"As entrepreneurs we will get our feet wet, learn from experience, keep refining this model as we proceed and grow into what works best for the opportunities on hand,” declared Edul Daver, president of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC) at the global annual general meeting (AGM) attended by nearly 120 representatives from India, UK, USA, Canada, Hong Kong on December 15, 2017 at the Clarks Exotica Convention Resort in Bangalore. He was referring to the newly introduced WZCC Financing Initiative (FI) that will be considered "the legacy of the Bangalore AGM.”
The AGM had commenced with the joint lighting of the lamp by Daver and chair of the Bangalore chapter Air Chief Marshal Fali Major (Retd) who had inspired his dedicated team comprising Zarine Kharas and other committee members of the one-and-a-half-year-young chapter to play host to the WZCC delegation. "In darkness we do not see things as we ought to,” remarked master of ceremonies Shereyar Vakil whose witty one-liners and shayaris kept the delegates entertained during the two-day business proceedings.
Targeting a collection of one crore rupees of which one-fourth has already been pledged, FI will be offering funds on favorable terms to entrepreneurs in need. To make it a workable model, funds will be collected by WZCC in partnership with the World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust (WZOT) so that donors can avail of 50% tax exemption. They will use WZOT’s experience of over two decades of funding entrepreneurial initiatives with grants up to five lakh rupees in the rural and urban areas, and recycling the funds from the amounts repaid over a specific period. In the last 22 years, WZOT has been able to help 1,038 entrepreneurs in 114 locations with a success rate of 97% in their recoveries, stated Dinshaw Tamboly, chairman of WZOT.
For the FI, the WZCC team will vet the applications and sanction sums between Rs 15 to 25 lakhs that will be disbursed by WZOT. The idea is to give "a head start to entrepreneurs,” permitting them a moratorium of two or three months before they start repaying, added global vice president Yazdi Tantra.
Besides entrepreneurs, even young professionals like dentists and chartered accountants require a start-up fund when they venture into independent practice, pointed out Capt Percy Master, president of the WZCC India region. "We must be positive in our thinking. Our youngsters are capable of creating wonders,” he believed.
Even before the formal appeal soliciting funds for FI is issued, they were able to get commitments of Rs 26 lakhs of which Rs 18 lakhs were promised from the USA, mentioned Rustom Engineer regional director of USA. "It means a lot to us. It will mean a lot to the community,” he said. The international board was hoping to raise Rs 50 lakhs before the end of the AGM.
To make WZCC more appealing and relevant to the youth, the current global board created a seat for an international youth director. The general body showed its unanimous approval to elect Jehaan Kotwal of Bombay as the first international youth director. "A core group of five people, equally ambitious and committed” has formulated the vision of the youth wing, stated Kotwal. Based on a survey they conducted among 100 youngsters on Facebook, their priorities will be: networking, mentoring, industrial visits, motivational talks, incubation. Their speed networking exercise at Starbucks helped some of the members augment their revenue and business prospects. Citing the maxim, "Value has a value only if its value is valued,” Kotwal hoped WZCC would be able to reassure the youth who when approached to associate themselves with the Chamber invariably enquire "What will I get?” He appealed to the seniors in the assembly to take in a few Zoroastrian interns and pointed out that during the incubation period, finance is the crux of the major issues an upcoming entrepreneur faces.
"What gets talked about on the dining table is what the children learn best,” reminded Daver when reiterating the need for parents to understand the importance of entrepreneurship and promote it to their children at home. Entrepreneurship can be explained even to five-year-olds, stated Daver who was pleased that some WZCC chapters are experimenting with this concept.
In 2017, WZCC was able to expand its scope with the inclusion of the Central Florida chapter and Southern California chapter. In fact, the next global annual general meeting will be held in Orlando, Florida, from May 3 to 6, 2019. At the global board meeting in August 2017 the scope and function of the Area Representative Office (ARO) was determined. Primarily, AROs will function as a coordinating body in those areas where interested members are currently too few to constitute a chapter, in the expectation that they will grow to form their chapters.
Prior to the board of directors meeting in Bangalore, the directors had online board meetings during the year using Zoom technology to permit participation of regional directors and representatives from across the world. "The WZCC Group on Facebook (
www.facebook.com/groups/wzcc.net) continues to grow and has now crossed more than 3,500 members. Requests for joining the Group are flowing in daily,” reported Tantra who is also the technical director of WZCC. The Facebook group serves to create awareness of WZCC. Membership of WZCC is not mandatory to join this group. The youth have started their own Facebook group. With the revamping of the wzcc.net website with a question-answer portal, it has led to the emergence of focused clusters like IT maintenance. Their successive e-blasts share entrepreneurship and professional achievements and items of interest to members. "We are here to grow your business. Technology is the main driver to take it forward,” summed up Tantra.
