Tag: bada business

Categories
Startup

How to raise funds – Pitch Deck explained by Mr. Ratan Tata

How to raise funds - Pitch Deck explained by Mr. Ratan Tata
How to raise funds - Pitch Deck explained by Mr. Ratan Tata

What can a well-designed pitch deck do for your business? To begin with, it can inspire the world’s best investors to invest in you.

Having an impressive Pitch Deck is a key component while fundraising for your business. A powerful pitch tells your potential investors that you are ready to raise money. It shows how prepared you are. How well do you know your business model, information about your team and more. For the investor, the Pitch Deck is the first window to your venture.

The Pitch Deck is the first thing that will keep your investors engaged to know more about your business.

Below are 10 powerful tips you should always keep in your mind while making the Pitch Deck. The recommendations have been made in the pitch deck by Sir Ratan Tata.

This will give you enough confidence to design and present a killer Pitch Deck for fundraising for your business.

1. Problem

This is the first slide of your presentation is to make the investor understand about your preparation. This slide will cover the problem of how you are filling the gaps in the market. What burning problem you are solving? A problem with the people can relate and the investor can understand.

The investor will have 3 solid reasons to involve in your venture:-

  • There is a clear sense of ROI.
  • The investor has experienced the same kind of problem in the past.
  • Their expert find it good to go

If your investor falls in these 3 buckets it means you got the lead investor.

2. Solution

  • A solution should be very clear and to the point. After the problem, investors always look for the solution.
  • Now you have to show your investor how your company and product will address the problem.
  • Most of the entrepreneurs focus on their product when instead they need to focus on their customers and the burning problem they are facing.
  • Try to use pictures and stories when you describe the solution.

3. Unique selling proposition

  • Is your product is unique enough to solve the problem of the customers? Is your product can attract your customer’s attention?
  • If the answer is yes! Then you have got the lead investor.
  • You need to work on the characteristics which can make your solution a “never-before” solution.

4. COMPETITION & BARRIER TO ENTRY

  • An image or a diagram is a good idea to tell the investor about the competitors that you have in your space. How you compare them and where you land with the value proposition.
  • You should clearly differentiate your product and company from your competitor which will make your company unique for the investors.
  • This uniqueness of your product will also create an entry barrier for the other competitors.

 

5. Revenue Model

  • Now that you have already explained your product/service, you have to talk about how your product will make money.
  • You have to discuss how your pricing will fit into the market.
  • The investor will keep an eye on how you will undercut the existing solution in the market with your pricing and will your customers be ready to pay that price?

6. Target Market

  • This slide will share the data of your ideal customers and how you will position your product in the market.
  • This is where you tell the story about the scale of the problem you are solving and the scope of getting success.
  • Always remember that the more specific you are with your targets, the more realistic your pitch will be.
  • The market size will decide whether you are getting the funds or not because if you are operating a small market then the investor might find the potential ROI small and risky to fund.

7. The product/Service

  • In this slide, you have to show the unique features and value to impress the investors.
  • This part of your Pitch Deck is all about to show off of your product/service.
  • Use pictures, screenshot, descriptions, quotes and testimonials from your previous customers to show how much they love your service/product.

 

8. Milestone

  • Investors like to spend more time to look over in this slide.
  • It should have your company project growth over the last and next 3-5 years with the detail of the finances and business model.
  • Your economic plan can also be shared in this slide which can include the distribution channel, operational structure and a plan to make money in the future.
  • No one can do the prediction where you will be in the next 3 years but the investors would like to see your future plans and the financial knowledge to reach there.
  • Do share your profit and loss statement for the last and next 3 years, if possible. This will give your investor a clear picture.

 

9. Funding so far

  • If you already have investors on board, now is the time when you should talk about why they choose to invest in your company.
  • All you have to provide is a summary of the investments. This will help you build credibility and validation of your company.
  • Also mention a realistic number raised through the other investors and the commitments if you expect to fund.

10. The Team

  • Here you have to mention the key role and expertise of your core team members.
  • Describe the unique value of each team member brings to the company. Also, talk about their seriousness and passion for the project and why they choose to work with your company.

Now that you are very much clear about the Pitch Deck, let’s take a look at some common dos and don’ts which will also help you in fundraising for your business.

Do’s
 Don’ts
Use bullet points in the slides Don’t fill your slide with text
Do include your contact details Don’t add too many team members
Tell a story while presenting Do not only focus on stats
Do elaborate the slides Don’t only read the slides
Use a powerful template to create the deck Do not over design

A solid pitch deck helps you secure the funding and will convert your business idea into a reality.

