Indian Entrepreneurs Show Never-Say-Die Attitude: Survey

The country’s small and micro businesses are displaying unwavering entrepreneurial spirit despite an overhang of low credit, government apathy and continuing economic slow-down, says a new research commissioned by Regus, the world's largest provider of flexible workplaces. 

Luxembourg-based Regus conducted this survey among 550 Indian entrepreneurs running start-ups. Significantly, a staggering 82 per cent of Indian entrepreneurs said that given a chance, they would do it all over again. 

This latest Regus research confirmed that nimble and flexible Indian entrepreneurs regarded lack of access to credit (70 per cent) and red tape (70 per cent) as the biggest deterrents to setting up a business today.  Lack of government support (65 per cent) and the state of the economy (46 per cent) followed. Close to 43 per cent of Indian entrepreneurs also cited market domination by large corporations as a serious hindrance.

Commenting on the findings, Madhusudan Thakur, Regional Vice-President - South Asia, Regus, says, “Thank goodness for the unstoppable Indian entrepreneur! Who knows what state the economy would have been in, if they decided to play safe and downsize like a lot of their larger and arguably better resourced competitors. The challenges they face are not new, but they are clearly saying that little impact has been felt from state supported initiatives, despite the best efforts of government.  

Krishna Anand from Mediate Media Pvt Ltd, said, “I agree, official mechanisms have not done anything much for my business.  But if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you soon find that nothing comes easily.  It is a white knuckle ride and you have to have nerves of steel.  That is why it is usually the entrepreneurial community that generates growth out of an economic downturn, while the big boys run for cover. I just do not understand why government does not recognise this and change its focus to pay more attention to SMEs.  We generate around half the nation’s wealth, but we get a tiny fraction of state attention!  Nevertheless, running my own business was the best decision I ever made and I would do it over again any day.”

SMEs are engines of growth accounting for up to 95 per cent of businesses and 22 per cent of India’s GDP. Thakur adds, “Entrepreneurial firms will need to remain nimble to navigate choppy waters and succeed. The lack of institutional support means that business owners will continue to increasingly favour flexible working in order to avoid lengthy leases and free up their working capital so they can concentrate on growing their business.”

“Already globally, more than half of entrepreneurs are using flexible working locations for most of the week, compared with 39 per cent for those that do not own their businesses.” Thakur saw a huge correlation between what’s happening in India and the world-wide trend. “Indian entrepreneurs featured prominently in the global Regus survey polled over 26,000 business managers and owners in 90 countries”, he added.