A startup is not a new concept; it is a tried and tested route to upscale your business. The world of startups is impressive, enthralling and captivating. A startup is an idea which is undertaken by its founders, also known as entrepreneurs, to execution leading to the establishment of businesses. Innovation and Invention: The whole conception of a startup comes only from one brilliant idea. This should be unique as it’s supposed to understand the need, availability and then the supplies to its rightmost customer base.
The essence of having startups in the economy
Since the word itself forms the baseline for any innovation, startups bring enlightenment to the market under its innovative ideas. The startup might be a challenge to execute. Still, it’s an immensely important aspect of the market as it is supposed not just to solve problems but also generate ideas that are important and as well as healthy for any economy.
The talented workforce of the country is identified, and the list does not end up here. Successful ideas and startups are a harbinger of foreign investments, which are again necessary to boost up the economy.
The history: Going back in time
The starting of the first startup is not very clear. Some say, the first startup to come was General electric by Tesla, others also voted for Nokia. The whole idea of startup emerged around the famous Harvard University around which people started culminating their thoughts and ideas of doing businesses. This was later given the name of The Silicon Valley.
This Silicon Valley gave birth to millions of ideas and several companies that are so big now that no one could have imagined their unprecedented growth back then. Big companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook and many others just have a common thing, and that is one brilliant idea and exceptional execution by their co-founders.
And this change just has happened in a short period, and even Google was formed just 21 years back. Further, the incredible growth in the present times has been possible due to the internet and technology as well. In this modern age, social media is a great tool too not just to enhance the reach of the company to its immensely large customer base but also attracts capital investment from across the place.
Startups during the modern times
The startup culture is now not just centered in the Silicon Valley but is present globally in forms of many growth centres, like Berlin, London, Singapore and many others. Many of these are fully backed up by the government of the respective countries. Not just the native governments also tend to support these young ideas and incubate them by having specialised working departments specially dedicated to the birth and the growth of these startups. The government also foresees the unique capability of these startups to attract foreign direct investments, thereby giving their economy a boost.
The rise of the “dot.com boom”
Also known as the dot.com bubble or the internet bubble that emerged around the 1990s and continued till 2000. The reason for this era to be associated with this boom was primarily attributed to the growth of the internet and its wide distribution. The new generation of the internet-based companies was formed, which was referred to as dot.coms. These companies didn’t conventionally do business but instead employed the power of the internet to market their products or ideas correctly.
All this resulted in a rise of their stock value that garnered the attention of the investors, worldwide. The investors now chose to overlook the traditional metrics such as the P/E ratio and the stock prices continued to rise along with market confidence and availability of venture capital thereby, making the perfect cocktail for growing business. This incredible rise led to an immense eruption of the startup culture in that era.
The Indian Scenario
The startup culture in India came around the great economic depression that hit the world in 2008. The Indian startup ecosystem is believed to be the second-largest startup ecosystems in the world with more than 20,000 startups. The government of India is also taking appropriate measures to foster and promote startups by one recently launched initiative, also known as the Startup India.
This initiative was launched in the year 2016 by Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to boost the culture of startup and create an environment of entrepreneurship in India. Our nation is known to be the third greatest startups hub in the entire world. One of the main reasons is the country’s immense and educationally equipped population that not just is encouraging as a market but also as a producer in the form of its human resources.
Startup ideas in India intend to build a healthy ecosystem for nurturing innovations and startups in the country as it is believed that it will drive sustainable economic growth. The startup India scheme lays down the Action Plan, which is divided across three pillars:
- Simplification and Handholding
- Funding Support and Incentives
- Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation
Startup business loan
Some while ago, startups in India didn’t have enough funding for their projects. And so, lots of brilliant ideas and opportunities for becoming successful entrepreneurs died with no startup loan. This is where the startup business loan notion came in. After the startup India initiative was launched, the government took specific measures so that the startups are not devoid of the funding anymore. The government has also undertaken steps to provide startup loan by giving credit-guarantee funds, tax exemption on capital gains, and other sorts of tax exemptions.
Some startup business ideas in India
While startups are some great mind-boggling ideas, it is essential to note down a few startup business ideas that might be noteworthy:
- Health and wellness related sectors
- Pharmacy industry
- Organic food store
- Internet cybersecurity
- Mobile app development
- Internet and mobile infrastructure building
An idea and its appropriate execution are all we need. But usually, when either of the two fails, it fails the startup. Like a little plant, a startup needs nurturing too. Along with this, it’s not just the ideas that fail. It is also improper funding and investment that leads to the failure of the startup. Growth in all its forms is appreciative, and this too applies in the niche of this startup. The term here often applies to the generation of employment and revenue, also known as the turnover of that particular company or business.
