Differentiate between Fake and Real World

"Be smart enough to differentiate between fake and real things in the world" was Amruth Charan's succinct advise to future entrepreneurs. In the ever growing space of Digital Marketing and App Development, Amruth has learnt the hard way how to survive. There are many players in the field- fake as well as real. Amruth's comment reminded me of the old idiom 'Separate the wheat from the chaff'. He goes on to add "You should have a clear idea on What To Do, When To Do and How To Do?"

Amrit Charan was a bit quiet and reserved in the class. In the team assignments, he would always be in the forefront. But when it came to taking group pictures he would seldom be seen in the front row. So much so that I could not locate a single picture of Amruth in the archives of the Class of 2016 at VVISM Hyderabad where he was my student. Even when he came to the Institute for the Alumni Meet in December last year he was his usual quiet self. In the group photograph which was taken after the event, Charan was once again standing quietly in the fifth row. See the pictures appearing later.

From that reserved personality to becoming an entrepreneur is a great transformation. Amruth Charan is the Founder and CEO of  Aresol India Pvt Ltd. Key business areas of his startup are Web Development, App Development and Digital Marketing. 
Here comes Charan's story in his own words.

Can you share your journey after MBA?

After completion of my MBA, I attended many interviews and finally I joined an MNC. After some time I found that my job was not matching my ambitions. I then decided to start my own company which was my lifetime goal. So, I started working for that goal.

Has your entrepreneurial journey been as exciting as you had expected it to ​be?

It's been a crucial journey which made me to acquire lot many interpersonal skills to move on towards my successful career. Finally I can say yes it was more exciting journey than what I had expected. It gave me courage and confidence to face the challenges in today's competitive world.

What are the key challenges in your venture and how do you 
plan to overcome it​?

There are many challenges that I am facing like managing the employees, financial planning and decision making, managing client relationship etc. It's been a new kind of experience in my life to face these challenges. Some of these things I had anticipated before starting a new venture. However, I am learning to tackle these progressively. With a bit of patience I believe I can face them and move on successfully.

What is your message for present students who want to take the entrepreneurial dive​?​

You should have a clear idea on What To Do, When To Do and How To Do? Act accordingly. Try to be smart enough to differentiate between fake and real things in the world.

Amruth's story concludes the series titled 'Proof of the Pudding'. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" goes the old proverb. For a teacher like Ghumakkad, what is the pudding? 'Pudding' for a teacher is his/her graduating students. Then how  is this 'pudding' in the form of former students, to be 'eaten'? 'Eating' can be symbolically equated with the placements or performance of former students in real life.

This series of stories is about Ghumakkad's former students who have become entrepreneurs. Most of the 2500 or so MBA, PGDM and BBA graduates taught by me have taken up a job. By embarking on the challenging path of entrepreneurship, few of these former students have proven the proverbial pudding beyond doubt! Who are these ten entrepreneurs? Are their business ventures diverse?

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, Digital Marketing	Digi Freaks,Hyderabad
Amruth Charan	PGDM(Fin) VVISM (2016)	Digital Marketing, Web/App Development	Aresol India, Visakhapatnam

The stories in 'proof of the pudding' series have been very well received by the readers. Numerous comments as well as 8000 page views convey the relevance of these stories. Although it has taken longer than initially anticipated to put all the stories together, it has been a satisfying effort. We once again we thank all the readers as well as my former-students-now-entrepreneurs who took time to share their experiences.

Readers may also browse two related stories posted earlier:

Can Startup Management be taught?
Social Entrepreneurship- Learnings

A friend after reading these stories remarked 'May be they have succeeded despite you'! I tend to agree. Whichever way, I feel proud of my former students and their achievements. God bless each one of them.

Thanks for browsing.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/23rd April 2018

 #AmruthCharan #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurs #ProofOfThePudding #VVISMHyderabad #AresolIndia #GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB #Entrepreneurship #DigitalMarketing #AppDevelopemnt

Nothing is more Loyal to Entrepreneurship than Failure

'Nothing is more loyal to entrepreneurship than failure' quipped Ishita and Nidhi when asked to summarise their startup journey. It emphasised that failures are an integral part of a startup. 

Ishita Raksha and Nidhi Upadhyay are co-founders of 17 Sugar Street - A Gourmet Dessert Studio, Patisserie and Artisans Bread 
Boutique in Hyderabad. Within a short span of time, they have 
made a name for their venture.

