NNeewwsslleetttteerr EDITION-1 2015

VViijjaayyeeeebbhhaavvaa iiss TTrraannssffoorrmmiinngg tthhee eennttrreepprreenneeuurriiaall eeccoo--ssyysstteemm

iinn KKeerraallaa!!

VIJAYEE BHAVA - Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP), thus made 31 more young

entrepreneurs to get equipped with competent skills on Leadership & Innovation, Marketing &Planning,

Communication Skills, Operations and Strategy, IT & Social networking, Financial Planning, Corporate

Law & Taxation, Industrial & labour law, Business Ethics & Values, Manpower Management etc.,.A total

of 163 young entrepreneurs thus able to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills as the Fifth batch also

completed their course on 3rd Feb 2015. . The association of K Chittilappilly Foundation with Winner

In You Training & Coaching Services and Varma & Varmathus continued their journey to

strengthen the business community across Kerala.

The interaction with successful entrepreneurs from Kerala like Mr.Kunjachan of Arjuna Extracts;

Mr.Aseez of Skyline Builders, Ms.Sheela Kochouseph of V-Star Creations; Mr. John Kuriakose of Dent

Care Dental Lab; and nonetheless but our Chairman, Mr. Kochouseph Chittilappilly had given their most

valuable inputs to all participants showing them the right direction, confidence and courage to raise their

business to its apex. Other faculties who have handled the session on different topics are Dr.VipinRoldant,

Mr.Satyanarayanan & Mr.Vivek C Govind of Varma & Varma.

All the participants were distributed with certificates and plaque after the programme. VijayeeBhava

Alumni group is an active forum engaged with exchanging and partnering entrepreneurial ideas.

VIJAYEE BHAVA- FIFTH BATCH COMPLETED

We need to understand the depth of this statement correctly to realize that it is fundamental to successful entrepreneurship.

MANTRA TO SUCCESS

V. Sathyanarayanan

Innovation reduces costs. Innovation is the easiest

way to capture the market for your product and

services. Innovation is not invention. All the

processes of your business can be done better

through innovation. You need to ponder over your

vocation and then ask yourself the question – why a

customer should come to you and not to your

competitor? We need to differentiate and get

noticed. There must be a customer pull feature in

you. This can be either through better and friendly

customer service, unique features, prompt and

quick delivery, genuine and quality product etc. But

soon, your competitor will copy them and then you

need to again innovate, till you are in business.

Cheap price need not bring customers always.

Entrepreneur should keep thinking in order to

innovate new process/procedure/methodology and

then be successful

Marketing increases revenue. Effective marketing need not always be through high advertisement expenditure. Satisfied customers should be your brand ambassadors who will generate goodwill in the long run, but a dis-satisfied customer is sure to talk ill about you, atleast to a few. All functions and activities add to the costs..beit purchases, employees, finance or administration. But effective marketing will generate profit. Innovation in business process will help you to attain success.

Vijayeebhava !

MOTIVATIONAL

HHooww aa hhoouusseewwiiffee bbeeccaammee aa ssuucccceessssffuull

eennttrreepprreenneeuurr

Kerala is a dreadful place to do business.

You will not be able to run a profitable

business in this state by giving high wages

for low productivity.'

'That is the reason why nobody wants to

invest in this state. Though there is a a

small change happening, it will take years

for Kerala to attract investors,' says Sheela

Kochouseph Chittilapally, managing

director, V-Star.

Twenty years ago Sheela was just a housewife while her

husband Kochouseph Chittilapally managed a successful

company V-Guard, an electrical appliances manufacturer based

in Kerala.

Today, Sheela in her early 60s is one of the most successful

woman entrepreneurs in Kerala with a Rs 75 crore (Rs 750

million) business.

Her company, V-Star is one of the leading lingerie brands in

Kerala, slowly expanding to the other southern states while 20

per cent of her business is from the Middle East market.

V-Star has 180 employees and around 2,000 people, mainly poor

women from remote areas of Kerala who work indirectly as

tailors.

Bullish on business prospects, the company expects a turnover of

Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) next year.

