Challenges and Solutions

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

CHALLENGES ARE WHAT MAKES LIFE INTERESTING ; OVERCOMING THEM IS WHAT MAKES LIFE MEANINGFUL.                                      

                                           ~JOSHUA J MARINE

NIRMAAN Enterprise, a business run by our school believes in Women Empowerment and aims to provide employment to women of economically weaker section, thus ,making them independent. It is run by the students of St.Marks and currently has over 80 students in its team. With a huge team came a lot of challenges but it was our choice to face them or to run away. Hence, we took the challenges in a constructive way.


CHALLENGE 1: Firstly, it was difficult to manage a group of 80 students and meet regularly as it was quite a challenge for everybody's schedule to coincide because the team comprises of members of various classes, i.e., from 9th standard till 12th standard. These meetings however were very important to ensure that everything was smoothly sailing in the various departments and also for discussing new ideas.

SOLUTION: To overcome this problem we tried to communicate through WhatsApp and also held as many meetings as possible in the zero period which was then comfortable for the team members. We have also tried to team up the elder members with the new ones for their constant learning.

Students in a meeting

Seniors guiding the juniors

CHALLENGE 2: Secondly, this year there was not a remarkable increase in sale. We identify CBSE's constantly changing pattern as one of the reasons for the same. 

SOLUTION: We have been trying to keep abreast with the change by working calmly as an integrated team. Hence, we put up are stalls as many times as possible to increase the sale. The response is usually positive due to the well identified customer base in the form of parents.

CHALLENGE 3: Another challenge is to keep the students motivated. It is important to promptly boost them so that they are constantly working hard for the success of the enterprise.

SOLUTION: A great way to do it is by choosing the "Most Enterprising Students" by the end of the year.When the younger members see their fellow mates being recognised they get inspired.

Most Enterprising Students 

CHALLENGE 4: This year the women wanted to take leaves on various occasions and festivals. This inconsistency was a little challenging. 

SOLUTION:  To overcome this challenge we started giving the ladies raw materials for home so that they could work according to their own comfort.

Women and children working together.

CHALLENGE 5: NIRMAAN Enterprise runs by the motto of 3 P's namely People, Profit and Planet. It sometimes is quite hard to stand by it as all the three need to work simultaneously. 

SOLUTION: In the recent times we have come up with a solution. We use scraped cloth to make bags and we also use recycled paper/ newspaper for the purpose of packaging.

CHALLENGE 6: To run any business, we need a strong customer base. It can be difficult to sell similar products every time to the same few consumers. 

SOLUTION: We keep on adding new products to our list. The recent addition are candles, oreo and marie chocolates. We have also started setting up stalls outside the school premises or sometimes selling it through rallies.

CHALLENGE 7: Truly said ‘communication is the key’. We try to communicate  with our costumers as much as possible. It can be a task when someone refuses to participate in this interaction. 

SOLUTION: Our students try to take feedback from parents so that we can work on the betterment of our products. We also communicate with people through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and through blogs. These have definitely helped us reach out to more people.

Children selling products.

Interaction with the parents.

However, we are glad to acknowledge that we were able overcome all of these challenges together as a team because as they say :   "Team work makes dream work".

ACCEPT THE CHALLENGES SO THAT YOU CAN FEEL THE EXHILARATION OF VICTORY.

                         ~GEORGE S PATTON

Team Structure of NIRMAAN Enterprise.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.                                                                

                                  ~ Helen Keller 

NIRMAAN Enterprise is an initiative to assist the women of unprivileged section. It is composed of employees who work together on a specific project. Team structure is an integral part of teamwork process and as an organization grows,  its structure becomes increasingly important so it is necessary to identify and recognize it.

We the team of NIRMAAN Enterprise from St.  Mark's Sr.  Sec.  Public  School, Meera Bagh, New Delhi are participating in gold level this year. We became a part of this dignified Enterprise in 2010 . This Enterprise deals with the ladies of unprivileged section who are employed to make different products. The products are then sold and a considerable share of profit is given to the ladies while some is kept to buy the raw materials. We have made various products such as bags, envelopes, chocolates, etc. In the last 7 golden years NIRMAAN has grown in leaps and bounds. 

Last year's team. 

New team. 

Selection of the team: 

The students interested in joining NIRMAAN go through a preliminary written round and then an interview round. The selected students, according to their preferences, choose the department they would like to be a part of and are allowed to be a member of  more than one department. This helps them to perform better as they work in their own field of interest and as per their talent.

                      Few pictures of the meetings held:

This gives the students an opportunity to explore different areas of school business. 

The team is divided into following departments which helps us to work in an organized manner: 

1. IT Department: Two students of the team have been assigned the duty to update the blog, twitter and facebook page. 

2. Marketing Department: Members of this department alternatively take part to stand at the stall and sell the products.

3. Production Department: Members of this department guide the ladies and acquaint them about the making of products.  

4. Finance Department: Members of this department keeps a check of the profit and loss incurred. 

5. Creative Department:  Members of this department deals with the making of posters and banners for the enterprise.

6. Research and Development:  Members of this department give suggestions for the new products which can be included for sale. 