Categories
Startup

5 Strategies to build world-class customer experience

Is your customer-facing a bad experience?

Customer experience is the best opportunity to multiply your revenue because focusing on your It will reduce the churn and multiple the revenue which will lead you to higher profits.

Customer experience is an interaction and experiences your customers are having with your company. Customer who has a positive experience with a business is more likely to become a repeat and loyal customer and if you want them to be loyal then you have to invest in their experience.

What is a great customer experience?

Great experience come from providing amazing experience at every stage.

Why it matters to have a good customer experience?

  • According to a survey, 74% senior executive says that Customer experience impacts customer enthusiasm for being a brand advocate.
  • A study by American Express says that 60% of people are willing to pay more for better customer experience.
  • A study says that 49% of customers have made impulse purchases after receiving a more personalized and satisfying customer experience.

Let’s discuss the 5 most important strategies to build world-class customer experiences:-

1. Build a clear Customer experience vision

  • Start with a strategy to have a clear customer-focused vision that you communicate with your organization.
  • The easiest way to explain the vision is to create a set of guidelines and principles that help in building great experience.
  • The customer service department must be trained to solve the problems with these guidelines and principles because they are the face of your brand.
  • Analyze what kind of technology, tool, people and process you want to fulfill the objectives.
  • Check the gaps that exist between the customer’s expectation and experience?

2. Pay attention to the customers need and feedback loop

Thinking back to the Bain & Company research from earlier, 80% of companies believe they are providing great customer service, but only 8% of customers agree with them.

  • Post interaction with the customer start with the real-time feedback survey to know their need.
  • Do regular follow-up over the call for more details of the customer.
  • Start paying attention to what is being said by the customer on your social media. This is the only place where the customers are the most honest.
  • Keep your ear to the ground to hear what exactly your customer is saying.

3. Build a quick and effective resolution system

  • Keep a live chat system on your website. You can also add video-based assistance.
  • A quick response system can promote the purchase and also improve the customer’s perception of your brand.
  • Create a fun based feedback form to make them more engaged. A traditional feedback form can still serve the purpose.
  • Do not force your support on your customers but show them that the support is there and how to access it.

4. Keep an eye on customer experience metrics

  • Failing to measure the experience leads to missing out the valuable information that can boost the strategy of your customer experience. Always remember that if it can be measure, it can be improved.
  • Schedule regular feedback.
  • Use NPS (Net Promoter Score) to measure the recommendation percentage of your customer. This will show whether the customer would or would not want to recommend your company to their family or friends.
  • Use CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) to know the metric on how satisfied your customer is with the last purchase. Interact with the customer over a call, it is very flexible.

5. Use technology and tools to build a great customer experience

In 2008, only 12% of businesses had cloud-based Customer Service Management Tools. Now it’s 87%!

  • Always remember that technology and tools can reduce the workload of a company with 67%.
  • These technologies can increase the efficiency and reliability of your organization.
  • Engage your customers with an automated tailored message.
  • Engage them with multiple channels in one place.
  • Reduce churn with analytics.

Customer experience can lead you to failure or success so considers it very seriously and provides your customers with the world’s best experience. It will not only keep you in the game for longer, but it will also differentiate you from your competitors and help grow your business.

Categories
Startup

5 Reasons why 99% of Startups Fail

The Startup Failure Report card!

The question on everyone’s mind is ’Why do most Startups fail’? It is a heartbreaking fact that 8 out of 10 startups fail in the first year of their business. This can be prevented if one is aware of the mistakes made by startup founders. Here are 5 reasons why startups fail
and what blunders need to be avoided:

1. Lack of Focus on the Consumer & the Market Need

  • A study shows that 42% of startups fail because they were not successful in solving the need of the market.
  • The founders think they have a brilliant idea, build a product, add extensive features but the customer rejects it and then the business runs out of money 

Solution:

  • Know your customer- Talk to them as much as possible, find out what they want; what they expect from a business like yours and then build a solid product.
  • Avoid overload of features- It makes no sense to include ’Nice to have features’ in the model. Most startups fail because these unnecessary shows off only leads to money drain. Focus on solving customer challenges and once the business paces up then see what extra features can be added.
  • Launch a pilot- This means take your market to the market, test it and get feedback. Incorporating opinions and valid points can help improve the business.

