Champions of Indian Entrepreneurship, Mentoring India’s Entrepreneurs
The immense opportunity presented by the large number of consumers in India has led to 2100 – 2500 enterprises being started in India per day and between 750-800 getting out of business or becoming dormant, as per a survey conducted by the India SME Forum and researched by SDRC India Advisors.
The survey has further revealed that challenges faced by all startups, micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, whether it is financial, sectoral, geographical or managerial are often quite common and so are the solutions that emerge from them. Most of the successful entrepreneurs either work hard at finding and applying solutions or are mentored either by a member of the family or one among their immediate friends and family circles.
A common link between the high death rate of small and medium enterprises in India, are the first generation entrepreneurs, who do not have adequate mentorship, access to industry or market best practices and are working in closed set ups, without access to successful entrepreneurs. These first generation entrepreneurs have a tough time in not only navigating business downturns, but also in enabling sustainable growth of their enterprise, leading to shutting down their enterprises. Unfortunately, most successful entrepreneurs too work in closed set ups, without sharing or divulging much about their business strategies and the hurdles faced; while taking the success curve. Discussions on setbacks and ways to circumvent them are often discouraged, in turn, discouraging assimilation and amplification of best business practices in the industry.
The India SME Forum has been at the forefront of demanding a radical change in the way business is perceived and is committed to a paradigm shift in the Indian mindset, towards the next generation of entrepreneurs and the entire MSME sector, India’s Second largest Employment provider. The forum, a non-profit organization, working closely with the Ministry of MSME has time and again, shown remarkable success through its persistent efforts to motivate and inspire upcoming entrepreneurs. India SME Forum strongly believes in a healthy discussion being a motivator and a positive sign for the ecosystem.
As part of their mission, the India SME Forum, shares best practices, information and knowledge, as well as seeks and recognizes emerging MSMEs. Recently, it organized a program that served as a platform for select start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs; to provide them with an opportunity to listen, interact, network and get mentored by successful entrepreneurs. The Successful Entrepreneurs being honoured as India’s Small Giants, were enterprises which have exhibited great success in leading their enterprises, creating much needed employment, enabling a sustainable ecosystem and catapulting their enterprise to the next stage, while navigating the inherent risks imminent with business.
As a part of their mission to motivate aspiring Entrepreneurs, a day long program “BUSINESS CLASS 2016” was organized on the 24th of June at the Rangsharda Auditorium in Mumbai, with support from Vodafone Business Services. The program comprised “6” Sectoral Panel Discussion Sessions of 45-60 minutes each, with top bureaucrats, experts and successful entrepreneurs as panelists. The event had over 800 participants, and a star guest mentor, renowned Brand Guru, Mr. Prahlad Kakar. The Honorable Minister of MSME, Shri Kalraj Mishra graced the ceremony, addressed the audience and felicitated ‘India’s Small Giants’ of 2016.
Mr. Ajay Sehgal, National Head, Small and Medium Enterprises at Vodafone Business Services, the principal partner of the event said, “Reiterating the commitments to Government’s vision of Digital India and Make in India, Vodafone has adopted an approach focusing on coverage, intelligence and automation to acquire market reach and serve the emerging businesses across India. To catalyze the growth of emerging enterprises the company has introduced Ready Business 2.0 – an integrated technology solutions approach that uses Vodafone’s suite of Total Communications solutions to provide answers to business problems, designed for making emerging businesses more agile towards taking on future challenges and responsive to customers. The association of Vodafone with “India’s Small Giants” is an effort, to further support emerging businesses and to enhance their productivity and business efficiencies in the right direction by respecting, recognizing and acknowledging India’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs who have created a legacy and ever-lasting impression on the minds of generations of future entrepreneurs.”
