Entrepreneurship Archives

Entrepreneurship – Craze of Present Generation

An Entrepreneurship sets up an enterprise for profit motive and rightly so. But if you start your business with the ‘Show me the money’ attitude, rest be assured that you will not go very far!

Ever wondered why in the world of Entrepreneurship, some carve a niche for themselves and stand out from the crowd, while others, even though successful, have a mundane existence?

Well it all lies on certain qualities that an Entrepreneur may possess or the way certain activities are conducted by him/her. Here are special skills which you need to hone to become the Successful Entrepreneur.

Everybody has a certain goal in life which just refuses to go away or change. You must understand this goal to be the calling of your life. Write down this goal – It will time and again remind you, how important it is to achieve this goal and will not let you sleep till you achieve it and become a celebrated Entrepreneur.

Share your Dream with Right people – Law of Entrepreneurship

In this world of make belief, you should be able to distinguish between the good, bad and the ugly. Many Entrepreneurial dreams die a quite death because somebody labelled it ‘stupid’ and constantly put you down till you also started believing your dream to be stupid and chose to abandon it. Share your dreams with only those whom you trust and are actually the propellers of your life.

Find yourself a Mentor – Key Role in Entrepreneurship

Someone who has already been there after many trials and turbulence is the right person to advice you. Somebody who has been there and done with can impart some priceless wisdom which you can use to carve a niche for yourself. But you must be very clear about what you will gain from the mentor-men-tee relationship. This will determine whom you can tap for assistance. The right Mentor will always short-cut your leaning process and give you the push you need and help you to stay task focused.

Observe deeply and Practice Incessantly

An Entrepreneur must consciously set aside some quite time to take on board any new ideas, things to learn and allow your mind to wander. You never know what your ‘downtime’ can fetch your business! Similarly only incessant practice will make an Entrepreneur perfect. Short cuts have never helped anyone in life. It is only your endurance for more and more practice that will give you results.

Seek Challenges in Life

The yardstick of success of an Entrepreneur is measured by the challenges he/she has overcome. Never be scared to consciously seek challenges in your Entrepreneurial life. Remember challenges are not setback of life. They are simply life’s way of requesting you to make full use of the resources and tools available with you to resolve them.

As an Entrepreneur you must have the skill set to select the right tool at the right time to overcome the challenge.

Welcome Criticism – Challenge in Entrepreneurship

In your journey as an Entrepreneur, be ready to welcome criticism from associates/stakeholders/clients/ and sometimes even friends and family. There will be people out, there highly critical of your product/service. You must possess the gall to take such criticism in your stride and take them positively. If praise motivates you, then criticism must stimulate you to do better and better, not the opposite. If you cannot accept criticism, then your ego is getting in the way of your best judgement.

Be Self Driven not Ego Driven

An Entrepreneur must be proud, confident, self assured but not ego driven. Be humble and let your feet be planted firmly on the ground. Let your actions and achievements speak for you, not your boating and bragging. The more you brag, the more will sound phony. Remember, it is the empty vessel which makes the most noise.

Carve a niche for yourself

An entrepreneur must try to find out his niche area. Each of us has a special ability, a quite story which sets us apart from others. Play around with this strength and craft your own persona. Of you try to become a carbon copy of some you admire, you will never be able to make a name for yourself. Remember, the original always looks better than the copy. So leave your idol on the pedestal to be admired from a distance.

What Goes Around Comes Back.

As an Entrepreneur, you must try and help and benefit others. Give whatever you have in abundance- your time. your service or knowledge to those who are badly in need of it. You will be amazed at what you stand to gain when you give it to others.

Value Learning over Money – Basics of Entrepreneurship

An Entrepreneur sets up an enterprise for profit motive and rightly so. But if you start your business with the ‘Show me the money’ attitude, rest be assured that you will not go very far! Instead show humility and value what you have learnt in your journey as an Entrepreneur. Money will follow you steadily and surely, if you apply what you have learnt.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you could become an Entrepreneur, be thankful that you could learn your failures, be thankful that you are at the receiving end of so many blessings and above all, be thankful that you are alive!

Gratitude always unlocks the fullness of your life and indeed will make you the celebrated “A Successful” Entrepreneur.

