THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA: Asking young and aspiring entrepreneurs to dream big, Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo said that he has been nursing his dream to buy a Mercedes since he was 13 and actually managed to own one at 28 through sheer hard work.
“I was dreaming at the age of 13 that I would buy a Mercedes and at the age of 28 my dream came true when I bought the German car,” Lobo said.
The deputy speaker was addressing a group of aspiring entrepreneurs who were participating in an entrepreneurial workshop organized by ‘I Create’ in association with Calangute panchayat.
Urging the gathering to never give up but to get up every time one has a fall, the Calangute MLA said that there was no replacement for hard work.
“I struggled when I started my little business of manufacturing clay items at the age of 13. For three years, I toiled very, very hard but I came up from there," Lobo said, sharing his personal experience.
Going down memory lane, he disclosed that he had to struggle even to take a loan from a bank and had to wait until he turned 18 to avail one.
“My first loan was a sum of Rs 15,000 from a nationalized bank to purchase clay items. Even getting someone to stand as surety for the loan was a tall ask,” he said recounting his early struggles.
He informed aspiring entrepreneurs, mostly consisting of women, that there will be a lot of hurdles but one needed to keep going until one achieves the goal.
Lobo said many people in the coastal village own guest houses and some even run restaurants and allied businesses and therefore have got a taste of entrepreneurship.
“But there are still some people who have resources but don’t know how to go about. For example, some people have 500 sq mt of land where they can easily construct 20 rooms,” he said.
In the five-day aspiring entrepreneurs workshop, 'I Create India’ will take the participants through the entrepreneurial journey from idea generation to execution.
Calangute Sarpanch Shawn Martins said that many people do not want to take a risk and start something on their own.
“We need to develop an entrepreneurial spirit amongst us. We should take calculated risks and start something of our own. The local MLA has offered all help in getting necessary approvals,” Martins said
Zilla Parishad member, Dattaprasad Dhabolkar and other panchayat members were also present on the occasion.
