The year 2013 is likely to witness more proactive approach resulting in better revenues and growth opportunities.

Every cloud they say has a silver lining. Even though the current economic hardship, recession and financial instability across the globe have cast its gloom on a variety of sectors and industries, Indian franchise market bandwagon is expected to march on with full steam with industry experts predicting the treble to reach $20 billion by the year 2013.

It is been advised by experts that Indian SMEs should look at growing their horizons. This mean that global market is upbeat about Indian expertise. Going global sounds lucrative, but entrepreneurs must have to look at strategically in order to explore global boundaries.

Canada as a developed country can be considered as a strategic location as it not only attracts Indian entrepreneurs but it is also geographically best place to explore the American market.

In a recent report published by Ernst & Young, Canada has been ranked as one of the best places in the world for small business and for fostering an entrepreneurial environment.

As we are getting closer to the year end, we should look at the opportunities that have already started knowing at our doorstep.  The IT industry creates a huge scope for SMEs. In all sense, ICT have proven it’s utility for the businesses of across sizes have recognized the utility and value of technology. IN such scenario, ICT itself creates a great pool of opportunities for businesses

Year 2012 would be a momentous year for the ICT industry globally and in the Asia Pacific region. Many trends that we saw getting traction in the last couple of years have crossed the chasm and would be a mainstream feature of the ICT industry moving forward.

Every time I get into a conversation with some body. We always end up talking about the economy. The question on everybody’s mind is which industry in India is going to see the next big boom.

The answer to me is quite simple – Education! Why? Just look at the numbers, more than 125,000 students studied abroad in 2006 with about 39,000 visas issued to Indian students going to Australia in 2007 and about 76,000 visas issued to Indian students going to the United States in 2006.

Freelance writing is one of today’s most lucrative home based jobs. It is fit for anyone. It not only gives you the freedom of working, but brings a good green also. The freelance writing opportunities ranges from journalistic writing, job board projects, copy writing, resume writing and business writing. Writers are needed for many different requirements such as news reporting, featuring, niche writing etc. You can even be a "ghostwriter" for people who want to publish their own books but don't have strong writing skills.  Writers can also earn by writing and selling e-books online, creating content funded by advertising, through affiliate products and more. 

The rise of home-based businesses can be traced to telecommuting started in the 1980s and the mass adoption of the internet in the 1990s. Today, technology has made it easier to start and run a business from anywhere. In India also there has been a change of consciousness in the business world to recognise home-based enterprises as legitimate.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and Central Bank of India - ComSec/CBI announced a joint initiative with a view to exploring innovative ways to help budding young entrepreneurs establish and develop small businesses. Called the ‘Youth Enterprise Finance Initiative’ (YEFI), the endeavor will through a series of capacity building and innovative financing mechanisms help to harness a wide range of skills and encourage young entrepreneurs as well as those seeking employment in up-coming enterprises. Fifty million rupees is being injected into the YEFI.

Biz Watch

From the Editor's Desk

India and Japan are about to enter into a strategic economic tie up. During a bilateral meeting held at Tokyo in October, the Indian PM Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan discussed in detail various aspects of broad economic partnership between India and Japan. If the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Japan, referred to as CEPA becomes a reality, this will pave way for the beginning of a new era of strong economic and bilateral co-operation between the two economically strong nations in Asia.