Risks and Rewards of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship which is the practice of finding and starting a business opportunity, locating and consolidating the required money and materials and taking both the risks and rewards associated with the venture is where all who wish to make and enjoy great wealth should tune their mind and heart to.

Everything in life has two sides like the proverbial two sides of a coin. Entrepreneurship is fraught with dangers, perils, hazards and threats or risks just as it has booties, returns, compensations or incentives also known as rewards.

Here are risks and rewards of entrepreneurship which I would like discuss briefly in this article for the benefit and information of those wishing to embark on the great journey of entrepreneurship:

Risks of Entrepreneurship

Getting Paid – The income of the business enterprise would determine whether the entrepreneur gets paid or not. The entrepreneur does not have the luxury of an assured paycheck like his counterparts in paid employment. If the business does not make profit, there is nothing for the entrepreneur.

Sporadic Income – The start-up entrepreneur may not have enough business to provide him or her with steady income. His or her income may fluctuate from day to day or from month to month.

No Income – An entrepreneur may face a season in his or her business life when there would be no business at all or when customers have failed to meet their payment obligations and therefore no income. Start-up entrepreneurs are usually advised to save at least enough to cover six months expenses and income needs as part of their financial planning.

Having Security – Whatever an entrepreneur has comes from the business. Unlike people in paid employment who may have a compulsory retirement savings account backed by their employer, the entrepreneur has to provide his or her own insurance and retirement security. Before moving from paid employment to full time entrepreneurship, it is important that aspiring entrepreneurs add as part of their financial planning, some element of insurance and retirement security through savings.

Rewards of Entrepreneurship

Passion – Passion they say sells. One of the greatest joys of entrepreneurship is working daily on the passion of your life. When one’s work and daily pursuits are in the realm of his or her innate desires, one works with enthusiasm, appetite and hunger that drive to great action. Apart from being a reward on its own, passion ensures that one is working with boundless energy which leads to greater production.

Great Boss – Entrepreneurs work for the greatest boss on earth which is themselves. In paid employment, we meet all kinds of bosses – some nasty, some great and some boring. The greatest boss anyone would have is oneself. Entrepreneurship enables you work for yourself and that creates an unbeatable feeling which money cannot buy.

Hours – One of the immediate benefits of entrepreneurship is having control of one’s life. Though the beginning of entrepreneurship may be rough, the ability to be in charge and have the capacity to set your times and schedules for your work and business is a reward of inestimable value.

Location – Where you live and work is one key factor to personal satisfaction. Entrepreneurship helps you to make this choice and not have to depend on someone else determining your office location which may be so far away from where you reside leading to daily long commuting in public or private transportation. In Lagos Nigeria, where most corporate offices are located are too expensive for most workers to reside in. Some of such locations do not have residential areas. Employees are forced into long distance commuting and traffic hold ups that increase their cost of fueling and is the cause high blood pressure as a result of hanging out in the holdup year in year out. The entrepreneur can even keep his location virtual, meaning he may work from the comfort of his own home using the internet. An entrepreneur can also chose to be mobile.

Regardless of the risks associated with entrepreneurship, it is still the way for all those who wish to create wealth and find the greatest possible satisfaction in life pursuits.

Think about.

Defining Entrepreneurship – Are You an Entrepreneur?

Defining entrepreneurship isn’t difficult. An entrepreneur is somebody who is willing to take a calculated risk and start his or her own business. Entrepreneurship is not for everybody. If you are a budding entrepreneur this article contains a few tips to help get you started on the road to business success.

1. Do you have knowledge, a hobby or an interest that you are passionate about? If the answer is yes you may be looking at a great opportunity to turn your passion into money. Many people have also become entrepreneurs by starting a franchise with a product that they are familiar with and have had a good experience with. A positive personal endorsement is a great sales aid.

Franchising is not for everybody though because it can involve huge costs but it might be perfect if you have the money available to invest. Owning a franchise is a great way to develop your business skills because the parent company will offer you full training and a blueprint for success.

2. When defining entrepreneurship we shouldn’t forget about this less expensive option. Starting an Internet based business is a much more affordable proposition for the average person. You must still possess entrepreneurial skills but all in all the risks are very low in comparison to a traditional franchise business. You might even want to purchase an existing website or blog to get your business growing a little quicker for you.

