This virus has caused much misery. Jobs have been lost by the thousands and it does not look like the unemployed will get suitable jobs anytime soon. Here in Goa, the state government has been trying to encourage the young to look at entrepreneurship as a serious option. They were prepared to give a salary subsidy and even provided a start-up grant of Rs 10 lakhs to startups. Government bodies went to colleges to promote the idea of entrepreneurship amongst the youth.
The big ask is, has COVID stalled the start? Let’s find out.
Prajyot Mainkar Founder and CEO of Androcid Media Pvt. Ltd was
candid when he said it was not a good time to start a business. Perhaps a
start-up in the healthcare space, e-commerce, or logistics would be a very good
bet. He said “It is very difficult now to access monies from venture
capitalists. Only a handful of startups have managed to raise funds which also
is a part of this economic downfall. Overall, the Start-ups in Goa Have adopted
to this pandemic crisis well. The India scene is no different”.
Jose Manuel Noronha, Chairman, Goa State Innovation Council,
Government of Goa who has a ringside view to the developing start-up culture in
the state said the ecosystem was being built to ensure start-ups received all
the help they could get. The need to scale up was very important he said and
the system was falling into place. He said “There are seven incubators in the
state and we have around 150 start-ups in these places. It will take them five
to seven years to blossom. Entrepreneurship as an idea is spreading amongst the
youth.”
This was confirmed by a teacher in a college in Panjim who said
at least ten percent of the college students were focussed on entrepreneurship.
She said one of them told me that she intended to start a company once she
graduated focussed on out of the box ideas for parties. They are all preparing
themselves because they know the world has changed completely since the virus hit
and they have to be prepared. It is all working and gaining experience while
studying”.
Swizel Quadros is the first person in her family to start a
business. A final year student, she said “I live in Sanvordem and I realized
people had not heard of a Russian honey cake or cakes with green cheese. I
realised there was a gap and I decided to start making them and got a very good
response”. Swizel has big plans for the future. She intends to set up a café
either here in Goa or in Oslo, Norway where her sister resides.
Rynoshca Braganza and her three partners set up a Café in Panjim
a month before the lockdown. She said “I worked in two café and in interned in
the hospitality industry and gained experience. I love working for myself and
we set up this business. It is tough but these tough times will pass. I am the
first in my family to start a business and yes I will say this it is tough
running a business but the potential in Goa very good”.
Another first-time entrepreneur but experienced corporate hand
is Rohini Gonsalves who started Sevarat which is focussed on care for the
elderly. She was candid when she said “Setting up a business is tough anyway
but in Goa it was even greater. The speed of work was very slow.
When I started four years ago it was very difficult but when the
state government decided to promote start-ups financial institutions like banks
became more forthcoming. Now in these COVID times, many start-ups are enhancing
their services to take advantage of opportunities that are arising”.
An institution that is doing yeoman work in encouraging
entrepreneurship is The forum for Innovation, Incubation, Research and
Entrepreneurship, Don Bosco Fatorda. The CEO, DS Prashant when asked
whether the culture of entrepreneurship was spreading in the state he said “
These are challenging times for all more so for entrepreneurs and particularly
for start-ups. The advantage for startups being that they are agile and able to
repurpose themselves especially during COVID. People are losing jobs and are
determined to find a way to move forward. We at FiiRE have interacted with
about 40 people who have come back to Goa from abroad in the last two weeks and
all are looking at entrepreneurship as a possible solution to their existing
challenges. I would say this is a time of forced entrepreneurship. People are
repurposing. Agriculture, manufacturing food products, manufacturing cleaning
products, masks, sanitizers, are some of the business picked up by local
entrepreneurs”.
Another startup that made it good is undoubtedly Umang Software
Technologies. Mangirish Salelkar the CEO and Co-Founder said the tide was
slowly changing. More people were looking to set up start-ups and now with the
situation being what it is many were now forced into entrepreneurship. Young
and more experienced people he said would have to find their way in a market
where there were no jobs and had to be created.
Clearly in an uncertain future, Goa's young are at least
planning to take it in their hands.