"It was a slow transformation of a simple housewife into a

businesswoman. Today, I have the courage and confidence to talk

to anyone. Sometimes I feel all the housewives have such abilities

in them but they remain hidden as they get no exposure," Sheela

Kochouseph tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com recounting her

journey from a housewife to a successful entrepreneur.

Your husband is a successful businessman. Did you

ever think of joining him?

My husband had resigned his job and started his own

business just six months before our marriage in 1977.

It was just a humble beginning, a small business run from a

room with just five people. We were staying in a rented house

and had only a scooter then.

Today, that business has grown into a Rs1,500 crore (Rs 15

billion) empire!

When my children grew up, I started going to his office but I

soon found his electronic business was not my cup of tea.

By then, the entrepreneurial bug had bitten me; I also

wanted to start something of my own. I told him I wanted to

start a garment shop as I was always interested in designing.

How was the beginning? With how much capital

did you start the garment shop?

My husband had a building that was unused. I converted

it into my factory. But he insisted that I should pay the

rent. I also took a loan of Rs 20 lakh from him for the

initial investment; to buy machines and other accessories.

I employed 10 people.

I bought dress materials from Mumbai, designed and

stitched salwar kameez and kept them in my boutique but

the venture turned out to be a disaster. In the first few

months, I didn’t even have money to pay rent to my

husband.

I decided to close the boutique and started supplying to

various shops.

For that, I employed a marketing manager. I was selling

the dresses under the label V-Star which was registered

by my husband earlier.

Were the initial days tough?

Yes, the initial days were quite tough. It took four years

for the business to be profitable. When I employed

people, they looked at my venture as the sister concern of

V-Guard, so I had to give them the same salary that my

husband was offering. It was not easy for me.

Though I found it tough to repay the loan in the first four

years, I was determined to make it a success. I took it as a

challenge.

What were the biggest challenges you faced as an entrepreneur?

Marketing the products and retaining the employees were the biggest challenges. Luckily, I have very good people working

for me today.

Are you ambitious as a businesswoman?

When I became an entrepreneur at 40, I was not at all ambitious but today, I am very ambitious.

I have competition at home itself with my husband and sons doing better than me; they have a Rs

1,500 crore business while mine is the smallest business here at just Rs 75 crores!

How did you get the confidence to take bold

decisions as a woman?

It took least five years for me to even realise that I was a

business woman. Since I was just a housewife with absolutely

no experience doing business, making business plans and

strategies. Initially I didn’t even know what to or how to talk

to my employees.

It was a slow transformation of a simple housewife into a

businesswoman. Today, I have the courage and confidence to

talk to anyone. Sometimes I feel all the housewives have such

abilities in them but they remain hidden as they get no

exposure.

I tell other women to try to explore the world on their own

with courage and confidence as nobody will give anything to

you on a platter; you have to discover the right options.

It can be challenging to achieve a good work-life balance, especially when organizations downsize and people are expected to take on

additional tasks, or when your responsibilities at home conflict with those at work.

The strategies below can help you achieve balance. Some of them may suit you better than others, so pick the ones you think will work best for you.

1. Conduct an Audit

Start by keeping a daily Activity Log, this will help you track how you use your time at work and at home. The same is true in your personal life: you might watch far more TV than you think. By reducing your television time, you could free up your schedule to include activities that you find more rewarding.

Once you've completed your Activity Log, use this information to determine how valuable these activities are to you. Apply the Action Priority

Matrix to your personal and work lives to take stock of what's important to you. Start by using the matrix to list the activities in your personal life. Identify the commitments that are vitally important, and that you have time for, as well as the ones that aren't. Be specific here. How much does it matter to you that you're home by 5:30pm to be with your children? Do you still want to spend every Thursday volunteering at that charity? Look at your log and add the most important activities to the matrix.

Next, look at your professional commitments. What non-negotiable needs, activities and goals are there in your work life? For example, you might have a conference call every Monday evening that you can't miss, or a monthly presentation to the executive board that requires eight hours of preparation.