Today there are plenty of opportunities to learn how to run an Internet business online. If you visit the numerous discussion forums on the Internet you can receive all kinds of free training.

You can also join a membership site and receive specific training on the niche that your Internet business is in. You can even purchase hardbound copies and CDs if you prefer to learn away from your computer.

3. Niche marketing is a good way to start a business today and when talking about defining entrepreneurship we shouldn’t forget to mention the entrepreneurial skill of somebody who is able to take a broad theme and narrow it down to an extremely targeted niche and develop it into a very profitable business.

For example fishing would be considered a broad theme but fly-fishing is a narrower niche. It can be narrowed down much further of course, fly-fishing in Alaska for example. A true entrepreneur will be able to spot a niche and exploit it.

4. Business in a box opportunities are another great way for budding, less experienced entrepreneurs to get started in online business. You can quickly become successful with these types of opportunities because much of the hard work is already taken care of leaving you free to learn how to build an Internet based business.

Your website and follow up email auto responder will be set up for you and this alone will potentially save many months of hard work. The best opportunities will also offer you full training to help ensure your success. This allows you to cut down on what can be a very steep learning curve and concentrate more on marketing and growing your new business.

So, when defining entrepreneurship we have to mention certain qualities you must possess. You must be success oriented and always willing to go the extra mile to achieve your goals. You must be willing to take calculated risks based on sound research and you must be able to spot a niche with true profit potential and develop it. If this sounds like you then I would say that you definitely have the makings of a true entrepreneur!

Techniques For Entrepreneurship Development

There is a certain way to carry out entrepreneurship. One has to follow certain fixed guidelines to develop an entrepreneurship of any choice. Designing a clear cut plan is necessary. Following are seven guidelines or techniques on the basis of which any entrepreneurship or business can be developed;

1. Focusing on the key product:

Your business revolves on the key product so focusing on your core product is the first step to create a business opportunity. A certain successful entrepreneur has stated that “Prospects buy when they trust your value is applicable to them and believe your company is stable” suggesting that an entrepreneur should focus on providing value to the customers. This suggestion is the key to the core plan. An entrepreneur of small business needs to differentiate from big business by concentrating on the core products. Specialization is the biggest asset of entrepreneurs.

2. Keeping it simple and short:

One should be able to tell what their business is in few precise and concise words(I.e the patter or pitch) lasting for 30 seconds since any prospect can understand clearly about the business without being confused.

3. Staying true to who you are:

You can reach your goals by knowing who you are and what gets you excited and not. Notably procrastination as human nature is can delay your growth plan so it’s better to not procrastinate and go for a perfect result oriented plan

4. Mapping it:

The best way to determine your service strategy is by mapping your capabilities with your target clients’ needs. Hence the customers who do not need your particular expertise are also avoided. The urge to cast a wide net is one common trait among many entrepreneurs. However a small business flourishes since it has limited service offering. Specializing in distinctive top quality service is the value in having a small business. So in many instances, a small business flourishes. Significantly, while choosing a provider, a list of decision making criteria can be made, from which, your client can choose as per your expectation. Then categorize yourself honestly or evaluate intensely as to where you would be position in each category. After this, make sure that your patter or pitch is still on target.

5. Utilizing the best marketing tools that work for you:

Implement the best marketing strategy that suits your personality and that of customers to be served. Identify the top two marketing tools that have worked for you in the past and then start adding new ideas from a fresh perspective. It’s also important to evaluate the selected marketing tools from cost basis. You have to take a decision as to which marketing tool will yield the best returns on your efforts. In one or another each tool should be result oriented or revenue productive.

6. Implementing a plan of action:

It’s essential to know whether the plan of action made is in progress or not. This can be done by establishing goals at short term say 3 months to long term of 6 months. During short term, you need to check your plan every month. If the plan is not being met you need to ask questions to yourself like did I select the appropriate tools for my target customer? Did I integrate the strategy into the plan? Or did I focus on only one of the marketing tool? Thus there should be a strategy check on a day to day basis so as to know if the plan is in progress as per your plan.

7. Exercising the plan:

The final step is to complete the daily actions and to put n extra efforts to accelerate your plan towards success. Precious time should be not wasted and used for reaching your goal soon.

