In early February this year, a group of 147 postgraduate students from Mumbai’s Universal Business School (UBS) decided to provide pro bono strategic consulting services to local businesses reeling under COVID 19 impact.
According to a recent survey by data firm Dun and Bradstreet more than 82% of businesses have suffered on account of COVID-19 and 70 per cent expect it will take almost a year for demand to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Normally CAP is a six week intensive paid project and a mandatory credit-based activity for all masters-level students.
One such example is Namak, a multicuisine restaurant in Karjat near Mumbai, which was struggling to keep pace with the dwindling footfalls. It was one of the 25 local businesses that the students approached between Feb-March 2021 as a part of this consulting project.
Another business provided with consultancy on financial strategies was Sweta Residency.
Nalin’s Travels were provided with consulting on tour packages, customer engagement, customer retention, promotional strategies, ease of booking and strategies to increase revenue and visibility.
Kleening Bee, a company based in Jaipur, Rajasthan was provided with consulting services on how to gain superior consumer insights, competitive landscape, and marketing campaigns that were aimed at increasing sales.