Business as a service

April 5, 2013 , by DREAMS, Leave your thoughts

As a young entrepreneur taking over his family business, Bimal Gurung plans to use his experience to empower people with skills so they become self-sufficient. 

At 30, Bimal Gurung is the executive director of Sagarmatha Television, one of Nepal’s major television channels.

A graduate in business management from University of North London and University of Westminster, Gurung says it has been an adventurous journey moving back to Nepal and handling his family business.

He, however, wants to do more.

Gurung shares about his business background and his future plans with Dreams.

DREAMS: To begin with, how did you get into business?

Gurung: My postgraduate degree was focused on investment banking. So after finishing, I thought of starting my own venture. With some financial backing from my family, I started a forex derivatives trading (foreign exchange business).

I did that for about six years.

Considering I was starting something new, it was a huge risk. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know. You should never be scared and believe in yourself. And that’s what I did.

Despite the risk, you took on the challenge anyway. Would you say you have to take risk in business?

I think it should be a calculated risk; business is a gamble and at times you have to go with your instinct too. However, you should always know the risks involved and do thorough research before jumping into anything.

In my case, I had done that. Also, I had studied everything; I knew what I was doing.

You were doing well in the UK, what made you return to Nepal?

First and foremost it’s because of my family, and the social life I have here.

And then there are the opportunities Nepal has to offer. There are so many different opportunities that we can make the most of — it’s like a gold mine.

Additionally, living and doing business is your own country gives much more satisfaction; it’s also easier than abroad.

But here, you’ve taken over your family project. Is there anything that you’d like to start on your own?

The family business was like a platform for me, but I do have my own ideas. Considering Nepal’s tourism potential, I want to invest more in the holiday sector to further promote and sell Nepal.

You’ve worked in the UK for a considerable time. Have you tried incorporating some of the work culture and bring a fresh young perspective at your workplace in Nepal?

When you study, work, and live abroad, you have different practises and the way you think is different. So you do end up injecting your ideas. I now look at the industry [or any business] as people-oriented.

So you’ll be focusing more on the people at your workplace?

My main idea is to empower people with skills. Rather than giving people financial aid, I’d want to give them skills so they can be self-sufficient.

My future tourism projects will focus on that aspect and that’ll be my contribution to society through which I can measure my success.

How successful do you think you are now?

If you’re talking about success in terms of monetary value, maybe yes, I’ve succeeded. But the way I look at success is when you can give back to society.

Success for me is improving other people’s lives and making [positive] changes.

So as of now, I don’t think I am there just yet – I’m in the initial stage.