NIFT, NEW DELHI

Idea for Workshop on Soft Skills/Entrepreneurship

Mapping Consumer Profile and Preferences

Credits: Akhoury Abhishek Arushi Srivastava Mohammad Forhad Hossain Gopal Krishna Dixit Prashant Choudhary Vaishali Rai

BFT 6, 2011 - 15

1. Consumer Profile
Age: 19 26 Occupation: Student Economic Strata: middle to upper middle to upper Defining Characteristic: desire to be an entrepreneur and have excellent soft skills

2. Population:
For pilot run: approx. 1600

3. Market:
Service/Market Description:

Are you an entrepreneur? Thats the question many individuals are asking in this age of corporate downsizing, follow-your-dream philosophy, post dot-com age of the entrepreneurial start-up. With more than two-third of the young graduate crop being declared unfit for hiring by all leading firms, the prospect of charting your own course and developing your own business is more lucrative for Indias youth than ever before. Unfortunately, aspiring entrepreneurs find themselves crippled amidst lack of proper guidance that would facilitate their entry into the high-risk arena of entrepreneurship. Call it reluctance to take the big step or an overwhelming bias towards the idea of a 9 to 5 job, individuals who aspire to be their own bosses are finding their zeal getting increasingly stifled in a social structure that seems to give precedence to safety and security over experimentation and imagination. Indeed, there is dissatisfaction brewing within a pool of daring youth who want to take matters in their own hands and are disenchanted with the system and the sickening adulation to mediocrity that it readily pays. Entrepreneurs Club is aimed at precisely this consumer segment. Our aim is to prepare a ground where college students across India view Entrepreneurship as a desirable and feasible career option. In particular the organization seeks to build the necessary competencies and motivation for a career in Entrepreneurship through seminars and workshops. After attending our interactive sessions, the students would be able to build on personal as well as external resources with a view to successfully launching and subsequently managing their enterprises. They would have not only a definite idea as to which support/ developmental agency to look up and for what purpose, but also the necessary know-how and wherewithal for accessing their help. They would have basic skills in

operations, finance, marketing and human resource management. Basis of Competitive Advantage: We provide valuable resources at less than one third of the price of our competitors. Seminars will be organized in the respective colleges itself, which would further incentivize students to attend them.

4. Questionnaire designed to confirm and reiterate potential market and competitive advantage:

Entrepreneurs Club
We are a group of dynamic and hard working professionals looking to provide quality training for developing soft skills and entrepreneurial attitudes amongst college students. Please take a moment to fill the following questionnaire. It will help us know you better. You can tick against the option you wish to choose. Thank you. Questions:

1. Do you want to be an entrepreneur and start your own venture/business at some point in your life? a. Yes b. No

2. Do you feel that developing ones soft skills is of paramount importance for a successful career? a. Yes b. No

3. Do you feel that college students across the country should be encouraged to hone their entrepreneurial skills and venture into the exciting world of entrepreneurship? a. Yes b. No

` sufficient emphasis is given to development of soft skills and entrepreneurial attitudes in 4. Do you think the syllabi that you are currently following? a. Yes b. No

5. Will you be willing to pay a nominal amount upto Rs. 50 per session in which you will be given comprehensive inputs and support at par with the best in the world to develop these skills? a. Yes b. No

6. Rate the following on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 for the skill which according to you is least important, 5 for most important): Skill Effective Communication English Speaking IT related Entrepreneurship Body language and personal grooming Rating

5. Analysis of responses obtained:

A total of 55 respondents in the age group of 19 26 were asked to record their responses in the questionnaire. (Response sheets are attached as hard copies). Results:

Question
1 2 3 4 5

Yes 48 (87%) 45 (82%) 43 (78%) 32 (58%) 43 (78%)

No
7 (13%) 10 (18%) 12 (22%) 23 (42%) 12 (22%)

For Question 6:

Skill
Effective Communication English Speaking IT related Entrepreneurship Body language and personal grooming

Most recorded rating

4 (20 times) 2 (16 times) 3 (18 times) 5 (27 times) 1 (24 times)

Here, we would arrange the skills in descending order of importance, as captured in the responses: Entrepreneurship (Most important) Effective Communication IT related skills English Speaking Body Language and Personal Grooming (Least Important)