Nearly 4,00,000 entrepreneurs from the MSME sector engaged in a recent webinar organised by BadaBusiness. com, an ed-tech platform founded by motivational speaker Dr Vivek Bindra, to train them to rebuild their businesses post-COVID 19. The event set a Guinness World Records for the largest online business lesson attended by 18,693 unique participants for 30 minutes. The Morning Standard asked Bindra about the recordbreaking session and how to emerge from these challenging times.
What was the idea behind organising such a huge business lesson?
While large organisations have the financial wherewithal to stay afloat for some time even without revenues, for small and medium scale businesses it is a struggle to survive. Since the revival of the
Indian economy is linked intricately to the revival of the MSMEs, we launched an India Revival Mission under which we planned to conduct a series of business training sessions for MSME owners.
Since businesses are running into losses, how can businessmen keep calm and motivated?
It is important for all of us, not just businesses, to internalise that ‘change is the only constant’. Entrepreneurs and other professionals who are facing a difficult time must use this time to remodel their goals and strategies. To stay motivated, you must read inspira - tional stories of people, keep upskilling yourself and work to change your businesses to stay relevant to the time.
What can people do to make the most of this time and stay positive?
To stay positive, it is essential to stop dwelling on the losses and focus on how to reinvent your business and your career for the future. An entrepreneur always benefits from good public speaking and presentation skills. Use this time to improve this aspect of your personality. Go online and learn a series of new skills, be it programming, web designing, SEO or MS Office.
People are moving to their hometowns in the absence of job opportunities. How will this affect India’s economy?
This situation though tragic offers a fresh opportunity for our economy to realign its focus centres. Rather than having an economy where all financial for cesare concentrated in a few metros, we must create an economy where entrepreneurship and job opportunities are divided among multiple centres. It is the time to create more jobs in UP and Bihar, which supply a bulk of labour to more developed states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Since there is a dearth of jobs, people are looking at business as a new option. How viable is that at this point of time?
Promoting entrepreneurship is always a viable option. The country is hungry for new innovative business solutions, products and services that will benefit people during this changed business scenario.
Fields such as online learning, e-commerce, home entertainment, gaming etc., are on the surge. Businesses directly impact the GDP of our country.
Before taking this first step, what must such aspirants keep in mind?
Remember that funding is not as forthcoming. Initially, you will have to bootstrap your business
or partner up with friends/family to support it. Before taking a plunge, ensure that all strategic details are worked out properly and there are no loose ends. Starting your venture in a smaller town right now
will perhaps be a good idea. Your business model must be designed for a ‘contact- less’ world. So, establish a model where customers and clients can interact virtually.