Once you've added this list of "must-haves" to the matrix, write down the activities that are less important, but still necessary. Your goal is to identify gaps between key tasks and those that you can potentially delegate , outsource or stop doing. This will help you prioritize the activities in your life. For example, you might attend a weekly staff meeting, which lasts almost two hours but adds little value to your work. You could cut this out by asking a colleague to take notes on your behalf.

2. Improve Efficiency at Work

The more efficient and productive you are at work, the easier it is for you to go home at a reasonable time.

First, try to limit distractions during the day. When you can focus on a task, you will be more productive over a shorter period of time than if you are frequently interrupted. Next, make sure that you're working on valuable tasks that help you make a real impact with your work. Although it's important to maximize your productivity, keep in mind that continuous, long hours can lead to burnout. Take regular breaks throughout the day so that you work more effectively – these give your mind a rest and leave you feeling refreshed.

Achieving a Good Work-Life Balance Work-life balance refers to your belief that your personal and work lives are properly balanced.

It means spending enough time achieving your goals and devoting time to the people and

activities you love.

To bring more balance in your life, audit how you spend your time. Identify and eliminate low-

value tasks whenever possible, and try to focus more effort on activities that you believe make a

difference. Try to add flexibility to your schedule, and find purpose and fulfillment in your work.

If you think that you might be at risk of exhaustion, take our self test . Our article on Avoiding Burnout has many tools and strategies that you can use to keep to a healthy work schedule.

3. Add Flexibility

Flexibility is an important part of maintaining a good work-life balance. One studyshows that people who believe they have flexible jobs look more favorably on their work-life balance than those with the same workload but with no perceived flexibility. It also found that team members who think their jobs are flexible do longer hours before their workload has a negative effect on them. Another study came to similar conclusions: you're more likely to stay and feel satisfaction in your job if you have access to flexible working arrangements. Ask your boss to allow more flexibility in your schedule. Perhaps you could work from home one day a week, come in and leave earlier, or have some flexibility with your hours. Job sharing, when two people split the responsibilities of one role, is another popular option.

4. Feel More Rewarded

You may not be able to do much about your workload or schedule, but you can make changes and improve your job satisfaction . When you feel engaged in your job, the hours pass quickly and you leave work feeling happy and satisfied at the end of the day. Start by using the PERMA Model to learn more about the five essential elements most people need to feel happy and engaged in life. Think carefully about these. Are you missing any and, if so, which ones? Next, think about the tasks that energize you. Use the MPS Process to incorporate more activities and projects that use your strengths and enhance your motivation. It's also important that your work is meaningful. No matter what you do, your role exists for a reason. No one has a job that doesn't help someone, in some way. Our article on Working With Purpose will help you find meaning in your current role so that you reap greater rewards at work.

5. Find Time for Yourself

We all juggle many responsibilities and roles in our lives. At work, you might be a boss, a colleague and a mentor. At home, you might be a parent; a caregiver for an older family member; a sibling; a spouse or partner; and a friend. When we neglect one or more of these roles, we can quickly feel out of balance.

Use the Life Career Rainbow and the Wheel of Life to identify your current roles, and chart how much energy you devote to each one. Which are commanding more of your time? How can you shift the balance, so that you don't neglect the others? Remember, life balance means having time for yourself as well. If you spend all day attending to others' wants and needs, you won't have the energy and strength to achieve your own dreams. Set aside time every day for exercise , meals, sleep, and quiet time for contemplation, brainstorming or just daydreaming. The people and the work that you love deserve your best, and you can only give it when you're staying healthy and looking after yourself.

. Varghese Nettikadan

Reference: www.mindtools.com

A VBian Venture

James Joseph, a former director with Microsoft, has

come up with a smart idea that star hotels and

professional households are finding too sweet to

resist. By doing away with its natural stickiness and

persistent odour he has turned the humble jackfruit

into an ingredient that could replace mushroom,

apple and potato in a variety of everyday snacks and

dinner recipes. Through www.jackfruit365.com,

Joseph is marketing freeze-dried jackfruit bulbs that

can be reconstituted to its original form by adding

water.

