Intensive mentoring on for 74 entrepreneurs
The 74 participants in this ongoing session are an elite group of entrepreneurs who have made it past the initial rounds to this penultimate phase.
By ET Bureau |
‘Working capital’, ‘Strategic investor’, ‘Information memorandum’ and ‘debt funding’ may sound intimidating terms to many, but for the 74 entrepreneurs who have made it to the final cutoff of ET’s The Power of Ideas initiative, these terms are increasingly becoming a way of life. The entrepreneurs are currently going through an intensive mentoring workshop put together by the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship ( CIIE) at IIM- Ahmedabad.
The 74 participants in this ongoing session are an elite group of entrepreneurs who have made it past the initial rounds to this penultimate phase. The programme began with 16,242 ideas submitted, of which 840 were chosen to present elevator pitches.
The 74, who were successful in pitching their business ideas, are now part of this high-quality learning experience, which formally began on October 9. The residential workshop begins at 9 am every day and continues until 8 pm.
On the first day, post an introductory chat, the entrepreneurs were part of interactive learning sessions on identifying customer needs & market research, essentials of business planning, communication and presentation skills. These were absorbing sessions that had participating entrepreneurs thinking about aspects of business planning they had hitherto never thought of or examined in detail.
There was a sense of eager anticipation at the venue on Day Two at the IMDC auditorium within IIMA. And it proved to be a cracker of a day. The first session dwelt on competition, market and pricing analysis followed by one on ‘ USP & value proposition, vision and mission’ and a third in which the understanding of business models was brought up to speed.
Day three was comparatively light with a session focussing on solving problems in managing operations & processes while the fourth day — on the broad theme of sales and marketing — saw interactions stretching late into the evening while touching upon better etiquette, finding customers & sales management, promotion strategies and more.
Four days into the workshop, most of the entrepreneurs feel that they have a better understanding of their business than earlier. What has made the sessions interesting is the fact that they are anchored by industry experts, many of whom are entrepreneurs themselves, thus possessing a sound grasp of ‘real’ situations and problems faced by start-ups.
The diverse group of 74 aspiring entrepreneurs from all parts of the country have also benefitted from the networking opportunities the workshop provides. Participants get to share ideas and thoughts with like-minded people. On a lighter note, the participants have also been taking in the ambiance of the campus and interacting with students who are ever ready to guide them in taking their plans further.
What is next?
The 74 participants in this ongoing session are an elite group of entrepreneurs who have made it past the initial rounds to this penultimate phase. The programme began with 16,242 ideas submitted, of which 840 were chosen to present elevator pitches.
The 74, who were successful in pitching their business ideas, are now part of this high-quality learning experience, which formally began on October 9. The residential workshop begins at 9 am every day and continues until 8 pm.
On the first day, post an introductory chat, the entrepreneurs were part of interactive learning sessions on identifying customer needs & market research, essentials of business planning, communication and presentation skills. These were absorbing sessions that had participating entrepreneurs thinking about aspects of business planning they had hitherto never thought of or examined in detail.
There was a sense of eager anticipation at the venue on Day Two at the IMDC auditorium within IIMA. And it proved to be a cracker of a day. The first session dwelt on competition, market and pricing analysis followed by one on ‘ USP & value proposition, vision and mission’ and a third in which the understanding of business models was brought up to speed.
Day three was comparatively light with a session focussing on solving problems in managing operations & processes while the fourth day — on the broad theme of sales and marketing — saw interactions stretching late into the evening while touching upon better etiquette, finding customers & sales management, promotion strategies and more.
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The experience for entrepreneursFour days into the workshop, most of the entrepreneurs feel that they have a better understanding of their business than earlier. What has made the sessions interesting is the fact that they are anchored by industry experts, many of whom are entrepreneurs themselves, thus possessing a sound grasp of ‘real’ situations and problems faced by start-ups.
The diverse group of 74 aspiring entrepreneurs from all parts of the country have also benefitted from the networking opportunities the workshop provides. Participants get to share ideas and thoughts with like-minded people. On a lighter note, the participants have also been taking in the ambiance of the campus and interacting with students who are ever ready to guide them in taking their plans further.
What is next?
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The workshop ends on October 16 post which the entrepreneurs will pitch for the seed funding offered by the Department of Science & Technology ( DST), government of India, as part of The Power of Ideas programme. This will precede their meeting with more investors for further funding.Download
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