By Zahida Rizvi
Develop It Yourself (DIY), the entrepreneurial column of The Sunday Morning Business, this week features the founder of a consultancy firm focused on local communities, startup businesses, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) empowerment, and education technology. The firm is Curve Up, and its founders – who are also the founders of Global Tutor – have been pioneers of education technology and live online tutoring in Sri Lanka since 2013.
To get to know about this interesting platform, we caught up with Curve Up Founder Mohammed Fawaz. Talking to us, Fawaz said that unlike India, Sri Lanka – being a much smaller market – has been a good test market to launch new products, services, and startups such as Curve Up, which could contribute to the enhancement of the startup ecosystem of the island.
Fawaz emphasised that the ecosystem simplified the process of registering Curve Up as a company initially, with the availability of online legal assistance and other services that smoothened the process.
Curve Up facilitates communities and entities with training programmes, coaching, and mentoring programmes. The training programmes are established under the concept of Design, Deliver, and Engage (DDE).
[caption id="attachment_133229" align="alignright" width="292"]
Curve Up Founder Mohammed Fawaz[/caption]
Curve Up’s involvement in Boot Camp
The first cohort of participants consisted of indirect victims of the Easter attack in 2019. The participants comprised youth entrepreneurs who had faced a commercial downturn due to the Easter Bomb attack. And thus this two-day programme was designed in such a way that all the participants were initially taken through a phase of decentralising their motive and eventually strategising their business structure, gaining the motivation and confidence to get back on their feet and even start their own businesses
The second cohort consisted of direct victims who had gone through a lot of emotional and financial trauma, and thus this event for the second cohort was structured in a way that gave the participants a form of reassurance that they are understood and valued. The utmost goal was to carry on the event in an empathetic way. Moreover, the second day focused on the entrepreneurial aspect, and they were provided with several alternatives. Especially for the people who lost their jobs and their main means of income.
The third cohort was a one-day programme, which entirely focused on technopreneurship. Having set its context, this involved more of a tech-based approach on helping the victims to deal with their problems. Furthermore, the event aimed to assure that participants were given access to all opportunities available. This in fact helped them explore the several opportunities they overlooked even before the incident.
How startups drive the economy
According to the website for the National Policy on Human Rights and Employment in Sri Lanka, small and medium-sized enterprises account for 80% of the country’s businesses. But what does this mean for the economy? This means that small businesses in Sri Lanka have created their own ecosystem. If they set up local businesses, they create new employment opportunities, directly contributing to GDP.
Moreover, they help to stop gender disparity by employing more female workers than any other sector. In addition, one-third of small businesses are owned and run by women. In addition, they contribute to 45% of all jobs in Sri Lanka. Which, given the 95.6% total employment level, is significant. This largely helps poverty, as the percentage of the population below the poverty line is now 6.1%. In turn, this helps reduce crime rates in the country. As such, the current crime rate in Sri Lanka is 40.10, which is a declining number.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, SMEs contribute to 53% of the country’s GDP. The other major contributor to the economy is the tourism industry. However, despite this industry keeping the economy up, there are several areas for improvement; the main one being the high tariffs imposed on exporting companies.
Another problem is the disorderly method of information exchange. This leads to interruptions in the flow of business. These information disruptions are caused by language barriers. Although Sri Lanka has three official languages, English is the main language used for trade. Unfortunately, many locals do not speak English fluently, which leads to the above.
However, the Government is now actively working to combat these issues. Negotiating for free trade, it is trying to reduce tariffs for exporters. Moreover, English education is now becoming more accessible to the general public. This is because more schools are now integrating it into their lessons. Thus, it is only a matter of time before the economy can overcome these problems.
Therefore, if you are an entrepreneur who wants to register your business in Sri Lanka, you will be glad to know that the process is simple. As mentioned above, the Government is actively encouraging new business startups, because these are a certain method to maintain the country’s economic progress.
However, Sri Lanka’s export portfolio is relatively limited, with a small number of companies accounting for a majority of export revenue, with SMEs providing a very minor contribution. This lack of export diversification in Sri Lanka’s portfolio leaves it particularly vulnerable to the external economic environment and reduces national economic stability.
Strengthening SMEs and their access to the export market could thereby present a viable solution to reducing these risks, while improving export earnings, diversifying our export portfolio, and transitioning Sri Lanka into a more complex economy.
Curve Up’s contribution to the SME sector
The enterprise project empowers 100 rural MSMEs in the Uva province. The coaching and mentoring project done by CurveUp has enabled businesses to be developed through five coaching series, both virtually and physically, for a period of 12+ months. The coaching areas have focused on market expansion, branding, packaging, concepts of sustainability, pricing realignment, export procedures, online marketing, etc.
The Entrepreneurship Boot Camp is a three-cohort five-day Boot Camp. This camp’s principal motive revolved around lending a helping hand to the direct and indirect youth entrepreneurial victims who had a commercial clash due to Sunday Easter attack in 2019.
Additionally, Educate to Innovate is a programme conceptualised, designed, and implemented by the ICTA toward creating awareness for school teachers on the importance of STEM/STEAM education concepts, entrepreneurship, and innovation. At this programme, teachers were also given “maker-kits”, and asked to assemble a toy propeller car that can work on land and water as an example of innovation education.
Curve Up highlighted that the SMEs of small scale business would have the best revenue for square feet investment on every rupee they have invested to yield better revenue, although the margin was not enough.
