Not easy to do business in India, say entrepreneurs following V.G. Siddhartha’s disappearance

Too many government bodies complicate company operations, increase costs, say entrepreneurs

The case of V.G. Siddhartha might not be an isolated one, say entrepreneurs who believe that the presence of multiple stakeholders puts a lot of pressure on the businesses and the founders.

Entrepreneurs, who have dealt with multiple government agencies, also feel that there are too many government bodies that play an active role in the journey of a company and, more often than not, it only complicates the operations of the company while increasing the compliance costs manifold.

“It is not so difficult to relate to [Mr.] Siddhartha. An entrepreneur has to handle various kinds of pressures from multiple stakeholders,” said Manish Kumar, co-founder, GREX, a fund-raising platform for start-ups.

“Any company can quickly spiral out of smooth operations if there is no quick convergence of plans and resolutions between various stakeholders and things may never return to normal once they go out of hand. Apart from investors, customers, employees and partners, the government is one big, multi-party stakeholder as well. There are various departments or wings of the government and they do not talk to each other and this complicates matters,” added Mr. Kumar.