R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, SEP 29
The Mumbai-headquartered ASCENT Foundation, a not-for-profit, peer-to-peer learning platform for entrepreneurs founded by Harsh Mariwala, Chairman, Marico Ltd has registered over 25% y-on-y increase in members for the Chennai chapter since 2018.
The Chennai chapter started after Mumbai with 25 members in the year 2018 rose to 103 members as on today. The trust groups formed among the chapter members allow like-minded, growth-oriented entrepreneurs to learn and unlearn through peer learning and support with each other.
- Increased peer learning from young entrepreneurs: ASCENT Chennai Chapter consists of 66% First Generation business owners
- From 25 Chennai members in 2 trust groups in 2018, ASCENT today has 103 members from Chennai divided in 9 Trust groups
- ASCENT will be hosting 7th edition of ASCENT conclave with 1200+ entrepreneurs from across India in Mumbai on November 27, 2022
An event hosted by ASCENT in Chennai with Harsh Mariwala, Chairperson, Marico, and Founder ASCENT, Archanna Das, CEO, ASCENT and its cohort members from Chennai Gayathri Viswanathan, Director, Maarga Systems Pvt Ltd., and Mahimm Gupta, Managing Director, PPMS Field Marketing Pvt. Ltd discussed the importance of peer learning and support to build resilient leaders of tomorrow.
Success stories of Chennai Entrepreneurs
ASCENT has been actively reaching out to growth-oriented entrepreneurs from Chennai requiring peer support since the past four years. In 2018, the Chennai Chapter started with 25 members in two trust groups. The entrepreneurial interest from Chennai saw exponential growth, recording a 25% year-on-year increase in members for the Chennai Chapter. At present, ASCENT consists of 103 members from Chennai (includes members from Madurai, Coimbatore, Theni and Salem) divided into 9 Trust groups with 66% First Generation Entrepreneurs seeking peer support to navigate through the dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem. The key aspects of adapting to brand building, evolving family businesses, adapting to emergence of technology, and need for a sounding board for clarity lead Chennai entrepreneurs to seek peer learning.
“The entrepreneurial market of Chennai has always been thriving and with the right mindset of entrepreneurs” said Harsh Mariwala.
He said, “the market has seen exponential growth of existing businesses and increased uptake of entrepreneurship among young business owners. This is the key reason why this ecosystem has been a focus of ASCENT for more than 4 years with its first Chennai chapter. The state offers opportunities for entrepreneurial development not just from Chennai but other uprising markets with potential like Coimbatore, Puducherry, Theni, Salem, Mahabalipuram, Erode and Madurai, etc with a focus on both personal and enterprise growth for entrepreneurs.”
Chennai makes up 16% of the total members in ASCENT with 66% Family owned and 61% service from various industries like Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Rubber Plastic Manufacturing, Banking & Finance, Textiles, Logistics, and Technology.
Through the ASCENT Trust groups of likeminded leaders of tomorrow, Chennai entrepreneurs have received access to a pan India viewpoint, operational efficiency, and a diverse network. This has enabled a sense of quicker adoption of the drastic economy, higher peer support and tangible growth in business. Consistent peer support is the key ingredient to tap the potential of the rising entrepreneurial spirit in the Tamil Nadu market.
Brand Building in a traditionally muted market
While new social networks powered by digital technology have emerged across the nation, Chennai has majorly developed its technology businesses in solitude. It’s the time for businesses to also focus on their overall Brand building which has undergone a massive transformation and has become a key ingredient in a business’s growth potential. Traditional companies from Chennai who continue to operate on conventional processes, lack proper branding for the enterprise as well as the entrepreneur. In order to service today’s well informed consumers who are extremely interconnected – one has to adapt to communicating right.
“Chennai has a lot of quiet entrepreneurs and seems to be very subdued where entrepreneurs do not talk about their organization, size, growth, and development especially in B2B business where building a brand is not the area of focus. The peer learning groups help in reiterating the need to focus on brand building with a solution-oriented approach of its execution,” said Gayathri Viswanathan, Director, Maarga Systems Pvt Ltd.
Evolving Family Business
Traditional, family businesses that have been operating profitably for more than 30- 40 years are also feeling the brunt of adapting to the significantly transitioning economy and way of doing business. In order to ensure business’ radical evolution, third-generation entrepreneurs as well as the young business owners joining the family business need to go through a rigorous process of learning and unlearning with like-minded entrepreneurs across India to be able to build resilient and future-proof businesses.
Adapting to emergence of technology
Chennai had a homogenous technology ecosystem of mostly IT services and BPO companies leveraging the market’s domain and technology talent. A long and thriving financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail heritage has helped Chennai in stealing a march on the other IT hubs and has attracted some of the top 10 IT services companies’ operations in the city.
Mahimm Gupta, Managing Director, PPMS Field Marketing Pvt. Ltd said, “With a strong drive towards digitization and tech integration into all nature of businesses, there is a need for entrepreneurs to quickly learn how they can incorporate technology into their operations and be relevant for the future. Peer experiences, coming from a small group or a wider national network, can help guide entrepreneurs in evaluating solutions/partners, avoiding pitfalls and there by integrating technology in their businesses at a lower cost and with higher efficiency.”
Sounding board for clarity
Lastly, for entrepreneurs running organisations with various hierarchies, it can get lonely at the top, especially for the ones emerging from markets who have traditionally operated in silos. With the growth of entrepreneurial interest from young doers, peer learning platforms like ASCENT become all the more important to act as a sounding board for entrepreneurs to allow free sharing of knowledge, success and failures in a trusted, open and transparent environment.
“We have in fact witnessed peer learning requirements from entrepreneurs across India with more and more queries from emerging markets like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, etc. To create this All-India access, we launched our All-India chapter in 2020 to be able to act as a platform that can connect leaders of tomorrow with each other without the restrictions of geography. Chennai and the neighbouring cities like Coimbatore, Madurai, Mahaballipuram continues to be a focus area for us, with a dedicated chapter well established here, we believe in the potential of the market to produce growth-oriented business owners, leaders, and peers,” said Archanna Das.