The idea struck him in 2010 while enjoying Varqi

Kumbh, a signature vegetarian dish Hemant Oberoi

had prepared for him and his guests at Taj Hotel in

Mumbai. "I was wondering why the chef didn't use

jackfruit instead of mushroom. Jackfruit is considered

as a vegetable meat but bringing it to the kitchen is a

mess as it smells, and it is seasonal. That's why chefs

don't use it," Joseph said.

He worked with Microsoft for four years and left the

company in 2012 to set up Professional Bharati, a

networking platform to help top professionals to work

from their home towns or villages. During that time,

Joseph seriously planned for the marketing of

jackfruit in a convenient form. According to him, the

process of developing the practical product from the

marketing idea took only nine months.

Till now, jackfruit was only promoted by farmers and

they always thought from their own angle. But I took

the viewpoint of others like chefs and consumers and

have sorted out the bottlenecks in between," Joseph

said.

However, setting up a cold chain to sell jackfruit was

impractical as most people switch off their freezers

and the products get spoiled. "That's when I

remembered about the dehydration process I had

heard from late Thomas Koshy, a spice exporter and

former president of petrochemicals business Thai

Carbon Black. His son suggested the idea of freeze-

drying," he said.

Under his marketing plan, Kochi-based frozen food

exporters Amalgam Group would freeze-dry and pack

jackfruit bulbs and fulfil the orders coming through his

website. Joseph would receive a royalty on this.

Joseph is now targeting three groups in the first phase

- professional households where couples work,

institutional buyers like star hotels and corporate

cafeterias. "In the phase two, I will be selling it

through malls," he said.

Chefs from gourmet restaurants have tested his

product as an alternative for apple, mushroom and

potato in savoury snacks and lunch and dinner recipes

and are happy about the outcome. Chefs have tried

tart, pie, Danish pastry, brioche, etc, and the test

marketing of a couple of these products through a mall

in Kochi was a success, he added.

James has over 18 years of Sales and Marketing experience in North America, Europe and

India with Globally reputed organizations like Microsoft, 3M and Ford. In his last role as

the Director, Executive Engagement at Microsoft India; he was responsible for

strengthening Microsoft’s relationship with the senior executives of top 200 enterprises in

India. Prior to this role James was responsible for the manufacturing industry marketing

for Microsoft UK. Before joining Microsoft UK, he held business development, sales and

marketing positions at 3M, Ford Motor Company, i2 Technologies and Informatica. James

is a recipient of several awards including Circle of Excellence, the highest award for Sales

and Marketing employees across the world at Microsoft, New Age ICON d’ YOUTH Kerala

2011, etc. In addition James serves as a mentor for the Startup Village in Kochi.

During his work across three continents James also had the rare opportunity to design

Signature dining experiences for his clients with several internationally renowned Chefs

which helped him to develop JackFruit365™

He has a Masters in Engineering Business Management from University of Warwick, UK

and has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering,

Thiruvananthapuram.

Know Our Guest Speaker (February) James Joseph

From Jackfruit365

VBians in Action!

Jagriti Yatra:

A Memorable Moment in My Life Thomas Zachariah, Head of Operations & Trainings, BICS Kottayam

“When you set out on your journey to Ithaca... Pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge”-

Constantine P. Cavafy Introduction Life is like a journey...is a familiar simile. Travelling is widening or changing your perceptions and performances. It is a

strong hypothesis that the so called developments achieved by the Europeans for the last centuries are mostly of their

expeditions to faraway lands. So travelling is a catalyst as well as cleanser for an individual. Basically like most of us, I am a

traveller. Let me put it into its light sense a bohemian, as well. So now after a long time I am taking off a journey-“Jagriti

Yatra 2014” which is scheduled on 23rd Dec 2014 to 8th Jan 2015. In its nutshell Jagriti Yatra is 1 Train, 450 youth, 12

destinations, 15 role models, 15 days and 8000 Kilometers!

