Entrepreneurship has now become the target of many. A big part of the youth wants to start an entrepreneurship venture. Then comes a question in mind what about generating a capital? This is the thought that will stop ventures even before they start. So, this episode of The Youth Talks had Mr. Niraj Khanal, CEO at Antarprerana as the guest speaker. He is one of the best out there who can clarify the whole entrepreneurship journey and the most important part generating a capital. And it was one of the best sessions for entrepreneurs. The topic of this talk was ” Youth Talks: Financing a new venture ”
Mr.Khanal was interviewed and these are all about the conversation we had with him.
How do businesses start in these modern times and what is the mindset out there? How businesses do financial management?
Well, when I was starting there were not many companies and organizations operating or planning to operate. But now the trend has increased, there are new things starting everywhere. The actual problem is we don’t know about enterprising properly. It’s like jumping into a swimming pool without knowing how to swim. We never had the correct facilities to coach students about different business models and that left us with a mentality that no money means no business. But money is the last constraint for an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs need to look at problems and then find solutions to them. If I talk about inside valley there are businesses who have registered and started their operations during this pandemic. If we have the correct idea and plan then funding is not an issue.
Many businesses start with using savings. I will suggest that you work in a beautiful company to acquire the skill set and along with that save some money and then start a business with the experience and savings. This is how maximum businesses have started. You need skills, you should be interested in the business you have chosen and then you need resources. It’s not about what others have and you don’t, it’s about what you have.
Another way to get investment is via family and friends if you can show the potential you and your business have. So early stages its family, friends, and the savings that might give you the initial investment.
Then comes in the customer payments, if we can work on products that can start the cash flow then that can be another source. You need to find your interest and go with this bootstrapping module. Globally people are experimenting with small capitals. It’s about to fail fast fail cheap, there is no doubt that we might fail sometimes. We need to look at what resources we have and what is the markets demand. Rather than copying someone’s business create something of your own, it’s impossible to copy the whole business model of someone and then you can fail, so create something original with what you have. You see a problem in society and then you find a viable solution.
If I am starting a business what might be potential sources for my capital generation? As not all the sources are for all the businesses, How to know what my potential sources can be according to the scale and type of the business?
So you got a business idea. Then you need to validate the idea if it works or not, who will be on the team? Because team is very important to have a wide range of skill sets available. You need to know what skills you have and then search for team members for the skills you don’t have. You also need to consider the fact that how much can the co-founders can invest in terms of capital. For idea validation reaching out to a mass through different platforms like hackathons, business competitions is very important. And if you win from these competitions then that prize money can be seed money.
Then comes the angle investors. They invest in idea and teams. You need to show them that you can handle the funds and establish a successful business. They will also guide you through the journey as well. But investors won’t invest if they something wrong or not promising even if the idea is great.
We had a very interactive discussion with Mr.Khanal regarding Entrepreneur’s journey, its need, and also the challenges.
