Hyderabad, April 19, 2023…..The Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FTCCI) organised a two-day Entrepreneur Mentorship Programme for Women. It began on Wednesday morning at Federation House at Red Hills.

Mrs Deepanwita Chattopadhyay, Chairman & CEO, IKP Knowledge and Mrs Vanita Datla, Chairperson & MD Elico Ltd graced as guests of honour for the inaugural function.

Speaking on the occasion Deepanwita Chattopadhyay said India ranks 40 in the global innovation index rank. It ranks 19th in Startups and 121 in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We rank the lowest globally in SDGs. So align your businesses to SDGs. India is a signatory to SDGs and we need to meet them by the year 2030.

We are still a developing nation. We are a young nation. Many youth seek jobs every year. But India doesn’t have so much capacity to offer jobs to the entire youth of the nation. So entrepreneurship is necessary. You are lucky that there is a conducive ecosystem to launch you, and handhold you in your entrepreneurial journey. When I began my career 30 years back we had not heard of mentorship. Now it is gaining a lot of importance. Telangana should become a capital for entrepreneurship in India. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and NCR region and Karnataka are long-standing in the entrepreneurial journey. The next big happening state should be Telangana.

She advised a few men in the audience who were aspiring to become entrepreneurs to accommodate more women in their workforce.

Mrs Bhagavathi Devi Baldwa Chairperson of the Ladies Wing of FTCCI said Bill Gates left Harvard University to found Microsoft. Harvard eventually awarded an honorary doctorate to Gates, who never completed his bachelor’s degree. Many like him who were doing petty jobs went on to become the most successful Entrepreneurs and professionals. Dhirubhai Ambani worked in a Petrol bunk, Oberoi worked in a hotel, Sachin Tendulkar a tenth-class failed one, and Rajanikanth worked as a bus conductor. If they are successful, you can too, she said.

Meela Jayadev, Senior Vice President of FTCCI while welcoming the gathering said there is never a better time than now to become an entrepreneur.

Following the inaugural Sri Yerramm Raju, Founder Director—of Telangana Industrial Health Clinic Ltd took a technical session on Entrepreneurship and its trait—Identification of business opportunities”.

Speaking, he said the toughest thing in an enterprise is dealing with people. India has 80,000 plus startups. Out of so many, a small portion, just 5% is in manufacturing. We need more startups in the manufacturing sector, the industry veteran said.

This was followed by another session ‘Selling is an Art and Finding Customer Needs and Wants’ by Dr Mohammed Abdul Nayeem, Associate Professor, IFHE, Hyderabad.

He busted many myths about selling. He told a story of how a boy bought a second-hand radio for 5 US $ against its asking price of 20 $. Nearly 35000 products are launched globally every year, but just 5% succeed and the balance 95% fail, that is because of failure in underestimating the needs and wants of the customers. Selling is not a bluff mastery, he said.

Giving her opening remarks, Mrs T. Sujatha, Dy CEO of FTCCI said that this program was being run for the second year now.

About 50 participants participated in the session.