Entrepreneurship For Teenagers

"What is Entrepreneurship?"

"How do I set up a business?"

"I have an idea. How to move ahead?"

And many more such questions came from the teenagers at Bhavan's Vivekanand College at Sainikpuri Secunderabad yesterday. The college has more than 4000 UG and PG students on campus. Ghumakkad had the privilege of interacting with the young minds. About 100 students had registered for 'Entrepreneur Foundation Program' organised by the Entrepreneur Development (ED) Cell of the College. ED Cells form part of the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) program of Osmania University. TBIs in the universities are in turn sanctioned and supported by National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI)- a program of the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India.

The Foundation Program had 100 plus inquisitive minds full of energy and ideas. It was very heartening to see their active participation. Ghumakkad engaged the students with examples of real life startups which addressed the customer needs successfully. Thereafter, we triggered further interaction by shooting the following questions:

1. Do any of you have an idea for a startup? What is it?
2. What need of the customer will it address?
3. Who else is providing a similar service or solution to the customer need? Do not fall into the mythical trap that 'My Startup Idea is unique with no competition!'
4. For those who haven't yet thought of a startup idea, why are you here in this Program?

All the above questions led to a highly interactive session. Some of the ideas which the students shared are listed below:

1. Online support to other startups for mentoring and scaling up (Jaywant)
2. Online platform for content creators for brand building of businesses (Ananya)
3. Support to farmers for pest prevention and control (Aditya)
4. Specialised consultation for patients needing dermatology treatment (Tejaswini)

The second half of Ghumakkad's session covered the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and its utility for startups. BMC was explained using two live examples one each of an e-commerce company and the other of an educational institution. We developed both the BMCs during the workshop with the active participation of the students. 

Thereafter the other two speakers addressed the participants. For Ghumakkad, it was a fulfilling morning on a rainy day! 

I presented a copy of my book on Social Entrepreneurship to the College. 

Thank you Bhavan's College for the opportunity. Thank you all the student coordinators including Garima, Kaustubh, Aditya, Sanjana, Ananya, Vamshika and others. You guys rocked!

Sharing below the links to some of our earlier stories on related topics. You may click to browse.

Young Entrepreneurs Bootcamp - An exclusive residential program for school students (9th to 12th graders) conducted by BITS Pilani. Ghumakkad was a resource person. 

 

National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) also promotes innovation and entrepreneurship. But very few educational institutions have been able to implement it. The story below brings out NEP implementation by BITS Pilani.
Implementing NEP-2020

Startup Fever Grips VVISM - This story chronicles a B-Plan Contest held at a B-school in Hyderabad. Browse to read how the teams battled it out!

Startups are the way ahead. In India, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurgaon have emerged as startup hubs. However, most of the other States also promote startups by setting up facilities, funding and other support. But we can not rest on our ores.

Thanks for browsing and stay connected. Do leave a comment to keep us going.

   - Harsh-The-Ghumakkad/ Secunderabad/ 23rd Sep 2025/ hbindia@gmail.com 

#startups #innovation #TBI #NIDHI #DST #entrepreneurship #youngminds #mentoring #incubation #university #UGCollege #teenagersideas #BMC #businessmodelcanvas #NEP2020 #implementationofNEP2020 #BhavansVivekanandCollege #Secunderabad

Get Your Hands Dirty

'Get your hands dirty' advised Sumit Ahuja to budding entrepreneurs of Vishwa Vishwani Institute of Systems and Management (VVISM) Hyderabad. Sumit was speaking at the Annual Business Plan Contest 2018 of VVISM held on 2^nd November 2018. 

The Contest had eight finalists who presented their business idea and pitch to an external Jury. These eight Startup ideas which ranged from energy, environment, livelihoods to food sectors are listed below:

1. Stitching Dreams- Empowering rural wome
2. YUMS- Double-decker food truck
3. FITI- Counselling for 10th standard students
4. Casa de Café- Multi-themed cafe
5. Khana Khazana- Chef on call
6. Comida Food- Customised food for medical conditions
7. JSV Bijli- Generating electricity the AI way
8. Bags E-Way- Paper bags supply

These eight finalists had been selected after two rounds of pitches and Business Plan presentations. Total of 29 startup teams vied for the top slots. The whole process was spread over nine weeks of semester load. 

The finalists highlighted five points in their pitch to the Jury:

1. What do they do?
2. How do they do it?
3. Market potential and competition
4. How will the startup be monetized?
5. What is the investment needed?

The Jury comprised of three experienced entrepreneurs- Mr Sumit Ahuja has set up businesses not only in India but also in Japan and Australia. Ms Ishita Raksha and Ms Nidhi Upadhyay have co-founded a Gourmet dessert boutique in Hyderabad. 

The Jury did extensive questioning to each team which added value to the Contest. Pictures for you.

'Bags e-Way’ startup lead by Piyush Agarwal which aims to 

capitalize on Govt’s ban on plastic bags, was adjudged the winner. Team ‘FITI’ which proposed an on-line counselling service for 10^th standard in rural areas, got the runners up prize. 

The Jury were felicitated by Director VVISM.

Each of the Jury members shared their experiences as entrepreneurs. Few of their bites are given below:

The Director reinforced the need for entrepreneurship in our country which was followed up by group photographs.

