Tag: Business

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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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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

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting Your Own Business

Startup
Startup (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, October 16: Often people want to start their own business because they feel they have a great idea. We don’t want to discourage anyone but would like to remind that starting a business is not a cakewalk it requires a lot of crucial planning in the backend.

Here are five questions which you need to ask yourself before starting your own business.

Try to Have a Unique Idea

The first and the foremost to any business is to have a plan for your business. Your idea should be unique and something which the customers want. Don’t try and launch something where already 10 players are fighting with each other. If you have an idea, keep your customer in the centre of it and think aloud that how will they be benefitted.

Do Adequate Market Research 

It is very important to do market research before you think of launching your product in the market. Understand if there is a demand for your product and then analyse your competition. Try and find out how will your product be different from the others and why should customers choose you.

Compare the Risks Vs Rewards

It is very important to analyse the risks associated with starting a business in comparison to the rewards which you may get to see if the business becomes successful. For e.g you may have a lucrative career, earning a handsome salary and thinking of quitting your full-time job to start your business. There are no doubt huge challenges and risks associated in the initial few years, so are you ready for it?

There can be two sides to your wanting to start a business. One being your idea may not kickstart and second, it may become huge and a successful venture.

Strategise a Plan

It is very important to plan and plan well if you want to start your own venture. Remember everything is new and will be in limited resources. Right from the budget to the people whom you will be able to hire to run your team. You need to spend every penny wisely. Crisis doesn’t come knocking at the door, for e.g. no one knew at the start of this year that the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to several businesses getting shut and people losing their jobs. Therefore, it is very important to plan for a time when things will not run smoothly.

Do you have the money?

Finally, do you have the money to start a business? Are your finances in place? According to a Forbes report, most startup founders use their personal savings to fund their businesses. It is therefore very important to not remember not to drain your bank account to raise funds for your business. Entrepreneurs should set aside enough living expenses to last them for a year. Most startups are not profitable for months after opening

 

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Finance

Paytm Launches Same-Day Bank Settlement For Businesses That Depend on Immediate Availability of Funds; Here Are Details

Paytm (Photo Credits: Paytm website)

Bangalore, October 13: Paytm has started same-day settlement facility for all kinds of fund transfers on its payment gateway, the company said in a press note today. This settlement feature will help businesses that depend upon immediate availability of funds for their business. It includes e-commerce companies, government institutions, and all businesses involving inventories.

The feature can be accessed from Paytm Merchant Dashboard or Paytm for Business app. The minimum amount that can be transferred is Rs 50, and the maximum amount is Rs 2 lakhs in a single transfer request. The merchants will be able to define the frequencies and the funds will get transferred automatically. Frequencies can be once a day, twice a day or even three times a day.

As a norm digital payments made to a merchant is usually not settled on the same day. According to industry standard, the settlement happens after one day or two days, depending on the specific day of the week. However, payment startups have been innovating on same day settlements to encourage small merchants who need cash in their bank account daily to start accepting digital payments.

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Student

Delhi Skill & Entrepreneurship University’s First Academic Session Expected to Start in 2021 in Close Consultation With Companies

Entrepreneur (Photo Credits: Picpedia)

New Delhi, October 12: The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University’s first academic session is expected to start in 2021 in close consultation with companies. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that these companies will be treated as ‘customers’ in this endeavour, so that courses are in tune with the industry demand and students are greatly benefited. The Chief Minister made the comments after meeting the newly appointed vice chancellor and board members of the university.

The Chief Minister said that students will be imparted skills and training at the university so that they can easily get a job as soon as they pass out from the institute or can pursue business by getting hands-on business training. “The Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University has been established through an Act of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. I am glad to announce that the university has started functioning today. The first board meeting of this university was held today,” Kejriwal said at an online press conference.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, said the university will have a focus on quality and quantity – provide high-quality courses in the entire spectrum of skills training from traditional skills to those of the future and ensuring that the intake of students is large enough to cater to the existing demand.

According to reports, the government has appointed Dr Neharika Vohra, the head of the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM-Ahmedabad, as the vice-chancellor. Meanwhile, the board members include Pramath Raj Sinha, founding dean of the Indian School of Business and Founder of the Ashoka University, Genpact founder Pramod Bhasin, Naukri.com founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, entrepreneur Shrikant Sastri and IP University founder Vice-Chancellor KK Aggarwal.

