April 2023 - Page 10 of 12 - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

Characteristics of Entrepreneur in Business and Socio-Economic Development

“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week; but today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese’s

This is what entrepreneurship is all about. You need to have ‘fire in the belly’ to be a successful entrepreneur; the adamant urge to make your business ideas transform into reality, and successful. According to Peter Drucker, entrepreneurship is “a systematic innovation, which consists in the purposeful and organized search for changes, and it is the systematic analysis of opportunities such changes might offer for economic and social innovation.” It is the inherent ability to build and create something relevant and successful from practically nothing. On a broader outlook, entrepreneurship is an attitude; a quality to seek challenging opportunities, take only calculated risks and drive the benefits in the way of setting up a profitable venture.

There are several roles that come with the quality of entrepreneurship, and most of these are aimed at wider socio-economic development. Discussed herewith are the primary roles of an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneur as Risk-Taker.

According to Richard Cantillon, entrepreneurship is all about having the willingness and foresight of assuming risks, while taking calculated actions in making a profit, or loss. According to him, an entrepreneur has to be risk-taking, forward-looking and efficiently alert if not innovative in true sense. The role of an entrepreneur involves two types of risks; measured and unmeasured. However, a successful entrepreneur is one who has the potential to foresee and assume the unmeasured risks in his business, transforming them into business opportunities for growth and profit.

Entrepreneur as Innovator.

Entrepreneurship has a major role in assimilating knowledge, which is not in recent use, and setting up new forms and functions of production to design, produce, and market new and innovative products. Joseph Schumpeter pointed out here that innovation does not mean that it has to be newly discovered. The quality of an entrepreneur lies in utilizing the existing knowledge that has never been used before in production. More from being an inventor, an entrepreneur needs to possess the potential of driving invention into lucrative commercial exploitation.

Entrepreneur as a Leader.

This is one of the primary roles of entrepreneurship. According to Alfred Marshall, an entrepreneur “must be a natural leader of men who can choose assistants wisely but also exercise a general control over everything and preserve order and unity in the main plan of business.” He should be on constant lookout for innovative methods that guarantees to be most effective with respect to the costs presently in use. He should possess the inherent quality of leading the business and work force, towards a better socio-economic scenario in a broader perspective.

Entrepreneur as Restorer or Perceiver.

John Bates Clark views entrepreneurship as the process responsible for maintaining coordination that helps in restoring the socio economy to the position of effective equilibrium. Through a comprehensive “discovery process,” entrepreneurs identify new lucrative opportunities and risks, thus, driving the market towards equilibrium. Role of entrepreneurship lies in being alert to the profitable business opportunities, and for this, the quality of perception is a primary trait of a successful entrepreneur.

Tips on How to Grow Your Business

It is easy to start up a business but to maintain it and see it grow is a difficult task. There are several tips on how one can grow his or her business. Growing a business needs a lot of preparations which involves motivation, capital, time and patience. There are issues that you need to consider while you’re starting it up and make future plans on how you will help it grow.

You need to consider your costs and challenges. There are different costs that are incurred while starting up a business and those that are incurred while the business is operating. These costs include, man power, taxes and general expenses like electricity. Draw a proper plan on how you will be able to handle those costs so that they do not consume a large proportion of your profits. Aim at minimizing expenses in order to increase profits which you will reinvest back into your business hence giving it a chance to grow.

There are also challenges that business is likely to face for example competition. Make sure you research more into the market that your business is aimed to serve and how to out compete the likely close competitors. Be creative and do not stick to one method competing, you can adopt price differentiation or selling quality and standard products, even the way you brand your products matters.

Increase your clientele base. You can do this through many things; customer care is a major factor that most customers depend on to get attracted to your business. Respect customers because a customer is your boss in the business world. Listen to their desires do whatever they are requiring you to do. Most of the customers give you ideas on promotions you can run so do not ignore them

Also follow up your customers ask them how the products you should to them have been helpful and always design products that will make them purchase more.

Advertising is another key to any growing business. Advertise in newspaper, business magazine, social media and the internet.

Acquire affiliates to reach more people and down sell your prospects that will reject your initial offer

Choose a right location for your business. This depends on which products or services you’re selling and to which kind of people. Locating a business in a right place will help you to determine the prices to charge for your products and the type of the customer base your serving.

