Tag: startups

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Startup

4 Best Small Startup Business Ideas For Women Entrepreneurs

4 Best Small Startup Business Ideas For Women Entrepreneurs
4 Best Small Startup Business Ideas For Women Entrepreneurs

Whether it’s sports or the startup ecosystem, India is moving ahead. The Indian women too have become more career-oriented and focused as compared to the past. Today, women are more concerned about their studies because financial independence has become necessary. While many are heading the top-level positions like Indra Nooyi, many others have become successful entrepreneurs too.

Out of 58.5 million entrepreneurs in India, 14% are women. A small startup business ideas can boom into a full flourishing business. All it takes is a little push and women today can achieve their sky of success.

However, running a business is no walk in the park. It takes a lot of determination and passion to pursue your entrepreneurial dreams. But if you feel you have it in you, what it takes to be a successful women entrepreneurs in India, many business ideas can start with low or zero investment.

Here is a list of small business ideas that you can start and be your boss:

1. Food Delivery Business

It may sound clichéd, but making good food is an art. An art that is delicate and invaluable. And, if you have been receiving compliments on your culinary skills in your circle, a food delivery business is what you consider.

With lots of people returning to their traditional taste buds, you can succor their demands with family recipes, traditional cuisines, or simply home-cooked food in your style.

You can begin with calling your circle of friends and tell them you are starting your own food business. Word of mouth helps in spreading the word for your business. Becoming a home chef is one of the best small startup business ideas that you can start from home.

2. Fashion Boutique

If you have a thing for fashion, then opening a fashion boutique is another profitable startup business idea for you. You need to have a minimum budget of INR 5 Lakh to start this business. Along with that, you will also need a minimum of 300 sq ft of space, a set of sewing machines, and one tailor. You can use platforms like Shopify and Facebook to showcase your designs and reach a bigger audience. With online payment gateways, you can easily manage the payments.

3. Unique Handicrafts

Another fantastic small business idea for women is to start a business of handmade craft supplies. The market has seen an emerging trend towards handmade as it is authentic and unique. This business needs very low investment as you can start this business from your home in just INR 500 – 2000.

By using the websites like Shopify, you can set up your shop online and sell your unique creations from the comfort of your home. Stationary to handcrafted book covers, diaries, and wall hangings to handmade goodies, it is an amazing money making ideas that you can start from home.

Use good quality products and create items that showcase finesse and you can see loyal customers knocking at your doors.

4. Stock Trading

The stock market has huge potential not just for investors, but also for women who want to gain financial independence from the comfort of their homes. Women with great knowledge of the market, shares, and stocks have already turned their homes into their Wall Street Office.

Stock trading can be done from anywhere, even as a side-hustle. All you need is good analytical skills and how to use your financial skills with a budget of INR 5000. There are many sites like Groww, Zerodha, Funds India that offer help and also advise how to invest money in the stock market and make sensible investments. There are also multiple online courses for entrepreneurs on the Trading & Stock Market.

From Social Media Influencer to opening a bakery, there are many small business ideas for women that can be converted into a home-based or online business opportunity. All you need to do is to identify a skill or a talent that you excel at.

The above-mentioned small ideas for women entrepreneurs are perfect for those who want to be their boss. To more such amazing ideas, visit www.badabusiness.com.

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HR & People Management

6 Effective Ways HR Can Help Create A Sustainable Company Culture

6 Effective Ways HR Can Help Create A Sustainable Company Culture
6 Effective Ways HR Can Help Create A Sustainable Company Culture

Whether it is a startup or a big organization, solid company culture is the key to success for the business. Having a healthy company culture determines how engaged your employees are and for how long you can retain them. And one department that plays a vital role in maintaining company culture is its Human Resource Management.

In simplest terms, how a company performs is directly related to how well HR empowers employees to give their best at whatever they do. The pandemic has taught entrepreneurs many harsh lessons, but chief among them is that if you don`t take care of your employees, they won`t take care of your business.

