where challenges exist, and the opportunity to find solutions to the myriad problems of the country with a population over 1.2 Bn beckons entrepreneurs.  Disruptive innovation is the key and Indian talent is poised to produce solutions to challenges.  The Tech led disruptive innovation has enabled an ease of doing business, made the global market place accessible, fostering a global mindset and adoption of international best practices.

With over 430 million internet users and over 300 million mobile Internet users enabling bringing the MSME businesses online, the opportunity is ripe for India’s millions of MSME businesses to reap benefits. The online marketplace is encouraging merchant of all sizes and opportunity to reach out to a broad customer base both in India and across the world.

Entrepreneurs can start and expand their business from their small towns and villages while leveraging the global presence of e-commerce platforms.  So, an entrepreneur from a Tier 2 city in Maharashtra can showcase their products to millions of active buyers without worrying about demand generation, marketing costs, delivery challenges and so on.

The wisdom of over 70 years combined with the energy of a youthful population, India has begun an ambitious journey of transformation that will be fuelled by the fire of entrepreneurship.