Common Entrepreneurial Problems

Are you an entrepreneur, investor, entrepreneurship student, enterprise consultant, business educator, regulator, entrepreneurial policy advocate and developer? If your answer is yes then this subject may be of interest to you. What really are the common entrepreneurial problems? Certainly one can come out with a long list. However, some of the problems tend to be minor and also differ with factors such as geographical locations, the nature of business, the level of investment and several other factors. Nevertheless there are common problems that seem to cut across the board. These have been highlighted below.

I. Knowledge and skills deficiency. Most entrepreneurs lack proper knowledge and skills in enterprise management. This deficiency encompasses various aspects of business management. Leadership and managerial limitations fall under this category. Lack of costing knowledge for example, can cause underpricing. Poor understanding of costs of operation may lead to budget deficits and operational challenges. Poor people skills may mean high staff turnover. Bad procurement skills may make your enterprise lose valuable time and money. Poor market research may affect business feasibility. These deficiencies also generate some of the problems indicated below indirectly including inability to learn from mistakes and setbacks. Poor decision-making and implementation result from these drawbacks.

II. Planning and organizational problems. These include lack of strategies, plans, organized systems etc. Processes, procedures, policies are non-existent or are disorganized. Operations may be done haphazardly. This also negatively affects growth and expansion of the business. Lack of record keeping is also organizational. Planning problems also manifest in inability to manage change, such as changing too slowly, failure to consolidate change, etc. Poor accountability, lack of process standardization etc also arise from the above.

III. People problems including hiring incapable staffs such as friends and relatives, hiring the wrong people, inability to attract and retain skilled manpower due to financial and other limitations, inability to place key people in critical positions, difficulty in building teams, hesitation by potential staffs, and others. Reluctance to train and develop staffs also falls under this.

IV. Attitudinal problems such as the craving to do everything without delegation, resulting in burnout, are common. You may also micromanage. Closely connected to this is entrepreneur’s dilemma – the inability to let go because you started the whole thing and feel no other person can take over. The know-it-all attitude may also exist, where you don’t consult, share experience etc. You don’t see value in using experts such as consultants, mentors and coaches. These problems also hinder the entrepreneur from handing over the enterprise to a team of people to manage on his behalf. The enterprise thus remains dependent on the initiator for too long.

V. Money related problems comprising under-capitalization of the enterprise, inability to access funds from other sources, financial indiscipline hence mismanagement of cash, and lack of financial intelligence are common. Additionally, some entrepreneurs are greedy and are too much in a hurry to make money. This is manifested through quick-fix approaches to making money, lack of patience, cheating people and the like.

VI. Personality problems, additional to the attitudinal ones mentioned above, are also common in entrepreneurs. These comprise negative thoughts, too much hence disorganizing fears of uncertainties and failure, lack of self-control, hopelessness, inability to detect and avoid bad advice, lack of critical and analytical thinking, poor stress management, false comfort, taking long but scenic routes to success and being dazed by too many opportunities. Indecision, procrastination and lack of focus also occur. Some entrepreneurs also have the luck mentality and make big business gambles. With false comfort, for example, an entrepreneur may think that if he attains a certain level of sales or profits then his problems are over.

VII. Ethical and regulatory problems. These include challenges in complying with required statutory and regulatory matters, unethical practices by the entrepreneur, reluctance to comply, lack of regulatory and government support etc.

VIII. Poor succession planning is also a major problem with many entrepreneurs. This explains why many enterprises perish after the demise of their originators.

Some startups may also have problems such as poor business model, product quality problems at time of market entry, and other similar challenges. It is important to note here that different stages of an enterprise manifest different problems. The listing of common entrepreneurial problems therefore cannot be complete. I do hope I have provided a good guide, haven’t I?

In subsequent articles we shall be tackling how to overcome some of the above problems.

Should you desire to sharpen your skills in enterprise management, check out Clayton’s book entitled The Wise Entrepreneur at Amazon.

Respectfully,

Clayton Mwaka

Woman and The Business World

Did you know that one in every eleven adult women owns a business?

Did you know that women entrepreneurs are starting new businesses at twice the rate of men?

Did you know that women entrepreneurs are generating nearly $3.6 trillion in revenues to the US economy?

These eye-opening statistics from the Washington DC-based Center for Women’s Business Research paint a clear picture of a rapidly growing trend.

I’ve heard it referred to before as a “revolution” and I think that’s right on the money! Are you part of this trend?

Women business owners are critically important to the American economy. America’s 9.1 million women-owned businesses employ 27.5 million people and contribute $3.6 trillion to the economy.

The world of business and entrepreneurship is no longer comprised of men in suits. The changing landscape of the world and the economy are opening more doors for women now than at any other time in history, and without question, women are charging through those doors in ever increasing numbers.