These are the basic most important techniques for Entrepreneurship development.

Thanks

Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship

Owning a successful business is no longer reserved for a lucky few. It is because there are some rules followed by those successful business people in making the business people to climb the richness ladder with assurance and comfort ability although any business is about risking and that the higher the risk the higher the reward or profit.

When you want to startup a business you first must have an idea, example of business ideas are like opening up a hairdresser, opens a salon, a shop and much. Generally, people do make huge mistake. Just because they are thinking about the job and not the business. Only because you are a good chef does not mean you know how to run a restaurant. More important, it does not mean a restaurant would be successful in your market. So you have to clearly assess and evaluate your business idea before implementing it.

Business wise you have to make sure that what you are going to produce Is it a product or service they have fallen in love with. Again, just because you love something does not mean a profitable business will come of it. This is especially true for first-time entrepreneurs. Learning how to run a business is hard enough; you don’t need to make it any harder by doing something you love rather than something customers love paying you a good profit for or producing what you want instead of what they want.

There are some guidelines on how you are sure that your intriguing idea is also something from which you can truly make a profit? There are three essential considerations one has to bear in mind.

Make sure the product or service has a repeat buy. This is by far the most important aspect of long-term business success. You have to have a product or service that people will keep buying. It is better and more profitable, in my opinion, to have a pool cleaning company than a pool building company. Put another way, a business owner should focus on getting a customer once, but making a profit from that person for a very long time.
Be certain you have a high profit margin.

There are very few companies that can compete long term on a “we are cheaper” marketing platform. In any new business, you need to watch your cash flow–and if you are trying to work with low profit margins and make gains in volume, you will need to have a high level of working capital to keep you running through the lean profits early on. Having a higher margin is extremely important when you are growing a business so you can self-finance your growth.

Build a strong support team because a good idea is not enough. The idea counts most, yet a quality idea must still have a great team of people behind it to give it wings. Time after time, when people bring me a business investment proposal or an idea they want to take to market, I ask them who is on their team and they respond with something crazy like, “Oh, we have not hired anyone yet.” Get a board of advisers. Get a team of professional accountants, coaches, lawyers and bankers. A great team will greatly improve the chances for success of any business.

Now if I were going into business today, to be sure of the market what would I choose? I would start with one premise and some hot industries. Here the premise is, you do not make money panning for gold, and you make money selling pans. Get in the way of a buying frenzy, and you will be a success. Therefore the fastest way to make a restaurant profitable is not by having a great chef and great decor or big buildings it is by attracting a starving crowd with money so that they can eat the food in exchange for their money.

In other words look for an idea you can take national or, even better, global at some stage. Although it might be fun and a challenge to establish yourself locally right now, but eventually you’ll want to build something much bigger for the future and also expand you business.

Entrepreneurship Defined – Entrepreneur Vs Small Business

The concept of entrepreneurship takes a wide range of definition and its meaning has progressed over the century. To many, it is linked to starting one’s personal business. However, nearly all economists believe that it is more than starting a business.

The word entrepreneur comes from the French word entreprendre, meaning ‘to embark on.’ In a business perspective, it means to start a business. Entrepreneur can also refer to a person who systematizes and administers a business and usually takes the risk for the sake of profit or turnover. He can also be defined as a person with high propensity who pioneers change or anyone who wants to work for himself.

Entrepreneurship vs. Small Business

The terms ‘entrepreneur’ and ‘small business’ are quite alike and can often be used interchangeably. With much commonality, however, there are significant differences between the entrepreneurial venture and the small business.

Entrepreneurial venture is quite different from small business in the following ways:

Innovation – This is the very instrument of entrepreneurship. It providesresources with a new power to create wealth. Entrepreneurship frequently engages extensive innovation further than what a small business might exhibit.
Risk – Risk must be usually high in an entrepreneurial venture. If not, with the enticement of sure profits, many entrepreneurs would be trailing the idea and the opportunity would no longer exist.
Amount of wealth creation – A booming entrepreneurial venture generates substantial wealth, normally in excess of several million dollars of profit rather than simply generating an income stream that replaces fixed employment.
Speed of wealth creation – A successful small business can make quite a lot of profit over a lifetime. But for an entrepreneur, wealth creation often is fast and speedy, for example, within 5 years. Also, the types of business they are engaged in is what basically differentiates entrepreneur activities. Innovation is the key. Every entrepreneur should rely greatly on this. Innovation can be emphasized on the following:

new organization
new products
new markets
new production methods

When such innovation produces new demand, wealth is created. From this standpoint, one can simply describe the function of the entrepreneur as one of merging a variety of factors in an inventive manner to generate value to the customer. It hopes that this value will surpass the cost of the input factors, therefore spawning greater returns on investment.

