“Entrepreneurship Can Be Taught”

By Bipin Chandran

The Entrepreneur Development Institute (EDI), Ahmedabad, is at the forefront of providing education, training and research facilities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Here, Dinesh Awasthi, Director of EDI, discusses the growth of entrepreneurship in India, the hurdles, and the way out.

Entrepreneur (E): There is a lot of talk about entrepreneurship in India. Never before have we seen people so eager to start ventures. What, according to you, is the key driver for this?
Dinesh Awasthi (DA): You are absolutely correct. These are very exciting times. I think several key drivers are leading to this new thrust in entrepreneurship: a never-before economic growth; a more challenging mindset of the youth; new first-generation role models, such as Narayana Murthy and Sunil Mittal; the takeover of large companies abroad by Indian businessmen; a more liberal policy framework; and a general environment that celebrates the success of entrepreneurial initiatives. All these factors have boosted the confidence of the country’s youth. They dream big and achieve big. Never was it so in the history of Indian business.

However, a note of caution to this enthusiasm is the findings of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), which indicate that while India is at the top of the table with an Entrepreneurial Activity Index of 17.5—as compared to Japan, which is at the bottom with an Index of 2.5—the quality of Indian entrepreneurship is not very encouraging. It is dominated by necessity-driven entrepreneurial intents, rather than opportunity-driven ones.

E: What do you think are the main hurdles in the growth of entrepreneurship? How can they be overcome?
DA: The major hurdle I see is the lack of access to risk capital for first-generation powerhouses. The banking system remains conservative, and the venture capital market is still in its infancy. Hoards of brilliant but somewhat risky ideas get killed due to a lack of funds. The government is currently promoting innovations through facilitating the setting up of Technology Business Incubators in various engineering colleges, universities and centers of excellence, such as IIM-A, MICA, NID and IIT-B.

But a lot more needs to be done. For instance, while the Department of Science & Technology in India has set up around 50 incubators (which have seen decent success), China has promoted close to 800 technology business incubators, leading to surge of high-tech businesses in China. We need to do a lot more to facilitate the emergence and growth of first-generation entrepreneurs who are competent and globally competitive.

E: Can entrepreneurship be taught or is it an inbuilt quality?
DA: Entrepreneurship can be successfully taught, just like any other discipline. But the methodology and pedagogy has to be very different; it has to be very action-oriented. Today, international universities are offering full-fledged courses on entrepreneurship. The Harvard Business School, Sloan School of Management and the Babson College, U.S.A., are some of the reputed institutions that offer entrepreneurship programs.

Of late, management institutes in India, too, have woken up to the fact that entrepreneurship is a challenging option that presents opportunities galore. Prestigious institutions like the IIMs and the Indian School of Business (ISB) have already started offering entrepreneurship as an elective. It has now been proven that people aren’t necessarily born entrepreneurs; entrepreneurs can also be created through well-conceived training.

E: We’ve seen a number of people starting up, but failing to make it really big. What are the reasons for this?
DA: Setting up and running a business enterprise encompass multiple operations that demand certain competencies in the entrepreneur. In the absence of the right orientation, it becomes difficult for the entrepreneur to sustain the business. Moreover, if one becomes the CEO of an enterprise just by virtue of being born into that family, not on the basis of his/her aptitude, knowledge and competency, the chances are high of that business going bust. So, it is important that the successor have the right kind of knowledge and orientation before taking over the reins of the business.

E: What is your take on the future of entrepreneurship in India?
DA: [It will be] just amazing. The ‘90s belonged to managers; the early 21st century will belong to entrepreneurs. Without doubt, entrepreneurs are going to witness interesting and fruitful times in realizing their dreams. Optimism is in the air, opportunities are aplenty, and the killer instinct among the youth is abundant. All this makes it the most ideal time to take the big plunge. India is going to witness an unleashing of entrepreneurial spirit like never before.

E: How can entrepreneurship be further promoted in India? What is the best ecosystem for it?
DA: All that is needed is to facilitate the growth of entrepreneurship, unhindered. I strongly believe that the time has come to introduce entrepreneurship into the field of education, beginning at the secondary level. It’s a pity that we have all sorts of policies in India, but we have yet to develop a National Entrepreneurship Policy. It will also be worthwhile to think of setting up an Entrepreneurship Commission, if not a separate Ministry of Entrepreneurship, as in Malaysia.

Moreover, we need to promote innovations and facilitate the emergence of high-tech enterprises to remain global leaders. We need a more focused and well-crafted strategy to promote entrepreneurship education in engineering colleges and to set up incubators therein. Such an effort must be backed by providing these innovators access to startup funds or risk capital. Our financial institutions and banks will need to be more proactive in helping these efforts come to fruition. The media, too, will play a critical role in creating an environment in which entrepreneurship germinates and grows.

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Dinesh Awasthi, EDI, Entrepreneur Development Institute