Women are taking control in the business world, and entrepreneurship through a business marketed on the Internet should be no exception! It doesn’t matter where you are in your life, or where you have been. Neither your education level nor your job experience has anything to do with what drives you or what you are capable of achieving.

There are amazing opportunities for women to start a business right from the comfort of their home and build it into something that can take care of their life, their family and their future retirement as well.

There are women taking the plunge into entrepreneurship each day. Although the concept of starting a business may seem daunting, there are many tools and resources available to guide you. Desire and the passion to flourish are the key building blocks to success.

A successful home-based business can go a long way towards eliminating the stress of making ends meet and lacking the luxury of free time.

Your business can be your outlet for self-expression. It can lead you towards contentment, confidence, and self-worth… things even more important than the almighty dollar.

Come on ladies! This article is a call to action. You can take advantage of the endless possibilities that entrepreneurship has to offer. The Internet needs women to lead the way. The opportunity is there and all you have to do is take the initiative to get involved.

Let’s take a look at what you can do to get yourself moving successfully down the path of starting and operating your own business:

Choose a business that has the potential to provide you with the financial rewards you require to live the lifestyle you desire.

Avoid a business that will ultimately turn into a job which you must work 80-90 hours per week in order for it to succeed. Your goal is to make money, but also be able to enjoy your life and have time with your family and friends.

Learn everything you can about the type people you will be marketing to. Make them feel comfortable about working with you; relate to their current situations.

Have a marketing plan in place. Don’t just start your business without planning. Get a good understanding of what is involved in your advertising and promotional efforts, and find professionals to help you where needed to make sure you get things done efficiently.

Don’t give up before you give your business a chance to prosper. Very few businesses come rushing out the gate successfully, but that does not mean that they will not succeed in time. Give your business a chance to grow. Success does not happen over night, and a new business needs time to establish itself.

Work from home to keep expenses low. If your business can be operated from home, then definitely take advantage of that luxury.

Be persistent and stay focused on the task at hand. Learn from your experiences and stay committed to what is working for you. Avoid repeating mistakes and you will save yourself valuable time and money.

Use technology as a tool for building your business. You can be on the cutting-edge by using telephones, computers, the Internet, and fax machines to keep your business running. More importantly, using technology can also allow you to operate your business from anywhere that you want to be, and that is the definition of true freedom.

Right here at this website, I am offering you information about a business that you can operate from the comfort of your own home that is truly changing lives, including my own. I have taken the initiative and have taken steps towards changing my future.

Wishing You Life’s Best,

Dr. Sran MBA, PhD

[http://www.yoursuccessdoctor.com] – Tired of Tiny Checks? This Secret is Your Solution!

dr.sran@professional-income.com

(877) 978-6742 (Direct)

Contact Me Today

Business Development – Be A Smart Investor

I got an email this week from one of my subscribers who in response to a recent question I posed about what you’re doing to keep motivated and growing, said “reading books and information that give me a chance to develop my skills as a business leader. Is this sufficient? And if it is not what are your suggestions?”

In my reply I indicated that this was a good start but in itself was not enough – you need to invest more effort into your development to reap the benefits of your initial reading. It takes a real investment in yourself, a smart investment, for you to really grow.

So what do I mean by a smart investment? I mean investing in more than just accumulating information, investing in changing your paradigms (the way you think of and view the world), and in developing your skills.

As I said, information forms a good starting point, but it needs to be applied for you to get the best possible return. That’s why in my articles and success programmes, as well as giving information, I also encourage you to develop action plans and take action.

However, what I notice with the majority of entrepreneurs and business leaders is that they see these products only in terms of information – as if that’s all that matters. They skim through looking for little gems or pearls of wisdom, and if they don’t find them, go onto the next programme, book or information source.

However if you invest a little more time and effort into actually doing the exercises, answering the questions and taking action, that’s when you’ll get breakthroughs & “ah-ha” moments.

If you think about the amount of information you’ve already gleaned about business success, entrepreneurship, leadership and personal development. The books and articles you’ve read; the amount of surfing you do on the internet for information on issues relating to business, success or leadership; the training sessions, seminars or talks you’ve attended; the audio products you’ve listened to. Which of those do you remember? Which do you feel you’ve really learned from?

I’d like to bet it’s the ones where you’ve actually applied the information, where you’ve tried something different, implemented one of their suggestions. When those actions are taken on a consistent and persistent basis, and lead to tangible results, then that’s a smart investment!

