With over half the population under 25, and the most graduates of any country in the world, organisations throughout the country are recognising the enormous entrepreneurial potential of young people. The government would like to see 100,000 student start-ups by 2025 and educational institutions are offering financial aid to their students to continue with business projects after graduation. With this support, combined with connections made through networking, if you’re a graduate with vision, focus and a great product, then it’s a great time to set up your business.
Building a Good Reputation
As you are starting out, it’s important to create a buzz about about your new venture. Becoming a member of the Indian Chamber of Commerce will give you the opportunity to attend exclusive networking events where you will meet like-minded business people who may be able to help your business to flourish. Keep in touch with your professors and reach out to businesses that you may have worked for as an intern, as they can provide you with references to help you build up a good reputation from the very start. As Complaint Base highlights, being professional and treating your potential clients fairly and with respect, will ensure your good standing stays in tact.
Financial Assistance
According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies, the country is becoming a hub for startups, with funding in 2018 up by 108 percent from the previous year. Some of this came from the government initiative Start Up India, set up to simplify the process of setting up a new venture. By joining the 10,500 businesses registered last year, you could receive funding up to Rs 10,000 crore corpus as well as valuable tax exemptions and an 80% rebate on patent filing and tax exemptions.
Help for STEM Graduates
A large proportion of start ups have a technological base, with IIT graduates helping to found more than half of the country’s unicorns. If you are one of the 2.6 million STEM students that graduated last year, IITs across the country are offering help for your new business. IIT Delhi recently launched a program to turn ideas from PhD theses into startups, and graduates will also be offered seed capital and access to the institute’s facilities to help them get started.
With endorsement from the Government and encouragement from educational institutes, now is a great time to be launching a new startup. Once you have devised a solid business plan and spread the word about your new venture, there are numerous support systems in place to help you succeed.
