The past year and a half has pushed most entrepreneurs into a corner. Many still run their enterprises in survival mode, while few pivoted to other ventures to bring grist to the mill. Absolute desolation or staring at a bleak future can throw up an array of possibilities.
I often hear this phrase: “when you are down, the only way you can go is up!” So, consider this plea. It is an audacious one, I admit.
Has the Goan entrepreneur considered fashioning an enterprise too big to fail? How many businesses are headquartered, or made, in Goa that sell goods or services to the nation or the world?
Do we know that IKEA was once a tiny business in Älmhult, a small village in the Swedish countryside, selling through a mail-order catalogue and that its design headquarters are still located there?
Nokia was built – and took the telecom world by storm – from a small town called Espoo in Finland. There are many American corporations headquartered in small towns – MasterCard’s corporate headquarters are in Purchase, a hamlet upstate from New York City with a population of 5300. PepsiCo and Pernod Ricard are also headquartered in this small town.
Goa is a state teeming with entrepreneurs. We look at the tourism sector and see a spectrum of enterprises that abound. From a person who owns and rents 5/10 bikes or has a taxi fleet, to one who operates a shack or a group of restaurants, to starred hotels or hotel supply businesses, to security service providers or printing services – you name it, we have adequate proof of enterprise in Goans, living their entrepreneurial dreams through the tourism vertical.
Goa is also home to entrepreneurs who have grown sizeable businesses within the state and have branched out in one or two other states. Some have even successfully acquired ventures abroad.
However, the idea of a Goan multinational is yet to take root and shoots. There have been flashes of business groups investing and setting up industries in far-flung lands in India and abroad, but they are neither businesses that have a noteworthy market capitalisation nor are their brands among the top-3 of their global peers.
Is this because we do not have an audacious leap of faith? Are we still overwhelmed by our vision? Are we easily pleased with the level of success that has come our way?
Be that as it may. The readers of this publication are perfectly poised to make this quantum jump.
Not all leading global brands and companies fell from the skies. They had visionary leadership that focused on the scale as well as growing their market reach.
I am fond of the term susegado! In my opinion, it translates into being content with what life has offered one. However, susegado could be an obstacle in the path of an idea – a product or service – that could dominate the global space or be a front-runner.
Enough has been said about state support, infrastructure, policy and the like. This idea has to grow despite what the government has in store for you.
At second glance, this edit reads like a fairy tale, too good to be true. Maybe that is the kind of business that we could create in Goa and sell to the world. I believe this is a challenge worth mulling over
