7 Important Lessons for Startups from Ramayana

Heralded as the biggest epic in history, Ramayana is a household name in India and other subcontinents. The sensational mythology is rife with values and lessons on relationships and promises. Not only does the story benefit on an individual level, but even companies, especially startups, can learn a lot from it. 

Mentioned below are some of the lessons, which if adopted, can improve the chances of success for a startup: 

1. 
   

   Know your team’s strength -
   

   
   Rama knew his core team well. For instance, Rama sent Angad (Bali’s son) for a peace talk with Ravan, knowing very well that Angad had great negotiation skills. Rama was also aware that Nala and Neel had a curse bestowed on them—that they couldn’t sink anything in water. Rama capitalized on this and used their unique ability towards building a bridge to Lanka. Like Rama, companies should focus on knowing their employees’ strengths to keep them engaged and perform better.


2. 
   

   Develop Strategic Relationships for Future Partnerships -

   
   
   Rama made friends with Sughreev, promised to make him king, and later followed through on his promise. In return, Sughreev lent his entire army to Rama in his fight against Ravana. Taking a leaf out of this strategic move, startups may initiate a goodwill towards client: they could work a project or two pro bono and in this way start to build trust with the client. The key is to give without expectation—especially when you are in the early stage of your business. A good client would be appreciative of the effort and may reciprocate with a long-term partnership.


3. 
   

   Hire from Competitors -

   
   [caption id="attachment_144837" align="aligncenter" width="730"] Image - Bhaskar.com[/caption]
   
   One of the major reasons behind Ravana’s defeat was his brother Vibhishana, who was on Rama’s side. He gave away all major strategies of Ravana’s army, including tipping Rama on the right way to kill Ravana . If you’re a startup, hiring smart talent from self-same industry may help you update your own strategies and broaden knowledge; it may lead you to approach your audience in a different light.
   


4. 
   

   Consult your team before making crucial decisions -

   
   
   Ramayana shows multiple instances where Rama, Dashratha, and Bharata consult with their ministers about any major decisions. On the other hand, the egocentric Ravana is shown to act on his own and not listen to his ministers, including the instance where they urge Ravana to let go of Sita but he doesn’t, which in turn costs him his empire. This is an important lesson for startups: when management listens to their team, a range of perspectives is shared. It’s a win- win situation as not just the management benefits from it but the employees also feel heard and valued—which in general could lead to employees feeling positively towards their company.


5. 
   

   Be true to your words -

   
   "Praan Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye”— was one of the most important lessons from Ramayana. We saw many occasions where Rama kept his promises, be it going for 14 years of exile or giving Sughreev his kingdom back. Being honest and committed to your word plays a critical part in any organisation. This can include adhering to timelines given to clients and vendors, sending them assured deliverables, fulfilling promises made to employees, and so on. The company should look to follow through on their word so the trust is intact among all their stakeholders.


6. 
   

   Never underestimate your competition -

   
   Ravana never believed that Rama with his Vanar  army could defeat him. He never thought that they could cross the sea and destroy his kingdom. Ravana in his arrogance underestimated Rama and all his moves. Similarly, a company needs to be able to correctly gauge the abilities and strengths of their competition. Self-confidence is different from arrogance: while former can lead you to success, the latter is directly detrimental to success.


7. 
   

   Be patient and hopeful -

   
   Last but not the least, a very important lesson from Ramayana is to be patient. When Rama knew that Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, he took his time processing the enormity of the situation: he couldn’t have just directly entered into a battle with Ravana and his Lanka. It took Rama several months but he utilized his time efficiently, building his army and focussing on strategies. Likewise, for a startup, it is necessary to be patient and not lose hope especially at a time when they are in their early stages. Committing a 100% to their goal and achieving results take time. 

Ramayana is filled with timeless wisdom and a belief that good triumphs over evil. Incorporating the above lessons in your organization will promise a successful start and a fruitful sustenance. Ramayana is not an epic story, it’s a way of life! 

[box title="Author of this Content"]The above content is contributed by Rohit Gawali, who is the co-founder of Officebing which operates and provides flexible and coworking offices PAN India.[/box]

Surviving the COVID-19 Impact - TiE Mumbai's Guide to Startups

As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt life, the Startup ecosystem has been confronted with unique challenges both from the business and operations perspective. In this unprecedented scenario, TiE Mumbai continues to assist Startups and has organized several webinars with investors, legal assists, Industry leaders and mentors to help entrepreneurs with much needed guidance to tide over the current situation.

"These are challenging times. We are facing a crisis of both life and livelihood. TiE Mumbai is committed to remain engaged with the Startups and support and guide them is every possible way," said Atul Nishar, President, TiE Mumbai.

Some of the webinars organized by TiE Mumbai were -

Business Continuity and contingency planning - This was a Brainstorming Session on Practices adopted by various Startups and strategies bracing for the days ahead. Startups discussed that it is extremely critical to have cash in this crisis. Startups must utilize this time to invest in relationships and must be clear and transparent in their communication with employees. There is an active need for evolution in thinking and businesses and adoption of new product lines. Raising money is not easy thus being frugal is the key. In addition, Startups must be mindful not to delay their statutory payment.