Mr. Shyamal Saxena, Head – Retail Banking India at Standard Chartered which supported the initiative said, “SMEs looking to expand their business, locally or internationally, need to tap into deep local knowledge and international network through the business-banking segment. As an international bank with footprints in Asia, Africa and Middle-East, Standard Chartered has always been committed to the SME space, striving to fulfill this need. As growing organizations, SMEs should be sufficiently protected so that an entrepreneur with a big idea and a right strategy is not affected by external uncertainties. Business protection features tailor-made insurance solutions and foreign exchange hedging strategies. With the right advice and risk- management solutions, SMEs can choose what works for their business.”
Mr. Vinod Kumar, Hon. President at the India SME Forum added that, “It has been the endeavor of India SME forum to be a catalyst in creating a world class entrepreneurship ecosystem in India and ‘Business Class 2016’ is yet another big step towards it. We aim to not only motivate and engage those in the audience but also take the learning from this to startups and entrepreneurs across India. “
India’s Small Giants, who are Trail Blazers, Innovators and Successful Entrepreneurs, having built their business with a lot of resilience, hard work from little or no money, to turnovers of upwards of Rs. 500 Crores are:
Mrs. Sarita Sarvria, Express House Keeper
Mrs. Smita Naram, Ayushakti Ayurved
Ms. Jyoti Garg, Garlico Industries
Mrs. Manisha Dhatrak, Varun Agro
Rajiv Mitra, Govind Milk & Milk Products
Umesh Kumar Sharma, Mantras Green Resources
Pratap Singh G. Deshmukh, Pratap Organics
Pankaj Narula, SNG India
Sudhir Gupta, Advance Hydrau Tech
Dr. Giridhar Thota, Shodhana Laboratories
Vijendra Babu N, Micro Plastics
Vinod Kumar Dutt, Chanakya Dairy Products
Sanchit Gupta, Swati Menthol and Allied Chemicals
Vibhash Trivedi, Kanoovi Foods
Sanjay Bahety, I&B Engineers
PC Musthafa, ID Fresh Foods (India)
Arun Prakash, Genetix Biotech Asia
Piyush Todi, Coast Liners
Shukanto Ghosh, Sparklet Engineers
Ajay Sood, Kumar Exports
Vikalp Mundra, Ujaas Energy
Binod Kumar Maheswari, Creative Polypack
Amitesh Singh, Suman Forwarding Agency
Rajesh Sharma, LTC Commercial Company
Niraj Desai, Nish Techno Projects
Arvind Agrawal, AICL Communications
Milind Kelkar, Grind Master Machines
Rajiv Jain, Deesha Trade Endeavours
Ashish Sheth,Sarjak Container Lines
Shrish Agrawal, A1 Future Technologies
Anil Vyas & Alex Fernandes, Alice Pharma
Dhirendra Vora, Advance Syntex
Prasad Rodagi, Altem Technologies
Devrai Manjunath Sheregar, Devu Tools
Prakash Hari Ramanii, Ramani Ice Cream Co.
Amit Mehra, Medico Electrodes International
Chandrakant Contractor, Saurashtra Enviro Projects
Prasanna Patwardhan, Prasanna Purple Mob. Sol.
Dr. Trimbakrao T.Patil, Mahafeed Speciality Fert.
Manesh Agarwal, Bankey Bihari Ji Food Products
Information on the stories of each of the Successful Entrepreneurs can be found here:
http://bclass.indiasmeforum.org/Panelists.htm
Chief Guest:
Shri. Kalraj Mishra, Hon’ble Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Special Guest Mentor: Prahlad Kakar, Brand Guru
Experts, Guest Mentors & Venture Investors :
Dr. J. S. Juneja, Former CMD NSIC
Sh. T. R. Bajalia, Former DMD, SIDBI
Swarup Beria, Principal, Omnivore Partners
Nirmesh Prakash, Founder Member, Ambit Pragma Ventures
Rakesh Sony, Director, Proterra Investment Advisors
Hemendra Mathur, Former MD SEAF & Venture Capitalist
Vinod Kumar, Mg. Partner, SDRC India Advisors
Firdaus Mogul, Founder, Infinia Corporate Solutions
