V-Guard Announces Big Idea Business Plan & Tech Design Contest Winners

Winners of the annual Big Idea Contests organised by V-Guard Industries Ltd were announced on Saturday ,20th November 2021. This year’s Big Idea Business Plan and Big Idea Tech design contests finals were held on 18th, 19th and 20th Nov 2021 and witnessed more than 300 entries from top business schools and engineering colleges from across the country. 

Indian Institute Of Management, Nagpur won the first prize and first runner up position in Business Plan contest and SVKMS NMIMS, Mukesh Patel School Of Technology Management & Engineering, Mumbai declared first and second runner ups respectively in the contest from a total of 22 teams shortlisted for the grand finale. International Management Institute, Delhi and Indian Institute Of Management, Sambalpur were qualified for the special jury award.

Muthoot Institute of Technology, Vaikoli has bagged first prize in Big Idea Tech design contest. St Joseph College of Engineering and Technology, Palai and Christ College of Engineering, Irinjalakuda were declared first & second runner up.

This year’s competition themes were “Tomorrow’s business models that will bridge the gap between Digital and Physical to usher in a better tomorrow” for B-Plan Contest and “How can V-Guard enable a better quality of life with thoughtful and smart products that will bring home a better tomorrow” for Tech Design Contest. This was meant for the participants to present insightful and innovative ideas for business growth in alignment with the business strategy of V-Guard. 

The Business Plan contest winners were awarded cash prizes worth Rs. 2,00,000, Rs. 1,00,000,  Rs. 50,000 for the top three positions respectively along with trophies and certificates of appreciation. Big Idea tech winners received cash prize worth Rs.100,000, Rs. 50,000, Rs. 25,000 for the first three positions respectively. Two teams qualified for special jury in Business Plan contest and received prize worth Rs.25,000. Shortlisted teams presented their competitive ideas and plans in a virtual event held.

The Four-member Jury Committee who chose the B Plan winners was headed by Mr. Rajesh Nair, Business Leader, EY LLP, Kochi along with V. Ramachandran, Director & COO, V-Guard, Sudarshan Kasturi, Sr. Vice President & CFO, V-Guard and Mr. Narender Singh Negi, Vice President – R&D (Electronics). The ideas presented by the participants were judged on parameters such as ingenuity, practicality of application, feasibility, simplicity and the positive impact it can have on V-Guard’s business and its consumers. Mr. Kochouseph Chittilappilly, Chairman Emeritus, & Mr Mithun Chittilappilly, Managing Director, V-Guard Industries Ltd. graced the valedictory function and awarded the winners.

The jury who judged the tech design contest include Mr. Narender Singh Negi, Vice President – R&D (Electronics), Mr. Prasad Sudhakar Teni, Sr. General Manager - Home Appliances and Mr. James M Varghese, GM - R&D (Industrial Design). The event has created a platform for interaction with top leaders of V-Guard, wherein the young minds can discuss and understand the business challenges to fine tune their thought process and foster a spirit of innovation in them.

Secrets To A Solid Tech Startup Business Plan

According to studies, writing a business plan makes your tech startup 16% more likely to succeed. It’s also estimated that over 70% of fast-developing companies have detailed business plans. This is not surprising, especially when you consider that this powerful document can help you with everything from:

• Data-driven decision-making
• Creating action plans, with goals and milestones
• Testing the viability of new ideas
• Bringing new ideas to the table

In short, a well-crafted business plan can be a very effective management tool that will allow you to keep track of your progress and make more money for your business.

To help in that regard, read on to discover the secrets to a solid tech startup business plan to ensure your growth and expansion.

1. Executive Summary

Writing a business plan for your tech startup sounds like an easy task.

All you have to do is create a detailed document outlining your business objectives and the process for achieving them, right?

Unfortunately, it's not that simple to create a persuasive tech startup business plan that is highly accurate.

You need the right approach and the ability to put together the essential elements - one of which is an executive summary.

This is the first and arguably the most important element in that structure.

It’s a short, clear, and concise document that communicates everything about your business.

The document should be able to stand on its own.

Here are some tips for a well-crafted executive summary:

• Use strong, positive language.
• Include your mission statement in one short paragraph.
• Include general company information (when your business was formed, names and roles of founders, office locations, number of employees, etc.)
• Include a brief description of your products or services and your target customer base.

If your goal is to get funding, include your funding goals and any financial information about previous loans or the banks/lenders you've worked with, etc.

Add visual highlights such as charts and graphs pertaining to business growth or key milestones.

Pro Tip: You can use an online chart maker, or if you can’t create the graphics yourself, you can hire a freelancer to do it for you.

