Business

The terms business, MBA, entrepreneurship, self-employment have recently gained prominence to be buzzwords among youth and government alike.

I was wondering what could be motivations to set up a business, take that extra risk, pool in capital and talent.

Also why is MBA of such importance especially in India, is it because of lucrative career, or do people really learn to run a business.  After consultations I believe it is because of lucrative career and the connections/network that one develops and which are indeed important to fast forward in business.

The other buzzword that elicits lot of positivity is entrepreneurship, setting up a company or creating new opportunity.  India today boasts one of largest network of start ups but very few are recognizable. Many of the young have seen attitudinal shift from being job seekers to job creators which is good for any country's progress but the shift needs to be evaluated for the reasons which are unclear.

Going through these correlated domains and activity I pause to wonder whether money is the sole driving force.  I see ads of companies which claim to create meaning in people's lives through their product or service but never have done.  For example- flipkart may have started in first place to provide easy way to get books but I wonder what strategies made them cook big billion day sale fiasco run on basis predatory pricing.  Here's one more instance...you might have come across newspaper reports of companies reporting 30-40% increase in their quarterly profits which propel stock market speculations to turn bullish.  This makes one wonder if profit is sole motive of businessmen and their investors. Reading about ethics of government organization to that of private organization, major delineating factor happens to be that govt organization's purpose is to serve public whereas for private companies its profit.  Can they both go together? This is where concept of sustainable businesses kicks in- example tata's jamshedpur township model.

Why all this???

There are lot many considering to start up business or pursue their ideas and convert them into reality.  But the intent/motivation is either unclear or inadequate this reflects in cyclical upswings in pursuing their stated goals.  Such efforts may aid in starting up a company but definitely not in running it through turbulent waters.  To clear the ripples here's a perspective...

I being away from home for long was observing the climate at home and how our small chit business was progressing.  I observed that the climate was dull as there was no support to mother who looks after the home & business with myself and dad away from home for different reasons.  The case was same with business, with number of subscribers falling and thus income from the same.  I shared my concern with mother as I always wanted business to grow purely for monetary reasons...

Mother reflected saying that business is not about money it is about development, and money is just a part of it, the intent to expand business is good but it is not at the risk of loosing the intention with which business was started in first place i.e. develop.

Money was previously one of the major factors that influenced my decisions, but hearing the real intent of business for mom, my wishful thinking of expanding business overnight stopped.  My thoughts are more meaningful now when it comes to think of businesses/organizations or its administration.

Hope its the same for you too...