7. HR Department: members of this department helps in recruiting ladies every year and selection of new students for the team. 

The following chart depicts the distribution of students into various groups.

          Few pictures of the making of the products:

Quotes by team members: 

1. 'We commit ourselves to constant improvement.  '                                                   - Kashish Koul 

2. 'Profit is not something to add on at the end, it is something to plan for in the  beginning.  '                                 

                                       - Manya Jain

Every year the most enterprising students in our school are given trophies as a token of encouragement:

Feedback by the customers: 

 Parent 1: I am highly impressed by seeing the teamwork of the staff of Nirmaan Enterprise. Each child is giving their best to improve the working and for the betterment of the Enterprise.

 Parent 2: I am happy to see an Enterprise working for the upbringing of women by providing them employment. The students are also developing their skills. These children are sure to be great entrepreneurs in their future. 

                                Few pictures of sale: 

Advantages of team structure are: - 

1. It helps in speeding up the work flow. 

2. It improves employee motivation and eliminates unnecessary layers of management. 

3. It plays a major role in increasing productivity.

Coming together is a beginning, staying together is a progress, and working together is success.                                                                                                         ~Henry Ford

Most Enterprising students of 2017

'No dream is too big. No challenge is too great. Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach'.            

                                   ~Donald Trump

Teamwork makes the Dreams come true.
Our dreams are to make our enterprise Nirmaan reach great heights. All the team members of Nirmaan work together with passion and dedication.
Every year the hard work of the team  members is recognized and the most dedicated ones are given  awards. This year the award for the most enterprising students of the year were given to Manya Jain, Jyoti Gogia, Kashish Koul, Nischay Vij and Bhavya Sharma for their hard work and efforts.

New team

'Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the Moon. '

Following our passion in NIRMAAN we have registered again in the 'School Enterprise Challenge'.  This is the 7th year of our participation. The excitement is at its peak.  Interested students applied to be a part of the NIRMAAN team, took a written test and were interviewed.  The recruitment process of new members and making a new team is over.  Team picture was clicked with the poster.

 The selection of new ladies is in process.
This year too we plan to 'Stick to our Dreams and Magnify our Skills'.
We will keep adding and making list of new creative ideas. We will also keep QUALITY as our Best Business Plan and will listen to our customers.  We will also be participating at Gold Level this year.

Sustainability of the business

"A sustainable business is a resource efficient,  respects the environment and is a good neighbour."

                                                                             - Phil Harding

Sustainability creates and maintains the condition under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony.

To keep a business sustainable, there are 3 P's which should be kept in mind:                                                                                     

1. People:  social responsibility

2. Profit:  economic value

3. Planet: stewardship of environment

Quotes by the team members of NIRMAAN:

1. If we live our business it automatically creates an approach to sustainability.
                                                                              - Kashish Koul

2. If sustainability is seen as a matter of survival of business,  we can create a massive    change.
                                                                              - Muskan Gulati




"Cutting costs or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy."
                                                                  
                                                     - Howard Schultz

Feed backs given by  the customers:

Parent 1 - The quality of the items are amazing.  I support this enterprise thoroughly with what they are doing and wish luck to the whole team of NIRMAAN enterprise.

Parent 2 - I would like to have more variety in chocolates.

Parent 3-  I am happy to see an Enterprise working for the upbringing of women by providing them employment. The students are also developing their skills. These children are sure to be great entrepreneurs in their future.

Customers buying products and giving feedbacks

Measures ensured to make our business sustainable:

• Social sustainability - The main aim of the business is to create employment opportunities for the women of economically weaker section which makes our business socially sustainable.

• Environmental sustainability - Nirmaan Enterprises sell bags made using scrap cloth. The enterprise is eco-friendly, using reusable materials to create long lasting products which can be reused time and again. This strategy is highly topical in Delhi as the use of plastic bags has been banned. Also, the members of Nirmaan Enterprises grow some plants like aloevera, fenugreek ,etc. in order to earn profit keeping our planet in mind. The members are themselves grow plants in their homes, in the vacations. This makes our business environmentally sustainable. 

Team members of NIRMAAN growing plants

• Economical sustainability - 50% of the profit is given to ladies belonging to the economically weaker section so that they can earn a livelihood. Our remaining profits are also ploughed back into the business. Nirmaan Enterprises intend to spend their profits by reinvesting it in the business to purchase new accessories and fabrics to diversify further. We train the EWS ladies to learn a skill and training cost is also borne by profit .This makes our business economically sustainable.

Ladies receiving their payments

Happy faces

Plans for long term success of business:

1. Never compromise on the quality of the product and provide the best quality product to the customers. 

2. Keep on adding new innovations to the product to make it better and more attractive.

3. Listen to the advice and complaints  of the customer carefully, read the feedbacks given by them and get the needful done.

