Category: Startup

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Startup

Tour Operators Write to PM Narendra Modi Seeking Release of SIES Benefits For 2019-20, to Help Them Survive & Revive Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Travel
Tour Operators (Photo Credits: Pixabay) (Representational Image)

New Delhi, October 28: The coronavirus pandemic affected the tour operators as businesses remained shut for several months. On Tuesday, the tour operators approached PM Narendra Modi asking for immediate relief.

According to an IANS report, their demand is asking for the release of Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) benefits for 2019-20, which could help them survive and revive their businesses in this difficult period of Covid-induced disruptions.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), a body representing more than 17,00 tour operators in a letter to the PM mentioned that the industry is not seeking any extraordinary help from the government but only SEIS funds which has not been released in this difficult period.

What are SEIS benefits?

SEIS benefits are given to the tourism industry based on its foreign exchange earnings under foreign trade policy (FTP) 1995-2000. The benefit is then used by the industry for promotions, marketing and packages to attract more foreign tourists to the country. These benefits are given annually, however, it has not been announced for 2019-20. Which means that the funds have been spent by tour operators anticipating a payment, the same had not been done so far.

Another request at increasing the SEIS scrips percentage from 7 per cent to 10 per cent for tour operators and travel agents has also been made.

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Startup

Smart Digital Marketing Tips Which Will Help Your Startup to Grow Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing (Photo Credits: Needpix)

Mumbai, October 28: Coronavirus pandemic has made every business to restructure their strategy and planning for the future. It has come as a roadblock, where companies have been forced to sit down, brainstorm on new ideas and evolve. The pandemic has also seen several companies shutting down and many on the verge of collapse. Here are some smart marketing tips which you can implement to help your business grow amid the pandemic.

We need to remember that it is an extremely difficult work environment, demand has been ebbing and sales have been low. Businesses, therefore, need to implement some cost-effective and smart ideas to target their audience.

Connect With your customers: Use digital media to connect with your customers. This is a time to really show empathy to others and help out where you can. Remember, not to be too pushy with your products, but spread love and make your customers feel special and connected.

Strengthen your online presence: Make sure you are there on Google. Strengthen your presence on the online platform. In this age and day, the first thing a customer does is to use google. For e.g. if he is searching about restaurants near me and if your eatery doesn’t show up on the list, you have lost a chance to connect with your probable customer.

Work on your SEO: SEO will help your business increase organic traffic to your website and move past your competition.

Invest in good and relevant content: It is very important to invest in good and relevant content. For it, you need to do research. Put up information which is relevant for your business and which the customers want to see.

We are hopeful that you will get some insights from these marketing tips and it will help your startup to grow in these challenging times.

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Startup

Piyush Goyal Says ‘Futuristic Vision Combined With Decisiveness Has Provided India a Solid Startup Ecosystem’

Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. (Photo Credit: PIB)
Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. (Photo Credit: PIB)

New Delhi, October 27: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said at an event that futuristic vision combined with decisiveness has provided India with a solid startup ecosystem. He spoke this at the inauguration of the 1st Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Startup Forum.

Goyal highlighted how India’s startups have demonstrated their ability to convert this severe adversity amid the coronavirus pandemic into a great potential of the future. He further lauded Indian startups for demonstrating high energy and enthusiasm to give many timely and cost-effective solutions. He mentioned that this forum is an opportunity for all the member nations to share and learn from their experiences.

Goyal said creativity, innovation and disruption will be the new mandate in the emerging future. The minister said the new unique concepts that startups come up with will get a much larger engagement through this forum, according to a report on PTI.

“Sharing our best practices, knowledge, engaging corporates and investors from all the member nations, monetising and mobilising capital, setting up incubators, providing exposure and scale with market access will certainly help the worthy ideas of our startups’ innovations,” Goyal added.

 

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Startup

Opening a Restaurant Amid COVID-19 Pandemic? Here Are 4 Tips Which Eatery Businesses Can Follow to See Success

Restaurants
Restaurants (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, October 27: The coronavirus pandemic affected everyone, from businesses being shut to people being fired. Now with the economy opening up, and several curbs being lifted, restaurants along with other eateries have started their operations, but at a slow pace.

With the coronavirus rapidly spreading across the world and cases still on the rise, restaurants may need to hold on a little more before resuming operations like before.