So the main differences between entrepreneurship and small business is that the entrepreneur takes a risk and hits the ground running with the intent of immediate, and hopefully massive payoffs, whereas the small business generally starts smaller, with less risk and the income and success builds over time under very controlled planning.

5 Ingredients of Successful Entrepreneurship

Read the quintessential qualities required to become a consistently successful and growing entrepreneur.

No business can grow without the growth of the entrepreneur who runs it. It is the entrepreneur who becomes the central line of the growth of the business. If the owner isn’t upgrading himself or herself, their business isn’t going anywhere. That’s a given! Here I share with you the basic fundamentals that an entrepreneur must focus on at any given point of time irrespective of the stage or the scale.

Ideas

Entrepreneurship is developed, it is a skill. There are no born entrepreneurs, they build themselves. Entrepreneurship lies dormant in all of us. We all have that inherent desire and wish to do that one dream business or project one summer day. The fact is if we ask all the people we know to write down their dream business on a piece of paper you will get a huge pool of resourceful Business ideas to work on. The tragedy is very limited people can visualize it as a profitable venture. No business is a bad idea. Every business is a growth business. Successful entrepreneurship is about taking a crazy idea to its logical plan and then utilizing the available resources to commercialize the idea into a long term profitable venture. An entrepreneur must always have ideas at the drop of a hat to solve problems, address demands or to innovate new products. Working on creative thinking is imperative to be a continuous resource provider of ideas. The key is in continuous creation of new, better and different ideas without falling in love with the old ones. Creation is possible only when the entrepreneur is continuously learning.

Plan

Once the idea is in place, the next step would be to create a clearly written down execution plan with step by step precision of what is to be done to make the idea convert into a business venture. Writing down the magic questions and their answers is the key. Magic questions include the what, where, when, how, who and why. A plan is nothing but a detailed execution methodology shared and supported by all the members concerned in a venture. Most entrepreneurs fall short of penning down their ideas simply because of lack of will or laziness. It is said that when you write your plans down, they help you remain motivated and on track when you are most knocked down in business. A plan consists of series of short, medium and long term goals. A goal is nothing but a dream with a deadline. Having a well thought of PLAN A and a contingency PLAN B are crucial in any entrepreneurial voyage.

Risk

This is what separates the men from the boys. Starting a venture requires the rare quality to challenge our comfort zones. Doing things that make us uncomfortable and destroying the status quo remains the fundamental essential quality of successful entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is doing things that are contrary to everything that has to do with the words security and comfort. It’s about choosing the short term pains to actualize and materialize the long term gains. Risk taking involves an emotional and mental decision first which translates into a financial or logical decision later to do something that has the probability to fail as much as to succeed. Risk taking becomes easy when the entrepreneur develops the ability to remain confident about the strengths and talent especially in times of crises.

Time

Entrepreneurship is about being ahead of time by planning your priorities. Entrepreneurs wear multiple hats and hence it is imperative that they wisely choose to do the most crucial and important activities in their business which only they have the expertise of doing. Entrepreneur’s must focus only on key success driving activities in their business and delegate the rest to people who are better at doing those things than the entrepreneur. Initially entrepreneurship takes a toll on the personal time and space of the individual, however, at later stages, the individual develops the habit of ignoring personal time and this leads to an unbalanced life. Spending quality time on crucial revenue generating and business growth related activities coupled with taking time out for family, fitness and hobbies is mandatory for a successful entrepreneurial life. Developing the discipline to follow learnable routines and at the same time having the flexibility to adjust as per changing demands is very important sign in entrepreneurship.

