I have special respect for Indian Entrepreneurs. In other countries, Entrepreneurs, have a pretty homogenized population and a govt, which, if they don't support, at least they don't oppose.

But for Indians, they have to contend with

1. A totally unpredictable and diverse set of Customers. Customers who want premium products at cheap price. And you have no idea what they like. Because in India, forget States, tastes change according to Districts. How do you account for that?

2. A govt that goes out of the way to shackle you. Rigid bureaucracy and unpredictable babus are the norm and not exceptions. And the laws are so complicated, you violate three laws everyday, without you knowing about it. Bad Laws and a worse Bureaucracy is a lethal combination

3. The worst part about our laws are, that they can be interpreted in six different ways by 4 different babus in 2 different offices. And they do it. You pay a fine for doing a certain thing and six months later, you are fined for doing what the previous babu told you to do

4. We have no stable financial policy. I am not even talking about Demo and GST. I am talking about duty drawbacks, tax exceptions etc. You never know when the govt will withdraw them. That too retrospectively.

And when they do, the business is left holding the bag of loss

5. Our financial eco system is probably the worst. As you all know, In India, to get a loan, you need to prove you don't need a loan. So you can say bye to things like Working Capital loans, overdraft etc. Every bank treats an Entrepreneur as a thief, who is going to steal money

And by some miracle, if they do sanction a loan, the interest and penalties are so high, that your entire business is run only to pay for the Tea and Coffee of the Bank's manager.

And I am not even going to go into labour laws and taxation.

6. And finally, the legal system is so screwed up, that an Entrepreneur can never expect any relief. The duration of an average court case, is longer than the cycle of a particular business.

By the time, an entrepreneur gets a verdict, the business is long obsolete

so whenever you see an Entrepreneur, taking the plunge in spite of the insurmountable odds in front of them.

Please salute them.

Indian Entrepreneurial ecosystem is like the Somme battlefield. You have just trenches after Trenches, filled with the people whose only job is to stop you.

Winning requires tremendous grit and fortitude. It ain't easy. It takes special kind of courage to step in.

In the Movie "A bridge too far", Lt Gen James Gavin, gives a mission, to cross a river, in broad daylight, to a Major, played by Robert Redford

He says, "I Need someone Brave Enough to do it, and someone mad enough to do it"

This applies to Indian Entrepreneurs too.