In conclusion
Curve Up is a consultancy firm geared to empower the local community to involve in establishing startups, SME empowerment, and education technology, and one of the main challenges Curve Up faced was in defining the industry’s vertical and overall recognising their field of expertise to be in Information Technology (IT) and education services.
People at Curve Up are passionate about creating positive change and continual development and strive to deliver the best to their stakeholders. The firm has been helping various segments of communities to develop skills, knowledge, and attitude towards innovation, entrepreneurship, education and technology. People at Curve Up are passionate about creating positive change and continual development and strive to deliver the best to its stakeholders.
Curve Up Founder Mohammed Fawaz[/caption]
Curve Up’s involvement in Boot Camp
The first cohort of participants consisted of indirect victims of the Easter attack in 2019. The participants comprised youth entrepreneurs who had faced a commercial downturn due to the Easter Bomb attack. And thus this two-day programme was designed in such a way that all the participants were initially taken through a phase of decentralising their motive and eventually strategising their business structure, gaining the motivation and confidence to get back on their feet and even start their own businesses
The second cohort consisted of direct victims who had gone through a lot of emotional and financial trauma, and thus this event for the second cohort was structured in a way that gave the participants a form of reassurance that they are understood and valued. The utmost goal was to carry on the event in an empathetic way. Moreover, the second day focused on the entrepreneurial aspect, and they were provided with several alternatives. Especially for the people who lost their jobs and their main means of income.
The third cohort was a one-day programme, which entirely focused on technopreneurship. Having set its context, this involved more of a tech-based approach on helping the victims to deal with their problems. Furthermore, the event aimed to assure that participants were given access to all opportunities available. This in fact helped them explore the several opportunities they overlooked even before the incident.
How startups drive the economy
According to the website for the National Policy on Human Rights and Employment in Sri Lanka, small and medium-sized enterprises account for 80% of the country’s businesses. But what does this mean for the economy? This means that small businesses in Sri Lanka have created their own ecosystem. If they set up local businesses, they create new employment opportunities, directly contributing to GDP.
Moreover, they help to stop gender disparity by employing more female workers than any other sector. In addition, one-third of small businesses are owned and run by women. In addition, they contribute to 45% of all jobs in Sri Lanka. Which, given the 95.6% total employment level, is significant. This largely helps poverty, as the percentage of the population below the poverty line is now 6.1%. In turn, this helps reduce crime rates in the country. As such, the current crime rate in Sri Lanka is 40.10, which is a declining number.
According to the Chamber of Commerce, SMEs contribute to 53% of the country’s GDP. The other major contributor to the economy is the tourism industry. However, despite this industry keeping the economy up, there are several areas for improvement; the main one being the high tariffs imposed on exporting companies.
Another problem is the disorderly method of information exchange. This leads to interruptions in the flow of business. These information disruptions are caused by language barriers. Although Sri Lanka has three official languages, English is the main language used for trade. Unfortunately, many locals do not speak English fluently, which leads to the above.
However, the Government is now actively working to combat these issues. Negotiating for free trade, it is trying to reduce tariffs for exporters. Moreover, English education is now becoming more accessible to the general public. This is because more schools are now integrating it into their lessons. Thus, it is only a matter of time before the economy can overcome these problems.
Therefore, if you are an entrepreneur who wants to register your business in Sri Lanka, you will be glad to know that the process is simple. As mentioned above, the Government is actively encouraging new business startups, because these are a certain method to maintain the country’s economic progress.
However, Sri Lanka’s export portfolio is relatively limited, with a small number of companies accounting for a majority of export revenue, with SMEs providing a very minor contribution. This lack of export diversification in Sri Lanka’s portfolio leaves it particularly vulnerable to the external economic environment and reduces national economic stability.
Strengthening SMEs and their access to the export market could thereby present a viable solution to reducing these risks, while improving export earnings, diversifying our export portfolio, and transitioning Sri Lanka into a more complex economy.
Curve Up’s contribution to the SME sector
The enterprise project empowers 100 rural MSMEs in the Uva province. The coaching and mentoring project done by CurveUp has enabled businesses to be developed through five coaching series, both virtually and physically, for a period of 12+ months. The coaching areas have focused on market expansion, branding, packaging, concepts of sustainability, pricing realignment, export procedures, online marketing, etc.
The Entrepreneurship Boot Camp is a three-cohort five-day Boot Camp. This camp’s principal motive revolved around lending a helping hand to the direct and indirect youth entrepreneurial victims who had a commercial clash due to Sunday Easter attack in 2019.
Additionally, Educate to Innovate is a programme conceptualised, designed, and implemented by the ICTA toward creating awareness for school teachers on the importance of STEM/STEAM education concepts, entrepreneurship, and innovation. At this programme, teachers were also given “maker-kits”, and asked to assemble a toy propeller car that can work on land and water as an example of innovation education.
Curve Up highlighted that the SMEs of small scale business would have the best revenue for square feet investment on every rupee they have invested to yield better revenue, although the margin was not enough.
In conclusion
Curve Up is a consultancy firm geared to empower the local community to involve in establishing startups, SME empowerment, and education technology, and one of the main challenges Curve Up faced was in defining the industry’s vertical and overall recognising their field of expertise to be in Information Technology (IT) and education services.
People at Curve Up are passionate about creating positive change and continual development and strive to deliver the best to their stakeholders. The firm has been helping various segments of communities to develop skills, knowledge, and attitude towards innovation, entrepreneurship, education and technology. People at Curve Up are passionate about creating positive change and continual development and strive to deliver the best to its stakeholders.