What is the first image that conjures in your mind, when you hear the term – Entrepreneurship or Entrepreneur? The most common one is – a person or a set of bright minds coming together to launch a new business with new dreams & visions in their eyes. Another common thought that pops up is a number of big names like Larry Page & Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani, Ratan Tata, to name a few. Apart from that, several things that come to the mind are day-to-day functioning of an organization, gathering funds, workforce, resources and others. However, to be true, this topic is not just limited to the aforementioned thoughts. Entrepreneurship is more than just a term that states the dedication as well as the struggle of a common person who puts all their efforts to build something of their own; it is also something that reflects the growth of the country, and it’s about time that we give a thought to what exactly is small scale entrepreneurship is offering for the growth of the country.

In a developing country like India, Small Scale Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in the economic development of the country. Though, entrepreneurs are thought of as national assets who are civilized, remunerated and motivated to a great extent. There is no doubt that entrepreneurs are changing the way that we live and work. But the fact is of more importance than, successful entrepreneurs are helping the community to improve the standard of their living and also assist a lot when it comes to adding and creating wealth with their entrepreneurial ventures. Talking about the small scale industries, they, by and large, represent a stage in the economic transition from traditional to modern technology after globalization. The variation in the transitional nature of this process is reflected in the diversity of these industries. Most of the small scale industries use simple skills and machinery. Besides playing an economic role in the country, small scale industries, because of their unique economic and organizational characteristics, also, play a social and political role in local employment creation, balanced resource utilization, income generation and in helping to promote change in a gradual and peaceful manner.

Contribution of Small Entrepreneurs
The fact is very well known to everyone that in many developing countries which includes India as well, society depends on the business skills of the small entrepreneurs to keep their lives going and their existence well-oiled means that small entrepreneurs are as important as the big names who succeed. Also, the nature of a developing economy is quite different from a developed economy. The developing economy can be an agricultural country moving towards the industrialization or it may be the one where in the industry may be in its infancy lacking advance technology. In such cases, the existence of small-scale businesses and entrepreneurship acts as the oil to the engine, offering various kind of support to the nation. Accept it or not, but developing countries like India runs because of the commercial exchange between the people and the small entrepreneurs such as the newspaper delivery vendors, the milkmen, the neighbourhood grocers, the vegetable vendors, the courier companies, and most importantly, small businesspersons such as the service agencies who handle everything from plumbing to electrical repairs to those who specialize in arranging pickups and drops of goods and services. Apart from that small entrepreneurship also provides supports in various other ways.

Let’s see a few of them:
Entrepreneurs are providing great offers in the form of opportunities to many associated domains. Unemployment is a chronic problem in most of the developing and underdeveloped countries. Entrepreneurs play an effective role in reducing the problem of unemployment in the country which in turn clears the path towards economic development of the nation. From offering opportunities in call centres & BPOs to offering employment to rural women’s in various small firms/factories and construction sites, entrepreneurs help the society with many job opportunities. In simple words, an entrepreneur benefits a large part of the economy.

Entrepreneurs mobilize the idle funds which lead to capital formation. The funds which are used by entrepreneurs is a mix of their own and borrowed. This leads to the creation of wealth which is very essential for the development of an economy. Moreover, in our country, the growing numbers of entrepreneurs are resulting in high earnings that directly contribute to the national income of the country.

Small business promotion needs relatively low investment and therefore can be easily undertaken in rural and semi-urban areas. This, in turn, creates additional employment in these areas and prevents the migration of people from rural to urban areas. Small enterprises use local resources and are best suited to the rural and underdeveloped sector. This provides stable development.

Entrepreneurs play a vital role in achieving a higher rate of economic growth while creating better standards of living. Entrepreneurs are able to produce goods at lower cost and supply quality goods at a lower price to the community according to their requirements. When the price of the commodes decreases the consumers get the power to buy more goods for their satisfaction. It is also assisting a lot in reducing the dependency level on outdated systems and technologies thus, helping in improving the standard of living, culture and great economic growth as well.

Entrepreneurs act as a catalytic agent for change which results in a chain reaction. Once an enterprise is established, the process of industrialization is set in motion. Entrepreneurs also invest in several other things that include community projects. They are also providing financial assistance to local charities. If we talk about famous entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates who has used his hard-earned money for causes starting from education to health.

Conclusion
Think of how difficult as well as different the nation will be if the above mentioned small entrepreneurs and their venture skip work or close their ventures due to lack of support and sustenance. Research has shown that such small entrepreneurs above all need financing on a day to day or weekly or monthly basis which translates into shorter-term liquidity and working capital requirements. Also, as they are owners of small enterprises, they eventually don’t need a huge amount of funding; this means the government can help such leaders without great costs. Also the government must offer support to such entrepreneurs by offering policies that make it easier for them to access financing from banks, some subsidies to offset their costs, speedy approvals and faster clearances of their applications, and above all, encourage them to use technology so that they can scale up as well as benefit from the synergies and the efficiencies of the economies of scale.

A developing country needs entrepreneurs who are competent to perceive new opportunities and are willing to incur the necessary risk in exploiting them. A developing economy is required to be brought out of the vicious circle of low income and poverty. An entrepreneur can break this vicious circle. Entrepreneurs and helping government can change a developing economy in a developed economy.