The Chief Minister said that the Delhi government has appointed the vice-chancellor of the university and its board members. “I spoke to all the board members and told them that the only objective and ideology of this university will be ensuring jobs for every student passing out from this university, or they should be able to pursue business,” Kejriwal said. He added that the first academic session is expected to start next year, in close consultation with companies who will be treated as customers in this endeavour, so that courses are in tune with industry demand.

The chief minister said that those designing courses will show the curriculum to industry bodies and companies and ask them if students who learn this will get jobs. “The university should also address the qualitative gap that exists in the skilling sector. This was seen when all industries, businesses, shops, and markets were shut down during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, and people lost their jobs,” he said.

During his address, Kejriwal said that with the easing of restrictions of the lockdown, he met people who did not have jobs, and those who had businesses but did not have people to work for them. “It means that both were available, but they could not come together on a platform. “On one hand, many young students are unemployed and on the other, industries are not able to find skilled and trained labor. If we impart skills to our children, the industries will give them jobs,” he said.

 

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Startup

5 Mistakes Which Startups Should Avoid While Starting a Business

Startup Growth
Startup Growth (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Starting a business is not an easy job. There are a lot of things that need to fall into place. You may have the right idea, but lack in marketing it, therefore there several crucial decision that needs to be made while running a business. More caution needs to be exercised especially if your business is small and it is a startup.

One poor decision can hurt the potential for success, or at least set you back. While there is no fool-proof plan for success, but there are some commonly committed mistakes, which can be avoided. Here are 5 mistakes, which startups and small businesses need to avoid at any cost.

Not Having a Plan

Small companies often fail to make a mark because they lack a proper plan. Planning may be tedious, but without a solid plan for your business that includes business idea research and market potential, you will be operating in the dark.

Lack of Market Understanding

When you launch in the market, you need to have a proper understanding of the space where you are working, including the competition. Never underestimate your competition and analyse their strengths and weakness wisely.

Hiring More Than Required

Never do this mistake of hiring more employees than what is required. Based on the budget allocated for a particular profile, companies should never hire more resources than what is required. One needs to remember that it is a small company and the resources are limited. Companies often make the mistake of hiring more than what is required and then they end up firing them.

Spending Too Quickly:

The most important thing which startups and small businesses should keep in mind is to spend wisely. In the initial few days, one might see that investing money is giving good returns, which might prompt them to spend more. However, there should be planning and based on which, companies should spend.

Planning only for success:

It is very important to be prepared for failure. What will happen tomorrow is not known to anyone. There can be a lot of factors that can hinder the growth of a business. For e.g, the coronavirus pandemic has caused several businesses to wind up. At the start of this year, no one could foresee that the pandemic would take such an immense scale which would make the economy dwindle. So don’t start a business, buy planning only for success. There will be times, and days when things will not go as per the way you want. So be prepared for it.

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Business motivation

BharatPe Gears Up For Loan Disbursal as It Expects SMEs to Bounce Back Ahead of Festive Season 2020 Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Currency (Photo Credits: Pixabay) Representational Image

Mumbai, October 2: BharatPe is gearing up for loan disbursal ahead of the festive season as it believes that the MSME sector will revive soon. The company announced that it has already disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 150 crore in the ongoing quarter with the help of its partners and it has thus become the top fintech lender for merchants in the pandemic.

The Small and medium-sized retail businesses are prepping up and gearing for the upcoming festive season. This surely comes as a ray of hope amid the gloom in the market amid the coronavirus pandemic.

BharatPe in September alone recorded over Rs 80 crore in disbursement and it targets disbursing Rs 1,000 crore in the rest of the FY21. It has plans of ramping up the loans disbursal figure by seven times this year, according to the Financial Express report.

Taking full advantage of this time, the company also plans to focus on launching new products for merchants with an aim to help their business grow. BharatPe currently allows loans in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 7 lakhs for up to 15 months tenure. The merchants can repay the loan amount in the form of small daily or weekly instalments.

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Business motivation Strategy

Visa, IFundWomen Announce Grant Programme to Empower Women Entrepreneurs in India

Entrepreneur (Photo Credits: Pexels)

Mumbai, September 21: With an aim to empower women entrepreneurs in India, Visa along with its global partner IFundWomen on Monday rolled out a grant programme to boost the morale of women entrepreneurs across the country. According to a report by IANS, the digital payments technology leader will seek applications from women entrepreneurs across all sectors till October 20, 2020. IfundWomen is the go-to marketplace for women-owned businesses. The applicants need to submit details about their business and online presence, along with a short video about their business to www.ifundwomen.com/visa-india. Three winners will be selected and receive grants of Rs 7 lakh each and training from leaders within the Visa and IFundWomen network.

