ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly I would like to express my gratitude towards SSBM enterprise for giving me the opportunity to work for them, and for trusting me with sensitive information. I would also like to thank Mr. Pranav for his constant support and guidance throughout the internship.

Secondly, I would also like to thank Jamnabai Narsee International School for giving me the chance to work at such a well established company.

WRITTEN REPORT

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Founded in 2017, SSBM enterprise has been operating under its parent company Shree Shyam Bio-Medicals. They are distributors of physical therapy and rehabilitation products, and have a large product range, including adhesive tapes, resistance bands, foam roller, resistance tubes, hand exercisers, fitness balls and other accessories. All of the products are imported, ensuring an international quality standard of their products. Along with running their own label, recently they have increased their global reach by partnering with other global brands. SSBM also conducts workshops in order to educate the people about the usage of various products, for example basic kinesiology taping and dry needling.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK ASSIGNED

WEEK 1:

The first task focused on the importance of physical therapy and rehabilitation with regards to a specific sport. The task was as follows: to search for scientific articles published by experts of the field, understand what they are trying to convey, and formulate your own synopsis providing references of the sources. While writing, both prior information and researched information had to be used in order to produce a better outcome. Most importantly the articles had to be 100-150 words.

WEEK 2:

The second task was to research a specific sport. And find the following information: Governing bodies in India (Eg: BCCI, AIFF), respective leagues (Eg: IPL, ISL), the top 10 athletes in India, their geography (which states to do they belong to), a little bit about their personal history and why they chose to pursue that sport as their career, about their training schedule (who they train with, where they train, professional resources they get) and sponsorships deals they are subject to. After conducting the research, the information was supposed to be demonstrated in a report.

WEEK 3:

The third task demanded good research and communication skills. The interns will have to select one of the SSBM products and create a presentation on the chosen item. The presentation should include: Basic product description, photos of the product, benefits, different exercises using the product (with photos/videos) and athletes/professional opinions on the product.

WEEK 4:

The last task was focused on sales and customer communication. Based on the summary of the leads and its associated attributes i.e. name, entity name, city, business requirement etc. The task is to call them up and check for their requirements and how you as a ‘Sales & Marketing Executive’ can help them with their requirements. All interns were given 10 companies each and expected to call the companies/consumers interested. After completing the calls, all responses have to be documented and sent to the employee incharge.

CONTRIBUTION

WEEK 1:

In week 1, personally i don't think we had a direct impact on the company, therefore i believe we didn't have any contribution there. However I believe it sets a good base for the next few tasks. As we had to research about products and services that the company provides.

WEEK 2:

After completion of the task we were told that our reports would be used on the official instagram page or website of SSBM. This was our first real contribution to the company, although it might take time for it to be uploaded as the report needs to be refined and beautified.

WEEK 3:

The contribution in the third week was the presentation, as we had to send it to the company representative. This will help with company on sales pitches to sporting distributors and teams as it includes many exercises and benefits. We also had to present the product to the company representative.

WEEK 4:

In the fourth week we had the most direct contribution, as we got to do sales calls and attempt to sell the products. Therefore we couldn't be lazy as it could have a serious impact on the company. However most sales calls were declined or the customers had already purchased the products that they inquired about.

TASKS HANDLED WELL

RESEARCH:

Every single task during the programme required me to conduct a lot of research, so it was an integral part of this internship. My previous experiences in school helped me cope well with this part of the assignments. Since I already had a liking towards sports, the research part was very enjoyable for me, therefore allowing me to do well. Because the research was done well it made the formatting and writing easier to do.

PRESENTATION:

As an IBDP student presentations are a big part of the daily education, therefore setting me up well for the week 3 presentation. I was able to complete the presentation quickly as I chose a familiar product and knew the exercises and benefits of it. I was able to display my communications skills well during the presentation as well, that’s why I believe I handled the task well and better than the other ones.

WRITING:

After conducting in depth research and planning the structure of my work well, the writing part was very easy. I was able to write very freely because I had to write about topics I was passionate about, therefore the ideas came naturally. Although I had to be careful and not go off topic as sometimes the information started to overflow.

CHALLENGES FACED

ACCURACY:

Before documenting the information learnt while researching, it was very important to check the accuracy and validity of the information. This is something that I struggled with especially in week 2, when I had to find a player's statistics. Therefore I had to verify my information with at least 2 other websites in order to ensure accurate information. This was very time consuming and made the process longer and harder.

SALES CALL:

During the sales calls I wasn't getting any firm replies and many people were not answering. So we weren't able to even attempt to make a sale as most of the companies had already purchased the products from other companies. It was very time consuming and frustrating as I had to call multiple people, multiple times. And was not able to get any conclusive information. This was a challenge I was not able to overcome and it is something I regret not being able to do during the internship.

WORD LIMIT:

In week 1, I struggled when it came to following the word limit as there was too much information in my reference articles. So I had to use my words wisely and filter my information to the bare minimum. It was difficult as I had to stay with the 150 words but I couldn't compromise any information. In order to overcome this, I made bullet points about each article and only elaborated the point when it was needed or was important to rehabilitation and physical therapy.

TIME MANAGEMENT:

Overall I would say I managed my time well but I struggled in the first 2 tasks as I didn't plan my work well. I spent a lot of time researching and in the end had to write the articles in a hurry. I believe if i had more time the quality of my work would have been much better. But in the last 2 tasks i did well with regards to time management, and finished all tasks within the time limit.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

PRESENTATION SKILLS:

This skill was developed during the week 3 task, the presentation required me to talk about an unfamiliar product. Not only did I have to speak well but I had to make sure all my information was accurate as it was a formal presentation. This also gave me a taste of what business presentations are like. The person in charge gave me some valuable feedback, which will help in my future ventures.

TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS:

For each task we were given the period of a week, which allowed us to produce good quality work. Considering the amount of work we had from school, most of the time I was able to manage my time well, although it could have been managed better. Not only will this help me with school but even outside in the future.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:

My communication skills have improved in 2 aspects: Oral communication and written communication. My oral communication improved while preparing and conducting the presentation, and also when I had to communicate with the senior in charge or with my fellow interns during the topic selection. My written communication skills improved throughout the programme as I had to write countless emails, along with the articles and reports created for each task.

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING SKILLS:

This skill was mainly developed in week 1 and 3, as they required me to write original content. In week 1, I had to write small articles therefore I had to describe the article with fewer words. Which required me to use my words wisely. And in week 3, I had to describe the exercises and other things I wanted to speak about during the presentation.