Tag: coronavirus pandemic

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Business motivation Motivational

Pivot And Persist: These Companies Stood Successful In Pandemic Times

2020 has turned out to be a chaotic year with full of surprises and shocks for everyone. It will not be wrong to say COVID-19, called the worst thing for many businesses, but for many entrepreneurs, it came as a blessing in disguise. This hard situation may not only enable them to rotate their business operations, process but keeping mind the growth of their business.

It has been months for the Indians who are surviving and fighting with the threat of this unbeatable virus. As correctly said, the lockdown imposed by the Government for the safety of our added woes not only to entrepreneurs but every class people as well.

While suffering during this time, a lot of businesses worked hard to fight back by changing the direction of their operation and touching different dimensions to be stable and grow at the same time.

Let’s have a look into those few businesses who fought this pandemic with a positive mind and change in operations way.

Hula Global

A garment manufacturing company founded in 2018 based out in Noida, was entirely into garments before COVID-19 came. But after a worse situation faced by people in terms of safety from viruses, the company owner changed business operations and started into manufacturing PPE kits, N95 masks, face shields, etc., to fulfil the rising demand for products in the country.

A change in business operation not only helped people in fighting the virus but also helped in the growth of the business. Now the brand has collaborated with the Bahrain Government, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Brazil, and Italy to supply these kits.

Homescape

A co-working space, company founded in 2013 by Manoj Khandelwal operating from Bengaluru, when lockdown happened, then work from home to come. So, co-working spaces had major suffering during this pandemic time.

When the future of his co-working space future remains uncertain, then this Bengaluru-based co-working space Workshaala had set the example by changing business operations by an initiative called Homescape. The company started providing furniture like tables, chairs, and desktop to people working from home and help them individual’s productivity and provide them with comfort and ease at the same time.

Shree Shakti Enterprises

Shree Shakti Enterprises is a bulk trader of steel utensils since 1956 that has a good name in the market. But like most businesses in the world, they also hit a speed bump. This pandemic forced them to pause the economic activity, shut factories, so they had to close all its manufacturing units in Sonipat, Haryana.

Then their Rahul Bajaj, the owner of the company came up with the idea to touch uncharted territory of sensor-based sanitizer dispensers to hands-free hand wash systems, and automatic foot sanitizers. They started building a prototype within days of the lockdown. We can clearly say that the idea had changed their life.

2020 maybe turn out to be a surprise and shock at the same time. Last few months, many businesses have illustrated flexibility more than ever. As the pandemic and lockdown disabled not only the economy, our lives too across the globe. But, as it said you will find the way you go on the path of innovation with a positive mindset.

 

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Startup

5 Businesses That Can Turn Out To Be Winners Amid The Pandemic

India has faced a lot due to COVID-19, and to be honest, every person is now being affected by it. This pandemic has hit economies, employment, and all sectors in very different ways worldwide, and the small business is the one that has felt the pressure a little more.

It is said that every dark cloud has a silver lining. Similarly, some industries managed to grow because of the spread of the coronavirus. One of the examples is the underserved and unnoticed hygiene market that has made footprints in this pandemic as demand for these products has increased. With this, EdTech or online learning, space has been growing rapidly, due to staying home and upskilling themselves.

Let’s see which small business has thrived or started off amid this pandemic.

Cover Yourself with the Masks

In the times of the pandemic, one thing which came out as a survivor during this time is Masks. After medical communities around the globe declared masks as a preventing measure to alleviate the spread of the virus.

Therefore, this leads to a huge demand for masks led to small – scale companies to set up or start manufacturing mask with less investment

Protection for Hands- Gloves

From doctors to nurses and other healthcare people wearing medical gloves using it as a precaution for avoiding coming into contact. Not only the health care sector using it but, now common citizens also using it for avoiding infection through the surface.

So, it made demand and supply of gloves have increased, therefore it made small owners utilize this opportunity of manufacturing facility for disposable gloves with capital under Rs 50,000.

Wash Your Hand Properly – Hand Sanitiser

Due to this pandemic washing your hands has become the most important task of the day. Therefore, the demand for hand sanitizer also turned up more into 100x by the users. A lot of brands started producing it, as existing brands struggle to keep up with the pace of demand.

This huge demand leads to opportunities, and with the creation of business opportunities for many entrepreneurs.

Give 20 Seconds to Washing – Soap

Soap is one essential product of our daily life but, after WHO has advocated washing hands for at least 20 seconds to eliminate traces of the virus from the skin. Therefore, people have started a small manufacturing unit at home with fewer investments.

These soaps are made home ingredients like herbs or special anti-viral to sell and made huge demands with building trust among people.

