He couldn't find a job - so he'll create his own

WITH the recession making it hard to find his dream job, Mr Nirav Nandish Shah, 26, decided to create his own.

The final-year business management student plans to set up his own business, a Bollywood dance company, after he graduates from the Singapore Management University (SMU) in May.

It's a far cry from the white-collar jobs he might have expected given his credentials.

Said Mr Shah: 'The finance sector was the hardest hit. Jobs are few and far between.

'There is a lesser likelihood that I will find a job which I like. So it makes more sense to venture out on my own.

'I have to find an alternative. If I can't find a job, I can't sit around and do nothing.'

For some, the shrinking job market has driven them to take the plunge and become entrepreneurs.

Practice Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, director for the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at SMU, said he has noted increased interest from students who want to start their own companies.

'There is perhaps an increasing confidence in entrepreneurship as an alternative career path among students and those who have lost their jobs recently,' he said.

The New York Times, reporting the same trend in the US, called this phenomenon 'forced entrepreneurship', a Darwinian survival response to survive tough times.

Mr Shah has been learning dance for 10 years and has taught freelance for five years. His twice-to-thrice weekly gigs earn him more than $2,000 a month.

He started giving serious thought to started his own Bollywood dance company after getting tepid responses from his job hunt.

He started sending out CVs at the beginning of the year, but has got only two or three interviews so far and no confirmations.

'The situation is the same for my friends. The number of people they are hiring seems drastically reduced,' he said.

With his experience and existing client base after fiveyears of teaching, he is confident that his business is sustainable.

Still, he admitted that the fear factor of venturing out on his own is big - 'seven out of 10', especially since he is doing so fresh out of school.

While he has set aside $5,000 of his own money, he hopes to win more seed money.

He drew up a business plan and submitted it three weeks ago to Start-Up@Singapore, an international business plan competition organised by the National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Society.

But Prof Narasimhalu cautioned against rushing headlong into things.

He said: 'Entrepreneurship requires serious commitment and sustained interest from the founders in order to bring their idea to market.

'It is not easy being an entrepreneur. I doubt many students will take up entrepreneurship as an option just because they are not able to find work.

He added: 'It is different for experienced people who recently lost their jobs.

'They would have a better understanding of the market needs and will have some of their own money to seed a company.'

- The New Paper