Team

Can you imagine the pyramids in Egypt built with a single rock? Can nations be built by the effort of a single person alone? Difficult to imagine, isn’t it? The sum of the parts makes the whole and the whole is incomplete without its parts. You cannot build a fantastic business unless you have fantastic people working with you. It’s easier to attract and nurture talent when you have a strong vision and purpose for your business. Business building and entrepreneurship thrives on collective efforts of like minded people moving together towards a common goal. Entrepreneurs tend to be self involved to the extent of not sharing their ideas, frustrations and dreams with others. Their initial experience of solitude makes them closed emotionally and as business grows the entrepreneur doesn’t realize the benefits of sharing. Leadership is about helping others bring out their strengths towards the achievement of a strong purpose. Entrepreneurs must learn to instill other people’s confidence and other people’s capabilities. It is only when you build a team, can you build a great business.

The above ingredients, if mixed passionately with solid persistence can help anyone build a fantastic entrepreneurial venture. Here’s wishing you all the best for your Businesses journey.

First Step to Successful Entrepreneurship: 12 Ways to Cut Off High Business Startup Loans

When it comes to startups, the common problem that most entrepreneurs face today is the money to start a business. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, you have to take risks and move forward with optimism psychology. You need to think of ways by which you can obtain maximum output with minimum input. Well, that’s the basic rule of the business and widely followed by entrepreneurs all over the world. You need to be creative in what you do and innovative in your decisions. Few opt for business start up loans while few look for different alternatives. Bright ideas make a better future and some good initiatives can lead a foundation for you to become a successful entrepreneur. If money is scarce, that does not mean that you put your dream on hold, you always have better options to look forward. So, here are some creative ways to finance your business.

Steps to a Better future

• Sell your product to raise money – Well if you resale your product and find a suitable buyer, then you can raise funds for your business in an effective manner. No doubt there are many successful entrepreneurs all around the globes who started this way and once they complete their target, they expand their business with funds they collect.

• Support from family and friends – It is the traditional way and the most effective way in this contemporary world. You can convince your friends and family to invest or provide small business startup loan which may help you to implement your ideas better without any pressure. This way is much better than taking loans from any other alternative.

• Double Dipping – You can always start a side business to raise funds for your business startup. In this way you will not be under any kind of debt and burden and thus it is the safest way to start the business.

• Selling stuff – Well, sometimes it’s hard to sell out your stuff, but as Jarod Kintz said “Instead of burning the midnight oil, you should try to sell it”. Sometimes you have to compromise to achieve success. You can make good money out of it.

• Credit card – You can use a credit card to finance your money. This is an easy way, but it involves risk. If something goes wrong, then the interest rate goes up at a very high rate.

• Angel investors – It is one of the recommended methods and many leading companies like Google and Yahoo have used it. Angel investors give you the required amount to start up the business. You get a friendly environment and moreover a better and quicker way to deal with business.

• Microloans – You can lookout for various firms providing small loans for the young entrepreneurs. These firms are generally better than taking business startup loan from a bank.

• Get new order and deliver – There are a number of entrepreneurs who receive the order from the customer, but they are not able to supply due to lack of money for the production. There are some companies who provide loan in this scenario. With this you will be able to raise funds for your startup in a better way.

• Real estate – This is one investment which provides greater output if done after a research. Before investing your money, always do a little work to find out the current rates etc and do the right thing. With this you can raise money successfully without complications.

• Cut out liabilities – Well, it’s another creative way to earn good money. For example, you can rent your home for some time and raise a good amount of money by doing that. Many entrepreneurs have employed this way and were successful to earn enough money to start their business.

• Crowdfunding – It is a very popular way among entrepreneurs. In this you can make a good use of internet by finding people having similar thoughts on investing with small amounts. Collectively, these small amounts on adding up will provide you with a better alternative to startup your business.

• Financing by vendors – This is very helpful to obtain the material to sell your product. The manufacturers do not take any payment from you till your product is sold. In this way you get a better extension to sell your goods much efficiently.

After reading these 12 ideas, you must be very confident about your startup. But remember that things aren’t that easy as they seems. You need to work harder to achieve the best out of it. Moreover, just by visualizing ideas in your mind you won’t be able to implement them practically. You must be able to adapt according to the situations and work practically to achieve the requisite aim. Risk is always involved for young entrepreneurs, but that does not mean that you can’t do it. Overcome your fear and be creative and innovative and always ask yourself that do I have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur?