COVID-19 Brainstorming Business Strategies for Food Service Network - Key members from the Food Startup industry discussed that liquidity is an issue. However, there are opportunities in challenges, distribution of resources and change in business model should prove effective. One must be very prudent in opening new outlets.

Unsettling times, what next in the Startup World - This was a panel discussion between VCs from around the world on how the current economic situation might evolve, how different geographies and sectors might get affected, how investors view the situation evolving, and their plans for funding. The mentors agreed that this is the time to focus on surviving. While great businesses have started during downturns, tech served companies, digital enterprise solution and digital healthcare remain hot pics.

Cash Flow and Financial Management Bootcamp For Entrepreneurs - Here experts discussed how to retain one's advantage while cutting costs during these times. Cash management, sensitivity planning, statutory issues, accelerated cash collection and organic growth were discussed as the way forward.

Founders' 101 was launched in partnership with Nishith Desai Associates ("NDA") for Founders to get legal and tax experts' answers to questions on an array of legal issues that need attention. The discussing focused on Force Majeure Issues for Startups: Can Parties Renege from their Contracts in view COVID-19

Ask me Anything Session with a renowned Doctor from Hinduja Hospital on COVID 19, its symptoms and medical assistance.

About TiE Mumbai

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. Since 1992. TiE has been supporting entrepreneurs by offering education, mentorship, networking and funding opportunities. The mission of TiE is to foster entrepreneurship globally through the 5 pillars of TiE: mentoring, networking and education, funding and incubation. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community.

TiE's focus area is to generate enable the next generation of entrepreneurs. There are currently 11,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 60 chapters across 17 countries. TiE's mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, TiE's focus is on generating and nurturing our next generation of entrepreneurs.

~ Newsvoir

Help Your Startup Succeed Through Networking and Face-to-Face Meetings

The number of startups in India has grown dramatically from 7,000 in 2008 to 50,000 in 2018. India is also ranked as the fifth-most startup-friendly country in the world ahead of Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden, according to CEOWORLD Magazine. One of the ways to grow a startup is to identify fresh opportunities such as new or alternative markets. To do this, you would have to network and travel within and outside of India to actively sell the startup so that it can thrive and grow.

Why Business Travel Matters for Startups

There are surely many reasons why business travel helps your startup grow. When you travel outside of your location, you are expected to meet new people including the competition, discuss ideas, develop partnerships, and even forge closer alliances. The level of personalisation is very important as it helps you attain the confidence and trust of potential investors or customers.

Even though technology has reduced the need to travel for business purposes, there is no substitute for in-person relationship building. If lucky, you might even get access to a CEO so that you can pitch your business ideas to secure extra funding for expansions. The personal interaction with others build the present and future partnerships that can make the business stand out. Reducing miscommunication because of face-to-face meetings is crucial to the success of the startup. According to the Harvard Business Review, a face-to-face request is 34 times more powerful than an email making travel a compelling business strategy.

Before Travelling

Travelling may have a huge impact on the direction where your startup is headed. It also requires preparation. Considering that you are going to unknown territory, it is also vital to protect your financial interests as travelling itself already represents an expense that you might or might not recover.

One way of protecting your business is to get a travel insurance that will cover your back in cases of unexpected events such as an illness or family emergencies. There are several benefits of having a travel insurance. It will pay for accidents and losses arising from a journey. Like any other business transaction, ensure that you are getting your money’s worth when shopping for travel insurance. Compare prices across providers and look at the terms closely identifying what is covered and not. In addition, check if it makes sense to buy a single or annual plan. This will largely depend on whether you intend to do frequent trips to promote your business or not.

Startups are important players in the Indian economy that require time and investment. Identifying new opportunities and networking through business travel help owners sustain their activities, grow, and succeed.

5 Simple But Unorthodox Tricks To Make A Small Business Stand Out

Making a small business or even a growing company stand out among the competition is always easier said than done. Usually it’s all you can do to stay afloat in the early years, and focusing on beating out other stores or brands seems like an immense ordeal. Then, once you do focus on it, it can begin to seem like all the tricks have already been tried. This is just how it goes in a world that has more companies and startups in it with each passing day.

Sometimes though, some outside-the-box thinking can solve the problem, and give you a way of making your business stand out.

1. Focus On Your Blog

Taking this one from the ground up, you should absolutely have a blog, no matter what your business happens to do. A lot of companies, stores, and even online companies that don’t directly require a blog neglect to post one, and as a result they fail to engage with online visitors as comprehensively as they could. Making your blog stand out is a process, but if you post up-to-date articles on topics that are even loosely relevant to your business, you’ll effectively add a small news and communications element to the company. And that alone will likely be a generous step beyond much of your competition.

2. Create A Charitable Twist

This is a specific example, but think about what makes Toms so much more popular than dozens if not hundreds of similar shoe companies. It isn’t the fact that prices are low, nor that the slip-on shoes are lightweight and machine washable. It’s that Toms was designed with a one-for-one model that earned it a lot of press coverage and made consumers want to buy shoes so that more shoes could be donated. The company’s success is clear evidence that people like to do good through their consumerism if at all possible. Any business hoping to set itself apart should look to do the same. The one-for-one model is difficult and only works for certain kinds of companies or products, but it’s the more general idea that should be imitated far and wide.

