Are management graduates meant to be corporate servants or corporate masters? As a responsible member of the student community, what steps would you take to promote entrepreneurship among B-school students? Suggest implementable solutions.
“God serves men, but He is not a servant.” Even though entrepreneurship is great virtue, it does not make an entrepreneur a master, or a non-entrepreneur a servant. Established firms also create employment and open avenues for economic activity as any entrepreneurship venture (remember they were also an entrepreneurship venture one day), and need the same devotion and nurturing to survive in the tough business environment. A person serving an established business is in no way inferior to an entrepreneur. The only reason entrepreneurship needs promotion is that it is much less prevalent (looking at the existing opportunities for the same), as compared to service in established organisations, but if we treat people serving in established businesses as corporate servants, very soon this leg of employment will need promotion.
Now having talked about the need to promote entrepreneurship, let’s look at how entrepreneurship can be promoted. The only way to promote an idea is to make it a success, or to make its success more probable. Key factors required for success of an entrepreneurship venture include the following.
1.Entrepreneurial Spirit: Entrepreneurship is a testimony to the challenging spirit of mankind. It represents determined willingness to work hard and create something from nothing. Entrepreneurial spirit is the most crucial leg of the success tripod, and can sometimes achieve success in absence of the other two factors.
2.Seed capital: Most business ideas require initial capital to kick-off. If entrepreneurs are starved of this critical component of success, even the brightest business ideas can bear no fruit.
3.Management know-how and tools: For any venture to succeed in today’s competitive environment, it requires proper know-how of the business. The business idea, even though brilliant, can fall on its face if not implemented properly.
Endeavours as a student to promote Entrepreneurship
For promotion of entrepreneurship, I would address the three factors individually.
Entrepreneurial Spirit: Most people become entrepreneurs, or are willing to taste entrepreneurship because of the following factors.
Belief in a business idea - 27% respondents
Independence at work - 29% respondents
Making money - 15% respondents
Source: www.train2000.org.uk/research-reports/
But the tacit fact behind these figures is that it is pure greed that makes a person an entrepreneur, may it be greed for money, or for facing challenges and winning them over, or for rising higher & higher, and it is this greed that needs to be addressed, this greed that needs poking. For the purpose I propose creating an environment that promotes entrepreneurial spirit. We become the most like with whom we stay, and what we say. If potential entrepreneurs meet more and more with successful entrepreneurs, it pokes that greed in them, and drives home the fact that in case of entrepreneurship, even if the frequency of success is low, the expected value of returns is high enough to compensate for it. I, as a student shall strive to arrange more and more talks by successful entrepreneurs for potential entrepreneurs to create a successful aura around entrepreneurial venturing. Also, by creating a students’ club where the topic is frequently discussed, the vague imaginations of people can be converted to dreams.
Seed Capital: These days, for a good project, it is not difficult to find money. One just needs to have the right contacts. To provide this platform, where potential entrepreneurs can find seed capital, I will strive to put in place a dedicated fund that can be fed by contributions from alumni, successful entrepreneurs, industrialists and professors. The fund would again be managed by these people only to provide seed capital to one deserving business idea per year. Such a fund would be self sustaining as successful entrepreneurs who got initial capital from the fund would be more than willing to contribute to the fund in the future.
Also, I shall strive to arrange business plan competitions which are judged by angel investors so as to provide seed capital to business ideas they feel deserving. I shall also establish contacts with networks of investors, and provide useful information and contacts to potential entrepreneurs.
Management know-how & tools: Most of the cases discussed & taught in business schools these days concern well established firms. Almost all cases figure companies which are already public and have significant financial numbers. Even though these cases do provide management insight, such cases cannot be compared with the situation faced by start-up ventures. The dynamics of such ventures are completely different from established businesses. However, cases on start-up ventures are available and need inclusion in the curriculum. I shall convince faculty members to discuss such cases so as to help potential entrepreneurs take first step forward in their ventures.
I hope such efforts will promote entrepreneurship amongst business school students.
Now having talked about the need to promote entrepreneurship, let’s look at how entrepreneurship can be promoted. The only way to promote an idea is to make it a success, or to make its success more probable. Key factors required for success of an entrepreneurship venture include the following.
1.Entrepreneurial Spirit: Entrepreneurship is a testimony to the challenging spirit of mankind. It represents determined willingness to work hard and create something from nothing. Entrepreneurial spirit is the most crucial leg of the success tripod, and can sometimes achieve success in absence of the other two factors.
2.Seed capital: Most business ideas require initial capital to kick-off. If entrepreneurs are starved of this critical component of success, even the brightest business ideas can bear no fruit.
3.Management know-how and tools: For any venture to succeed in today’s competitive environment, it requires proper know-how of the business. The business idea, even though brilliant, can fall on its face if not implemented properly.
Endeavours as a student to promote Entrepreneurship
For promotion of entrepreneurship, I would address the three factors individually.
Entrepreneurial Spirit: Most people become entrepreneurs, or are willing to taste entrepreneurship because of the following factors.
Belief in a business idea - 27% respondents
Independence at work - 29% respondents
Making money - 15% respondents
Source: www.train2000.org.uk/research-reports/
But the tacit fact behind these figures is that it is pure greed that makes a person an entrepreneur, may it be greed for money, or for facing challenges and winning them over, or for rising higher & higher, and it is this greed that needs to be addressed, this greed that needs poking. For the purpose I propose creating an environment that promotes entrepreneurial spirit. We become the most like with whom we stay, and what we say. If potential entrepreneurs meet more and more with successful entrepreneurs, it pokes that greed in them, and drives home the fact that in case of entrepreneurship, even if the frequency of success is low, the expected value of returns is high enough to compensate for it. I, as a student shall strive to arrange more and more talks by successful entrepreneurs for potential entrepreneurs to create a successful aura around entrepreneurial venturing. Also, by creating a students’ club where the topic is frequently discussed, the vague imaginations of people can be converted to dreams.
Seed Capital: These days, for a good project, it is not difficult to find money. One just needs to have the right contacts. To provide this platform, where potential entrepreneurs can find seed capital, I will strive to put in place a dedicated fund that can be fed by contributions from alumni, successful entrepreneurs, industrialists and professors. The fund would again be managed by these people only to provide seed capital to one deserving business idea per year. Such a fund would be self sustaining as successful entrepreneurs who got initial capital from the fund would be more than willing to contribute to the fund in the future.
Also, I shall strive to arrange business plan competitions which are judged by angel investors so as to provide seed capital to business ideas they feel deserving. I shall also establish contacts with networks of investors, and provide useful information and contacts to potential entrepreneurs.
Management know-how & tools: Most of the cases discussed & taught in business schools these days concern well established firms. Almost all cases figure companies which are already public and have significant financial numbers. Even though these cases do provide management insight, such cases cannot be compared with the situation faced by start-up ventures. The dynamics of such ventures are completely different from established businesses. However, cases on start-up ventures are available and need inclusion in the curriculum. I shall convince faculty members to discuss such cases so as to help potential entrepreneurs take first step forward in their ventures.
I hope such efforts will promote entrepreneurship amongst business school students.
1 comment:
agree with your assessmnt on well-known cases or rather 'blockbuster' cases being doled out in the name of 'case studies' these days...and the factor of greed too plays its part, a common stat in india is the proliferation of MLM schemes that offer to an extent entrepreneurial freedom and lesser risk of capital...no wonder schemes like numismatics and lecture series are growing at a rate of 60% !! Faster than telecom one must say :)
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