Big dreams beckon small entrepreneurs

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a non-profit organisation that promotes entrepreneurship, has taken a step forward in spreading awareness on the legal issues related to small industries.

This is going to benefit most of the small and medium entrepreneurs in Punjab and Haryana who are not much aware of the legal procedures for entrepreneurship.

Talking to Business Standard on the occasion of the first CEOs forum of the TiE’s Chandigarh chapter, Sridhar Iyengar, a successful entrepreneur, said the objective of TiE is to percolate the information to the industries at the grassroots level.

He added though the TiE has been present in most of the big cities, it has decided to shift its focus on tier-2 towns. “We want to encourage the small players in the hinterlands by emulating the examples of entrepreneurs who did exceptionally well despite several constraints,” Iyengar said.

He added that TiE would organise “inspirational” sessions in which the lesser-known yet successful entrepreneurs would share their experiences with the new members in small towns.

Iyengar, who helped setting up tax and consulting firm KPMG’s operation in India was the chairman and CEO of KPMG India, is a partner with Bessemer Venture Partners and serves on the Boards of ICICI Bank, Infosys Technologies, Rediff.com among other companies in India and the US.

Until March 2002, he was a partner with KPMG LLP, and worked in the UK, the US, and India practices across all disciplines — audit, tax, consulting, and corporate finance.

Iyengar stressed the need to make the special interest groups promote the clusters of industries in Punjab and Haryana. He added that TiE was scouting for partners like social entrepreneurs and non-government organisations to shift the focus of development from the existing growth centres to the backward areas.

Commenting on the current business climate, Iyengar said there is always an opportunity in turmoil and the small players should not be apprehensive due to the global financial meltdown.