“An entrepreneur is one who always searches for a change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. Innovation is the basic tool of entrepreneurs, how they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or service.“- Peter Drucker
A rented place, few friends, lots of coffee, the smoke of burning cigarettes, arguments, discussions, laptops and new ideas, well that is the perfect recipe to make a business venture successful. The term Entrepreneur has very recently become a part of most of our daily conversations. What led to the frequent usage of the word were the continuous discussions of great and unique concepts for a new business shared by our friends and colleagues. The idea was to give a pick and drop service of mobile phones from the consumer to the customer support center and back. All you need to do is, pay a little extra while buying the phone to avail the services. Very random, right? After all how many of us would go that extra mile especially when we always tend to exceed the planned budget while buying gadgets? Anyhow so we hear their story and within 72 hours they get funding from Samsung. Samsung collaborated this idea with its Galaxy S5 giving free a pick and drop service to its consumers. Luck? No! It was more of the concept and the right target that worked well for this group of friends.
The highlight of becoming an entrepreneur is that your degree does not hold you down. You need to gauge the level of competition and scope in every sector. You need to go down the inverted pyramid to be able to conceptualize your ideas. There are a few who already know the trick, but a majority of people need classes to get to the basics. Hence people are now opting for courses on Entrepreneurship. Several universities are offering these courses and the number of takers is increasing every year. It is mostly an MBA in Entrepreneurship that helps people in helming the ship towards success.
After flipping through a zillion success stories, scanning the share market, and mapping the industry trends here is a list of the most favorable sectors for Entrepreneurs to explore today.
Food
Little did we know that our only source of happiness can offer such good opportunities to young entrepreneurs. Food wins the race when we speak about the varied options available today. What amazes us is that people are going back to the roots adding a little flavor of the modern era, rehashing and repackaging old trends, and selling them to the audience. The Dabba system which was primarily famous in Maharashtra is now spreading all over the country. There are these new healthier options in these lines as well, which offer food according to a diet plan.
Small cafeterias or retro bars are the latest trends in metro cities. Though there is a lot of competition, yet people never hesitate to invest in this segment. Ekansh who excels in jewelry and furniture designing and is also a known architect had his interest in food since childhood. He started with opening up a café cum lounge in Dehradun which was followed by opening up White Waters in Delhi. His latest addition is Aquarium Lounge in GK2, New Delhi. Competition doesn’t bother him: his main focus lies in serving food with a style. ‘Food is something everyone is passionate about, so was I and that is why picking this sector was more like following my passion‘, adds Bansal, a 25-year-old young and energetic Entrepreneur.
The latest addition with low investment is the midnight food delivery units. Midnight Munchies is just one example out of the many that are available today.
Gifting Solutions
We all remember receiving Bikaner sweets on Diwali during our childhood. The trend started changing with age and now gifts in the festivals seasons and wedding invites have this unusual attraction towards them. Corporates now have a different budget for these gifts. It is this changing culture that has given rise to a new buzz and in the market by the name of gifting solutions. We are a class that is health-conscious and image-conscious. Our gift should reflect the same. Going to the market spending hours and settling at those ‘special festive combo’ is not something that appeals to the audience today.
The search is for unique concepts at affordable prices, and that is exactly what these gifting companies are providing people with. Hand-made chocolates, designer cakes, especially designed plants, and personalized merchandise are the current demands of the market.
Another upcoming segment is landscape designing which is also a mode of corporate gifting. These people usually get bulk orders from big corporate giants and are sorted for a few months.
Second-Hand Utilities
Have you outgrown your old clothes? Planning to throw them away? Think again because the next thing you will know is someone is making millions with those. The deal with our generation is that they can earn well only because they have the potential to sell, resell, and re-re-sell. It started with second-hand clothes, which is an established business in western countries, but it is slowly opening up to gadgets, books, furniture, and home appliances.
People were initially apprehensive about the response because of the lack of trust in second-hand utilities. However, the rising prices and the constantly changing trends have urged the Indian audience to try their hands on these options as well.
Organic Is The New Trend
The world is going organic and there are a lot of options that one can opt for in this domain. Organic is a relatively new concept that has recently picked up momentum due to the growing awareness about health and fitness. Organic has stretched its arms to a variety of fields: food beverages, skincare, health, wellness, organic fresh produce, gluten-free and vegan, pest controllers, seeds, rooftop and terrace setup are a few of the popular ones today.
With the advent of more and more toxic vegetables, grains, and food products; there is awareness among people to take charge and grow something on their own which is fresh and organic. However, this awareness and zeal still need to be converted into action. People still feel that a kitchen garden can only be grown if there is a sufficient piece of land at home and requires a lot of upkeep. SankalpTaru is among those organizations which are instrumental in creating awareness and enabling people to overcome challenges, says Apurva Bhandari founder of SankalpTaru, an initiative in the organic world to make India greener.
Laundry
Back to the basics yet again, our ‘traditional Dhobi’ is the new laundry guy. Keeping in mind the changing trends of society, laundry service is a concept that is really picking up. The target is the working class and the students who are living on their own away from the families. The number of ‘Dhobis’ has gone down and the availability of a laundry store and the services offered by them is leading to the popularity of these laundry outlets.
An inspirational story in this segment is that of Wassupwhich is a laundry and dry cleaning service, started in 2011 by Balachandar R. Wassup arranges for a pick up for the garments to be washed. They wash, iron, and deliver. They have a projected turnover of around Rs. 8 crores.
Health, events, sports, pets, kids, and the e-commerce digital space are a few of the other promising sectors for the future business strategist to lay their hands on. Entrepreneurship off late has emerged as the most popular career choice amongst the youth. Our Gen Z today is ambitious, they are daring and they have an ocean full of creative ideas with them. It is the thirst to establish something of their own, the desire for professional independence, big goals for life, and the urge to follow their passion that is leading to the mushrooming of Entrepreneurship in India. The entrepreneurship bug is on the loose and can bite anyone who dares to follow their passion and dream big!
