Entrepreneur Story

"You don’t spend money to start a company; you start a company to earn money”

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 form that of Sweden, Bjőrn Sőderberg came to Nepal as a volunteer when he was 19 years old and lived in Bal Mandir. And during his stay he did find exciting new things here in the potential he saw in the young people in the country. But looking at the trend of all the potential finding their destination in the U.S, 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 very interesting. 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 earned two clients by promising them to deliver the same service they were already getting from somewhere else in half the price. So, with his first two customers, there was his market research. In his way of doing things, he believes more in learning by doing rather than trying to go too much in his 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 .Having the drive and the guts is more important than the idea itself and 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, two things need to be persistent, 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 “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.”

 

Q & A’s.

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 here 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 Bandas 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 than what can one do in such?

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.

• Discussion on Liberty (Internal Event)

  Thu, 09 September, 2010 | 02:00 pm onwards

  Samriddhi's Office

• Lecture Series by Dr. Bhola Nath Chalise (Internal event)

  Fri, 10 September, 2010 | 05:00 pm onwards

• Boot Camp

  Sat, 18 September, 2010 | 09:30 am onwards

  Hotel Radisson, Lazimpat, Kathmandu.

• Last Thursdays Entrepreneurs Speak

  Thu, 30 September, 2010 | 05:30 pm onwards

  Dwarika's Hotel, Battisputali

• Freedom and equality: when are they mutually exclusive?

  by Sarita Sapkota | 02 September, 2010

  In the article 'Seven Principles of Sound Public Policy', Lawrence W. Reed stated his first principle as "Free people are not equal, and equal people are not free". Not referring to equality as the equality before law and purely taking it in a sense of material wealth, many people I know find the statement agreeable but somehow they don't like the sound of it and in a political setting like ours, its only predictable.

• काठमाडौंबासीहरुको बिजोग ।

  by Surath Giri | 02 September, 2010

  एकपल्ट फेरी काठमाडौंबासीहरुको बिजोग भएको छ । कथित सुकिला मुकिलाहरुको घर ,चोक र गल्लि-गल्लीमा फोहोरको डुङुर जम्मा भएको छ । कारण फोहोर फाल्न प्रयोग गरिरखिएको ठाउँ -ओखरपौवा-बासीको अबरोध । फोहोर फाल्ने जिम्मा पायेको काठमाडौं महानगरपालिकाको भरपुर प्रयासका बाबजुद गत एक हप्ता देखि काठमाडौंको फोहोर उठ्न सकिराखेको थिएन ।

• “Cooking is my hobby and that is what brought me to the meat products sector.”

  24 June, 2010

  Chandra Tiwari of Nina and Hager a brand name in the Nepal market of meat and processing shared his experience and journey as an entrepreneur at Last Thursdays on May 27th 2010, organized by Entrepreneurs of Nepal and Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation.

• Unleashing Nepal

  If one observes the contemporary political economic scenario of Nepal, especially the last 2 decades covering the eventful period of Jana Aandolan I , civil war, royal coup, Jana Aandolan II, comprehensive peace agreement and constitution assembly, they could confidently say Nepalese are fond of hoping for the best and dashing for it and are very familiar with having their hopes thwarted and coping with the worst.

• SOUND MONEY ESSAY CONTEST