Hi All,
I plan on applying to the ISB programme 2016-2017. Here is a brief sketch of my profile-
1) Class X CBSE 2005 90%
2) Class XII CBSE 2007 88% (Commerce)
3) BA(H) Business Economics , University of Delhi (70.2%) First Div.
4) Master in International Business, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi (60.8%) First Div.
Certification Course-
1) 3 years Advance Diploma Chinese language, University of Delhi
2) 6-months Intensive Chinese Language Training , Tsinghua University, Beijing
Professional Work Experience-
1) Assistant Manager Grade 2 ICICI Bank- Relationship Manager May 2012-August 2102
- Generating business lead from DSA tracks for Personal Loans products of the bank
- Given responsibility to handle the biggest DSA in Western Mumbai region, Andromeda Pvt. Ltd., and was the highest leads convertor in the entire region for the months of June and July
Left the job and went to China to get a better grasp at Chinese language, and to follow a career in International Trade and Business Marketing
2) Business Development Manager- Retax Electricals Pv. Ltd.
- Joined the family-owned business ( my father is the founder and co-director of the manufacturing firm) in the position of Business Development Manager to bring in more clients for the company
- Started touring the states of MP (Indore) and Assam (Guwahati) and Rajasthan (Bikaner, Jaipur) to rope in more dealers for the factory's in house brand
- Couldn't achieve any significant increase in the sales target, felt frustrated due to the informal nature of the industry which is difficult to penetrate without giving risky credit to the dealers, got restless because of my inability to convince my father and his partner to change the ways of doing marketing and improving production processes
Got approached by a Chinese friend who had a small factory in the city of Jieyang, Guangdong, China to make drawer slides. He asked me to help him establish a market for his products in the Indian market. This product was made in China only, and all of it was imported, with no domestic production.
3) India Sales Representative- Fortune Plus Hardware Corp.
- Understood the price points at which the product was sold in the Indian market
- Evaluated the Indian government policy regarding the imports of this product, the duty structure, the entire shipping process, custom clearance from the ports, role of the CHAs in unlawful declaration of the value of the products which gave unfair advantage to a few importers with "useful contacts".
- Formed a liaison office for the company with the intention of marketing the products of the company in the country
- Met local dealers and wholesalers to understand the different types of specifications and varieties of the product which are imported in India and the price points at which they are sold to the further agents down the retail channel
- Marketed the products of our factory with the biggest importers in India, met more than 80 importers and successfully negotiated a deal with 23 of them in a period of 16 months, with all the payment in advance and almost no risk of default in payment for the factory
- By the end of our 15th month, achieved a monthly turnover of USD 410,000 after taxation and duty in India. Accounted for 6-7% of the total drawer slides sale from China to India
- Became the 3rd largest factory in Jieyang, out of a total of 40 odd, by volume, supplying products to India
- Gave valuable input regarding product development to the factory, becoming the first factory in Jieyang to supply 48-hours SST certified drawer slides to the Indian market. Pushed the clients to try and purchase the product which has an increased cost of about 11-12%, in a highly competitive market with profit margins ranging from 10-12%
- Planned for participation in Global Exhibition events, negotiated the pricing terms with the organizers, communicated with all current and potential buyers regarding our participation, worked with their designing team for the entire theme of the booth. Participated in CBD-Guangzhou, CIFM Guangzhou and Interzum Cologne to showcase our company product
- Achieved everything above in a period of 17 months, with I managing the Indian operation and 6 backend staff in Guangzhou and Jieyang.
- Regularly communicated with the Chinese staff, on a daily basis, who spoke no English.
- Organized trips for our clients to visit the factory in the city of Jieyang, and regularly visited the factory to advise the technician on how to modify the assembling process to cater to the taste of Indian clients.
With the sales decent and a good loyal customer base, I put in my money in the factory, became a director of the holding company in HK with a 30% share in the factory with a total investment of about 120,000 USD , of which around 50,000 USD were borrowed from my father.
ECA and Awards-
1) University of Delhi Post Graduate Scholarship year 2011-2013 , reimbursing the tuition fees for my Master's Degree
2) University of Delhi cricket team squad member, played in various university cricket leagues
3) 2-3 NGO volunteering internships in Sikkim and Delhi
Reason for applying to ISB
1) Difficult to scale up- Informal sector, dearth of funding, focus on cost-cutting with no break through innovation possible at such a small scale
2) Modi Make-in-India campaign- Insane duties being put up on imports, domestic firms taking up manufacturing
3) Want to work in consulting and/or General Management/International Sales in an established and formal organization where I can use the skill sets I acquired over the past few years
Scoring 680 odd in the GMAT preps, hopefully can scale it up tp 720 in the coming few months.
Its not a usual type of profile which the admins might have gone through previously. Any suggestion/point of information from you will be welcomed as to how to proceed forward with my application. I just have three months to go to apply within the first deadline. I will be 26 by the time I join ISB next year( If i get through)
Regards,
Udit Gupta
