The road less travelled

The recruitment season has just got over in the city colleges, and an increasing number of colleges are seeing students opting out of placements to pursue their entrepreneurial ambition.

Jayaram K. Iyer, Professor (Marketing), LIBA is not surprised. “In fact, the number of students pursuing entrepreneurship has only increased over the years,” says Iyer. For instance, nearly 30 per cent of students who graduated from Loyola 25 years ago are running their own firms.

While traditionally it was students who came from business houses who wanted to take the road less travelled, today there’s an increasing number of first-generation entrepreneurs. “Plenty of opportunities, growing economy, environment-friendly industry and funding knowledge are reasons behind the greater urge to start out independently at a younger age,” Iyer says.

While Martina plans to work with a media organisation before starting out independently, there are others who are ready to take the plunge straight out of college. IIT-Madras (Management Studies), probably for the first time, has a student in Sathyanarayanan who has opted out of placement to follow his passion.

Considering that it is the fifth of the Management Programme, the faculty feel more students will be following suit. Anna University, Great Lakes Institute of Management and other management colleges might not have seen student drop out of placements, but faculty say the list of alumni turning entrepreneurs is on the rise.

Thanks to the eco-system created for entrepreneurs in schools, today, there are many taking up the challenge even without prior experience. MS Entrepreneurship programme at IIT-Madras, for example, is a formal degree where six to seven students are taken through a rigorous curriculum.

“The lure of instant money in other jobs and tremendous risk involved in starting on your own discourage many from taking the route, but these forums are where they drop their inhibitions,” says Sanghamithra Bhattacharyya, Assistant Professor, IIT-Madras.

Not everybody agrees that once one gets the entrepreneurial spark one must go ahead. National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), a non-for-profit initiative of the Wadhwani Foundation, which plays an active role by helping launch entrepreneurs through its programmes at different institutions, does not encourage students to take up entrepreneurship immediately after college.

“Ideally one must work for two to three years before starting independently,” says Laura Parkin, Executive Director, NEN. “It takes seven years to build a network.”

Asked why there aren’t many takers for entrepreneurship right after college, Parkin says, “I am not surprised. It’s not lack of interest. Put your self in the shoes of a student – they have never worked part-time and knowledge of possibilities is limited.”