Here are a few tips which restaurants can follow to see success in their business: 

Maintain Hygiene: The first and foremost thing is to maintain hygiene. Customers always like to take their meals or have a good dinner at a place which is clean and gives attention to hygiene. This has become extremely important amid the coronavirus pandemic, where people are extremely sceptical of trusting anyone who scores low on this point.

Customer is king: Like any business, restaurants also thrive on customers. It is therefore very important to keep them at the centre of your planning and strategy. Be polite, hospitable and make them feel special. Invest your time and effort on your guests. Give them special offers on their birthdays, anniversary and other days.

Be online: If your business is not yet online, it is time, you should rethink and make a strategy on how to go online. With the increase in online food delivery apps and the rise among people ordering food from their home, you will lose out on a major chunk of the customers if your presence is not on the online platforms.

Be Active on digital: As a restaurant, it is very important to be active on the digital platform. You need to always keep updating your customer base about exciting offers and lure them with attractive food pictures.

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Startup

WE Hub Selects 89 Indian Startups for Second Cohort of ‘Her&Now’ Programme

Startup
Startup

Hyderabad, October 23: As many as 89 startups have been selected for the second cohort of the ‘Her&Now’ programme by WE Hub, which is India’s first state-led incubator to foster and promote women entrepreneurship. The selected startups that have been shortlisted out of 600 applications  include Envi Robotics, Nuture Fields, Ladoo Box, Venica Herbals, ASARA Products, Verma Foods, Lesperanzau and SR Silks. According to a report by IANS, the pitching process had close to 150 women entrepreneurs out of 600 applicants, and each pitch was evaluated across 14 selection criteria like domain knowledge, digital literacy, potential to scale, impact, innovation, business feasibility etc., with external jury members in the panel, WE Hub said.

The acceleration programme is a six-month programme to help formally registered, women-led, for-profit enterprises from tier2 and 3 cities of Telangana to scale up. Reports inform that each entrepreneur was allowed for pitching followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. The programme will have an incubation program for seven months to help women entrepreneurs who have been running an informal enterprise or are a part of a group enterprise and now want to start up on their own and establish their enterprises.

About the Project:

  1. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women (Her&Now)’ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
  2. The programme is in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE).
  3. It aims to support aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs in India.
  4. For over 60 years, GIZ GmbH has been working with partners in India for sustainable economic, ecological, and social development.

Background:

The first cohort of 30 start-ups from Telangana graduated in August by formally registering their enterprises and raising finances through credit linkages and equity investments. “We are happy to witness an escalated participation of women entrepreneurs from 28 to 89 into our innovation ecosystem. With WE Hub, we look forward to foster and supporting many more entrepreneurs in the future,” said Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary (ITE &C), Government of Telangana.

Deepthi Ravula, CEO, WE Hub, was quoted in reports saying that the journey from a minimal viable product or solution to a successful start-up is a not an easy one. “We are deeply committed to supporting the women entrepreneurs as they prepare to launch and grow their ventures. Our partnership with GIZ enables us to invest in entrepreneurship in tier 2 and tier 3 cities where innovation is booming. We are looking forward to helping these select enterprises thrive,” she said.

Julia Karst, Head of Project Her&Now at GIZ, after a successful round of programmes with the first cohort of women entrepreneurs from Telangana, we are looking forward to welcoming 89 women entrepreneurs into the second round of our incubation and acceleration programme. Her&Now through WE Hub offers support customized to each entrepreneur and her business, and we hope this will prove especially useful in these challenging times of the pandemic,” she said.

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Startup

Women Entrepreneurs in COVID-19: From Starting New Business, Closing Funding Deals to Innovating, Here Are the Women Who Saw Opportunity in Adversity

Women entrepreneurs
Women entrepreneurs (Photo Credits: Pikist)

New Delhi, October 22: The coronavirus pandemic has caused a devastating effect on the economy. From job losses to factories being shut, people across the world were impacted by COVID-19. However, in spite of this, there is also a positive side where few women entrepreneurs took the challenging market condition as an opportunity and flourished amid the pandemic.

We bring to you a list of few entrepreneurs who dared to dream in spite of the negativity and gloom. Here are stories of some women entrepreneurs sailing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Boju’s Kitchen:

Amid the pandemic, we saw how several women started delivering food and helping others when most restaurants and other food delivery options were not available. One of them was 23-year-old Chitrangadha Gupta who along with her mother and grandmother, started a sought after momos making and delivery service under the name Boju’s kitchen. She started the venture with just an initial investment of Rs 2,000. From around 6-7 orders per day, her business now caters to over 30 orders and delivers across Delhi.

