2015 – Solved Question Paper | Entrepreneurship Development | Previous Year – Masters of Commerce (M.Com) | Dibrugarh University

2015

COMMERCE

Course: 104

(Entrepreneurship Development)

Full Marks: 80

Time: 3 hours

The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions.

1. (a) With the help of examples, explain the term entrepreneur and entrepreneurship.

-> An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures.

Entrepreneur play a key role in any economy, using the skills and initiative necessary to anticipate needs and bring good new ideas to market. Entrepreneur who proves to be successful in taking on the risks of a start-up are rewarded with profits, fame, and continued growth opportunities. Those who fail suffer losses and became less prevalent in the markets.

TYPES OF ENTREPRENEUR

Based on the types of business:

1) Trading Entrepreneur– As the name itself suggests, the trading entrepreneur undertakes the trading activities. They procure the finished products from the manufacturers and sell these to the customers directly or through the retailer. These serve as the middlemen as wholesalers, dealers, and retailers between the manufacturers and customers.

2) Manufacturing Entrepreneur– The manufacturing entrepreneurs manufacture products. They identify the needs of the customers and, then, explore the resources and technology to be used to manufacture the products to satisfy the customers’ needs. In other words, the manufacturing entrepreneurs convert raw materials into finished products.

3) Agricultural Entrepreneur– The entrepreneurs who undertake agricultural pursuits are called agricultural entrepreneurs. They cover a wide spectrum of agricultural activities like cultivation, marketing of agricultural produce, irrigation, mechanization, and technology.

Based on the use of technology:

1) Technical Entrepreneur– The entrepreneur who establish and run science and technology-based industries are called ‘technical entrepreneur.’ These are the entrepreneurs who make use of science and technology in their enterprises. Expectedly, they use new and innovative methods of production in their enterprises.

2) Non-Technical Entrepreneur– Based on the use of technology, the entrepreneurs who are not technical entrepreneurs are non-technical entrepreneurs. They are concerned with the use of alternative and imitative methods of marketing and distribution strategies to make their business survive thrive in the competitive market.

Based on ownership:

1) Private Entrepreneur– A private entrepreneur is one who is an individual sets up a business enterprise. He/she it’s the sole owner of the enterprise and bears the entire risk involved in it.

2) State Entrepreneur– When the trading or industrial venture is undertaken by the state or the government, it is called ‘state entrepreneur.’

3) Joint Entrepreneur– When a private entrepreneur and the government jointly run a business enterprise, it is called ‘joint entrepreneurs.’

Based on Gender:

1) Men Entrepreneurs– When business enterprises are owned, controlled, and managed by men, these are called ‘men entrepreneurs.’

2) Women Entrepreneurs– Women entrepreneurs are defined as the enterprises owned and controlled by a woman or women having a minimum financial interest of 51 per cent of employment generated in the enterprises to women.

Based on the Size of enterprise:

1) Small-Scale Entrepreneur– An entrepreneur who has made investment in plant and machinery up to Rs 1.00 crore is called ‘small-scale entrepreneur.’

2) Medium-Scale Entrepreneur: The entrepreneur who has made investment in plant and machinery above 1.00 crore but below Rs. 5.00 crore is called ‘medium-scale entrepreneur.’

3) Large-Scale Entrepreneurs: The entrepreneur who has made investment in plant and machinery more than Rs 5.00 crore is called ‘large-scale entrepreneur.’

CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTERPRENEUR

1. Self-Motivation- One of the most important traits of entrepreneurs is self-motivation. When you want to succeed, you need to be able to push yourself. You aren’t answerable to anyone else as an entrepreneur, and that sometimes means that it’s hard to get moving without anyone to make you. You need to be dedicated to your plan and keep moving forward- even if you aren’t receiving an immediate pay check.

2. Understand what you offer – As an entrepreneur, you need to know what you offer, and how it fits into the market. Whether its product or a service, you need to know where you fit in. This also includes knowing whether you are high end, middle of the road or bargain. Being able to position you and then adjust as needed is an important part of entrepreneurship.

3. Take Risks- Successful entrepreneurs know that sometimes it’s important to take risks. Playing it safe almost never leads to success as a business owner. It’s not about taking just any risk, though. Understanding calculated risks that are more likely to pay off is an important part of being an entrepreneur. You’ll need to be willing to take a few risks to succeed.

4. Know How to Network- Knowing how to network is an important part of entrepreneurship. Sometimes who you know is an important part of success. Being able to connect with others and recognize partnership opportunities can take you a long way as a business owner. Figure out where to go for networking opportunities and make it a point to learn how to be effective.

5. Basic Money Management Skills and Knowledge – We often think of successful entrepreneurs as “ big pictures” people who don’t worry so much about managing the day to day. And it’s true that you might have an accountant or other team members to help you manage the business. However, if you want to be successful, you still have basic money management skills and knowledge. Understand how money works so that you know where you stand, and so that you run your business on sound principles.

6. Flexibility – To a certain degree, you need to be flexible as an entrepreneur. Be willing to change as needed. Stay on top of your industry and be ready to adopt changes in processes and product as they are needed. Sometimes, you also need flexibility in your thinking. This is an essential part of problem-solving. You want to be able find unique and effective solutions to issues.

7. Passion- Finally, successful entrepreneurs are passionate. They feel deeply about their product or service or mission. Passion is what will help you find motivation when you are discouraged and it will drive you forward. Passion is fuel for successful entrepreneurship. There are many serial entrepreneurs that create successful businesses, sell them, and then create something else.

Entrepreneurship

The process of launching, developing and running a business venture along with its financial risks is called entrepreneurship. In simple terms, it is willingness to launch a new business venture. It is very important for the economic development of the expanding global marketplace. A person who undertakes entrepreneurship is called an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship has been described as the “capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks to make a profit.” While definitions of entrepreneurship typically focus on the launching and running of businesses, due to high risks involved in launching a start-up, a significant proportion of start-up businesses have to close due to “lack of funding, bad business decision, an economic crisis, lack of market demand, or a combination of all of these.”

TYPES OF ENTREPRENUERSHIP

1) Administrative Entrepreneurship- The entrepreneurial activity under this category is centred on administrative techniques and functions. It gives a new option to handle prevailing or future situations in a more effective way that provides advantages and a competitive edge. Total quality management, job redesigning, new techniques of doing things, participative management or management by consensus are a few of the examples of administrative entrepreneurship that increase overall organizational efficiency and that makes the firm successful and sustainable in the competitive market environment.

