If you have an entrepreneurial mindset and have chosen or are thinking of choosing a PGDM course, you are perfectly on the right track for there are several success stories of business leaders who had an amazing idea and it only bore fruits after they attended a great B-School. Steve Jobs’ “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” quote stays realistic even today, more so while you are at a top management college. As long as you are young and stupid, you tend to learn quickly from your mistakes and change your strategies.
PGDM Program covers different dimensions of a business. Though you have a specialization, you still tend to learn different aspects of every domain. Entrepreneurs need not be masters of something; they need to know a little bit of everything. But, there are certain focus areas where you need to concentrate and get the best out of them … all for fulfilling your entrepreneurial dreams!
FOCUS AREAS THAT CAN HELP YOU IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
1. Build A Network
This is the most essential part of a pursuing a PGDM program if you have an entrepreneurial mindset. Most of the successful start-ups today were started by MBA/PGDM batch mates. The reason is quite simple. You may have an idea but chances are that someone else can shed a light from a different perspective and solve the problem you have. You will need multiple strong pillars to kick start a business; that is what your fellow graduates can be for you.
Apart from that, the alumni network of the said college is a good hunting ground. Then, there are the guest lecturers and even some company managers who might come handy in the future when they see the potential in you.
2. Learn To Take Calculated Risks
No success comes without the risks involved in it – but there is a thin line of difference between bravery and stupidity. A PGDM program enhances your knowledge about the said risks in specific decisions and areas; in turn, it makes you watchful about steps.
3. Learn To Adopt A Sustainability Mindset
Business is not about doing something very quickly for one month and then leisurely dragging it in the future. No matter what your speed is, consistency and steadfastness is the key to a successful business venture. You have to come up with the ideas which are sustainable and viable in the longer run, and not something which benefits you or the organization in short-term.
4. Learn To Embrace Change
A famous quote by Gandhi reads: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” But business is all about adopting that change in your organization. Those who stick to their unrelenting dogmas are bound to perish from the market. When you study case-studies during your post-graduation, you will understand why some failed while others became successful.
5. Learn To Present Your Ideas Effectively
There is no point in having a great solution which you are not able to present to a stakeholder or a client. This is because, if you can’t sell it, it means nothing. Be it a service or a product. A PGDM program teaches you how you can make your case convincing, how you can present it so that your competitor falls short, how your solution can be worth more than what you are asking.
6. Make The Most Of The Opportunities Outside The Classroom
When you visit different companies for internships, different colleges for competitions, different vendors for your project, you get to learn the real-world problems and the solutions to them. That is why a PGDM program is a very practical course in this regard, where you have to go out and perform what you are being taught in the class.
7. Learn Financial Literacy
Most of the newly found ‘start-ups’ go down the drain because of this major problem. They think that by spending more money, they will be able to gain more business. Hiring more resources, purchasing assets for the company may be all good if you are considering all the financial aspects of your business, but when you learn finance during your PGDM, you get to understand that its more than just taking and giving money.
8. Gain Interpersonal Skills
This decides whether your business will thrive and continuously grow or whether it will get stuck to a limited resource count. Your interpersonal skills will make you a better leader. They will make people want to work for you. They will make more clients to give more business to you. Basically, these skills can be said to “separate the best from the rest.”
All said and done, the PGDM Program as such may not give you your business idea. But it will surely ignite that fire and provide you the necessary tools to perform your decisions. There are hundreds of books about MBA/PGDM and Entrepreneurship. But no amount of theoretical knowledge can match that of a practical one, which you can only have at a competitive institute like Asian Business School in Noida, Delhi NCR.
Here, it will not be out of context to share with you that recently, as part of the Leadership & Entrepreneurial Aspiration Development (LEAD) Series, Asian Business School (ABS) – which is a constituent of Asian Education Group and is ranked as one of the best B-schools in Delhi NCR – hosted Mr. Shivi Singh, Founder & CEO ClearDekho on Thursday, 18th July 2019. Mr. Shivi Singh delivered an engaging Guest Lecture under the LEAD Lecture Series at Asian Business School (ABS) wherein he shared first-hand experience of his entrepreneurial journey and also provided success tips to the new batch of ABS Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) students.
He suggested that students should be open to work in ‘start-ups’ as it provides them an early opportunity to lead a project with a sense of responsibility and ownership that in turn makes them work hard to achieve their very own success. Here, he cited the proud example of how an ex-student of ABS PGDM, Mr. Rahul Srivastava, who had got selected to work in his nascent organization a few years before, is now leading his entire department with great success. He also advised them not to consider ‘money’ as an all important factor but to consider ‘challenges’ as the main spur for long term success.
Thus, entrepreneurship is surely one of the best options that management students can explore – and, to become successful in that venture, a course in MBA or PGDM from one the top MBA/PGDM colleges like Asian Business School with suitable focused on key learning areas, will surely help them in acquiring the requite skills and thereby fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams!