World Entrepreneurs Day 2022 Celebration in Mumbai

Who's an entrepreneur? An individual who starts a new venture, taking on multiple risks and reaping the gains, is known as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting a business. The entrepreneur is frequently viewed as an innovator, a source of fresh concepts for products, services, businesses, and operational methods. Entrepreneurs are essential to any economy because they have the knowledge and drive to foresee requirements and sell viable, innovative ideas. Entrepreneurship that succeeds in assuming the risks involved in founding a firm is rewarded with money, notoriety, and chances for future growth. Failure in entrepreneurship leads to losses and diminished market presence for individuals engaged.

Every year, August 21 is celebrated as World Entrepreneurs' Day. The purpose of World Entrepreneurs' Day is to create awareness of entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership throughout the world.

In a modern society, the simultaneous development of entrepreneurship and human skills has become a catalyst for a country to achieve economic and social advancement. The MSME sector is a nursery for entrepreneurship, often driven by individual creativity and innovation.

On World Entrepreneur's Day, government entities, public authorities, and universities are encouraged to distribute communicative and instructive materials regarding entrepreneurship and its importance.?

This year we celebrated World Entrepreneurs' Day at an academic institute. We had a joint event with Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College (Autonomous) (aka RJC) in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. RJC is a group of educational institutes offering several self-financing courses like BMS, B.B.I, B.Sc. in C.S., I.T., Biotechnology, and M.Sc. in Computer Science and Biotechnology, as well as add-on courses, which further hone the entrepreneurial skills of the students. In one of the noteworthy efforts to realize the dream of Make in India, Digital India, Clean and Green India, the leadership at RJC has started a skill-based program supported by the University Grants Commission known as Bachelor in Vocation.

A fortnight ago, Prof. Selvi Nadar of RJC approached me to deliver a keynote address, and we all got into action to make this event a grand success. This year, August 21st being a Sunday, we decided to host an event on Saturday, August 20th. I delivered a talk on "What it takes to be an entrepreneur and why it's the right time to become an entrepreneur in India."

I decided to invite one of my mentees, Aniruddh Vaidyanathan , founder of Dock Charge and an alumnus of Mumbai Founder Institute . Aniruddh is building an aggregator for EV charging stations. Our hosts welcomed and facilitated necessary changes in the event artifacts and execution. As a mentor, it was a moment of pride for me to be accompanied by my mentee at an event hosted to celebrate World Entrepreneurs' Day.

We were warmly received at the gate of the campus, and volunteers directed us to the venue. The campus is next to the Ghatkopar Railway station, we could see various local trains passing by. The group of educational institutes has an interconnected building where various departments, labs, and classrooms are located.

The hall was full of students studying various courses, but all were part of the entrepreneur's club and aspiring entrepreneurs. It was a pleasure to get 180+ attendees for one of the first face-to-face events of this year. We were greeted in a traditional ceremony. Aniruddh and I relieved our student life narrating various events attended and the fun thereof.

This was the time for my talk, I was greeted by a round of applause and this cheered me up as a speaker. When you get greeted by a audience full of positive energy, you get a different vibe and tend to share more of your experience.

The key takeaways from my talk are as follows:

1. Who's an entrepreneur?
2. What does it take to become an entrepreneur?
3. The path to improving your entrepreneurial skills.
4. An Overview of the Indian Startup Ecosystem
5. WHY NOW is the best time to start a start-up in INDIA?
6. An Introduction to the Founder Institute.

I concluded my talk with advice to students, if you want to become an entrepreneur, start your journey now. The Indian startup ecosystem is booming, there is a space for everyone, and all are welcome.

After my talk was over, Aniruddh took over and shared his life story, why he chose to be an entrepreneur, why he decided to build his venture, Dock Charge. He also delivered a 5-minute pitch. This mesmerized the audience, and Aniruddh too got a round of applause as he concluded his talk.

In the next part of the event, we had an open house session with the students. We encountered questions ranging from our firsthand experiences to the challenges of being an entrepreneur and how one makes a prototype. We were pleased to note that students were quite aware of the developments in the ecosystem and keen to engage with startups, willing to try out their ideas.

To mark this occasion, the RJC team also launched an elective course on entrepreneurship. Another unique initiative, "Hoonar" (meaning skills in Hindi), to support student entrepreneurship was launched. A group of students joined hands to build and launch a startup to supply food items to the canteen. These food items would be cooked by students with the support of people who need money and are willing to work extra. I appreciated this initiative as it helps to build entrepreneurship in students as well as support the citizens in need. The students also get a variety of tasty food options in the canteen.

After the event was over, we met the Director and Chairperson of the institute. It was an honor to meet the industry stalwarts shaping the next generation of entrepreneurs. We will continue the collaboration for the benefit of the startup ecosystem. It was a pleasure to get a thank you note from the leadership at RJC college.

The goal of World Entrepreneurs Day is to raise awareness of leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship around the globe. World Entrepreneurs' Day is the ideal day to honor entrepreneurs by connecting them with the rest of the age groups in society. This was a unique opportunity to celebrate the day with our next generation of entrepreneurs, and I remain committed to playing an active role in the startup ecosystem!

Here's a link to my presentation. Let's connect, collaborate & co-exist...

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