Startups and entrepreneurship are not restricted to certain cities, environments, or businesses. To prove this and to promote the idea of Jammu as an entrepreneurial hub, entrepreneur Shakun Sethi initiated “Jammu and Kashmir Future Talks” — an initiative under which four major universities of the region have come together to organise talks to generate awareness regarding the startup sector and the opportunities present across the world.
“The idea is to break the biases that one associates with the region. There is more to Jammu than political unrest and the violence that is shown in the media,” says Sethi.
As the first phase of the Talks, which is organised with support from MOS Education Priya Sethi, every month one university would host the students of other universities and invite a guest from the startup industry to talk to the students.
The first talk took place on October 27, and was hosted by the Central University of Jammu. The guest speaker was Japan Vyas, co-founded of SixthSense Ventures, who spoke on the topic “How venture capitalists think.”
“The workshop brought to light the untrodden entrepreneurial opportunities lying in the region of Jammu and Kashmir especially in the scope of horticulture, tourism, and handicrafts. I also understood the difference between a startup and a sustainable startup; startups which lack sustainability kill the entrepreneurial potential of a new idea and the resultant economic pay-off attached to it,” says Iqra Shabir, a student of MBA (International Business), at ICccR & HRM, University of Jammu. As much as the talk bust some myths about the startup industry, it also brought to light what systems need to be in place to make Jammu conducive to the growth of startups.
“In our state, fear of terrorism is a great threat for any successful venture. Also, in far flung hilly areas and villages where there are ample of resources and raw materials available, there is lack of basic facilities like roads which can hamper transportation and poor electricity. If these hindrances are reduced then it would be easy to become an entrepreneur,” feels Anjali Bala, a Ph.D. research scholar at Central University of Jammu.
Sharing ideas
The students also came away with a clearer picture on what the state needs to promote entrepreneurship. “We should be sent in slots to visit different incubation centres across India, so that different ways of working on business models can be looked upon. Moreover, this will create visibility for students of Jammu and Kashmir across various parts of India. Students can also share their entrepreneurial idea at different incubation centres so that funding for which we rely heavily on state government can be procured from other sources. Our state should sponsor such visits as they would generate mobility of students with entrepreneurial quests across regions,” suggests Amandeep Kaur, a first-year student of MBA at ICccR & HRM, University of Jammu.
“I suggest the creation of a startup cell where one can get expert advice to find out the possible problems in the proposed ideas and assistance in creating a team which will make the idea work,” adds Shuvam Sharma, a Semester V BBA student at Cluster University of Jammu.
Creating bio-CNG from biodegradable wastes, creating an economical organic food market, promotion of handicrafts, paintings, tourism, and local cuisines, are some of the startup ideas the students came away with after the talk.