Image Source

The process for writing an executive summary is the same whether your company offers simple e-learning software or complex technology.

2. Company Overview

A lot of people mistake the company overview for the executive summary. Just as many mistake a business proposal for a business plan.

However, there are distinct differences between the two.

The company overview offers a more detailed, top-level view of your tech business structure and what you do.

Here are some tips to help you draft a great startup overview:

• Describe what your company specializes in, as well as the technology behind it
• Explain the nature of the marketplace and industry
• Outline your tech business’s legal structure
• Provide the ownership structure of your business
• Show the value you offer and highlight the opportunity in the market

Preply, a company that offers a language learning app, has a detailed company overview that outlines each of the criteria above.

You can conduct a quick search online to find other companies with well-crafted overviews as a way to inspire your own.

3. Market Research

Regardless of how great you think your startup will be, you still need to conduct market research in order to gather information about your target customers, as well as your competitors.

There are two steps to achieving this:

Step #1: Identifying Your Target Market

It won't matter how great your product or service is, without a viable market for it, your new tech startup will be doomed to failure.

In fact, this is one of the main reasons why the majority of startups fail, as evidenced by the graph below:

Image source

For example, after conducting or outsource market research, a marketing tech company that allows corporations to host virtual events might discover that there is a distinct need for their product among large organizations.

The company might use a survey maker like this one to conduct surveys of their prospective customers, and once they get a clear picture of their total addressable market (TAM), they can then niche down to find a more targeted (and therefore more engaged, and higher converting) audience.

For your own market research, you can further segment your audience by the following factors:

• Demographic: What is your target audience’s age group? Gender?
• Geographic: Where do your prospects live? Country? City?
• Customer Behavior: What are their buying habits? Which retail stores or brands do they prefer
• Content Preferences: What blogs, websites, or news sources do they like?

Say you offer a CRM with predictive dialer. You might discover from your research that your target audience consists of 35 to 45-year-old male marketers who are largely based in the US.

You could then do further research to discover their purchasing behavioral traits so you can better speak to their needs.

Step #2: Performing Competitor Analysis

Your next step is to conduct a thorough analysis of your competitors. This will help you find the key differentiators between you and your rivals.

You can do that by asking yourself these questions:

• Why should someone choose my product or service?
• Why do people buy the product already in the market?
• How can I improve on existing solutions currently in the market?

Thinking about your main competitors, their weaknesses and strengths, will help you identify new opportunities for innovation. Ultimately, this will help your business better connect with customers.

This is particularly important for people in super competitive spaces, such as the VPN software niche, or the landing page software niche - two of the most competitive software niches.

4. Marketing and Sales Plan

Now comes your marketing plan.

Here, you need to mention the strategies you intend to use for marketing and sales in your business.

This includes sales channels and marketing activities.

Your marketing channels are those you use to promote your business and product.

Sales channels, on the other hand, are the mediums that allow your customers to buy your products or services.

You must include at least one direct sales channel, such as an eCommerce store, and explain it within your business plan.

You can emulate the examples of eCommerce stores like 3Wishes that are already successful. But even better, you can look at what your direct competitors are doing as a way to brainstorm ideas for your own strategy.

Marketing activities should detail how you intend to acquire leads and customers for your business.

For example, if your company offered a podcast hosting platform, at a base level, you might include:

• Launching a company website
• Developing a strategy to generate traffic, e.g. from search engine optimization (SEO)
• Creating a paid traffic strategy, such as PPC for immediate online exposure
• Developing channel partnerships
• Building an email subscriber list

This section of your tech startup business plan needs to account for various factors, including your goals, budget, and risks in the market.

Pro Tip: In addition to including graphs and charts on your business plan, you can use animation software to create eye-catching imagery.

If you’re not knowledgeable about these things, it’s important you get sales expert advice from professionals who can help you develop a strong marketing plan.

This brings us to our final secret to a solid tech startup business plan.

5. Financial Projections

The last section of a good tech startup business plan should include relevant details about your budget and company sales goals.

This can be quite challenging for new entrepreneurs.

For example, say you’ve just created a WordPress guest blogging plugin that you’re eager to offer to the world.

But, how do you come up with financial projections when you have no stable income, let alone balance sheets or cash flow reports on which to base your projections.

Having said that, creating a detailed financial plan is still possible if you've done proper market research because you can make educated projections.

Here are some details to include in your business plan:

1. Revenue Streams: Outline how your company will generate its income
2. Major Expenses: Detail any high costs that you anticipate in the year ahead
3. Salary Demands: Note whether you are still bootstrapping, or if you and the partners are taking salaries, in which case make a note of how much.
4. Financial Milestones: Communicate your expansion strategy and factor in future store openings or hires that will have an impact on your books.

