Let's hear what the Gods have to say about Entrepreneurship

Sorry if the title sounded cheesy. I needed to get your attention. Clearly if you are reading this line, I have been successful uptil now. Without trying your patience anymore:

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, of naukri.com fame, has a column in The Mint on entrepreneurship and some of his recent posts are as follows. Pls see what the Gods have to say. Hope it helps!

• So what's your big idea?
• Bootstrap before looking for funding.
• It's not about the money.
  

Thanks!

Have You Thought Over Your Idea?

Thanks for visiting the blog and happy to have you read my post.

I hope you are working hard on the executive summary of your business plan to submit it to us in time for round-1 deadlines. We are expecting entries well into the 3 digits this time for i2I. The competition will be fierce. How do you make sure you make it to round 2?

Having been part of the organizing team the last year and, again, this year again, let me relate some of the patterns we saw that might aid the judges in finding your 'needle' in the haystack:

1. Research the market. Motivate the problem you are positioning yourself for. Make sure you understand the landscape, the current players and the intricacies of their offerings, the regulatory norms that constrain business in your sector.
   
2. Define the business in specific terms. Make sure you exactly know what it is that you are offering in the market, how it differs from competition, who will buy it and why.
3. How will you make money? Your b-plan should not seem like a science project. There should be a clear revenue stream, and profits should be 'super-normal', much more than you can make in a fixed deposit account.

Just read your b-plan again before submitting, and ask yourself, if you were sitting on a corpus of 5 crore, would you make an equity investment into your own b-plan, sure that 2-3 years from now, the investment will lead to an IRR multiple times over fixed deposit rates for the same period.

How to make a Business Plan

( This is written as an introduction for PGP1s to the art of making Bplans)

An entrepreneur must not think just in terms of inches but think in terms of miles. As an entrepreneur, you must think in terms of how far you are going to go.

As one goes through life it is the little things that matter and make a huge difference. One must not look at the purpose or the benefits gained when doing something. Things that seem totally futile might also make a big difference one day.

Once you are an entrepreneur or you have decided to be one, you need a sound business model. A sound business model will look at what kind of services or products you have and how does the real market need it or is it a perceived need. Earlier business models lasted a long time. You made a business model and it stayed. However, today a business model needs to be sound enough only for today and tomorrow because day after tomorrow you might have to change this model.

The key of any B-plan is to optimise their business for “flexibility and adaptability” before “cost and performance”. Also to make sure it is not vulnerable to changes because changes would always happen in the market.

It is good to think out of box, but basics are important too. The bigger picture is built of smaller things.

There are two aspects of being an entrepreneur, internal and external. The internal aspect is personality. We need to question ourselves whether or not we have the personality to be an entrepreneur, whether we had the risk taking capability, whether we believed that we had the true talent to bring value to their endeavour.

And coming into the external aspect, large corporations are really ready to take us on, and would not let us settle. We have very little time before we are under attack by the big giants, be it any industry. And the only way to survive this attack is to have a unique and commercially viable business concept.

Business plan is necessary to apply for funding from investors, for bank loans and for the buyers and vendors. Investors may want to see our business plan to understand our planning and potential, and decide whether it is a good investment or not. Investors wanted a sustainable, well researched and systematised B-plan. Writing a B-plan also crystallises our thoughts and brings questions such as the need to do it, marketing scope and financial viabilities. With even private sector banks coming forward to finance business plans, a sound business plan is very helpful to get a loan. When you are an entrepreneur your vendor might be larger than you. Initially, to attract buyers and vendors, it is important to have a sound business plan.

Before starting to write the final B-plan, one should write down the important points.

1. Mission statement – how will you make a difference to your customers, employees, shareholders in the long run?

2. Product/Services – what is your product and do you know it very well?

3. Business objectives – what are your business objectives for the future? They need to be accurate and measurable. They could be macro objectives like getting a drug patent, or micro objectives like a sales target.

4. Keys to success – what are the elements that you need to succeed? They could be anything like marketing, operations or finance.

5. Industry analysis – who are the major players in the industry? Do you have a direction? Have you done an economic analysis of the industry perceptive? You need to look at costs of production, pricing related, what will be your profits margin, what kind of cash flows will you have.

6. Market/Competitor analysis – what are your market segments? What kind of competition do you face? Is it direct and/or indirect competition? What is your competitor’s strategy, pricing and promotion strategies, how is your product unique.

7. Strategies and milestones - you need to tell yourself why your customer would buy your product and set yourself goals for revenue and profits.