Revenue: the startup tonic
Startup ideas in India need to have proper management of finance. Now, to ensure the financial health of the business, a model is made, which is known as the Revenue Model. This model defines the cash flow and needs and further, demonstrates to oneself and the potential investors about their aim on how to price products, earn revenues, maximise sales and profitability. A great help for startup business ideas comes in the form of financial forecasting.
As the weather forecast tells about the weather that is likely to be experienced at a particular place, financial forecasting does the same job by forecasting the revenue estimates even when there is no revenue generation at the moment. The two general approaches to financial forecasting are:
- The top-down approach
It is considered as a necessary thing when considering funding. In this, the overall market size is assessed, and the company’s share segment is measured against it.
- The bottom-up approach
Instead of mapping the whole market in the first place, the company tends to identify the key variables that are going to affect the revenue over the next year or so.
So, choosing a revenue model that is best for startup ideas in India is so essential. Apart from that, a revenue model should be able to communicate the company’s value to the investors wisely. Also, a company or a startup should try to choose their potential investors based on the revenue model of the company. This not just enhances the growth of the startup but also delves deep to look into the potential foreseeable future of the startup.
Since evolution is the key component to growth, taking utmost care that the revenue models of the company evolve following the constantly changing market is essential too. With time the critical variables of the company get identified as well. These key variables tend to affect the revenues most, so identification of the conditions that are responsible for the particular change of variable is also indispensable.
A To-do list for startup growth
You know it when you know “what”. A startup reflects on the idea of the entrepreneurs. When these young business minds find their answer to “what” they just know the right thing that they would be coming up with. Although it is not more accessible for the people to correctly identify their niches, an identification of the correct ‘gap’ and coming up with a unique business solution to it is essential.
This discovery of “what” should be based on the deficits in the current market and whether there is a solution available for the consumers of the particular product who are facing difficulty to look in for that particular product that the customer requires.
Customer service
The consumer should be happy. Knowing your customer’s requirement is only half met when you don’t follow up with excellent customer service. The customer service should be appropriately measured according to the specific need of the customer. Also, the solutions provided to the customer should look seamless, effortless and tailor-made to the needs of every customer.
Just measure
As mentioned above, growth is a multi-dimensional as measuring it. ‘Need is the mother of all inventions’ beholds true for any startup. But startups always grow in a phase of uncertainties and few resources, and so it becomes essential to the entrepreneur to know what are the right steps that would make his startup not just grow but flourish.
How to measure
Three key terms help the entrepreneur to measure the growth of his startup; these are:
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): The relationship between what customers want and what the entrepreneur has to offer is a very important aspect of this entire business. And like its name, it is unique, so unique that it helps you stand out of the crowd of existing businesses that are there in the market. To measure USP, customer feedback is one of the most important pieces of data. Analyse the customer feedback via a kind and responsive customer service team what we have talked about in this article earlier. Big businesses usually who go big know their customer base and also keep monitoring the marketplace and its reaction to your products or services.
Net Promoter Score (NPS): The Net Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric with a clear objective to determine a score which is transparent and easily interpretable, based on customer satisfaction. The score can be compared among different time intervals or between different industries. It is a customer-driven marketing strategy wherein the customers or the respondents would recommend a certain company, product or services to his friends, relatives or colleagues.
Retention: Are people coming back to your company over and over again? Well, this is what is called retention, i.e. whether the company can retain its customer for the products that it aims to sell. So, it’s all about the worth that the retention brings to the growth of any business.
Funds and fundraising
Money is the backbone of any startup. All the growth incurred suddenly vanishes when a company fails to have a proper allocation of funds for its survival and growth. To target and channelise the source of funds and revenues is essential as well. Assessing financial business goals is essential, which can be only achieved by the right funding. Programmes that are aimed at funding and fundraising should be promoted and assessed timely in accordance with the company’s existing and current marketing and business goals.
About marketing
A correct marketing strategy is essential for your customers to know the entrepreneur and its ideas that might be able to reflect in the customer’s life in a few days from now on. Social media platforms enable businesses to connect to several of users across the globe, thereby increasing sales at the same time promoting the startup.
An overview of the matter
According to Graham, a successful startup grows in 3 stages. The initial phase is marked by slow growth or no growth at all as the startup tries to identify and survive its being. The second phase arrives when the startup figures out ‘what’ the customer wants for the startup. The third phase is marked by a marked growth in the startups’ assets, and the startup grows to become a big company.
And not just this, for your startup to grow, one needs to have patience and focus. Just as having a vision about a startup is essential, it is equally important for that vision to remain constant no matter how good or worse the circumstances get because the market is unpredictable and so the startup.
