I had come to SDA Bocconi Asia Center, clueless on the very first day. Soon the sea rumbled and the subjects interlocked into the tight MBA schedule. I was trying to figure out a way to gain an edge over my competitor friends. Through the Placecom, I came to know about the umpteen B-school competitions I could participate. Entrepreneurship is a subject I love and I would want to delve deep into.
Startups excited me, more than anything. After an Entrepreneurship class by Prof. Draebye, I was even more keen to crack business plan competitions. To crack a business plan competition you would be to design a single plan which was stable financially, process-wise and concept wise.
I worked very hard for it and entered into one of the inter-college B-Plan events. At the final round, I was thrown at with a lot of perplexing financial model questions which I was not adept at. Thus I went back after that failure to choose a team partner adept at finance. Finally, I had made a robust team- marketing, consulting and finance to crack any B-plan event. Then our winning streak started and has never ended till today. The list of B-plan events we as a team could crack are:
IIM Raipur – Pratyay Winner
H&G Retail Winner
Synovate - SSBF Pune , 2nd Runner Up
KJ Som - Variegating Brands, 1st Runner Up
KJ Som – Marquest, 1st Runner up
SIES – Marksctasy, 1st Runner up
EDII - Prototype Funding Granted
Some words of wisdom from my side would be to never give up and build a perfect team and an idea which is financially sustainable according to the relevant target market. Also, it would be best to utilize the faculties at the campus as they are the greatest resource. This would be my mantra of success.
Which ABGP company would you like to work for and why?
Fashion is an industry I have always been passionate about. Having co-founded a startup in this sector gave me in-depth knowledge on how this industry works and the vast array of opportunities which are still lying untapped. The summer internship at Future Group has further fuelled my interest in this sector. All these factors combined, I believe that Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Limited would be the place I would want to work for in the future. With a fashion portfolio of a variety of brands including brands like Louis Philippe and Van Heusen to name a few and a pan India retail presence, ABFRL is definitely a brand any fashion enthusiast would love to work for.
-Rishi Agarwal
PGPB(2017-2019)