An HR professional`s job is to develop and maintain a company culture that is sustainable for the long run. Hence, the HR department needs to enhance a company`s culture that makes every employee come to the workplace every day.

So how can Human Resource department help to create a sustainable company culture? Here are five ways to do that:

1. Be Proactive

The major role of the HR professional is to be an active organizational culture consultant to the teams. HR professionals need to analyze and understand the current company`s culture. Post that they should come out with a strategic cultural plan that also aligns with the organization`s values and goals and then collaborate with leaders to enhance and implement the plan.

2. Define & Communicate Clearly

HR leaders need to define a clear understanding of sustainable company culture. What does it mean? How can they improve on it? How is it measured? What role will leaders play? How will employees have an impact?

Once it is defined, they must involve everyone at all levels in the communication. Developing and fostering a transparent environment engages both employees and leaders in ownership of achieving these goals.

3. Make Employees an Integral Part

HR leaders must foster a company culture that was derived from employees` feedback, and not from something that they heard at a round table conference held inside the ac rooms. Just like every individual is different, each company`s culture is different. Hence, the Human Resource management must include employees when deciding how to build a culture in the company that can contribute to their as well as the organization`s success.

4. Enable Strategic Alignment

The HR department can play a pivotal role in an organization when it comes to building roles and sustaining a company`s culture. They can consult and collaborate with the leadership to align the organization`s mission, vision, values, and core principles with the performance management process.

They can also encourage leadership to cultivate recognize and reward programs to reward positive behaviors. Lastly, HR should be a great role model, easily approachable, and should coach other leaders.

5. Identify Key Areas

It is vital for HR to identify the best practice areas of focus that can help to cultivate and promote the desired culture. Once it is clear and defined, HR needs to assure the value proposition for the change is clear. It simply means that the leaders and the employees must have a clear idea about what`s in it for the company and the employees.

A company`s culture is defined by the environment and how it feels when you walk through the door and interact with employees. To build and maintain a sustainable culture that feels positive and empowering takes the whole village.  Hence, it is the responsibility of the HR department to talk to the top management leaders and remind them how business decisions are perceived.

6. Find & Retain the Right People

A company`s culture is composed of people. People make the culture in a company. No matter how capable leaders or the operational processes are in place, if the right people are not hired, the organizational goals will never manifest into reality.

The sacred and the foremost duty of HR professionals is to help managers bring in the most compatible candidates, maintain open communication, recurrent feedback, proper documentation for the rights ones, and protections in place for when the wrong ones need to be sent out of the door.

If you are an entrepreneur and feel that you do not need an HR professional, you couldn`t be farther from the truth. HR is the glue that helps to stick every department of a company together.

If you want to start a startup, you can take our ‘Entrepreneurship course’. This course is an online business course that prepares you to face the challenges of the business world. It also helps you to build a startup from the scratch.

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Startup

How To Discover What Kind Of Business Should You Start?

How To Discover What Kind Of Business Should You Start?
How To Discover What Kind Of Business Should You Start?

Whether it is a catering business or a packaging business, tiffin service, or a coaching center, starting any business takes a lot of time, effort, money, planning, and effective strategies. And while you must have come across millions of blogs and articles about plenty of interesting startups business ideas, nobody would tell you in those lengthy blogs about which business should you start with.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs though share the similar goal of starting a small business, but they do not share similar interests and personalities. While some have personalities that make them great candidates for the education industry, others might feel more inclined towards hospitality. But with so many amazing startup business ideas with low investment, it can be difficult to decide which kind of business you must start with your hard-earned penny and valuable time.

Many successful businessmen have experimented with different ideas before nailing with the perfect one. But you do not have to repeat the same mistakes. Here are five questions that you should ask yourself before picking up the right business for you:

1. What are you passionate about?

Passion is the key to many innovations that happen every minute across the globe. It not only excites and motivates a person but also makes anything more exciting and gratifying. So ask yourself what are you passionate about? What makes you happy? What is that one thing that you keep thinking about?

For instance, if you are passionate about making an impact on thousands of people, you can become a motivational speaker or a business coach.