NOTO:

Mumbai based startup launched NOTO, an ice cream brand that specialises in making healthy, low-calorie, low sugar, and high-protein ice cream in May 2019. Entrepreneurs Ashni Seth raised an undisclosed amount of funding as part of a Pre-Seed round led by WEH Ventures, with participation from Lead Angels, in July 2020.

Enklose: 

Rakhi Khera founded Abiti Bella Enterprises in 2014 and has been generating good revenue. However, amid the pandemic, her business incurred major losses and was not able to earn a single penny. It was then that Khera came up with the idea of Enklose, a coverall that can be used by domestic maids, beauty salon workers, and hotel employees. It is a cost-effective, reusable, and washable overall.

Ni-Varak:

Ni-Varak is a contactless mobile-based thermometer. The need for wide-screening of body temperatures during the pandemic fueled its invention. Using the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, it enables a contactless way of measuring temperatures, along with geo-location and time. It is the brainchild of Chinnayya Math and Vaishali Chinnayya.

These women are an inspiration for others who want to start something of their own but are sceptical. Their determination, innovative idea and zeal to become successful have helped them see success amid the pandemic.

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Startup

4 Business Lessons Which Every Entrepreneur Should Take From the COVID-19 Situation

Startup
Startup (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, October 21: The coronavirus pandemic has affected every business around the world. Several companies have been shut, people have been fired and many are on the verge of closing down. The pandemic has taught entrepreneurs some harsh lessons which every owner needs to keep in mind before starting a business.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused changes in mindset, attitude, direction, and the behaviour for organisations, according to CISCO.

Here are 4 lessons which entrepreneurs need to keep in mind after the coronavirus pandemic:

Keep a plan B ready:

No one expected that coronavirus pandemic will have this massive impact and the effect will be lasting this long. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, strict lockdowns were enforced and there were several restrictions. This was not an ideal scenario for businesses to run smoothly. Here comes a plan B in handy, on which you can fall back on if your initial plan doesn’t work.

Every day is not going to be the same. Therefore, as an entrepreneur, if you’re struggling to cope with ups and down of the entrepreneurial journey then it is critical for you to have a Plan B in place.

Hire carefully: Allocate a set budget and then hire accordingly. Don’t overspend on resources which can easily be done with limited resources.

Keep a contingency fund ready: Prepare a contingency fund for emergency purpose. This fund is cash or other assets reserved to address unforeseen circumstances or losses in a business. The role of the contingency fund is to improve a company’s financial stability by developing a safety net that the firm can use to fill emergency needs.

Be Open to accepting new technology:  The virus has emphasised the importance of technology, as it was relied on more than ever for companies to conduct work. From work from home to business meetings, closing deals and interviews, everything was done online with the help of technology amid the pandemic.

 

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MSME Startup

COVID-19 Impact: 78% MSMEs and Startups in India Reduced Workforce in Last 8 Months Since Pandemic Broke Out, Says Survey

Startup (Representational Image Only, Photo Credits: NeedPix.com)

New Delhi, October 20: Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in India, as many as 78% MSMEs and startups across the country have reduced workforce in the last 8 months. As per a survey by LocalCircles, only 22 percent startups and MSMEs have the same or increased workforce as compared to the pre-COVID levels. According to reports, India’s startups and MSMEs ecosystem went through a torrid time due to the deadly pandemic and lockdown that was imposed across the country. Revenues and operations were severely impacted for most businesses which led to cost cutting and some even shut down temporarily or permanently. Per CMIE, 6 million Indians had already lost white collar jobs in the March – August period.

To understand the impact of the pandemic on startup and MSME, a survey conducted by LocalCircles received over 7,000 responses from startups, MSMEs and entrepreneurs spread across 104 top business districts of the country. In the survey, startups and MSMEs were asked about how have workforce adjustments taken place in their business during the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, 25 percent said their business has shut down and all workforce has been let go, while 15 percent said their workforce has reduced by 50 percent or more.

A 19 percent said their workforce has reduced by 25-50%, and another 19 percent said their workforce has reduced by up to 25 percent. A 6 percent said their workforce has increased and 16 percent said they have same workforce as pre coronavirus time. This shows that 78 percent MSMEs and startups in India have reduced workforce in the last 8 months since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and only 22 percent startups and MSMEs have the same or increased workforce as compared to the pre-COVID levels.

