By Dr Shai Vyakarnam, Director, AcceleratorIndia.
This is a very frequently asked question, especially as I am Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning! For me the question implies that the questioner has not thought much about the question itself because he or she already has the answer to hand. This is an important question for us to ask in the Indian context too, but only if we remain open minded.
The nature or nurture debate will go long into the night, but here are a few headlines for us to think about. The most important starting point is to recognise that a number of conditions need to be present or created for entrepreneurship to flourish and for entrepreneurs to discover their potential.
The opportunity needs to be exciting and seem worthwhile pursuing. The opportunity may be spotted, created or developed. Whatever the case, it needs to be exciting and create energy and a level of adrenalin rush to create the conditions for commitment, motivation, drive and resilience.
Aligned to the opportunity would be that the personal circumstances have to be understood. Is the individual a high-flier, have family commitments, in a position to take risks with family savings, free to give it a go, someone with or without choice, possess the right level of training and skills etc, a high level of self awareness is needed so that starting on a new course of action as an entrepreneur does not mean behaving in reckless ways with the family etc.
From an understanding of the pull of the opportunity and understanding of personal circumstances the entrepreneur can decide whether the pursuit of the opportunity regardless of possession of all the resources is risky or not. He or she can decide on whether to tolerate the associated risks or in some way mitigate them. In reality I rarely see entrepreneurs describe anything as risky in their business. They just know when to draw the line – they are also great decision makers.
What does all this mean for Indian entrepreneurs?
There does not seem to be any shortage of opportunity when witnessing the rapid growth of the Indian economy. But I think that we are not getting the diversity of new ventures that is possible in the amazing ecosystem that forms the markets in India. More can be done to ferment ideas, possibilities and connections to markets big and small. Some of this has started with entrepreneurial networks, but more can be done by connecting them to the research centres, businesses and more established entrepreneurs/business houses.
The personal circumstances are improving all the time in India, especially for the middle (growing) classes. With entrepreneurship and business becoming increasingly respectable and respected we see no obstacles to growth and development. The sources of advice, mentoring, funding is all becoming increasingly available.
What remains then is to connect some dots and we might start to see a wider range of businesses forming.
Here are some links to help inspire the wider opportunities:
Venture Center, Pune
National Innovation Foundation, India
Technology Development Board, Dept of Science and Technology, Govt of India
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India
It won’t be easy to penetrate these sites, but these together with other sources in India means there is enormous potential for new products in niche markets to provide ample opportunity for entrepreneurs – whether they are born or made!
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A version of this blog was originally published at India Incorporated, a social media proposition with a difference that aims to encapsulate the India global story through pithy reports, interviews, analyses, profiles and features.
Published on 26 April 2011