What I feel is that there does exist a good bit of confusion about who exactly is a Start Up.
Simply put, any newly started business is a start up. As far as way of doing business, and the complexities of business is concerned, a start up is on the same grounds as that is there for any other new ventures.
But in order to encourage budding entrepreneurs the Government and certain organisations are offering certain free bees , training ,incentives, concessions and even financial support . For receiving entitlements for such advantages one needs to see that his or her new business venture falls within the definition of a Start UP.
Looking to the past history of incentives, one sees that giving concessional finance, providing infrastructural support at a concessional rates , giving subsidies etc have always been there. For instance, in Gujarat, GIDC, GSFC, GIIC, GSIC etc Government Organisations have played this role quite effectively in the past.
So what new is happening now ?
It is the participation of government and even the private sector by opening up their purses for providing business incubation and hand holding support that is note worthy. Earlier this role was being played by relatives and friends, which kept many budding , but not so well connected entrepreneurs at a clear disadvantage.
Secondly, over time, investors have realized that there are many brilliant ideas which , if nurtured to a business reality, has unbelievable possibilities of growth. Google, flip cart, etc speak for themselves. For investors there is a huge possibility of making good money if they take an equity exposure at the right time in right venture.
This business arena is fast catching up and there are real hectic activities growing between newer entrepreneurs with good ideas and opportunity seeking investors.
It is this Eco system that being nurtured and developed under the name and style of Start UP .
At the same time, we should look at the hard realities of actually doing business in India. The Administrative lethargy, the small time corruption, the end less delays and the evasive attitude in the real time world puts off many new entrants. These factors have resulted into numerous closures of potentially viable units. We need to also develop an Eco system that enables the picking up of potentially viable units and separating them from truly nonviable units. The BIFR experiment has failed to live up to its expectations. I see it as a great opportunity for the private sector to evolve a business model for reviving such units and share the fruits .Encouraging and setting up of merger mechanism and mechanism for taking over of the management of identified units is an area worth looking at .
There are units which go Sick and are not viable. Sometimes the promoters lack honesty and integrity.
For such units, the Bankruptcy laws and speedy legal actions will go a long way in unlocking the precious assets that get entangled with such ventures through revival.
Such holistic approach towards the entire field of industrial and service sector development will go a long way in giving a further boost to the economy .
