What are key problems of rural entrepreneurs in India
18th January, Mumbai: An insightful study conducted by Bhartiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) as a socio-economic initiative has given critical insights into the challenges of about 13,000+ rural and Semi-urban entrepreneurs, across 12 states of India. The total investment is approximately Rs. 600 crores. BYST provided support to around 2000 entrepreneurs in the previous financial year and banks disbursed around Rs. 110 crores highlighting the challenges they face while setting up their new business and not tapping the potential of Digital India.
The study, spread across 20 cities in 12 states concluded in December 2023. With a sample size of over 9000+ rural and semi-urban entrepreneurs on similar parameters, the study draws on some key assessments on challenges faced by the vulnerable grampreneurs®.
The survey reveals compelling insights into the hurdles that impede the establishment of businesses by Grampreneurs ®. The top challenges identified include navigating the complexities of managing and filing business taxes (43%), lack of awareness regarding the associated costs, time requirements, and minimum capital investment (43%), and a significant knowledge gap on Goods and Services Tax (GST) intricacies (28%).
Another significant finding that emerges in this survey highlights that while 60% Grampreneurs® embrace digital payment methods, and a mere 26% leverage e-commerce platforms, exposing a considerable gap in digital adoption. “The objective of this survey is to address the challenges that hinders the rural entrepreneurs to establish and run a sustainable enterprise while tapping the potential of digitization in the new age India. There is an urgent need to support and mentor these Grampreneurs® with a special and customized ease of doing business indicator, since they will be the key drivers of India’s economic growth. BYST has curated many customized programs to enable and empower rural entrepreneurs on their digital capabilities. It is time we moved past Unicorns and Decacorns and looked at Deep Bharat entrepreneurship”, says Ms Lakshmi Venkataraman Venkatesan, Founding & Managing Trustee, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST).
The study also highlighted that more than` 44% of women Grampreneurs® struggle while setting up their new businesses as compared to 36% of men. Only 13% women grassroot entrepreneurs are present on e-commerce network & 44% of them use digital payment applications in their businesses. “Women rural entrepreneurs need special skills and mentoring to become successful and sustainable MSME entrepreneurs. They should be equipped with the appropriate digital capabilities to penetrate their businesses in tier II and tier III markets”, she said.
The 9,000+ sample size was drawn from Faridabad and Gurugram (Haryana), Sikar (Rajasthan), Uddham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand), Rayagada and Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Telangana), Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), Pune, Aurangabad, Wardha, Satara, Karad, Sangli, Kolhapur (Maharashtra), and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).
The BYST mentored rural entrepreneurs have generated 64,125 direct and 256,500 indirect employment opportunities as of FY 2023. More than 98% of loan of BYST mentored entrepreneurs are regular in repayment, 1% repaying with some delay and only 0.92% are Non-Performing Assets.
Researchers through this survey feels that mentoring the viable business ideas of these rural entrepreneurs by policy makers, industry leaders and non-profits will help in turning these job seekers to job creators in the MSME value chain and to make them digitally ready.