Let’s Learn Online

One sector which has shown promising growth during these tougher times is the EdTech sector, which had shown immense growth and up-gradation. We all were forced to be at home, which pushed them to be dependent on technology for learning and updating their skills. These online platforms had everything to give users like online tutorials, masterclasses, webinars, and online workshops.

The interest made birth and growth to the new and existing companies for flourishing. And given the opportunity to people who have the talent and skills to teach others.

As popularly said, that in every battle, there is a winning side and a losing side. So, in the fight with COVID-19 times, we have lost a lot, but, this small business got a chance to flourish.

 

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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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Startup

Indian Startups Can Now List Overseas Before Going Public in Country

Startup
Startup (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

New Delhi, September 21: In a big relief to Indian startups, the government has finally allowed Indian companies to list abroad before getting themselves listed in India. According to a Moneycontrol report, this was part of a series of amendments under the Companies Act, 2013, including moves to decriminalise various offences and improve the ease of doing business in India.

This move will now enable dozens of loss-making domestic startups to opt for an initial public offering (IPO). The amended law will “permit the direct overseas listing of Indian corporates securities in permissible foreign jurisdictions through an enabling provision.”

Most Indian startups want to list in US, the country which has the maximum investors. In India, the investors and entrepreneurs have ben asking for this amendment for the past few years, because under the current law, loss-making companies are not allowed to list in India.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the market everywhere, from job losses to companies being shut, the economy of most nations is in the doldrums. Despite COVID-19, global stock markets, including US have held up. Technology stocks have also performed better than many sectors.

The amendment of the law surely comes as a positive sign to the startups who have been waiting to go public. There are reports, that Zomato, Policybazaar, Delhivery have expressed their desire to go public in the next 12-18 months.

 

 

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Startup Strategy

Happiest Minds Technologies IPO Receives Great Response After Going Public Amid COVID-19 Pandemic; Here Why Ashok Soota’s Second Startup Saw Huge Demand

Happiest Minds Technologies (Photo Credits: Wikimedia commons)

Mumbai, September 10: The coronavirus pandemic has brought over a gloom to the Indian economy and Happiest Minds Technologies took the brave step of launching IPO amid the lockdown.

Ashok Soota was 68 when he started Happiest Minds. He had quit as the Chief Executive Officer of Mindtree — a company he co-founded and took public in 2000. In 2011, Soota left Mindtree and co-founded Happiest Minds.

Happiest Minds IPO was oversubscribed 150 times. According to experts, the Happiest Minds Technologies IPO was a good opportunity for an investor at a time when the entire IT space is witnessing a huge demand for a digital solution. The Rs 702 crore issue was subscribed 151 times, as per data available on NSE.

According to a Business Standard report, The impact of heavy subscription in Happiest Mind was also felt in the subscription data for another IPO that opened this week — Route Mobile. Ashok Soota, the promoter, wants to sell around 84.14 lakh shares. Also, there were reports that investor CMDB II, which owns 19.4 percent in Happiest Minds, is looking to exit after the IPO.

 

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Business motivation Motivational Startup

Post-COVID-19 Business: 73% Small And Medium-Sized Businesses Confident of Bouncing Back Post-Coronavirus; Here Are 4 Key Aspects Which SMBs Are Looking at, Says Report

Growth (Photo Credits: Pikist)

New Delhi, September 9: The coronavirus pandemic has affected everyone, from businesses being shut, to workers being fired, the economy of the country is in the doldrums. Amid the gloom, a new report- “HP Asia SMB Report 2020” has been published which gives a ray of hope. According to an IANS report,  73 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in India are confident that they will survive and bounce back post-COVID-19.

The report highlights that Indian SMBs are more confident than their Asian peers in bouncing back after the pandemic as the regional average stood at 60 per cent. The Indian SMBs are confident that they will bounce back and believe that this period is giving them a good opportunity to reformulate the business strategy.

The respondents are hopeful that the pandemic would bring business opportunity, but it will take some time. Here’s how the SMBs believe to bounce back and fight the pandemic:

4 Key Aspects Which SMBs are Looking at:

The report mentioned that Indian SMBs have recognised four key aspects that will help them best to bounce back – using online tools, flexible work options, advice on strategy and innovation at work.

Doing digital: SMBs in India recognised the importance of going digital to revive the business. The report mentioned that the respondents believed that digital adoption was essential for the revival of the business.

For the study, 1,600 SMBs completed the survey between May 26 and June 7, which comprised 200 interviews in each of the markets- Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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Finance Sales

India’s Auto Component Sector, Hit by Slowdown and Hammered by COVID-19, May Record 15-18% Dip in FY 2021 Revenues

Passenger vehicles segment. (Photo Credit: Twitter)
Passenger vehicles segment. (Photo Credit: Twitter)

Chennai, September 5: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Brickwork Ratings on Thursday reported that auto component manufacturers are expected to suffer about 15-18 per cent decline in their revenues in FY 2021. Brickwork Ratings also claimed the sector may see a decline of an average of 100 basis points (bps) in their EBITDA due to sharp contraction in demand over what the industry experienced during FY 2020.