2) Opportunistic Entrepreneurship– It is the best characteristics of entrepreneurship. Environmental changes always offer new opportunities. But everybody is not equally capable of identifying and to utilize that opportunity on time. The entrepreneurship that identifies exploits and executes that opportunity in the first hand regarded as opportunistic entrepreneurship.

3) Acquisitive Entrepreneurship– The entrepreneurship that learns from other competencies is acquisitive entrepreneurship. It acquires something new of value front, the competitive environment or achieves the competitor’s technical capacities. It keeps entrepreneurship sustainable in a competitive environment. The failure never restraints them from acquisition but motivates them further to discover such a thing with a new visitor.

4) Imitative Entrepreneurship– The entrepreneurship that imitates a good or service operating in the market under a franchise agreement is the imitative entrepreneurship. It is the medium that spread technology over the world. It adopts an existing technology with minor modifications appropriate to the local condition.

5) Private Entrepreneurship– The entrepreneurship that is initiated under the private sector is private entrepreneurship. The government gives various support services through private and public concerns that encourage private initiative in taking entrepreneurial ventures. A mutual relationship between private and public sectors would make economic development speedy and balanced.

6) Public Entrepreneurship– The entrepreneurship that is undertaken by the government through its various development agencies is public entrepreneurship. All countries, developed or underdeveloped, take a public initiative in venture ideas to fulfil the initial deficiency of private entrepreneurs.

7) Individual Entrepreneurship– The entrepreneurship that is undertaken by an individual or a family with the personal initiative is individual entrepreneurship.

8) Mass Entrepreneurship– This type of entrepreneurship emerges in an economy where a favourable climate of motivation and encouragement exists for developing a wide range of entrepreneurship among general mass is mass entrepreneurship. It increases small and medium enterprises in a country.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTERPRENEURSHIP

·Process: Entrepreneurship is a systematic, purposeful, creative and continuous process, which an entrepreneur undertakes to run the business smoothly.

·Innovation: Innovation is the key feature of the entrepreneurship, which creates a difference in the market place. Indeed, it helps the enterprise to introduce the product quickly, as there is hardly any company which selling the product in the market.

·Development of Network: Developing strong connections with the parties such as suppliers, distributors, banks, debtors, creditors and many more, which are directly or indirectly related with the business process, to have a good worth, in the market.

·Profit potential: Profit is something that keeps the organization going; in fact, it acts as a motivation for the entrepreneurs, to do better than before. So, before taking any decision regarding the enterprise, priority is given to the profit potential, i.e. while taking any step further, the entrepreneur identifies whether it is profitable or not.

·Forecasting of Market Trends and future possibilities: The entrepreneur has to keep a close watch on the market trends and future demands so that the enterprise could continuously work to improve the products or service offered, and grow further.

Example of Entrepreneurs/Entrepreneurship:

· Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. There are probably not many people that have not been touched by one of his products, such as Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.

· Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple computers, which produce Macs, iPods and iPhones, as well as Apple TV.

· Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.

• Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay.

· Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, a well-known online news site.

· Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flikr, which hosts images and videos on the internet.

(b) With the help of example show the differences between an entrepreneur and an enterprise.

-> According to the classical economist, entrepreneur is one who provides the fourth factor of production, namely ‘enterprise’. As the fourth factor, it assembles, co-ordinates and managers the other factors namely land, labour and capital. Enterprise may be defines as an undertaking or adventure involving uncertainty and risk and requiring innovation. It also refers to the ability to think out and start new business. Just a family is the basic unit for social organisation; enterprise is the basic unit for economic organisation. It interacts with other unit in the economic e.g., industry, financial institution and others. It obtains factors of production for the society and supplies the finish product to the society. Enterprise serves as the framework within which decisions concerning what to produce, how to produce, when to produce and how to produce are taken by the owner or manager. Development is the aggregate result of the afford made in individual enterprises.

The essential features of an enterprise are as follows:

1. An enterprise consist of people who work together primarily for the purpose of making or selling a product a service. Production for self consumption and non business organisation. For e.g., trade associations providing economically valuable services are not enterprise, whether public or private, large or small exists in order to a product a service that other consume and pay for it.

2. An enterprise utilises raw material, machinery, energy, space and other input to produce or sell. It has to incur cost on the procurement of this input.

3. Every enterprise makes a comparison between its cost and gains. Therefore its management must be sufficient autonomy to take appropriate actions to maintain and improve the success of the enterprise.

4. An enterprise is a continuing entity. It is not an ad hoc effort to produce a single product but rather a recurring effort to produce a stream of products. Some firm may go out of the business after a single transaction. But this is due to failure of management or unforeseen condition and not a planned or desired outcome.

2(a) Explain the theory of invisible cost.

-> The Invisible cost or the Transaction cost was created by Ronald Coase. Transaction cost refers to the cost of providing for some good or service through the market rather than having it provided from within the firm. Ronald Coase describes in his article “The problem of Social Cost” the transaction costs he is concerned with:

In order to carry out a market transaction it is necessary to discover who it is that one wishes to deal with, to conduct negotiations leading up to a bargain, to draw up the contract, to undertake the inspection needed to make sure that the terms of the contract are being observed, and so on.

Invisible or Transaction costs can be divided into three broad categories:

• Search and information costs are costs such as in determining that the required good is available on the market, which has the lowest price, etc.
• Bargaining and decision costs are the costs required to come to an acceptable agreement with the other party to the transaction, drawing up an appropriate contract and so on.
• Policing and enforcement costs are the costs of making sure the other party sticks to the terms of the contract, and taking appropriate action if this turns out not to be the case.
• Ronald Coase contends that without taking into account transaction costs it is impossible to understand properly the working of the economic system and have a sound basis for establishing economic policy.

The Nature of the Firm (1937) by Ronald Coase:

Ronald Coase observes that market prices govern the relationship between firms but within a firm decision are made on a basis different from maximizing profit subject market prices. Within the firm decisions are made on through entrepreneurial coordination. There are a great variety of arrangements in producing goods. In agriculture often most of the labour force works on a day-to-day basis. In other industries the labour force may be permanent, tied to the firm with long-term contracts. Repair services in some firms may be supplied by an internal organization; in others it is provided by specialized firms from outside. A firm is a system of long-term contracts that emerge when short-term contracts are unsatisfactory.

The unsuitability of short term contracts arises from the costs collecting information and the costs negotiating contracts. This leads to long term contracts in which the remuneration is specified for the contracted in return for obeying, within limits, the direction of the entrepreneur.