8. Marketing plan – you must know what your pricing, promotion, distribution strategies are.

9. Management/Organisation structure – you must decide your team and consultants.

10. Operations – you must know about your manufacturing, sourcing strategies.

11. Risk analysis- you must evaluate the risk involved in the financial, market, technical and competition aspects.

12. Forecasting - you must know your revenues, costs and how long it will take you to breakeven.

13. Financial requirements – what are your financial requirements? And will you need them in the short term or long term basis. What is your working capital and how you manage your cash flows?

Once the key ingredients of a b-plan are thought of, you can actually start writing a b-plan. The key components of a business plan as follows:

1. Executive summary – it is the most important part of the B-plan and it must summarize the entire B-plan. It must talk about the company, the product or service being provided and how it is unique, the management and finances required. It is advised to stick to the hard facts and put down only the truth. The executive summary must be concise and be able to generate enthusiasm.

2. Table of contents – it is very important and must be on a single page. The B-plan must be well organised and numbered.

3. Company and promoter description – tell the entire story. Write about how you started, what your current status is and what your future plans are. Write a story that interests the investor and show yourself properly. Be honest about challenges and problems. Give your friends and teachers a few credits.

4. Products and Services – talk about the functions and benefits of your product. Talk about how it’s going to benefit the world, how it’s going to benefit you. Write the purpose and objective as to why you want to go into business. Write about how your product is unique, pricing issues, patents and equipments needed and the benefit to customers.

5. Industry/Market/Competitor analysis – write the overall industry scenario, market segmentation, who your competitors are and what their strategies are, market shares, what market needs are you looking at for the future, how do you expect customer preferences to be then.

6. Marketing plan – branding, promotion, what kind of branding strategies are you going to use. How do you differentiate your product from other products? What is your target market, what is the price you wish to sell at, distribution, sales and what are the market share forecasts.

7. Operation plan – write about how you are going to manufacture, how you are going to source, what kind of labour do you need and what kind of location you need, like in retail business.

8. Management – what kind of team, consultants, advisors, and mentors will you bring? Be honest. Make sure to write about the teams or consultants you bring in. Some amount of credibility comes with the network you might have or the consultants you may use. Usually entrepreneurs have mentors and it’s a good idea to mention the advisors or mentors.

9. Financial plans – you must write about your assumptions, what your forecasts are for the future, what are your projections, P&I statements, balance sheets, how you will manage cash flows, when do you expect to breakeven and what are the business ratios.

10. Exit strategy – this is for the investor. Write about the exit strategies for the investor to use if he intends to.

11. Risk analysis – how will you counter risk?

12. Financial requirement – write about your needs and kind of funds & about the timeline of your financial requirements and how you expect to manage the cash flow issues.

13. Appendices – write everything else here like product material, promotions material, pictures of your product, teams' resume and your resume.

The presentation of B-plan and the uniqueness of product is important. It is advised to use proper formatting, colours and chart; keep it short and simple; pay attention to the strengths of business plan; keep backup data ready; proof read and edit it carefully; have content’s page and a nice covering letter.

Writing a B-plan helps in tangible presentation of the vague ideas, quantifying the approximate numbers, freezing the milestones and deliverables, estimating the funding requirements and sizing up the scale of operators.

Also collection of information, validation of the assumptions, analysis and planning and articulation of the basic value proposition are extremely important.

It is the essence , the way we want to tell which differentiates a Plan ....

~Ak

Slides on Writing an Executive Summary

E X E C U T I V E  S U M M A R Y

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

How to write an executive summary Part 2.

How to write an executive summary.

About Entrepreneurship Cell (Ecell) - The core team. Materialising ideas, Fostering Hope.

The Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) at IIM Calcutta seeks to foster the spirit of Entrepreneurship amongst the wannabe entrepreneurs by exposing them to the joys and challenges of having their own ventures. E-cell aims to inculcate entrepreneurship as an attitude and organizes theme based workshops, lecture series, facilitates venture support by encouraging interactions between start ups and VC firms to this effect. E-cell's year round activities inspire and impress upon people to confidently strive forward to unlock their potential. Opportunity to showcase their brainchild to the world is presented during i2I where teams compete among themselves to emerge as future business leaders - inspiring a new battalion of entrepreneurs.

Please feel free to contact us if you need any form of support and we will be there to help you. 

Ankit Garg  President, Entrepreneurship Cell ankitg2009@email.iimcal.ac.in	Apoorva Kumar  Core Team, Entrepreneurship Cell  apoorvak2009@email.iimcal.ac.in
Avinash Singh  Core Team, Entrepreneurship Cell  avinashs2009@email.iimcal.ac.in	Umesh Mishra  Core Team, Entrepreneurship Cell  umeshm2009@email.iimcal.ac.in

IIM Calcutta launches The Biggest Business Plan Contest of the Year - i21 09

The buck stops here! Come and be a part of the biggest confluence of business ideas, strategies, business plans, innovative products and processes, and disruptive models of the future as Entrepreneurship Cell, IIM Calcutta and Intaglio, proudly presents “i2I’09”- The only Business Plan contest of its type in India, which provides an ideal platform for budding entrepreneurs to realize their dreams as we connect them to ideas, money and people who matter.

