The seventh edition of X-preneur, organized by Clock b Business Innovations, concluded on Sunday with keynote address by Urban Girl (UG) CEO Nikita Acharya at Kaffe Codes, Thapathali, Kathmandu.

In the session, Acharya shared the entrepreneurial journey of UG, which had started in 2013 when the concepts of online shopping and e-commerce were not much known to the people. 
“The scenario was dire back then. The number of online shoppers is still low and the market is still not conducive enough for e-commerce to boom. But the scenario is changing and UG is steadily shifting again to e-commerce with the same hope,” she shared.

“Entrepreneurship is not just about fame or about being your own boss. It needs idea, commitment, and sacrifices to sustain and be a changemaker,” she said. “It’s also not necessary to be an entrepreneur per se, one can be an inter-preneur and excel at what they are doing with creativity and commitment,”

“The main challenges we face are brain-drain among the youth and emergence of part-time entrepreneurs in the market,” Acharya added. “There is nothing wrong even if a startup fails, one should always try. It is really good for Nepali economy.”

Being the second female speaker for the series, Acharya talked about the little or no participation of women in entrepreneurship. She added that the idea of female entrepreneurs and female participation was just growing, and said it still required time to reach a point where the ratio will be balanced. 

“If provided with a free environment where no prejudice or judgment are made, females can come up with better and creative ideas which can help develop the Nepali market even more,” Acharya said based on her experiences.

Discussing more about the qualities of entrepreneurs, she shared what keeps her motivated, work culture, challenges along the journey and what else she wanted to achieve for herself and UG.  She further discussed the possibilities of developing e-commerce in Nepal and participated in a Q &A and an informal networking session with around 30 participants who had gathered there. 

X-preneur is a platform for youth, students, business enthusiasts and fresh graduates to have a chance to interact, network, and learn from the experience of working entrepreneurs and vice versa.