Coase notes that the economic theory of the production level of a plant in the short run and long run are well worked out, but the theory of the size of the firm is not well developed. This is clear in the matter of acquisition of companies by other companies.

Ronald Coase gives the origin of the Nature of the Firm as a course in the organization of the business unit which he taught in 1932. He noted that there are inconveniences of market transaction, but it transactions are not governed by the price system there has to be an organization. The object of a business organization is to reproduce the conditions of a competitive market for the factors of production within the firm at a lower cost than the actual market. But if an organization exists to reduce costs then why are there any market transactions at all? Coase gave two reasons:

· The costs of organizing additional transactions rise with scale and are equated with the costs of additional market transactions;

· The organization of bigger firms may not reproduce the effects of market conditions.

Ronald Coase best describes the relationship between internal and external transaction costs and activity of firms: Every company will expand as long as the company’s activities can be performed cheaper within the company. For example, if there is a risk of environment uncertainty, external transaction costs will increase. Consequently, a company will be more eager to keep its economic activity internal. There will be fewer contracts with suppliers and less external meetings and supervision.

Oliver Williamson adds that a transaction costs occurs “when a good or a service is transferred across a technologically separable interface.” He also states that critical dimensions for transactions are 1) uncertainty, 2) frequency and 3) degree of durability. This reflects the initial idea proposed by Coase. In addition to certainty, manager needs to know the potential future outcomes of a decision. The easiest way to understand this theory is to create an example. Imagine that you want to outsource marketing activity to another company. You need to make a decision. Normally you would base your decision based solely on calculations. However, according to Coase, a good manager needs to take into account bureaucratic costs of your company. When the transaction costs of monitoring another company are lower than the bureaucratic costs of your company, you will decide to outsource the activity to the environment.

Invisible or Transaction cost Economists:

Economists Ronald Coase and Oliver Williamson are credited for introducing and popularizing the concept of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). The TCE theory explains the need for companies in a market. If markets operated in a perfect world, companies would not be needed, as market forces would provide the coordination and incentives needed for production activities.

However, in a real market, companies exist with hierarchies and exercise authority that allocates resources efficiently. Markets, on the other hand, use their bargaining power to allocate resources. The TCE theory states that a hierarchy can allocate resources more effectively, or efficiently, than a market due to imperfect information and bounded rationally.

(b) Explain five traits an entrepreneur should have with the help of a case study.

-> An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures.

Entrepreneur play a key role in any economy, using the skills and initiative necessary to anticipate needs and bring good new ideas to market. Entrepreneur who proves to be successful in taking on the risks of a start-up are rewarded with profits, fame, and continued growth opportunities. Those who fail suffer losses and became less prevalent in the markets. So, an entrepreneur is:

• A beginner in the market, who has something new to offer to society and starts right from scratch to establish and run the enterprise.
• An innovator, who has a thought-provoking idea or concept in his/her mind, that has the capability to lead the marketplace.
• A developer, who develops a business model, to give shape to the idea.
• A leader, who provides guidance and support to his/her men, to work in a specific direction or change the same so as to achieve the target.
• An incharge who is accountable and responsible for the success or failure of the venture, for the decision made by him/her.
• A promoter, who takes all the relevant steps to turn the dream into reality.
• A forecaster , who foresees, future opportunities and threats which can affect the venture, possibility or negatively.
• A risk-taker, who has the ability to anticipate the risk in the future moves, and take the risk, if they are beneficial to the enterprise.

Five traits of Entrepreneurs

1. Passion – Entrepreneurs aren’t in it for the money. While that may be an added bonus, the true benefit is doing what they love. Building a business takes a lot of time and effort. It means putting in longer hours and doing extra work. If you don’t love what you do, you’re not going to want to do what it takes to achieve success.

Entrepreneurs aren’t afraid of hard work because they are so focused on their dream and their vision. They don’t give up when a challenge arises. They stick with their passion and see it through. As Steve Jobs once said, according to the Smithsonian Institution , “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

2. Motivation – Entrepreneurs are dedicated to their work. They aren’t reliant on a manager or colleague to push them toward their goals or to get their work done. Their drive comes from within and allows them to motivate others in turn.

In his book, “ Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t ,” motivational speaker Simon Sinek writes, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Entrepreneurs know how to communicate their dream and inspire others to join them on their journey to achieving it.

3. Optimism – When you’re just starting out, it can seem like getting your business off the ground will never happen. But entrepreneurs don’t think like that. They are optimistic about the future and are always looking ahead.

In his essay “ Thoughts on Various Subjects ,” Jonathan Swift wrote, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Entrepreneurs have a vision they share with others. Their team understands why they do what they do, what the goal is and what their role is on the path to success.

To be a successful entrepreneur, you must be goal-oriented. But it’s not enough to just set goals. You must make a plan and do everything you can to reach those goals. Everything you do must have a purpose.

4. Creativity – Entrepreneurs don’t think the same way as everyone else. They see the world differently and think outside the box. Businesses are built on big ideas, and those big ideas need to come from a place of creativity, from a way of thinking that differs from everyone else’s thinking.

In “ Conversations with Maya Angelou ,” Jeffrey M. Elliot quoted Maya Angelou as saying, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

Entrepreneurs are always looking for new ways of doing things and how they can make them better. They aren’t satisfied with the status quo. By being creative, they come up with ideas that change the world.

5. Risk-Takers – Risk taking is par for the course when you’re starting a new business. But taking risks shouldn’t scare you. It’s necessary to achieve your goals, and successful entrepreneurs understand this.

In his book “ The Four-Hour Workweek ” entrepreneur and author Tim Ferriss writes, “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”

If you’re afraid to take the leap, you’ll never get anywhere. Staying complacent will never allow you to achieve greatness. Entrepreneurs don’t let uncertainty and potential failure stop them from doing what needs to be done. Instead, entrepreneurs look at challenges and risks as opportunities, not as problems.

As businessman Robert Kiyosaki wrote on Twitter , “Everyone can tell you the risk. An entrepreneur can see the reward.”

3(a) As an entrepreneur how would you approaches a leading institution for a term loan?

-> Understanding Your Project Thoroughly

Prepare a good business plan or project report for your proposed venture. Accurately comprehend the interrelationship of the variables affecting the functions of production, marketing and investment. Try to make realistic projections about the different aspects of your project. Recognize the limiting factors in your venture and try to forecast the future behaviour of these limiting factors as accurately as possible. Through knowledge about your project will help you a lot in making the lender understand the project satisfactorily.