So why don’t we all do it? Because even though the concepts and actions are often simple, they’re not easy to implement. If they were, we’d all be fulfilling our potential and stepping into success easily!

So what can you do to help yourself be a smart investor?

Start with the basics – don’t try to run before you can walk. The basics form the foundation on which everything else is built.
Be willing and open to trying something new or different. Don’t allow your scepticism or fear to stop you trying.
Be persistent – don’t give up before you’ve really given something new a chance to work.
Be consistent. Always give out the same messages to prospects, customers and staff – this allows them to start to trust that you mean what you say. And remember, actions speak louder than words – so always do what you say!
Be resilient. You might be lucky and find that some things work almost immediately, but it’s more likely that they won’t; and some things you try might not work at all. Be the type of person who can come back from these knocks, learn from them and try again.

Stephen Covey in his ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ calls this being proactive and it’s no coincidence that this is the first of his 7 habits.

Be a smart investor, pick 1 or 2 things you already know and want to implement, and take action. Make the effort and do it on a regular basis and these small investments will start to give you the returns you want.

Skills for Entrepreneurs

Today’s world is not one that encourages anyone to sit with arms folded. Even with the prevalence of white collar jobs, it is expedient to acquire entrepreneurial skills, which can be used as a means of generating extra income. Records of the most successful men and women today revealed that they are not people who sit in one place from dawn to the dusk, for some monthly wages, but those who took up the challenge to start up worthwhile ventures, not fearing risks or the lack of finance. These are the real entrepreneurs.

The challenge of today’s world economy calls for nothing but entrepreneurship. It is a well known fact that one of the major problems facing many countries of the world today is unemployment. It is no longer news that unemployment figures are increasing at an alarming rate. There have been various austerity measures rocking major countries of the world. The story is not different in my own part of the world – Nigeria.

We all know the terrible effects of unemployment – the crimes it brings and the monumental waste of invaluable manpower it creates. There have been various concerted efforts by different tiers of government at job creations and poverty alleviation programmes. But the truth of the matter is, there is no way these efforts can entirely wipe out this ugly menace called unemployment.

Economists have identified one possible way out of this problem. This is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is considered as one sure way of growing the economies of nations, especially of third world nations. This is why it is for example, being recommended that it should be introduced as a general course in all the tertiary institutions in my own part of the world.

This is a challenge to our youth of today. As you nurse the ambition of pursuing a particular career and profession in the higher institute of learning, it will be wise that you begin to plan towards being an entrepreneur. Such mindset will help you to become very proactive towards being a job maker rather than being a job seeker. This will save you the trauma and frustration of wandering about wasting invaluable time and resources looking for non-existent job in the labour market.

Entrepreneurship involves starting and running a business. This begins with deciding on a business idea to embark on. A business idea can be developed by identifying a need and trying to meet the need – this actually defines who an entrepreneur is, someone who identifies a need in a locality and looks for ways to meet the needs, and in so doing he builds a business around it. To do this, you have to be either creative/ innovative i.e. bringing up a new business idea; or by being adaptive, i.e. tapping to an already existing business idea.

While coming up with a business idea may be a difficult task for the majority of people, I will like to use this medium to suggest a business opportunity for the would be entrepreneurs – Freelance Photography. Yes, I mean you can start your entrepreneurial journey by going into freelance photography. This is a cool business that is often neglected by a majority of people. The beauty of freelance photography is that you can do it on part-time or on a full-time basis, without any interference on your other business(es). Why not give it a thought.

The focus of this article however, is on entrepreneurial skills. If entrepreneurship will bring an end to one of the major problems of the world, then it will be wise we learn the skills that will enable us to succeed as would be entrepreneurs.

There are a number of skills and qualities apart from your academic or professional qualifications, that you need to be a successful entrepreneur. Outlined below are some of these skills.

Risk Taking: As a would be entrepreneur you must be ready to take risks, because running a business involves a lot of risks. You should know when to take risks and when not to.

Taking Actions: Having dreams and aspirations without taking necessary steps to bring them into reality is building castles in the air. Vision without action is a mere illusion. A successful entrepreneur must know what necessary actions to take to make his business succeed and must be ready to take these actions. In other words, he must work to succeed.

Being Persistent: Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. In your entrepreneurial journey, success may not be instant, you need to keep going. The hallmark of champions is the ability to go through, irrespective of challenges.

