The programme, which lasted for two days, was attended by a few industrialists and talented businessmen, who could effectively help inspire and educate the students on various tricks of the trade. The students too had a chance to voice their opinions and ideas and interact with the best from the industry — a valuable opportunity for them. The college also announced its intention of setting up an in-house EDP cell.
The speakers at the programme included J Crasta, an industrialist and former president of FICCI; and K Subramaniam, the head of the entrepreneurship-development programme cell at R V College of Engineering. On the first day of the programme, J Crasta spoke briefly to the students on the various dimensions that go into starting a new venture.
This was rather useful for the students, many of whom aimed to begin their own start-ups. Crasta also discussed the different financing options open to an entrepreneur under the various schemes created by the government — this giving them valuable advice on how to fund their projects.
On the second day, K Subramaniam addressed the students. Like Crasta, his speech too focussed on the financing of a new venture, but he also broadened the topic — he spoke briefly about the elements of marketing a new venture and how to conceive business ideas and judge the feasibility of each one of them.
After a short lunch break, the students and speakers regrouped once more. And this time, it was the students of the management school who took centre stage. They took the opportunity to launch both products as well as ideas. It was a wonderful session for them, as they could directly interact with the creme-de-la-creme of the world of business.
They put forth various business ideas, which they then defended and used these theories to highlight the relevance of their products and ideas.
Payal Bhattacharya, a first-year student, was part of this group. She shared her ideas for the marketing a mint-based cold drink. "There are many others products like this in the market, so the speakers guided me on how to cut my cost.
In this vase, my largest cost was distribution charges so we focussed on how I could reduce that," she says. This wasn't the only form of guidance she received at the programme.
"Everyone has great ideas but we were taught how to do the right research and convert these into reality. The speakers also helped in terms of providing us with contacts, who would be supportive if we ever started our own venture," she explains.