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The crisis of the COVID-19 virus saw a large number of ups and downs. Yet, some people did not stop endeavoring for their dreams. The young Entrepreneurship wave of DU has raised the bar and has become an exceptional source of motivation for everyone. Read ahead to find out more.  


It is rightly said by Gandhi Ji, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” When the world was struggling to breathe, some people had set their eyes to become the trailblazer. Amidst such strenuous times, these people were setting out to do something impactful. Under no circumstances, was their zeal shaken. These people have created an example for the masses to follow. They are the young entrepreneurs who chose not to stop even when the world had come to a halt. Their Entrepreneurship drive has truly become a beacon of hope for many.

To tackle the challenges posed by the pandemic, curbs were imposed across the globe and people got confined in their humble abode. Yet, these constraints could not stop the students from the University of Delhi to pave a path of productivity. These students found ways to spend their time creating businesses instead of procrastinating about tomorrow which seems to be the favorite pastime activity for most.

The fondness and the creativity of these students led them into finding ways to monetize their avocations. Safe to say, the deep affection that we all share for the work we undertake made us stumble upon a few entrepreneurs. The Postcard Store, which turned their affection for the postcards into a blooming online mini store, is based in Delhi and their adventure started from the heart of the National Capital, University of Delhi (DU), amid the medical crisis. In conversation with DU Beat, The Postcard Store enlightened us about their creative idea of going beyond technology and connecting people. Further, they are a small team of Delhiites and cater to the demography of people in the age group of 20-30.

The idea clicked at that time (Pandemic) because people needed and still do, a handwritten little note which reminds them that they are not alone. This has been the major force behind our business. We look forward to connecting people beyond technology.

-The Postcard Store, in conversation with DU Beat

Thee_basicss, started by Harshita Handa from Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, DU during the coronavirus scare, is a business that provides “the” gifting solution. The business caters to gifting needs ranging from ideation of unique digital artworks to making them with the sole purpose of bringing smiles to everyone’s faces. In conversation with DU Beat, Harshita cast light on her inspiration. She started the business out of her love for art and designing new things along with conceptualizing artistic contrivances. Her audience ranges from teens to married couples who want to make special days even more special.

A lot of time was at my disposal that made me prone to think about various ideas every day. Clubbing my passion for art and love for creation into a business was a very appealing thought to me. The rise of online buying among people during the pandemic made it a super interesting idea for me to pursue.

-Harshita Handa, founder of Thee_basicss 

Now, moving on to the subject of luxury; when one hears this word, they come with all guns blazing because of the alarmingly high prices but what if I say that this luxury has become affordable? Rhemi is a one-stop-shop for affordable luxury. Started by Rhea Premi, a student of Kamla Nehru College, DU, started her business due to her adoration of bags. In conversation with DU Beat, the founder of Rhemi expressed her dejection to observe the singularity of taste among the fast fashion designs of bags and the high prices of the avant-garde luxurious brands. This set her off to start a business that would provide affordable luxurious bags. Her brand caters to the people who are looking for unique statement pieces on budget, which mainly includes high school students, college students, women, and men. What is more interesting about this brand is the founder’s story of inspiration. Rhea told DU Beat about her forever keenness towards starting something of her own. The pandemic gave her the perfect opportunity to brainstorm about it and become an inspiring example.

In my family, a woman has never started her own business. I wanted to break that chain and start something of my own. I want to be financially independent and support my family. Having a business is extremely fascinating and a whole another level of learning. I started brainstorming about the same during the pandemic. Since I have always been interested in business, it did not take long for me to find Rhemi.

-Rhea Premi, founder of Rhemi

The enthusiasm to stand out of the crowd continues as Vanya Jain, a first-year journalism student from Kalindi College, DU, started a resin business amidst the medical crisis solely because of her inclination towards her artistic flare. However, in conversation with DU Beat, Vanya highlighted the issues she faced amid the crisis. The main component of her business is the material- resin. Due to the curbs imposed, she had to wait for almost a week to restock her material which ceased her business to flourish. Nevertheless, Vanya continues to work hard and grow her business.

