Entrepreneurship in India

Well, when we talk about entrepreneurship, which is the first country that comes to your mind? United States? Singapore? Japan? What do you think when someone talks about Entrepreneurship in India? Is "naah" your immediate reaction? If so, read these snippets from a recent article in TOI. They might make you think otherwise...

"With about 11 retail shops for every 1,000 persons, India has the highest shop density in the world. That's one shop for every 20-25 families. In cities, the density is much higher. Delhi, for example, has nearly 45 shops per thousand persons! Americans, arguably the biggest spenders in the world, have to make do with just about 4 shops per 1,000 persons."

So, if we consider these facts, we have counted atleast 12 million entrepreneurs in India. Of course, I have trivialized the counting over here by equating each shop owner to an entrepreneur. But hey, aren't "Hard work", "Desire to work for themselves" and "Optimism" some of the key characteristics of entrepreneurs? Believe me, we Indians are pretty good at exhibiting these ;-)

My take - India might lack the advanced technology or infrastructure that seed so many ventures in the western world, but it does have a lot of other things which are equally crucial for a successful venture. To mention just a couple of them:

1. A culture that promotes socializing and team work - Don't we all agree that collaboration is one of the biggest building blocks for entrepreneurship?
2. A huge domestic market - With such a large population base, capturing even a mediocre market share can mean huge revenues/profits.
   

Now coming to certain areas where I feel we need to get our act together:

1. Orientation to excellence - We have accepted mediocrity for far too long. The "chalta hai" attitude, as also recently highlighted by our PM, is our biggest bane. We have to conquer it, and conquer it fast.
2. Organization and Support System - Our industrial environment, procedures, bureaucracy and red tape are causing a lot of entrepreneurs to shun even the most stupendous of opportunities. Also, the society and the government needs to do a lot more to promote entrepreneurship and support entrepreneurs. Institutes like "Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI or EDII)" and "Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE)" are few and far between.
3. Role models for entrepreneurs - Entrepreneurs are admired and emulated. It is time for the media to uncover and idolize more Dhirubhai Ambanis and Narayan Murthys.
   

To end this post, I'll use another recent quote, attributed to our PM, as a reply to the question, "What must we do to build a strong India?". His response, "Our strength will lie in the capabilities of our industry, in our ability to produce enough food for our people, to generate enough electricity, and to create a knowledge-based economy with full literacy".

Promoting entrepreneurship is definitely a good and fool-proof road to reach there!