3. Accept Cryptocurrency Payments

Opportunities to spend bitcoin both in person or online are still fairly scant. This makes cryptocurrency a little less useful than some hoped it would be by now, but it also makes it such that businesses that do accept cryptocurrency tend to stand out. This, coupled with the rise of point-of-sale systems for cryptocurrency, make it an interesting idea to attempt to differentiate yourself this way. It’s a slight hassle, and some business owners would undoubtedly not want to bother with it. However, it may be a hassle that’s worth it, simply because crypto acceptance is more or less newsworthy.

4. Create Tab-Style Payments

The idea of tab-style payments is not quite as widespread even as cryptocurrency, but it’s something you can see modeled here and there - must notably at online casinos. At these sites, people can pay via phone bill, such that they never have to make direct payments, present credit card information, or really anything else. An actual store offering a similar service - with more of a tab than a phone bill, of course - would actually be quite original, and might just result in an excellent customer experience. Say, for instance, that you could allow customers to set up a bill at the end of each year. It’s a good bet that those customers would enjoy the feeling of patronizing your business for free in the moment, even with the knowledge that they’ll eventually be paying.

5. Just Be Weird

This may not sound like particularly serious advice, but if you’re thinking that way, you may already need to loosen up a little bit. Yes, running a business is a serious endeavor, and there are some rigid aspects to it. However, no matter what a given business actually does, it will always stand out more if it shows some personality, and ideally a bit of a sense of humor. This can be done through advertisement, a social media channel, or even from how employees interact with customers or clients, if such interactions are to occur. There aren’t specific guidelines with this idea. Just remember that normal blends in and weird stands out, and so long as you aren’t overbearing or off-putting about it, you probably prefer the latter.

Few Productivity Hacks for Startups

Most businesses owners never feel like they have enough time to do all the things that need to get done. Startup founders feel especially burdened since their teams are usually small and they have limited resources. While there’s nothing you can do about the number of hours in the day, you can make every day more productive. Here’s how to get the most out of each day.

Monitor Your Online Time and Minimise Distractions

The Internet can be a key facilitator of modern businesses but it can also prove to be a major distraction. Apps like RescueTime and even the new Screen Time feature on iPhones provide lots of insight into your online activities. The stats collected by these apps may shock you. If you’re running an online business, social media screen time will be key to your productivity. However, if most of your business is done offline, 3 hours on Twitter per day may not be the best use of your time. Try muting the notifications from these apps. If you still find yourself checking them for updates, log out at the start of the workday.  Only log in during breaks or at the end of the day.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel; Use Templates

You can get templates for virtually anything you need to create. These include editorial calendars, social media audits, purchase orders and more. These will keep you organized, ensure everything has a uniform look, and save you lots of time. Customize the templates with your brand colors and logos and any special sections you need. This will take a lot less time than designing everything from scratch.

Automate Tasks Where Possible

Take advantage of the wide range of tools which can help you automate some of your functions. This can free up some of your time so you don’t have to do repetitive processes manually. Apps like Hootsuite, Drip, and Autopilot allow you to schedule your social media posts, manage inbound messages and track audience growth and performance. UiPath can take over both front and back office processes. Invoice generators and accounting tools make it easier to manage your finances and make tax season a lot more hassle-free. You can also use an alert system to monitor online brand mentions. Tracking social media manually for reviews and comments can be very time-consuming.

Sign Up for a Managed Email System

Startups get lots of emails and forgetting to follow up on a critical one can have a significant impact on business. Managed email systems allow you to have more control over your inbox. You can schedule alerts, mark emails which have been successfully handled and organize messages according to importance. This may not seem necessary in the beginning but once you start to get lots of offers, orders or queries, you will see the need.

Make Sure Your Workspace is Work-Friendly

Getting the most out of your day doesn’t only revolve around digital tools. Your office environment can either boost or hamper productivity. You should have adequate space for each worker, good lighting and proper equipment. You also need to ensure that office furniture is ergonomic. Your office should be set up in a way that employees can interact as necessary and have access to the tools they will need. If privacy and security are important in your field, make sure these are not compromised in any way. You can also add some custom neon lights in your workspace to remind you to work hard.

Outsource Small Tasks to Freelancers

The gig economy is growing and startups should take advantage of this. There are certain small jobs which may not suit anyone in your team. Instead of leaving the task undone or giving it to someone who can’t handle it, hire a skilled freelancer online. Fiverr, PeoplePerHour and other freelance marketplaces list hundreds of people who work for as little as $5. Outsourcing allows your team to focus on their areas of specialty and the core aspects of business.

Ban Meetings on One Day of The Week

Asana is one startup which has put this policy in place. Having one day of the week free of meetings allows workers to focus on their respective tasks. While meetings can be valuable, if they aren’t properly planned or organized, they can simply be a waste of time. Unless there is an emergency, impromptu meetings can stop everyone from actually getting work done. Leave one day each week for focused work.

The Bottomline

You can land clients, build your brand and bring in revenue without spending every minute of the day working. Create a workspace that’s conducive to work, automate where possible and outsource when necessary to make sure you and your team operate at optimum levels. Don’t forget that there are ways to market your business with minimal effort.