It takes a lot to stand out of the crowd and take risks but eventually you will realize it’s worth it. After all, extraordinary things do not happen ordinarily.

-Vanya Jain, founder of Resin Business

Every business took a bullet due to the restrictions imposed. The growth and independence of the businesses, especially the ones which started during these times, were heavily impacted. Yet, the way these businesses tackled the issue is quite commendable and encouraging.

Due to the government restrictions, our business took a major stop-off as long as 3-4 months. We overcame this setback by handling our Instagram handle more creatively. Our store got back on track after this.

-The Postcard Store

The way of the world is such that nothing comes without the ups and downs. What is important is to never cease endeavoring and never put a halt to the process of hard work and dedication. Leaving a mark in an oblivious world is surely a difficult task but making the impossible possible is the step that everyone remembers for eternity. This pandemic might offer hardships. However, believe in yourself and start putting in hours to make your dream come true because it is not the end until things turn your way.

Read Also: MadOverStreets: Startup by DU students sells youth-oriented products at cheap rates

Featured image Credits: The Times of India

Ankita Baidya

[email protected]

For a while now, Delhi University’s alumni have come up with plenty of successful ventures. So, is it because the varsity fosters entrepreneurship or the college students establish themselves completely on their own?

With the prevailing popularity of shows like TVF Pitchers and MTV Dropout Pvt. Ltd., we can tell that for a while now millennials have been obsessing over entrepreneurship. The whole concept of startups is based on idea of building an empire from the scratch, and if you are a part of University of Delhi (DU) then chances are you know at least one person (the ones hurdling over their laptops, always talking about their business idea, but guarding important details and forever hunting for funds) who aspires to kick start a start-up.

In 2014, a joint initiative of University Of Delhi and Ministry Of Medium, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) started Technology Business Incubator (DUCIC-TBI) at Cluster Innovation (CIC) Centre. The main objective of this initiative was to encourage students to try out their innovative ideas (processes and/or products) at the laboratory or workshop stage and beyond, to carry forward the idea from its mere conception to know-how and then to-do-how stage.

Talking to DU Beat about the work done by the incubation center since its inception, Professor Bibudananda Biswal, Manager of Technology Business Incubator (DUCIC-TBI) said, “We started off with incubating seven start-up projects that were funded by Ministry of MSME. Subsequently, we added two more startups. Out of these nine projects, four are today companies with positive cash flow. One received an accelerator funding and currently operates from Bangalore. One is in an advanced round of investment negotiations. The other two fund themselves on bootstrapping model. Each of these companies has both rapid and high growth potential.”

He also added that the projects which added after the initial five ones were only provided co-working space with computational facilities. We have not followed up with incubating more projects because of infrastructure and funding issues.

Manish Narayan, a Delhi University graduate and one of the founders of successful venture Sign My Tour app launched by Audible India (now Inclusio) that aids deaf and mute people to access historical monuments of Delhi, credits Technology Business Incubator(DUCIC-TBI) in providing them with financial assistance, infrastructural facilities, and mentoring sessions. “There are many start-ups who have reached heights with the help of universities. The universities need a proper channel to identify this kind of talent and should conduct a comprehensive evaluation to find which start-ups they should fund,” Manish said.

Kirti Krishan, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Pollination Project Grant winning start-up Lithics, (an online portal for handmade and indigenous products) believes that Delhi Universtiy’s Incubation centers at Par with any other Incubation center in the country. “The amazing guidance and help at Delhi University in realizing our dream by providing amazing infrastructure or finding us right mentors has been immense and has helped us in getting pass huge hindrances in operations,” he further gushed in praise.

Hello Meal, a Vijay Nagar based food delivery service founded and run by alumni of Swami Shraddhanand College have carved a niche for themselves owing to their pocket-friendly rates and impeccable service. The venture received a recommendation letter from Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership (CIEL) of Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College (ARSD). Tarun Kanti Das, a founding member told DU Beat, “We often visit ARSD College to talk to Dr. Rajeev Singh regarding our business. I’m also trying to get some assistance from DU in terms of promotion and financial aid.”

