JBIMS hosts Ms. Devita Saraf, CEO, Vu Technologies
Entrepreneurship is the new buzz word in today’s corporate world and the challenges in it make it an attractive terrain to tread upon. To encourage young management students who have dreams and ambitions of becoming future entrepreneurs, JBIMS hosted Ms. Devita Saraf, CEO, Vu Technologies, to share her experiences with the batch.
Ms. Devita Saraf is the Youngest Businesswoman of India Today’s 25 Most Powerful Women in India and also the youngest executive committee member of FICCI – India’s largest trade association.
The session began with Ms. Saraf giving the students an insight into her early years at her family business, Zenith Computers. She had just completed her education and was well acquainted with the basic theoretical concepts related to business yet within a few days she realised that she needed to widen her knowledge base and the best way to do so was to network with people. She stressed that her ultimate lessons came from interactions with her colleagues and by taking the initiative to learn by actually going on to the field. This helped her to acquaint herself with the challenges faced while running a business.
She then realised that she wanted to start something of her own, and this saw the birth of Vu Technologies. The first task for the organisation was to ensure that Vu was viewed as a premium brand . With advertisements such as ‘ Dont Watch the IPL , Vu It’ receiving a positive response, within 5 years Vu achieved its set target of being a brand that provides luxury in technology.
She then spoke about the state of the industry in 2008, when the recession hit the world and the mood was gloomy. At that time, most companies had either imposed layoffs or had employees leaving to look for brighter job prospects. But the advantage she had of being in a family business was that ‘ A captain never leaves a burning ship.’
During that phase, She had 3 options: a) To exit the business b) Sell products at a cheaper rate c) To fight for her company and think of new means to bounce back.
Finally they decided to retain Vu’s image of being a classy brand and the two methods to retain sales were firstly to introduce innovative products such as the Intelligent TV as part of their portfolio and also to undertake certain promotion techniques. This is what helped Vu to continue sailing even when the going was tough.
Vu – a company which has a designer from Holland , Public Relations handled from New York, a product lab in Ohio and the management in India, is perceived as an integrated brand today providing luxury to its customers.
She finally ended with a lasting thought that the best lesson one could learn is to laugh at oneself. Each downfall should not be taken as a failure but instead one must just find a way of moving around it. A brand is a reputation that takes time to build upon.
The session was truly enlightening and the lessons imbibed from one of the most successful women entrepreneurs of today, will continue to be cherished in the years to come.
Entrepreneurship is the new buzz word in today’s corporate world and the challenges in it make it an attractive terrain to tread upon. To encourage young management students who have dreams and ambitions of becoming future entrepreneurs, JBIMS hosted Ms. Devita Saraf, CEO, Vu Technologies, to share her experiences with the batch.
Ms. Devita Saraf is the Youngest Businesswoman of India Today’s 25 Most Powerful Women in India and also the youngest executive committee member of FICCI – India’s largest trade association.
The session began with Ms. Saraf giving the students an insight into her early years at her family business, Zenith Computers. She had just completed her education and was well acquainted with the basic theoretical concepts related to business yet within a few days she realised that she needed to widen her knowledge base and the best way to do so was to network with people. She stressed that her ultimate lessons came from interactions with her colleagues and by taking the initiative to learn by actually going on to the field. This helped her to acquaint herself with the challenges faced while running a business.
She then realised that she wanted to start something of her own, and this saw the birth of Vu Technologies. The first task for the organisation was to ensure that Vu was viewed as a premium brand . With advertisements such as ‘ Dont Watch the IPL , Vu It’ receiving a positive response, within 5 years Vu achieved its set target of being a brand that provides luxury in technology.
She then spoke about the state of the industry in 2008, when the recession hit the world and the mood was gloomy. At that time, most companies had either imposed layoffs or had employees leaving to look for brighter job prospects. But the advantage she had of being in a family business was that ‘ A captain never leaves a burning ship.’
During that phase, She had 3 options: a) To exit the business b) Sell products at a cheaper rate c) To fight for her company and think of new means to bounce back.
Finally they decided to retain Vu’s image of being a classy brand and the two methods to retain sales were firstly to introduce innovative products such as the Intelligent TV as part of their portfolio and also to undertake certain promotion techniques. This is what helped Vu to continue sailing even when the going was tough.
Vu – a company which has a designer from Holland , Public Relations handled from New York, a product lab in Ohio and the management in India, is perceived as an integrated brand today providing luxury to its customers.
She finally ended with a lasting thought that the best lesson one could learn is to laugh at oneself. Each downfall should not be taken as a failure but instead one must just find a way of moving around it. A brand is a reputation that takes time to build upon.
The session was truly enlightening and the lessons imbibed from one of the most successful women entrepreneurs of today, will continue to be cherished in the years to come.