Trash can make you earn!! (Part of our Rs. 100 idea series)

The greatest art in this world is to convince your customer to make him buy your product. We "Laben" decided to start business from scrap items. The final idea formulated was to first ask for used pens and then sell the same by putting refiles in them. Pen is an item used by everyone around the globe. Most of the people throw it after use. According to a study, 30 - 40 lakh pen are thrown away everyday. So, we thought that we would "reuse" the same scrap pens and sell them bringing us profit.Our business is also working for the cause "Environment Conservation" hence we decided to REUSE. Our price quotations were

Market Price-----------Our Price

Rs35------------------- Rs30

Rs20------------------- Rs15

Rs15------------------- Rs13

Rs10------------------- Rs7

In our pamphlet, we also quoted that we would replace the pen in one day if the pen sold by Laben gives any problem.

On 4th of December, we made our first business deal.We had gone to 14 houses where we sold roughly 17 pens. The profit on first day of sale was around RS100. This is the first time in my life when i have worked hard and earned money.I'll remember this date throughout my life. The next day, I started advertising my product.I made a Facebook page; I also had sent bulk messages to my friends. Many people reverted back by giving oders of 6 to 7 pens. The best response was from the school students.In school I sold around 27 pens.

My personal views about this business idea are that this is a very stable business as it can be performed at a large scale as the market is very big, this covers up the disadvantage that the margins are less.Our total profit was Rs400.

The experience of working with LABEN was great. I think now I know how tough is the work of a salesman who goes door to door convincing people to buy his product.

I believe that this venture marks the start of my professional life.

(Pallav Bhagat is a Class XI student at DPS Rohini who is a part of Discover Life's Entrepreneurship Development Program. Now further in the program Pallav and his team are working on an interesting idea. To know more about it you can check: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laben-Paintball-War/183613558317156?v=wall)

A Poem Written By One of Our Students :)

The discover Life wrkshp

Made me skip n hop

With its outstanding topics

v were forced 2 punch n hit kicks

2 r weaknesses n fears
which we'll cherish thru all dese years

what 2 say bout d short movies

well sum f us watched dem while havin r dairy milk wovies

dese after skul wrkshps were really gr8 fun
4 d nxt set f wrkshps i m really ready 2 run............

Student at DPS Rohini shares her experience :)

Frankly speaking, I wasn’t really interested in attending any of the workshops held in our school. On receiving the forms for attending the Discover Life, my friends and I decided to join it just to enjoy, sitting in some corner of the room. On the first day itself we were told about self worth and self reflection which, according to me, was really very interesting and really eye-opening. The activities that were conducted were presented in a very different and unique way. They were all very interesting. We had a session on controlling anger, the only reason why I was asked to join the session. After the sessions and even till date, my dad asks me that what has happened to me and my anger……in a positive way, of course.

This workshop really was a boon in disguise for me as there were so many hidden talents in me which I never knew and would have not known if I wouldn’t have attended the Discover Life Modules. At last I would just like thank all the discover life mentors especially Chaitanya sir for his guidance and support and for clearing all our queries however stupid they may be. To sum it all I would just say DISCOVER LIFE ROXXX N RULLZZ.

(Mahima Kaushik is a Class VIII student who was a part of Discover Life series of workshops on Life Skills at DPS Rohini)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Starting Early!

I still remember as a 8 year old kid, I used to go along with my Dadaji to market to shop for bread and vegetables. After a couple of years, my Dadaji gave me an incentive of earning Rs.2/- daily if I bought the stuff independently going to the market each evening. I was proud to earn my Rs.2/- daily and used to keep them in a small piggy bank. This was my first lesson in life. Lesson in taking initiative, working independently, earning by effort and most importantly savings and money management.

There were frequent power cuts in those days and during summers it used to get really hot sitting in candle light inside my home. After few days of saving money, one evening when there was a power cut, I took money out of my piggy bank and bought ice creams for my family. Everyone was smiling :). I was proud. This was my first lesson in creating value. The value was happiness :)

Over a period of time, I have developed money management skills and applied them in the organizations that I created along with my partners. When I look back, those Rs.2/- lessons are one of the biggest lessons I have learned in life.