5 Things that Online Startups Could Learn from Brick & Mortar Businesses

Most of the modern day startups are going online with their businesses. The hassles of brick and mortar business right from finding a place to managing the physical inventory lures startup founders to take the E route. Running the traditional brick & mortar business demands space and dexterity. But that does not mean that starting a new business online is devoid of running around and hassles.

Brick & mortar store can at least leverage on its local visibility once it is up in a decent location. But online businesses face competition from across the globe. This makes it difficult for new online startups to scale up soon after the launch. And therefore, there is plenty to learn for online business from the traditional brick & mortar businesses. 

1. Product Display
   
   The product display is an important element for any brick and mortar store. This stands true for the retail outlets that have a space and place for their products. The same cannot hold true for a service businesses like travel operators, legal consultants, etc. Service-based businesses should promote the uncluttered information for easy understanding. Just like products are on display, service and its rate list are also up for informing the prospective clients. Same way, the product display is something that brick & mortar handles expertly.
   
   Online service providers’ website shall have all the service information, arranged in a systematic order, with the pricing and feature details. Therefore, service and product offerings should be laid out keeping conversions in mind. 



2. Availability
   
   This is something that every online business has an upper hand over the brick and mortar stores. But then, online businesses need to uphold consistency when it comes to availability. This means the servers should be up and running without any interruptions. 24*7/365. There is no Sunday or public holidays for online business.


The availability should also translate in the delivery of service (or product). This includes response time to queries over the online chat assistance or your response time to queries and how efficient you are at meeting client expectations. Being prompt on the email response and addressing prospective client actively is one of the ways for online startups to match the steps with the brick & mortar businesses. One needs to be on their toes, though behind the screens, to devote some serious face time for defining the success of online business.


3. Safe Transactions
   
   The brick & mortar businesses are probably the best ones when it comes to a business transaction. Customers can either pay by swiping the card or pay by cash. But internet businesses need to be cautious of cyber security wherein the priority should be to offer effortless checkout.
   
   Trust is one of the key factors that can influence online purchase and therefore one should always consider putting up digital certificates on display. This speaks about the entity that you deal with to keep your online transactions authentic. Without fail, online businesses should include the VeriSign logo to win confidence and promote safe online transactions.



4. Separate deals/specials on the website
   Imagine a brick & mortar retail outlet that advertises about discounts but inside the store, there is no dedicated segment for it. This annoys buyers the most. The same holds true for online businesses offering discounts on certain products and services.
   
   For the online service offerings, a bundle of discounted services should serve the purpose when blended with special segment marketed online. This will let prospective clients know about the services on discounts and therefore shortens the customer journey, making it easier for them to move towards the checkout. Things get easier for people providing products instead of services. A dedicated product page with a list of products can serve the purpose by offering a flawless landing experience to the users.



5. Feedback
   The important element for ant of the business is to have feedback on the services and products. Brick & mortar stores can easily get under the skin of any potential customer and if nothing, can take out feedback from them. The same gets tough when it comes to online business since this platform makes it easy for potential customers to write your business off without a second thought.
   
   Online businesses can learn to take the opportunity of feedback from current as well as the potential customers. On one hand it helps you gauge your startup team and their efforts to set their KPIs accordingly and give feedback on their roles and responsibilities.
   
   And when it comes to the online store, the first impression is something that matters the most. Never miss an opportunity to earn feedback from visitors. In traditional business customer may give feedback on a feedback register or a small fill-in paper, the online businesses can send promote their feedback form.

Be it the current users or prospective users; get to know their core decision to engage your services and log it. The idea is to avail the stats on views, interactivity, and time spent on the website. Just like how brick & mortar stores try to maximize their conversion based on visitors to customers’ ratio, online store too can work that trick. This is done by analyzing the data closely, knowing the user behaviour in each segment of the website and keep listening to the client base.

Conclusion

While the online businesses are giving tough time to the brick & mortar businesses, there are still plenty of things that this new age business can learn from traditional businesses. Fundamentally the idea remains the same but differs in execution. Since the online platform provides distinctive ways to deal with the traditional aspects of business.

4 Tips for Building a Dream Team for Your Startup

Not having the right team (or having a wrong one) is the third main reason to why startups fail, states an analysis from CB Insights. It’s preceded only by the lack of market for their product and cash for keeping the business afloat. What this means is that the importance of your team is huge, so building it is a great responsibility that will likely determine if you can or cannot succeed. Take your time to assess the candidates, consider their personalities as well as skills, and, most importantly, train them to perfection.

Here're 4 Tips for Building a Dream Team for a Startup -

1. Define your culture before looking for a team

If you take a look at the 10 Examples of Companies with Fantastic Cultures from Entrepreneur you’ll see that the businesses mentioned there are some of the most successful in the world today. It’s not a surprise as their staff loves what they do and gives their all to the company.

If you want your team to be this way, you need to define your culture and then hire the people who will identify with it. A company culture is your business’s ‘personality’. The term encompasses the working environment, ethics, values, mission, expectations, and goals. Once you define all of them, you’ll have the biggest part of your perfect employee profile ready. All that’ll be left is to add your requirements towards their skills and experience.

2. Assess both strengths and weaknesses of the candidate

No one is perfect. That’s the most important thing you have to remember when building a dream team for a startup. You must accept that every member of your team will have weaknesses and decide if you can deal with them before hiring.