Releasing the report, Brickwork Ratings stated that India’s auto component manufacturers saw a decline in the revenues by 8-10 per cent after a year-on-year (YoY) increase until FY 2019. This was due to the shrinking order book from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) due to lower automobile sales in the last fiscal.

Elaborating more, the report stated, “BWR (Brickwork Ratings) expects export revenues to decline as well in FY21 as more than 50 per cent of our exports are to markets in Europe, the UK and the US, and demand from these markets is expected to decline amid the Covid-19 outbreak and postponement of model launches or deferment/cancellation of orders.”

Adding more, Brickwork Ratings predicted auto components players will be affected adversely in the first quarter of the current fiscal and the dip in revenues may continue in the second quarter. Though they expect a gradual recovery in vehicle sales from the second half of the current fiscal, the sales of automobiles are expected to decline in FY 2021 due to the postponement of model launches, reduced production levels, supply chain disruptions and the slowdown in new capacity additions.

It is to be known that India exports around 27 per cent of its automotive components production to the US, Germany, UK, Italy, Turkey, UAE and Thailand. Over 50 per cent of exports are to markets in Europe, the UK and the US.

Apart from this, the domestic market has also been impacted due to the shutting-down of dealerships and OEMs until mid-May 2020. Other reasons include labour shortage, the shortage in raw material availability, lower income levels and weaker consumer sentiments.

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Finance

MSMEs Who Are Still Under Financial Stress May Get Another 6-Month Moratorium on Loan Principal Repayment

Currency (Photo Credits: Piklist)

Mumbai, September 2: Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and Retail borrowers who are still under financial stress amid the coronavirus pandemic and are unable to repay their loans even after availing the 6-month moratorium provided by the Reserve Bank of India, may get another six-month moratorium only for principal repayments.

The news reported by Economic Times mentioned that Banks and NBFCs may give six-month moratorium on principal repayments for retail and MSME borrowers. The intention is to restructure loans for only those borrowers who really need restructuring, according to reports.

The six-month moratorium on loan repayments ended on August 31. However, borrowers who still feel that they can not start loan repayment now can approach their lenders for the restructuring of their loan.

The Reserve Bank of India recently extended the existing debt restructuring scheme for stressed MSMEs by three months to March 31, 2021, in view of the distress brought upon by the COVID-19 outbreak

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Motivational

Can Travel And Hospitality Sector Get Back In Business With Revenge Travel Amid COVID-19?

Empty Airports amid coronavirus pandemic (Photo Credits: pikist.com)

The hotel and the tourism industry was badly hit by the COVID-19 as businesses remained shut for several months. In view of the coronavirus pandemic, several people had to cancel their travel plans. Even though the numbers continue to rise across the world, however, the economies have started to open up.

The tourism industry is hopeful for a wave of ‘revenge travelling’ – people going on extra trips or splurging after the coronavirus crisis subsides because they have been deprived of it for so long.

What is ‘Revenge Travel’?

Revenge travel is a term that is being popularly used to refer to the time when people will plan extra travel and splurge as an act of revenge because they have been deprived of it for so long. The concept isn’t new. It has roots in the early 1980s in China during the devastating poverty of the Cultural Revolution where ‘revenge spending’ by consumers emerged.

With the ease in restrictions, urge among people to travel has increased

According to a report on Oaky, several surveys have been done to understand consumer sentiment. For e.g., as Wuhan’s lockdown is over and travel is opening up around China, and demand has been returning slowly. Mariott which had temporarily closed 90 hotels have resumed the operations in 60. Even though the occupancy is low, the business has started again.

According to a Washington Times report, in May, a report by McKinsey & Company found Chinese confidence in domestic travel had risen by 60 percent from its shutdown lows, as much of the country reopened. The report spoke about how travellers opted to stay close to home and go by car or train over flying. The hotels further opted for reduced capacity, mandatory masks and more stringent sanitation rules to lure the still-hesitant travellers, according to the McKinsey report.

Similarly, in India, which had undergone one of the strictest lockdowns in March has opened up its economy in phases. Hotels, lodges have reopened in the country with full attention to safety precautions and other measures.

The pandemic has caused the economy to come to a grinding halt with job losses, businesses being shut, furloughs and others. The coronavirus numbers have touched the grim mark of 25,664,094 figures across the globe as of Tuesday. However, with a slew of relaxations announced in several countries, it will be interesting to see if revenge travel can help the hospitality sector to get back to business amid the coronavirus pandemic.