Being optimistic: A positive mental outlook to life is an invaluable asset. Before you set out to embark on any business, have a strong conviction that you will succeed, and you will. As a would be entrepreneur, if you want to succeed, you must have a “Can do” mentality, and see opportunities where others see problems.

Being Goal Oriented: Set achievable goals. You may categorise your goals to long-term and short-term. And always keep your dreams alive by placing your goals where you can see and remind yourself from time to time. The Holy Scriptures says and I quote, “Write the vision, make it plain that he may run that reads it”. What the scriptures means is that you should keep your dreams/visions alive by writing them down.

Being customer oriented: Always place your customers first. You business can go nowhere without your customers. Always work towards their satisfaction.

Being passionate: develop an interest and a burning passion for your business. You must love what you do, else failure is inevitable.

Good Time Management: Schedule your day and stick to your schedule. New entrepreneurs need to realize that every minute is valuable. Utilize “Free time” to learn more skills related to your business, and find ways to advertise and contact potential clients.

Good Financial Management: In business, a proper knowledge of finance is a must. Knowing how to cost a service, track expenses, balance an account and keep track of numbered invoices are all most small business need to start out. Entrepreneurs must know acceptable means of sourcing funds and profitable management of such funds.

Entrepreneurship: The Dreaded 16 Letter Word!

Entrepreneurship! This 16 letter word has so much power and yet projects so much fear. It is a dreaded word for some and a liberating journey for others. For me it is a liberating journey. Yes, it’s challenging. It definitely gets tough sometimes. There are days when you are going to feel like you are on your last leg of hope and then there are days when you are gliding on the clouds. It is indeed a roller coaster of emotions. But these varying cycles of emotion I wouldn’t trade for the world. Sometimes I do have to remind myself of my faith, my hope and who I belong to, but even those days are counted as joy.

My entrepreneurship journey started a little more than two years ago. I had enjoyed more than 13 years in corporate America in the hospitality industry and nine plus years in academia. When I decided it was time to plunge into the deep waters of entrepreneurship I was completing my first year as an associate dean of online learning for a local university. It was a dream job. I was quickly progressing toward my dream of becoming a university president. And just like that my heart began to change. And while I certainly felt like I was making a difference in the world of education. My heritage, my legacy, my footprints in the sand were calling me. I knew I was born to do more, to be more, and to impact the world in a different way. I was never good with the status quo. I was never one to blindly accept what someone said. I was a born leader. This leadership ability had been proven in every administrative and management position I’d held up to that point. Looking back, if there was only one thing that I wish I had done a little differently, it would be preparing financially a little more. But then again, I don’t know if I would have ever felt really prepared for the leap.

This is what I do know. Everything happens the way it should. There is a purpose for all things under the sun. Even my being not financially prepared happened perfectly.

What is entrepreneurship?

So here’s how I define entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is when you step out on your own, completely trusting in your faith and your own abilities to bring in an income. It doesn’t necessarily mean you are not working for someone, because we are always going to work for someone. Perhaps, not in the conventional 9 to 5 sense, but someone will always be demanding something. You may be a contractor. For example, one of my jobs, is as an online professor for a couple of schools. I work on contract. But there are timelines and schedules that I have to keep up with. And keep in mind you are always working for your customers, customers are very demanding and rightly so. As a consumer myself when I spend my money I expect to receive the value of that money. I also own an online fashion boutique for women. I am also a career coach. The point is you are always working for someone, even if its your customers.

But here’s the kicker. Entrepreneurship means that you are the creator, marketer and promoter of your business or businesses. Whether you succeed or fail is truly in your hands. When we work for an organization, we leave the overarching responsibility of profitability and success to the CEO, the owners, and the corporate office. They make the decisions that will affect the bottom line of the corporation.

When you are an entrepreneur, you are all of those things. The CEO, owner and corporate office. Your everyday decision affects your bottom line. I guess that’s probably why it could be a bit scary.

So why do we do it? Why do some of us take that leap?

Why should you take that leap?

It is definitely an individual decision. It is not something that should be done lightly and on a whim, but I still say it’s worth trying. The experience and lessons learned on this journey are more powerful than you can imagine. If you are a student of life this is one of the greatest lessons to be learned. Through this journey I learned so much about myself. I’ve found strengths and weaknesses that had not been discovered. I’ve found lost courage and determination like no other. I’ve even found a hidden stubbornness that has evolved and continues to grow.

