Media Release
Mangaluru, Mar 23: The MBA department of AIMIT (St Aloysius Institute of Management and Information Technology), St Aloysius College (autonomous) in association with Kanara Global Entrepreneurs organized a one day Entrepreneurship Development Program on March 21 at 9.00 am for the second MBA students.
Jeevan Saldanha, president of Kanara Chamber of Commerce & Industry, inaugurated the programme. In his speech he dwelt on his own journey and enumerated how improvisations and changes kept him moving. The main thrust was on how to be successful entrepreneurs, establish their own rules and succeed even if they fall a couple of times in this life long journey. He also shed light on the fact that 90% fail and only 1 in 10 make it beyond 10 years, but one could overcome this with a ‘Can-do’ attitude. He deliberately spoke on how one is to do something right until it is proved wrong. He also reconciled on how failures get the better of people therefore, as entrepreneurs one should overcome this fear of failure.
Fr Denzil Lobo SJ, director, AIMIT delivered the presidential address emphasizing on the passion to carry out business. He portrayed the journey of a passion which turns into an obsession and an idea becomes a reality. He put forth an example of a bunch of entrepreneurial freaks who strove toward becoming successful. He said that lack of imagination is a heavy cost to bear and therefore, a creative and an innovative mind will help one compete with others in order to survive.
The certificates of the online course on entrepreneurship from Santa Clara University, San Jose, USA were handed over to the student coordinators Merlin, Niharika and Janet by the director, Fr Denzil Lobo SJ. A hundred and sixty completed this MOOC course.
Macquin the student coordinator welcomed the gathering while Helma Coutinho, student coordinator proposed the vote of thanks. Dr Rowena Wright, dean- academics, Swapna Rose, faculty coordinator were also present. Leslie Lobo anchored the inaugural.
Sessions report
There were four sessions conducted. The first was addressed by Annappa Pai, director of ACE Foods Pvt Ltd who focused on his journey as an entrepreneur. His business of manufacturing began due to the non-availability of tasty potato chips in the city as compared to Mumbai. The idea of becoming an entrepreneur gained momentum while exploring various possibilities to set up his new business. He stressed on the importance of analysing before acting. His suggestions to young entrepreneurs were to focus on the product, quality and customer rather than the money. He also said it would be useful to learn new languages to communicate to the suppliers, dealers, service providers and customers. Success does not happen overnight is what he concluded his session with.
The second speaker for the day was Vatika Pai, proprietor of Nirmala Travels and vice president of Kanara Chambers of Commerce and Industry. She spoke mainly about her journey as a woman entrepreneur. She said that it was the drive to do something different that brought Nirmala Travels to existence, which is the pioneer of travel coach service down in the south. She said that one needs to be passionate about the business he/she is getting into. When it comes to travel related business, patience to handle all types of customers and humility to serve them is what takes the entrepreneur a long way ahead. As a woman entrepreneur striking a balance between family and business becomes a concern she said. However times are changing, with quarter of the businesses worldwide owned by woman entrepreneurs. To conclude she said a person willing to take risks, ready to give 24x7 of one’s time and learning to accept the ups and downs of business is worthy to be an entrepreneur.
The third session in the afternoon was addressed by Dr Raja K G who, proprietor of Libay Fashions. It was his passion to do something anew and innovative that brought about a shift in his career line from academics to business. Speaking about his start-up, he said that it happened accidentally. Ventures may be accidental wherein an idea just pops up and turns out to be a start up with innovative ideas. He also spoke about the mode of payment that is more suitable for a t-shirt customization business wherein he explained the pros and cons of having cash on delivery (COD) system. Further, he also shared about few practical situations where business tactics need to be applied. In such situations, it is common sense that one needs to use he added.
The last session was by C A Chandrakanth Rao B who spoke on the formalities of starting a new business. Speaking about the financial aspect of business, he explained about the sources of funds, forms of funds which vary from business to business and also the mobilization of funds. He guided the budding entrepreneurs on what they need to focus when it comes to the financial planning of a business. He threw some light on how the funds would appear in the Profit and Loss statement, how to present the project report when seeking funds from a bank. He also shared important information, the legal aspects and compliances while starting a business.
On the whole the workshop paved a path to be more informative, interactive and gave students the necessary insights to become successful entrepreneurs.