Passion and Perseverance will make the difference

Passion and Perseverance will make the difference

- Venkatesh Kini, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia

Addressing 200 students from 10 different colleges under the auspices of ‘Enactus’ at Loyola College, Mr. Venkatesh Kini, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia on his keynote address on “Start to make start” said, “the most important factors that make for success are Passion, Patience and Perseverance. He spoke about the five factors that are most important to consider, at the initial stages of an enterprise.”

Kini elaborated on a simple plan which anybody could follow without getting confused:

1. Idea

a. Have an idea? One which either anticipates a future need or reminds the consumer of a need that they did not know of.

b. Have an idea that fulfils an existing consumer need exponentially better than the available options. For example, cab aggregators

2. Have a plan but make sure you execute the plan too!

a. A start is as important as a plan

b. Develop a prototype

c. Run a pilot – Test it amongst friends and family

d. Dr. John Pemberton failed several times before he eventually cracked the code for Coca-Cola

3. Be flexible

a. Ideas evolve with time. Be flexible and adapt the idea to consumer feedback or consumer needs

b. The Coca-Cola Company started as a maker of Coca-Cola. Today it is the world’s largest juice Company and also the world’s largest sparkling beverage company

c. Luminous started as an inverter business, today it is into all forms of portable power

4. Get the right people

a. Hire the right talent – people that complement your skills but those that don’t mirror your skills

b. Hire the people with the same attitude as yours but not the same strength as yours

c. Diversity reaps rich rewards – Even as a large Company, we are still very conscious about promoting diversity with The Coca-Cola Company

d. Diversity brings new ideas, challenges existing notions, sensitizes people to change and modulate their behaviour

Mr. Venkatesh Kini, President,
Coca-Cola India and South West Asia.

5. Manage cash flow

a. If you don’t want your ideas and your dreams taken over by someone more powerful in business, you have to manage cash flows well.

b. Plan for everything that needs cash on a daily basis and rotate the money so that you don’t have to borrow too much.

After his address, Kini had an interactive session with the students.

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