Discover Life's EDEP(Entrepreneurship Development Program) is an initiative at Starting Early.

The Entrepreneurs of tomorrow are in schools today :)

- Chaitanya Jha

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Be your own Jamvant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im4Zz-shBac&feature=PlayList&p=1D0B599C262A725A&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=31

Watching the above video, my mind got filled with so many memories of watching Ramayan in my childhood days. The above video is describing a particular scene:

The search party lead by Jamvant, the strong and bravest person of the bear race, reached on the seashore. Jamvant encouraged Hanuman Ji to give the Jump on to Lanka. Hanuman Ji, when being encouraged as such, filled with the lost powers, which were snatched from him, when he was a child, by the curse of a Rishi (SAINT), but he was also booned by the same RISHI, that he would get all the lost powers, when he would be encouraged by anybody reminding him about his powers. He crossed the vast sea taking a long great jump and met Sita Ji and gave her the message of Shri Ram.

When I think of it, it happens to all of us in life. There are times when we become much smaller and much less important in our own eyes than we actually are. We are afraid to take 'the leap'. Our self confidence takes a beating and we get used to performing much below our own capacity. And all this happens without notice. We get stuck in a cycle of life which is really difficult to get out of.

In all those moments of life, no Jamvant would come to remind us of our powers. Rather we have to be our own Jamvant and remind ourselves of the times we did really well in life. It may be in simple small things. But those are the things that remind us of who we truly are. Thus, time and again in life, we need to stop for a moment and reflect whether we are playing our best game in life.

Be your own Jamvant. You get this life only once. Take the big leap.Discover Life.

(Smart Indian Value System is a program by Discover Life which is an effort to bring back the Strong Indian values and make it relevant for children of today)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Try selling a bottle of vomit! Our kids can do it :)

This Tuesday, we had a session on creative thought process with our students at our Rohini center. It was mix of learning and a lot of fun. In one of the session activities, we divided students in two groups and each group had to give the other group a product that was impossible to sell in real world. Thus one group gave the product 'a bottle of vomit' to the other group. After a brief brainstorming of about 5 minutes the other group presented the product in the following manner.

'We are from xyz company and we are here to sell a special drink. Its a fresh natural juice. 100% human. It comes in 4 flavors: Mohak flavor, Sajal Flavor, Arun Flavor, Rajat Flavor (each pointing to self while saying this)'. Then one of the students goes behind another hits him from behind and the other student acts like throwing up in a glass. They called it 'live demonstration' of their product.

They did all this in just 5 minutes of brainstorming. These were kids of classes 7 to 10th.

We were surprised by their spontaneity and creativity with which they tried selling us a 'bottle of vomit'.

Any advertising agencies listening? We have a lot of talent with us :)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Our student at Rohini Center shares his experience :)

A few months back my life was awful. But then one day I joined this course parichay and it has enormously affected my life. Firstly I used to think that I am a common man as everyone is, I have nothing special in me but it has helped me find out the hidden diamond in myself. I have started liking and respecting myself. It has changed the way I think. I now take things positively. Earlier I used to think that its really hard to get into the IIT ‘s and its just the few brainy people or extraordinary minds that are able to make out there but now I know everything depends on what is your goal and how hard are you working to achieve it. We all have to face failures in our lives in one or the other way but it is only few people who get up again and fight back. We have got one life and we have to make the best out of it so why give up. That’s what Parichay has taught me. Failures are like hurdles in the race to success so its better learn from them. One of the biggest problems in our societies is that we people do not accept changes. And it‘s really important to accept them because everything is changing nothing is constant in our lives. A change in ones life can change his destiny. And the best thing I learned is the topic of Wish list. Its sounds a bit unbelievable but it happens. It’s a fact that writing the things you want, increases its possibility to happen by 70%. And the last thing I would like to share is the fear of speaking in front of the audience. All I can write to summarize this is:-

“Do what you want, Say what you want

Becoz those who mind don’t matter

And those who matter won’t mind”

(Mohak Gupta is a class 10 student at Ryan International School and is currently a participant of Discover Life's center based program called 'Parichay' at Rohini Center)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in