If you love solving puzzles, you can start a business consulting firm in India. These startup businesses need low investment and can be a good business idea for someone who loves interacting with people. Similarly, for a person who is not so keen when it comes to communicating, starting a consulting firm will be the wrong business idea.

Pursue what excites you and assess what does not!

2. What are the current industry trends & business models?

Ask any business coach about one important factor you should consider before starting a startup and he or she will suggest you analyze the current market trend. No, we are not saying that you should start a business just because it is trendy. But keeping an eye on the industry trends will give you an idea about what is in great demand and if your business will have customers.

For instance, it will be not wise to open a DVD rental shop in 2021 when NETFLIX and Amazon Prime have taken the lead. Hence, make sure that the business you are investing in will survive for a longer duration.

3. Always play by your Skills & Abilities

Self-awareness is a superpower for the personal as well as a professional sphere of life. Knowing what you are good at and what you are not can make a huge difference in your success.

For instance are you detail-oriented or do details make you break in sweat? Starting a bookkeeping business for someone who hates spreadsheets would result only in a disaster. But if you are someone who loves to come up with creative designs, starting a graphic design or a website design business would be an ideal fit for you. A great business coach can help you assess your strengths and weaknesses.

4. How much money are you willing to invest?

There is an African proverb that says, “You need to cut your cloth, according to your size.” So how much money are you willing to invest in your business should be a significant question that every entrepreneur must ask before starting a startup business idea.

If you want high returns, then starting a multi-unit franchisee across a variety of brands could be a better business idea, considering you have that much money to invest in.

5. What is your biggest ROI?

Just like we have different goals behind working full-time in an organization, the goal behind starting a business may vary.

Ask yourself what do you view as the biggest return on your investment in your business? Is it the money or the time with family? Flexible work schedule or do you want to leave a legacy behind?

People have different motivational factors in their lives. You must find out yours. After reviewing these questions, you will find clarity on your priorities, passion, and your values. This will help you to narrow down the right business for you.

Owing a business is incredibly rewarding, but to keep it up and running needs professional expertise if you are an amateur. To know how to build a startup from the scratch, you can take the ‘Entrepreneurship course’ to gain in-depth knowledge about different aspects of the business.

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Business motivation Startup

5 Ways A Business Coach Can Help You Grow Your Startup!

5 Ways A Business Coach Can Help You Grow Your Startup!
5 Ways A Business Coach Can Help You Grow Your Startup!

No matter at what stage your business is at, a great business coach can make you work smarter and can help you to motivate to achieve success faster.

From helping you to keep your ego in check to helping expand your network, there is nothing that a business mentor won`t do to help you navigate through the business challenges. If you select the best business coach in India, you will be provided with both the tools and a fresh perspective that you need to go from point A to point B.

Today, from entrepreneurs to big organizations, the importance of a fresh new perspective from an expert is highly in demand. Once an organization attains success, they tend to become complacent. Hence, they realize that an outside view is crucial to push them towards their ultimate goals.

If you are on the verge of hiring a business motivational coach, let us assure you that it is worth the investment. Here are five different ways in which an ideal mentor can help you to avoid falling into the pitfall and move forward:

1. Identify Pitfalls

Running a business involves a lot of things that only a great mentor and good online business courses can teach young and aspiring entrepreneurs about the different dynamics of business. So before you close your books for the financial year, take a hard look at your business performance. Then consult with your mentor as he will work with you and will surely find specific areas for growth.

Your mentor will with you to find out more gaps and pitfalls and will ensure that those pitfalls don`t cost you any more than they may already have.

2. Put Light on your Blind Spots

An ideal business coach can see things that entrepreneurs or small business owners can often miss. But, if you want to see your business climbing the ladder of success, it is very crucial to clear out the blind spots. You want to be able to foresee things before you make a plan. A mentor can shine a light upon the things you may overlook or miss and can drive you to face them head-on.

