Perspectives on Discover Life - Part IV

One fine day we had a seminar on Discover life... I thought of it as any other regular seminar on some skills in life or discovering your potential, judging it by its name... but none of us knew that this day will embark us upon a journey, so enthralling & unexpected..... Just the feel of attending a Discover Life workshop on various life aspects was simply awesome... and after the seminars it was always a whole different me coming out of the room....

On working with the team to make discover life a more comprehensive and a standalone in its field i learned a lot new things... that time i actually got to know that these workshops which look so simple and yet so unique are not just made by a click of mouse... it needs great mind and dedication and willingness to create the difference....

I learned here that it’s not about what we do our whole life for ourselves, but it’s about what we do our whole life to make a better living for others...

I simply discovered life here..

p.s. - My "i can't" is still resting in peace... : D

(Abhishek Gupta is a business economics student from Delhi University.We are glad to have a sincere individual like Abhishek as an important part of Discover Life Team)

Perspectives on Discover Life - Part III

Ever since i joined Discover Life Workshops, I have actually become a better person to what i was earlier. The different interesting ways in which we were taught about those daily life necessities which otherwise go unnoticed was really a great and inspiring experience. The topics undertaken in both the workshops were those which are actually going to benefit us in the long run, like managing time and taking out time for ourselves, controlling anger, self confidence, team spirit and a lot more.

After observing the positive changes in me on attending the first set of workshops and my eagerness to join the next, my parents were quite happy to enroll me for the next session. The best parts of the workshops for me were the videos which were included in the sessions for better understanding of the topics. My friends and I used to wait for these video clippings as it gave us an insight of the topics and were of course very interesting. The team games too were real great fun which taught us the team spirit and how to gain leadership qualities as it is going to help us once we grow old. Not only did we learn about these, but also about tackling bullies and stuff.

The workshops and the ideas of portraying them were simply awesome and I am looking forward to yet another set of workshops at school. At last the only thing left to say is-Discover Life Rocksssss....!!!!!!

(Mahima Kaushik is a Class IX student at DPS Rohini. She has always been an eager student and an active participant in all our workshops. We are proud of the way she has made all the learnings an active part of her life)

Perspectives on Discover Life - Part II

"Discover Life" - A Path that's helping many to Discover their Lives !!!

Discover Life came to MDI with a strategy cum marketing live project. I applied to it thinking - "Chance to add another bullet point to my CV ... Not Bad !!!". But little did I know at that time that working with Discover Life will be one of the best experiences, not only in terms of exposure and knowledge but also because it gave me a rare opportunity to see how the entrepreneurial spirits of a few are inspiring the same in so many others, especially those who require it the most - our future generation.

It has been an amazing experience working with discover life. When you work with it on the organizing side, then only you come to know that it puts in a lot of effort and thought behind each and every activity it conducts in schools. The activities are customized according to age and requirements of the students. It is made sure that the students gain the maximum benefit out of their programs.

I would rather not say anything about the success of Discover Life's initiative. The very fact that the schools experiencing the programs are calling them again and again and the number of schools is continuously increasing in Delhi NCR region in such a short span of time - just 1 year speaks for itself.

All in all, it was wonderful working with Discover Life.

Wish it becomes a success story (and a case study in MBA colleges ;) ) soon :)

(Kalika Jain is pursuing her MBA from MDI Gurgaon and worked with Discover Life on a Live Project. The creative and progressive inputs given by Kalika are of great value to us always :))

Perspectives on Discover Life - Part I

It is difficult to describe my experience in Discover Life in a few lines. To start with it’s a unique concept with outstanding positive effects. All those who have attended a Discover Life session would know what I am talking about. Discover Life urges one to live his/her life without any boundaries and helps in tremendous development of essential soft skills. It has done the same with me. Given me the strength to crossover the big hurdles (which I thought were ‘big’), deal with my failure (I figured there is no such thing as failure!) overcome my weaknesses and cross out the word impossible from my dictionary. This experience of mine has encouraged me to work more with Discover Life. I am pulled between the conventional mainstream options, such as a corporate job, and the idea of a living a life working with children and helping the society.

(Aerika Mittal is a Business Economics student at Delhi University and has been working actively with Discover Life. With all her eagerness and enthusiasm, Discover Life is proud to have Aerika as a part of our team.)

Give them a chance and they will surprise you!

In the middle of our entrepreneurship development program with class XI students at DPS Rohini, we asked them to work in groups on a small business idea. Something which can be started with a micro investment of Rs. 100/- and can be implemented within one week.

There was a lot of brainstorming and one of the groups suggested that they would run talent classes for little kids. They idea was good but i clearly pointed out to them that executing it on ground sounds highly unlikely within one week, because there are a lot of steps involved in this process.

Yet i told them if they have trust in their idea, they can give it a shot, else think of something else. In the coming days, the group created a poster showcasing a 3 day workshop on drawing, colouring, speed mathematics and dancing.

They then went to a primary school nearby and distributed those posters at the time when parents came to collect their children. They discussed details with the parents. The 3 day workshop was priced at Rs. 50/- per student. They managed to enroll 17 kids for the program and execute it awesomely in the next 3 days.

In the workshop post this, one of the students in the group while discussing how they went about working on their idea told me upfront, ''sir, we wanted to prove that this idea can be executed within the given time frame''. I smiled and said,'' i am glad you surprised me on this''.