By now the guests were saturated with pictures. They seemed to say 'bas karo ji' बस करो जी when the following picture was clicked:

The whole event was coordinated by PGDM students as part of the core course Entrepreneurship and Startup Management. Thank you the Class of 2019 for all the excitement! Special 'shabash' शाबाश to the organising team!

Just to recall, the readers may browse the story of the Contest-2017 by clicking the link below:

Can Startup Management be Taught?

We are also giving the links to earlier stories on Startups by Ghumakkad. Please click on any link below to read the full story.

Learning from Failures

How to Identify a Startup Opportunity?

Startup Ecosystem in India

Skateboarding for Startups

Proof of the Pudding- Inspiring Stories of Ghumakkad's Former 

Students-turned-entrepreneurs

We end with Ghumakkad's favourite quotation on entrepreneurs:

Thanks for browsing.

       -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/3rd Nov 2018

#startups #entrepreneurship #startupindia #businessplan #Bplancontest #vvism #vishwavishwani #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Passion for Fashion

What is common between dancing, cooking and fashion designing? Preksha Jain.
Who is she?
Preksha is a creative fashion designer who is equally at ease doing all the three things. She says "I was always keen on creating my own designs and styling up even as a young girl. I play with fabric, colours, cuts, and prints and try to create designs which can be worthy of being considered to be in fashion."

After doing BBA from JD Birla College, Kolkata, Preksha joined IBS Hyderabad for her MBA(Marketing). A keen choreographer, her team won many competitions. 

Carefree college life ended soon and she joined Emami India as a Brand Trainee in 2013. Bitten by an entrepreneurial bug, Preksha soon took the plunge. She shares her startup story below.
"We have all faced this question at some point in our lives – “Where do you see yourself in the next five years?” After graduating in 2011 I knew I wanted to create a fashion brand, which looked like a blurry vision then. Today it gives me immense happiness and pride to see my label “Preksha Jain– The Fashionate”. I started with an exhibition of costume jewelry and was much appreciated for my product offering. That was the stepping stone and over the next few years I achieved clarity regarding my product positioning, market segmentation, product differentiation and value creation."

Isn't the fashion market very crowded?
"To create a niche in the heavily competitive market, I strived to establish a one-stop destination for fashion apparel and accessories. It has paid off."

What are the challenges being faced by you?
"Three years into the business I am still faced with challenges like 
inventory management, online/offline competition, adapting product designs to the fast-changing customer preferences and  maintaining exclusivity. However, constant effort towards building up a good understanding of the market segment has helped me overcome the same. There were several risks involved but a vision backed by theoretical knowledge helped me achieve my dreams."

Preksha has shared an exclusive video with us. It answers questions such as 'Is it essential for a woman entrepreneur to come from a business background?' and 'Can home makers become entrepreneurs?'

Coming back to the question how is fashion designing similar to dancing and cooking? Preksha clarifies "Just the way you can play with the cuts in the fabric, similarly you can play with the steps in a dance. So this is my ultimate stress buster. Second would be my newly found interest in Cooking. Just the way I love mix and matching fabrics to create a new design, similarly in cooking, one can mix and match vegetables/other ingredients to create a new dish." 

Married to Piyush, both of them love dancing as you can see in this 30-second video clip.

What is your message to budding entrepreneurs?

      “Listen to you heart”, and for that give yourself a quiet hour. Sit in a     quiet room with pen and paper, and answer the following  questions:

    What is it that you want from life?

    What is it that you are passionate about?

    What is that one thing which you can never get bored of doing?

    And are you ready to take risk and failures?

   Once these four questions have been answered, your journey to      

   entrepreneurship becomes much easier."

Preksha's story is the fifth in a series titled 'Proof of the 
Pudding'. It showcases Ghumakkad's ten former students who have become successful entrepreneurs in last 15 years. Their enterprises may not be huge, but they have followed their heart. They have pursued their passion. It was such a pleasure to reconnect with these former students and to learn their success stories. Thanks are due to each one of them for sharing their journey after graduation.

Name	MBA Graduation	Business Area	Venture Name & Location
Prabudha Saurabh	MBA(HR) IBS(2010)	Career Coaching	HRscope Consultants, Patna
Prashant Jadenavar	MBA(HR) IBS (2010)	Entertainment/ Theatre and Performing Arts	XpressionZ, Bangalore
Kirti Sharma	MBA(Mktg) IBS (2012)	Image Consultant, Corporate Trainer	Tualmagis, Mumbai
Aayushi Kasliwal	MBA(Fin) IBS (2012)	Designer Soaps- manufacture and supply	Soapatite, Indore
Preksha Jain	MBA(Mktg) IBS(2013)	Designer Apparels and Accessories	Preksha Jain – The Fashionate, Kolkata
Anjali Raj	BBA IBS(2013)	Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby	ILove9Months, Kochi
Ishita Raksha and Nidhi Upadhyay	BBA IBS(2013)	A Gourmet Dessert Studio	17 Sugar Street, Hyderabad
Sriram Gundepudi	MBA(HR) VVISM(2016)	Employability Skills Training	Digi Freaks,Hyderabad
Amruth Charan	PGDM(Fin) VVISM (2016)	Digital Marketing, Web/App Development	Aresol India, Visakhapatnam

Thanks for browsing. More inspiring stories will follow.

      - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 26th Jan 2018

#Entrepreneurship #IndiaShining #StartupIndia #IBSHyderabad #VVISMHyderabad #WomenEntrepreneurs #GhumakkadHB #GhumakkadHarsh #PrekshaJain #WomenLeaders