Goa needs to celebrate its business successes, and see what’s going wrong too
By some coincidence, Goan businesses are drawing some attention. These may not be large business houses, but involve some well-known names. In one set of headlines which emerged last week, the outstation business press announced that Tito’s, the nightclub in Baga, was planning to debut in the market or sell a stake of at least 10% before exploring an IPO.
It might be premature to predict the future of projected plans; yet understanding the trajectory of Goan businesses would be of interest to everyone with a long-term stake in the State. There have been mixed feelings about the way in which medium and smaller locally-owned businesses have been coping with the challenges they face.
And challenges there indeed are. These range from the economic — tourism’s seasonality and over-dependence, high and growing costs of property rents, competition from larger chains (besides big brands and online marketplaces) and limited access to credit. Dealing with the official world involves facing bureaucracy and licensing issues, policy changes, or infrastructural issues. Workforce and skilled labour issues Goa faces translates into a dependence on migrant workers, and the high employee turnover. Changing consumer behaviour, or environmental and sustainability issues, including the erratic weather are also there. Many of these factors have led to erosion, if not loss, of family businesses here.
Tito’s — named after Tito Henry De Souza, started by the ex-army-man from Africa in 1971 and sometimes described as a ‘shack’ when it started — appears to be on a growth trajectory, with ambitious goals. Not all have been so fortunate. Last October, no less than the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, saw cause for worry in local businesses being increasingly taken over by quarters from outside the State. This is not about regionalism; the fruits of development need to also go to those based here itself, rather than largely those better equipped to compete from elsewhere. Every Goan business, Sawant opined, was seeing out-of-state persons venturing into it; he called for not just infrastructure development, but also human development. This trend could have long-term implications for Goa, he pointed out. Others note that locals sometimes seem to prefer to rent out their businesses to others. This issue came up during the shack death cases in part of coastal Goa too.
As a policy, the state government must push the local youth into entrepreneurship as there is vast potential for small businesses to grow. The question is when people from outside the state come to Goa and start businesses, why can’t the local youth do the same? One may argue that those coming to Goa are skilled in some trade or the other. Absolutely! Here, the government has started several programmes in entrepreneurship. These programmes need to be taken to the villages as there seems to be a lack of awareness amongst the youth. It is said that most of the time, our youth who have acquired skills in some trade, are reluctant to venture into business activities. Probably what they lack is the business acumen. From another perspective, if more locals get into small business activities, the social tension will also be reduced.
Encouraging more Goan-owned businesses in Goa is a complex, but needed, goal. Goa needs to be open to the outside world, and take the best it can from there; but its businesses also need to grow and get ahead too.