This exercise of understanding your project will ultimately lead you to identify and know the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your projects.

Be Convinced of the Feasibility of the Project

Every business is required to generate adequate returns. In order to generate adequate returns, the project must be technologically and economically sound. No leader will ever risk his money in project that is not viable. While considering the viability of your venture you must ensure that is:

· Is capable of producing and selling the proposed product.

· Can ensure the required quality of the product.

· Has the facility to produce and sell the proposed in required quantity.

· Is capable of producing and sell the proposed in required quantity.

· Is capable of producing the product at a cost which the market can absorb, and selling at a price which not only covers the cost but also generates surplus for the project.

· Is capable of functioning profitability throughout its expected life.

· Generates adequate returns, as a result of its production and marketing functions, which ensure timely and total service of debt (loans) as well as timely and adequate service of equity.

Understand the Viewpoint of the Financier

The lender is always interested in the earnings from his investment and also concerned about the security of his investment. The project that you offer to him for investment must satisfy his objectives of earnings and security. Term lending institutions will definitely like to be assured of the regularity of repayment towards the loan and shall therefore try to understand not only the profitability but also the cash generation and repayment capacity of the project.

Take Care of the Financier’s Interest

The project for which the lender is approached for finance must generate adequate surplus so that the lender’s money and the interest due is paid periodically according to the agreed terms and conditions. This can be if the equity holders are also compensated adequately because otherwise the promoters, who are normally the sole equity holders, may divert a substantial portion of the returns towards the servicing of equity in case of inadequacy of returns. This would eventually lead to delay in servicing and repayment of debt finance, resulting in default. No term leader would welcome this situation and would therefore like to be assured of your commitment to meet repayment obligations. It is thus important to convince him of the priorities in surplus distribution and generation of adequate returns.

Know Your Strength to Handle the Project

By this time you as an entrepreneur must knot the project and the complexities involved in managing the relationship between the variables pertaining to the project. Each project is a unique matrix of the interrelationship of variables and the managerial entrepreneurial traits required to manage the unit, and must therefore be equipped with matching competencies to handle the complexity or sensitivity of these interrelationships.

The financier will always try to assess the entrepreneur and his capabilities in this context. Because no matter how profitable a project may be, if it does not have a suitable entrepreneur the project is bound to fail. Thereby making the investment absolutely irrecoverable and unproductive. Therefore try to select only that project which is your cup of tea and then convince the lender of your skills and abilities to handle the project profitably.

Know the Tools of Appraisal

The lender of financier will appraise the business plan submitted by you and satisfy him about its viability and feasibility, as well as about your managerial abilities, using various tools and techniques as given below in the check list:

CHECK LIST

Additional Useful Tips

· Present your case or report in a good written or typed form which should be available both to you and the officer making the appraisal of your case.

· Know your report thoroughly so that you can explain its contents without fumbling with papers or figures.

· Know your presentation business-like because you are not asking for a favour. Do not compromise on any of your demands and be confident enough to defend your case or justify your demands.

· Be honest to the officer of the lending institution; he will have his own ways to cross-cheek the information you gave him. Slightest doubt about your honesty can close all doors for financial assistance.

· Do not doubt the capacity or skill of the interviewing officer. Try to understanding his needs and help him assess your case.

· Do not try to hide any information. Be frank. If your proposal is good, then the officer may even help you out in difficulty.

· Remember that all financiers are looking for good entrepreneurs with good projects. So, just prove that your case fits bill and your will get your share of their finance.

· Fill up the application form completely. Do not leave any question of the application form unanswered.

· Comply with queries raised by the financier at the earliest to avoid delay.

(b) Elucidate two institutions assisting entrepreneurs.

-> Institutions assisting Entrepreneurs are Central Government Institution and State Government Institution.

1) Central Government Institutions:

Development Act, 2006 and established the National Board for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NBMSME) and made rules there under in the year 2006. This Board examines the factors affecting promotion and development of MSMEs and reviews policies and programmes from time to time relating to these enterprises, from time to time and makes recommendations to the Government in formulating the policies for the growth of MSMEs.

The various policies and schemes of Government assistance for the development of rural industries insist on the utilisation of local resources and raw materials and locally available manpower. These are translated into action through various agencies, departments, corporations, etc., all coming under the purview of the industries department. All these are primarily concerned with the promotion of small and rural industries.

Some such support measures are being discussed briefly below:

(i) Small Scale Industries Board (SSIB) :

It was established in 1954 to provide effective coordination and inter- institutional linkages for the benefit of small scale sector.

It consists of the following members:

a. Union Industry Minister

b. State Industry Minister

c. Selected members of Parliament

d. Secretaries of department concerned

e. Eminent experts in the field

(ii) National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) :

NABARD is designated as an apex development bank in the country. This national bank was established in 1982 by a Special Act of the Parliament, with a mandate to uplift rural India by facilitating credit flow in agricul­ture, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and small-scale industries. It is also required to support non-farm sector while promoting other allied economic activities in rural areas. NABARD functions to promote sustainable rural development for attaining prosperity of rural areas in India.

It is basically concerned with “matters concerning policy, as well as planning and operations in the field of credit for agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas in India”. It is worth noting with reference to NABARD that RBI has sold its own stake to the Government of India. Therefore, Government of India holds 99% stake in NABARD.

Role of NABARD:

1. It is an apex institution which has power to deal with all matters concerning policy, planning as well as operations in giving credit for agriculture and other economic activities in the rural areas.

2. It is a refinancing agency for those institutions that provide investment and production credit for promoting the several devel­opmental programs for rural development.

3. It prepares rural credit plans, annually, for all districts in the country.

4. It also promotes research in rural banking, and the field of agriculture and rural development

Various services offered by NABARD are:

a. Attracting youth to rural non-farm sector.

b. District Industries Rural Project (DRIP)

c. Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP).

(iii) Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO) :

It was constituted in 1954 to develop support services for promotion of SSS. Over the years, it has seen its role evolve into an agency for advocacy, hand holding and facilitation for the small industries sector. It has over 60 offices and 21 autonomous bodies under its management.

These autonomous bodies include :

i. Tool Rooms

ii. Training Institutions

iii. And Project-cum-Process Development Centres.

