IMT Hyderabad Organizes Ortus 3.0 on ‘Sustaining the Momentum in E- commerce’

Institute of Management Technology, Hyderabad focuses on providing a platform for its students to interact with the eminent personalities of the business world. With an intention of promoting this idea, IMT Hyderabad’s Entrepreneurship Cell, Prarambh has organized Ortus 3.0 on February 12, 2015.

Ortus means sunrise or a new beginning, which in its true sense resembles the overall concept of the event. The event was initiated in the year 2013 and is being successfully organized since then. It involves the participation of panellists, primarily Founders or Entrepreneurs, who come from different backgrounds for a panel discussion on a certain theme.

Ortus 3.0 was dedicated to E-Commerce. The theme for the panel discussion was “Sustaining the momentum in E-Commerce”. Various panellists from the E-Commerce field were invited to share their business acumen and inspire the budding entrepreneurs of IMT Hyderabad. The panellists for Ortus 3.0 were Mr. Rishi Yadati, the CEO and Founder of giftinginc.com; Mr. Murali Bukkapatnam, the CEO and Co-Founder of Domestic Workforce Pvt. Ltd. (getdomestichelp.com) and also the President of TIE Hyderabad; Mr. Dasradh Ram Nutakki, the CEO and Founder of YNew (ynew.in) and also the Managing Director of Sloyd Ventures Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Maruti Konduri, the Co-Founder of cracku.in. and also drives the Product Development for Cracku.

The moderator of the panel discussion was Mr. Murali Bukkapatnam who ensured that the discussion was engaging and interactive. The discussion commenced with the speakers introducing themselves and speaking about their journey of entrepreneurship. Mr. Maruti, the youngest entrepreneur among the speakers, expressed that the fear of failure which is inbuilt in everyone should not be a hindrance to become an entrepreneur. He inspired the students by saying “If you do not start, you will never be able to do it. And you should first be in the journey to enjoy the journey”.

Mr. Dasradh Ram, who heads a franchise conglomerate, spoke about how the desire to create value for others motivated him to emerge as an entrepreneur. Franchising is a common phenomenon in the U.S market where almost 300 sectors are franchised but a very rare phenomenon in the Indian market. In order to explore this arena, he established Sloyd Ventures Pvt. Ltd., the first franchise conglomerate in India.

Mr. Rishi, who likes to identify himself as the “techno-marketing guy” believes that e-commerce enables the things that occur online. International Floral Delivery exists in the Indian market from the past 75 years, but gifting of other categories is something which was unexplored. By establishing giftinginc.com, Mr. Rishi became the first to start catering to those needs.

Mr. Murali learnt to be an entrepreneur en-route. The mistakes that he committed were his stepping stones to success. Speaking about the necessity of an MBA degree, he said that it is the rough tides in life that teaches an individual to become an entrepreneur.  

E-Commerce is a booming industry but only 10% of the market has been exploited in India. The panellists discussed if the hybrid model i.e. a combination of brick & mortar and online business model would be a success in India. Mr. Dasradh approved it saying that the Indian market is discount driven and the consumers purchase the products on impulse. It is when they can feel the products in the physical world only then can they trust them in the virtual world. On the contrary, Mr. Maruti said that the younger generation finds it more convenient to shop things online and the success of a hybrid model in India is doubtful.

The panellists emphasized on the vision that an entrepreneur should possess. A budding entrepreneur should focus on changing the status-quo rather than on the monetary benefits he would achieve. Execution of the idea is also crucial and identifying the right co-founders for the same is necessary. Being aware of what the competitors in the market are doing is essential in order to run a successful company. Entrepreneurship is more about being agile and adaptable to the changes in the market. The ecommerce market is technology driven and is often susceptible to changes. Therefore, to sustain the momentum in such a world, ability to adjust becomes a driving factor.

Speaking about the challenges that the ecommerce industry in India is facing, the panellists agreed on the factor that the Internet connection is a major problem in India. The Government must take measures so that internet is accessed by everyone that would be beneficial for the ecommerce firms. Effective management of logistics is another hurdle that every company will face. 3PL can prove to be useful in this case. The payment issues and problems related to vernacularism must also be resolved. If these pain points are well managed, the sustainability in the momentum cannot be achieved.

The discussion ended with the panellists encouraging the students who aspire to be entrepreneurs to “go for it”. “Entrepreneurship is beautiful, just go and try and try to try it longer” quoted Mr. Rishi inspiring those students who have held themselves back due to risk of failure. Mr. Maruti stressed that an entrepreneur must be optimistic. He said, “Be ready to fail. It is okay to make mistakes, but make sure that you do not repeat them. Be optimistic.” He urged the students to not wait until all the options die out but to make the right decisions at the right time.

The event concluded with the mementos being presented to the panellists. The students of IMT Hyderabad felt nourished and encouraged to face their fears and to live their dreams.

About IMT-Hyderabad

IMT Hyderabad started its operations in July-2011 with a two-year full time PGDM program. The Institute has a state of the art 30 acre campus situated near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. The PGDM program has an innovative and industry relevant curriculum with integrative courses that provide a holistic picture and learning about real life business situations and problems. The pedagogic approach followed by the institute is student centric, participative, experiential and team-based. More details about the institute are available at www.imthyderabad.edu.in. As part of its efforts to prepare the students for industry, 30% of the sessions in the regular courses are conducted by practitioners from different sectors of business. This two-week program involves a series of lectures by corporate leaders. The Industry centric approach is also reflected its extended internship program, which a student undertakes during the intervening period between first and second year. The internship extends over a period of 14 weeks.