An interaction with a fellow IT social entrepreneur in Nepal, Bjőrn Sőderberg

March 8th, 2010

Bjőrn Sőderberg, 28, is a young social entrepreneur with three successfully running companies, two in Nepal and one in Sweden.

In search of something exciting, challenging and different from that of Sweden, Bjőrn Sőderberg came to Nepal as a volunteer when he was 19 years old and lived in Bal Mandir. During his stay, he saw the potential for exciting new things in the hands of the young people in the country. In contrary to the trend of the youngsters finding their way to the U.S and abroad, Bjőrn started off in Nepal with a paper recycling (Watabaran Pvt. Ltd.) and IT outsourcing venture (Websearch Professionals Pvt. Ltd).

Despite the Swedish Government urging its citizens not to travel to Nepal for security reasons, Mr. Sőderberg was determined and he started approaching for loans in banks for the initial capital of $20,000. But through his struggle in the initial days, what he learnt was exciting!

——> Lesson No: 1,  One does not need money to be an entrepreneur, s/he needs customers. You don’t spend money to start a company; you start a company to earn money. And with this learning in mind, he went to Sweden and confirmed two clients by promising them to deliver the same service they were already getting, but in half the price. His first two customers was his market research. In his way of doing things, he believes more in learning by doing rather than trying to focus too much in theory as he says “Most people believe you need to follow a certain process and make business plans to start a company. But the matter of fact is you don’t need websites, business plans or brochures to start your company, just start making money. Once you have your first customer, you have your market research, you have your company.”

Speaking of the struggle people go through to find that one bright idea to start up a venture, he points out that having a good or a great idea is not a guarantee of the success of the business.
—–> Lesson No. 2, Having the drive and the guts is more important than the idea itself.

The passion associated with the work can naturally make any idea a good one. The old formula is if you enjoy your work, you don’t even feel you are working. Adding more on innovation, idea and entrepreneurship, he explains that Entrepreneurship is about getting an idea and working very hard to realize it because it takes time to build up a business. And thus during that time, an entrepreneurs must have two qualities; patience and work hard.

While most people are apprehensive about starting up a business for the fear of failure, he takes a different approach saying,

—–> Lesson No. 3, “Never be afraid to fail. Rather be afraid of never failing. Those who never fail have never tried anything new and never be afraid of creating new things. Because creating new things and translating new ideas to action, even if they are small ones is what entrepreneurs do.”

Some Questions & Answers

What are the problems in starting up a business in Nepal?

Corruption is one of the major discouragements in starting up a business in Nepal. Bureaucrats try to squeeze money out of you here which a different scenario than in Sweden.

Do you think foreign investors are safe enough to invest in Nepal?

Given a few things, a safe environment for foreign investment can be created in Nepal. Some are:
Documents should be in English.
Load shedding should cease.
Hindrances from involuntary Bandhs and strikes should stop.

Have you faced or felt any conflict between the social contribution and economic aspects of a business?

I haven’t faced many clashes as such. I provide scholarships to talented students to study in KU and ask them to work for me for 4 years. Besides, I am always trying to take the middle way in finding profitability and contributing to the society.

In a certain business situation like “If a client asks more and more services and in the end refuses to pay the prices pointing out it was very high, what can one do in such situation”?

To avoid unprofessional situations like these, making everything about the deal clear beforehand is important. Give your client a sample or a prototype of your service and product and ask them to test it. If they like it then mention your prices. But remember some clients are unworkable and sometimes in those cases you have to let them go.

