Article by Dibya Jyoti Tripathy  from Entrepreneurship Wing, GAEE JMI

Background:

High on views, recommendations, and trends on social media, Shark Tank has brought a path-breaking segment and realm to the Indian multimedia industry, which is infotainment. Not only this, but this show, for the first time, gave an Indian context to the topics of market and firms. 

Moreover, this show, with all its peculiarities, made the entrepreneurship scenario of India crystal clear, highlighting how, why, and at what stage did Indian Entrepreneurship come this far.

Shark Tank & Entrepreneurship:

One of the main aspects of Entrepreneurship is the ability to take risks. Risk is like salt to every startup. While the perfect amount makes it better, the lack or lump destroys it. But, if you analyze the pitches of Shark Tank, the risk quotient is relatively low, and this is not based on mere assumptions.

The Trend:

Initially, the total number of ventures that came through for representation, more than 50% of them, were dominated by the food and beverages industry. This affliction towards food was not a mere coincidence but an indicator of the focused efforts in that field. While considering this data, the record of the past five years’ Skills India Data becomes more relevant and evident.

In the last five years, the distribution of skills India funds suggested that most of the capital to a group of SHGs at the village level, leaving those who were benefited from the OTOP scheme, mostly translated to mini startups and self operations producing targeted food products such as namkeens, local delicacies, pickles, dry papad, etc., and were immediately under threat from large producers.

People choose food for startups because it requires little capital to get started, and the problem of dead stock is inevident. Those who start from scratch suffer from a lack of capital, whereas those who aim and evaluate to maximize the industry are the heirs of established households. 

As a result, they prefer food as an option because the loss would be minimal if it backfired, demonstrating that the stage of Entrepreneurship in India is taking far less risk than is required to scale. If we don’t get it out of this bubble, it won’t be reflected in the core industries.

Relevance of Education in this Trend:

One of the crucial components of Entrepreneurship is the relevance of the associated course and the essential education which should back it.

Namita Thapar simplified Entrepreneurship as “expertise”, i.e., the comfort zone or core competency area.

Even though education selection in India is more pressure-driven than interest-driven, we mostly find people enjoying the course they pursue.

In a proper Entrepreneurship perspective, the skill or education you obtain must become part and parcel of one core idea because a clear idea about any field gives complete control, which creates a sphere for maximizing profit, thus becoming a necessity when considering areas such as construction, pharma, and so on.

People in the pharmaceutical industry were educated in that field, implying that interest-driven education could result in well-functioning startups. It further suggested that everyone should be allowed to choose their interests and must not be pushed by parental pressure so that the skill set they acquire multiplies quickly into a marketable skill set.

Present Scenario and the main Sharks:

Therefore, Indian Entrepreneurship is more auxiliary-oriented than core-oriented.

Anupam Mittal, the founder of “Shaddi.com” and “Peoples Group,” is an outcome of the IT boom and post-internet field to support the essential demand of grooms in India and find some relief from the rigorous and exhausting business of matchmaking. It is determined by emerging sectors and an extravagant need following settlement. But did he address the root cause? No. As a result, there was a competitive advantage. Startups are the result of a sudden need and our reliance on it.

Vinita Singh and Ghazal Alagh are both CEOs of two lucid cosmetic firms, “Sugar Cosmetics” and “Mama Earth,” to emphasize that these are the industries that cater to the consumer’s additional need, not the immediate need. They try to teach the sense of self-grooming and care with appealing products and offers, but are these the core needs of an individual? This is something to consider.

Aman Gupta is the CEO and founder of “BOAT,” which is primarily a manufacturing hub for audio accessories. However, it focuses on one primary industry of accessory production, to a lesser extent, and its manufacturing hubs are located in China.

Peyush Bansal owns “Lenskart”, an auxiliary brand associate. Ashneer Grover, comes from “Bharat Pe” which has a banking base, and Namita Thapar comes from pharma, both of which are core sectors.

Though leaving the last two, the sharks are not from the core industry, but they have a high net worth.

The Indian Handloom and Artefacts Industry was another potential firm that was hoped to blossom with entrepreneurial abilities. Despite this, no such change was observed due to the limited market space, and no other creative application was either shown. Throughout the entire season of Shark Tank, we found not a single idea on Indian handloom or handicraft.

Core Concern:

The primary concern of every second entrepreneur is the efficiency of reaping profit, while there is still a nexus of decreasing employment. None of the startups can provide jobs or create new jobs if the numbers are minimal.

In India, entrepreneurs face a colossal issue of the unemployable labor force and no way to enter the core ones, including, Network, Education, Electricity, Coal, Natural Gas, Pharma, Infrastructure, etc.

The wave of Entrepreneurship is on the move but not in the form of a great tide, with not much participation in the core industries, which is not the failure of Indian entrepreneurs but the central government.

There is minimal motivation in the form of a contest fair, etc., but the lack of basic facilities forces people to abstain. There aren’t enough opportunities to break into a core industry. That is why there is still a clear monopoly here.

Bottom Line: The Indian Entrepreneurship group is lively, excited, potential-driven, distracted, unguided, and scattered.

At present, Entrepreneurship is in a better phase. However, it will take time and cautious efforts to translate it into the realm of employment and profit maximization.

Potential entrepreneurs who can revitalize India’s indigenous art form are needed. It also demonstrates how India’s entrepreneurship has a tendency to overlook indigeneity.

To make a significant difference in the environment, entrepreneurs must unite and act as a pressure group to ensure that all grievances are addressed. They must mobilize and create hype for each other, as well as ensure that those in power respond to them.

There is an uneven distribution of entrepreneurial abilities. If we consider Shark Tank and relate it to the facts ascertained by the National Startup Survey 2020, only the hyper urban or the metro cities are getting all the essential benefits, while the rural spectrum lacks even the basic facilities. It only revolved around Bombay, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai, showing how urban is at the parallax with rural India.

This show has created hype in every Indian’s mind to rethink business basics. When in India, programs like KBC revamped quizzing, melodramas began a new viewpoint, movies like Nayak made a bing of literal good governance, and Science of Stupid could funnily excite science. 

It’s only natural that Shark Tank will follow suit. This program, broadcast on AIR, would reach the most remote corners of India and inspire people to consider how their job prospects could improve. If Sachin could become an idol for a new generation of aspiring cricketers, why hasn’t Shark Tank become an inspiration for aspiring business owners?

This demonstrates the format for normalizing conceptual terms, while the practical availability of implemented ideas can pique the interest of thousands. As a result, it would not be surprising if a rejected candidate became a billionaire the next day.

Article Summary :

This article discusses the path-breaking discovery of  Shark Tank, the new face of infotainment in India, highlighting how, why, and at what stage Indian Entrepreneurship stands, taking into account its core essences and achievements. The author compares the aspects of entrepreneurship risk-taking in context with the show. Further, the focus is shifted on the affliction of participants towards the food industry and later justified with evidence of people who benefited from Skills India Funds at the village level turning to startups based on targeted food. Finally, reasons for preference for food-based startups are listed, and examples of some entrepreneurs are analyzed.

(Dibya Jyoti Tripathy is a B.A.(Hons.) Economics student at Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, and a part GAEE JMI, an autonomous branch of Global Association of Economics Education in India. The views expressed are personal and they do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of GAEE or its members.)