Horizons of entrepreneurs in hinterland are expanding

Train rides are wonderful because they take you through parts of little known India, let you meet people, get glimpses of your country beneath clouds and not above it, and assess the opportunity and challenges in a different light. This week I spent a lot of time on a train that was four hours delayed due to a breakdown ahead along the route to Lucknow.

As my patience grew thin with stops at stations such as Rura and Mathai before Kanpur, hope grew as I saw the young people trying to earn money by selling whatever was available in their shops to stranded passengers. The one thing they all had in common was the mobile phone in their hand, a great equaliser with all the Shatabdi travellers. With my personal journey in the world of digital commerce helping my efforts in media, I couldn't help but realise how these small towns and young people have a huge opportunity lying in front of them. Only if we could ensure they can be educated and absorbed by the power of the digital world, they will have opportunities to take their hunger to do well and sell some other ware to customers online. All it will take is a focused campaign to connect their offline world limited to mobile phones to the online world of digital commerce.

And this is the common theme I am experiencing as I made through a week of meeting entrepreneurs across the country that are using the digital platforms to transform their ambitions. I spent a few days in Chandigarh meeting many entrepreneurs. Some of them had given up on Punjab while others were using that economic downturn in the state to start up. For if jobs are an issue, they said, may as well try one's own business. Young Meenu Kalra from Jalandhar returned to Punjab to get married seven years ago from the US. She needed to restart her career. And where did the opportunity come from? Digital.

She is managing business for a British company into knowledge management and corporate coaching. Another young entrepreneur moved to Chandigarh with an aim to set up a wedding business aggregator and soon realised the business had endless prospects in a state that hosts lavish marriages. A video blogger who took many years to convince her parents that she actually was 'working' and could earn for herself in the online world talked about how sitting in Delhi she realised her market and viewership came from Tier II cities, from people aspiring to travel.

Entrepreneurs need a reason to emerge and network and connect with their community. In Chandigarh, a lot of women said they wanted more platforms and engaging opportunities. In Lucknow, it's been the same experience. Speaking to the head of Ficci Flo here, Jyotsna Habibullah she said the city had women willing to take up a challenge and build businesses. It didn't matter that their first brick of foundation was laid by help from their own families.

From journalism to entrepreneurship my connect with young makers of this country has become nuanced with every meeting. It's amazing how their drivers and motives are different but their goals nearly all same. Going from small to big.