Entrepreneurship Forum of Vidarbha Industries Association Nagpur organised a panel discussion on “How to Grow your Business post Covid†at VIA recently. The eminent panelists, all leaders of the industry, were very open and upbeat about business prospects in the coming times.
Panelist Anuja Sharma, Director Marketing of Shamlax Metachem Pvt Ltd, spoke about focusing on health and wellness of employees. She advised on adding value and quality to the products. She also spoke about choosing customers and flexible and short term planning strategies. Anuja also asked all present to think about the environment and society in businesses.
Dr. Suhas Buddhe, Managing Director of Bio Care India Pvt Ltd, spoke about the challenges of village level connects and how encouraging an online engagement is important. He stated that farming is seeing a 20-25% shift from cotton to Soya Bean and hence the agro businesses must also be dynamic about their practices. He delved upon the fact that balance sheets of companies don’t reflect the environmental impact so he impressed upon the need to think about this in business.
Vishal Agrawal, Managing Director of RC Plasto Tanks & Pipes Pvt Ltd, which has had a 30% growth, was very optimistic. His practical and pragmatic approach was much appreciated. He advised the viewers on keeping abreast of government schemes. He mentioned that since credit is now cheaper than it used to be it is a good time to set your business on sail. On blocking China, he was positive that with better infrastructure we could look at growth as we have the talent. He advised on shorter credit horizons for businesses.
Atul Gupta, Director of Excel Controlinkage Pvt Ltd with his special flavour of entrepreneurship, spoke at length on the need to ask questions, look at things and processes and anticipate or look ahead for disruptions. “Think inwards” was his mantra. He underlines the need to create yourself as a differentiator with out of the box ideas, coming out of your comfort zone. On China he opined that as we stand now we can’t block China. However it was generally agreed upon that as a nation perhaps moving more towards manufacturing rather than services is the key.
Earlier, Akash Agrawal, Chairman of VIA Entrepreneurship Forum in his welcome address stated that as the restrictions are being relaxed and markets are open, many entrepreneurs, MSMEs are expecting to grow their businesses, with this in view Forum has invited expert speakers shared their outlook. Agrawal also moderated the session. The guest speakers were accorded a warm floral welcome by Anita Rao, Jt Secretary VIA to Anuja Sharma; Akash Agrawal to Dr Suhas Buddhe; Vandana Loya to Atul Gupta and Meghana Jaiswal to Vishal Agrawal.
Meghana Kalgaonkar, Program Coordinator introduced the speakers. Prominently present were Ashit Sinha, former VP of VIA, Girish Deodhar, Chairman of MSME Forum, Gaurav Sarda, Hon. Secretary – VIA, Nitin Gujarathi from Lemon Idea; Arun Lanjewar, Director Vishal Paints, Vaibhav Agrawal from R C Plasto. Meghana Jaiswal proposed a vote of thanks.
A high value discussion with such leaders of eminence was keenly followed on Zoom and Facebook live.