Essay 9 : DELTA Essay Writing Competition
Engineering Entrepreneurship in Nepal
by Nzela Palungwa
Entrepreneurship has indeed become a hot topic in modern world especially in a country like Nepal which is in its developing phase, we can see a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs. Some of the most famous and most successful entrepreneurs in Nepal have come from engineering background. Amit Agarawal: the founder of Khalti digital wallet, Shankar Uprety: founder of Hamro patro enterprises, Biswas Dhakal: the founder of eSewa are some of the examples. In the global context also engineering entrepreneurship has been even more glamorized by young billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Musk.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are key drives in todays engineering world. Engineers makes great entrepreneurs because they bring skill-set to start up thats been developed over years of managing project and solving big problems. In the recent years in Nepal we have seen many innovation which have changed our day to day lives. From foodmario to tootle, from foodmandu to daraz they have all exploited the opportunities in Nepalese market and made it a big.
The ambition of most of the Nepalese engineers after their graduation is to seek for foreign visa because they find very little opportunities in Nepal. They are mistaken in thinking so when infact there is a gold mine opportunities in Nepal because opportunities arise where there is a problem. The problem that we experience, read or hear can become an entrepreneurial idea.
Nepal is facing problem everywhere in every sector. The price of tomato is Rs.100 in Kathmandu where as it it Rs.30 in Saptari. There is a problem of connection bridge. Product are too expensive, difficult to use or slow. Similarly in bus ticket system, hospital system, online payment system, everywhere there is a problem. If you could analyse these problem and come up with an innovative ideas to solve this problem then it could be great business. Engineers must recognize these problems as an opportunity. It is necessary for them to realize that bigger the problem bigger is the opportunity.
One of the main problem of engineers in Nepal is that they lack entrepreneurial mindset. After their graduation most of the engineers seek for foreign opportunities or they waste their valuable time trying for government job when instead they could make a effort to get a job for themselves by starting their own business. They seek for job when instead they could be the job creators. Engineers needs to be entrepreneurial inorder to understand and contribute in the context of market and business. Without an entrepreneurial mindset their engineering ideas and amazing innovation might just fizzle in the market.
College and universities must recognize the need to produce engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset. However the engineering education system has not change in Nepal. They emphasize on problem solving, technical knowledge and innovation but neglect critical concepts like how to recognize business opportunities and social and economical impact of engineering work. Universities often fail to teach aspiring engineers how to identify and solve problem that meets the people needs. Apart from their technical and analytical knowledge an engineer need to be flexible, resilient, creative, empathic and ability to recognize and seize the opportunities in this ever-changing global economy. Its really hard to be an entrepreneur for an engineer in Nepal but we still have enough room to grow with enormous potential in future. Entrepreneurship is an experiment: some may work and many other will fail. To be a successful entrepreneur in Nepal one must not just have dedication, hardwork and focus but also they must broaden their horizon and think out of the box.