2. Variable Market Conditions

The value you offer to the consumer needs to be compelling enough for him to buy your product. It needs to be a ’Must Have’ for him rather than a ’Nice to Have’ product.

  • Unfavourable Economic Situation- Such a crisis is out of your control and can lead to many startups failing. For e.g. there is downturn or a recession in the offing or a lockdown like Coronavirus outbreak, it becomes difficult for the business to sustain.
  • Wrong Timing- Sometimes the product you bring in the market could be ahead of it and the consumer is not ready for it. In the second case, the product can be a ’Copy Cat’ version of other products already in the market. Both these cases are reasons why most start-ups fail. 

3. One-Man Army

Apart from understanding the customer’s need, a successful startup needs a mix of good and talented people.

  • Don’t think that only you can do everything. A solo founder may take 5X longer to outgrow the startup phase
  • Get a well-balanced team in place time to take strategic management decisions
  • Great ideas are generated when you work with a team and it might help in changing the founder’s perception on various issues

4. Premature Expansion

One of the biggest reasons why most startups fail is that they want to run before they learn to walk properly.  

  • Don’t be over-enthusiastic if you get a round of funding. This does not mean that you are ready to scale up drastically
  • Be very sure of the lifetime of your product & customer both and the customer acquisition cost for it
  • If you are not acquiring customers the way you had planned, defer scaling up plans till a solution is met
  • Once you reach a stage where customer acquisition cost is lower and revenue is increasing leading to profitability, you can take the plunge and scale-up

 

5. Running out of cash

The last reason why startups fail is that they run out of cash. The key job of the CEO/Founder is to keep a note of the cash left for working capital or how to make the company cash flow positive

Warren Buffet, an American billionaire & investor said:
  

Rule No.1: Never lose money 

Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1
  • Everything goes wrong if the company runs out of cash before the next milestone is achieved. However, funds can be raised but the valuation at this time could be much lower
  • Define a framework with phases of growth. Get clarity in what phase you will want to conserve cash and in what phase you want to be cash lenient
  • Do not mix your personal finances with business accounts 

We all know now, why most startups fail. But this should not discourage you from becoming an entrepreneur. Instead, it should encourage and make you work harder to achieve your goal. Just remember:

Keep Customer-first over product

Choose a team overwork in isolation

Believe in sustained growth over greed for expansion

Be focused rather than over-ambitious 

And success will become a part of your journey!

 

Categories
HR & People Management

8 Important Time Management Tips for Business Owners

प्रतीकात्मक तस्वीर

Time is Money and Time Management is the way to earn it!

Running a company requires discipline and therefore time management for business
becomes critical for being successful. A business owner wants to do a lot of things for e.g. schedule meetings, prepare budgets, strategize marketing and sales & even networking. How can he pack in so much? Here are 8 easy time management tips
that will help business owners plan their workflow.

1. Prepare a Schedule

  • Entrepreneurs are busy individuals; hence time management for business becomes essential
  • Prepare a day-to-day schedule of what needs to be done when and try and stick to it!
  • This can be done in the way of maintaining a pocket notebook or use online tolls to help you make a schedule. Google calendar can be of great for this

2. Outsource Non-Essential work

  • Business owners have to realize that they don’t need to do everything themselves. Outsourcing non-core work is an efficient way of time management for business
  • For e.g. Don’t take administrative work in your hands, outsource it to other professionals. If there are tasks that can be outsourced to freelancers, explore that option as well

3. Prioritize Work
 

  • Distractions can impact our work schedule in a negative way. Hence prioritize and learn to say ’No’ to things that are unimportant for the business and can be done later
  • At the end of each workday, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow and review how much you could achieve
  • This will help you to know which tasks are on the utmost priority list for the next day

4. Use Technology to save time

  • Technology is an enabler when it comes to time management for businesses. Use remote software and apps that can help you with other functions of the business
  • Your monthly bill payments can be automated
  • Use a time tracking app like Time Doctor to avoid losing out on important things to do
  • Highly sophisticated marketing campaign tools can be set up

5. 80/20 Principle for Time Management

Being a business owner you have to learn about the 80/20 rule which implies that 80% of your tasks should be done with 20% of your time. This makes time management for business highly efficient

  • Delegate tasks that are time-consuming and perhaps less revenue-generating to others
  • Prioritize in a way that you complete your most important tasks that time of the day when your mind and body are highly productive

