Ethical Responsibility & Building A Giant – How Seasoned Entrepreneurs Can Exhibit Right Business Model to The Youth

From capital to practicality and social responsibility, successful visionaries and entrepreneurs like Sunil Godhwani and Nikesh Arora can help nurture an upright entrepreneurial culture in India.

The flexibility to be your best and pursue entrepreneurship has now become a feasibility with many young Indians, even school or college dropouts, trying to establish themselves in this growing ecosystem. In the year 2018, the investments from Venture Capital and Private Equity were around $33.5 billion in 731 deals, a far cry from the early 2000s, where the investment was just about $0.7 billion.

That said, everything hasn't been hunky dory. There have been blips, brought about by both global and domestic issues. From capital to lack of experience and practical solutions, the current youth is often caught in the dilemma of arriving at the right solution, thus an advice from the experts becomes a necessity.

Any nugget of advice you get from someone who persevered and made success of his venture is ‘gold’. The right approach can mean a world of difference in business. A good mentor can offer the right set of tips and encouragement.

For example, Sunil Godhwani, a well-known visionary and the former Managing Director of Religare Enterprises Ltd, has been guiding the youths of India at multiple forums. With his immense knowledge of the market demands and golden success record, he can help in nurturing a good entrepreneurial culture in India that is imbibed with both the ethical and economical perspective at its core.

"This is the best time to be an entrepreneur in India as both the market and demand are on a rise. Innovative ideas, team spirit, practicality and ethical practice would go a long way," advises Sunil Godhwani to the young entrepreneurs. “Research and understanding your market is a must. Put in the hard work as starting a business is harder than working at a reputed firm,” he added.

Similarly, Nikesh Arora, CEO and chairman at Palo Alto Networks says, "Stay focused on effectively solving customer's problem. The money will come." As per Nikesh, most of the companies don't solve a problem or address the real need. Nikesh Arora was also the highest-paid executive in the world at SoftBank Corp. Thus, his customer-centric approach is quite unparalleled and very useful, if adopted well by the start-ups.

Alongside this, you must have heard of Ultratech Cement—biggest cement establishment in India. "Ghar hai aapki pehchaan, banaiye ise desh ke no.1 Cement se" is the famous tagline associated with the brand. But did you know that it does social work and development across 400 villages in the rural sector? With social and ethical responsibility at its premise, Ultratech cement focuses on education, healthcare and infrastructure of these villages.

"Business has a responsibility to give back to the community." Therefore, a business enterprise forms an important part of the society and it should cater to the needs and expectations of the society as well. A business or an industry must remain sensitive towards the local residents, environment and look forward to providing holistic solutions, which balance profit-making activities with the activities that benefit society.

The growth of internet and global market opportunities has given the much-needed impetus to the business sector. The present-day entrepreneur has it all: incubators, gurus, Venture Capital and Private Equity funds, and angel networks. The economic growth of a business is not restricted to itself but affects the society as a whole. All that needs to be done is to build a sustainable business model which has its genesis in ethics and social responsibility. An organization that protects and serves the interests of consumers, workers and community as a whole, would prosper well.