Its my business

Updated on: Monday, April 11, 2011

While most students go to college with a dream of making it big, they end up juggling studies, career, competition , peer pressure and expectations . However, an initiative called 'Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (EoT)' is here to offer fresh opportunities to a young breed of entrepreneurs .

The EoT programme has been designed to provide entrepreneurship education to university or college-going students. It equips youngsters with the necessary skills to form and run their ventures and introduces entrepreneurship as a career option. "The course taught me to believe in the power of an idea, the power of being different, the power of innovation , and most importantly, the power of my dreams. It empowered me to start my own small-scale enterprise," said Nitisha Sethia, a second-year psychology student, Lady Shri Ram College.

Launched in 2007 by 'Dhritti,' an NGO, is run in several DU colleges including Jesus and Mary College, Daulat Ram College, Ramjas College, Miranda House, Shri Ram College of Commerce and Kamala Nehru College.

The six-month-long programme is designed with an emphasis on building entrepreneurial traits such as innovation, risk taking and leadership, among others. "I was drawn towards the programme due to the methodology of teaching, which includes simulation games, movie screening, interactive discussions, presentations and enterprise visits. During the course of the programme I realised that starting an enterprise is feasible. It is just an extension of your idea," stated Shilpi Shabdita, a participant from Lady Shri Ram College (LSR).

The course also provides an opportunity for students to develop their entrepreneurial ideas into viable business plans and present them to potential supporters. As part of the live project, Nitisha Sethia developed her enterprise 'Urban Junkie,' built on the concept of filling in the demand-supply gap of inexpensive fashion clothing for the youth. "Urban Junkie sold fashion wear ranging from dresses, tops, jackets, skirts, bags, stoles, bangles and much more, which I shopped for in Delhi and sold at exhibitions in Kolkata. Most of my advertising was done through Facebook, and I made sales worth almost Rs 50, 000 over a span of two exhibitions," informed Nitisha.

Shilpi Shabdita partnered with Radhika Piplani, also a student of LSR, to make traditional jute bags, designer bookmarks and woollen mobile covers. "We travelled to the local markets in Delhi to collect raw materials and in the process learnt the art of bargaining with dealers, building a network, and sharpening our communication skills," said Radhika.

Students from Gargi College developed a newsletter — YOUH — for the students of Delhi University. It contained news about the various campuses in India, interviews of young achievers and experts, editorials in both English and Hindi, career-related write-ups , games and puzzles, etc. "YOUH is an interactive newsletter where readers can actively participate . We have sponsors and we will sell ad-spaces . We plan to take the newsletter online once it gains popularity in the university campus ," said Priyamvada Tiwari, third-year BCom student from Gargi College.

Times of India

Its my business

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