More and more Indian young adults are opting entrepreneurship as preferred career option.
Most interestingly, a sizeable number actually start their ventures during much before they complete their formal education.
According to a study, conducted by International School of Entrepreneurship Education and Development (ISEED), revealed that more than 87% students surveyed aspire to become an entrepreneur at one point of life, while about 90% believe that the country is full of entrepreneurship opportunities. And, about 22% wants to start immediately after completing studies, while 32% wants to start within five years of completion of their studies. About 12% has already started their ventures during their student life in the areas related to education, entertainment and mobile apps, the study revealed.
| Would you like to be an entrepreneur anytime in life? |
| Yes – 87% |
| No – 2% |
| May be – 11% |
The study — ISEED-Indian Students Entrepreneurship Aspirations Survey was conducted among 1117 students in more than 50 cities across the country. Of them, 1,029 respondents were validated. It also stated that only 53% of girls would like to start their own ventures within five years of completion of their studies, as compared with 72% of the boys.
| Preferred occupation immediately after education – More From This Section |
| Large company – 45% |
| Government job – 12% |
| SME job – 1% |
| Start-up job – 12% |
| Family business – 1% |
About 49% students from the economically weaker segment of the society (with average annual family income not exceeding Rs 5 lakh) prefer entrepreneurship as a career option than taking a job. This ratio is much lower for the economically stronger segments — 33% for family income upto Rs 10 lakh per annum, and just 12% with family income of up to 25 lakh annually.
Education (17%), social work (15%), food & beverages (13%) and service sector (13%) are the key areas that attract students most in terms of potential entrepreneurship ideas. “This may be because of their limited exposure,” said Sanjeeva Shivesh, CEO, ISEED. During the survey, the company representatives also met about 500 aspiring entrepreneurs who had solid, scalable ideas.
| When would you start? |
| Already an entrepreneur – 12% |
| Immediately after studies – 22% |
| 5 years after studies – 32% |
| 10 years after studies – 8% |
| Don’t really know – 23% |
| I would never be an entrepreneur – 1% |
The study further noted that only 28% of the aspiring entrepreneurs find funding as a hurdle for starting their own ventures, while about 30% feel lack of knowledge of entrepreneurship could stop them from starting their ventures. About 22% stay away from starting business as they do not get mentors.
As an educational institute, ISEED offers a full time one-year post-graduate level program in entrepreneurship which costs about Rs 15 lakh. “We help them to start within a year of our association. We also help them to get seed funding, and other necessary support that would help them scale up in future,” said Shivesh.
| Biggest stumbling block: |
| The are of start – 17% |
| Funds – 28% |
| Fear of failure – 9% |
| Entrepreneurship knowledge – 11% |
| Don’t have partner – 13% |
| Don’t have mentors – 22% |
The study also pointed out that students from tier III cities are ahead of tier II, tier I and metros who want to become an entrepreneur. Also, South India has emerged with the most number of students aspiring to become entrepreneurs. While about 75% of the students surveyed in South India want to become entrepreneurs, the average for the country is about 62%.
“Entrepreneurship means creating new things, rather than sticking to conventional businesses or jobs. Indian students are not afraid of failure and have a solid business idea. All they need is access to funds necessary to start their own business and the adequate knowledge and training to do so,” said Shivesh.
| Who wants to be an entrepreneur: |