“Business Model: Getting it Right”, a workshop for start-ups and budding entrepreneurs, was hosted by Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur on 9th November 2013. The workshop was organised by Tata First Dot (TFD) powered by the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) and aimed at helping participants assess opportunities they come across in life and turn them into a winning business plan. Clearly, the theme proved to be a hit with participants as they turned up in large numbers from 13 campuses in Jaipur and Hissar.

Jaipuria Institute of Management has always strived to promote leadership and entrepreneurial qualities among its students. The workshop seemed to be in tandem with this goal and helped participants understand the perspective that investors have when putting their money in a start-up. The importance of creating a business model that not only works for an enterprise, but for the investor too, was also stressed upon during the workshop.

The organisers had done their best in putting together a workshop that had eminent industry personalities sharing their ideas and experiences with the participants. Ms. Preeti Singh (Network Manager, NEN) and Dr. Sheenu Jain (Chairperson, Centre for Entrepreneurship & Skill Development, Prayaas) at Jaipuria Jaipur were at the helm of the workshop and ensured that the participants stayed highly motivated and engaged through the day’s proceedings.

Dr. Jain set the ball rolling by talking about the emotions that all new entrepreneurs and start-ups go through. She hit the nail on the head when she said, “We get married to our ideas. We don’t even think about whether they are really feasible or not. There is no such thing as a good idea or a bad idea; you should work on your idea and see how it can be developed further by using a structured framework.”

The realistic and practical approach towards start-ups was taken forward in the panel discussion chaired by S. Mahatha (Area Manager Commercial Vehicles, TATA Motors). Mrs. Archana Surana (Founder, Arch Academy of Fashion) and Mr. Ajay Datta (Founder, Data Infosys Limited) were the other members on the panel and they sought to address the key challenges that are often faced by start-up companies.

Through their vast experience in the field, the panellists offered valuable insight and suggestions to participants, who seemed to lap them up. “We all are Limited Edition people and it’s up to us to decide whether we want to follow money or whether we want the money to follow us,” said S. Mahatha, amidst huge applause from the audience. Mr. Datta was of the opinion that entrepreneurs needed to have hearts of steel, and he expressed a wish that the participants would work on that.

Mrs. Surana, on the other hand, believed, “In entrepreneurship, you should have an attitude of giving. You should keep on trying and working on your idea, talk to people, explore your idea and refine it.” Dr. Jain then went on to talk about the work carried out by Prayaas and how through different initiatives it tries to inculcate entrepreneurial skills among students.

The learning from the workshop was given a practical turn when three start-ups presented the challenges faced by their ventures to the panel. It was a unique open mentoring session that ended up being a huge learning experience for participants. The highly successful event ended with the seal of approval from Dr. Prabhat Pankaj, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur, who appreciated the efforts of Tata First Dot and NEN in conducting a workshop that had a lot to offer to its participants.

Lavesh Sharma
PGDM-2013-2015
Jaipuria, Jaipur

Japuria Institute of Management, Jaipur recently hosted its annual HR conclave on the theme- ‘HR challenges in the turbulent economy’. Given the relevance of the topic to present times it turned out to be a huge learning experience for students. Here are a few snippets from the session that made it so astoundingly interesting:

Prof. Sandeep Sancheti, VC, Sikkim Manipal University, brought an engineer’s perspective to HR. He said, “When the economy is turbulent, HR will be more stable and we should believe in the philosophy of ‘learning by doing’. A crisis should be looked at as an opportunity, because it gives you a chance to showcase your talent.”

After his positive spin on difficult situations, it was the turn of Dr. Prateem Tambholi, Director, Fortis Escorts, Jaipur to speak. He stressed on the philosophy, “Keep it simple and seize the opportunity. The role of HR is not just to minimise cost, but to improve the organisation in the present and the future.”

Prof. Pankaj Gupta, Director General, Jaipuria Institutes of Management, urged students to learn more about themselves, because that’s where real knowledge comes from, according to him. He also talked about the importance of Passionate Ownership, which struck a chord with the audience.

Mr. Nehal Jain put things into a global perspective as far as turbulent market situations are concerned and spoke about the X-factor that is required by any professional to be able to survive in the professional environment today.

After the fruitful first session, the audience was looking forward to the session on ‘Developing right skills required in current market scenario’, and they were not to be disappointed. Nikita Shirley Thomas, a student of the 2012-14 batch, introduced the theme for the discussion and set the ball rolling. Dr. B. D. Singh, Dean-MDP, Jaipuria Institute of Management and the chair of the session, then took over and said, “HR might be an easy subject to study, but is very difficult to practice. Every employee is an asset to an organisation and the job of HR is to develop the hidden potential of every employee.”

The panel then talked about qualities and traits one should possess to be a successful HR professional. Defining goals, core skills, discipline, integrity, perseverance, team work, ownership of the job, communication and presentation skills, competencies and confidence were some of the elements of HR that students learned about through the discussion.

Eminent industry personalities like Mr. Kapil Mahajan, GM-HR of Gravita India Ltd., Ms. Aditi Gupta, Manager HR from MICO BOSCH, Jaipur, Mr.Vikas Pareek, Chief Executive, Propellor and Navigator, and Mr. Ajay Mathur, AGM, Genus, made valuable contributions to the session. They shared their experiences and helped students get an insight into the world of HR.

