SUCCESS MANTRA OF FEW INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS

Introduction:

The concept of Entrepreneurship was coined by French Economist, Richard Cantillion

in 1734 who defined Entrepreneurs as non fixed income earners who pay known costs of

production but earn uncertain incomes”. After Richard Cantillion many economists and scholars

including Adam smith, Jean Baptiste Say, Alfred Marshall and Frank Knight elaborated the

concept of entrepreneurship by adding leadership and innovation.

Nain Ahmed and Richard Seymour in their study on entrepreneurship in OECD

countries defined entrepreneurial activity as creating new businesses. Entrepreneurship for them

means difference in doing things that are not done in ordinary businesses. There should be some

sort of difference either in production process, methods, practices and implementation

techniques. There are around four types of entrepreneurship concepts exist in the economy as

socio-entrepreneurs, techno-entrepreneurs, corporate entrepreneurs and business entrepreneurs.

Generally speaking entrepreneurship is the vibrant process of creating incremental wealth. This

wealth is created by individuals who assume the major risks in terms of equity, time, and/or

career commitment of providing value for some product or service.

At present Entrepreneurs are implied as qualities of leadership, initiative and creativity,

innovation in manufacturing, delivery and services. Entrepreneurship today is considered as an

important factor in economic growth. Study by Audretsch and Keilbach (2003) reveal that

there is a positive correlation between economic growth and entrepreneurship.

There are so many factors that affect the entrepreneur’s success in an economy: social,

political, cultural, economic, administrative, legal, personal background and etc.; Francois (2013)

says that based on previous studies cultural factors are more dominant for Indian entrepreneurs...

The success factors of Indian entrepreneurs vary from person to person but there will be some

common success factors.

Scope for Future study:

Entrepreneurship development has attained importance past years. Now a day’s colleges

educational institution are opening entrepreneurial cell in their institutes for developing

entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial spirit during the education. By making entrepreneurial spirit in

the education itself the youngsters are ready to start enterprise with that information they are

going to succeed. The present study had a future scope of taking all the successful entrepreneurs

into consideration and listing the success factors of Indian Entrepreneurs.

Objectives of the Study:

The main objective of the study is to find the background history of Indian entrepreneurs

and by that framing the success factors from the successful Indian entrepreneurs. By this the

noted factors will be referred as common success factors for Indian entrepreneurs.

Factors affecting Entrepreneurship:

Based on their field of interest like manufacturing and service sectors the factors affecting

entrepreneurs differs. The type of industry and the industrial differences also affect

entrepreneurial performance, and people in knowledge industry have high propensity to access

information which leads to business performance in terms of market size and growth (Shane,

2003). The attributes of entrepreneurs are regarded in entrepreneurial activity (Hisrich , Peters &

Shepherd, 2008, North 1990). Some of the factors include age and education, type of

employment, type of industry, type of company, financial background and work experience

(Harrison & Mason, 2007; Peter, 2001; Okpukpara, 2009). Kuzilwa (2005), Shastri & Sinha,

(2010) argued that though all conditions for exploiting entrepreneurial opportunity such as

education, experience, and energy exist, but the environmental constraints such as lack of credit,

and societal discriminations especially in developing countries, may hinder the entrepreneur.

Wit and Van (1989) says that individuals with a high level of education are more likely to

engage in entrepreneurship. Attitude towards risk-taking is entrepreneur’s ability and willingness

to engage in risky activity (Shane, 2003). Studies have found that attitude and behavioural

intention are positively related (Crisp & Turner, 2007) and that attitude towards behaviour leads

to intention which eventually leads to actual behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). The need for achievement

and autonomy, risk-taking, control of business and self-efficacy are other vital characteristics of

women entrepreneurs (Shane, 2003). Innovation and decision-making ability are other

characteristics (Cunha, 2007). Ambition, self-confidence and high level of energy have also been

recognized as vital entrepreneurial characteristics (Idris & Mahmood, 2003). Gender-related

discriminations, especially in developing countries, occasioned by socio-cultural factors also

pose hindrance to women entrepreneurial activity (Otero, 1999). Such discriminations are in the

area of distribution of social wealth such as education and health (May, 2007; Mayoux, 1999;