This rule is the same for anything. For example, as a small business you’re definitely looking for the best cheap hosting, right? This means you accept your budget size and service limitations that come with it. However, you still compare the offers to find the best cheap cPanel host. By studying them, you determine which of the limited packages will work best for your specific business.

It’s the same with hiring staff. You need to see the person’s failings and weaknesses and assess them from the point of view of their performance for your business. The most important question isn’t ‘Is this person good or bad?’ but ‘Can this person help my startup succeed?’

3. Take your time

You can’t build a dream team for a startup in a week. That’s completely normal and nothing to be worried over. However, if you want your team to be efficient, which is the key to your initial success, you need to take your time in choosing them.

Interview as many candidates as you can and be sure to keep your mind open. If possible, have a trial period so you can see how the members of the team interact and whether they can work together effectively. Don’t rush in making decisions that might decide if your startup lives past its initial year.

4. Train your team diligently

No team is ‘born’ as a well-oiled machine that propels a business forward. It’s your job as a leader to make it so. This means that once you find employees that have the characteristics you require, you must teach them the ins and outs of your business as well as train them to work together. Team building activities are as important as lessons on your product/service in the beginning.

Your main goal is to ensure each of your team members can:

• See the ultimate goal of your startup.


• Understand their position within the company.


• Understand what they can and should do to help the business achieve its ultimate goal.


• Understand the roles of other team members and work with them smoothly.

5 Amazing Tips & Tools for Startups & Ecommerce Businesses

The last two decades witnessed the exponential rise in the startups and ecommerce businesses. But over 90% of them failed miserably and the operations had to be shut down before further financial losses. These points out that most of the startups and ecommerce businesses lacked either a business idea or a business plan while only a handful of them knew the way out and hence, thrived and excelled. The fact is that the trends in such businesses keep on changing every year and if a startup or existing company cannot upgrade themselves according to the trend, they are sure to perish. If you are thinking of launching a startup or adding ecommerce to your existing platform, the following 5 useful tips and tools will help you immensely to survive the competitive market and thrive steadily.

5 Amazing Tips & Tools For Startups & Ecommerce in 2018 –

Reach Out To The Targeted Audience – The success or failure of a business depends on the marketing strategy. There are various marketing ways like email marketing, consumer marketing, customer base marketing, social media marketing, and mobile marketing. In 2018, you cannot depend solely on any one of them and instead, you have to cater to all of them to reach out to the targeted audiences.

Tool – Marketo is the best tool to avail all these marketing ways with one automated dashboard. The tool is used by the leaders in the startups and ecommerce businesses to increase brand awareness, get leads and prospects and converting them into long-term customers.

Viral Marketing – There are two ways to do viral marketing such that your products reach out to a lot of audiences at once. One of the ways is paid campaigns on search engines and on social media sites. The other way is through influencers. More than the first way, the second one is going to be fruitful in 2018 as it is going to attract the attention of the audiences far more than the first way out. Finding influencers to promote your products and services can be tiresome unless you know the right tool to use.

Tool – BuzzSumo is the tool tailor-made to find out the influencers in your niche. You can reach out to them and strike a deal to promote your product or service among various categories of audiences you can send out to. Furthermore, the tool helps you to find out what is the hottest things going on in your niche so that you can capitalize on the trends.

Effective Social Media and Email Marketing – Social media marketing is one of the best in the current scenario but not many corporates know how to do it properly. Similarly, lack of knowledge of email marketing makes corporates think email marketing is ineffective. They are gold mines for businesses to hit the jackpot.

Tools – For email marketing, you need Sumo which has various templates to collect emails automatically and politely and built a strong list of subscribers to reach out to for conversion. Furthermore, it has share buttons for social media and it shows where on the website the visitors are clicking more. Similarly, Buffer is the tool for social media marketing whereby you can publish posts at the optimal time to get the best reach and analyze your performance for betterment.

Converting The Traffic Into Customers – It is said that the first impression is the last. Therefore, make the best impression with the most attractive landing page. You need to test out various variations to see which one is working the best for you and increasing the conversion rate.

Tool – Unbounce is the tool to design and test out stunning landing pages. You can also use Optimizely for A/B testing. These are the leading platforms for testing and optimizing the landing page to impress your visitors and increase lead generation.

Understating Your Visitors – You have to understand the behavior and the demand of your visitors to serve them perfectly and converting them into leads and customers. You can understand such parameters through detailed analytics.

Tools – Qualaroo is a leading tool to get detailed insights and analytics and take actions accordingly for improvement. Inspectlet is a tool that records the activity of the users in video form and you can analyze the videos to understand every visitor minutely.

If you want to have a successful startup and ecommerce business in 2018 like PromocodeClub, you have to incorporate the above-mentioned tips and tools in your business to prosper.

A Brief Guide on Trade Credit Insurance [Infographic]

Trade credit insurance, also known as business credit insurance or credit insurance, is an insurance policy and a risk management product offered by private insurance companies and governmental export credit agencies to business entities wishing to protect their accounts receivable from loss due to credit risks such as protracted default, insolvency or bankruptcy, says the definition of Trade Credit Insurance, according to Wikipedia.

