Entrepreneurship: Do you have it in you?

In economic discussions, it is a foregone conclusion that entrepreneurship is one of the biggest drivers of national growth. Entrepreneurship Index 2004 says here why:

The level of new firm activity reflects a country’s ability to expand the boundaries of economic activity. A constant flow of emerging companies fuels competition and fosters innovation throughout society. Emerging high-growth companies are particularly important in creating value and economic prosperity by bringing new ideas to the market, such as new technologies or business models, or new and improved ways of meeting customer needs.

Over the past 30 to 40 years the United States have developed the best framework conditions for entrepreneurial activity, and today new enterprises account for 30% to 50% of economic growth – and for the majority of jobs created.

For India to grow in such a scenario, the economic activity has to accelerate accordingly. Already, with growing BPOs and KPOs, India is becoming a labour house for the world. But these can not be the ultimate solution, as there are many other low-cost destinations competing with India in Eastern Europe and Latin America. The ideal solution lies in Entrepreneurship.

Ofcourse, it calls for a high degree of survival instinct and a never-say-die attitude simply because there are hardly any guarantees here. But, sticklers for this line, cite this very reason as the biggest motivator. The very fact that you never know what to expect, keeps you on your toes, makes you a better manager and a hard-working professional. Here is a glimpse of an entrepreneur's life (Udayan Bose). Get the depth of passion one needs to be an entrepreneur from his post here. Amazing! isn't it. India certainly needs an army of Udayans to make sure that the 800 million of working population bracing up by 2020 doesn't end up as minions for the MNCs doing petty jobs.

Rajesh Jain (of indiaworld.com fame) has a complete picture on his own blog on 'India needs more Entrepreneurs'

Here is hoping that the knowledge revolution sweeping the world by storm, and flattening the world in the process (ref. 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman), will ultimately lead to an awakening of 'the Indian entrepreneur' ready to take on the biggies of the world. The success of Infosys, Wipro et al are certainly a few milestones we can be proud of, but the Googles and the Microsofts are a long way off.

A few Resources:
1. IITB Ecell/Resources (Check out the Resources section)
2. The Entrepreneur Resources
3. Zeromillion resources
4. CompanyCrafter.com resources
5. A list of Indian Venture Capitalists (The Indian Venture Capital Association)

Recommended Readings:

1. By MIT Entrepreneurship Centre
2. By ZeroMillion

Tips by Larry Page (co-founder of Google)