The SIDO provides a wide spectrum of services to the small industries sector.

i. Facilities for testing, tool making, training for entrepreneurship development, preparation of project and product profiles, technical and managerial consultancy, assistance for exports, pollution and energy audits etc.

ii. The SIDO provides economic information services and advis­es Government in policy formulation for the promotion and development of SSIs.

The Institutions/Centres Administered by SIDO:

The SIDO has promoted the following institutes and centres and is responsible for their management:

I. Small Industries Service Institutes (SISI):

The institute functions under the Ministry of SSI, Government of India and it provides services such as preparation of project reports, training programmes in different activities, extending technical assistance and offering guidance on Industrial policy of Government of India. It is a pioneer organisation, to develop small scale industries through counselling, consultancy/training. It also assists the industries in marketing the products and acquiring quality standards.

SISI also provides various types of extension services and assistance in setting up of units, promoting and developing product and services by the Small Scale Industries. The small industries service institutes have been set up in state capitals and other places all over the country to provide consultancy and training to small entrepreneurs both existing and prospective. At present the SIDO has been administering 28 SISIs and 30 branch SISIs working in different parts of the country.

II. Product-cum-Process Development Centres:

These have been promoted to provide specific service to different types of small scale units concentrated in different locations. These centres are responsible for serving as research and development institutions in areas of dense industry clusters, to encourage product design and innovation, to develop new processes and upgrade the existing level of technology, to act as centres of excellence in respective areas and • to provide technical and managerial support services.

III. Regional Training Centres (RTCs):

These centres are located in major cities and are responsible for quality awareness programme among the small units. For this purpose, they are engaged in systematic testing and technical consultancy services. These centres are also responsible for assisting field testing stations which are expected to provide testing services to SSI units.

IV. Establishment of Training Institutes:

The SIDO also controls the affairs of NISIET (Hyderabad), NIESBUD (New Delhi) and integrated training centre (Industries) at Nilokheri. These institutions are responsible for arranging training facility to entrepreneurial trainers.

Main Objectives of SIDO are:

i. To formulate policy for promotion of SSI

ii. To Provide coordination of policies of state government

iii. To collect and disseminate information

iv. To provide wide range of extension services through allied institutions

v. To promote facilities for technology up gradation

vi. To offer consultancy services

Various Services Rendered by SIDO:

i. Entrepreneurship development and Management training.

ii. Efforts for skill development.

iii. Preparation of feasibility reports for different products.

iv. Provision of testing services.

v. Availability of tool room facilities.

(iv) National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) :

The National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Ltd. was established by the Government as a Public Sector Company in 1955.

Its main functions are:

i. To arrange for Supply of machinery and equipment.

ii. To arrange Provision of financial assistance.

iii. To provide Assistance for arrangement of raw materials.

iv. To aid establishment of technology transfer centres.

v. To make arrangement of marketing assistance.

vi. To ensure priority in government purchase programme

vii. To promote, aid, and foster the growth of micro and small enterprises in the country, generally on a commercial basis

viii. To provides a variety of support services to micro and small enterprises catering to their different requirements in the areas of raw material procurement; product marketing; credit rating; acqui­sition of technologies; adoption of modern management practices, arranging for business partners, ensuring technology transfer pro­grammes through missions, delegations and expositions etc.

The Technical Service Centres (TSCs), established by NSIC are functioning in different parts of the country, providing diverse technical support to the small scale sector.

2. State Government Institutions:

The State Governments also execute different promotional and developmental projects and schemes to provide number of supporting incentives for development and promotion of MSMEs in their respective states. These are executed through the State Directorate of Industries, which has District Industries Centres (DICs) under it, for implementing the central/state level schemes.

(i) State Financial Corporation (SFC) :

Its main objectives are :

i. To provide term loans for the acquisition of land, building, plant and machinery.

ii. To promote of self-employment.

iii. To encourage women entrepreneurs

iv. To bring about expansion of industry

v. To provide seed capital assistance.

(ii) State Small Industries Development Corporation (SSIDC) :

The State Small Industries Development Corporations (SSIDC) were set up in various states under the companies’ act 1956, as state government undertakings to cater to the primary developmental needs of the small tiny and village industries in the state/union territories under their juris­diction.

Incorporation under the companies act has provided SSIDCs with greater operational flexibility and wider scope for undertaking a variety of activities for the benefit of the small sector, such as procuring and dis­tributing the scarce raw materials, supplying machinery on hire purchase system, providing assistance for marketing of the products of small-scale industries, constructing industrial estates /sheds, providing allied infrastruc­ture facilities and their maintenance and to extend seed capital assistance on behalf of the state government concerned etc.

SSIDC provides the following important functions:

i. Procurement and distribution of raw materials.

ii. Supply of machine on hire-purchase basis

iii. Construction of industrial estates.

iv. Providing assistance for marketing of products of SSI.

(iii) Technical Consultancy Organisations (TCOs) :

Services of TCOs include:

i. Preparation of project profiles.

ii. Undertaking industrial potential surveys.

iii. Identification of potential entrepreneurs.

iv. Undertaking market research.

v. Project supervision and rendering technical and administrative assistance.

vi. Conducting EDPs.

(iv) Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) :

It is engaged in the development of khadi and village industries in rural areas. Main objectives of KVIC are:

i. To provide employment in rural areas.

ii. To help in skill improvement.

iii. To bring about rural industrialization.

iv. To facilitate transfer of technology.

4(a) Show the detail module for women (EDP) Entrepreneurship Development Programme.

-> Women entrepreneurship development is an essential part of human resource development. The development of women entrepreneurship is very low in India, especially in the rural areas. Entrepreneurship amongst women has been a recent concern. Women have become aware of their existence their rights and their work situation. However, women of middle class are not too eager to alter their role in fear of social backlash. The progress is more visible among upper class families in urban cities. This paper focuses on women entrepreneur. Any understanding of Indian women, of their identity, and especially of their role taking and breaking new paths, will be incomplete without a walk down the corridors of Indian history where women have lived and internalized various role models. The Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Programme has been empowering women entrepreneurs in developing countries and supporting them in starting and growing their businesses since the mid-2000s.

The programme works with service providers promoting entrepreneurship development (financial, non-financial, public, private, associative, freelance etc.) and builds their capacity to better support women entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. It also works towards creating a more positive enabling environment for WED, by supporting assessments of the situation, and working with governments and policy makers to remove the specific gender barriers that women entrepreneurs may face.
Through the economic empowerment of women, it aims to contribute to greater gender equality, as well as to more job creation and economic development.