The Government also took steps to help these small businesses through the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme, but its advantages per feedback from businesses in July this year has been quite limited, the survey said.

The startups and MSMEs in India were asked about how employment of women has been in their business 8 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, 7 percent said women in their workforce have been reduced by 50-100 percent, 12 percent said women in their workforce have reduced by 25-50 percent, and 12 percent said women in our workforce have been reduced by up to 25 percent. 46 percent said they still have same number of women in the workforce as pre COVID-19. Not a single business reported increase in the number of women employees during the course of the 8 months of COVID-19 pandemic.

This means that 31 percent MSMEs and startups in India have reduced women workforce in the last 8 months. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among women in India, is one of the lowest in the world and appears to have slid even further during the COVID -19 pandemic.

In the final question, startups and MSMEs were asked looking at the next 6 months as to how do they see employment of women in their business. In response, 50 percent said they don’t plan to hire any women employees while 30 percent said they plan to hire 1-5 women employees. 13 percent said they plan to hire 6-10 women employees and 7 percent were unsure about it.

 

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Startup Strategy

Startup Growth Strategy: Follow These 4 Steps to Sustain in the Competitive Market

Startup Growth
Startup Growth (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, October 20: Starting a company is not an easy task and one of the most important things is a strategy. You need to have a robust strategy in place for your startup to grow.

It is a very difficult and competitive space for a new company to establish itself. According to a report on the Entrepreneur, 50 percent of the startups fail every year and only a few manage to survive for more than five years. The ones who succeed for a longer time in the market can do so by creating a startup growth strategy.

Check Startup strategies shared by Dr Vivek Bindra: 

Today, we will talk about 4 steps to develop your startup growth strategy: 

Create your vision statement

When you are starting, create a vision statement where you would like to see your company in the future. Dream big, aim big but is also very important to remember that there are various restrictions in the form of budget and other resources, unlike a big company. But, if the focus is right, you will soon be able to achieve it.

Own your strengths and weaknesses

Identifying your strengths and accepting your weakness will help you to sustain in the market for long.

Determine your positioning in the market:

You must have an understanding of your business. You must know, what sets you apart from your competitors.

Keep a check on your competitors: 

In the age of digital media, a consumer is bombarded with numerous information from various sources. Very few manage to stick on to the mind. Therefore, it is very important to check on your competition and never underestimate them.

These strategies will help you to increase sales of existing products or services on existing markets, and thus will help in increasing your market share. They will also create a strong brand recall.

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Startup

Indian Startups to Get a Boost As Atlassian’s $50Mn Global Venture Fund to Focus on India’s Growing Startup and Developer Community

Startup (Representational Image Only, Photo Credits: NeedPix.com)

Bengaluru, October 19: In what is believed to be a major boost to India’s growing startup and developer community, Atlassian Corporation, Australia’s leading software firm on Monday announced the launch of Atlassian Ventures. The new $50 million global fund aims to invest startups, including established companies that are already building products in its ecosystem. This leading firm in Australia, which set up a research and development centre in Bengaluru last year with plans to expand it further, said it is keen to nurture India’s vibrant startup ecosystem and rich technical talent pool.

Dinesh Ajmera, Site Lead and Head of Engineering, Bengaluru, Atlassian said that with India’s cloud market among the largest in the Asia Pacific region, the firm believe this fund will be an ideal opportunity for up-and-coming startups in India to access funding when building apps for our cloud products. “India is a significant market for Atlassian, one that’s teeming with an extraordinary developer community and a vibrant startup ecosystem that we plan to tap into,” Ajmera added.

According to reports, the company’s software products such as Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket and Trello are used by 1,74,000 customers worldwide, including Ola Cabs, Reliance, Walmart Labs, and Flipkart, to name a few. Atlassian Ventures will invest in three types of companies.

Ajmera informed that firstly, the early-stage startups which are building apps for any of Atlassian’s cloud products and secondly, the larger, more established ecosystem product partners who are ascaling their businesses and finally, the existing sales channel partners who are looking to step up their cloud services and create new products that support the future of teamwork. “As part of this programme, companies that receive funding are also eligible for mentorship as well as global exposure at Atlassian events,” he said.