Otero, 1999; Porter & Nagarajan 2005; Roomi & Parrot, 2008). The business environment

factors pose a lot of challenges to business because they are outside the control of the business

owner. Such environmental constraints which are sometimes volatile include the economic,

financial, legal, political and socio-cultural factors. These factors play a greater role in

entrepreneurial activity because, despite the possession of the requisite personal entrepreneurial

characteristics such as education, right attitude to risk, motivation, energy and working

experience; the environment may hinder women entrepreneurs from exploiting entrepreneurial

opportunities (Shastri & Sinha, 2010; Vob & Muller, 2009). Determinants of entrepreneurial

performance in terms of factors identified by Ahmad and Hoffmann (2008): regulatory

framework, access to capital, access to R&D and technology, capabilities, market conditions, and

culture. Salman (2009) also argued that loan is not usually good for business start-up but for

growing or existing enterprises due to inability of the new business to pay back the loan at the

initial business stage.

Evolution of Indian Entrepreneurship:

In the pre colonial times the Indian trade and business was at its peak. Indians were experts in

smelting of metals such as brass and tin. Kanishka Empire in the 1st century started promoting

Indian entrepreneurs and traders. India established its relationship with Roman Empire in

1600AD. A region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was

identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.

Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and

colonized by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became an

independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by widespread

nonviolent resistance. It has the world's twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and

the fourth largest in purchasing power.

Economic reforms since 1991 have transformed it into one of the fastest growing economies

however, it still suffers from high levels of poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition. For an entire

generation from the 1950s until the 1980s, India followed socialist-inspired policies. The

economy was shackled by extensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, leading to

pervasive corruption and slow growth. Since 1991, the nation has moved towards a market-based

system and there is a lot of scope for development in each and every sector. Entrepreneurship

was given an important role for the economic development and for generating the employment

rate.

Indian Entrepreneurship:

Indian Entrepreneurship past and present has been written by Prof. Valentina

Chernovskaya, a Russian historian and has been translated into English by Susmita Bhattacharya.

Before Post liberalization in the 16th century industrial risk was originated and its origin takes

place from caste, community and family demarcation is more prevalent.

Till the beginning of the British, the business community didn’t enjoy a position and

viewed as a greedy and miserly. During the post independence period, 1947-1991, the public

sector commanded the economy and contributed to the rapid industrialization. After this period

the private sector came into force and started earning their business.

India started industrial regulation in the early 1970s. Trade liberalization began in the

late 1970s and the pace of reform picked up significantly in the mid-1980s (Panagariya, 2005).

Indian entrepreneurship, however, got a big boost following the 1991 economic liberalization,

which transformed India’s entrepreneurial landscape. The 1991 economic reform has

undoubtedly facilitated and stimulated entrepreneurship in India. The impact on the broad

economy is, however, barely noticeable.

In 1991, India began a process of economic liberalization, including new economic

policies with a specific focus on fiscal, structural, and industrial reform. Among the structural

reforms was the abolition of archaic industrial licensing policies and a quota system, both of

which had inhibited market entry. The removal of these barriers was chiefly intended to increase

private investment and expand entrepreneurial opportunities (Ahluwalia 2005).

The country falls behind many other developing economies on important indicators

related to entrepreneurial activities. For instance, in terms of high-expectation business launchers

per capita, India underperforms Brazil (Lewis, 2007). On the World Economic Forum’s

competitiveness index, India ranked 49th in 2009. In 2009, 47 Indian companies were included

in Forbes’ Global 2000 list of the world's biggest companies (DeCarlo, 2009).

An indiatimes.com article quoted an expert on entrepreneurship in India:

“Entrepreneurship in India was restricted to the privileged few that were traditionally rich.

Entrepreneurship was only transferred to the second generation [of the same family]

(Venkatraman, 2010).

The country has also achieved positive societal changes. For instance, Indian divisions of

some leading financial institutions such as HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland,

UBS and Fidelity International were headed by women. Women also accounted for about half of

the deputy governors at the Reserve Bank of India (Wadhwa, 2010a).

