Global business giants like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook all started in a garage or a dorm room in a university. Every one of them began with a very young person, an idea for a business venture, some funding to back it up and the determination to make the idea work commercially.
Similar entrepreneurial success stories abound in India with the likes of the founders of Infosys, HCL's Shiv Nadar, Bharti's Sunil Mittal and Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw launching start-ups that were to become giant corporations. All of these were incubated during the Licence Raj.
In this now liberalised Indian economy compared to what it was before 1991, the spirit of entrepreneurship is sure to blossom. With funding options widening through setting up of venture capital and angel funds, all one needs is a workable idea and the willingness of take the plunge. And it is happening. There is no dearth of examples of people chucking their jobs to set up their own ventures some of whom we feature in our cover story, in which we tell you about setting up a business yourself, the things that you should be careful about while venturing on your own and how to manage your personal finances during the transition.
It is not an easy call to dispense with the salary slip, especially if you have a comfortable and wellpaying job. There are bills to pay every month and there are family needs to be taken care of. But there will always be those who try even at the risk of confronting failure.
In our cover package, we tell you how to structure your investments during the shift, how to re-balance your insurance portfolio including your health cover and how best to deal with your existing debts.
Since funding an idea is crucial to its success, we also tell you the various ways in which you can go about organising finance for your venture. While the possibility of failure cannot be dissociated from risk-taking, we hope our cover package will arm you with the knowledge to organise yourself to make your venture a success.
We also drive you through the emerging world of Bitcoins. This is a virtual, alternative currency that is growing on the Internet. Being borderless, it is gaining popularity in India. Bitcoins can be 'mined' and used to make payments to purchase real goods. Bitcoins are also a new investment option with a burgeoning secondary market developing around the 'currency'. The regulatory view on this new phenomenon is not yet fully clear. However, it is an interesting development that has also attracted venture capitalists and investment bankers. We want you to be aware of this digital currency, which can have a lasting impact on the financial ecosystem.
SARBAJEET K SEN
Executive Editor
