Comments
Retail consulting firm Franchise India Holdings plans to set up entrepreneur cafés across the country in an attempt to serve food for thought.
India is at the cusp of innovation and entrepreneurship, but the ecosystem is not nurturing enough, says Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India. There are not many places where an entrepreneur can go to for help. While incubation centres exist in IIMs and IITs, they are often tech-centric. Entrepreneur cafés will especially focus on retail and services, which is set for good growth in the country, says Marya.
The Entrepreneur Café will provide a platform for start-ups and entrepreneurs to interact with experts and get advice on a host of issues related to running a business, such as trademark registration, licensing and company incorporation. It will assist with logo design, financial planning and even finding the right property.
The café, which will also serve food and beverages, will host regular open forum and discussions with mentors. Franchise India, which offers integrated solutions to set up franchise businesses, hopes to draw from the database of brands it already works with.
The first one will come up in Gurgaon in a couple of months. Franchise India plans to set up cafés in Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai too this year.
The biggest challenge in the country is financing, says Marya, adding that the entrepreneur café hopes to solve that by being a bridge between entrepreneurs and angel investors. “SIDBI is also keen to partner with us,” says Marya.
Anyone who walks into the café will be met with in-house consultants who will do the initial hand-holding, before putting them on to experts in the field.
The café essentially targets the mid-market – those ready to invest Rs 10 lakh to a couple of crores. The start-up consultancy services cost between Rs 10,000 and Rs 3 lakh.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.