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Last Thursdays where Entrepreneurs Speak: With Bjőrn Sőderberg


Bjőrn Sőderberg , 28, is a young social entrepreneur with three successfully running companies; two in Nepal and one in Sweden.
In search of something exciting, challenging and different from that of Sweden, Bjőrn Sőderberg came to Nepal as a volunteer when he was 19 years old and lived in Bal Mandir. During his stay, he saw the potential for exciting new things in the hands of the young people in the country. In contrary to the trend of the youngsters finding their way to the U.S and abroad, Bjőrn started off in Nepal with a paper recycling (Watabaran Pvt. Ltd.) and IT outsourcing venture (Websearch Professionals Pvt. Ltd.).
Despite the Swedish Government urging its citizens not to travel to Nepal for security reasons, Mr. Sőderberg was determined and he started approaching for loans in banks for the initial capital of $20,000. But through his struggle in the initial days, what he learnt was exciting!
——> Lesson No: 1. One does not need money to be an entrepreneur, s/he needs customers. You don’t spend money to start a company; you start a company to earn money. And with this learning in mind, he went to Sweden and confirmed two clients by promising them to deliver the same service they were already getting, but in half the price. His first two customers was his market research. In his way of doing things, he believes more in learning by doing rather than trying to focus too much in theory as he says “Most people believe you need to follow a certain process and make business plans to start a company. But the matter of fact is you don’t need websites, business plans or brochures to start your company, just start making money. Once you have your first customer, you have your market research, you have your company.”
Speaking of the struggle people go through to find that one bright idea to start up a venture, he points out that having a good or a great idea is not a guarantee of the success of the business .
—–> Lesson No. 2: Having the drive and the guts is more important than the idea itself
The passion associated with the work can naturally make any idea a good one.
The old formula is if you enjoy your work, you don’t even feel you are working. Adding more on innovation, idea and entrepreneurship, he explains that Entrepreneurship is about getting an idea and working very hard to realize it because it takes time to build up a business. And thus during that time, an entrepreneurs must have two qualities; patience and work hard.
While most people are apprehensive about starting up a business for the fear of failure, he takes a different approach saying,
—–> Lesson No. 3: “Never be afraid to fail. Rather be afraid of never failing. Those who never fail have never tried anything new and never be afraid of creating new things. Because creating new things and translating new ideas to action, even if they are small ones is what entrepreneurs do.”
Q & A’s.
What are the problems in starting up a business in Nepal?
Corruption is one of the major discouragements in starting up a business in Nepal. Bureaucrats try to squeeze money out of you here which a different scenario than in Sweden.
Do you think foreign investors are safe enough to invest in Nepal?
Given a few things, a safe environment for foreign investment can be created in Nepal. Some are:
Documents should be in English.
Load shedding should cease.
Hindrances from involuntary Bandas and strikes should stop.
Have you faced or felt any conflict between the social contribution and economic aspects of a business?
I haven’t faced many clashes as such. I provide scholarships to talented students to study in KU and ask them to work for me for 4 years. Besides, I am always trying to take the middle way in finding profitability and contributing to the society.
In a certain business situation like “If a client asks more and more services and in the end refuses to pay the prices pointing out it was very high, what can one do in such situation”?
To avoid unprofessional situations like these, making everything about the deal clear beforehand is important. Give your client a sample or a prototype of your service and product and ask them to test it. If they like it then mention your prices. But remember some clients are unworkable and sometimes in those cases you have to let them go.
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Previous speakers at “E4N’s Last Thursdays” have been:
Ambica Shrestha of Dwarika’s Hotels and Resorts
Ajay Ghimire of Vibor Bank
Ashutosh Tiwari of Himalmedia
Bal Joshi of Thamel.com
Gyanendra Pradhan of HydroSolutions Nepal
Ichhya Raj Tamang of Civil Homes Group of Industries
Jonas Lindblom, a Swedish investor of Isadora Cosmetics on Durbar Marg
Karna Sakya of Kathmandu Guest house
Kiran Bhakta Joshi of Incessant Rain Animation Studios
Mahendra Shakya of Momo King
Min Bahadur Gurung of Bhatbhateni Supermarkets
Tashi Sherpa of Sherpa Adventure Gears

Please note: Transcripts of these speakers’ talks are also available on the Facebook page of E4N.
A separate downloadable PDF of the talks will be available soon on our website: http://e4nepal.com
Don’t forget to send in your feedbacks !!!
Ujwal

Last Thursdays with Kiran Joshi, Disney Animator, and Animation studio founder

This is our summary of our last Thursdays series which happens every last Thursday of the English month. Let us know your feedbacks!

