Students, Twinkle Sahu, Kshitij Tripathi, Tejash Padia from the 2nd year were the finalists for the prestigious V-Guard BIG IDEA contest. Here are their answers to some common questions that riddle the minds of many business school students regarding corporate competitions.
1. Tell us your views on the V-Guard BIG IDEA Contest and what made you choose the same?
See, it’s an idea pitching competition. And such competitions are quite open ended in terms of the deliverables they seek. We had teams suggesting investments of 300 crores to teams proposing a product costing as low as INR 500. In short, there are no ground rules. The major hurdle hence, was ideation- finding an idea V-Guard will be interested to invest in! You have to carry out everything- A study of the company’s vision, mission, financials, shareholder report, everything; and do the same for its competitors too! Then after multiple rounds of brainstorming, pops up the idea the team can believe in, the team can take forward.
2. Participating in a national level competition provides various learnings and insights. What were your key takeaways?
Finals are the real battlegrounds, as well as huge learning opportunities. Winner or not, you get to take away huge troves of treasure, in terms of learnings. It really broadens your horizons, making you more ready than any other future competitor from your institute. The critical comments by judges, presentations from other finalists, approaches, and frameworks- the platform enriches you with all of these. We feel more confident now, have an understanding of the loopholes in our presentation, know what additions can make our submissions winner-worthy, and most importantly, know the level of competition offered by our peers! In one phrase- We feel more ready now!
3. Describe your journey and the difficulties you might have faced navigating through the group dynamics.
The journey has been amazing, right from team formation to presenting in the finals. The initial rounds took a toll on the team obviously- with clashes, uncertainties, and doubts popping up; but it all moulded into our beautiful idea. Once each member was confident, the functioning got streamlined. We functioned as devil’s advocates to root out all problems. This critical nature is of utmost necessity, it makes you ready for any objections to your plan and idea. The primary research, interaction with people, dealers, etc gave us insights internet was not even nearer too. Lastly, the finals were amazing, both in terms of learning and the hospitality we received at Kochi- yeah, that’s an added benefit ;).
4. Elucidate the hurdles and roadblocks you face, so that the newcomers know what to be cautious about.
As we said, there were no ground rules as such. Your idea needed to be viable enough for the company to think upon- these ideas indeed get implemented at some point or later in the organisation- so that is the level of seriousness and research required. The idea needs to be supported by growth predictions, financial models, technical feasibility analysis, marketing plan, supply chain planning and what not. Speaking in a nutshell - Your presentation should be such that with minimum uncertainty, the organisation can easily and unambiguously implement it.
5. What, according to you, makes the particular competition unique?
V Guard big idea contest is a unique competition. Unlike other competitions, it charges participation fees, and hence, ensures just the teams with strong, research supported feasible ideas participate. Secondly, past year trends have shown V Guard actually implementing the winning ideas, and adding it to its product portfolio. These two factors were a major motivation. Adding to it, the performance of XIMB in the past years at the competition has been phenomenal, it was also a driver!
6. Ideation and Data collection being the most critical in any competition, what was your approach towards the same?
First, our idea was new- no such product existed as such in the Indian market. So no secondary data was available in the Indian context. So, for inspiration, we had to look to the West. We did secondary research and applied it to the Indian mindset to confirm the acceptability of our product. Then came primary research- IT WAS RIGOROUS! We had to talk to many stakeholders, some who gave us a warm reception and some who just gave a cold stare and asked us to walk away. Data collection took the majority efforts. Then came deciding the flow- TOO MANY THINGS, TOO LESS TIME- You have to choose well. Once the judges lose interest in your presentation, its 10 times harder to win it back. Third and most important, was belief- unless each team member is convinced that your idea is “THE IDEA”, chances of success are slim.
Summing up, we will advise everyone to put their heart out in any competition they participate. Back your opinions with data, show them feasibility and be confident, those are the only rules. One competition finale will teach you a lot more than your entire two-year management education stint!
All The best!
Team Xorbitants
Kshitij Tripathi
Twinkle Sahu
Tejash Padia