Cultivating Success: Story of a Farmer! - Algorithmic Jugaad @ Bizom

Sep 9 | 05 min read

Meeting the Voices

To start off, I would say that I am the sum of all the people I’ve met in my life. I walked in as a complete fresher straight from college, not knowing the depth of the FMCG market. From the introduction to Srinidhi, Vinay, Kevin, Prashanth Shanu, and Jeevitha (whom I met for almost six months), I finally got to put faces to the voices I had been speaking to!

From Intern to Full-Time

Back then, this was SME, and I was just “the intern” as I juggled three days of college and three days of work, all while preparing for exams. Additionally, there were seven days of Wiki training that required manual effort and self-study, which I completed in just three days. There was no spoon-feeding, as neither I nor anyone at SME was comfortable with that.

While typing this, there are mentors by my side. Vinay was my first buddy, and he was also my mentor for about six months.

I learned a lot from him, especially patience and calmness. He emphasized the importance of documentation and client handling, which I consider the foundation of FMCG. As a fresher, I asked many questions, and he patiently answered each one.

After the first three months, I transitioned from an intern to a full-time employee, and the conversations were exciting. The mentors and regional heads expressed their satisfaction with my work, and I felt like I was on the right track. But then Srinidhi and I walked into a meeting room, and he informed me that I’d receive my offer letter the next day, leaving me somewhat confused (and surprised) about my job status.

Bonding Over Data: Meeting Kevin

Data interested me, and that’s where Kevin Thomas Job came into the picture. We shared similar ideas and beliefs, and he taught me the importance of helping others, even when it wasn’t your work. Our working styles aligned, and we had fun working late nights and crunching data. At this point, I was an ABA, and so was Kevin.

When the teams were reshuffled, Jeevitha became my mentor. Kevin and I remained on the same team, which is where things got interesting. Jeevitha had an immense amount of trust in both of us when it came to getting things done.

She believed that we could handle any problem or issue, and this taught me the importance of trusting your teammates and giving them the freedom to learn from their mistakes.

SME to SME BU

After spending four months in Jeevitha’s team, the decision was made to form an SME business unit. Srinidhi decided to create a new team, consisting of only Kevin and me, but the question of who would be the farmer remained. Srinidhi spoke to Kevin first, and he suggested Siddarth as the farmer. When he spoke to me, I suggested Kevin. Srinidhi left the decision to us, and we had no ego between us, being happy to work with each other regardless of who led the team.

This was what Bizom shaped us to be – non-egoistic, trusting, open to making mistakes, and not concerned with designations.

This was a turning point where I realised that every company should follow this model. SME officially became the SME Business Unit, and farming and support worked together as one team, even though it wasn’t always smooth due to the different mindsets of the 20 people in the new team.

Jeevitha left the company, and Srinidhi had to find someone to lead the team. After a conversation, Srinidhi convinced me to take up the role of the farmer, which was a change from my initial preference. This marked the beginning of a long journey from being an intern to an Associate Business Analyst, and eventually to an Assistant Vice President in Growth and Strategy.

SME BU

Mentorship and Learning

Once I ventured into farming, Srinidhi, the person who had been shadowing me since my intern days, finally stepped in as my mentor. He became the individual I relied on as I transitioned into the role of a farmer. Farming, as I quickly realised, has its share of ups and downs, and when things took a downturn, it felt like a complete dark hole. However, he never questioned why these challenges occurred or their underlying reasons. He had unwavering faith that I could find a solution, and he entrusted me with the freedom to tackle issues in my own way.

This valuable lesson I learned from him: when given the freedom, one can excel, and he encouraged me to learn from my mistakes.

He was always content when I made numerous errors because he firmly believed that, regardless of how many mistakes were made, the key was taking ownership of them and finding a way to set things right. That was his consistent message – own your mistakes and rectify them.

I initially thought Vinay was the most patient person in our team, but believe me, Srinidhi takes patience to a whole new level!

Taking on New Challenges

I had my own team now, which was challenging, but I enjoyed it. Handling almost 120 clients in meetings and consulting with different data sets was fulfilling. Srinidhi believed that making me a farmer was his best decision, and I aimed to live up to his expectations. My team was the first to achieve a 5.15% CMGR growth, something I still cherish.

Then came the second part of farming, where Srinidhi directed me to lead another team. Since I love challenges, he convinced me to take it up, although leaving my old team was heart-wrenching.

Journey Continues: Towards a Bright Future

Mentoring the new team was both stressful and fun, and I had to apply all the lessons learned from my previous mentors to build this team from scratch. From SME to the SME business unit, we’ve come a long way, and my journey from an intern to an Assistant Vice President is far from over. The SME Business Unit has a bright future ahead!

Meeting the Voices

From Intern to Full-Time

While typing this, there are mentors by my side. Vinay was my first buddy, and he was also my mentor for about six months.

Bonding Over Data: Meeting Kevin

Read more stories

The Retail Intelligence Platform

Company

Bengaluru

Delhi

Mumbai

United Kingdom