The legacy of i2I has grown in proportions in a short span of time. While i2I’ 08 became a springboard for 4 finalists to launch their own firm successfully, i2I’09 promises to raise the bar further. How? Canaan Partners, Indavest Starter Fund & Indian Angel Network, our investment partners will be looking for opportunities to offload hefty capital to kick-start the brightest of business ideas. New product or an innovative business solution, our eminent panel of industry experts and patrons from TiE and NEN will provide expert reviews and mentoring to improve and fine-tune your B-plan. Sponsors like UK India Business Council and Tata Administrative Services speak volumes about the truly global stature of the event.

The short-listing process will be spread broadly over 3 stages, beginning with submission of an executive summary from 15^th October onwards. Short-listed teams will have to present the detailed version in the Pitch round. The best entries will be invited to present the plan at the Grand Finale which would be held alongside TiE Conference at Kolkata. The details of the event are as follows

Submission Deadline for First round: 30th October 2008

Pitch round: 11th-15th December 2008 at various prime locations of the country
Grand Finale- 9th January (alongside TiE Conference) at Kokata

Here are a few comments by some of the people associated with i2I'09 as partners-

Padmaja Ruparel of Indian Angel Network- “Entrepreneurship is the engine for growth – and angel investing is the fuel. Angel investors look at start up / early stage ventures for investing money, strategic advice and leveraging their networks. Indian Angel Network (IAN), the first and now the largest angel group has invested in 16 ventures across multiple sectors. IAN is delighted to partner with i2I, one of the most active entrepreneurship cells in the country and hope to see some high quality entrepreneurial teams / plans from this business plan.”

Ganesh Rengaswamy at Indavest Starter Fund- “We, at Indavest Starter Fund (ISF), are excited to be associated with i2I as a flagship event to celebrate entrepreneurship, and support high potential companies and entrepreneurs especially at early stages of their journey. The last year saw over 150 entries in i2I and out of the 9 finalists, 4 have started their businesses. i2I is a powerful national platform for entrepreneurs to access high quality mentors and Investment partners. We look forward to working closely with the i2I team and the participating companies to help develop their businesses. ISF will consider funding exciting opportunities coming out of the i2I platform this year.”

Sharon Bamford, CEO of UK India Business Council- “The UK India Business Council is delighted to partner with E-Cell IIM Calcutta. India is a hotbed of entrepreneurial talent and this is a great opportunity for us. We want to provide support and opportunity for India"s next generation of entrepreneurs to capitalise on their ideas and provide knowledge and networks to ensure the UK is a partner of choice for their global ambitions.”

Laura Parkin at NEN- “i2I plays a critical role in spurring entrepreneurship in Eastern India, and even nationally. Over the past years, several of the winners have gone on to start their businesses. And perhaps more importantly, the large scale of the event brings attention to entrepreneurial opportunities and helps inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. At NEN, we are delighted to partner with IIM Calcutta to support them in this event.”

Shradha Sharma at YourStory.in- “YourStory.in is the first dedicated online media platform for SME and Start-up entrepreneurs in India with a focus on creating a strong eco system that enables high visibility and networking opportunities for its members. YourStory is proud to associate with i2I and will provide an in-depth coverage of the event, actions behind the scene and chronicle the making of young entrepreneurs. So stay tuned with us as we kick start our reporting from the IIM Calcutta campus.”

For more information and registration, visit online at www.iimc-intaglio/i2I.

Please feel free to contact us at i2i@email.iimcal.ac.in for any further assistance.

Regards,

Team i2I

IIM Calcutta

i2I'09 - the premise ...

Hi all ,
i2I is back again ...

before we read on about what is new , a brief recap of the legacy of last year ..

i2I'08 was a success , 4 out of 9 finalists now are full fledged companies and doing well .
The format we innovated is now accepted across India and in the current season is the one followed by almost every top bracket B school .

i2I'09 gets more closer to the ideal.
The basic philosophy is to let the participants go through the rigor and test of the process . It is a firm belief that a team which comes through the process has in it the potential to go ahead and develop a sustainable enterprise .

It is going to be a 3 stage process again
with the zonal finals ( elevator pitches ) happening sometime in middle of December .

We are far bigger team and have much established partners which takes the whole process in a completely different league ..

~i2I is a process , A process spread over 100 days , whole nation , around 1000 entrepreneurs , 100 VC's and academicians ...

keep watching for more
and we start accepting executive summaries from 15th October .

Good luck

Entrepreneurship Cell
IIM Calcutta