In conversation with Vinita Bali - Emerging India Series 2015-16

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 of ID Fresh Foods, Mithun Appaiah. ID Fresh Foods are a Bengaluru based packaged fresh food provider. They supply freshly made idli-dosa batter and other food products in attractive & easy to handle packages.

Mithun was eager to seek Ms. Bali’s guidance on the diversification issues that they were contemplating – like should ID Fresh Foods tweak its products while attempting to enter into the north-east of India? About wanting to enter the dairy segment? And what should be kept in mind when looking at avenues to diversify into?

Ms. Bali’s advice to Mithun was to stick to their strengths even when going in for geographical diversification and also tom-tom the fact that ID Fresh Foods is providing fresh and healthy food products. The dairy segment has its own challenges which ID Fresh Foods might not want to get into at this point of time.

All in all an interesting session with our mentor bringing her experience and expertise to the table to help the young gun expand and grow his business.

Stay tuned for the final episode of this series, coming soon.

Remembering JFK on his 100th Birthday

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. This weekend we’re talking about one of my favourite politicians (yes, there are some likeable ones too), who passed away too young. He was the leader of one of the superpowers of the world and 29 th May 2017 was his 100 th birth anniversary. I’m talking about John Fitzgerald Kennedy , famously known as JFK . JFK was the 35 th President of the USA from January 1961 up until 22 nd November 1963 , when he was assassinated. He was the youngest president of the country and also the youngest to die . JFK’s inaugural address had him reach out to all Americans – “ Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country ” – a line that is till date quoted in essays written by school and college going children. JFK led the US at the height of the Arms Race with Russia and also during the critical Cuban missile crisis . (In October 1962, U.S. spy planes discovered that Soviet missile bases had ...

12 Must have Apps for Expats In India

So you’re an expat and a guest in our country? Welcome and I hope you have an enjoyable time. But let’s face it, this country of 1.3 billion people isn’t the easiest to navigate and takes some getting used to. Let technology come to your rescue and help you get what you want quickly, easily & cheaply (in most cases). So here’s a list of 12 must have Apps for Expats that makes life easier for them here in India. (I’ve given links to their websites – depending on the phone that you are using you can either download the apps by searching in the App Store or Google Play or be redirected from their websites.) 1) Ola / Uber Need to hail a cab? Conveniently log onto the Uber app or the Ola app. Both apps allow you to pay using credit cards though Ola also lets you pay cash (I’ve been told that Uber also accepts cash in India). Both apps also accept payment via mobile wallets like PayTM & MobiKwik (digital wallets – details below). ...

The 2016 Olympics are here - Time to brush up on some sports trivia

The world’s biggest sporting extravaganza is on top of us again. The 31 st edition of the Olympics is being held on the South American continent for the very 1 st time . The Games will run from 5 th to 21 st August 2016 in Brazil. 11,239 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees , including first time entrants Kosovo and South Sudan, are scheduled to take part. With 306 sets of medals , the games will feature 28 Olympic sports . These sporting events will take place at 33 venues in the host city of Rio de Janeiro & at 5 venues in the cities of São Paulo (Brazil's largest city), Belo Horizonte , Salvador , Brasília (Brazil's capital), and Manaus . While the Indian media has extensively covered the Indian contingent participating in Rio, this week’s GK nugget – while wishing the team all the very best – will focus on some trivia about the Olympics as a whole. Here’s goes: The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world ...

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