Last week, I was one of two lecturers at Kathmandu's Ace Institute of Management's MBA class on entrepreneurship. I focused my talk on the economics of entrepreneurship citing relevant global and South Asian examples. My co-panellist, a smart Kathmandu University MBA graduate who's been involved in several small businesses, talked about his own experiences doing business in Nepal. Listening to him, I was struck that the issues he raised are similar to those I've been hearing about from other small business entrepreneurs since 2001. What, then, are the joys and challenges of being an entrepreneur in Nepal?
Do what you really know: Most Nepali businesses fail because the entrepreneurs behind the ventures do not bother to learn how what they know offers them an advantage in what they do. Often they get into a business simply because they see someone else making money and think that they too can easily do something similar. They thus assure themselves that if they copy only the idea and do it themselves, they too will start minting money.
But there is no substitute for really getting to know one's own business the old-fashioned way: with hard work and continuous learning from experience. If Shyam Kakshapati had not started out serving tea at his then one-room caf? in Ratna Park in the 1970s, it's doubtful that he would have become the head of Nanglo Bakery Caf? 30 years later.
Find a niche: There is a low barrier to entry in most fields in Nepal, indicating that the level of competition is generally low. Those are advantages that can be put to use in the short run. But to stay in business for long, the challenge is to spot opportunities to move into niches in which one does well. In my co-panellist's case, the niche was to start not another clothing store (as if the newly-opened Kathmandu Mall were not full of them already) but an exclusive lingerie store in Kupondole.