Women-owned businesses constitute around 14 percent of the total entrepreneur base in India. To spread the word, Visa said it has partnered with FLO (the ladies’ wing of FICCI) and Instamojo as digitisation partner for the programme in the country. T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa, said, “We want to see this number increase but our interactions with women entrepreneurs show that access to capital to fund, run and grow their businesses remains a challenge”.

The Visa and IFundWomen grant programme in India, the first outside of the US, “aims to boost female entrepreneurship and empower budding businesswomen through our network, guidance, financial support and resources to help achieve their dreams”, he added.

Visa’s partnership with IFundWomen is specifically designed to help women entrepreneurs secure the funding they need through a series of grants. This year in June, Visa had committed to supporting 50 million small businesses globally to power recovery and enable them digitally. In August 2020, through the first India edition of Visa Everywhere Initiative, it awarded three fintech startups with monetary awards and technological support to take their solutions to market, the company said.

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Startup

Starting Up a Business: 5 Things Young Entrepreneurs Should Know to Make Their Business a Success

Entrepreneur (Photo Credits: Unsplash)

It might seem hard to start to a business, but when the entrepreneurial project gets going, the brain behind it rejoices. However, in order to make your business a success, there are several things that you need to consider before you start your business. Young entrepreneur venturing into a new business, keep looking for ways and means to help them achieve their goals. Young entrepreneurs are at an age where they need a platform to prove their caliber. They want to run something of their own, create more job opportunities and be a part of the growing India.

Here Are 5 Things That Young Entrepreneurs Ought to Keep in Mind:

  1. Know your product: The first important thing before starting any business is that the entrepreneur should know in and out about his product. He should first, himself, know what is product is all about, how well he can pitch about it in the market, what is the demand of the product, and so many other related questions. A young individual will always know what is in trend and things that work in a market.
  2. Know your market: Understand who your target audience is! Before starting up a business, a young entrepreneur should very well understand what the need of the hour. Of course, there are other competitors in the market, so a beginner should consider all the risk factors before venturing into something new.
  3. Do what you love: Take your time and understand what you love. Let your passion be the driver for your product or service, which will always keep you motivated and get you going through the tough times. Before starting up a business, one should think with a calm mind as to what one loves because when you work on something that you actually care and love, you’ll probably be happy and make the idea a reality.
  4. Find a mentor: No matter how intelligent you are, you may falter! Hence, it becomes really important to find a mentor who can guide you and let you know when you go wrong. Find someone who can open your mind and share your ideas with. Surely, your ideas will be shaped in a better manner which will be easier for execution.
  5. Perseverance and Patience: The most important trait of any businessman is perseverance and patience. These 2 Ps go hand-in-hand and help people to get better and win laurels in their work. Once you have thought about an idea, don’t give up and work on it until you make it a success. For young entrepreneur, it is an added advantage that they have time, even if Plan A doesn’t work, then be ready with Plan B. There might be rough moments in your entrepreneurial journey but you have to keep working towards your goal.
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Startup

Startup India Scheme: Here’s How to Apply And the Eligibility Criteria to Avail Government of India’s Startup Business Loan

Loan, Representational Image (Photo Credits: Pixabay.com)

Bangalore, September 8: India is home to several startups and it has the third-largest startup base in the world.  Startups require loan to help them to boost their business initially giving the necessary machinery and equipment. So startup loan is the business loan which basically caters to the main funding of a business with which you wish to start.

Eligible companies can get recognised as Startups by DPIIT, in order to access a host of tax benefits, easier compliance, IPR fast-tracking & more. In order to avail the benefit of Startup India, the company should have an annual turnover not exceeding Rs. 100 crore for any of the financial years since its incorporation. The entity should not have been formed by splitting up or reconstructing an already existing business. Period of existence and operations should not be exceeding 10 years from the date of incorporation.

Here Are Details About Start-Up India Business Loan: 

The Stand-Up India Scheme offers Government loans for business ranging between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste borrower to set up a Greenfield enterprise. It is also granted to at least one woman borrower per bank branch to promote woman entrepreneurship among the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe. The tenure of the loan is 7 years.

Startup India scheme was launched on April 5, 2016, by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the backing of Department of Financial Services and is being monitored by the Ministry of Finance.