ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A SOUGHT AFTER CAREER OPTION TODAY

Entrepreneurs are oftendeliberated as assets of national importance to be cultivated, motivated and remunerated to the best possible extent. Entrepreneurs have the capacity to change the way we live and work. The innovations provided by them improve our standard of living, providing increased variety of goods and services, creating jobs, creating wealth and eventually a prosperous society and nation. Their entrepreneurial efforts frequently create a cascading effect by stimulating related sectors or businesses supporting the new venture and thus furthering economic development. It is definitely but for the Tata’s, Birla’s and Ambani’s that we are what we are!!

The new economic environment which has triggered changes in technology innovations and Government policies have drastically changed consumer behaviour and perception towards products and services creating enormous opportunities for spurting new ventures, services contributing to the economic growth of our nation. Private sector in India is booming, but still the number of jobs created remainsfar short of what is required to provide adequate employment for management and technically trained students passing out from Business Schools and other technical institutions which has become a daunting task for the educators, trainers and management consultants.

In this context, top institutes of the nation like the IIMs, IITs, NITs and particularly noted Business Schools had found the importance of entrepreneurship cells in their campus as a strategic need. Professional organizations and institutes like National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI) had played amajor role tomotivate students and faculties in promoting entrepreneurial awareness and development of entrepreneurial capabilities in students and budding entrepreneurs across the nation. If their business becomes successful they become job provider instead of job seekers. Thus along with completing their degrees it becomes an add on to brush their entrepreneurial skills today to strengthen their career paths. Following the context we at K. R. Mangalam University have established the Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) to disseminate knowledge about entrepreneurship, encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship among students and to develop proficiency in students towards becoming effective job creators. It is our constant endeavour to consistently promote the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst students. The core objectives of the E-Cell include introducing and promoting the concept of entrepreneurship in curricula at diploma and degree levels, promoting entrepreneurship as a sought-after career option so that we create not only job seekers but also job creators, creating an environment for entrepreneurship development and self-employment through formal and non-formal programs such as lectures, workshops, industrial visits, business plan competition, entr-mela etc., Developing management personnel at appropriate level for the unorganized and non-corporate sectors like rural development, education, small scale industry etc. and promoting training and skill up gradation to improve employability.

E-Cell is promoted by the faculty of School of Management and Commerce. The launch of the Entrepreneurship Cell at K R. Mangalam University was a flamboyant event marked with great zeal and enthusiasm and students participating in galore. The launch was with a “Business Carnival” which was also a competition amongst students who had put up their stalls of games, food, jewelry etc. The carnival provided the students a superb platform to discover, project and put to test their enterprising skills and abilities. They were all competing with each other to win over customers and make maximum profits. There were a whopping thirty stalls booked by students from all schools. Majority of them not only recovered their stall fee plus cost but also made profits. The live stage characterized by live singing, mimicry etc. made the event more colorful.

The event was a grand success promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship characterized by a wide array of products and ideas put up on display by these micro-entrepreneurs (stall participants). The stalls were judged based on their presentation of the stall, innovation in product/idea and selling/promoting skills.After the end of the event, many stall owners distributed their leftover food items to the support staff, thus proactively putting CSR in practice.

With the launch of the E-Cell, the students were completely enthused with the fact that now entrepreneurship will be promoted as a sought-after career option and that entrepreneurial education and learning will be imparted through more such practical and fun-filled events.

Just a beginning……!!