There are definitely pros and cons to taking the plunge. I think it may be a little different for some, but for most, the same basic pros and cons apply. Here’s my list:

Pros

I am self-employed

My income depends on how much effort is put into the business

My time is my own. It does not belong to anyone else. No one dictates my time to me. I don’t have to clock in or clock out or report to anyone. I can work till 3am in the morning and have my days free or I can work all day and all night. It really depends on how successful I want to be.

My success is completely dependent upon my actions.

Cons

I work for myself. No one to tell me what to do or guide me or give me a job description.

My income depends on how much effort I put into my business.

Long days and long nights

At first vacations are hard to come by

It can be a lonely journey

May lose fickle friendships and relationships

I think the pros and cons are pretty self-explanatory. Many great things about entrepreneurship are also the things that make it not so great. It is certainly not a cake walk. I’ve found that if you have the guts to step out into this world you already know that.

Some of my clients ask me how do you know if you’re ready or what are the qualities and traits of an entrepreneur? I am sure these qualities and traits will evolve over time, but I think these are definitely the very basics.

Qualifications and traits of entrepreneurs

Confidence in your abilities

Determination to win and not let failure deter you

Relentless faith

Research driven

Willingness to try until you succeed

I think these foundational traits will take you far. If I had to offer any suggestions for budding entrepreneurs I would suggest the following:

Prepare yourself mentally, spiritually, emotionally and financially

Take some time to prepare yourself for this journey. Do your research in the market you are interested in pursuing. Do your research on entrepreneurs who are successful as well as those who have failed. Most times they are one and the same. Ask questions. Prepare yourself mentally for the journey and don’t expect an easy payday. As much as possible, save money for the first year. Imagine you will be out of work for the first year and save enough to cover you. However, this can also backfire. I think not having enough kicks you into third gear.

Don’t procrastinate

Prepare yourself, but don’t procrastinate. Fear is operating when you are just waiting for that perfect time. There is no perfect time. Entrepreneurship is risky. If there was a perfect time it would be called something else. Understand you will never feel completely prepared. It is that emotion, that uncertainty that will keep you grinning.

Be willing to ask questions

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Know that somebody somewhere has already tried what you are attempting. Google is a great resource, use it often. People are a great resource. Never underestimate their experiences. Keep in mind that you can actually learn the most from those who failed. They can certainly tell you what not to do.

Never envy your seemingly successful colleagues

Taking the time to watch others stops your progress. Always support and help as many as you can. You never know when that hand will be coming back to you.

Womanhood and Entrepreneurship: An Uphill Struggle

This article sheds light on the dynamic female entrepreneurs in India and how they have chose to make choices that have been socially relevant and highly impactful.

To everyone who is still blissfully ignorant about what double burden is, I suggest you take this time out to get attuned with the reality of women. Of women and their stories that display triumph, courage, persistence, kindness, love and above everything, passion. When we talk about women in India, we mostly ignore the second shift (another name that double burden is commonly given).

Unpaid labour is a social construct, a very typical one at that and in most cases, grossly called “a women’s duty”. For if you don’t shackle yourselves to the social conventions of domestic oppression, you get accused of being “unladylike” (the horror) and we all know that’s not a label that Indian women should strive for.

This is an ode to women, of women who have consciously chosen to overcome those struggles, past all the accusations, flying above all the offensive comments and more importantly, constantly giving the Indian society an existential crisis. Don’t be mistaken, this is not just for the women who have successfully become entrepreneurs.

It is for the women who have been employed and unemployed, for the financial independence and for battling financial oppression, for the change of social norms and for the struggle, for being amazing by not just choosing to exist, but actively living, seeking, fighting and winning.

1- Aditi Gupta

How many times have you felt ashamed for menstruating? How many times do you check your “that area”on “those days?”. Aditi Gupta has answered our prayers. Menstruation is as taboo as women’s rights in India, in that it’s better off pretending like both of them don’t exist. Aditi Gupta has made it her mission to clear the darkness surrounding this common issue by introducing Menstrupedia.

It is a friendly guide for women to stay active, healthy and aware during periods. It aims to explore this issue from various standpoints- hygiene, awareness, feminism and culture, to talk about a few.

2- Anu Sridharan

Anu Sridharan had this unquenchable thirst to combine technology and society in order for us to be able to harness the full potential of staying informed. She founded NextDrop with a simple vision- “we want to rid the world of its water problems”.

With rapid urbanization and development constantly resulting in water scarcity, her tech savvy platform helps people stay aware of the access to water, the quality and the quantity associated with it. They use real time data to disperse information about status of water services, inconsistencies with the supply pattern and the time of supply etc.