Jagriti Yatra The story of Jagriti Yatra began almost 17 years ago with Shashank Mani Tripathi (49),

a London based consultant with PwC then and now in the Price Waterhouse Coopers, India, who

wanted to explore a new India with 200 youngsters on the 50th year of Indian independence.

The journey was unique and its influence on the Yatris, indelible. 10 years later as Shashank was

Publishing his book on the Azad Bharat Rail Yatra, old memories were stirred and new ideas

started to spark. Gitanjali Bhattacharjee a young Yatri on that journey urged Shashank to plan

another Yatra with the help of other interested Yatris. That is how the Jagriti Yatra has brought into

existence. A wild dream becomes an exhilarating reality since 2006.

Jagriti Yatra has now become an annual feature. It is open to anyone between 20-45 however the preference is given to 20

and 27 years of age; 17,000 people applied for the December 2013 Yatra. A written test and interviews helped shortlist the

450 (40 percent women, and about 55 percent candidates from Tier 2 and 3 towns). Tripathi and his Yatra team aim to

create a million entrepreneurs by 2020.

It is for the young people who are passionate about enterprise, development and nation building. “Enterprise - led -

development" was the basis of the Jagriti Yatra. Its motto is “building India through enterprise". The idea was to

motivate the youth of ‘middle India’ with the opportunities in social and business enterprise through visits to inspirational

role models.

Philosophy of the Yatra The Yatris are all coming from different backgrounds. Their energy is bursting at the seams in different directions. The Yatra is an exhilarating journey, based on experiential learning and has been life-changing for many. In truth it is a gritty train journey of 450 individuals traversing a diverse country across 8000 Kms, in 15 days. The path ahead offers discovery, possibility and opportunity.

Each Yatri will start with discovering each other. Sleeping, eating and cleaning all suddenly become

the means of appreciating the value of every ones personal space.

But the real discovery is finding the common ground that motivates each other. He/she will realize how the power of a common purpose can open the doors of his/her mind, raise tolerance and make issues wilt away. Each one will experience the thrust of the Jagriti Spirit. Building India through Enterprise or Udyam ke Jariye Bharat Nirman, seeks to change the development paradigm from one of dependence to that of taking charge. It seeks to shift the mindset of young India from job seekers to job creators. It seeks to shift the role of government from that of a captain to one of the coach and a catalyst. It seeks to unleash the hidden potential of citizens by coming together around a viable social and economic need, and then show discipline to nurture it into a viable enterprise. In doing so, they create purpose and employment for themselves and provide employment for hundreds of others. The focus of Jagriti is to develop talent by exposing young Indians to social and economic enterprises. The Three Legs There are three legs in the Yatra. Leg 1 is from Mumbai to Chennai via Hubli and Madurai and is coined as “Exploration”. It is a real attempt to know each other and prepare to know from the successful entrepreneurs. The ‘Leg 2’ is a journey from Chennai to Delhi which is named as “Creation” A session to know the art of collaborating, creating ideas and plans. The final “Leg 3” is from Delhi and return to Mumbai for this the title is given as “Integration” which a synthesis of learning and insights. Role Modal Visit The cardinal activity of the Jagriti Yatra is to meet successful entrepreneurs and their venture in these 15 destinations. It would be a great lesson for the Yatris and this visit is followed by a group presentation about the learned lessons during the evening in the train. Demography of the Yatris Among the 450 travelling this year, over 70 who are Facilitators, who are in charge of the 6-12 Yatris (I am a facilitator). About 40% are small entrepreneurs, another 40% aspiring entrepreneurs involved in entrepreneurial initiatives and 20% who demonstrate a strong urge to contribute in nation building. Over 70% Yatris who are from smaller towns and villages and 40% women are Yatris. There is a good number of Yatris from the North East and Jammu and Kashmir as well. There are10% International candidates participating in the Yatra. Result of the Yatra Already there are 300 enterprises set up till date and many more in the pipeline since 2006. Numerous small Yatras all across the country have been formed. Along with these outcomes within the country Mr Patrick Dowd a US national and a Yatri of 2009 has replicated Jagriti Yatra in the US as the Millenial Train there in USA and Mr Matthieu from France, a Yatri of 2012 has organized the same in France with the title Ticket for Change. Conclusion I believe, for the VBians Jagrati Yatri has a special significance. As we are entrepreneurs or mostly young enterprisers this is the right opportunity to grow big, focused as well as strengthen our network among a pan India context or even in the international sphere to a certain extent. A large proportion of the Indian population is below 25 years of age and an additional 22 crore will be added to the workforce by 2025 years. This young India is not destitute; it has a roof on its head and food on the table. They do not lack energy, but often don’t find a purpose. When this energetic India does not find purpose and employment it takes to the streets or worse to the gun and has connected to the global economy. As I am a Yatri as well as felicitator, eagerly waiting for the exciting as well as different experience of the Jagriti Yatra. Next time, it is my wish that, there will be good number of the Kerala Yatris from our VBians.