Trade credit insurance protects your business against both commercial and political risks that are beyond your control. It improves the quality of your business and helps you to grow profitably, minimizing the risk of sudden or unexpected customer insolvencies. Credit insurance gives you the confidence to extend trade credit to new customers. It also improves access to funding, often at more competitive rates.

The Trade Credit Insurance (TCI) is an important tool for companies to protect their cashflow against non-payment by their buyers, thus allowing them to acquire new customers with greater confidence.

To get protection from non-payment of debts, it is essential to buy trade credit insurance. The insurance policy becomes active if your client doesn’t pay on time or delay the payment. Here is the infographic to help you understand trade credit insurance policy.eir buyers, thus allowing them to acquire new customers with greater confidence.

To get protection from non-payment of debts, it is essential to buy trade credit insurance. The insurance policy becomes active if your client doesn’t pay on time or delay the payment. Here is the infographic (via - SecureNow) to help you understand trade credit insurance policy.

A Brief Guide on Trade Credit Insurance [Infographic]

Trade credit insurance, also known as business credit insurance or credit insurance, is an insurance policy and a risk management product offered by private insurance companies and governmental export credit agencies to business entities wishing to protect their accounts receivable from loss due to credit risks such as protracted default, insolvency or bankruptcy, says the definition of Trade Credit Insurance, according to Wikipedia.

Trade credit insurance protects your business against both commercial and political risks that are beyond your control. It improves the quality of your business and helps you to grow profitably, minimizing the risk of sudden or unexpected customer insolvencies. Credit insurance gives you the confidence to extend trade credit to new customers. It also improves access to funding, often at more competitive rates.

The Trade Credit Insurance (TCI) is an important tool for companies to protect their cashflow against non-payment by their buyers, thus allowing them to acquire new customers with greater confidence.

To get protection from non-payment of debts, it is essential to buy trade credit insurance. The insurance policy becomes active if your client doesn’t pay on time or delay the payment. Here is the infographic to help you understand trade credit insurance policy.eir buyers, thus allowing them to acquire new customers with greater confidence.

To get protection from non-payment of debts, it is essential to buy trade credit insurance. The insurance policy becomes active if your client doesn’t pay on time or delay the payment. Here is the infographic (via - SecureNow) to help you understand trade credit insurance policy.

Things To Keep In Mind When Selecting A Trademark For Startups

What is in a name….? Shakespeare once said. Well in today’s age it could be a few millions or billions of dollars. So a question that often comes in the mind of a startup/entrepreneur generally is …. What kind of a brand name should I choose that helps me rake in millions of dollars? Well the answer is quite simple… you must adopt a brand name that is distinctive and has a strong recall value...To help you answer that, we have listed below some points to ponder on when choosing a brand name;

1. The brand name should not describe the products/services being offered:
   
   One of the biggest myths going around these days is that a good brand name is one that allows the consumers to identify the nature of the products or services being offered by a Company. Well what startups and new companies adopting descriptive brand names do not realize is that when they adopt brand names which consist of words commonly used in their business circle to describe the products or services they offer they are weakening their brand value. The primary function of a trademark is to help consumers distinguish the goods or services offered by one entity from those of other entities. If the brand name being adopted is a word commonly used by entities to describe the qualities, characteristics, nature of the products/services they offer then they will be unable to stop other entities from using the same word to describe their products/services for e.g. Choco Treat in respect of chocolates and chocolate based confectionery; American Airlines for airlines etc. Brand names which are descriptive of the nature or characteristics of the products/services they offer do not generally proceed to registration as no entity can claim exclusive rights over words which are commonly used by other traders in that business to describe the products or services they offer. Hence, descriptive brand names are the weakest brand names to have.




2. The brand name could be suggestive, arbitrary or coined:
   
   While a Company or startup should not adopt brand names which are descriptive of their products or features they could adopt brand names which are suggestive e.g. MICROSOFT (suggestive of software for microcomputers), NETSCAPE (suggestive of software which allows traversing the "landscape" of the Internet). Suggestive trademarks do not directly describe the nature of the products and require some imagination, thought, or perception to reach a conclusion as to the nature of the goods.
   
   The strongest trademarks are made of words which are arbitrary and coined. Arbitrary trademarks are those which are commonly used dictionary words but which have no co-relation with the goods or services being offered under the trademark e.g. Apple-Computers, Orange-Mobile, Mango-Clothes. Coined or Invented Trademarks are those marks which have no meaning e.g. Kodak-Camera, Exxon-oil and gas company. If we were to look at the Top 10 brand names as per Forbes…you will notice that they have an extremely high recall value and have no direct correlation or connection with the goods/services they offer e.g. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Disney and these are either suggestive, arbitrary or coined brands.
   
   It is, therefore, advisable to adopt a brand name that is coined/invented for the simple reason that if any other entity adopts a brand name which is identical or deceptively similar to the invented/fanciful brandname even in respect of dissimilar goods or services they will could be liable for trademark infringement or passing off because they will have no reasons to justify adopting the brand name which has no meaning.



