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One quality that is almost always associated with entrepreneurs is “dynamism”. Entrepreneurs succeed because of their ability to bring about change. However, it would be an injustice to accept this common factor without delving into the intricacies of why risk-takers have this quality and understanding its true essence.

Society usually has a set mechanism of functioning. Almost always, there are conventional ways in which a society carries out certain operations. Most of the general public is conditioned into accepting these “ways of the world” without much resistance, and blends into the spirit of conformity. While it is rightfully believed that such conformity is essential to ensure that there are few disruptions, whenever this conformity arises out of blind acceptance, it can breed stagnancy.

It is at this stage of stagnancy that entrepreneurs see the possibility of change. With their refreshing take on existing mechanisms, they aim to bring about new and improved ways of achieving goals. They proudly wear the title of disruptors while breaking out of the cocoon of their comfort zone and embracing risks in the pursuit of their dreams.

In the world in which VFS Capital operates, where many complain about the challenges that they have while living at the bottom of the financial pyramid, the go-getters adopt a problem-solving attitude to soar over the hurdles. But still, businesses that start with the hope of poverty alleviation keep facing obstacles once they have come out of the purview of microfinance and jump into a whole different world of SME business.

On the other hand, there are a bunch of businesses that are ready to accept the challenges. And once they have taken the leap of faith, there is no stopping them. After decades of facilitating women champions to start their entrepreneurial journey, through offerings of financial services, and handholding them through the process of operating their micro-enterprises, we find that many of them have grown into businesses that can be classified into ‘small’ enterprises.

A few key transformations that we find in them involve their approach to providing employment. Being at a micro level, hiring is primarily restricted to family members or those in the vicinity. But the recruitment strategy eventually changes to hiring a pre-skilled workforce, irrespective of any relations with the employers.

Another aspect to consider is how the small business owner allocates time to herself. At a micro level, we find that the owner spends considerable time in direct production. But as they grow into becoming small, the owner needs to take time off to plan resources for growth.

Lastly, and the most important, the change would be the increased compliance needs. By the sheer increase of the number of transactions in a small business, we can assume that effort on book-keeping and other administrative needs will be far greater than for a micro.

Even without changing the business model, not all transitions from micro to small are organic. But the fear of change should not inhibit any entrepreneur from growing. Having said that, it would also help to have the same guide that they had during their initial journey to give them a jumpstart in their new venture.