Some of the Definitions of Entrepreneurship from Researchers:

Richard Cantillon (1755-1931): Entrepreneurs buy at certain prices in the present and sell at

uncertain prices in the future. The entrepreneur is a bearer of uncertainty.

Knight (1921): Entrepreneurs attempt to predict and act upon change within markets. The

entrepreneur bears the uncertainty of market dynamics.

Penrose (1959, 1980): Entrepreneurial activity involves identifying opportunities within the

economic system.

Peter Drucker (1985): Entrepreneurship is the act of innovation involving endowing existing

resources with new wealth-producing capacity.

Kuratko & Hodgetts (1998): Entrepreneurship involves seizing opportunities and converting

these opportunities into workable/marketable ideas, adding value through time, effort, money or

skills; assuming the risk of the competitive marketplace to implement these ideas and realizing

the rewards from these efforts.

Shane & Venkataraman (2000): The field of entrepreneurship involves the study of sources of

opportunities; the processes of discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities; and the

set of individuals who discover, evaluate, and exploit them.

Research Methodology:

Research Design considered here is exploratory type using case study approach. The information

is gathered using Interviews from successful entrepreneurs. The Interviews are taken from Azim

premji, Kunal Bahl, Ekta Kapoor, Kiran Muzumdar Shaw. From these interviews the success

factors are identified and are listed below.

INTERVIEWS FROM INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS:

INTERVIEW FROM AZIM PREMJI:

“Character is one factor that will guide all our actions and decisions. We invested in uncompromising integrity that helped us take difficult stands in some of the most difficult business situations.”

Azim Premji has led Wipro since 1966. He has received many honours and accolades

throughout his career: business week listed him among the top 30 entrepreneurs in world history

in July 2007; in April 2004, Time listed him as one among the 100 most influential people in the

world; he was named by Fortune as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the

U.S. in August 2003; Forbes listed him as one of 10 people globally who have the most “power

to effect change” in March 2003; and he was adjudged as the Business Leader of the Year 2004

by the economic times. He is a non-executive Director on the Board of the Reserve Bank of

India. He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry in India.

Premji established the Azim Premji Foundation, which in October2006, was recognized as the

Corporate Citizen of the Year by the economic times. Premji has a degree in Electrical

Engineering from Stanford University.

Interviews reveal that Wipro’s leaders realized that it could provide quality programming

not just to the technology companies but also a wide range of western firms. These organizations

were unlikely to entrust an unknown Indian outfit with strategic work, so I and my colleagues

strove to gain credibility by aggressively perusing international standards. Azim premji says that

WIPRO drew it’s competitive advantage from other Indian IT service providers are in five as

Technological excellence, Innovation solutions, operational excellence, A Global footprint with

emerging market knowledge, A company culture of linking values to company performance.

Azim Premji says that in the 37 convocation of IIT Delhi on August 12, 2006 that success from

failure, willing to learn, always a better way, respond not react, play to win, give back the

society. I was More optimistic not far more optimistic. Yes, its cautious optimism at the same

time. We have forged key alliances with technology majors and are together taking technology

solutions to the market. Our differentiation comes from our strong presence in the emerging

markets and more so in our home base of India. We have pioneered the quality and process

excellence journey, which have become the pillars of the global delivery model. Our priority is

to continuously reinvent Wipro to create value for its customers. We want to innovate

continuously and set the agenda for the industry.

INTERVIEW FROM KUNAL BAHL:

Kunal is the co-founder and CEO of Jasper, India’s largest couponing company which

runs the leading group buying portal in India, SnapDeal.com. Since the inception of the company

in 2008, Jasper is now a 300 member strong organization with operations in 30 cities and 5

countries, and leads the way in building consumer services centered on couponing in a culture

obsessed with deals. Previously, Kunal co-founded a detergent company in the US while at

college which now sells products in 3000 stores in the US and was featured on Oprah, Wall

Street Journal and The New York Times. He has also worked at companies such as Deloitte

Consulting and Microsoft in the US.

I and my co-founder, Rohit, went to high school together. We had no capital when we

started. We had no family contacts. We had good academic backgrounds, but we had a grand

total of 18 months of work experience between the two of us when we started. So we had very

few things going for us other than the fact that we were just blindly optimistic about the

opportunity.

