DEFI 2013

Defi 2013 was organized by the Organisation for Managerial Entrepreneurial Guidance and Assistance (OMEGA), the consulting and Entrepreneurship committee of TAPMI on 31^st October, 1^st and 2^nd November, 2013. OMEGA is TAPMI’s in house consultancy wing, which also takes care of entrepreneurial activities in the college with events such as DEFI, designed to provide a platform to aspiring entrepreneurs.

The event saw students participating in large number, bringing their entrepreneurial talent to the fore. 13 teams made it to the final round, of which the first year batch (PGP 1) formed 12 teams. The following are the list of ventures undertaken during Defi:

1	Kshatriya	Parlour Service for girls.
2	Explorers	Chicken Shawarma, Protein and Corn Chat, Chatpata Blast.
3	Promethians	Set of 12 Games.
4	Nick Nack	Poker, Mocktail, Snacks, etc.
5	Cakeaday	Different types of Cakes.
6	Innosol	Coupons for Restaurants.
7	Minyons	Dance and Helmet.
8	PlayBook	Pasta, Sit-co trivia, Games, Quiz.
9	Little Colin’s	Sky Lanterns and Mocktail.
10	Octane	Games Arena.
11	Panj Pyare	Pani Puri & Mocktail.
12	The aliens	Selling of NGO products.
13	Polka Dots	Online Leisure guide.

 

The teams had to develop a full-fledged business idea, given a seed fund of Rs. 2000 and an upper budget cap of Rs.15000 in total, and execute the plan over the course of three days. It was three days of hard work and fun for these teams and most of them found the experience highly enriching. Few excerpts of the experiences by the teams:

Team Kshatriya – “We learnt that it is very important to have a central theme when one is providing such a varied services and products. We also learnt how to handle a customer and make them happy.”

Team Cakeaday – “Defi made me realize two things, one that I liked selling cakes, that I had an entrepreneur in me. And two, that there will be many rolling stones on the path to becoming an entrepreneur. But more importantly, what we take home from this is that after graduation, while working on something much bigger than this, this experience of going through all the processes that make up a business will help immensely “

Team Explorers – “Events like Defi really gives a first year student flavor of how the real business works. It gave us a platform to implement our business idea and to see how it turns out to be. The best part was the freedom we were given to do things in the way we liked. I learnt that as a leader it is important to keep your team motivated and to facilitate the work. Only one suggestion, there should be better co-ordination between the committee and college administration, so that it’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

Defi 2013 gave a sound platform for many of the budding entrepreneurs in TAPMI, and was a resounding success, and the TAPMI populace is now eagerly waiting for the next edition of Defi, in 2014.

 

Defi 2011

Omega, the consulting and entrepreneurship wing of TAPMI, Manipal, organized a three day entrepreneurial event “Defi’11”on the 30^th, 31^st of October and 1^st November, 2011. This event was aimed at bringing out the entrepreneurial talent of students and gave them a platform to showcase it. 28 teams presented their business ideas with passion to the judges, but only 9 teams were able to impress the judges and made it to the final round. The entrepreneurial ventures at Defi ’11 were:

1. Custom King – A customized gifts shop that offers customized T-shirts, mugs, photo frames, planners etc.
2. La Maestro – An innovative food stall that offers fusion food.
3. Right Side Brains – A design firm that offers logo and tagline designs for their clients.
4. Bullagio – Manipal’s very own Las Vegas.
5. The Victorious Secret – Movies, motion games and Live Angry Birds game.
6. Shutter Bugs – Customised photos and Salsa training.
7. Red Hot Chilli Peppers – An event management firm that promises some foot tapping events.
8. Pisces Foot Spa – An experience of a lifetime for the denizens of Manipal- Fish Spa and Pedicure.
9. Ice Point – Kulfi, Falooda, Ice gola and several other delicacies in the offing.

These teams worked very hard day and night for 3 days and tried to provide best services to their customers. Eight out of the nine teams made profits. The winners were decided on the basis of total profits made by them, Idea and concept, Faculty members’ opinion and the report submitted by the individual teams. The Winners of Defi’11 were:

1. First Place – Right Side Brains
2. Second Place – Pisces Foot Spa
3. Third Place – Shutterbugs
4. Best Promotion – Icepoint
5. Most innovative Idea – Right Side Brains

All the teams shared their business experience and learning’s in the felicitation ceremony. Jayendra from the Team Pisces Foot Spa summed up his experience as – “Defi’11 was an excellent event. It helped us have a firsthand experience of how to start a business from scratch, market it properly and adequately and then deliver the highest quality service. From enthusiastic customers to skeptical ones, we got an insight on their thought process and what they expect from us. We learned the importance of proper team work where each and every member had well defined roles and responsibilities. We learned the importance of not panicking in emergencies and handle it with a calm and mature head”.

Events Galore @ TAPMI

The last few days saw a lot of fun activities in the campus. The first among them was Naach, which is the annual inter-class Dance Competition held at TAPMI. Held on the evening of 28^th October, Naach was a big success, thanks to the overwhelming participation by almost the entire college! Be it the almost professional performance of Team BPO from PGP2, or the highly entertaining and high on energy show by Team Happy Feet from PGP1, each class made sure that they put their best ‘dancing foot’ forward! The competition was won by Team BPO, followed closely by Happy Feet. The class from HCM also put up a spirited show at the end.

NAACH was immediately followed by DEFI-10, which is the annual Entrepreneurship event at TAPMI. 8 teams with very new and unique ideas were selected to implement their Business plans within the limits of Manipal. Be it the Grab-a-Zorb team that brought Zorbing to Manipal and to TAPMI, or Team Aagama which delivered fresh fruits at every doorstep, or Team LucreSource which did everything from having a chat stall to massaging, DEFI was one event which was enjoyed by one and all! The creativity of all the teams was well appreciated by the students, and everyone is looking forward to DEFI-11 to implement even newer ideas!

Snapshot of Events at TAPMI

The BrandScan 2010 team officially announced the 10 different market research projects that will be undertaken during BrandScan, which is going to be held at the MJC grounds on 13^th and 14^th November. All the students were divided into groups, with each group working on one of the projects. This Sunday also saw the official opening of BrandScan 2010, with a 5 km. Marathon organized by the students of TAPMI for the cause “Say NO to Drugs!!”

Apart from all these events, the students of TAPMI also celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, inside the campus. Friday evening saw a Lakshmi pooja held in the Student Centre, which was attended by one and all. This was followed by students bursting crackers near the Academic Block, and spreading goodwill among each other. It was another occasion where the entire campus joined hands to celebrate the feeling of togetherness.