India Inc:
Why identify the top Rainmakers in UK-India trade?
Yet another self-congratulatory awards ceremony with the same old names? Yet another advertising and buy tables gimmick?
Definitely not – we’ve all got better things to do than be a Johnny-come-lately, me-too, also ran!
It’s a time when our country needs us. The nation needs more exports. It needs more inward investments. It deserves and can deliver on both. We who live here, especially of Indian origin, know this. But we also recognise a market failure.
The focus of getting nominations, celebrating persons is not going to set people’s interest alight because it would be derivative and duplicative. We think the mood of the people, the value add to the attendee, sponsor and speakers is a national cause.
The key issue presently resonating in government and outside, and not duplicative, is how to increase SME exports to India and Indian SME inward investment into the UK. Only if we resonate at this higher level (and sure it celebrates/nominates and does those other things) will we reap the financial rewards for the country as it then adds value, to the country and to the attendees, by increasing deal-flow.
It goes beyond information to being transactional, by providing a platform for deals. Includes a website in the form of India Inc with contacts for the ‘Rainmakers’ and with them being invited to update deals and know-how they are working on so people can follow and interact with them accordingly. A one-place-shop for deal-making contacts: who is doing what so you too can get in touch with them to boost your exports to India and gain inward investments, from those Rainmakers making it happen.
How do we vet quality? By picking only the top 100.
Rainmakers have the incentive to work with business – as they are paid on deal-flow and make their living that way. If we simply highlighted business persons who made an acquisition, it wouldn’t help anyone.
Our goals are to increase SME exports to India and Indian SME inward investment to the UK through:
- A list of the top 50 UK-India business Rainmakers, which has the benefit of longevity unlike a one-off event.
- Then through events providing access to UK SMEs to the Rainmakers and their networks.
- Have a one-stop site in India Inc to highlight the types of deals they are working on to encourage deal-flow and contact between UK SMEs and the Rainmakers.
- Ultimately, increase UK-India trade and inward investment.
Our targets: 50 SMEs increasing exports by £1 million and 10 Indian SMEs bringing in £1 million in year one to the UK.
This is cost-effective (relies on private sector), efficient (not a one-off event), reduces market failure (one Rainmaker alone cannot reach all the SMEs and vice-versa), productive and sustainable (relies on incentives of the Rainmakers), and needed (UK exports more to Ireland than BRICS).
www.alpeshblog.com
Alpesh Patel is the co-founder of Power People - 50 UK India Rainmakers – http://www.indiaincorporated.com/powerpeople2012
A dealmaker in his own right, he is a former Visiting Fellow in Business at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and alumnus of Boston University, and lectured in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guatemala and India on global economics. He has a degree in Law from King’s College, London, and is the author of 13 books. He is the founder of private equity and hedge fund firm, Praefinium Partners.