6. Avoid Distraction

  • Avoid Time wasters!
  • These could be colleagues, family & friends or even social media engagement like Facebook and Whatsapp chats
  • The point is not to discourage you to unwind but avoid these unnecessary distractions during your most productive hours

7. Keep some time to unwind

  • When we talk about tips for time management for business owners, it does not mean to manage only your work life, take some time to relax the mind
  • During scheduling tasks for the day do keep a window for some sort of activity that help you energize and channelizes your brain

8. Learn to Multitask

  • The skill of multitasking can help in better time management provided you don’t get confused
  • Multitasking is a skill that will help you succeed not only at work but also in life
  • You can group similar tasks. For e.g. if you want to contact suppliers and vendors, see if it can be grouped together
  • Try and achieve your tasks by dividing it into smaller segments and then setting a time frame. This can help in faster task completion and better time management for your business

The reality is no one can add more hours to their day. Instead, we have to master the art of using time sensibly. These time management tips will go a long way in streamlining your work and setting deadlines for its completion. 

Categories
Startup

How to grow sales with Email Newsletters?

“Do you Want to grow your sales?”

An Email Newsletter is a very powerful tool. It can motivate, inform, sell and entertain your target subscribers. Sending Email Newsletters
 regularly can convert to sales by promoting your brand, targeted engagement and driving repeat business through incentives.

Here are 7 important tips to increase your sales through newsletters:

1. Know and Understand Your Target Audience

  • Out of all the Email Newsletter tips that we’re going to talk about in this article, knowing your audience is the most important tip. The email messages that you send out to your subscribers need to be relevant to their interests. This can only happen when you know your target audience.
  • Every subscriber on your email list is different, which is why it would be a mistake to send them the same email message. Emails relevant to the receiver tend to drive 18 times more revenue when compared to general emails.
  • Always make a segmented email list which allows you to divide your Email Newsletter list into smaller, more targeted sub-groups. Segmenting your list will let you target your consumers based on their personal preferences.
  • Age, gender, geographical location of your subscriber, helps you send relevant emails which improve your chances of getting a higher of sales.

2. Create Brand Awareness and Drive Traffic

  • Use regular Email Newsletters to make your subscribers familiarize with your brand. Send at least once a month or once a week, to surprise your subscribers about the new things.
  • Sending newsletters regularly helps building the relationships between you and your subscribers, by keeping your business and brand at the forefront of your readers’ minds.
  • People are more likely to buy from you if they know who you are, what you represent and that you value their business!

3. Send Regular, Consistent Emails

  • When you are building a list of your loyal subscribers who open and read all your emails, you shouldn’t have any problems sending out weekly or daily emails to your list, and getting more sales.
  • Sending regular Email Newsletters is that you’ll have a record of stats from each send. This means you can email a group who all clicked on an image to see a Product, but didn’t buy it, for some reason. Targeted sends are highly effective.

4. Make the Most of Your Subject Line

  • The open rate of your email completely depends on your subject line. The content of the Email Newsletter wouldn’t matter, if people don’t open your emails. So investing in it will immensely help your Email Newsletter campaign.
  • Connect to your subscribers on an emotional level so that they enjoy reading your emails. Keep each subject line to the point. Longer subject lines are not only confusing but are also hard to understand.
  • Questions and numbers are proven to get a higher click if done rightly but make sure you are not confusing anyone.

5. Have a Dedicated Landing Page for Your Campaign

  • Most of the time your subscribers click from your email to your homepage, product page or landing page. In order to get higher returns on your investment, it always makes sense to build a dedicated landing page and direct your email traffic to it.
  • Keep in mind that the message that you convey with your email should match your landing page or else it beat the purpose of creating one. 

6. Create Urgency with Time-Sensitive Discounts and Flash Sales

One of the fastest ways to increase sales is to send discounts and flash sales newsletter. 

Types of time-sensitive discounts can include:

  • Event Discounts (Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Anniversary, Valentine day, Festivals ETC)
  • First Time Shopper Discount
  • Pre-Launch Items Discount
  • Thank You Discounts
  • Abandon Cart reminder
  • Customer and company milestone discounts

A flash sale is also effective pushing those people who are on the edge of make an impulse buy. 

7. Target Future Sends Based on Past Action

  • You should send more targeted newsletters by utilizing the last purchasing history. For Ex; you can send email to the customers who bought Product A in the past and let them know about Product B or C, which will appeal to them.
  • Sending email will drives traffic to your website and will increase your sales. Email Newsletters are as powerful as social media, if not more, when it comes to engaging your audience and offer ROI.