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Previous speakers at “E4N’s Last Thursdays” have been:

Ambica Shrestha of Dwarika’s Hotels and Resorts

Ajay Ghimire of Vibor Bank

Ashutosh Tiwari of Himalmedia

Bal Joshi of Thamel.com

Gyanendra Pradhan of HydroSolutions Nepal

Ichhya Raj Tamang of Civil Homes Group of Industries

Jonas Lindblom, a Swedish investor of Isadora Cosmetics on Durbar Marg

Karna Sakya of Kathmandu Guest house

Kiran Bhakta Joshi of Incessant Rain Animation Studios

Mahendra Shakya of Momo King

Min Bahadur Gurung of Bhatbhateni Supermarkets

Tashi Sherpa of Sherpa Adventure Gears

Posted by Ujwal Thapa Filed in Idea, change, entrepreneurship, inspiration, philosophy, social entrepreneurs No Comments »

This 3 day Nepal bandh (total shutdown of country). This is blackmail.

December 20th, 2009

Are you looking forward to this 3-day bandh, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday? (Total shutdown of Nepal)
What say to the sorry fact that a few big egos with no-one’s interests at heart but their own, will oppress you for three long days with the threat of some cheap several-hundred-rupee-per-day-hired-goons. Who benefits from this? Can bullying create lasting change? After 15+ years of bandhs, does it have the power of ’shock and awe’ any more? This stinks. This is terrorism on the street corner and the masses lie down and swallow it as a part of life in :New Nepal.  But wait a minute…. Are you thinking….
  • Its not my job to stop it ?
  • I am helpless to face up to it myself, what can I do?
    or
  • So what, its just a few days, I can wait it out?
  • I am lazy, I am a coward, I am average….?
Is there really *nothing* we, you, I, me, he, she, they can do? Aren’t you feeling helpless, pathetic, angry? What? You don’t care?
Visualize this,
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.” Someone wise person said that. You all know its true.
Here’s a suggestion. Instead of looking for the nuclear bomb that will wipe bandhs from the face of history tomorrow, let’s take it slowly, be creative, be surprising, reject the shouting, chest beating old-school ways, and have a lot of sneaky fun. Sounds like an ideal romance, no? Let’s start by giving a hint of the steam in this youthful pressure cooker. Start by making small cracks in the wall of nonsense. Lets find new ways to deal with this mob.
Here are some ideas floated by fellow activists in the Facebook Group “Die Nepal Bandh Die”. Join it if you believe in the cause and recommend others.
START THINKING!

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“What about ‘Flash Mob’”?, asked a few people – showing the strength of the silent majority without violence. Know what it is? An sms alert brings a huge mass of people together at short notice at a specific location with secret instructions. Then disperse immediately after the action is over.
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“Exposing faces behind the mob”, suggested another. Get snapping pictures of bandh enforcers now, and start posting pictures on this and other forums. This is one small way of empowering ourselves and see the faces behind this destructive forms of protests.
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Phone jamming – “if you get 1000 people to call every party head office and express their one sentence opinion on bandh, and then hang up. would be fun no?”
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Email the editors – Another suggested, “Mass send emails to the editors of the mass media in Nepal. ‘Please publish on letters page: Dear Sir/Madam, I am 23 from Lalitpur and I want to express my view on the bandh culture which is a hand at the throat of this nation…”.
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“A bandh day football tournament on tundikel, mass random cricket competition in the streets, a cycle rally for the hard-core orwhat the hell – let’s just get people, lots of people together. Otherwise its pathetic, isn’t it?”, emailed yet another.
——————————————
Asks a foreigner,”Where is the dissent in this country!?”

Posted by Ujwal Thapa Filed in Government, Idea, entrepreneurship, environment, food for thought, inspiration, leadership, philosophy, tips No Comments »

need for a “patient systemic process”

December 16th, 2009

Acumen Fund describes “patient capital” as not to seek high returns, but rather to jump-start the creation of enterprises that improve the ability of the poor to live with dignity.”

Ashu (Ashutosh Tiwari) and I are both fans of Acumen Fund. And we believe what we are doing in our group, “Entrepreneurs for Nepal”, complements their efforts by setting up a “patient systemic process” that helps in the effective implementations of “patient capital”. In our frequent brainstormings, we found ourselves always coming back to this central theme, “being patient, being persistent, and  building organizations with this combination of patience and persistence.”