3. Conduct a pre-filing search:
   
   Once an entity has shortlisted a brand name to be used in respect of the products or services they wish to offer the next important thing they must do is to conduct a pre-filing search. The importance of a pre-filing search is to ascertain the availability of the brand name as a trademark i.e. to identify if there is any other entity that has already adopted a trademark which may be identical or deceptively similar to the brand name that the entity wishes to adopt as its trademark. If upon conducting a search no identical or similar trademark is revealed then the entity can proceed with filing the trademark application to register the brand name and commence marketing or promoting the products/services under the brand name. It is advisable to conduct a pre-filing search to ensure that the entity does not spend substantial money in promoting the brand just to be sued by another entity that had adopted a similar brand name in respect of same goods earlier in time.

These are some preliminary points that entities must keep in mind while selecting their brand name.

Vodafone Launches Startup Kit To Promote IoT Solutions Among Startups

Vodafone India has introduced the Ready Start-up Kit that has solutions aimed to give complete visibility, manageability, and control over various business assets to startup owners. The kit aims at grabbing IoT business from startups across the country.

Vodafone India will offer complimentary access to Vodafone's IoT Managed Connectivity Platform, expert support and rental free package for 6 months for 50 IoT SIMs to develop and deploy their solution.

Vodafone India will also offer complimentary access to three curated cloud-based business apps for one month -- Vodafone CRM, Vodafone Mobile Workforce Essentials and G-Suite. These solutions can help start-ups to boost their productivity, efficiency and enhance their ability to engage with their employees and customers.

Vodafone claims that it is the only Indian telecom operator with a completely online Cloud applications marketplace - Vodafone CloudStore.

Start-ups selecting the Vodafone IoT solution will be able to increase awareness of their products and services and engage with their customers using Vodafone’s Programmatic Marketing solutions, which includes up to 50,000 SMS free package for marketing.

“The Ready Start-up Kit brings forth Vodafone’s global experience as an enabler of start-ups and reinforces our commitment to this community. We expect it to be a game changer with a suite of solutions that will empower start-ups to catalyze innovation and fast track growth,” said Sunil Sood, MD and CEO of Vodafone India.

THe above development was first reported in ET Telecom.

Is This Google's Secret Formula for Startup Success

Starting a new business is a lot of work. An entrepreneur has to perfect a lot of verticals in order to get the business going. A small mistake and the whole cookie can crumble. In order to make it easy for entrepreneurs starting on this new journey, tech giant Google has come up a new platform called Startup with Google.

With one platform, Google has given the startup community proven tools, best practices, and access to a community of mentorship and support to budding entrepreneurs who are still trying to figure out how to get the ball rolling.

The platform comes with 39 practical tools that are required for starting up classified into categories like Build a Product, Increase Productivity, Get Insights and Analytics, Monetize your Products, and many more. Some of the tools provided by the search giant include Webmaster Guide, AdMob, G Suite, Data Studio, Google Trends and Firebase.

Not only tools, the website also comes with advices and best practices for leading a successful startup. If you’re an entrepreneur gearing to start a new venture, you’ll find topics like Hire the Right People, Lead a Team, Raise Funds and Understand Your Customers. These topics come with videos and recommendations for developing successful teams and organisations.

Considering it still takes a village to get the work done, the site also has a community tab that ensures sure short success. The tab provides an extensive list of accelerator programs, co-working spaces and events that any startup in the nascent stage of its growth can turn to for support.

So, while starting up a business is still a task, Google just provided budding entrepreneurs ammunition to fight the initial roadblocks that many face on their way up.

This development was first reported in Inc.com.

How To Save Your Startup From Failure?

When one starts a business, one expects it to grow and become profitable without failing. There are things you need to do save your startup from failure. They include the following.

You need plenty of drive and determination if you want to succeed. While drive and determination are broad ranging concepts, I'm talking about the ability to get out of bed in the morning, not have that second cup of coffee, and not "just browse the internet" before you start calling potential customers or negotiating a price discount with key suppliers.

Evaluating your personal character strengths and weaknesses as compared to a successful owner of a small business is a great idea and If you don't know any successful business owners then now's a good time to find one. That means proving yourself as successful by being discipline for your business.

We've all been to the small workshop where the owner can't find anything, didn't know you were coming (even though you phoned last week) and hadn't got your order ready. It's far from impressive.

Being organized, following up on the details and managing projects is all down to you. Even if that means delegating. And while we're talking about tricky situations, how well do you handle tricky situations or deal with different personalities? (I mean difficult personalities, but diplomacy is needed). Keeping your word and following up on your promises shows high personal integrity and is valued greatly by all the people you will deal with.

As a potential business owner, you will need to get yourself technically up to speed and develop successful working relationships with key professionals you need to make your business work. Customers, suppliers, staff (hopefully some day), accountants, probably lawyers, and of course the bank manager.

You need to be strong enough to make concrete decisions pertaining your startup otherwise you will fail. Sometimes there's just no substitute for straightforward - quick from the gut - decision making. As a small business owner, you will often need to make rapid decisions under stressful conditions or tight deadlines without the ability to consult. This is very critical because you need to ensure you make the right decision.

Okay, but what about when you've already been on your feet for 12 hours, your children kept you awake last night, and the computer just crashed? Physical and emotional stamina is essential. This is because you can only live on the adrenaline and excitement of being an entrepreneur for so long. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to keep going but having nothing left in the tank. It's very important to know when to take a break so that you can be at a stable mind to make the right choices.

