Business and Growth Intern

About the Role

Duration: 6 Months

Start Date: Immediate

Location: Kolkata

Company: PopLotus (Nutralike Superfoods Pvt. Ltd.)

As a Business & Growth Intern, you will work closely with the core team across multiple functions of the business and gain hands-on exposure to how a consumer brand is built and scaled. This is a high-ownership, cross-functional role designed for someone who wants to understand the complete business rather than work within a single function. Your responsibilities will span e-commerce, quick commerce, exports and foreign trade, business analytics, marketing and brand building, general trade, logistics, and HR/business operations. You will be expected to take ownership of projects, work with data, identify opportunities, coordinate with external partners, and contribute directly to business decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the growth and management of PopLotus across e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms, including marketplace operations, catalogue management, pricing, promotions, inventory and platform performance.
• Analyse sales, customer, SKU and channel-level data to identify trends, opportunities and areas for improvement, and translate insights into actionable business recommendations.
• Assist in developing and maintaining data-driven dashboards and reports to track sales, margins, inventory, channel performance and other key business metrics.
• Support foreign trade and export development, including identifying potential buyers and distributors, researching international markets, generating leads, coordinating samples, and assisting with export documentation and follow-ups.
• Research international markets data to identify potential opportunities for Indian makhana and better-for-you snacking products, including competitor, pricing and market analysis.
• Contribute to brand building and marketing initiatives, including campaign planning, content coordination, market research, consumer insights and competitor tracking.
• Assist in expanding PopLotus' general trade and distribution network, including distributor research, retailer mapping, lead generation, outreach and sales coordination.
• Develop an understanding of the Indian makhana and FMCG snacking ecosystem, including sourcing, grades, pricing, competitors, distribution models and consumer trends.
• Coordinate with logistics partners, warehouses, vendors and internal teams to support inventory movement, order fulfilment, dispatches and operational efficiency.
• Assist with vendor and partner coordination across different business functions and ensure timely follow-ups and execution.
• Support HR and people operations, including recruitment coordination, candidate screening, onboarding, intern coordination and other day-to-day HR activities.
• Conduct market and competitor research across products, brands, pricing, distribution, consumer behaviour and emerging trends.
• Take ownership of ad-hoc strategic and operational projects that contribute to the growth and development of PopLotus.
• Work closely with the founding/core team and provide regular updates on project progress, findings, challenges and recommendations.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Currently pursuing or recently completed a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Management, Commerce, Economics, Marketing, Finance or a related field.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with an ability to work comfortably with numbers and data.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets; familiarity with data analysis and dashboards is an advantage.
• Strong research skills and the ability to independently find, interpret and present information.
• Interest in FMCG, D2C brands, e-commerce, quick commerce, exports, consumer businesses or startups.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where responsibilities can evolve quickly.
• Proactive mindset with a willingness to take ownership rather than wait for instructions.
• Ability to communicate professionally with customers, vendors, distributors, logistics partners and other external stakeholders.

What You Will Gain

• Hands-on exposure to building and scaling an FMCG consumer brand from the ground up.
• Exposure to e-commerce, quick commerce, general trade and international markets.
• Practical experience in exports and foreign trade.
• Experience working with real business data and making data-driven decisions.
• Direct interaction with founders and senior stakeholders.
• Cross-functional exposure across sales, marketing, operations, logistics, analytics and HR.
• An opportunity to take ownership of projects with measurable business impact.