Every Last Thursday of the Gregorian month, Bikalpa – an Alternative jointly organizes the “Last Thursday’s” event at Biratnagar in collaboration with Hotel Namaskar, Makalu Television, Nepal Youth Entrepreneur Forum (NYEF) and Biratnagar International College. The objective of the program is to disseminate the ideas and knowledge about entrepreneurship through the personal sharing of successful entrepreneurs. Also, the program creates an opportunity to do networking and share ideas among the participants.
The 48th Last Thursday with an Entrepreneur was held on 29 August 2019 Biratnagar. The Guest Speaker for the program was Ms. Ayushi Kc Social Entrepreneur Founder and CEO of khaalisisi Management Pvt. Ltd. (khaalisisi.com). She is also Forbes under 30 honoree 2018 and Asia 21 Young Leader in 2019.
Ayushi KC delivered her entrepreneurial journey addressing the event. She said, since her childhood, she had this dream of doing something different and unique. But she was not sure what it was going to be. Born and raised in a middle class family, she was fortunate to complete her studies from good school and college. She shared that she was not from a business family but had learned the value of hard work from her family. After completing her graduation, many of her friends were going aboard to seek for opportunities but she decided to stay in Nepal because she believed experience mattered more than education.
Before she began her journey into entrepreneurship, she worked with various organizations like USAID and other developmental organization. During her tenure with Gorkha breweries, she learnt a great deal in communication and marketing. This prompted her to think about new ideas. During this time, she began to think of starting something new but lacked confidence. It was her husband, himself an entrepreneur who supported her and help her gain the confidence to leave her job and work on her ideas. During one such afternoon after leaving her job, she saw a rag collector (locally called as Khali Sisi people) and their profession intrigued her. She wondered the economics involved behind the work and began researching. Finally, she was able to understand the recycling industry and wanted to digitize this industry. It was hard to convince family members on this idea as it was an industry looked down upon by society. But she wanted to break such notions and thus began working. She recalls the very first person whom she was able to enroll in Khalisisi. He was able to increase his income. There was no looking back since then.
“I am obsessed with the stories our Dai’s at Khalisisi (the waste collectors) have. If you check my wallpaper, I have their pictures. Their lives and success motivate me. “She says.
She also shared her experience of registering her company. She couldn’t find any category into which her startup would fit. After a challenging search, she had to register her company, an IOT startup as a Waste collecting company. This made her realize that the registration process was not up to date with startup phenomena. So young Nepali entrepreneurs like her still face a lot of problem during the registration process.
She advised the youths to never fear from questioning. Or else, any ideas, however good it may be, will die out. “Opportunities knocks at your door, softly. How you seize the opportunity is more important.” She added. She also said that entrepreneurship is not a race, but a marathon. Hence one won’t succeed overnight, rather it will take a lot of time. “People should never shy away from testing a product in the market. Let the market decide the success of any ideas. Since you are a youth, don’t hesitate from taking risks.” She said.
After she finished talking about entrepreneurship, he took in questions from the audience as well. The audience, eager to participate, asked insightful questions. 100 people attended the event held at Hotel Namaskar Biratnagar.
