Manufacturing processes and machines are automated in such a way that they can administer themselves; smart machines that can avert damage by taking preventive action or smart factories where requirements get fulfilled automatically. Doesn’t it sound incredible? Well, this is where modern technol…
Opinion
Creating globally competitive SMEs
The micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector grapples with the high cost of credit, difficulty in hiring skilled manpower, and complex regulatory procedures. However, many small firms which chose to manufacture goods that can be mass-produced suffer from the existential crisis. Large busin…
Navigating success for start-ups in twenty first century market realities
The environment that a startup operates in is dynamic and intertwined with various dimensions – social, economic and political – resulting in a complex web of realities. Understanding the environment leads us to appreciate market realities. Appreciation of market realities leads us to…
Bamboo is a super material. Assam is well positioned to be the leader in this emerging space
From a ‘poor man’s timber’ to ‘green gold’, bamboo is fast emerging as the super material of the 21st century. It is one of the fastest growing and highest yielding renewable natural resource making it a good substitute to wood in mitigating pressure on natural forests. Bamboo is a family of gras…
Startup India to Ease up India
Quoting Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s founder, running a startup is much like jumping off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down. The journey from an idea to a fledgling company, if everything goes well, takes laborious efforts in market testing, product development, sales & marketing,…
Skill development boosts women empowerment
From the increasing media reports on sexual assaults to alarming statistics highlighting the fact that 33% of women population is illiterate, women’s empowerment in India is a crucial national issue. Considering its neighbouring countries in South Asia, female working population rate (WPR) is one…
Venture capital industry in India is a flourishing one
Popular perception about the Indian venture capital and private equity industry would probably suggest that it is a marginal part of the larger capital market in India. But that may not be true anymore. Assuming that the approximately $120 billion of VC and PE funds deployed in India represent an…
How GST will affect small businesses
“Small business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the brave, the patient and the persistent” Small business will witness a complete transformation of the taxation system once the goods and service tax (GST) comes into effect. The proposed system shall be more transparent, more paperless, but…
Your very first entrepreneurial responsibility: Scripting the change agenda
The era we are living in, is very different than the era we were born in. Our character, personality, thoughts and mindsets that shape us and our organization, are indeed under severe stress. I have been working in the corporate world for the last 30 years. I have seen lot of changes, led many, f…
How can SMEs compete with large firms & yet emerge profitable?
The current government has taken welcome steps to improve the business environment in India. Through Make in India, it also continues to give manufacturing a much-needed push. However, banking on the government for business improvement is not realistic, especially for small and medium enterprises…