Every engineer aspires to create, provide solutions or invent. The statement isn’t true for every engineer. In a country like India, engineering is more of a vehicle to land in a job than to innovate and create.
Why is that?
Post-1990 has seen an influx of foreign companies and rise of Indian conglomerates. This had given tremendous opportunities to engineering graduates and make a career out of it.
Now the set norm in the country, especially of the middle-class families is to make their children become an engineer. The general consensus of the people of the country is that an engineer will get a high salary package and have a secured life.
This is evident in the number of aspirants appearing in exams like JEE, BITSAT, State exams etc. every year to become engineers. Even though only a handful of the aspirants become engineers, the number of engineers produced in the country is still more than any other country.
How did things change?
Due to the global economic meltdown, the scarcity of jobs is on the rise. Due to the past trends, the number of engineers is on the rise too, creating a bottleneck of talent and not enough opportunities.
The solution to the problem
The general public is so caught up with the set rules that but they haven’t given thought to other avenues and benefits that engineering can yield.
When opportunities are difficult to come by, it becomes necessary to create something on own. The only solution to the current predicament is Entrepreneurship.
To be a successful Entrepreneur
- The trend of startups is in. It is important to come up with cool and relevant ideas first. Then comes the need to check the commercial viability of the idea. Market research and demand evaluation are key before investing time and money. Engineers are good at creating, but foreseeing and creating something that is not available but can become a necessity would shake up the market will yield great results.
- Focusing on the business aspect of the idea from inception to ongoing is something that needs to be looked at. To run a business is no easy feat and requires multidisciplinary skills set. No to offend anyone, but engineers over procrastinate business aspect of an idea. A lone soldier can go so far but to win the battle requires people with unique skills.
- Build something and people will come is a wrong concept. If no one knows about the existence of a product, then it will not see the sun outside of the factory. Marketing and sales will bring the product to the market and to the notice of the customers. Besides that making the product a need of the customers is the foremost functionality of Marketing.
- Customers are god so taking good care of them will help the business to flourish. They are the ones paying for the sustenance.
- Many businesses have failed after funding. The thought of having made it is the biggest mistake a startup can make.
Conclusion
‘Become an engineer and then an entrepreneur and make loads of money’ seems like a win-win situation. The path to becoming a good engineer isn’t an easy one. To get into a good college requires one to crack the toughest exams in the country and requires grit and perseverance. So, begin now, know the syllabus, study hard, take mock tests and ace exams like JEE with flying colors.