Here is a free tool to start creating Email Newsletters:

MailChimp is a powerful and easy to use option for those who want to focus on business growth. MailChimp’s email service allows you to:-

  • Integrate your emails with CRM’s and shopping carts.
  • It allows you to use free email service for your first 500 subscribers.
  • It has smart editing tools.
  • It creates a personalized sign-up that matches your brand and gives you the opportunity to post them on your social media accounts.
  • You can also create a customized template and you can also send customized messages to your subscribers.
  • With the help of MailChimp, email marketing is easier with its drag and drop feature.

Building a brand for your company through newsletters is a difficult task. It takes effort and time to notice results. Hopefully, these 7 important tips can help you turn subscribers into repeat customers!

To know about Email Newsletter and more marketing ideas that involve zero cost or very less cost, buy the Zero Dollar Marketing Course by Bada Business today on Bada Business mobile App.

Categories
Startup

How to protect your Working Capital during Coronavirus Downturn?

How to protect your Working Capital during Coronavirus Downturn?
How to protect your Working Capital during Coronavirus Downturn?

Cash is King: How to manage Working Capital during Downturn

Working capital is the amount of capital needed to run a business and is calculated as Current Assets – Current Liabilities. Coronavirus lockdown has led to a drop in demand for goods and services. At a time like this business owners need to do an in-depth analysis of their cash requirements for efficient working capital management.

We get you 5 important steps for efficient working capital management during the Coronavirus downturn:

1. Operating Expenses Breakdown
There are 3 types of costs that you need to analyze:

  • Direct Costs- Costs that directly impact or are related to revenue.
  • Indirect Costs- Costs which are not directly related to the product or service but would be supporting costs to keep the business functioning. For e.g. marketing costs, office supplies, local travel etc.
  • Salary- Cost of employees working for the organization.

A proportionate cut down on indirect costs can help prevent the extra cash outflow. For e.g. spends on marketing can be put on hold or any IT related expansion can be deferred till the situation and revenue become better.

Cash conserving measures become the need of the hour

Important Lesson

Businesses need a positive working capital and cash flow to grow their companies. During a downturn they can still grow or remain afloat if they have access to enough working capital or have assets in cash or cash equivalents.

2. Inventory Management

  • Focus on reducing or finishing stocks.
  • During Coronavirus outbreak companies are getting stuck with large inventories as the customer is not buying the way he used to.
  • Instead of blocking your cash in procuring more inventories, try to reduce the number of times the product is stocked till it meets the consumers buying pattern and working capital management is not affected.

3. Look at working with multiple suppliers

  • During a downturn, businesses are sometimes not able to provide the product or service to the customer due to lack of adequate supply.
  • Look for additional suppliers so that you can source similar products.
  • Multiple suppliers will help in a price competition between the vendors and will help in bringing down your supply chain cost

4. Keep a lookout for alternate financing sources

  • During a downturn in the market, you can assume working capital requirements for your business will increase as customers will take longer to pay for goods and services.
  • Check the availability of your usual credit lines.
  • If you have a line of credit, consider taking the funds before and keep it in a separate account. In this case, this cash will be available if more working capital need arises.

5. Discontinue non-profitable Products and Services

  • Products that are sucking cash out of the business should be stopped immediately for reduction in working capital management.
  • Entrepreneurs can look at what products can be made using a ‘pull’ system which means avoid wastage in the production process, what can be produced on made-to-order basis and what should not be produced at all.

A lot of entrepreneurs only have their local chartered accountants taking care of accounts or they hire young account executives to do the same. This is to save cost. In times of a downturn, entrepreneurs must take consulting from finance experts that have seen similar situations in life and can help you make quick and efficient decisions.

In downturns, entrepreneurs must divide their working capital decisions in two parts:
1. Tactical
2. Strategic

Tactical decisions are the one’s that you will implement in the short term. That is, in the net 30 – 90 days.

Strategic decisions are the one’s that you will implement in their long term. That is, in the next 2-4 years.

Only those companies will survive the Coronavirus downturn and bounce back that understand working capital management. They need to keep a close account of how much cash is there within the company and how to use it judiciously.

To know more about how to manage working capital for your business, subscribe to the online problem-solving course on working capital management available in the Bada Business Mobile app.

