Here is the video of an entrepreneur, Ryland Goldman, who is just 7 years old. He gets up early and bakes foods like biscotti, muffins and brownies. He buys coffee and juices from other sources, sets everything out on a folding table near the sidewalk in front of his school. On some days, he earns more than $100. He donates 50% of his net revenue to his school technology fund.
Last week, i visited a fund, which gives money to young entrepreneurs from small towns. One of the entrepreneur was making Chapatis for school and college canteen with his mother and family, and had approached the fund for financing roti making machine. Another entrepreneur,who was granted funds earlier, was making wax candles in a house in a tribal village. Another was making hats for Hotel Chefs in Mumbai's chawls. Another was making masalas and spices and selling it under his own brand. Another woman was making sweet packs of paper. The variety of entrepreneurship is astounding
In short entrepreneurship is flourishing. In India, as they say, the single biggest pool of employed women and men are these self-made entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs have learnt the art of entrepreneurship by 'jumping in the water' without learing to swim. They seem to grasp the business model automatically.
For instance the revenue part of business model. Like Rylan, they automatically sense where their customers are, what do they want, how much are they willing to pay. It was the same with that Chapati making entrepreneur. He knows his customers are company canteens, college canteens, and even hotels who want chapatis not for serving, but for feeding their staff. They also learn to align the delivery model. For instance, the chapati making entrepreneur exactly knew the cost of making the chapati to the individual elements: how much chapatis he makes from 1 kg of wheat, how much gas he needs to make 100 chapatis, how much oil he requires to keep the chapatis soft and so on. So when we talked about using a roti making machine, we knew what is the additional cost of making the roti and how much will he have to sell if he still has to earn money.
On the other hand, i also teach a short course of 'entrepreneurship' to ITI students ( 12 session course of 1 and half hour) who pass their ITI from the trade of plumbing, electrician, AC mechanic, or Four wheeler servicing. They have the right mindset of the entrepreneur, also gather the skill set of the trade, but lack the principles of entrepreneurship. They typically gain this understanding by working with someone and start their own self-owned enterprises. Some succeed and some fail. I meet many such entrepreneurs during the course of my coaching.
I either coach some of these hard working enthusiastic individuals to think like an entrepreneur, or i hone the skills some of these entrepreneurs by helping them articulate the learnt principles. In both the cases, i gain, because i take over some part of their energy, enthusiasm and hope which is contagious.
