The spirit of entrepreneurship in India is necessity-driven, rather than opportunity-driven. The major hurdle in the growth of Indian entrepreneurship is the lack of access to risk capital for first-generation businesses. The best ecosystem for promotion of entrepreneurship is to introduce industrial incubators in engineering colleges. In the future, entrepreneurship in India would be conservation-oriented and involved in building robust local economies. This article discusses the orientation required for entrepreneur to withstand today's competitive environment.

India is known for its Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), most of which started out really small, only to grow into companies that are providing products and services to some of the largest companies in the world. These SMEs account for over 40% of India's total exports, 95% of its industrial units, and employs 70% of its workforce. It is noteworthy that in 2009, CNBC-TV18 bagged for the fifth year in a row India's biggest awards for small businesses: the ICICI Bank Emerging India Awards. These awards recognize the emerging tycoons of India Inc., with over 300,000 enterprises vying for these coveted recognitions. The lure of entrepreneurship is strong among women because, instead of fighting their way to the top, they can establish and operate their own businesses.

The Emerging India SME of the year, Sanjay Narula of Lilliput Kidswear, started his entrepreneurial journey in Delhi's crowded Govindpuri in 1991 with an initial investment of Rs. 1 lakh. Today, his company does annual business to the tune of Rs. 328 cr.

In addition, some of the following successful stories of SMEs would certainly inspire many start-ups in India.

Backbone Enterprises Ltd. (BEL), carved with Road construction, founded with humble beginnings in 1991 by Kishor Viramgama and Bhupendra Pachani in Rajkot, with an initial capital of Rs. 1 lakh and emerged as a big tycoon by improving its sales in 2008-2009 up to Rs. 265 cr,, with net profits of Rs. 19.4 cr.

Four technocrats in Hyderabad got together one evening and started out Vishal Infrastructure in 1990 by taking on small projects for DRDO. It has achieved a turnover of Rs. 75 lakh in the first year. Over 19 years of its existence, it has reached the Rs. 120 cr landmark in the construction sector.

Raman Roy, hailed as the father of Indian BPO industry, figures as one of the main characters in this slice of history. He and his team set up outsourcing units of American Express, GE, Spectramind and Quatrro (the largest firm in mortgage foreclosures) at a time when it was considered an unusual concept of India.

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