The young want to be their own masters

More Indians are choosing to start their own businesses after college, says a study by International School of Entrepreneurship Education and Development (iSEED). In fact, many are launching their ventures much before completing college.

According to the study, iSEED-Indian Students Entrepreneurship Aspirations Survey, 87 per cent students said they wanted to become entrepreneurs, while 90 per cent said the country offered enough opportunities for starting a business. Of the respondents, 22 per cent wanted to start immediately after completing studies, while 32 per cent wanted to begin within five years. The 12 per cent who said they had started during college ran businesses in the education, entertainment and mobile apps segments, the study revealed. (BUSINESS IS THE BEST WAY)

The study was conducted among 1,117 students in about 50 cities. Of them, 1,029 were validated. The survey said among girls, 53 per cent wanted to start their own business within five years of completing college, against 72 per cent of the boys surveyed. Among students of families with average annual incomes below Rs 5 lakh, 49 per cent wanted to start their own business instead of working for someone else. In contrast, 33 per cent of the students from families with incomes less than Rs 10 lakh a year and just 12 per cent of students from families with incomes less than Rs 25 lakh annually wanted to start their own ventures. Education (17 per cent), social work (15 per cent), food & beverages (13 per cent) and services (13 per cent) were the key sectors that attract students most for business ideas. Sanjeeva Shivesh, chief executive of iSEED, said: "This may be because of their limited exposure." The study said only 28 per cent of the aspiring entrepreneurs found funding a hurdle, while 30 per cent said lack of knowledge could stop them from starting their ventures. Lack of mentoring was cited by 22 per cent of the respondents as a reason for not trying to start a business. The study also pointed out students from tier-III cities were more enthusiastic about starting their own business than those from tier-I & -II cities. Among the respondents, South India had the largest share of students aspiring to become entrepreneurs at 75 per cent, above the national average of 62 per cent.