Entrepreneurship

I was recently going through a news item quoting the Economic Survey of 2022 that the number of recognized startups has increased to 14000 in 2021-22 from a meagre 733 in 2016-17. India has become the third largest startup eco-system in the world after US and China, it said. A record 44 Indian startups achieved unicorn status in 2021 alone, taking the overall tally of startup unicorns to 83. 

 

This is no mean feat by any standards given that out of 6 years that the data showed, at-least 2 have been marred by Covid19 pandemic where the normal life was affected adversely. 

 

This led my mind to thinking the mindset of the entrepreneurs who are behind these startups and other successful businesses and what exactly is entrepreneurship? Is it about doing your own business and making money? Is it only for those who perhaps were not good in studies or not good enough for a job or something else?

 

I know most of you are familiar with above questions and are pretty clear about the answers as well. Let me share my perspective; hope it might resonate with your thoughts. But before that, let us spend some time to understand the origin of “entrepreneurship”. 

 

Joseph Schumpeter was an Austrian born political economist, who even served as Finance Minister of German-Austria and later migrated to USA to become a Professor in Harvard University. He introduced the concept of entrepreneurship in 1930. As per him “an entrepreneur is a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation”.

 

I entirely agree to this great economist’s definition and feel it is still valid after almost a century. However, based on my own experience of last 25 years of working closely with a large pool of highly successful entrepreneurs, allow me to describe my thoughts… 

   

Who is an entrepreneur?

To me, an entrepreneur is a problem solver and opportunity provider. He/she is a person with curious mind and intense desire to create some opportunity for larger good. Sounds familiar? Well, this is what I think of!

 

What is entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is a journey which starts with restlessness, confusion, pain followed by ideation, collaboration, creation and culminates in an organized way of fulfilling needs/wants/expectations/requirements of the society. Profit is the reward an entrepreneur gets to take risk and keeping his/her neck out. 

 

Why entrepreneurship?

Wherever you are sitting/lying/standing right now, you are surrounded by solutions to the problems or fulfillment of our needs/wants. Isn’t it? Starting from this magazine, paper, printing, chair, bed, lights, fan, AC, coolers, cupboards etc., everything around us is because of some entrepreneur somewhere, who thought of all these. Like farmer, there can’t be any life without entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is not just about making money, it is also about fulfilling needs/wants and solving problems. Entrepreneurship was, is and will remain the driving wheel of any country. 

 

What are the traits of an entrepreneur?

 

Dreamer: Thinks about the problems and their solutions. How can I solve it? How can I create that need? How can I provide it better than others? Who can help me? How do I sustain the productivity and profitability? All these questions require the ability to think deeper, think ahead and think solutions. Dreamers always have an intense burning desire to travel the untraveled path. “Yes, it is possible” is the mantra of entrepreneurs which helps them to crack tough problems. Every problem feels like an opportunity to an entrepreneur.    

 

Believer: Thinking is easy but believing in idea, persisting with it, working hard to convert a dream into reality is something only a believer can do. That is the reason they are willing to put all their resources and even borrow resources to make it happen. They walk that extra mile because they believe. Handling ambiguity is something which can only be done if you have that feeling of belief in your idea, product or services. It is this belief that makes others believes in entrepreneur’s idea. They borrow the entrepreneurs’ belief initially. 

 

Executor: Thinking big is easy if someone else has to execute. Isn’t it? In some cases the idea may not be thought of by the entrepreneur but it is he/she who will execute it in a way that leads to business. Boeing didn’t invent planes, Wright Brothers did. But the devil is in execution and making it happen on ground. Making it work is more crucial than thinking on paper. An entrepreneur is someone who will not rest till it is done. They persist until it is done. Unlike others who are interested only if it is convenient. Follow up and follow through is something which differentiates an entrepreneur from others. 

 

I don’t need to remind you that most of the employment generation is done by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are wealth generators, employment generators, contributors in economy, tax givers and above all problem solvers. They not just earn their own bread, they help others too. 

 

We must salute these entrepreneurs who are bracing all kinds of hardships in terms of uncertainty, ambiguity, social unrest, unreasonable taxes, restrictions, unreasonable rules, inflation and above all negative publicity. Still they are contributing in nation building consistently. 

 

In a nutshell entrepreneurship is the need of the hour, which can create better solutions, handle competitions, generate employment and improve quality of our lives as well as prosperity of country.  Jai Jawan, Jai Vyapar.