Keep in mind that the majority of startups are not profitable in the first year.

So your financial projections need to maintain a longer-term view for success while keeping your ambitions honest and realistic.

This will help you produce a break-even analysis that is more accurate.

Conclusion

These are the 5 core components you need to build a structure that has been proven to be the most effective in creating a solid tech startup business plan.

Follow the steps above to craft an elaborate business plan that will help propel your new company to success.

Over to you. Do you think these tips will help you write a tech startup business plan like a pro? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Biz Planning Software Firm o9 Solutions Raises $100 Mn from KKR, Plans to Ramp Up Hiring in India

Integrated business planning software firm o9 Solutions on Wednesday said it has raised USD 100 million (around Rs 761 crore) from global investment firm KKR.

KKR has picked up a minority stake in o9 Solutions, valuing it over USD 1 billion.

The company intends to hire India-based talent in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and other key technologies in the digital transformation space as well as expand its customer base in Asia, it said in a statement.

o9's platform is powering the planning and operations for large enterprise clients across industry verticals, including retail, consumer goods, apparel, consumer electronics, industrial manufacturing, and oil and gas.

o9 was set up by Sanjiv Sidhu and Chakri Gottemukkala, both Indian Americans originally from Hyderabad.

"The funding from KKR is enabling us to accelerate growth across global markets, including India. India is also the place where we hire world-class development and consulting talent. In the last year, our India team grew by close to 100 per cent," o9 Solutions co-founder and CEO Chakri Gottemukkala said.

The company has onboarded about 100 new people even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to hire both experienced professionals, and freshers from IITs, IIMs and other premier institutions, Gottemukkala added.

Jake Heller, co-head of KKR's Technology Growth team in the Americas, said digitisation and the rapid advancement of economies in Asia are secular growth themes that KKR has been focused on.

"Sanjiv and Chakri are industry pioneers who have built a best-in-class team and technology platform for digitally transforming how supply chains and operations are managed. We are thrilled to be the first external investor in o9 and to provide the support of our global platform as the team continues to accelerate their growth in Asia," Heller said.

o9 has over 500 employees globally, of which more than 350 are based in India. Its clients in India include different divisions of Aditya Birla group, Tata Group and leading paint companies.PTI SR

16 Business Plans Shortlisted for 2nd TiE-Grad Business Idea Tournament Final Round

The 2^nd edition
of TiE-Grad Business Idea Tournament, declared today 16 business plans
were shortlisted from record number of 106 business plans entries to
compete at the final inter-college championships, TiE Grad Business Idea Tournament  finals will be held in March 2019 in Hyderabad. 

TIE
conducted a series of qualifier rounds for all the 16 colleges which
signed up to this world class college level entrepreneurship program,
TiE Grad 2018-19. Over the last many months, many hands-on workshops
were held at different engineering and management colleges and TiE
Charter Member Mentors have introduced Entrepreneurship to over 2600+
students this year. Close to 10% of these students formed 106 teams and
submitted their business plans through a technology platform
TheBIZplanner.

After careful evaluation of these plans in terms of the strength of idea, viability of the business model and feasibility and scalability of the plan, the composition of the team, the TiE Mentors shortlisted 3-5 plans per college for intra college level pitching. In the qualifier rounds 125 students from 10 Telangana colleges formed 35 teams and presented their business plans to three tracks of 13 jury panel members, consisting of senior business and corporate leaders, seed capital, Private or Angel investors. 

Related Reading - How to write a business plan in a perfect way

A
broad spectrum of solutions were presented ranging from e-commerce to
mobile utility apps to devices, gadgets viz. Drones, Robotic arms and
impacting sectors like Emerging technologies, Med-tech, Ed-tech,
Construction, Ag-tech, Energy/Clean tech, Sustainability solutions to
name a few. Selected pre-finalists from these qualifier rounds will then
pitch in front of global evaluators in March at the TiE Grad Business Idea Tournament.

TiE Charter Members, will mentor and guide these pre-finalists, prepare them to face the final round to be held in March at Hyderabad. The final winners from this TiE-Grad
campus startup challenge program with a potential to set up global
venture, will be nominated to TiE Global University Challenge Student
B-Plan competitions in the US and other countries. The 2018-19
TiE Grad finalists also stand a great chance of winning exciting cash
prizes as well as unlimited mentoring to not only set up their own
ventures but also right connects to customers, global networks and
access capital to grow and scale their business.

