Young entrepreneurs with a difference

Sunil Roy and Manju Deborah would rather serve students than be served

August 27, 2013 03:53 pm | Updated 03:53 pm IST

Sunil Roy

Sunil Roy

It is said that wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. However, it isn’t necessary to be old to be wise, as these two young entrepreneurs are proving. Their motto seems to be ‘to serve rather than be served’.

Born in 1984, Sunil Roy founded his company, International Institute for Procurement and Market Research (IIPMR), in 2008, with the aim of helping students interested in market research.

Based out of Texas, USA, IIPMR is the only institute that offers certifications in market research.

It currently offers three levels of certification programmes each in Market Research and Supply Chain.

The modules range from 90 to 177 per course, and the duration is 80 to 160 hours. The fee varies from US$ 500 to US$ 700.

Any college graduate can take up the first level, while one year of experience (or Level 1) is required for Level 2, and three years of experience (or Level 2) is required for Level 3.

IIPMR’s curriculum has updated research techniques and online classes. It provides free personality development sessions, aptitude training, assessments, practice interviews and real-time project experience.

It prepares a free resume on Naukri.com and Monster.com, a profile on LinkedIn.com, besides providing placement assistance and job alerts.

Once qualified, students are eligible for salaries ranging from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 100,000 per month in India, £27,000 to £35,000 per year in the U.K., and $90,000 to $120,000 per year in the U.S. Most of the professionals today prefer to be certified by IIPMR rather than take up courses from APICS or ISCEA, according to a survey by Research Grail.

IIPMR uses e-learning, comprising lectures from Industry experts and an online exam. The link is: >http://www.iipmr.com/education

IIPMR students are perceived as very intelligent and top performers in whichever company they join. “For supply chain, we like to hire people with either CSCP Certification from APICS or CSCA/CSCS Certification from IIPMR. For market research, the only choice we have is to recruit people with CRA or CRE Certification from IIPMR.

“IIPMR-certified candidates are very good at strategic sourcing, price forecasting, spend management, and have a terrific knowledge in market research.

“I think their success is purely because IIPMR constantly upgrades the curriculum to teach only what the industry needs,” says Caroline, Senior HR Executive, Florida Solutions, USA.

IIPMR also offers research, supply chain management and procurement services to clients in more than 15 countries and has registered members in 54 countries.

It offers market intelligence, supply chain risk management, financial risk analysis, and price indices. Mr. Roy has worked with several Fortune 100 MNCs such as IBM, Accenture, Infosys, Flextronics, HP, Dell, HCL, and Cognizant on project implementation.

GAMA management solutions

Manju Deborah, a graduate in English Literature from Women’s Christian College, Chennai, started GAMA Management solutions in the fall of 2010, in a small home office.

With the focus being on subject matter expertise in corporate training, GAMA quickly carved a niche for itself in corporate training, event management and recruitment.

GAMA Management Solutions encompasses a team of 30 enthusiastic professionals with a wide range of experience and specialisation in areas which bring measurable improvement to the performance of individuals in organisations.

These professionals train people in Business Communication skills and Behavioural skills. GAMA also equips young professionals with corporate grooming and cultural adaptability while dealing with varied clients. The trainers are qualified subject matter experts who are driven by a passion to impart knowledge.

They range from intellectual double Ph.D profiles with more than 25 years of rich experience in the field of facilitating, to young and enthusiastic profiles driven by passion and people skills.

They bring fun, freshness and energy to the table to transform tedious corporate routines into sought-after experiences. Or, in simpler words, at GAMA, experience speaks and speaks from a position of reason.

Giving back to society is the mantra of this age. So it is with GAMA. Manju, says “I always believed in lighting a candle, not because it’s customary, but because it helps to light more candles, and obviously brings the much-needed light. This was my secret strategy in building GAMA from a one-member to a 30-member-strong team.”

The ‘lighted candle’ concept has caught on so well, that they are now using it to jumpstart their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, “Glowing Candle”.

Glowing Candle is a budding initiative that supports the education of rural and underprivileged children.

The USP of Glowing Candle is to work with a small cohort of 10 children who will be trained in not only developing themselves, but also lighting the candle of knowledge in people.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.