3. Boost your Strength

Strength is essential- not just physical strength, but also mental strength. Many entrepreneurs after achieving success in their initial stage become complacent. They enjoy their laurels and believe everything is fine. A business motivational coach will help you identify your potential. He will push you to increase your strengths, and that is how he helps you to bridge the gaps wherever you are lacking in your business.

4. Helps you create a Roadmap

If you don`t have a plan, your business has no future. Having a solid plan can provide you with an outside perspective, which is why many companies partner with the best business coach in India. A mentor helps you by addressing the shortcomings and creates benchmarks by putting the expertise together to accomplish your goals. This ensures that you have a plan which is a built-in strategy instead of relying on just a sheer fluke.

5. Push you out of your Comfort Zone

To build a startup from the scratch, strong networking is very helpful. But not every entrepreneur is an extrovert, some are introverts too. If you are an introvert, you need to hire the best business coach along with taking online business courses for entrepreneurs.

It is easy to get occupied in their business world. A mentor will help you push out of your comfort zone, meet new people and try new things in the business. Even extroverts can get caught in challenges; a mentor will push you out of them.

Focus, perspective, strengths, and out-of-the-box thinking are some of the benefits that a business coach can add. But there are plenty of more. However, it is very important to hire the best business coach in India.

Get practical solutions easily with our ‘Entrepreneurship Course’ which is an online business course for entrepreneurs. It is a step-by-step learning strategy, action plan, framework that are designed to empower you with various business functions.

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Technology

Indian SMBs To Get Major Boost As Microsoft India Announces ‘Dynamics 365 Business Central’, a Comprehensive Business Management Solution

Microsoft
Microsoft (Photo Credits: Twitter)

With an aim to encourage small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in India, Microsoft India has announced the general availability of Dynamics 365 Business Central, which is a comprehensive business management solution SMBs. The tech giant has customized this solution for India. The Dynamics 365 Business Central solution comes with inbuilt features that address local regulatory and market requirements for ease of business, including a tax engine comprising over 500 pre-configured use cases and business scenarios for GST, TDS and tax collected at source (TCS).

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solution was announced by Microsoft during ‘Building a Resilient Future’, a virtual summit organised to discuss building resilience among SMBs in the presence of Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is available through Microsoft Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) in the country, the company said.

Here’s how Dynamics 365 Business Central would benefit the Indian SMBs:

  1. An all-in-one cloud solution, Dynamics 365 Business Central helps companies ensure business continuity by connecting sales, service, finance, and operations teams.
  2. It offers customers affordable and easily manageable tools that simplify and expedite everyday business processes.
  3. “We believe it will help small and medium-sized organisations move to the cloud confidently and be future proof,” said Rajiv Sodhi, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft India.
  4. The solution can be accessed from any mobile device to conduct business on-the-go

During the launch, Gadkari said digitalisation is of utmost importance in the development of MSMEs, and could make the system more transparent, time-bound, and result-oriented. “In future, this would create efficiencies, create more market, and would be important for the growth of MSMEs in the country,” Gadkari added.

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Startup

Startup India Seed Fund Scheme To Support Startups and Domestic Entrepreneurs; Here’s How the Scheme Would Help Businesses

startup ipo india

New Delhi, April 20: Startup India seed fund scheme would support domestic entrepreneurs and their business ideas that often cannot take off due to the absence of critical capital at an early stage, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said. The Startup India seed fund scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January to support startups and help budding entrepreneurs pursue innovative ideas. The Minister said that good ideas often get bought out by international venture capitalists at throwaway prices.

While launching the scheme, Goyal said that the idea behind the scheme is to ensure adequate availability of funds, particularly to startups with good ideas in different fields. “I do hope that this scheme will support our domestic entrepreneurs and their business ideas that often cannot take off due to the absence of critical capital at an early stage,” Goyal added.

The scheme will be implemented from April 1, 2021. The Rs 945 crore corpus will be divided over the next four years for providing seed funding to eligible startups through eligible incubators across India.