Categories
Startup

11 strategies to increase Employee Productivity

बिजनेस टिप्स
बिजनेस टिप्स
Improving employee productivity
is one of the most important objectives for every organization. Higher productivity leads to the economic growth, profitability and better social development. In Addition, employees who are more productive get better growth opportunities.
 
They stay longer and find meaningful work. Moreover, higher employee productivity tends to maximize organizational competitive advantage through cost reductions and improvement in top quality of output. 
The most critical and obvious way to start with is to set the right goals for the employee; make sure that the objectives are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely and are in-line with the employee’s skill set. 
1. Give people a purpose larger than themselves
’ When employees have a purpose that is larger than themselves, they will be self-motivated to deliver more. The purpose has to be established by the leader of the company or leaders in the company. The greatest organizations in the world are the one’s that have clarity of purpose.
Framework: Help employees answer ’why’, ’what’ and ’how’?
Why are they being asked to do what they have been asked to do?
What is their role and how is it going to impact their future growth within the company and in the larger working ecosystem?
How does the company work and what is expected of the employee?

2. Communicate Effectively
’ Transparency is the best key for effective communication; clearer the communication, the more productive the employee will be. Encourage your employees to have phone calls and quick meetings; this reduces the time spent on other ineffective modes of communication. It will also help in team building as there is a personal connection in both these forms of communication.

3. Incentivize Employees
’ One of the best ways to motivate employees to be more productive is to actually give them a reason to do so. Appreciate and encourage your employees to increase their productivity.
4. Train and Develop Employees
’ Helping the employees to expand their skills will build much more advanced workplace, which will benefit your company in the long run and improve efficiency and employee productivity.
5. Include psychological hint to boost employee productivity
– Psychology has shown that the things that surround an employee could affect his or her mental state. These cues can help the employees in increase their focus. Among the elements that a company can incorporate include: Music, Plants, and Lighting etc.
6. Encourage employees to help each other
– Human beings are social animals and the natural inclination is towards helping others. Collaboration takes multiple methodologies, including brainstorming, cross-document collaboration, or picking up projects where other employees get stranded. Additionally, this sort of partnership fosters teamwork and a more united attitude towards the job.
Organisations can use team collaboration apps like Slack, Whatsapp groups, Facebook for work to increase employee collaboration across the department.
7. Give frequent and timely feedback
– When an employee achieves something, give him or her that recognition. Always consider giving a reward for employee service that exceeds expectations. Even negative feedback helps because it ensures employees understand expectations. Ensure that the feedback is timely. Create a process-driven timely feedback loop.
Most global organisations use the 360 degree feedback process to ensure that employees gain the right feedback at the right time and from the right person. Today a lot of companies also share feedback within peer groups. This also creates a lot of understanding within peers working together.
8. Be open to receiving feedback too
– Listen to your employees when they ask for better tools. Listen to their needs to ensure if they’re happy with the equipment or not. For better employee productivity, ensure each person is in the right role for his or her needs and skills.
9. Offer workers the tools they require
– Modern workplaces can provide a wide array of the necessary equipment to get work done. Keeping these assets up to date ensures that employees can get the job done when they need to. 
10. Make achievements public and celebrate them
– Celebrating achievements offers employees the chance to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the short term. The achievement might not be an essential goal, but it does constitute a milestone. 
11. Build a culture of efficiency
– If you’re going to increase the employee productivity in your workplace, you need to build a culture that supports efficiency, hard work, and focus.
Many organisations move their senior employees across several departments every year. So every key employee has a taste of each department and knows what it takes to grow the company. You can also create a culture of inter-team understanding. This will help your organization thrive through tough and good times.
Some employees when given the opportunity can also find new portfolios of work where they might be able to use their skill sets more.
Employee Productivity is an outcome of how they are being treated at their organization, are they aligned with their work, are they being heard, does their feedback matter? 
Organizations need to increase their focus on making the workplace more employee-friendly to ensure the best and productive results. Discovering these root causes can help exposing the path to maximum the employee productivity.
Categories
Bounce Back

5 steps for SMEs to Bounce back during Coronavirus

Bounce back and win the Coronavirus battle!

