Wake up

How strange! It is always easier to examine others, but very difficult to discover ourselves. To harness
the talent that is hidden within ourselves is always a challenge to entrepreneur…
The success stories of Ramlal Golcha who came to Nepal with a piece of loincloth and brass pot “Lota” in
his hand and who founded Golcha Industries; Nunkaran Das Chaudhary who sold cut pieces now he runs
a trusted and reputed Chaudhary Group; Maniharsha Jyoti, a coal mine labor contractor, who founded
the Jyoti Group of industries; Siddhi Bahadur Sakya, an orphan, who became the second common man
to buy a Rana Palace in the country were not less jaw-dropping than the amazing entrepreneurial
journey of a tenth Grader billionaire Dhirubhai Ambani, the father of two richest men of the world and
Henry Ford, the automobile billionaire who never saw the four walls of a school but build the Ford
Motor Company and become one of the richest men that ever lived.
Business world is full of myths and legends of amazing entrepreneurs and their journeys that exist in
every nook and corners, untold and unheard of.
What is the making of a successful entrepreneur? Is it education, wealth, or is it their upbringing and
culture? What is it that makes a businessman tick? The only answer is their effort, endeavor,
perseverance, dedication and commitment. However, knowledge, education and skill are important
attributes of entrepreneurship, but how important is the role of education, depends on the type of
The indisputable fact is that we don’t learn real entrepreneurial skills in universities. Practical business
skills are generally picked up on the streets. Therefore, to try to luck in entrepreneurial foray, it si
advisable first to start a small business that will bring to light lot of information and practical
experiences, with respect to running a business as well as improving business skills. Once a business is
established, ongoing situation teaches us to update newer trends. While learning from mistakes, we
streamline our business protocols to enhance productivity.
Richard Branson once said, “I wasn’t really interested in becoming an entrepreneur, but I soon found I
had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.”
Business is ever changing and never ending venture that passes through different stages of progress.
Before a stage of saturation comes in business, we have to add required amount of appropriate solvent
in the liquidness of the enterprises.
Business is not a one-man show. We have to utilize and mobilize the power of appropriate human
resource development. For novice, while launching business, he also needs an experienced mentor who
could provide him external support in terms of advice and ideas to develop his business. It helps to
involve and improve business brand, deploy proper time management, efforts and resources to develop
unique business proposition.

The Economic Cost of General Strikes in Nepal part 1

This post reviews the key aspects of general strikes and analyses the economic cost of such

strikes in Nepal. Data analysis shows that average direct cost of general strikes stood at NRs. 1.8

billion per strike day and NRs. 27 billion per year at current prices during 2008-2013. The lost

output per year accounted for 1.4 percent of the annual gross output. The total accumulated

output loss due to general strikes in the five-year period amounted to NRs. 117 billion. With such

losses, general strikes decelerated annual GDP growth rates in a range between 0.6 percentage

point and 2.2 percentage points during the study period. The impact of general strikes was quick

and significant on inflation and tourist arrival rates. The monthly inflation rate jumped to over 9

percent as a result of two-day general strike while the strike called for three or more days led to

an inflation of more than 10 percent. Similarly, tourist arrival declined over a lag. However, gross

fixed capital formation and foreign direct investment appeared to be less affected by general

strikes, which might be due mainly to their bottomed out levels.

The economy of any country is affected not only by economic factors but also largely by

non-economic factors such as the political system, values and institutions. The political

system plays a key role in determining the pace and direction of a country’s economic

performance. A country with a political system that strives to create conducive

environment and facilitates investment can bring about drastic change in the economy

and achieve higher rate of economic growth in a short span of time. In such economy,

citizens have less motivation for participating directly in political activities as they are

engaged in economic activities. Experiences of developed economies, where people have

less time and interest for political activities indicate this fact. On contrary, in

underdeveloped economies, citizens are exposed to various problems. So, they participate

in political activities knowingly or unknowingly in the hope that their problems will be

solved through political channels. Thus, a large section of population gets involved in

political activities directly or indirectly. As a result, many political parties, their affiliates

and interest groups come into existence in underdeveloped economies. These parties and

activists normally put forth their demands or express their opposition through general

strikes, blockades, lockouts, picketing and other similar activities. Such activities, in turn,

lead to political and economic uncertainty, industrial insecurity, and thus may paralyze

the overall production system.

During the 104 years of Rana autocratic rule and 30 years of Panchayati single party

system introduced in 1960, Nepalese economy could not grow and people suffered from

poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition. After the political change of 1990, people grew

expectations that the new political system would bring better conditions to their lives,

however, the situation could not improve due to political instability and unrest prevailed

in the country. Instead, it turned worse and the economy even became weaker, which

provided a ground to flourish a decade-long armed conflict. After all, the decade-long

armed conflict came to an end in 2006, but political transition prolonged keeping socio-
political agendas in front and the economic agendas aside. In this context, general strikes,

blockades and lockouts organized by various political forces, labour unions, professional

groups, business communities and civil societies have become common phenomena in

Nepal.

Even though people from every walk of life have right to express their grievances and put

forth their demands through legitimate means such as general strikes to put pressure on

the concerned authorities, such activities often create inconvenience to the general public

and bring serious negative impacts on the economy.

Against the above background, this post tries to review key aspects of general strikes

and examine the cost of such strikes to the economy of Nepal.