A “patient systemic process” involves spending time patiently but persistently building systems in place in your organizations, into your career or into your businesses. In the context of Nepal, we have got to invest more time and energy into learning how to make  resilient  systems with processes built by patience but persistence. This means building system of processes in almost every end goal in your business/organization, whether it is  dividends, team-building, organizational growths,  profits or career growths.

Once you have processes in place, the system will be resilient.

Please post your comments in whynepal.com and continue the discussion in our facebook group, “Entrepreneurs for Nepal”


Posted by Ujwal Thapa Filed in Links, change, food for thought, philosophy, social entrepreneurs No Comments »

The business cost of avoiding confrontation

December 4th, 2009

The business cost of avoiding confrontation in Nepal

A friend from the US living part-time and doing business in Nepal expressed frustration over our (Nepali) strong cultural desire to avoid confrontation in a professional relationship. Specifically, the steep business cost of this in-action. We discussed for some reasons behind this.

The graciousness of Nepalis is a double-edged sword. The Nepali hospitality is world-renowned but this can be problematic in international business culture. This is rooted in a Nepali tradition of treating visitors as ‘gods.’ People here go out of their way to make sure that a visitor’s experience is a good one. Nepali people don’t like to disappoint. It’s personal pride. But in business, if you don’t let me know that you are going to ‘disappoint’ me – i.e not delivering on time, not delivering on the quality i seek – then I will make promises that I can’t keep, losing face and disappointing others. This creates a domino effect on all my professional relationships. In business, brutal honesty of your short comings saves a lot of pain later on. In a lot of cultures, this is expected of you in business.

But a Nepali may not understand the true business cost of disappointing others. In other words, things not getting done correctly (with quality) or on time is not a big deal among Nepalis but is a BIG deal in the U.S. So why are we so afraid to avoid confrontation, and to avoid conflict?

Is it because of our culture that worships authority, hierarchy, and guests. This culture that taboos ‘questioning authority or displeasing guests’ leading to complications when trying to keep your professional commitments. While we  stress on the culture of “guests as god” relations, we unknowingly end up belittling our professional commitments. Do we have a conflict between our cultural and professional commitments. Many times I have come across this situation. We deny outright that there is a problem and we lie casually with reassurances to avoid the inevitable confrontation. This is our chaotic contradictory way to avoid confrontations.

To a foreigner wanting a professional relationship in Nepal, this is a contradiction.  On the one hand working with a Nepali earns you genuine care and respect, thus earning great personal relationship. On the other hand, their apparent dishonesty with you in terms of keeping up their professional commitments costs you your professional (and later personal) relationship with others,

Is it, that to preserve this status qua of our fabled “respect your authority and guests” philosophy, we may become a generation of conflict averse professionals who cannot keep up with our professional commitments. Do we really understand the business cost of disappointing others? In this flat world, we need to figure out a way to solve this sooner than later.

on a side-note : why “do Nepalis turn our heads sideways (as if we disagree) when agreeing completely with them! (it makes any foreigner go crazy).

would love to hear your opinions on whynepal.com

Posted by Ujwal Thapa Filed in change, environment, food for thought, philosophy No Comments »

5 Whys

November 25th, 2009


My car will not start. (the problem)

Why? – The battery is dead. (first why)

Why? – The alternator is not functioning. (second why)

Why? – The alternator belt has broken. (third why)

Why? – The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and has never been replaced. (fourth why)

Why? – I have not been maintaining my car according to the recommended service schedule. (fifth why, a root cause)

Another innovative way to figure out the roots of problems. The 5 Whys is a question-asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem. Ultimately, the goal of applying the 5 Whys method is to determine a root cause of a defect or problem. Toyota Company used this during the evolution of their manufacturing methodologies. Link to the full Wikipedia article here.
Maybe use this in analyzing and finding the root of problems, even in our daily lives, much like how paraphrasing works to keep everyone understand each other.
What do you think? Where can you use this? Throw in your comments at whynepal.com

Posted by Ujwal Thapa Filed in food for thought, philosophy 2 Comments »
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