Microscope | April 2024

In this issue, we decode the entrepreneurial myopia among youth, continue to study the nuances of PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Survey), and sit down to discuss the changing dynamics of entrepreneurship and enterprises. By presenting empirical research and evidence-based insights, we strive to enrich the ongoing discourse on how to address challenges, harness opportunities, and devise strategies for the unorganised sector within the evolving entrepreneurial landscape.

In the fourth article of the PLFS series, Dr. Kiran Limaye delves into the shifting landscape of self-employment in India, as captured by the recent rounds of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). It highlights significant regional variations and emerging trends in the roles of employers within the Indian workforce.

Devika K Nair and Snigdha Misra shed a light on the vibrant youth entrepreneurship landscape in India, where the under-30 demographic plays a crucial role in driving economic growth.

Data in the Driver's Seat

Watch as Smit Gade and Kiran discuss finer nuances of the industry in general, participation of women in the workforce and entrepreneurship in the Indian context. Smit currently serves as the Director of Data and Research at Good Business Lab (GBL) where he oversees the field-based and data-based research projects.

Events Corner

CEED hosted ONDC Financial Services team for a Focussed-Group Discussion and a Seminar on 'Driving Growth with ONDC-AA' at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics on April 1, 2024.

The speakers for the session, Kapish Kaushal, VP - Financial Services at ONDC, and Mohit Monga, VP - Products at ONDC-FS, along with a panel of innovative entrepreneurs, delved into the transformative potential of the latest Fintech solutions within the ONDC-FS and Account Aggregator ecosystem.?

The event offered a deep dive into cutting-edge digital lending platforms, discussions on overcoming adoption barriers, and strategies to broaden financial access, providing attendees with invaluable insights and real-world experiences of digital finance transformation.

Infographic Corner

Report of the Month

Scaling the Ladder: Exploring the Growth Potential for Women-Led Nano Enterprises?

by LEAD at KREA University and Ambuja Cement Foundation

In India, women empowerment has been a focal point of national growth strategies, policies, and the constitution, aimed at ensuring economic independence, equity, and development of women. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for females (aged 15 yrs and above) has gained momentum, but has only managed to increase from 23% in 2017-18 to 37% in 2022-23.?

Around 52% of the enterprises enlist help from family members or employ external workers on a permanent basis while 19% enlist family help/ engage workers seasonally while 25% do not employ any workers nor enlist help from their family. Across all the sectors, these patterns are similar, with over 70% of enterprises across sectors engaging workers / enlisting family help.

While being able to foresee growth and plan strategies for achieving the growth, entrepreneurs also shared constraints that hamper the productivity of their business and/or their ability to expand the business. Some of the key concerns were access to credit for meeting working capital requirements and for capital investment in machinery building etc, and inadequate demand and know-how.

It is important to understand that, when enterprises operate at low income and with intense competition, cost reduction and offering competitive prices to the customer are their key concerns. The data from this survey has entrepreneurs attesting to the fact that their price competitiveness is their advantage and many of them operate near market areas where they have several competitors.?

It is natural for enterprises in such a predicament - especially when they are operating from within their households - to engage their own family members as workers. Also because they operate from within their homes, they might feel safer and trust their own family members to provide better quality services than external hired help.

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