While everyone across the world is battling with the impact of Coronavirus, there are first-time challenges faced by SMEs. Small businesses are making all efforts to keep going and bounce back
from the Coronavirus downturn
. We tell you 5 things that SMEs are undertaking or can implement to bounce back during this difficult phase:

1. Remote Working and Monitoring

Adapting to crisis is the best way to bounce back. Remote monitoring of work will help SMEs have a control over how the business is functioning and what is the productivity. Use online tools for remote functioning of the business such as:

  • Zoom and Google hangout for video conferencing
  • Google spreadsheets so that everyone can access data and important information
  • Create a Google calendar to mark events, milestones that need to be achieved
  • Use Whatsapp groups for updates and sharing daily progress reports

2. Looking at Diversified Business Models

  • Retailers that have revenue generated through a variety of channels or a various of geographic locations will be able to handle the Coronavirus downturn
  • Look at how the online model can be incorporated in your business. This can bring about a monumental change and shift in your company and could be a great bounce back strategy
  • Check what are the e-commerce solutions and resources available to you, leverage technology
  • Make a list of what products can sell online. Digital platform cannot be a savior for all your products and services.

3. Keeping Cash Flow Intact

Cash flow is a key factor for small business owners, especially during a time when revenues are significantly impacted due to store closures, reduced store hours, and unfilled demand for some products. Few ways to look at maintaining the cash flow and avoiding layoffs are:

  • Borrow from alternate sources or a known line of credit- This will help if additional cash is needed for working capital requirements
  • Collect payments that are due to
  • Cut on all non-essential expenses that can be stalled for a few months
  • Negotiate prices with vendors & partners
  • Create online payment options for customers
  • Slow your payment cycle as well- Look at how many days is your payment cycle with a vendor and take the decision accordingly

Important Information:
 

There is a World Bank report which talks about the total impact of Coronavirus on world economies. As far as India is concerned, it should be in the region of 0.4 percent of GDP.

4. Checking regular updates from the Government

  • The Government is taking various steps to provide a stimulus to SMEs, so that companies and small businesses can sail through this economic crisis
  • Regularly keep an eye on what the Government is announcing on SME loans, MSME schemes, payment terms etc.
  • This will help act as a relief for many businesses during Coronavirus outbreak

5. Be Positive and bounce back whenever you feel like quitting

It is natural for SMEs to think that they won’t be able to survive and shutting down would be the best option, but try and give it a chance by thinking a little differently

  • Make a routine- Plan how are you going to take updates, business meetings, sales analysis and also keep some time for yourself to relax
  • Take the help of a mentor- It is very important that if you get stuck somewhere you can ask for advice and take the right decision
  • Acknowledge the hard work put in by your employees- This will motivate them to work harder and help the company to bounce back during the coronavirus outbreak

As our Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi said that we are all in it together and together we have to fight the crisis. Hence, SMEs should not think of quitting and find ways to bounce back during this outbreak.

Categories
Process & Business Expansion

Business Continuity Plan during Corona virus lock down

Business Continuity Plan during Corona virus lock down
Business Continuity Plan during Corona virus lock down

“is your business falling due to Coronavirus Outbreak?”

Coronavirus Lockdown in India has changed the way businesses think and operate. Planning for operational flexibility is of extreme importance during such a global crisis. Here are 5 key steps that can help you create a Business Continuity Plan during Coronavirus and create strategies and a framework to face such disasters.

1. Know your key Business products or Services

As an Entrepreneur/Business Owner you should rank your business priorities in order of importance. For e.g.

  • Which area of business contributes most to the revenue?
  • Devise a plan of these critical activities and distribute responsibilities to employees on how will these critical functions be managed during Corona Virus Lockdown
  • Analyze how long can you continue with the existing resources. Look into cash flow management and financial implications.

2. How to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19

  • Your Business Continuity Plan during Coronavirus outbreak has to revolve around the people and your stakeholders
  • Protect the health of staff
  • Develop a communication strategy for employees, customers, and suppliers
  • Create a Standard Operating Procedure Guideline so that efficiency is maintained and core functions are carried out smoothly
  • Create a CoronaVirus Outbreak Team that will look into critical functions and will ensure the protection of employees with their preparedness
  • Consider flexible working options- remote working, work from home, alternate working days

 

BUSINESS CONTINUITY DURING Coronavirus OUTBREAK

Teamwork is essential. It will improve coordination and increase productivity. Show you care for the employee and everyone will work towards achieving the goal

