Home Competition Stories Meet the first runners up of V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020 from Goa Institute of Management

Meet the first runners up of V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020 from Goa Institute of Management

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Meet the first runners up of V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020 from Goa Institute of Management

With a vision of ushering in a better tomorrow in the context of the changed human priority and need, V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020 was primarily divided into 3 stages:

Submission of Executive Summary (Finalist shortlisting)
Submission of Detailed Report
Finale Pitch Presentation

To our expectations, the judgment and evaluation were quite fair and honest which complements the scale of V Guard Big Idea and the reputation of the industry professionals in the jury. In fact, in the final presentation, the jury not only ensured a quality review of various presentations but also equal and unbiased expression from all the teams on any basis.

To make things run smoothly, the HR and talent acquisition team had regular briefing sessions during the entire course of the contest to take suitable queries and answer them. Also, the final presentation being held virtually, the organizing team of V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020 was agile in conducting technical trial runs before the main presentations to rectify any issues at their end.

This is how we oiled our systems

The foremost strategy was to come up with an innovative yet simple idea for the masses that had potential but was feasible and pragmatic for V-Guard, something that aligns completely with its mission. This was the take-off point that created the lasting difference for the winner and one where most teams fail to create an impact. This helped us not only get shortlisted but also emerge as one of the winners amongst the other 21 finalists of V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020.

Working on the idea from its head to tail took us roughly 45 days. There were also numerous challenges that we faced. The biggest of which was, the lack of understanding required to ace such competitions especially when it comes to subject knowledge of marketing, finance, operations, etc. as we were first-year students already trailing in comparison to teams from the second year.

Apart from this, we had sharp deadlines to adhere to, and the frequency of submissions along with the required details added to our efforts while also managing with our fast-paced MBA curriculum.

Knowing your challengers

A total of 22 teams from various B-Schools made it to the finale of V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020. Our presentation was scheduled on the second day of presentations. We didn't receive a chance to review the work of the majority of teams due to the competition guidelines which barred us from attending presentations scheduled before ours, however, amongst the ones which we could attend, the team from IIM Visakhapatnam and another home team from GIM itself seemed promising contestants for the title. The IIM Visakhapatnam team's presentation was very well-comprehended along with the well-designed pitch deck. The GIM counterpart was thoroughly prepared with their operations plan and competitive analysis which seemed to outweigh the same portion in our presentation.

Lessons for life

Along with the team-building skills and comprehensive understanding of various aspects of a Business plan, we also had the opportunity to interact with various consumers through our market analysis and research. This allowed us to polish our communication skills which is extremely beneficial as we are heading to become industry representatives in various customer-facing roles.

Also, since this event demanded innovation, we learned to match the innovation with the required feasibility through repeated cycles and iterations we had to make in our business plan. This helped us to create value for both the consumer and the business.

An indescribable addition to our college life memories

The most obvious special moment was when our team, "The Mavericks" was announced as the Runner-up of V Guard Big Idea Business Plan Contest 2020. It was more special as this was the first event for all three of us in the team to be on the podium of such a renowned event at the National level. Also, the victory announcement was so delightful as we started feeling short of hope to win as only two teams out of the five winning teams remained in last. The announcement led to a burst of energy in us and also a sense of accomplishment of our efforts.

And the credit goes to…

Our team's forte was to come up with an innovative but most importantly a practical idea in the very early days of our quest. The victory wouldn't have been possible if we hadn't deduced such an idea in a limited time as this might have led us to panic, thus compromising the remaining work of our submission.

To everyone's expectations, we managed to coordinate well with each other and there was no major conflict amongst us throughout the entire journey. All the members contributed to their best and everyone remained optimistic and enthusiastic to work hard and sacrifice their comfort to strive and win. However, small conflicts were easily resolved through mutual discussions and trust.