Global treasurer Katayun Kapadia’s financial statement for the year ended October 31, 2017 showed that total revenue for the year was $ 33,373 (Rs 21,37,733) as against expenses of $ 34,993 (Rs 22,41,477) leading to a deficit of $ 1,620 (Rs 1,03,744) and a closing balance of $150,869 (Rs 96,63,914).
"We want ladies to get out of their comfort zones,” stressed Behroze Daruwalla, international chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurs (WE) subcommittee of WZCC. With their workshops and training programs on entrepreneurship development, communication skills, personality development, business plan preparation and other related topics primarily held in Bombay and Poona, Daruwalla urged "chapters all over the world to dedicate at least two programs a year to women.”
In its 12th year of publication, this year’s SynergyZ, the WZCC journal edited by Meher Bhesania of Dubai, had for its theme "Skill building” to help members identify "skill gaps” and hone their skills to improve employability and sustainability. With leading business houses advertising their products and services, some of the costs incurred on the publication are defrayed. This year’s copy was accompanied by the WZCC Global Membership Directory that lists nearly 400 members.
"A true entrepreneur is a doer and not a dreamer,” remarked Master when summarizing the activities of the India region. The Bombay chapter, formerly under Adi Siganporia and now under Tehemton Dalal had nine functions during the year, the Poona chapter under Maharukh Bharucha had six events and the Bangalore chapter which has yet to complete two years, held six programs. As observed Master, "The Bangalore chapter has made fantastic progress… and it is creditable that they are holding a WZCC global AGM within such a short period. Our special thanks to Major and Zarine Kharas.” The success of "Coffee with WZCC,” conducted by WZCC committee member Xerxes Dastur on the fourth Monday of every month in Bombay, led to the Poona chapter emulating the initiative. The youth wing led by Kotwal has almost 100 members.
USA now has five chapters with two new ones added during the year. There is additionally one chapter in British Columbia, Canada. Among the existing ones in USA, Chicago had five events, Houston had three functions and New York had seven events, reported Engineer of the new chapters, Central Florida, had three main events in 2017 and Southern California had an inaugural event. "The long cherished goal of working closely with local Zoroastrian associations is beginning to pay dividend in the form of shared values and joint functions,” noted Engineer referring to the WZCC North American regional meeting last April planned in conjunction with the AGM of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) in Houston. Although each of the US chapters has nominated youth representatives, a youth wing has yet to be formed.
Hong Kong has quite a few Zoroastrians who are over 90 years old and one touched 100. They have 21 youngsters in the 16 to 35 age group who are encouraged to organize get-togethers and picnics that are financed by the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong Canton and Macao, stated president Neville Shroff. "Start-ups in Hong Kong we encourage… There is close harmony in Hong Kong, thank goodness,” he added, referring to the social events planned every week.
At the 11th World Zoroastrian Congress in Perth from June 1 to 4, 2018, one session will be devoted to WZCC. On behalf of Congress chair Firoz Pestonji, a Power Point presentation made by the organizers was shown by Arzan Wadia of New York.
"Youngsters today are lagging behind. How many are sitting on the board of companies? They lack the killer instinct,” commented global corporate secretary Adi Siganporia in his closing remarks. The youth of other communities simultaneously pursue chartered accountancy, cost accountancy and company secretary courses whilst Parsi youngsters do not want to leave their comfort zone, he added. The first Parsi youth to stand up and contradict this statement was Perin Patel of Bangalore who was originally active in her father Firdosh Sholapurwala’s business and is now partner of Total Comfort and Pillow Tech Industries.
She was supported by many elders in the audience, with Major commenting that Siganporia’s statements should be viewed as "Bombay centric.” Tamboly felt that the fault lies with the elder generation who perceive youngsters who dare to dream as "crazy” and those who succeed as "greedy.” According to him, "Each generation is far smarter than the preceding one.” Master observed that there are many youth directors in the information technology sector. Engineer regretted that "unfortunately we don’t recognize these youngsters.” Daruwalla confirmed that "we have professionals/entrepreneurs even in Bombay.” Impressed with the passion and enthusiasm of the youngsters on the WZCC WhatsApp group, she marveled at how feedback was assured instantaneously. "These guys don’t wait;” they continue to network through the day and night, regardless of time zones.
The peripheral sessions and events organized by the Bangalore chapter for the WZCC fraternity will be covered in future issues of Parsiana.