DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

Bitten by the entrepreneurship bug while in their campus’ Entrepreneurship Cell, India’s newest graduates are discovering different ways to nurture and realize their entrepreneurial ambitions

As thousands of young students graduate to join the great Indian workforce this year, a small, but growing number of them are not giving up

their entrepreneurial ambitions for safe, steady jobs. Some are opting out of campus placements to start their own companies, others are juggling their new jobs with their ventures, and a few others are foregoing a six-figure salary and an MNC brand to work in a startup. Bitten by the entrepreneurship bug while in their campus’ Entrepreneurship Cell, these young aspiring entrepreneurs are being driven by the power of their dreams.

Turn on the lights
A hefty pay package from Tata Consultancy Services on one hand and a cash-crunched startup on the other – only diehard entrepreneurs like G Ramachandran of Coimbatore’s PSG Institute of Technology would find the latter tempting. Electronics engineering graduate Ramachandran declined the TCS offer to focus on his floundering solar-lighting venture ‘Lamperz’.

Ramachandran turned his project on emergency lamps into a startup when he joined his institute’s E Cell in 2007. However, lack of funds curtailed Lamperz’s growth.

Ramchandran is now planning to turn his company around within the next six months with his new business idea – workshops on solar robots for schools and colleges, the proceeds of which will be ploughed into building Lamperz’s new range of products including solar streetlights and solar mobile chargers. Also in the pipeline are skills-building workshops for Government schools, which he plans to deliver in Tamil.

"Most of my classmates have either taken up well-paying jobs or are pursuing higher studies. I found it very difficult to do either. In my four years in the E Cell, I have found my calling," he adds.

Delicious opportunity
Want a fat wallet instead of a fat waist? Don’t eat chocolates, sell them, discovered 24-year-old Sweta Tiwari, a recent MBA graduate from Mumbai’s Thakur Institute of Management Studies.

Soon after joining the NEN Entrepreneurship Cell on her campus last year, Sweta attended a chocolate-making workshop. Excited with her learning and exposure to entrepreneurship at her E Cell, Sweta was eager to apply her new chocolate-making skills to ring in money. She founded Choco Desire in 2009, offering ‘designer’ chocolates at affordable prices.

With her business steadily growing – she gets an average of 20 orders that brings her over Rs 30,000 in profits a month – Sweta skipped her institute’s placement day. Instead she has hired five people to run operations, and is now raising funds for a manufacturing unit that will produce chocolates on a large scale.

"I am busy for the next three months conducting a market survey to evaluate the demand for customized chocolates. Based on the results, I will chart out my expansion plans. With so much going on, I don’t even have the time to write my resume," she laughs.

Open on weekends
Four MBA students Subhajit Hore, Amit Pandey, Amrit Dutta and Amritesh Ghatak from IFIM, Bangalore launched their event management startup Jai Shree Mataji Services, that offers puja solutions, in September, 2009.

Their graduation and placement into IT major Accenture has not disrupted the growth of JSM Services. The four founders work overtime on weekends, catering to 6-7 orders a month. JSM organizes religious ceremonies, from getting the pandit to performing puja, sourcing puja materials, to providing flower decorations at the venue. "To conduct a simple puja, people end up spending a whole day making arrangements. In busy Bangalore that is in the midst of a housing boom, there is a real need among IT and other professionals, with a premium on their time, for our customized services," reveals Subhajit.

"Balancing two professions is hectic, but we decided to opt for jobs, so that we can finance the initially phase of the venture," he adds.

Work ex in entrepreneurship
Shivam Agarwal used to find entrepreneurship ‘utterly boring’ and hardly contributed to his family-run business. Then why did he recently skip his campus placement at IBS, Hyderabad, to work in a small startup to explore entrepreneurship?

"My two years in the IBS-NEN E Cell, where I headed the club, changed my attitude. Traditional businesses can be staid and boring, but modern-day entrepreneurship is definitely not. Working in a startup has turned out to be an intense learning experience, and very different from how it would have been in a large multinational," says Shivam, who is responsible for marketing at Global Takeoff India Pvt Ltd, a three-year old venture that offers web and broadcast services in regional languages.

Shivam has also started revamping his family business and making it professional. "My family, of course, is pleasantly surprised with the change in me," he adds.

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