“Need of Entrepreneurship by the Youth of the Country”
“Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way and Hard work is the solution”
3~A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
The development of Indian society in general and the growth of the economy in large, requires the strong empowerment of youth and their transformation from job seekers to job creators, by channelizing their creative skill and energy towards successful business ventures. In a developing economy like India, promotion of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship has become a priority for the governments, financial institutions and academic institutions. Partly because, it is believed that such growth was made possible by efforts of the governments, institutions, and individuals who responded to calls for setting up business units. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It also has a significant youth population. But the country has only a substantial number of entrepreneurs. If India is to tap the entrepreneurial talent of its people, its leaders must enact significant reforms that increase support for new businesses in the formal sector. India needs to minimize barriers and provide support that will accelerate entrepreneurial growth. Presently Indian youth face two problems – One is lack of soft skills to get placed at the corporate world and the second is the lack of entrepreneurial skills to start own business enterprise. Today’s students of higher educational institutions of India are ambitious to experiment new things but unfortunately are not encouraged by their parents because parents want their children to play safe. Entrepreneurship is quite challenging and most of the students in that age and stage would like to try for it but the socio-economic conditions do not encourage the same. Not every individual, even armed with training and reinforcement, can be a successful entrepreneur. Success comes more naturally to those who have inherent talent for the Endeavour. Successful entrepreneurs are likely to be optimistic, goal-oriented, and persistent. When examining Indian profiles using these criteria, the population appears to have an abundant resource, of entrepreneurial talent. By 2015, the World Bank estimates that there will be about 3 billion youths less than 25 years old and a big portion of that will be in India. Many young people cannot find employment. This has become particularly acute since the education explosion in early 2000s and onset of the financial crisis in 2008. These outcomes are both inefficient and inequitable. Evidence shows that the unemployed are unhappier, more likely to experience a range of health issues, and face difficulties in integrating back into the labor market place. For young people, the effects of unemployment may be particularly scarring. Evidence suggests that a spell of youth unemployment increases the likelihood of poorer wages and unemployment in later life. Such outcomes also have pronounced social costs. It represents a loss of potential output and leads to increased costs to the taxpayer apart from causing social disruptions. One potential way of integrating young people into the global economy is to increase youth entrepreneurship. On the brighter side, Indians are increasingly becoming ambitious about entrepreneurship, if a recent study is to be considered, which says more and more employees here are seriously thinking of leaving their jobs to start their own businesses. The Indian average is more than any other country. The survey by Dutch multinational human consulting firm Ranstad Work monitor stated that 83 per cent of Indian workforce would like to be entrepreneurs, much higher than the global average of 53 per cent. It also revealed that the inclination towards entrepreneurship is highest among workers aged between 25 and 34 years.
Why is our youth inclined towards Entrepreneurship?
The attraction of Indian youth towards entrepreneurship and startups has been fostered by India’s current scenario and the Government of India’s promotional schemes. According to industry stalwarts, India has become an emerging market for global investors and entrepreneurship is majorly contributing to the country’s economy. Paul Dupuis, MD and CEO of Ranstad India said, “A stable business environment, market-oriented reforms like raising of FDI caps, implementation of GST, and key initiatives like Make in India and Digital India are encouraging aspiring and ambitious Indians.” The startup world is full of success stories. From India’s biggest e-commerce player Flipkart to Mu Sigma, Paytm and Ola — companies have contributed significantly to help India bag the number 3 position. Media reports say more than 19,000 startups are currently operating in India. With the number of accelerators and incubators increasing by 40% every year, startups are staring at a bright future. India is currently the third largest market for tech startups in the world. In addition to this, digital economy and an increased use of smartphones in connecting people have attracted investors to the Indian subcontinent. Past couple of years have seen big global names like Alibaba Group, Tiger Global, and Temasek, Japanese giant SoftBank betting big on Indian startups.
Conclusion:
If we see the larger picture then we find that entrepreneurs can help a country in many ways. It helps a country to reduce its unemployment rate, to become financially and technologically self-sufficient, to raise the standard of living of citizens and to reduce the regional imbalances. One single entrepreneurial unit, impacts so many lives and agencies directly or indirectly:-
1. It provides financial security to its employees
2. Creates more job opportunities and directly helps in economy boost
3. Value and satisfaction to customers
3. Support system and trading to other businesses and industries
4. Revenue to government by paying taxes; income to financial houses by paying interests
for loans.
5. Contribution to schools, colleges, health institutions, infrastructure etc.
6. Foreign currency to the economy through exports
In short, an entrepreneur helps a country in its overall economic development. In such situation promotion of entrepreneurship is very much needed in a country like India. Again, as India’s a greater part of population is young, it has potential for demographic dividend, which occurs when the proportion of working people in the entire population is more than the rest. It signifies that more citizens have the potential to work, be productive and contribute to the county’s economic development. If more young people choose to become entrepreneurs, then the problem of unemployment can be reduced to a large extent.
Prof. (Dr.) Sujoy Biswas,
Director and CEO,
Techno India Group and Techno India University