Selected references: 1. Jagriti Yatra 2014 Felicitation Manual 2. http://forbesindia.com/article/work-in-progress/jagriti-yatra-a-journey-into-middleindia/37339/1#ixzz3M6X0hVSW

The Digital Age of Infinite Customer Base We have always heard there’s nothing called a free lunch. And neither is there anything infinite in the

real world. Maybe except the universe and stupidity, as Einstein mentioned. But lets look at the term infinity from a marketing perspective. You never see a theater playing

infinite number of movies; or a beverage shop with infinite bottles (though I know of people who

dream of it); or a bakery with infinite supply of cakes. Infinity term does not exist in marketing.15%

increase in sales, tripling the work force, hall capacity of 550 – Its always about a fixed number.

Or is it?

How many views do you want on your blog?

How many “likes” on your FB Page?

How many followers in Twitter to get you a good night’s sleep?

Is your answer infinity? Or “the more the better”? Even if it is the latter, doesn’t it, in hindsight,

actually mean infinity?

The whole concept of “infinity” came up ever since the advent of the digital era. Though in real life

there’s no practicality associated with the term, we still pursue it in the digital world. In doing so, are

we aiming at a blank target? A directionless pursuit?

From a “set of audience” have we moved to “everyone”? In the quest for a number we will never

reach, are we compromising on the worth of our brand and the vision it should actually aim for?

In real life if we consider one genuine enquiry better than hundred false ones, why can’t the same be

applicable in the Digital Platform?

Though the platforms have and will keep changing, dynamic and sensible adaptation is needed on

part of the marketers. Else the budgets would keep going up, and the ROI down.

Vijay S Paul

vijay@izecreative.com

Customer Centricity

Selection of Executive Committee The VB Alumni Executive was chosen, based on volunteered

nominations from the forum. Mr Devanand Shenoi, was requested to convene the election process.

The new committee is as follows –

Important Announcements from VB Alumni Executive

• Bi-Annual payments for membership – in July and January. INR 1500/-

• For individuals who do not make the fee payment per term and interested in only attending

meetings once a while, a fee of INR 500/- will be collected per meeting.

• The VB Alumni meetings would now forth be held on 2nd Wednesdays of every month in order

to accommodate the schedule of our mentors, especially when other Vijayeebhava batches are in

session. This will be in effect from February 2015.

• All members were requested to come up with suggestions for speakers for forthcoming meetings

• In case of any queries, suggestions and/or concerns, the members may send their responses to the VB Executive Committee at vbexecutivecommittee@googlegroups.com

VB Alumni Executive-Second Term

Contact Vijayee Bhava

Alumni

vijayeebhava@googlegroups.com

BE IN TOUCH!

Way Forward

VB will emerge as one of the strong platform and ecosystem for young Entrepreneurs

in Kerala to learn and grow. We urge each and every one of you to come together and

take this great movement to greater heights!!

Guest Speaker from January:

Dr VA Joseph, Past Chairman, South Indian Bank was the speaker for the session and along with his

experiences as a financial consultant for many businesses, discussed various points of concern

regarding financial issues in a business.

Vijayeebhava Batch-5