Here’s how the Startup India seed fund scheme would benefit the startups:

  1. The scheme will secure seed funding, inspire innovation, support transformative ideas, and facilitate implementation of those ideas.
  2. Smaller towns are often deprived of adequate funding and this scheme will create a robust startup ecosystem in Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions of India.
  3. The government has constituted an Experts Advisory Committee(EAC) which will be responsible for the overall execution and monitoring of the scheme.
  4. Over 7,500 new startups are incorporated every year and it is essential to provide seed funding to startups with innovative ideas to conduct their ”Proof of Concept”.
  5. The scheme is being launched by DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) to support this early-stage startup funding.
  6. It would provide financial assistance to startups for Proof of Concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization. The scheme aims to support an estimated 3,600 entrepreneurs through 300 incubators.

Reports inform that the online portal created by DPIIT for the scheme will allow incubators to apply for funds under it. Also, grants of up to Rs 5 crore shall be provided to the eligible incubators selected by the EAC. The selected incubators would provide grants of up to Rs 20 lakh for validation of Proof of Concept, or prototype development, or product trials to startups. According to eports, an investments of up to Rs 50 lakh will be provided to the startups for market entry, commercialization, or scaling up through convertible debentures or debt-linked instruments.

 

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Business motivation Technology

Indian Startups Get Major Boost As Amazon India Rolls Out $250 Mn ‘Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund’ To Invest in Technology-Led Startups

startup ipo india

New Delhi, April 15: With a view to encourage the startup ecosystem in India, e-commerce major Amazon on Thursday announced a $250 million fund to help businesses grow and achieve new heights. Amazon India launched the ‘Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund’ which it would invest in startups and entrepreneurs focusing on technology innovations in SMB digitisation, agriculture and healthcare. According to reports, the fund was announced in the opening session of Amazon India’s flagship event Smbhav.

Here’s how the ‘Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund’ would benefit startups in India:

  1. Amazon India said that the venture fund will invest in technology-led startups that are passionate about unlocking possibilities of a digital India.
  2. The fund will specifically focus on encouraging the best ideas to digitise SMBs (small & medium businesses), and drive technology-led innovation in agriculture to improve farmer productivity.
  3. Moreover, Amazon announced plans to digitally empower and bring 1 million offline retailers and neighbourhood stores online, on the Amazon India marketplace, by 2025 through the ‘Local Shops on Amazon’ programme.
  4. The launch of the Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund aims to attract best ideas and empower entrepreneurs in the country to partner in this vision.

Amazon also launched the ‘Spotlight North East’ initiative at the same event to bring 50,000 artisans, weavers and small businesses online from the eight states in the north-eastern region of India by 2025 and to boost exports of key commodities like tea, spices and honey from the region.

Amit Agarwal, Global Senior VP and Country Head, Amazon India said in his address that in the year 2020, the firm pledged to digitise 10 million SMBs, enable $10 billion in exports, and create 1 million jobs by 2025. “Through our initiatives, we are committed to being a catalyst and a partner in unlocking the possibilities for a Digital India, and realise the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat as put forth by the PM”, he said. “Additionally, our initiatives to onboard 1 million offline shops on Amazon.in and digitally empower the northeast region will accelerate the progress towards a digital and self-reliant India,” he added.

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Startup

Amazon Launches ‘AWS Space Accelerator’, A Business Support Programme, To Help Space Startups Grow

Startups (Photo Credits: Pexels)

San Francisco, April 3: To give a major fillip to startups across the world, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has rolled out the ‘Space Accelerator’ to help and encourage the startups. The Space Accelerator is a four-week business support programme to help space startups grow. The programme is open to space startups seeking to use AWS to help solve the biggest challenges in the space industry, the company said. c

About the ‘Space Accelerator’ programme:

  1. The programme will provide technical, business, and mentoring resources to space startups around the globe.
  2. AWS is offering this opportunity in collaboration with Seraphim, a London-based investment group focused exclusively on the space industry, who will provide business development and investment guidance.
  3. AWS and Seraphim will select a cohort of space startups to participate in an intensive, four-week programme with AWS Cloud and technical training to help them accelerate research, development, and growth using AWS.
  4. The AWS said that the applications are already open and proposals are due by April 21.
  5. AWS and Seraphim are accepting applications from innovative startups at all stages of maturity working with space technology or space-derived data who have a clearly defined and unique mission.

