As part of the Colloquium initiative at Amrita School of Business, Amaravati organized a talk session about ‘Entrepreneurship as a Career Option’ on November 9, 2024 – 5 to 6 PM. The institute had the privilege of hosting Mr. Srikanth Acharya, the founder and CEO of OffiNeeds. The students of ASB attended the session enthusiastically from room no: A-411 while the guest had joined through virtual mode.

Our distinguished guest, Mr. Srikanth Acharya, is an innovative entrepreneur and the driving force behind OffiNeeds, a premier corporate gifting and custom merchandise company established in 2005. His visionary leadership has expanded the company to serve over 200 global clients with branches in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. With a dynamic career spanning nearly two decades, he is not just a successful entrepreneur but also a visionary leader and a dedicated mentor. His commitment to excellence has made him a standout figure in the corporate world and highly respected for his contributions to business and employee engagement.

Mr. Srikanth Acharya began the session by addressing the pressing concern of the rising unemployment rate. He urged our students to shift their mindset from being mere job seekers to becoming job creators. He emphasized that entrepreneurship is not only a viable career path but also the most practical approach to creating value for employees, customers, and stakeholders alike. The successful entrepreneur encouraged students to take a vow to start their own businesses immediately, highlighting that the most critical aspect of entrepreneurship is ‘taking the first step’.

Several suggestions for businesses that students could start right away were also provided by him. These included offering freelance skills such as virtual assistance services, engaging in content writing for blogs and landing pages, identifying service-based business opportunities, managing social media pages for companies, teaching skills online, organizing events, and exploring internship opportunities.

Mr. Srikanth Acharya outlined three crucial steps for becoming a successful entrepreneur:

• Find One Business:He advised students to choose a business line they are passionate about, commit to it, and have confidence in their ability to run it.
• Find One Customer:He stressed the importance of finding a customer who is willing to pay for one’s services. He suggested focusing on solving problems for a handful of customers and delivering more value than the cost charged.
• Learn To Deliver Excellent Service:He encouraged students to utilize the online resources to learn and improve their skills. The importance of delivering excellent service in any opportunity and building a skilled team were highlighted by him.

One of the key indicators of success for an entrepreneur is when that one customer is highly impressed by your business service and refers the company to his friend.

Mr. Srikanth Acharya concluded by stressing the importance of aiming for progress over perfection and starting with small steps. He motivated students to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset with the belief that now is the best time to venture into entrepreneurship, with nothing to lose and everything to gain. This session was immensely inspiring and provided valuable insights for all the students. It was encouraging to take the bold step towards entrepreneurship.