Many of today's top engineers graduated from schools in India, and at record speed. According to the Ministry of Human Rights, more than 1.5 million students take post-secondary engineering courses every year in the country. Unfortunately, however, almost half and 48% of these engineers are unemployed.
One of the reasons, based on a study by job assessment firm Aspiring Minds, is that most engineers in India are not qualified for the job despite having a university education. The report indicates that around 80 percent of engineers are unable to demonstrate critical economic skills, which may seem atypical for an engineering job but required in today's market.
It is no longer enough to prevail in technology, business, marketing and accounting have become important aspects of a successful engineering career.
For some licensees, this did not serve as a deterrent. While they may not be getting hired for technical or corporate jobs as planned, many are doing it on their own. This means working for yourself or trying your luck at a startup.
Here are some examples of successful engineers-turned-entrepreneurs:
From CCTV to fashion
Electrical and electronics engineer Zubair Rahman was working as a CCTV operator in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu when he received a call to install CCTVs in the office of an e-commerce company.
“I went to repair the CCTVs and became curious about how the company works,” says Rahman. “I talked to the manager there and he told me how the company was making money by sourcing and selling items online.”
This idea interested Rahman because it meant some overhead costs – he could work on e-commerce from a computer at home. In 2015, he quit his tech job and spent just Rs 10,000 to open The Fashion Factory at his home.
Rahman discovered a unique strategy to market children's clothing in combo packs. It worked so well that The Fashion Factory now accepts 200 to 300 orders a day. By fulfilling these orders, Rahman's company earns around Rs 50 lakh per month.
An online menu
IIT Delhi graduate Deepinder Goyal was working at management consultancy firm Bain and Company when he noticed something. His colleagues spent a lot of time and effort going through different restaurant menus just to order lunch.
While most people wouldn't think twice, Goyal decided to make life easier by collecting and digitizing restaurant menus to upload them online. He created a website with his co-worker, Pankaj Chaddah, also an IIT Delhi graduate. Eventually, the two turned the site into a company, Zomato (initially called Foodiebay), which offers an extensive list of restaurants, reviews and even helps users make ideal dining choices.
Accounting made easy
Vyapar software engineer Sumit Agarwal identified a business opportunity when operating for Intuit's QuickBooks, a combination accounting software for small businesses. He recognized the need for a platform that offered small businesses and MSMEs streamlined answers for accounting and inventory management.
With savings of Rs 8 lakh, Agarwal launched Vyapar in 2016. It is a simple business accounting and file management app for small businesses.
“By using Vyapar, an entrepreneur can stay on top of their finances, manage timely payments, track inventory, generate GST filings and make smarter business decisions,” he shared.
Today, the app is accessible on smartphones and desktops and has been downloaded by over a million MSMEs. Agarwal's company also achieved an annual revenue of Rs 3 million.
“In this day and age, it is important for Indian MSMEs to go digital. Using manageable software like Vyapar to manage billings, accounts receivable and accounts payable helps Indian MSMEs stay on top of their game,” he added.
Ride Sharing Advantage
After a bad experience while taking a taxi, Bhavish Aggarwal decided to start his own company. An entrepreneur at heart, an IIT Bombay graduate, he quit a two-year job at Microsoft to do this.
This is how Ola Cabs, an Indian ride-sharing company, started in 2010. It started offering a better service that includes ride-sharing services, peer-to-peer ride sharing, and food delivery. Today it is valued at around US$10 billion.
A payment app
Sharma may have come from humble beginnings, but he has since graduated to e-commerce business. He went to Delhi College of Engineering and founded One97, a communications company that eventually led to the development of the multi-million dollar Paytm platform.
Paytm is an Indian e-commerce payment system that is currently available in 11 Indian languages and offers users various online functions – such as making utility bill payments, event bookings, supermarket payments, parking toll payments, institutions educational and much more.
What started as a prepaid mobile phone became India's first payment app to reach over 100 million downloads and attract well-known investors such as Warren Buffet.
Eco-friendly products
Founder, Urja Gasifiers Ajay Kumar Jaiswal founded Urja Gasifiers to produce renewable energy and provide energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products to customers. An engineer and technocrat, he wanted to make a difference in sustainability.
He says the company quickly became known for pollution control and quality manufacturing, performance and after-sales service. However, things changed when he started manufacturing and adding cremation systems to his product list.
“My focus shifted to developing cremation systems through years of research,” he says. “It is now patented and is gaining acceptance among the Hindu community as it takes care of their religious and spiritual beliefs.”
Jaiswal offers an environmentally friendly cremation system that reduces wood consumption by 70%. The cremation system market size in India is over Rs 5,000 crore and Urja differentiates itself from competitors in terms of technology, quality and price. Today, the company has an annual turnover of over Rs 1.25 million.