Participation of women in the economic development of the country has become important since they have now not only entered almost all areas of professional life but, have also demonstrated their excellence in these fields. In the field of business too, their participation has become noticeable as many women have opened their ventures and are also running them successfully. However, the number of women taking up full-time business as their career is still very meagre when compared with their male counterparts.

The Centre for Women Entrepreneurship & Gender Studies (CWE&GS) has been established with a view of providing necessary thrust and focus on developing and sustaining women entrepreneurs. Accordingly, the activities are based on facilitating women to become self-reliant and sustain their career/livelihood. The Centre seeks to eliminate the age-old gender bias in any development activity of the country in general, and entrepreneurship in particular. The Centre is thus especially focused and contributes to women entrepreneurship and gender studies.

Though there are a number of businesswomen who have brought glory to their businesses at both national and international levels, it has been observed that in many cases initial efforts by women in business have been marred by a number of hindrance, in terms of financial bottlenecks, technical ignorance, lack of adequate marketing, operational skills, etc. Because of these barriers, even a good business idea or initiative is aborted in its infancy. Hence, there is a need to provide a network of support system and knowledge base so that the women are able to break barriers that inhibit their growth.

Ways to Develop Women Entrepreneurs

1. Consider women as specific target group for all developmental programmers.

2. Better educational facilities and schemes should be extended to women folk from government part.

3. Adequate training program on management skills to be provided to women community.

4. Encourage women’s participation in decision-making.

5. Vocational training to be extended to women community that enables them to understand the production process and production management.

(b) How far EDPs in India are successful for entrepreneurship development?

-> As the term itself denotes, EDP is a programme meant to develop entrepreneurial abilities among the people. In other words, it refers to inculcation, development, and polishing of entrepreneurial skills into a person needed to establish and successfully run his / her enterprise. Thus, the concept of entrepreneurship development programme involves equipping a person with the required skills and knowledge needed for starting and running the enterprise.

Let us also consider a few important definitions of EDPs given by institutions and experts:

The main purpose of such entrepreneurship development programme is to widen the base of entrepreneurship by development achievement motivation and entrepreneurial skills among the less privileged sections of the society.”

According to N. P. Singh (1985), “Entrepreneurship Development Programme is designed to help an individual in strengthening his entrepreneurial motive and in acquiring skills and capabilities necessary for playing his entrepreneurial role effectively. It is necessary to promote this understanding of motives and their impact on entrepreneurial values and behaviour for this purpose.” Now, we can easily define EDP as a planned effort to identify, inculcate, develop, and polish the capabilities and skills as the prerequisites of a person to become and behave as an entrepreneur.

Need for EDPs:

Those entrepreneurs possess certain competencies or traits. These competencies or traits are the underlying characteristics of the entrepreneurs which result in superior performance and which distinguish successful entrepreneurs from the unsuccessful ones.

A well-known behavioural scientist David C. McClelland (1961) at Harvard University made an interesting investigation-cum-experiment into why certain societies displayed great creative powers at particular periods of their history? What was the cause of these creative bursts of energy? He found that ‘the need for achievement was the answer to this question. It was the need for achievement that motivates people to work hard. According to him, money- making was incidental. It was only a measure of achievement, not its motivation.

In order to answer the next question whether this need for achievement could be induced, he conducted a five-year experimental study in Kakinada, i.e. one of the prosperous districts of Andhra Pradesh in India in collaboration with Small Industries Extension and Training Institute (SIET), Hyderabad.

This experiment is popularly known as ‘Kakinada Experiment’. Under this experiment, young persons were selected and put through a three-month training programme and motivated to see fresh goals.

One of the significant conclusions of the experiment was that the traditional beliefs did not seem to inhibit an entrepreneur and that the suitable training can provide the necessary motivation to the entrepreneurs (McClelland & Winter 1969). The achievement motivation had a positive impact on the performance of entrepreneurs.

In fact, the ‘Kakinada Experiment’ could be treated as a precursor to the present day EDP inputs on behavioural aspects. In a sense, ‘Kakinada Experiment’ is considered as the seed for the Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) in India.

The fact remains that it was the ‘Kakinada Experiment’ that made people appreciate the need for and importance of the entrepreneurial training, now popularly known as ‘EDPs’, to induce motivation and competence among the young prospective entrepreneurs.

Based on this, it was the Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation (GIIC) which, for the first time, started a three-month training programmes on entrepreneurship development. Impressed by the results of GIIC’s this training programme, the Government of India embarked, in 1971, on a massive programme on entrepreneurship development. Since then, there is no looking back in this front. By now, there are some 686 all-India and State level institutions engaged in conducting EDPs in hundreds imparting training to the candidates in thousands.

Till now, 12 State Governments have established state-level Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED) or Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (lED) to develop entrepreneurship by conducting EDPs. Today, the EDP in India has proliferated to such a magnitude that it has emerged as a national movement. It is worth mentioning that India operates the oldest and largest programmes for entrepreneurship development in any developing country.

The impact of India’s EDP movement is borne by the fact that the Indian model of entrepreneurship development is being adopted by some of the developing countries of Asia and Africa. Programmes similar to India’s EDPs are conducted in other countries also, for example, ‘Junior Achievement Programme’ based on the principle of ‘catch them young’ in USA and ‘Young Enterprises’ in the U. K.

Objectives of EDP:

The major objectives of the Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) are to:

a. Develop and strengthen the entrepreneurial quality, i.e. motivation or need for achievement.

b. Analyse environmental set up relating to small industry and small business.

c. Select the product.

d. Formulate proposal for the product.

e. Understand the process and procedure involved in setting up a small enterprise.

f. Know the sources of help and support available for starting a small scale industry.

g. Acquire the necessary managerial skills required to run a small-scale industry.

h. Know the pros and cons in becoming an entrepreneur.

i. Appreciate the needed entrepreneurial discipline.

j. Besides, some of the other important objectives of the EDPs are to:

k. Let the entrepreneur he / she set or reset objectives for his / her enterprise and strive for their realization.

l. Prepare him / her to accept the uncertainty in running a business.

m. Enable him / her to take decisions.

n. Enable to communicate clearly and effectively.

o. Develop a broad vision about the business.

p. Make him subscribe to the industrial democracy.

q. Develop passion for integrity and honesty.

r. Make him learn compliance with law.

5(a) Justify three trust areas for developing entrepreneurship in North East India.

