You don’t build a business-you build people and then people build the business.” Moving a step closer to realizing the adage, on the sixth of October, E-Cell, SPIT organised Illuminate, an event which aimed at helping people discover and improve their entrepreneurship skills. As a start-up building workshop , 14 teams from colleges around the Mumbai attended the event and competed to beat others to the first place.The event kicked off with a talk by the founder of Forehotels, Mr Jaidev Parashar, who shared his experience of starting a business from scratch and overcoming difficulties owing to it. Mr. Deep guided the students on how to go about the elevator pitch and how to advertise their product.This was followed by talks by Ms Prutha Atre , Outreach Manager and Dr.Kalbande Sir, Dean of industrial affairs who motivated the students to think out of the box and follow their passion
The teams were each handed the day’s newspapers along with an inspirational article about Sir Walt Disney. The participants were supposed to skim through the papers and identify potential problems that could be solved by businesses. Out of all the ideas gotten form the papers, the teams had to select one that could best be sustained and marketed
Lunch was followed by the pitching of the idea to potential investors in the best way possible way to convince them to invest into the business. Each team was given two minutes to explain the idea and a minute to advertise it. The advertisement had to be made as appealing and funny as possible, for obvious reasons. The team was then open to questions from the audience. And when you look into an idea from the eyes of another, flaws are found, mistakes identified, schemes reconsidered, and what you end up with is a polished idea that is all sustainable, marketable, and profitable. ” After all the bookish things they have been teaching in college, we learnt something which was actually worthy like putting forth ideas to the audience”~Yash Chhadva, FE IT, SPIT.
While the judges came forth with the results, the participants were provided with coffee and snacks. Pranay, Rohit, Shubham and Rohit from SIMSREE bagged the first place, winning a cash prize of Rs. 3000. Aishwarya, Prachi, Riya and Namisha from Jai Hind arrived a close second, and won Rs. 2000, while Sarika, Ebrahim and Varun from SPIT stood third, winning Rs. 1000. Certificates of Participation were given to every participant. “Organising illuminate was an enriching experience. The participants showcased great enthusiasm and confidence and it also provided a conductive platform for start up ideas. All in all, it was a huge success.” Sarah Hawa, Head of Events, E-Cell.
-Harsh & Sukruth