Recent Articles

INFRASTRUCTURE-DOES PERFORMANCE MATCH PROMISE?

Strangling entrepreneurs at birth Ever since the 1970’s when MSMEs began to slowly gain heft in the Indian economy, the biggest constrictor of manufacturing and growth, apart from the infamous Licence Permit Raj, was the lack of simple infrastructure. So, every second day, Industry Associations would be at the doors, either of the State Electricity Board literally begging for uninterrupted ...
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INDO-MEXICAN BILATERAL TRADE – WARMING UP

India and Mexico have traditionally enjoyed a good relationship. What is the current status of India Mexico trade? Mexico was the first Latin American country to recognize India’s independence in 1947, and our formal diplomatic relations were established in 1950. Since then, our relations have been moving steadily forward. However, given the size of our economies, the interactions between both ...
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HOW TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITHOUT LOSING REAL VALUE

Udipi USP Any one of us who has entered a Udipi hotel knows what to expect. By the time you have slid into your seat, a waiter materializes at your elbow. No ostentatious “Good morning” or “Good Evening” or even a plain “Welcome”. He waits attentively for your order. Repeats it at the end for confirmation, then quietly vanishes. Within ...
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THE PERILS OF A 21ST CENTURY WORLD

A surging economy Despite a sea-change in the Indian economic scene since 1991 and the partial liberalization of the Indian economy by late Shri. P.V. Narasimha Rao, one of the most under-rated Prime Ministers of India, a lot of the socialist mind-set remains. So it is that Indian MSMEs still go around pretending that nothing much has changed, even though ...
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IPR “Reverence” not just “Relevance” must be ingrained into every SME!

IPR’s Relevance is easily understood, at least in some measure by every business big or small but its Reverence is hardly felt if at all. I feel as regards the importance of IPs and IPRs the correct word to be used is “Reverence” instead of “Relevance” Relevance means: closely connected or appropriate, but this does not suffice to define the ...
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DOES A GOOD SOLDIER MAKE A GREAT GENERAL?

A lot of people think they do! At least, among many of the MSMEs I have worked with and dealt. And that leads us to a fatal flaw in so many entrepreneurs who seem to think that there are certain areas of business which require very little thought. The same man who works into the late hours of the night ...
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HOW TO DEAL WITH BANKS – A PRIMER FOR MSMEs

Those who give you life can also take it away If you are an MSME, the only source of credit is probably from the Banks. There are other sources of credit which are fast becoming available now. Maybe, in another 5 or 10 years, this scenario will completely change but even today if you want to be an entrepreneur and ...
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CUSTOMER-CENTRIC COMPANIES – WHEN 2 +2 = 22

Who is not a sales person? If the goal of every company is to ensure profitable revenues, then it follows as the night follows the day, that each person in the company ought to be playing a role in selling profitably. If some employees are incapable of perceiving this connection in the customer-centric world of the 21st century, they have ...
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HOW TO START UP WITHOUT GETTING SUNK

Who are we talking to? There’s a whole lot of advice floating around for would-be entrepreneurs which are simply a re-hash of what some American is saying. There is also a whole lot of stuff advising people about Start Ups, which it turns out basically means setting up some kind of disruptive App which will be the next Uber or ...
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Reflections on Current Policy Issues Facing the Indian Economy

By Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India - Delivered at the Investors’ Roundtable, 9th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019 on Friday, January 18, 2019 (Source- rbi.org.in) I am very happy to participate in the 9th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. It is indeed a pleasure to be here and share my thoughts on various contours of the ...
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