This is the new India. The young India :). They are young minds and hearts with no barriers, no backlog, no constraints in their thought process. Give them a chance and they will surprise you.

-Chaitanya Jha

(a dreamer and a small part of the revolution called Discover Life)

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

Street Food in style (Part of our Rs. 100 idea series)

THE 100 RUPEES IDEA- ONE JOURNEY OF LEARNING AND THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME…

WE WERE TOLD TO START UP A BUSINESS VENTURE WITH AN INITIAL CAPITAL OF RS. 100. IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE BUT IT WASN’T.

THE IDEA OF OUR GROUP OR COMPANY WAS VERY SIMPLE. WE PLANNED TO SELL AMERICAN SWEET CORNS AT RATE LOWER THAN THE OTHER VENDORS.

OUR METHOD OF GOING ABOUT IMPLEMENTING THE IDEA WAS SIMPLE ‘BUY THE CHEAPEST AND SELL AT THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE RATE THE PUBLIC IS WILLING TO PAY.’ SO WE DID THAT AND WE BOUGHT OUR RAW CORNS FROM A WHOLESALE VEGETABLE MARKET. THE OTHER NECESSARY THINGS SUCH AS LEMON, BUTTER, CUPS, SPOONS, AND NAPKINS ETC. WERE ALSO BOUGHT FROM WHOLESALERS. WE HAD TO START UP OUR BUSINESS IN UNDER RS.100, WHICH WAS QUITE A CHALLENGING TASK, BUT AFTER PLANNING AND COST CUTTING WE WERE ABLE TO START UP OUR BUSINESS IN RS.85.

WE CHOSE TO SET UP OUR CORN STALL OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR SCHOOL IN ORDER TO GET A REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE WHICH WE GOT IN ABUNDANCE .THE LOCATION WHICH WE HAD CHOSEN WAS A VERY POPULOUS AREA NEAR BATRA CINEMA IN MUKHERJEE NAGAR .WE SOLD THJE CORNS IN 4 FLAVOURS-CLASSIC SALTED, CLASSIC CHILLI.OREGANO ITALIANO AND PUNJABI PATAKA.WE SOLD ONE CUP OF CORN FOR RS.20. WE HAD ALSO KEPT AN INTERSESTING SCHEME (WE ALLOWED THE CUSTOMERS WHO BOUGHT 2 CUPS TO ROLL 2 DIE AND IF THEY GOT A TOTAL SUM OF 2 OR 12 WE GAVE THEM A CUP OF CORN FOR FREE!!!) THIS ADDED AN ELEMENT OF A GAME IN OUR BUSINESS AND WE GOT AN OVERWHELMING RESPONSE FROM OUR CUSTOMERS AS WE HAD TO GET EXTRA CORNS TWICE BECAUSE THE STOCK JUST GOT SOLD OFF IN AN HOUR OR SO.

THE EXPERIENCE WHICH WE GOT THROUGH THIS PROJECT WAS PRICELESS .WE GOT TO KNOW HOW TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS TOWARDS US, TO BE PATIENT WITH THE CUSTOMERS (WE GOT MANY CUSTOMERS WHO WOULD LISTEN TO WHAT WE TOLD THEM ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND THEN THEY REFUSED TO BUY AND MANY CUSTOMERS JUST DID NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO US.), WE UNDERSTOOD HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO SELL ANYTHING AND ALSO TO EARN MONEY.

MANY OF THE ASSUMPTIONS WHICH WE HAD MADE ON PAPER PROVED TO BE CORRECT AND EVEN BETTER THAN OUR EXPECTATIONS.WE HAD PLANNED OF TRYING TO SELL ABOUT 25 CUPS OF CORN BUT ENDED UP SELLING 42! OUR STRATEGY OF MARKETING WAS TO GO TO PEOPLE INDIVIDUALLY AND TELL THEM ABOUT THE PRODUCT AND WHY THEY SHOULD BUY IT.WE SOON LEARNT THAT IT WAS THE ONLY EFFECTIVE WAY TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS TO BUY OUR PRODUCT.

THE FIRST BIG PROBLEM WHICH WE FACED WAS THE CONSTRAINT OF DISTANCE. ALL OUR GROUP MEMBERS LIVE QUITE FAR OFF FROM EACH OTHER AND IT WASN’T POSSIBLE FOR US TO CONTINUE OUR BUSINESS FOR MORE THAN A DAY.AND ALSO WE HAD TO WIND UP OUR STALL BY 7P.M. THE OTHER PROBLEM WAS IN INFLUENCING PEOPLE BIT ONCE WE GOT STARTED WE WERE ABLE TO BRING IN CUSTOMERS EASILY.THERE WAS NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM WHICH WE HAD TO FACE.

WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE A NET PROFIT OF RS.540.

WE ARE THANKFUL TO DISCOVER LIFE TO HAVE GIVEN US AN OPPURTUNITY AND A CHANCE TO GAIN AN EXPERIENCE, WHICH UNDOUBTEDLY WOULD LAST FOR A LIFETIME, AND WE WOULD CHERISH EACH AND EVERY MOMENT WE HAD SPENT ON WORKING FOR THIS PROJECT.

(Ishan, Siddhant, Rahul, Shreyans, Aakash are students of class XI at DPS Rohini as part of Discover Life's Entrepreneurship Development Program. Further in the program they are working on an interesting idea. To know more check : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washroom-Stickers/117611434972645?v=wall or their blog at http://washroomstickers.blogspot.com)

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)