Initially the company was a lot of cold calling and cold emailing. We would literally just

sit outside merchants and retailer waiting for them to get into office so that we could catch them

then, or waiting for them to leave office so that we could catch them then because nobody

wanted to talk to two young guys with a laptop. They’re used to dealing with larger companies in

India. In India, unfortunately, we are in a culture where it’s changing very fast but still, a lot of

people feel wisdom comes with age. And that’s why we always have a 70-year-old prime

minister. But I think that’s changing very fast.

So one was just brute force approach. When you have nothing to show no product, no

customers, nothing you have to do something. You have to sell your dream. But over a period of

time, life got simpler. And one more thing is the market opportunity raises the entrepreneurs to

take that opportunity. Here for us the Indian market provided an opportunity and with technology

support we made all this success.

INTERVIEW FROM KIRAN MUZAMDAR SHAW:

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was born on March3 1953 is an Indian Entrepreneur. She is the

chairman and managing director of Biocon Limited, a biotechnology company and currently

a=she was chairperson of IIM-Bangalore. She is on the Forbes list of the world’s 100 most

powerful women, financial times as top 50 women in business list and she was recently listed in

times Magazine.

Her belief is that healthcare needs can only be met with affordable innovation has been the

driving philosophy that has helped Biocon manufacture and market drugs cost-effectively. She

liked the innovation model and thinking that brought to Biocon and funded multi-year research

at Indian school of management by creating Biocon Cell for Innovation Management as part

of centre for leadership innovation and change. The Success mantra Listen to the little drummer

in you who keeps saying break free, become large, build something memorable. Strategy

Leadership is about approaching opportunity through strategy. She believes motivations as one

success factor as by Motivating Oneself and by motivating others.

My small dream when I started was about starting a biotech company which was a

pioneering concept. It was about running an R&D based business. I was excited about that as a

scientist. I didn't know what was in store because I had nothing to benchmark myself against.

When you are a pioneer, you don't know how big it can grow. So, when you start off, your

dreams are very small. It is like, 'let me start a new sector based on biotech and R&D and see

how big I can make this business'. With her leadership traits her leadership, Biocon is building

cutting-edge capabilities, global credibility and global scale in its manufacturing and marketing

activities. It has Asia's largest insulin and statin facilities also the largest perfusion-based

antibody production facilities.

INTERVIEW FROM EKTA KAPOOR:

Ekta Kapoor serves as a Creative Director and Director of Balaji Telefilms Ltd. Ms.

Kapoor commenced her career as a producer and creative director at the age of 19. Her work has

comprised entertainment landmarks in India. She is actively involved in concept building, script

design and creative conversion. Ms. Kapoor was selected as one of Asia‘s malaji Telefilms

Limited is one of the most successful media companies and the largest fiction based television

content provider in India.

The company is primarily engaged in the production of television software in Hindi,

Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. Balaji Telefilms Limited has been promoted by actor

Jeetendra, Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor and has to its credit many successful serial most

powerful communicators by the Asia Week magazine.

She has been identical with the rage of soap operas in Indian TV. Ekta with his

innovative and creative thinking made the television viewers to be completely attached to the

daily serials. The market study of entertainment and media helped her to know the customers

point. Ekta always profound to take risk when her father said to produce the serial she take the

risk as an opportunity and started her career now she was a successful entrepreneur.

Based on the above discussions that the success factors depends mostly on the following

things in common as Technology, Innovation, Creativity, Market opportunity, self- confidence,

trust and uniqueness. These success factors reveals that entrepreneurs should have some common

traits and those make them to be successful in the world.

Limitations of the study:

The present study is confined to few successful Indian Entrepreneurs and the

generalizations of the findings requires larger sample of Entrepreneurs. The study was confined

to limited time duration.

Conclusion:

After post liberalization the importance for entrepreneurship growth has increased and this

made the entrepreneur spirit development in the economy. The success factors for the Indian

entrepreneurs are different for one to one. Based on the field of industry their core factors differs

and some common factors like technology, innovation, creativity, trust, market opportunity,

uniqueness and self-confidence.

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