If we look around that are plenty of success stories coming out of varsity incubation centers. However, many people still believe that universities should not invest money, either through financial aid or infrastructure support, in amateur, college-level start-ups because a majority of businesses that come out of these incubation centers eventually fail.

Professor Bibudananda Biswal, Manager of DUCIC-TBI, refutes such notions and asserts, “The claim that “businesses that come of out these incubation centers eventually fail” is nonsense. Start-ups fail everywhere, even after a series of funding. The money spent on a college level incubation is insignificant. This is only to nurture an innovative idea. The real business and profit happen long after the incubation process. This, most often, depends on the entrepreneurial skills of the promoters of the start-up.”

Lloyd E. Shefsky famously said, “Entrepreneurs are made, not born”. Perhaps, this holds true for Delhi University too, the culture of startup harvested by setting up of incubation centers does produce an array of accomplished and aspiring ventures. However, with policies of fund cut in education, it is under threat.

 

Feature Image Credits: Business World

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]

 

Through endless efforts during a four month long social entrepreneurship competition, ‘Change the World Internship’ structured by a US established Non-Profit Organization- A Million for a Billion, Project Sanjeevani, planned and prepared by the students of Connecting Dreams Foundation-SRCC Chapter, ultimately qualified to be demonstrated at UN headquarters in October, 2015.
Lack of resources, technology, infrastructure and most significantly awareness has deprived the rural area manufacturers of the potential market that lies ahead. Project Sanjeevani, a papad manufacturing and distribution oriented business model, stipulates a linkage between the rural food product manufacturers and their prospective consumers, makes the product more vendible, and thus making them less exposed to a social problems. It offers a distribution channel of wholesalers, retail consumers and refectory departments. The project provides a market link for a group of 8 women belonging to Shyampur Village of Uttar Pradesh who possess the required skills at cookery and make hand rolled papads without the usage of any machines. Thus, It helps make the product as well as the business strategy financially and commercially viable.
A clear win at the initial stage by Shreya Gupta and Harsh Agarwal helped them acquire a revenue that made the project sustainable consequently made it to top 5 finalists of the Change the World Internship. The project is to be next presented before a fundraising and investing company DC Arch Angels in Washington DC on 14th October and United Nations Organization Headquarters before UN Habitat and Barbados Mission on 16th October respectively.
Tamanna Goel
[email protected]

The one thing that is common in all Delhi University students is their tendency to dream big. Everyone wants a posh car, a big house and of course, a job that pays well and keeps them satisfied too. But some students take it a step further to actually work on their dreams by starting their own enterprises while balancing college life. Here’s presenting a few entrepreneurs of DU. Mayank Jain of Keshav Mahavidyalya’s  venture, SocialBuzzar launched in November, 2011 can be described as ‘The One-Stop Shop for all your Social Media needs!’  The team takes care of every aspect of social media marketing from content creation to campaign strategy development for a firm. With big names like McKinsey & Company and HCL already featuring in their clientele list, this undertaking is all set to take on even bigger projects in the future. Entrepreneurs Shoury Gupta, Medha Bankhwal and Prateek Handa, students of Shri Ram College of Commerce aim to commercialise theatre and bring together students approaching expertise in finance, acting, directing set management and so on from institutes across Delhi. ‘It started with a random conversation of starting our own business. Then we realized that theatre is what we love. So why not combine theatre and business? The result was Turntable Productions’, said Gupta.Started just in February 2012, this enterprise has already staged 4 shows of a bilingual play ‘Footnotes’ at Alliance Francaise, earning a total profit of over Rs.50, 000. Madhav Sethi, a second year student from College of Business Studies, is the brain behind Muro, an interior decoration company with a mission ‘To Poster the World’. Launched in June 2012, they can turn any wall into a canvas using themed posters, wall arrangements and single posters, amongst other products. ‘We’ve already finished quite a few individual posters and are currently working on 3 orders for full walls’, said Madhav. They plan to collaborate with interior designers and architects in the near future to expand their operations.    ]]>