-> Industrialization in Assam dates back to the days of first commercial plantation of tea and tea occupies an important position in the state’s economy. Apart from that, Assam, with its four refineries and allied produces a major part of the petroleum and petroleum-based products in India. Additionally, the 1600 registered factories include major, medium and small units in Central Public Sector, State Public Sector and Private& Joint sector. The overall industrial scenario of the state is investment friendly. The Industrial Relations scenario in the state is peaceful. There is a low incidence of labour related disputes. Direct collective bargaining of negotiations between employers and employees is widely practiced.
The Government of Assam is emphasizing on adoption of a metronomic investment strategy for eco-friendly sustainable development of the state. The vast water resources of the state could be leveraged for harnessing hydro power, development of aquaculture and transportation links. The strategy also encompasses reinvention of tea industry, revolution in organic cultivation, eco-tourism, eco-infrastructure driven investment in rural and urban township and textile.

Assam has a vibrant industrial base. From the oldest tea industry and huge onshore oil production to the only Stock Exchange in the region and large presence of Banks and FIIs, its industrial base spreads across a wide spectrum of existing industries in petroleum, petrochemicals, fertilizers, textiles, cement, paper, plastics, cosmetics and a host of products and services. But there is always scope for more. Amongst numerous options, the focus area identified for investment could be: Commercial Horticulture, Marketing of Fresh, Processed and Frozen Fruits and Vegetables; Commercial Cultivation, Extraction and Value Addition of Herbal Medicinal and Aromatic Plants; Information Technology; Electronics and Computer Hardware; Tourism and Tourism Infrastructure. Conventional areas of investment could be Hydrocarbons (Exploration & Production, Petrochemicals & Plastics); Minerals (Cement, Coal, Ceramic, Coke); Energy (Generation of Thermal/Hydel/Non-conventional Power).

Amongst numerous options, the thrust areas identified for developing entrepreneurship in North east are as follows:

Food processing and Agro based Industries

The agro-climatic conditions of the state favour growing of a variety of fruits , vegetables/ spices like coconut, banana, pineapple, orange, ginger, turmeric, chillies, pepper, etc. Mechanized and scientific cultivation of Agriculture and Horticultural produces are being adopted in the state. Until recently, horticulture was practiced as a largely non-commercial activity. With better quality planting material, organic farming, adequate research support and better know-how, the state could easily cause a major boom in horticulture and food processing sector.

The sector has the potential to grow at a rapid pace in Assam with the increasing demand for processed food. The wastage of perishables due to non availability of adequate processing infrastructure. With the favourable agro climatic conditions that are conducive for a wide range of products, opportunities in the sector abound in processing, sourcing, inclusive farming, logistics and cold chains.

Mineral based and plastic industries

Major minerals available are crude oil (reserve – over 1.3 billion tonnes) and the state accounts for about 15% of India’s crude output. The wells at Digboi, Duliajan, Sivasagar also produce Natural gas (reserve-156 billion cu. mtrs.) accounting to about 50% of India’s total onshore production which may be used as feedstock for production of fertilizers, electricity, petrochemicals and also as fuel in the industries.

A gas cracker unit (BCPL), is now functioning for polymerization of HDPE/LLDPE and Polypropylene will supply huge intermediate feedstock for further processing in a host of downstream polymer units.
Limestone with reserves of about 700 million tonnes is another important mineral available in various grades. The China clay from Karbi- Anglong district is a vital input for the ceramics industry. Deposits of decorative stone like granite estimated to be more than a billion cubic meters are available in various shades and colours and has a huge domestic as well as export market. Coal reserves account for more than 320 million tonnes. The coal found in upper Assam and the Central Assam highland has high sulphur content, high volatile matter content, high calorific value and low ash content.
With reserves of around 1.3 billion tonnes of crude oil and 156 billion cubic metres of natural gas, and the same being available at attractive prices, Assam is an ideal destination for energy / oil and gas based industries. There is ample scope for gas and coal based thermal stations.
With 4 Refineries, Gas Cracker project in operation, Assam presents a new ground for downstream industries specializing in petro, plastic and allied products.

Hospitality industry and Tourism, etc

To nature lovers all over the world, wildlife enthusiasts, sightseers, ornithologists and photographers, Assam is a dream destination. Its landscape, lush green forests, wild life sanctuaries, pilgrimage spots and tea gardens offer a wide choice to cater to the tastes of tourists from different backgrounds. A few popular tourist destinations in the state are:

• National Park : Kaziranga, Manas, Orang, Sonai, Rupai
• Wildlife Sanctuaries : Laokhowa, Pobitora, Dibru- Chaikhowa, Nameri
• Scenic Beauty : Chandubi, Bhairabkunda, Darranga, Bhalukpung, Haflong
• Pilgrimage : Guwahati, Hajo, Majuli
• Historical sites : Batadrawa, Tezpur, Sivasagar, Barpeta
• Golf courses with air strips: Narengi, Borsola, East Boraoi and 21 others.

Projections show that foreign tourist inflow into Assam will grow by around six-fold in the next five years. Add to that a projected increase of 15-20% in domestic tourists in the next five years and the government’s thrust on tourism and related activities, the state presents a number of emerging opportunities – in tourism infrastructure like hotels, resorts, amusement parks, river cruises, airstrip development and in joint tourism circuit development like heritage circuits, wildlife tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, pilgrimage and tea-golf circuits.

(b) Detail out five ways of encouraging entrepreneurship in North East India.

-> Entrepreneurship is a buzz word today which has endless opportunities to offer. The current global scenario reflects the impact of entrepreneurship on the world economy. India as a country has seen a huge boost in the society towards entrepreneurship development in the last decade. Even the current government’s push towards entrepreneurship development has given rise to a sea of entrepreneurial opportunities that only needs to be identified and grabbed. According to a recent World Bank report, India has significantly improved its global ranking in ease of doing business in 2016. This is indicative of the entrepreneurial mindset that is being stirred in the society and the assistance towards it from the government.

However, if we look at the supportive business environment in the various states of India, the state of Assam or the NER for that matter ranks very low. Compared to the forerunning business states like Gujrat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand etc, Assam has a lot to catch up on in the field of entrepreneurship. As per the India Entrepreneurship Report 2015 by Amway, only 22% of respondents in Assam felt that the business environment in the state has improved significantly. Today India is witnessing the emergence of the new age entrepreneurs in segments like Start Ups and Social Enterprises. Major cities and many tier II cities are flourishing with new business ideas and business models with the youths taking centre stage. Start ups in various sectors like food, health, tourism, education etc have been flooding the markets. But in Assam, the impact of such new breed of businesses is yet to be felt. Except for a few handfuls of young entrepreneurs who are trying to build a foothold in the start up segment, there are hardly any entrepreneurial activities in start ups and social entrepreneurship. Reasons behind this are many:

Access to finance – Arranging finance is a key issue here. Number of projects financed by banks is very few compared to developed states. Financial institutions do not play an aggressive role which is evident from the fact that most of these institutions do not fund new projects/new ideas. Schemes like Angel Fund promoted by the Government are not reaching the right target group and hence no convincing results are observed.