Making the announcement Suresh Reddy TiE Hyderabad President, “TiE
Grad Business Idea Tournament is real-world class opportunity to learn
what it takes to successfully launch a new business, and a chance to
gain mentoring from investors, experienced entrepreneurs and compete on a
global platform that gets exposure for a lifetime. Our aim is to pave
way for these smart graduates from education to entrepreneurship and add 30 colleges to TiE Grad 2019-20 edition thereby introducing entrepreneurship to 5000+ young students."

We are proud that our 1^st edition
TiE Grad 2017 finalist, WCB Robotics, incorporated a company and raised
a combined investment of one and a half Million dollars so far for its
game-changing idea, we are hopeful that we will continue to send
students from Hyderabad to the international level this year too,”
expressed Kali Prasad Gadiraju, Board Member of TiE Hyderabad and past president said. He added TiE  continues to nurture and support WCB Robotics founder who is a student from Hyderabad.

TiE
Grad Steering Committee members Subbaraju Pericherla Founder of
Crossborders, Bhanu Prakash Varla, Director Graylogic Technologies and
Nandita Sethi, Founder & MD The Entrepreneur Zone said" 2^nd edition
of TiE Grad program has recorded a multi-fold increase in college grad
participation to a whopping 106 teams this year. TiE Hyderabad not only
helps students enter a business plan competition and possibly winning
cash prizes for their business idea, the important thing is to be able
to have an access mentors to guide them through the process,
keep their motivation at an all-time high and support the student
entrepreneurs at every stage of planning.

TiE
Hyderabad’s TiE GRAD program helps engineering & management
colleges to build/scale a world-class Entrepreneurship Development Zones
within their campuses through a structured program to guide and mentor
students on Entrepreneurship. Each college is attached with one mentor
all through the year for guidance and support to develop entrepreneurial
mindset in students.

TiE
Hyderabad engages colleges through year-long programs, viz. Idea Boot
camps, Startup School, Immersive Learning workshops, Nominations to
National & International Business Plan competitions, Hackathon
Challenges and other initiatives.

In 2018, TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Hyderabad Chapter successfully conducted of 60+ events & activities under 20+ themes to encourage, nurture next-generation entrepreneurs. TiE organization comprises successful entrepreneurs & accomplished professionals, volunteering to support startups, with an objective of fostering entrepreneurship across industries, at every stage of the entrepreneurial lifecycle. Handholding startups & enterprises to next level of growth through mentoring, education, funding & connecting customers & global networks.

How to write a business plan in a perfect way

The key to a successful business is a good business plan. A Business plan is the first step which you take in your business which can either put your entire business on an escalator or an ICU bed. That’s why special attention needs to be given when you’re designing the business plan for your business.

A business plan should be able to clearly provide answers to a list of questions about the business. The most important question which needs to be answered through it is: Where do you want your business to head? Or what do you expect from business in 2, 3 or 6 years down the line?

A business plan is like roadmap which needs to be followed strictly to reach the desired destination, it also keeps in you check as you can track where you’re heading to. A business plan is also required when you’re trying to seek finance for your business.

Now that we know how important a business plan is for our business, let’s move onto the certain points which you need to remember when you’re chalking out the business plan for your business.

1) Research is gold: You will be required to take few important decisions about your business before starting your business plan. These include deciding the structure, finance and marketing strategy for your business and these decisions can only be taken efficiently if the person has proper research at his/her disposal.

2) Know the objective of your plan- You should always be clear about what is the purpose of your plan and whom are you trying to serve through it.  Whether the plan will only be used internally or will it also involve some third parties. If some third parties are involved, don’t assume that they’re only interested in the finance part, what they’re really looking for is a complete package.

3) Don’t try to be a superman or superwoman by trying to finish the plan from start to finish in one go- You will be first required to select the sections which are most relevant to your business from the ones which don’t apply to your business at all. If you think, you’re not competent or confident enough to complete the task at hand, they you shouldn’t ever take a chance, consult a professional help as soon as possible.

4) The Future figures- If you’re writing a business plan for a business which is just about to take off, then you should clearly state the expected figures of finance and takeover for your business in the plan.

5) Keep your Summary the last and the best- As the famous saying goes “Keep the best for the last”. Summaries are very crucial to your plan and special attention needs to be given to it so that you don’t end up over doing it.

6) Reviewing everything is the rule- Your Business plan can either make or break your business, so reviewing it again and again will only help you screen out errors and mistakes. Errors in a business plan can act as a dent on your professional image.

After we're done with the important rules that need to be kept in mind while writing a business plan, les’s now move on to the all things that need to be included in a business plan.

1) An overview about your business-This is famously called as the operational or management plan. It includes extensive details about what your business is all about. It gives an overview about your business’s products/ services, marketing strategy, finance, structure, location, staff and premises etc.