Both Nidhi and Ishita belong to the first batch of Bachelor of Business Administration (Class of 2013), whom I taught at IBS Hyderabad. Both of them took active part in college events. 

I am reminded of a guest lecture in 2011 for the BBA class. The speaker Ms Rohini Mukherjee, Chief Policy Officer of Naandi Foundation energised the class by asking them what would they like to become after doing their BBA. The responses were jotted down on the white board. Guess what was Ishita's response? She wanted to become a Chef. See the picture below where Ishita is seen thanking the Guest Speaker. In the background, the word 'Chef' is scribbled on top of the responses.

It goes to show the clarity of thought and focus in a teenager's mind. Here is another picture of Nidhi in the same event. A picture of concentration- wonder if she knew the photographer's presence in the class! Nidhi now handles the marketing part of the venture very confidently.

Batch-mates Ishita and Nidhi later teamed up together to launch their venture 17 Sugar Street. Their clients want to return again and again because of variety and quality of their cakes and other products. 

They have shared their entrepreneurial journey with us in a short video. Please jack up audio volume while playing the clip below.

Excerpts from Ishita and Nidhi's story:

Has your entrepreneurial journey been as exciting as you had expected it to ​be?

Entrepreneurship, more like a ship that sailed only to conquer the shore and with you, the captain of the craft. The experience so thrilling it sucks you in. Oh, so fancy! Thrilling yes, but far away from reality.
You get to be your own boss but what people never told you is that you will also be your only loyal employee for life. It is definitely not a cake walk, but then again anything worth having never came easy. Irrespective of how long your nights at work may be, being an entrepreneur is probably the best decision we as a team could make.

What are the key challenges in your venture and how do you plan to overcome it​? ​

Having to establish a successful entity in one of the busiest industries of all time, with constant increase in competition in the F&B industry businesses are set to rise and fall just over a meal.

With the constant fear of a dessert business going sour, we push ourselves every day to constantly innovate. Not just in terms of products & services but also how we deal with our clientele.

Eds: Here is an example of constant innovation by Ishita and Nidhi. The Rasmalai Cake-- Fabulous Fusion-- Layers of soft & moist vanilla elaichi इलायची sponge cake and a rich rabdi रबड़ी mousse with chunks of rasmalai रसमलाई , loaded with pistachios. Isn't your moth watering already? 

What is your message for present students who want to take the entrepreneurial dive​?​

Management jargons, heavy theories and age-old philosophies don’t all go waste, but the real-time drama doesn’t have a set script. Never shying away to learn something new even from sources we might consider subordinate in nature is crucial. 

Building a team and understanding one’s own shortcoming, balancing it with someone else’s strengths only makes you stronger. 

Work life balance is key, but it is safe to say you can forget about that for the initial phases. Nothing is more loyal to entrepreneurship than failure. Your business will be your baby, agreed. And no parent would like to see their child fail. But it is important to realise that even though you and your business as entities are linked, a disappointing venture doesn’t make you a failure.

Their venture has been featured in the media many times. Here is a 
short clip.

Readers may recall the previous story in this series titled 'I wouldn't trade entrepreneurship for anything else'. It was Anjali Raj who has set up 'I Love 9 Months'. Anjali too belongs to the same batch as Ishita and Nidhi at IBS Hyderabad. Who could predict that three teenagers from the same batch would soon become entrepreneurs! 

Ishita and Nidhi's story is part of the series titled 'Proof of the Pudding'. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" goes the old proverb. For a teacher like Ghumakkad, what is the pudding? 'Pudding' for a teacher is his/her graduating students. Then how  is this 'pudding' in the form of former students, to be 'eaten'? 'Eating' can be symbolically equated with the placements or performance of former students in real life. 
This series of stories is about Ghumakkad's former students who have become entrepreneurs. Most of the 2500 or so MBA, PGDM and BBA graduates taught by me have taken up a job. By embarking on the challenging path of entrepreneurship, few of these former students have proven the proverbial pudding beyond doubt! Who are these ten entrepreneurs? Are their business ventures diverse?

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

Readers may also browse two related stories posted earlier:
Can Startup Management be taught?
Social Entrepreneurship- Learnings

Thanks for browsing.
Last two stories of these passionate entrepreneurs will follow. Stay connected.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/14th April 2018

#StartupIndia #WomenEntrepreneurs #ProofOfThePudding #IBSHyderabad #17SugarStreet #GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB #IshitaRaksha #NidhiUpadhyay #Entrepreneurship 

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