Role of small business in India: Small Scale Industries play a very important role in the socio-economic development of the country. These industries account for 95 per cent of industrial units, contributing up to 40 per cent of the gross industrial value added and 45 per cent of the total exports.
SSIs are the second largest employers of human resources, after agriculture and produce a variety of products for the economy. These units contribute to the balanced regional development of the country by using locally available material and indigenous technology. These provide ample scope for entrepreneurship; enjoy the advantage of low cost of production; quick decision making, and have quick adaptability and are best suited to customised production.
Role of small business in rural India: Small business units provide multiple source of income, in wide range of non-agricultural activities and provide employment opportunities in rural areas, especially for the traditional artisan and weaker sections of the society.
Governmental assistance to small industries: Some of the major institutions providing support include National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Rural Small Business Development Centre, National Small Industries Corporation, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), the National Commission for Enterprises in Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), Rural and Women Entrepreneurship Development (RWE), World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME), Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURM) and the District Industries centre (DIC).
Entrepreneur: The terms ‘entrepreneur,’ ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘enterprises’ can be understood by drawing an analogy with the structure of a sentence in English language. Entrepreneur is the person (the subject), entrepreneurship is the process (the verb) and enterprise is the creation of the person and the output of the process (the object).