Mr. Vikas Kalra, GM-HR, Jaipuria Institutes of Management, concluded the session by saying, “Bad times can suddenly crop up in life, but we should always be ready to face them. Even if nothing works, don’t lose hope. Keep your head high; you are not bad, it’s the time which is difficult.”

Encouraged by the talk, the audience then transitioned into the third session buzzing with high energy. The theme this time was ‘Challenges for aspiring managers during recession’, and it seemed extremely relevant for students. Mr. Rishiraj, Head – Corporate Relations, Jaipuria Institutes of Management, was the chair for this session and he started talking about recession and what it actually means. “Its definition differs from person to person; some call it bad, others a time for course correction. Technically, it means negative growth for 2-3 consecutive quarters.”

He was of the opinion that recession only happens to people whose abilities are below acceptable levels. He also offered a way to avoid the difficult situation by saying, “Simply follow the rule of thinking out of the box. Management graduates’ perception of the skill set required by industry today is blurred, and so they get easily bogged down by situations prevailing in the depressed economy of the country,” he added.

Ms. Praneeta Mathur from Naukri.com stressed on correct work etiquette for professionals today as she said, “The candidate’s attitude and job must match to be productive for the company. One should keep one’s ego and work separate. Being lethargic is one of the most common reasons for those who fall victim to difficult scenarios.”

Prof. (Dr.) Anvay Bhargava, Mr. Jayendra Chaturvedi, Head HR of Paayas Milk and Ms. Kiranpreet Kaur, HR manager from the Clarks Group, were the other dignitaries who left a lasting impression during the session. Overall, it turned out to be an exciting and enriching outing for the audience, as they learned a lot from the experienced professionals. And that is what made the conclave a resounding success.

Strategies for Growing your Business

Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur in association with National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) organized a one-day Entrepreneur Training Programme on the theme “Strategies for Growing your Business”. The objective of the programme was to help aspiring, start-up and early-stage entrepreneurs in Jaipur and Rajasthan to interact with and learn from business leaders and educators.

This workshop was an initiative of Prayaas – the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Skill Development (CESD) at Jaipuria Jaipur, which was founded with the help of a grant from AICTE. Prayaas was set up with the objective of creating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in Jaipuria Jaipur.

This was also a great opportunity for the students of Jaipuria Jaipur, to interact with entrepreneurs from Jaipur, learn about the challenges faced in their entrepreneurial journey and draw lessons from their experiences.

Dr. Prabhat Pankaj, Director, Jaipuria Jaipur, started the session by pointing out the entrepreneur’s dilemma: “It’s imperative to understand the sources of value for customers. Entrepreneurs are often too close to their products; hence, they cannot perceive them the same way their customers do, and therein lies the gap and a major challenge for entrepreneurs.”

A much anticipated event amongst the entrepreneur community in Jaipur, the workshop saw a great turnout – women entrepreneurs from various fields, entrepreneurs in garment manufacturing and digital marketing, web developers, event managers, etc.

Amongst the industry experts Ms. Bela Badhalia, Chairperson FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Jaipur chapter, turned out to be a huge draw for the audience. Following that, Mr. Vikas Rajput, Founder, Parallel Living Research Centre, and a respected entrepreneurship educator, encouraged the entrepreneurs by saying, “An entrepreneurial mind-set is the key and can be the stepping stone for many great things. A synergistic approach is also crucial for businesses today to make an impact.” He then went on to talk about different Indo-US ventures, which helped participants, understand and evaluate entrepreneurial opportunities.

It was then the turn of Dr. Sheenu Jain, faculty member and head of Prayaas at Jaipuria Jaipur, to talk about new age business models for entrepreneurs- particularly the Osterwalder Framework. She got the entrepreneurs to participate in an interesting session where they had to generate a business model for their respective businesses. This turned out to be the most interesting part of the workshop, as entrepreneurs got feedback on their business models from industry leaders.

In the last session for the day, Mr. Vikas Rajput talked about the Business Plan and its huge significance. He laid special emphasis on developing a Marketing plan and appropriate pricing strategies, topics that resonated with the audience.

The workshop undoubtedly brought a lot to the table for the attendees. Preeti Singh, Consultant NEN Jaipur, agreed as she said, “This workshop served as a mentoring platform and an opportunity to connect with start-up entrepreneurs. This workshop is just a beginning; we will be coming up with many such workshops in the future. Jaipur is moving ahead, and Jaipuria Jaipur is playing a big supportive role in helping entrepreneurs move in the right direction.”

Dr. Prabhat Pankaj concluded the event by saying, “The workshop was another step towards strengthening the bond between NEN and Jaipuria Jaipur. It has also made a mark for Prayaas (CESD) in the entrepreneurship community.” Of course, budding entrepreneurs took a lot back home from this enriching workshop. The workshop helped them understand the importance of evaluating the next big opportunity, which many often tend to miss out on. Re-focussing on the business model, validating the product idea and creating value for customers were some of the other aspects that got talked about in the programme. Entrepreneurs were particularly interested in knowing about pricing their products, and they got helpful insights on the matter.

For Jaipuria Jaipur, it was another step towards creating a robust ecosystem for entrepreneurs in Jaipur and Rajasthan.