Self-employment and Entrepreneurship

-Dr.S.Sundararajan, Associate Professor, Sankara Institute of Management Science

 I think self-employment is vastly different from entrepreneurship. Self-employment depends on bankable contacts and marketable skills. Entrepreneurship requires a good business model, friends and family support and also young age (between 30 to 35years).  It is said that resource is never a constraint for an entrepreneur. There are also no specific traits of an entrepreneur except a burning desire to do something that is useful or good in the society. Self-employment can be lifelong. However, it does not build a durable organization. People in self-employment earn approx half the income as a regular employee for doing similar kind of work. Self-employed persons are likely to be exploited for long hours and low charges. There is also the uncertainty in the income streams.

Self-employment needs no Government support. Most people take to self-employment out of necessity and not choice. We find resources always in scarcity, when people say they can’t do or why they fail to do? They say it is because of lack of resources. Actually that’s the belief system. Many people started with lack of resources and succeeded as well. Resources can be accumulated in several ways and one has to keep trying for it. Lack of resources is not the actual reason for winding up of companies but I think it’s the lack of feasible idea and again a good idea which lacks proper implementation. After failure still we have an option to diversify our business in such a way that we don’t repeat such mistakes. Those who spend very less time in planning and more on execution, they end up with failure. I believe a wonderful business Idea/Plan with Optimism, Handwork, Honesty and determination are the actual resources which stockpiles all other resources. Entrepreneurs have learned a lot out of his mistakes but there is nobody to support him to rise again. As a result he has to sell his acquired experience to somebody else.