Entrepreneur India Awards 2011 - Experts converge to advocate the key need areas for entrepreneurship in India

New Delhi, July 18, 2011: In order to advocate the key need areas for entrepreneurship in India, several eminent business leaders of the country came together at Entrepreneur India 2011. This national summit on entrepreneurship was organized in Delhi by Franchise India with Entrepreneur India Advisors and NASSCOM Emerge Forum as the knowledge partners and Gitanjali Group as the presenting partner. The event was an attempt to address important issues and contribute to a better understanding of entrepreneurship, innovation and how to unleash the creative potential in individuals, companies and regions.

Today, India is ranked fourth (2.72) on the entrepreneur friendly index amounting heavily to quantum of IT start-ups in cities like Ahmedabad, Kochi, Baroda, Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata. A majority of the Indian population today is aggressively exploring options to start something of its own. Commenting further, Mr. Gaurav Marya, President, Franchise India said, “This is the century of entrepreneurship in a way the history of the world has never before seen. All the forces, including a global economy, advancements in technology and 24X7 communications, are aligned for a massive explosion of entrepreneurship. I can think of thousands of projects across various industry verticals which will go on to become global businesses. Thus, we have launched Entrepreneur India 2011 as a platform which draws on entrepreneurial leadership across multiple disciplines to deepen the understanding of innovation in entrepreneurship.”

The fabric of the conference was woven around 7 I’s of entrepreneurship which include Inspire, Ideate, Individual, Incubate, Innovate, Invest and Internationalize. The conference comprised of interactive sessions, leadership round-tables and career workshops where vital topics like From Idea to Launch: Getting Product Development Right; From Corporate Intra-preneurship to Entrepreneurship-Equating for Return on time & Return on Investment; Social Entrepreneur: The new catchphrase in business-“do well by doing good”; Early Stage Hand Holding & Funding–What it can do for young business; Fostering a culture of innovation & Execution in a growing organization; How investor networks operate and how they put deals together; Building cross-cultural competence: Global & Glocal strategies; Challenges in family businesses–Managing Generation shift; The legal Fabric of Alliances, M&As & JV’s, etc were discussed at length.

The eminent speakers at the summit included Mr. R. Sriram (Co-Founder, Next Practice Retail & Charter Member, TiE Mumbai), Mr. Harish Bijoor (Brand–Expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.), Mr. D.K. Jain (Chairman, Luxor Group), Mr. Ashutosh Garg (Founder & CMD, Guardian Pharmacy), Mr. Yogesh Bansal (Founder & CEO, ApnaCircle.com), Mr. Pavan Vaish (CEO, IBM Daksh),Ms. Ameera Shah (CMD, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.) and Dr. Chandan Chaterjee (Chairman, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development) among others.

The Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Mr. Virbhadra Singh addressed the inaugural session on the second day of the conference. He lauded the growing spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth of our country and said, “MSME sector contributes to about 45% of total manufacturing output and nearly 40% to India’s export. There are about 26 million MSME’s in the country, providing employment to about 60 million persons. Further the sector has been consistently registering higher growth rates than the overall manufacturing sector, thus demonstrating the high degree of resilience and adaptability.” He also highlighted the various initiatives that the Government has taken to support and expedite the growth of the MSME segment. Commenting further on the same, Mr. Singh said, “A comprehensive package comprising of schemes for providing support for marketing, tehnological up-gradation and credit facilitation including two major credit-related schemes to assist the sector in meeting its financial requirements are being implemented by the Ministry.”

Ms. Ameera Shah, CEO & MD, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd. spoke on how innovation holds the key to new ideas. She said, “Innovation is a mindset rather than a process. You have to think whether your business will make an impact on your customers and vendors. Are you indispensable for them? If the answer to this is yes, then you are running a business that is different. Not trying to compete with the day to day market is a step towards innovation. Making decisions which are not in line with the industry can work in your favor.” According to Luxor Group’s Chairman Mr. D. K. Jain, “Venturing into business with risk involvement forms the essence of entrepreneurship. It is the beginning that is difficult and once you start the rest follows on its own. You keep on growing and moving.”

Indian Angel Network’s President Ms. Padmaja Ruparel addressed the audience on the topic ‘What do Investors look for’ wherein she talked about the key parameters that equity investors look for in an investible company and why. Expressing her views on the current scenario of entrepreneurship in India, she said, “The entrepreneurial eco system is extremely active in India. Today, entrepreneurship is an alternate career path converting job seekers to job creators. For investors, angel investment (investing in early stage companies) is an asset class in their portfolio. The convergence of innovation, entrepreneurship and investing is the ideal mix for creating economic wealth.”

During the session on Ideation and the Entrepreneurial Process of moving from idea to implementation, Zicom Electronic Security Systems’ Mr. Pramoud Rao said, “As per my experience, Entrepreneurship = Heights of ambition + Depth of Conviction + Width of confidence. If you have an idea which is strong enough, money comes along as strong ideas are few but money is endless.” Brand Expert Harish Bijoor advised entrepreneurs not to follow the age old trend of letting their work speak for itself. Instead they should do their work with full responsibility and tell people about it. While speaking on internationalization, Wealthtree Partners’ Director Mr. S. Venkat said, “Indian cricket and Indian entrepreneurs are exactly the same. Earlier our cricket team used to win matches when they are playing on home ground but used to lose matches when played outside. But now it is capable to defeat any country in the world whether playing in India or abroad. In the same manner our entrepreneurs are doing really well inside India and they will perform well overseas very soon.”

The two day mega event focused on entrepreneurial new and growth business opportunities in a wide range of domain. According to Mr. Mehul Choksi, Chairman, Gitanjali Group, “It is a very positive time for Indian businesses, particularly in the retail sector. Sales are soaring because the economy is doing well; people have larger disposable incomes and are willing to spend on branded goods that satisfy their rising aspirations & at branded stores which will provide them an unforgettable shopping experience. With proper vision, entrepreneurs can grow rapidly.”

The occasion also witnessed the prestigious Entrepreneur India Awards 2011 which felicitated achievers, innovators and suppliers who have contributed significantly towards the development of entrepreneurship in India. In all, there were 17 award categories spanning across different business sectors. Mr. Kunwer Sachdev of Su-Kam Power System Ltd. won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Ms. Shahnaz Husain of Shahnaz Herbals was nominated as the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Mr. Subhasish Chakraborty of DTDC Courier and Cargo Ltd. won the award for the Entrepreneur of the Year (Consumer Business) and ApnaCircle.com’s Yogesh Bansal was selected as the Entrepreneur of the Year (Innovation in Technology). The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Mr. D. K. Jain of Luxor Group.

For more information visit: http://www.entrepreneurindia.org/ei2011/

Experts converge at Entrepreneur India 2011 to advocate the key need areas for entrepreneurship in India