2) Title/Main page- The title page basically clearly states what the plan is for. It also includes the all the general information about your business.

3) Business Summary- This is a small one page overview about what your entire business plan really is. It includes all the important points that you were trying to make while writing the entire plan.

4) Devise a Marketing Plan-The marketing plan should include the complete marketing analysis of the industry which you are just about to enter. It should also have complete info about your competitors and customers. This section should most importantly include your key marketing plans and strategies which you will deploy for the fulfillment your company’s targets.

5) Be Careful with Finances- The financial section of your business plan should include details like how you plan to finance your business, whether you’re looking at external funding and if yes, in which areas will these funds be invested. It should also cover details like projected profits and revenue over the period of next one year or five years.

6) Future Plans- This section of the plan deals with the plans for future. It can include the business goals or some key business milestone that need to be achieved.

7) Important Documentation- You should not forget to list all your attachments for referral under this heading of your business plan. These include financial tables, resumes, maps or copies of emergency procedures.

A business plan needs constant attention as business planning is an ongoing activity. So, keeping reviewing and making changes to your plan in accordance to the changes in your business.

How to write a business plan in a perfect way

The key to a successful business is a good business plan. A Business plan is the first step which you take in your business which can either put your entire business on an escalator or an ICU bed. That’s why special attention needs to be given when you’re designing the business plan for your business.

A business plan should be able to clearly provide answers to a list of questions about the business. The most important question which needs to be answered through it is: Where do you want your business to head? Or what do you expect from business in 2, 3 or 6 years down the line?

A business plan is like roadmap which needs to be followed strictly to reach the desired destination, it also keeps in you check as you can track where you’re heading to. A business plan is also required when you’re trying to seek finance for your business.

Now that we know how important a business plan is for our business, let’s move onto the certain points which you need to remember when you’re chalking out the business plan for your business.

1) Research is gold: You will be required to take few important decisions about your business before starting your business plan. These include deciding the structure, finance and marketing strategy for your business and these decisions can only be taken efficiently if the person has proper research at his/her disposal.

2) Know the objective of your plan- You should always be clear about what is the purpose of your plan and whom are you trying to serve through it.  Whether the plan will only be used internally or will it also involve some third parties. If some third parties are involved, don’t assume that they’re only interested in the finance part, what they’re really looking for is a complete package.

3) Don’t try to be a superman or superwoman by trying to finish the plan from start to finish in one go- You will be first required to select the sections which are most relevant to your business from the ones which don’t apply to your business at all. If you think, you’re not competent or confident enough to complete the task at hand, they you shouldn’t ever take a chance, consult a professional help as soon as possible.

4) The Future figures- If you’re writing a business plan for a business which is just about to take off, then you should clearly state the expected figures of finance and takeover for your business in the plan.

5) Keep your Summary the last and the best- As the famous saying goes “Keep the best for the last”. Summaries are very crucial to your plan and special attention needs to be given to it so that you don’t end up over doing it.

6) Reviewing everything is the rule- Your Business plan can either make or break your business, so reviewing it again and again will only help you screen out errors and mistakes. Errors in a business plan can act as a dent on your professional image.

After we're done with the important rules that need to be kept in mind while writing a business plan, les’s now move on to the all things that need to be included in a business plan.

1) An overview about your business-This is famously called as the operational or management plan. It includes extensive details about what your business is all about. It gives an overview about your business’s products/ services, marketing strategy, finance, structure, location, staff and premises etc.

2) Title/Main page- The title page basically clearly states what the plan is for. It also includes the all the general information about your business.

3) Business Summary- This is a small one page overview about what your entire business plan really is. It includes all the important points that you were trying to make while writing the entire plan.

4) Devise a Marketing Plan-The marketing plan should include the complete marketing analysis of the industry which you are just about to enter. It should also have complete info about your competitors and customers. This section should most importantly include your key marketing plans and strategies which you will deploy for the fulfillment your company’s targets.

5) Be Careful with Finances- The financial section of your business plan should include details like how you plan to finance your business, whether you’re looking at external funding and if yes, in which areas will these funds be invested. It should also cover details like projected profits and revenue over the period of next one year or five years.

6) Future Plans- This section of the plan deals with the plans for future. It can include the business goals or some key business milestone that need to be achieved.

7) Important Documentation- You should not forget to list all your attachments for referral under this heading of your business plan. These include financial tables, resumes, maps or copies of emergency procedures.

A business plan needs constant attention as business planning is an ongoing activity. So, keeping reviewing and making changes to your plan in accordance to the changes in your business.