Additional Secretary (DFS) Sunil Soni inaugurated smallb.in, SIDBI’s initiative for promoting youth entrepreneurship in the presence of Sushil Muhnot (Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI), N. K. Maini (DMD, SIDBI), Government officials and several prominent personalities from the world of business and finance.
SmallB.in is SIDBI’s attempt to inspire all enterprising Indian individuals to look at the business opportunities all around and tries to demystify and simplify the process of establishing a business in the country. SmallB.in creates an awareness of the business opportunities that exist. It helps understand how to go about identification of business opportunities. It stimulates generation of ideas and learnings from some of the most successful startups in the world. It aids in how to go about choosing the right business opportunity; and helps understand various forms of business organisation. It also helps in preparation of a Business Plan as well as preparation of a Detailed Project Report for availing financial facilities from the Banks in India. It assists in how to incorporate new business in India and understand various requirements of Banks / Financial Institutions and how to deal with them. It also has a section on Finance as well as Legal Basics. The website uses contemporary style of communication designed to engage the young educated audience of today’s India. Dynamic navigation has been employed to ensure that user always knows what to click next.
Sunil Soni, Additional Secretary, DFS, said, “Acceleration of economic growth and the employment of educated youth in the next two decades are key challenges for India. SmallB.in is SIDBI’s initiative to inspire India’s educated Youth to look at Entrepreneurship as a viable career option. India has a distinct comparative factor advantage of a vast reservoir of skilled manpower. Over the next 20-30 years, India has distinct advantages in a population profile concentrated in the younger age group, where many new opportunities can be tapped.”
S. Muhnot, Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI, said, “SIDBI has been active in the Promotion & Development space over the years through programmes like Rural Industrialisation, EDP’s, SIMAP, Cluster Development schemes, etc. It now proposes to plug in an important gap in the MSME ecosystem; viz., information gap in setting up a new business. This is proposed to be accomplished through the use of web based approach to reach out to a larger number of targeted young population.” He added, “SmallB.in is a unique initiative for those enterprising individuals who are thinking of starting a business. It helps in preparing a Business Plan; understand Policies & Regulations; fund the business and manage it in the context of the environment and sector; plan exports; and have access to various resources.”
SmallB.in is an attempt to ensure that India is well positioned to avail these opportunities given its large pool of qualified manpower, track record in service delivery in sectors like IT, and lower costs in several areas.
In SmallB.in, the Policies and Regulations section provides details on various policy measures, Schemes and Incentives offered by Central and the State governments. Registration requirements of various statutory and non-statutory nature are detailed along with their application forms, wherever possible.
The Funding Section is intended to guide the user through the various sources of financing they can acquire. It will also help them to prepare for the key difficulties new entrepreneurs have to deal with. What are the Lending Criteria for Banks & how to approach a Bank for Funding – are some of the key questions answered here. Users will also learn about Credit Rating and how it impacts terms of lending. Potential entrepreneurs can browse through schemes offered by various Banks in India, apart from SIDBI. Bank forms of various Banks can be accessed through smallB.in. Further, guidance on Bank’s Appraisal Process, documentation and disbursement policies are also provided. One can find Franchise Opportunities available in India and also access Technologies from IITs/ other institutions.
Similar sections exist on Environment, Exports as well as Industry Sectors. Users can understand essential aspects, browse through relevant information and download forms as well as schemes.