Clint Crosier, Director of Aerospace and Satellite at AWS, said in a statement said that Startups provide a catalyst for bold new experimentation in the space industry.  “We are proud to announce the AWS Space Accelerator as part of our ongoing commitment to help startups succeed, and to shape the future of aerospace. We look forward to helping the first cohort of companies launch and grow through this new programme”, Crosier said.

The AWS said that qualifying missions can include, but are not limited to, earth observation, electronics and robotics, spacecraft launch and delivery, spacecraft hardware and software, launch manufacturing and launch operations, and more.

 

Categories
Startup

Startup India Initiative Gains Momentum, Total 44,534 Startups Recognised by DPIIT So Far, 339 Startups Granted Income Tax Exemptions

startup ipo india

New Delhi, March 12: Under the Startup India initiative launched by the government, as many as 44,534 startups in India have been recognised by the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The numbers have been updated as of February 24 this year, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said in the Parliament on Wednesday. Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government whoch aims to build a strong ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of startup businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.

Startup India, a flagship initiative of the government launched on January 16, 2016, aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive to the growth of startups. “Since, the launch of Startup India initiative, a total of 44,534 startups have been recognised by the DPIIT as on February 24, 2021,” he said.

Reports inform that as many as 339 startups have been granted income tax exemptions till January 2021. The recognised startups are eligible for several benefits under the Startup India initiative. They avail tax exemptions besides other support measures. Prakash said that startups are eligible for an 80 percent rebate in patent filing fees and 50 percent on trademark filing fees.

Giving details about the startups in India, the Minister informed that so far, 5,253 applications for patents have been filed by startups under the SIPP (startups intellectual property protection) Scheme, out of which 514 patents have been granted. Till November 2020, a total number of Trademark applications filed – 12,264.

Under the Startup India initiative, the Government aims to empower startups to grow through innovation and design. Several programs have been undertaken since its launch in January 2016 with an aim to contribute to his vision of transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers. These programs have catalyzed the startup culture, with startups getting recognized through the Startup India initiative and many entrepreneurs availing the benefits of starting their own business in India.

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MSME Startup

Piyush Goyal Tells BIS To Cut Quality Testing Charges for MSMEs, Startups and Women Entrepreneurs in India To Encourage Ease of Doing Business

Women Entrepreneurship (Photo Credits: Pexels)

In a bid to encourage MSMEs, startups, and women entrepreneurs in India, the charges for testing quality of products should be reduced, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said. The Minister said that once the charges are minimised, it will help them to get their products certified and meet standard norms. Goyal said this at the 3rd Governing Council meeting of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). During his address, Goyal said that there is a need to change the approach of the country towards standardisation and instructed BIS to create a customer charter to usher in highest transparency in its certification process and inspections.

The Minister added saying that the fee for testing of standards should be reduced drastically ‘throughout’ for the MSMEs and in the initial years for the startups and for women entrepreneurs. Goyal said that this will encourage them to get their products certified and also encourage the ease of doing business. During his address, Goyal said that it is a challenge for BIS to fast track the standard setting processes, especially for these programmes of national priority.

BIS must therefore ensure that its technical Committees develop the required new standards in the quickest possible time for products where presently none exist, or review and revise existing standards whenever required, the minister said. Goyal reviewed the process of making Indian Standards and their implementation with officials from BIS, different ministries and regulators, among others.

Goyal directed the BIS to go in for massive expansion and modernisation of testing labs so that entrepreneurs don’t have to travel far to get the testing and certification of standards. Talking about PM Narendra Modi’s mantras for economic development, Goyal said, “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given the three mantra for faster economic development i.e. Speed, Skill and Scale. Now it is time to add fourth dimension of ”Standard” in to this”.