Over 100,000 Indian students are currently enrolled across Australia’s educational institutions, which means thousands will graduate and prepare to enter the workforce.
But how do we ensure this generation is armed with the guidance they need?
Industry leaders will be speaking at Elevate 2020, an interactive platform being hosted by the Young Sikh Professionals Network (YSPN) in Melbourne on February 22 and SBS Punjabi talked to three of them to share their insights.
- Dhruv Deepak Saxena is promoter, director and founder of ROBE, an oilseed crushing and refining plant in NSW
- Mandeep Sodhi is the founder and former CEO of HashChing, an online marketplace for home loans in Australia
- Dr Malvindar Bains is a neuroscientist at the University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research
Indian-born entrepreneur Dhruv Deepak Saxena, commonly known as DD succeeded in digging into the untapped potential that existed in Australia’s cooking oil industry.
He saw the scope as an influence and began stamping out the bureaucratic and financial hurdles-one by one.
Dhruv Deepak Saxena, founder and promoter, ROBE. Source: YSPN
ROBE is today a $150m worth oilseed crushing and refining plant that employs the latest technology to extract oil from canola seeds.
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The entrepreneur who has worked globally and has set up nine green-field projects in four different countries said the journey was not without its challenges.
“Australia is a very difficult place to put up a manufacturing asset," he told SBS Punjabi.
“The regulation, the EPA, the approval and the government bureaucracy delayed us by three years and doubled our project cost. So what was meant to $75-80 m worth project turned into a $150m project.
“But in the end, it has been an interesting journey and what we have established is a significant footprint.”
In his advice to young Indian migrants, he added that the best way to succeed in this country is to “get some experience and be an entrepreneur on your own.”
“Professionals are likely to get better quality jobs but don’t give up if you intend to stay here as a migrant. Get into small and medium enterprises over a period of time.
“I know a lot of Indians who started in a small way and have done very well,” said Mr Saxena.
Mnadeep Sodhi, Founder and former CEO, HashChing Source: Supplied
Founder and former CEO of HashChing, an online marketplace for home loans in Australia, Mr Sodhi has over 15 years of experience in the financial service sector and running start-ups.
He says destiny brought him to Australia and a personal experience coupled with hard work lead to his first start-up.
“I was buying my first house in 2014. At the time, I was working with a bank and when I applied for a home loan, I got a very high rate of interest from the same bank, despite being their employee.
“This sowed in the idea of my first start-up and we floated the idea and managed to get the first investment. Rest, as they say, is history,” said Mr Sodhi.
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The businessman who mentors students in his free time said everyone has the ideas, but not many have the drive and the zeal to follow up on those ideas.
“Starting a new business is a challenging exercise. Before setting-up, first assess your business idea, network and bounce it off with others, once it gets enough validation, you’ll have enough confidence about the idea. Then work towards raising investment from friends and family.
'Work on your vision, plan ahead'
“Work on your vision, plan ahead, you must have a full layout, how will you market the product, attract customers,” said Mr Sodhi.
“Money should not be the incentive, it is just a by-product of business. What is important is that you should have the passion to see it through.”
Dr Malvindar Bains, neuroscientist at the University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research Source: Supplied
The Kiwi-Indian researcher says cases of brain disorders within her own family and the community stemmed her interest in the field of brain health.
“For me, it’s the fact that everyone is affected, it doesn’t spare you of your creed, colour or race, so that’s part of the reason why I started developing an interest in the brain,” said Ms Bains.
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The third-generation migrant in New Zealand, Dr Bains also runs a charity to raise awareness about brain health among members of the community.
“There is a lack of awareness of conditions like Alzheimer’s and wider Dementia within the community.
“I thought I have the knowledge of the condition that young people are at risk of so why we don’t just set a charitable organisation so that we can start supporting these kids in a different capacity beyond our professional capabilities,” said Ms Bains.
“All of us need to be motivated before we embark on any particular career. I think within our own community, we are prone to rely on hearsay evidence. I think that mentality needs to change.
“I also think it’s really important to do heavy background research into any institute, any course, any job that you’re applying for and not just googling about it,” she added.