3- Padmaja Ruparel

Padmaja started Indian Angel Network in 2009 and it has grown to be an integral part of the entrepreneurial ecosphere in India, ever since. Back in 2009, she saw an opportunity to tap into a culture that did not support nor finance the entrepreneurial spirit.

“VCs started investing in startups in India over a decade ago but they always invested money raised overseas. The trend is changing but still VCs raise money predominantly overseas. This amount was huge and as an early stage startup, it wouldn’t know what to do with those huge sums of money and VCs wouldn’t even invest. Hence I thought investments in the early stage to be a gap and hence started IAN,” says Padmaja.

4-SocialCops

Prukalpa founded SocialCops along with Varun Banka in the hope of using data to solve critical global challenges. Having had a background in investment banking, she realized how impactful data was when it came to financial banking. However, she kept drawing parallels about how healthcare, education, crime, environment and in general, the development sector didn’t quite have relevant data to be leveraged in the same way. Interestingly enough, crowdfunding helped this project to become a reality.

We hope that these 5 women have started inspiring you already. Being your own boss was never an easy job, additionally with the society clamping you down on all fronts, the journey will definitely not be an easy one. Nothing worth having comes easy, let’s all strive to beat the odds and stay rooted to our vision.

“We learned that governments and other organisations have been collecting a ton of data from citizens across the country on different issues. The problem is not that there’s no data; it’s that the data is really hard to access and use. It exists on numerous government websites, which are difficult to locate and navigate. Once you access the data, it’s difficult to use because it is inconsistent and unstructured. One big component of our work has been finding all of these obscure government data sets, cleaning them, and matching them with other data sets to make them reliable and usable,” she notes.

5- Elsa Marie D’Silva

If every 20 minutes, someone is raped and not all rapes are reported, can you imagine the number of women who get harassed on the streets everyday?” questions Elsa Marie De’Silva.” It is this horrifying thought that made Elsa, Surya and Saloni set up safe city. It is a GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping and uses open source technology to facilitate crowdmapping of information. It is a platform that documents that translates personal experiences of abuse and and sexual harassment in public places into hotspots corresponding to location-based trends. Women can choose to stay anonymous while reporting, the primary focus lies towards reportage and awareness.

The National Entrepreneurship Development

Is SMEDA Working for National Destiny?

SME Baseline survey 2009 may provide a functional start to National Economy.

If we explore the history of National entrepreneurship and its development we shall find that almost every company we know today began as an SME. Europe, United States, China and our neighbour India started developing Microsoft industries with small man power in a rented house or in a small industrial unit.

Vodafone as we know it today was once a little spin-off from Racal; Hewlett-Packard started in a little wood shack; Google was begun by a couple of young kids who thought they had a good idea; even Volkswagen at one point was just a little car maker in Germany.

It is believed that Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as key actors in national development and employment creation.

World trade and manufacturing is now shifting to east. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a very assorted group of businesses usually operating in the service, trade, agri-business, and manufacturing sectors.

The contribution of uplifting National Economy and improving National prosperity the role of Small and medium industries is imperative.

In Pakistan small business and cottage industries hold an important position in rural areas. In 2005 infrastructure in remote areas had improved considerably. Most villages are self sufficient in the basic necessities of life.

They have their own carpenters, blacksmiths, potters, craftsmen and cotton weavers. Many families depend on cottage industries for income.

Due to the tremendous effort of Smeda (Small and medium enterprises Development authority) the concept of small industries have also gained immense importance in cities and towns. Government should encourage cottage and small-scale industries

Government support to this workable Organization with its proven success record both in rural set up, cities and towns is crucial.SME BASELINE SURREY-2009is a tremendous effort done by the team of policy and planning division of Smeda under the dynamic leadership of its chief Shahid Rashid. This survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan with the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank is inclusive report and guide line for SMEs policy makers. All the chapters of this survey reports grab the attention of business community as its deals with almost all related aspects that bound with promotion of entrepreneurial culture.

The objective of this survey is;

• To assess the baseline perception of SME’s on various issues and institutions.

• What are the factors causing SME’s in Pakistan not to grow.

• Why people (Entrepreneurs, Men and Women) are reluctant to move ahead to achieve affluence for themselves for Nation as a whole.

Research and Development are important factors of enhancing production and knowing new business techniques. SME Baseline Survey 2009 indicates an alarming picture. It states that 45.2 percent SMEs do not spent any income on R & D. Generally, SMEs are satisfied in producing the stuff traditionally. It is a matter of grave concern. This survey can help the policy maker to devise the future plan for SMEs development.

