Big Country, Little Business: A Beginner’s Guide to Building Your Own Micro-Enterprise

Historically, India has been a country of small businesses and a nation of entrepreneurial strivers. While the notion of job is a relatively modern-day invention, entrepreneurship is in our DNA, which could be why small businesses continue to power the Indian growth story even today. Post-pandemic, economies all over the world are encouraging the small entrepreneur and India is no exception.

Big Country, Little Business will teach you not only how to avoid common missteps while setting up your new business, but also help it thrive. This book is packed with exceptional examples, networking toolkits, funding advice and detailed how-to guides for launching your new venture, and also has over 100 business ideas for those seeking inspiration.

Award-winning educationist and social entrepreneur Santosh Choubey, along with Dr. Siddharth Chaturvedi and Dr Pallavi Rao-Chaturvedi, have drafted this book from the experiences of thousands of micro-enterprises that they have helped set up, reflecting in-depth understanding of the small business environment. If you’ve always wanted to be your own boss, Big Country, Little Business will give you just the impetus you need.

Santosh Choubey (Author)
Chairman and managing director of the AISECT Group, Santosh is an award-winning social entrepreneur and a senior Ashoka fellow whose career spans over four decades across education, enterprise creation and literature. He has pioneered advancements in information and communications technology and skill-based education and services for semi-urban and rural India. Under his leadership, AISECT has grown into one of India’s largest education, skill-development and financial-inclusion networks. Santosh is also the chancellor of five universities of the group, including Rabindranath Tagore University, MP, and Dr C.V. Raman University, Chhattisgarh, and is credited with bringing in multiple innovations in formal and non-formal education. He is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the Schwab Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship by the World Economic Forum, the Indian Innovation Award 2005 and the National (NASSCOM) IT Innovation Award; the latter two were presented by President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Besides being a prolifically published poetry and fiction writer, he has also authored and edited over forty books on popular science topics, including India’s first Hindi book on computers, Computer: Ek Parichay.

Siddharth Chaturvedi (Author)
Executive vice president of the AISECT Group and chancellor of Scope Global Skills University, Bhopal, Siddharth is one of the leading voices of skill development and entrepreneurship in India today. As a second-generation entrepreneur, Siddharth has expanded AISECT’s work in several parts of the country, especially in rural areas. He has also worked on technology infusion in the group’s operations, resulting in stand-alone tech products in the areas of learning, upskilling and jobs, operating in the phygital model. He is also passionate about nurturing start-ups and leads the Atal Incubation Centre at Rabindranath Tagore University. He sits on the governing bodies and committees of many associations in the country in an advisory capacity. He has been the recipient of several recognitions nationally as a young leader. Siddharth also led the case study development on the AISECT Group’s initiatives through the Indian School of Business, which was featured in Harvard Business Review. He holds a PhD, an MBA from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, and a BTech from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal.

Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi (Author)
Pallavi, executive vice president, AISECT Group, heads marketing, new business development and human capital management across the group. She has been instrumental in leading the business transformation and modernization of the forty-year old group through technology and process streamlining. Additionally, Pallavi is one of India’s foremost voices in early education and an award-winning parenting coach. As a leading content creator and founder of Get Set Parent with Pallavi, boasting over 1.5 million followers on Instagram, as well as the Brainy Bear Preschools and Learning Aids, she is deeply committed to promoting foundational learning. She has been recognized for her work with prestigious honors, including the Economic Times Women Leader Award, BW Education 40 under 40, and recognition from India Today and Femina. Recently, she received a nomination for the ’Best Education Creator’ at the inaugural National Creators Award. Pallavi holds a PhD, is a chemical engineer, and completed her MBA from SPJIMR, Mumbai.