Innovation & Entrepreneurship

JAGSoM students not only excel in the corporate world but also excel in their entrepreneurial ambitions and in various business school competitions.

One among the many student success stories is featured below:

Read more about Tanuj’s story below where he speaks about his Entrepreneurial journey in his own words.

FROM AN ENGINEER TO ENTREPRENEUR; THE POWER OF AN IDEA

By Tanuj Panchasara

I graduated as a production engineer with a degree in technology in 2015. During this program, I learned about the air to water technology and developed a great interest in the beverage industry. I wanted to innovate an eco-friendly, vegan, and sustainable product in the industry and stumbled upon an idea that marked the first step of my entrepreneurial journey; the idea of generating water from air packaged in a vegan bottle from sugarcane waste. 

FROM AN ENGINEER TO ENTREPRENEUR; THE POWER OF AN IDEA

As a step further towards my goal, I joined Jagdish Sheth School of Management (JAGSoM) to pursue a master’s degree in Marketing and Innovation Entrepreneurship. Given my interest and passion in entrepreneurship, I applied for the Innovation Incubation program at JAGSoM, and got selected. The mentors in the Innovation Incubation program played a significant role in guiding different perspectives of looking at customers and from many lessons learned, this one stayed with me. I broadened my research scope and examined the spending behaviour of consumers at Dorabjee’s, Nature’s Basket, 1MG, and hypermarkets both in Bengaluru and Pune.

FIRST STEP TOWARD MY ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

As a step further towards my goal, I joined Jagdish Sheth School of Management (JAGSoM) to pursue a master’s degree in Marketing and Innovation Entrepreneurship. Given my interest and passion in entrepreneurship, I applied for the Innovation Incubation program at JAGSoM, and got selected. The mentors in the Innovation Incubation program played a significant role in guiding different perspectives of looking at customers and from many lessons learned, this one stayed with me. I broadened my research scope and examined the spending behaviour of consumers at Dorabjee’s, Nature’s Basket, 1MG, and hypermarkets both in Bengaluru and Pune.

A GAME-CHANGING EPIPHANY

With the concepts of behavior and sensory analysis, I spoke to consumers at hypermarkets and 1MG, mainly asking them three simple questions; 1.) “Why do you buy these products?” 2.) “How often do you use these products?” 3.) “What do you love the most about these products?” After speaking to approximately 500 consumers and observing people enjoying the popper drinks at “Chai Point”, I had an epiphany; the major difference between sugary and low calorie/non-sugary drinks lies in the taste and aftertaste.

THE BIRTH OF A BUSINESS IDEA

One epiphany and months of hard work eventually gave birth to Teamore Organic Beverages, a start-up founded on traditional entrepreneurship principles. My team and I discovered a beverage market gap between overly sugary beverages and flavourless waters. Our desire for a low-sugar beverage led us to several tea-brewing sessions. I quit my placements, and my Institute, JAGSoM acted as a support system for this far-reaching decision. With a monthly stipend of INR 50,000 received from the institution, Teamore was able to take baby steps from the kitchen of my household. I marketed the product in three retail outlets using five large thermoses and label mock-ups, for pilot testing. Some of the flavours received an overwhelming response and the demand rose. Due to legal compliances, we could only sell 50 bottles of each flavour. Finding a private labeler was yet another challenge. The minimum order quantity criteria by the existing labellers didn’t match our criteria, while others demanded a deposit and a MOQ 2000L/flavour. After multiple rejections, we finally found one labeler in Gurgaon who fit perfectly with our requirements.

THE ROAD AHEAD

The guidance I received from the Innovation Incubation program at JAGSoM helped me to test the market and collect feedback from the consumers through free samplings of 300 bottles in areas like Park, Koramangala, Indira Nagar, Jaya Nagar, and Kalyani Nagar. I would like to thank Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay for providing me with a platform and an opportunity to live my passion.

Recently, in a pitch round organized by the Institute, I received a chance to pitch my idea for organic beverages. I want to explore entrepreneurship and work as a full-time entrepreneur. In the next 6 months, the first batch of production shall begin. We have developed our product, created recipes as per the taste buds of every consumer, and are now confident to fully launch it in the market. We’re currently trying to raise funds and are very optimistic about the future of Teamore.