As a build up to the Emerging India Awards presented by ICICI Bank & CNBC TV18, I caught up with Vinita Bali (former MD of Brittannia Industries) to talk about diversification, whether SMEs need to diversify & if yes then what’s the best way for them to accomplish this. We shot with her at the lawns of the beautiful Leela Palace in Bengaluru. A pleasant breeze accompanied our conversation as Ms. Bali stated that SMEs need to first identify whether they really need to diversify before they blindly jump onto that bandwagon. Especially in a country like India, where there is such a huge untapped market, SMEs should be focussed more on expanding in their existing market before looking at diversification. But that said, when diversifying, SMEs should be cognizant of their strengths and do in depth research about their new market they want to get into before getting their feet wet. For the 2 nd part of the shoot, Ms Bali & I were joined by the VP, Sales & Marketing

Do big symposium - Kolkata 18th December 2015 As the anchor/moderator for the Do Big Symposium presented by Tata DoCoMo business services and powered by CNBC TV18, I was in the city of joy - Kolkata -recently for our 3rd pit stop of the series. With a strong turnout of approx 200 delegates, the evening began with the Managing Director of SREI Infrastructure Hemant Kanoria addressing the audience about his views on digital disruptions. Some of the key points of his address: * The Holy Trinity of Hindu Mythology - Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh - are also disrupters in their space * Technology can be used to provide employment in rural areas * His company allows customers in rural areas, who dont have access to banking services, to use their product offering (S-Cash) to buy products * Essential to digitise so as to make it easier for your customers This was followed by the MD of Tata Teleservices Ltd., N. Srinath's presentation on digital disruption which began with a thought prov

Why DDTD? - Because when a great opportunity comes knocking, opening the door isn't enough - you need to break the damn door down. - Because we often hide behind "figurative" doors that need to be broken down for us to get out of our comfort zone and achieve our full potential. - And because the 2010s saw a flurry of CID jokes that I still haven't gotten over. Welcome to my blog where every Sunday I share some general knowledge nuggets about an event that has made news that week. Hope you enjoy it. I would love to hear your comments.