In a Symposium held at a local hotel under aegis of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) on 18th May,2009, in which renowned economists, policy makers, high ups from business community and professionals from media were invited.

Chief Guest Mr. Sartaj Aziz, former Federal Finance Minister showed his apprehension that concrete step is yet not taken to promote the SME sector despite the facts that government knows the obstacles that messing up mess up Small and Medium entrepreneurs. Neglect of merit, political interference and law and order situation are responsible for present economic condition of Pakistan he added.

Mr. Awais Mazhar Hussain, a prominent business leader said that Small Businesses are the back bone of National economy if properly looked after and backed by the government. Vocational training and improved infrastructure can turn the potential in profit in real sense. Mr. Awais appreciated the valuable role which SMEDA has been playing with commitment and zeal in limited resources since its inception in 1998.

Dr. Salman Shah, former Finance Advisor & renowned economist praised the role of policy and planning division of Smeda for conducting such a useful survey. He was confident that the current survey will be helpful to draw measures for the required support for growing SMEs as well as for the existing SMEs.

SMEDA could not meet the high target of developing the widest sector of economy known as SME sector with its present budget of Rs.150 million per annum only.

Mr. Shahid Rashid, CEO SMEDA thanked for the financial assistance provided by Asian Development Bank for conducting this survey. He also admired the efforts made by policy and planning team for their dedicated efforts for the preparation of survey report.

Time is slipping away. China, Malaysia, India are emerging economy. China has declared New Strategies to capture the world Market under the slogan China’s way of war.

Like Malaysian Government Pakistan Government should place the development of SMEs on a high priority area and this should be reflected in its National development agendas. With the consultation of highly skilled staff of SMEDA the policy makers should prepare the key strategies for SME development in coming years. Like

Malaysia Pakistan Government may constitute National SME Development Council.

The consistent progress and devote work of SMEDA during the last 12 years reveals that SMEDA is a right organization to be trusted. Ministry of industries and production should give maximum incentive to this viable institution.

If we develop industrial infrastructure, make friendly policies for entrepreneurs, give priority to human resource development and more importantly say good-bye to nuisance of fleeting policies, over time these measures will reduce trade dependency to the markets of other countries and decrease its vulnerability to external pressure or shocks.

(By Muhammad Ahmad Sheikh (International Freelance Broadcaster/ journalist / Incharge R & D, the Sheikhupura Chamber of Commerce & Industry

The Balancing Act of Entrepreneurship

Having been self-employed since 1992, I’ve learned a lot about the balancing act that comes with running a business. Entrepreneurs have to make choices as to what is practical and what takes precedence. We have to prioritize and when we choose something, we have to be willing to make the sacrifices to make that new task happen. It doesn’t take long before new entrepreneurs discover that some activities are very time sensitive. Sometimes it feels like the pressure is on and the emotional pain and stress arise when we have to let something go in order to accomplish what has to be done.

We are constantly balancing the business with what we want to accomplish in life-events and home-chores. We also have to train people so they understand that they cannot drop by just because they know you are home. We might have to make signs and post office hours in order to drive the point home.

I’ve learned that just because there are options and opportunities that others have had success with, doesn’t mean that they are the right choice for you at this time. Location, abilities, talents, budget, timing and circle of influence – these all play a major role as to what works for the individual.

I had to learn how to see opportunities differently. Instead of being stressed about all these things I have to do, I now look at them as future opportunities and write them down in a file. When I return to that file, I celebrate the fact that I have all these great options to follow up on when my schedule opens up. A lot of business owners pay others big bucks to find those opportunities. So instead of feeling regret that you have a list of “to do’s” look at it as a compilation of opportunities waiting for you.

Because we work from home, there is a need to make time for the household duties, the meal making, the yard care, the shopping, and all the other life and family activities. Working from home can often mean we are loading and running various machines while we are working on the blog. We might be prepping meals part of the day, doing cleaning chores, tackling that honey-do list and also returning calls and emails pertaining to business. We have bread baking while answering questions to an interview, or watering the lawn while we write an article. Those of us who are self-employed learn to multitask, that’s for sure.

At the same time, we need to learn to say “No” when it comes to all the things your family or friends figure you should have time for. With family this often means that we need to learn how to delegate what needs to be done.

Home-based business owners also need to have a “shut-off” button. We have to be willing to schedule time to recharge those energy batteries and refill that happiness bucket so that when we come back to that lists of to do’s, we do it efficiently, with energy, enthusiasm and fewer mistakes.