4. We would take the help of social media for selling and distribution as well as procuring orders and thus would reach more potential customers.

"You must have long range goals to keep from being frustrated by short term failures."                                        
                                                                                - Charles Noble

Profitability of the school business

'PRESERVERANCE' is the secret of a successful business and profits will come if you go after it.

A business may have many goals but if it does not make profit in the business,  it cannot survive. Profits are important because money is involved in the set up and start of the business. It helps to invest into new ventures and expand.

Techniques used by our business to ensure that it is profitable:

Our business is based within our school premises and the expenditure is only on raw materials,  payment for training and to the workforce, on packaging and a little amount on advertising.

Since all our promotions and sales is looked after by us, the students, we put all the profit back into the business. 

Every year awards are given to the four most enterprising students so that the team remains motivated.

The facts and figures of the business:

Below are a few images of the vouchers that are maintained by the students. (Vouchers are the bills and invoices for payments.)

We also put up stalls during parent teacher meets and in neighbouring colonies. 

                   

                  
'Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them. '

                                                              - W.  Edward Deming

Plans made to spend our profits:

 Maintaining quality of products is very important for profits. Our enterprise keeps this in view and the above mentioned things while strategically pricing our products. We listen to the feedbacks given by our clients and apply them in our business to improve our products and hence the profits. We are easily accessible to our customers and have a pricing strategy that will attract more people towards the enterprise and our profits will rise. 

Parents giving their feedback and advises for the improvement of our products :

Delegates from other countries also visit our enterprise time to time.

              

Feedback given by the customers:

Parent 1: I am highly impressed by seeing the teamwork of the staff of Nirmaan Enterprise. Each child is giving their best to improve the working and for the betterment of the Enterprise.
The children can work on making the packaging of chocolates more attractive to compete with other enterprises.

Parent 2: My advice for the enterprise is to provide variety and different flavours for chocolates.   

Parent 3: I am happy to see an Enterprise working for the upbringing of women by providing them employment. The students are also developing their skills. These children are sure to be great entrepreneurs in their future.

          

Our business is not driven just for profits,  it is also driven to serve.

The main goal of our business is empowering the women in the lower strata of the society. 50% of the profit is given to ladies belonging to the economically weaker section so that they can earn a livelihood.

Our remaining profits are also ploughed back into the business. We train the EWS ladies to learn a skill and training cost is also borne by profit. 

The EWS ladies being trained and guided by the teacher and the students:

                   

Future plans of our business to increase profits:

• In future we would take the help of social media for selling and distribution as well as procuring orders and thus would reach more potential customers.
• We would like to improve the products by advising new varieties in chocolates so that they become more tempting.
• We will like to work on providing new gifting options like on birthdays and other occasions by taking orders and this way would like to expand our business which would in turn increase profits.
• We would try to increase our customer base in school for chocolates and pencils. We would sell on regular basis instead for waiting for PTM's and other events. This will add up to our sales and profits.

Our main goal is to increase our customer base - sales and hence the profits.

Quotes written by the team members of NIRMAAN:

1. 'We commit ourselves to constant improvement.  '       

                                           - Kashish Koul

2. 'Profit is not something to add on at the end, it is something to plan for in the       beginning.  '

                                           - Manya Jain

Experience of the marketing team of NIRMAAN when they dealt with the customers:

1. After being a part of the Production Department for a year I thought of getting a new experience and shifted from the Production Department to the Marketing Department. To be honest I thought it was a very easy task to sell products to the customer. But After standing on our stall(where we sell our products) for an hour or so I came to know how wrong I was. Selling a product isn't just displaying it and earning money but it is a very large process which starts from approaching customers- convincing them to buy your product, why it is better than every other product in the market- bargaining about the price- finally selling it.

In this long process I learned about many different things like  techniques to convince customers to buy your products, how to handle all sorts of customers- the generous and kind ones or the short tempered ones and other sorts too and also how important it is to consider every profession important. I believe this experience has polished my communication skills as well as improved my patience level and temper and I am extremely thankful to the Nirmaan Family and School Enterprise Challenge to give me this opportunity to share my experience.

                                                               

                                                                                                -Nischay Vij

2. The job of the marketing department is an interesting one and at the same time teaches you a lot about dealing with people of different types, convincing them to buy your product and a lot of product management skills. Most importantly I have enjoyed this task as it has given me a broader outlook at the customer’s perception. I have always tried my best to fetch more and more customers and make them a part of the Nirmaan family. Marketing is not everyone’s cup of tea and thus it is very important to learn to deal with people and Nirmaan has been among the first to teach me that. Being a part of the marketing team, I look upto my seniors and try to grasp more and more skills. It has always been something i have enjoyed and my teachers have always helped me and I am grateful to them for that.

                                                                                                      -Ishika Chauhan