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Mr. Kiran Bhakta Joshi, the founder of Incessant Rain Animation Studios, left his job of 18 years at the Walt Disney Studios at age 46 to create his own studio in Kathmandu. With a background in computer software, Joshi was working as a graphics software developer for Disney. He was in the team that developed the animation system used for “Beauty and the Beast”, which went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the 1992 Academy Awards. Leaving an 18 year old job, the post of Head of Production and a team of 250 artists and technologists under him was not easy for Kiran. There were doubts among his friends in Walt Disney if an animation studio in Nepal would deliver the quality and turnaround they were seeking.

The year 2007 was the turning point in his life. When he had come to Nepal for the funeral of a relative, his friend Sanjeev Rajbhandari suggested opening a studio in Nepal. He then spent three weeks in small animation boutiques and was impressed to see the portfolios of skilled and passionate young artists. He met a 19 year old boy who showed his portfolio and said that his passion was animation but due to pressure from his parents, he had been studying management. He asked Kiran for help, so realizing the level of this boy’s passion, he decided it was time to open an animation studio in Nepal.

Kiran opines that employees are the most valuable assets of a business. He says that it is very important to coordinate with every individual differently because even a single person with an ego can jeopardize the work process. While working with his employees, the first lesson he learnt was that it is easy to train young people rather than old ones. He feels that young people are very creative, more adaptable and energetic about their work once they are convinced. Since experienced people are more resistant to change, he feels that it is better to have young supervisors and employees in the business. He shares that it is important to make sure the employees are having fun during work but at the same time there should be proper enforcement of discipline. Salaries at his studio are based on the productivity and the quality of the animation that his staffs can create. He even helps his staff to go abroad if they want because he believes those people will gain better knowledge and return back. He admits that hunting for talent is an arduous process and he would love to collaborate with the universities here and start an animation academy to nurture fresh talents inside Nepal.

Kiran shares that setting up of a business is easy but execution is difficult. Since he shuttles between Nepal and the US, is it difficult to execute all the ideas due to time constraints. Challenges he is facing now in Nepal include bandhs (strikes) and load-shedding. He also feels that as his company is growing bigger, the fun element is reducing. Even though he doesn’t have any marketing person, his personal one to one networks and visits to several networking programs contribute to his business development. He stresses that networking is very important for entrepreneurs and no one should underestimate its power. His focus is on brand building and creating their own intellectual property.

He sees bright hope for Nepal as we have cheaper labor force, untapped resources, rich cultures and diversity. His studio’s goal is not just to outsource work from USA, but take the rich folk stories of Nepal to the world. He cites the example of “Jungle Book”, a story from India that became a famous animation. He finds Nepal rich in tales of Yaks and Yetis and he has successfully used the yaks and the one-horned rhino for the animation advertisements of World Food Program (WFP) and Ace Development Bank respectively. He believes these would help to showcase our local identity.

http://incessantrain.com/

Ujwal

A Messenger of Sentiments- Bal Krishna Joshi

A Messenger of Sentiments- Bal Krishna Joshi from Nepal.

Bal Krishna Joshi argues that he might most probably be the most famous “goat-seller” of the world. Bal is best known for co-founding thamel.com, an internet e-commerce business that enables expatriate Nepalis to purchase gifts and arrange for their delivery within Nepal, including famously, selling goats over the internet, during Dashain festivals.

What made him an entrepreneur? His dislike for a career oriented job and his reluctance to work for a corporate entity. His search for new opportunities got his attention towards the IT industry. With a friend of his, Bal thought of building an information portal. His friend registered thamel.com. Their initial step was to cater to the needs of the site visitors by creating a chat platform. The platform was also intended for the vendors to use to connect to their prospective customers and sell their products. But to their surprise, they found that most of the users which consisted of Nepali students studying abroad, used the platform to connect to their relatives and friends here in Nepal. Bal remembered a website called 1800flowers.com which used to sell stuffs online and had made millions while going public. He and his friend thought of having a shot and so started selling stuffs on the web. A tough time ensued as people were reluctant to put their photos or sell stuffs.

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