Venture Capital and Micro-finance Instituted Business Plan for a School EdupreneurMallika ChawlaCCS Working Paper no. 181Summer Research Internship Programme 2007-08Centre for Civil Societys.inTable of Contents1. Acknowledgements .32. Introduction 43. Terminologies and concepts 54. The Current System .85. Case Study of Schools 106. Basics of Business Planning 137. The Actual Business Plan . 148. Recommendations for the Plan 539. References 56INTRODUCTIONThe Enterprise of Education as a Venture ProspectHow are prices determined in an open, unregulated market? The answer is simple and straight forward: the interaction between forces of demand and supply establish prices. Are customers exploited in such a market? The answer would be an obvious no. Then why are we still living in an age where it takes around fifteen certificates, all acquired from varied bureaucrats, to operate a school? Moreover, in the process, one has to comply with their demand for bribes. Its very evident that unlike other sectors, the education sector from time immemorial has been left at the mercy of our bureaucracy. It is often assumed that private education caters only to the elite or middle classes, and that the presence of commercial gain is inherently in conflict with concern for the poor. The Delhi Education Act, 1973, a law implemented three decades back is a classic example of this conflict between the very thought of commercial gains and the concern for the poor. However, there is a growing body of research that suggests this is not the case, but that private schools are serving the poor Tooley, James and Dixon, Pauline. 2003. Is there a conflict between commercial gain and concern for the poor?, it has not only shown the existence of these schools in a range of developing countries but also the fact that the great majority studied are run on a commercial basis, making a viable financial surplus. In this project, I aspire to see whether it is possible to procure finances for the institutionally disabled edupreneurs from private players like venture capitalists and micro-finance institutions. I assumed myself to be an edupreneur who wants to open a chain of low-cost primary school in quasi-urban areas of Delhi and thus, I established a plan. The section titled the actual plan aims to set an example before edupreneurs on how a business plan for schools looks like. The section on recommendations proposes some changes, suggested by VCs/MFIs themselves, in order to improve business planning for schools. This could help the upcoming edupreneurs in their endeavor to set up schools and deliver quality education to the masses. TERMINOLOGIES AND CONCEPTSThe initial stage of the internship was characterized as the period of clearing out certain mental blocks of how, why and what for. In the beginning, it was all about getting familiarized with the terms such as micro-finance institutions, venture capitalists and edupreneurs Education Entrepreneurs (Edupreneurs)According to Spark group The Edupreneurs of Hyderabad. Accessed on 1 June 2007.wordpress. com/2007/02/08/the-edupreneurs-of-hyderabad/, edupreneurs are a unique breed of innovative, enterprising entrepreneurs committed to delivering education in spite of insurmountable odds and regulations. Edupreneurs are educational entrepreneurs who are in big demand to infuse a revolution in the education sector. As a rich human resource nation, India should unleash ample number of edupreneurs to achieve social goals at a faster pace. By encouraging edupreneurs to take off, the government can zero in on unemployment and illiteracy simultaneously. Of course, the major question is: can education be allowed for profit?The states wisdom and foresight is required here. Whether the government likes it or not, education as a business started long ago in the country. Now the only good work the government has to do is to declare education as a social industry that will facilitate edupreneurs to borrow money from banks or raise the required investment from the market to establish qualitative educational institutions. Apart from that the government should decentralize, deregulate and depoliticize the education system Prabaharan, A. 2006. Encouraging Edupreneurs. Business Standard, 24 January. . Micro-finance InstitutionsMicrofinance emerged in the 1970s as social innovators began to offer financial services to the working poor those who were previously considered un-bankable because of their lack of collateral. How microfinance works the mos