Delays – Be it registration, bank loan application or any other government formalities, processes are extremely slow. Planning becomes very difficult under such circumstances.

Easier registration process for setting up of business is a very important component for entrepreneurship development. Now with the single window act in place, simplified registration process is expected to augment entrepreneurial activities in the state.

Power Failure – This is a factor known to all which makes our produces costlier and lowers production rate, but there are hardly any step being implemented to overcome this challenge.

Lack of Skilled Resources – This is a serious problem, especially for IT companies in the state. Since the brain drain is excessively high, lack of well qualified resources is very much felt. This proves to be a stumbling block for tech & IT start ups to come up.

Lack of Big Industries – The recent surge in start-ups in India is dominated by the service sector. Most of the start-ups (especially the tech start ups) formed in the last few years cater to the big organizations. Lack of such organization in the region makes it difficult for new service companies to sustain.

For a state like Assam with slower economic growth in comparison to the rest of the country, entrepreneurship development is the key to help alleviate the unemployment problem and to increase the competitiveness and growth of business and industries in the state. But for entrepreneurship development, an enabling ecosystem needs to be in place and this is found to be lacking in Assam. The Assamese society is not known to be very risk taking which is very essential for entrepreneurship. The fear of failure is very high and the lack of family support for any sort of entrepreneurial initiative adds to the woes of an aspiring entrepreneur.

Hence, for entrepreneurship development, the state of Assam needs to gear up to address the challenges head on. There are enough resources for entrepreneurial ventures to come up in Assam. Be it food, tourism, healthcare, education, IT start ups, agriculture – each of these sectors can be the focus area for sustainable start up entrepreneurial ventures.

The first and foremost key to entrepreneurship development in Assam is to create awareness on entrepreneurship and bring about a change in mindset of the people. Entrepreneurship is not just about building or starting a business but also about imbibing some characteristic traits like innovative thinking, risk taking, leadership qualities, determination, focus etc. Therefore, it is very essential to develop a mindset towards entrepreneurship from a very tender age at primary and secondary education level for both students and teachers alike. Hence, the government needs to ensure that entrepreneurship forms an intrinsic part of the curriculum at school and college level. This can go a long way in sowing the seeds of entrepreneurship in the minds of the young boys and girls of Assam. Having entrepreneurship awareness camps from time to time at different educational institutes of the state is also important.

To have an enabling ecosystem in place, it is essential that the various stake holders such as government departments, academic institutes of the state, financial institutes, research organisations, industry experts from the region etc. come together and build a support system for the aspiring/existing entrepreneurs ensuring low-cost internet connectivity, favourable policies, ease of doing business, affordable education and skilling services, low-cost debt for priority sectors. Such collaborations can help in research and innovations since innovation is again a very critical and essential component of entrepreneurship development. Such collaborations can lead to the setting up of incubation centres for entrepreneurs and mentorship programmes can be worked out. Mentoring is a very important factor for motivating/guiding entrepreneurs and Assam hardly has any mentoring programmes. Up gradation of technology in the state can also boost entrepreneurship.

There is a lot of demand and scope for the traditional handloom and handicraft items of Assam and therefore the traditional artisans should be nurtured. Sadly, these incredibly skilled people are often amongst the poorest of the poor because they are trapped in inefficient markets and exploitative supply chains without access to capital, no design inputs and markets. As a result, they lose out to cheap, mass-produced goods and their children abandon millennia-old traditions and migrate to over-burdened cities. There is a growing demand for sustainably produced goods which are handcrafted with unique and contemporary designs and that which comes with an emotional story. However, the state has not been able to tap the market up to its potential. This sector can be addressed by focusing on promotion of clusters or reviving the cooperative movement and strategic marketing of traditional handicraft and handloom products of Assam can benefit the rural artisans and help setting up of SMEs and improve the existing SMEs. These in turn will improve the industrial scenario in the state and enhance the lives of the artisans. Thus, addressing opportunities in rural Assam can promote rural entrepreneurship.

Promoting entrepreneurship needs to be addressed by targeting three segments—the start-ups, micro and small entrepreneurs and rural cooperatives/clusters. The future holds a lot of challenges and we have to improve in many directions. The digital revolution is an opportunity for anyone who comes up with indigenous innovative solutions that are capable of scaling up, capable of collaborating within the eco-system and enriching it.

As already stated entrepreneurship is not just about starting a business. It is instead an attitude, a way of thinking. Entrepreneurs challenge assumptions, recognize opportunities in periods of change, reveal patterns where others see chaos and mobilize limited resource to achieve an objective. Entrepreneurship is simply finding new opportunities to do things better and then seizing the opportunity. Relentlessly pursuing new opportunities, commitment to innovation and challenging traditional boundaries of thought is what entrepreneurship is all about.

Some of the key mantras of successful entrepreneurs are stated below:

• The entrepreneurs are never afraid of setbacks.

· They never let business and commerce come in the way of creativity.

• Are patient and handle situations calmly.

· They listen to their heart and intuitions when they are at crossroads and have the courage to follow through.

· They realize that some things are worth doing even if one fails in doing them, because the efforts challenge to stretch one. Failure often brings out qualities and talents that one had neglected

· Sometimes life is really bad. Entrepreneurs have the courage to put a control X and start again

· They realize that Difficulties and Challenges are a constant. Only those with character and resolve confront them and win.

· At moments of crisis and tough decisions, they realize the need to recalibrate the mind and ask ‘what’s the worst case scenario’ and adjust to that. This leads to clarity of the decision making capability.

· Have self confidence and believe that nothing is impossible

Entrepreneurship is “Gita” at work. The singularly most remembered ‘sloka’ from Gita cajoles us to follow “Karma”. Entrepreneur is a walking example of this wisdom. An entrepreneur practices Karma. An Entrepreneur has few guarantees for success. Yet, she/he moves on undeterred and creates a world of difference, literally and otherwise.

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