3. Supply Chain Management during Coronavirus Outbreak
  • Identify operational and revenue impact
  • Check on feasibility of sourcing goods from other suppliers or perhaps multiple suppliers
  • Make sure that your supplier also has a Business Continuity Plan during Coronavirus in place.
4. Alter your product/value offerings
  • Since direct customer contact will not be possible during Coronavirus lockdown, it is wise to modify you product offerings to match what the consumer wants during this time.
  • For E.g. some businesses can look at digital offerings during COVID-19 lockdown or you can also divert existing employees from a dormant function to the customer service vertical to keep the customer satisfied by offering them better service during Coronavirus Lockdown in India.
  • In this way you might be able to retain existing customers and can utilize the workforce effectively.
5. Communicate and Prepare for the future
  • Devise clear communication strategies for internal employees and for external stakeholders
  • With a slowdown due to Coronavirus outbreak in India and across the globe, utilize the time to think about the future and how to make up for this slump
  • Periodically review your plan and amend if need be according to the external situation
  • Self-learning is a continuous process, hence learn from the challenges thrown at you
  • The Coronavirus outbreak will prepare us for the next global epidemic or slowdown, if it happens.

These 5 steps will help you prepare a Business Continuity Plan for your organization and help fight through the Coronavirus Lockdown. Insights, tools and structured business processes will help entrepreneurs and their businesses geared for pandemic planning.

Categories
Motivation & Mind Control

Learn How to Change Bad Habits

Introduction

  • How to change bad habits?
  • How to adopt good habits?

We keep on doing some kind of nonsensical things that we know, we shouldn’t do; but, we are still doing them.

Any person who is addicted to alcohol, cigarette, illicit sex, gambling, etc. he knows that he is doing something wrong.

When he is absolutely addicted to it, he regrets for the day when he has started it.

Now, if he wants to leave that, how he will do it?

Bhagavad Gita discusses in detail how to change bad habits.

Lesson from Bhagavad Gita on Changing Bad Habits 

Bhagavad Gita is a book not on information; it’s a book on complete transformation.

Go to Google, if you want information and Go to Bhagavad Gita, if you want transformation.
In Chapter 3 Verse 41 of Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is asking a question: 
’My Lord, why do we have these nonsensical habits? I don’t want to get involve into a wrong misdeed, a wrong activity but still, I do it. I don’t know who motivates me to do all these wrong things.’
Arjuna wanted to know how to change bad habits.
So, Krishna answered:

?????????????????????????? ?????? ???????
|

???????? ?????? ?????? ??????????????????
||

With the help of this Shloka, Lord Krishna has suggested ways to change habits.

The Shloka means:

  • We all got five senses. We should control these five senses and regulate them in the beginning for changing bad habits.
  • We need to check at the entry gates and don’t allow unwanted persons, thought desire, or association to get into our lives.  
  • If you do not control these senses, the negativities around you will be so powerful that they will uproot all your knowledge and wisdom. And, you will end up doing the wrong things even if you don’t want to do them.

The understanding of the above Shloka is:

If you control on the kind of association you have, i.e. the books you read, the movies you watch, the television programs you see, the friends you keep, or whatever the association you are around, you will be able to change your habits.

How to Change Habits?

One of the ways to change habits is to regulate the kind of programs that you watch on television. 

For example:

  • If you watch programs which are about illicit sex and pornographies, you will get into such things.
  • Some daily soaps or serials are given in such a way wherein Indian wives are trained to hop into multiple beds and peeping into somebody else’s house to know what’s happening in their houses.

Garbage in, garbage outGood in, good outPositivity in, positivity outNegativity in, negativity out

If you control the kind of association you are living in, you can influence upon your future automatically by creating good habits and actions.

Watch your thoughts, your thoughts become your words.Watch your words, your words become your actions.These actions will create your habits; habits will form your character, and that creates the destiny.

So, everything starts with thoughts.

Where do these thoughts come from?

These thoughts get reinforced with the kinds of programs you watch.

So, create a good association in life.

Power of Habits

If you regulate your senses, you can regulate your actions.

When you regulate your actions, you can regulate your habits.

When you regulate your habits, you regulate your character and destiny automatically goes up.

So, this is the power of habits. Your habits can change your destiny.

For example:

  • Chanakya Pandit has trained Chandragupta Maurya into principle-centered, character-centered, and morality centered habits.
  • Chanakya Pandit cultivated a global leader out of Chandragupta Maurya, son of Mura (Mother). He created a dynasty called Maurya.

People say:

Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander

But, we say:

Jo Jeeta; Wahi Chandragupta Maurya
This is because Chandragupta Maurya had uprooted the entire dynasty of Sikander. They did not allow foreign invaders to enter our country based on one thing, i.e. power of habits.
A principle-centred, character-centred leader in an organization goes a long way.