Why India Needs Culture of Entrepreneurship in Classrooms

While there are successful examples of young innovators like PC Musthafa (iD Fresh), Sampriti Bhattacharyya (Hydroswarm) and Vijay Sharma (One97), the harsh reality is that an inordinately large number of start-ups fail. That’s the reason why academic institutions and organisations must assist and support the development of entrepreneurs in order to ensure high survival rate.

Young Indian entrepreneurs are making headlines with regularity. After an entire generation of cautious Indians who viewed entrepreneurship with suspicion-preferring stable and predictable careers in government service, banks, as doctors, lawyers and engineers-the tide is turning. There is optimism in the air as young entrepreneurs are daring to go global, drive innovation and experiment with unique business models.

The latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report reflects this important cultural shift. The report noted that 58% of Indian adults (18-64 years old) consider entrepreneurship a desirable career choice and 66% think that entrepreneurs receive a high level of status and respect. And this is not just because Indian tech entrepreneurs are becoming global rock-stars. It is because young entrepreneurs from every sector-from agriculture to manufacturing-are putting India on a new path of growth and development.

Take the story of 42-year-old PC Musthafa, who quit a well-paying bank job in Dubai to return to India because he wanted to create job opportunities for the rural youth. He started iD Fresh Food, a dosa batter company, with his cousins, 550 square feet of space, two grinders, a mixer and a sealing machine. They began by selling 10 packets of batter a day. Today, iD Fresh Food sells 50,000 packets a day, has expanded its product range to ready-to-eat foods, and is a R100 crore company employing 1,100 people. Musthafa’s goal is to become a R1,000 crore company employing 5,000 people in the next five years.

Among the more innovative ideas his company is exploring is that of a Trust Shop-in apartment complexes and corporate offices-where you can pick up idli-dosa batter, ready-to-eat wheat parathas and chapatis, and drop the money in a box at the store. The store has no salesmen and is not monitored by cameras to keep an eye on shoppers who don’t pay. The stores are proving to be a success. Shoppers who don’t have money on them are coming back the next day to drop the cash. It is a unique low-cost model that can be scaled, ensuring that prices are kept low and stores are conveniently accessible 24×7.

Now let’s take the case of 28-year-old Sampriti Bhattacharyya, whose company Hydroswarm designs and manufactures autonomous drones that can scan ocean floors, look for lost aircraft, identify oil spills, and spot radiation under the sea.

Entrepreneurs and innovators like these are playing a major role in bringing unique ideas, offerings and business models to market-ideas that large companies don’t want to explore because they don’t have a clear and well-charted future and could pose a risk to their growth plans.

One recent study by a leading analyst has suggested that the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector-which includes such entrepreneurs-will increase its contribution to India’s GDP from the 8% share in 2011-12 to 15% by 2020.

The growth is not just because young Indian entrepreneurs are daring to dream up great new ideas, but also because they understand the value of hiring the best talent in the country. Take Vijay Sharma’s One97 Communication, the digital goods arm of Paytm. Sharma’s company announced its expansion into Europe and the US this July, using some of the best business talent in the country to enable the growth. In other words, Indian entrepreneurs are aware of what it takes to be globally competitive.

Going global should not be difficult for Indian entrepreneurs. Today, the best minds in the country are dreaming of entrepreneurship. This year’s IIT-JEE topper, Deepanshu Jindal, says that after graduation he wants to become an entrepreneur. Youngsters from prestigious educational institutions all over the country such as the IITs and IIMs are showing similar inclinations.

All this makes great news. But the harsh reality is that an inordinately large number of start-ups fail. Studies have shown that 47% of the jobs created by start-ups are eliminated because the business folds up in the first five years. This emphasises the importance of having academic institutions and organisations to assist and support the development of entrepreneurs in order to ensure a higher survival rate.

If India is to continue on its growth path, the contribution of entrepreneurs to wealth creation will play a pivotal role. This is why the importance of including entrepreneurship as part of standard curricula cannot be undermined. We must begin by creating a formal culture of entrepreneurship starting in classrooms where young minds and the nation’s future are shaped.