You've dug deep in to your pockets, you've made the calls, got the goods, delivered the product, collected the money, paid the supplier, the accountant, the taxman, the rent, and all the stake holders involved.

There's nothing left. You've been a busy fool. Oh, No. Better give up now. No, not really. Resolve to learn from mistakes and make essential changes is critical. We've all heard research that shows poor planning is responsible for many failures, but not as many as running out of money. Cash is King for a reason. Without it, you just can't go on.

Many different operational aspects of your business end their life either in or out of your bank account. Things like managing inventory (stock), delivery and production schedules and quality control all need to be managed through your financial statements. A tight fist of control and mastery of your business dynamics will have you ordering that new car soon enough! That will show you are becoming a success.

The first few years of start­up is the hardest and one should look at all aspects to save it from failing. It's important that you brief your family, so they know what to expect, but it's as important to make sure you have their support during this time. They will help you and your startup from failing through their inputs. You're not going to be as well off as you used to be until you make the business profitable and trade above break even. You're going to be short tempered, tired and crotchety at times and you're not always going to be home in time for dinner.

Careful planning can eliminate many of these, but even the best plan in the world cannot take everything into account. But if you set the right plan for your startup you will prevent it from failing.

[box]Above is an authored article by Swati Chamoli. Swati is Marketing Executive at Enterslice. A Legal Technology Company dealing in Company Registrations, NBFC Registration, FSSAI License and other start-up services.[/box]

Multiple Usage Applications for Startups that Run Cross Platform

With the humungous increase in the variety of mobile platforms with each passing day, it is becoming a real challenge for developers of these multi purpose applications to be able to run their applications in comparatively more user-friendly and adaptable forms. With vast advancement taking place in the digital and multimedia sectors, it is quite natural for consumers of various applications to be accessing the services from different mobile platforms. As a result, the need of the hour is to create and develop more Write Once Run Anywhere (WORA) codes. For those of you who are not used to hearing this term, WORA refers to a piece of code which is initially written on any one particular platform, however, it can be run on multiple platforms thereafter.

So, basically what’s happening here is simple code reuse! This method of using multiple usage applications that can run across different platforms leads to the logical and practical conservation of the developer’s time, efforts, and money, of course.

Needless to say, there are several top- notch cross platform mobile development tools available for all kinds of mobile operating systems, including iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows among others. Some of these cross-platform mobile application development tools are PhoneGap, Appcelerator, Monocross, Codename One, Convertigo, and Nativescript, etc.

Without much delay, let us now take a look at some of the best multiple usage applications that run cross platform.

Best Multiple Usage Applications that Run Cross Platform

SHAREit – Connect & Transfer

SHAREit is a very popular utility application that also falls in the category of a multiple usage application that runs cross platform. Basically, it is a sharing tool which works cross platform that too without any mobile data required! Using the SHAREit application, you can share pictures, videos, audio files, documents, and other multimedia apps, games, and similar utilities to and from any other phone or desktop computer. One of the features of this multiple usage application is that it supports all file formats, hence making it even more convenient for you to exchange applications, games, etc. It can be used anytime and from anywhere, and it is a lot faster than your device’s Bluetooth (about 200 times faster). There is also a SHAREit music player where you can listen to the music that you received from any other device, irrespective of its operating system. With this cross-platform application, you no longer have to use cables and the internet for sharing files across your mobile phones and laptops.

TutuApp

TutuApp is one among the perfect examples of cross-platform multiple usage applications. This application is available for both the users of Android as well as iOS mobile devices. Using this application, you can install as well as run paid apps on your iOS and Android-powered devices, that too straight from the Google Play Store (for Android) and the iTunes Store (for iOS). The best part about using the TuTuApp is that you need not shell out a single penny for downloading all these applications! Yes, you can literally download and use all paid applications and games while using the feature-rich TuTuApp. This app also comes with an in-built toolbox which manages your device’s Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other such utilities. It is also coupled with a cleaning feature which helps maintain the speed and RAM usage of your mobile device, hence making sure that it functions smoothly during all times.

Opera Mobile Store

The Opera Mobile Store is yet another cross platform or “platform- independent” application that can be used for multiple different purposes. It is not only a browser- based application meant for users of mobile devices; rather it also functions as a digital application distribution platform which has a user-base of thousands from all over the world. What makes the Opera Mobile Store cross-platform application stand a step ahead of its competitors is the fact that it can used for browsing and downloading applications across more than 7,500 mobile devices, that too across a variety of different operating systems, including iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Java, and Symbian to name a few! It is also available on the desktop versions of these operating systems. With more than a million apps being downloaded from the Opera Mobile Store each day, this cross-platform application is easy accessible from your smartphone devices.

Conclusion

These 3 applications work best for my startup needs. Do share your experiences in the comment section below!

25 Startup Jargons Every Entrepreneur Must Know These Days

Last updated:27 February 2023

Ready with your idea? Planning to enter the entrepreneurial world? If the answer is ‘yes’, then this article is for you. Entrepreneurial world is not so glittery as is seems to be. Your ride to this fancy world will be full of challenges and hardship. And you know what is the major problem which aspiring entrepreneurs faces? It is the language. Yes, for aspiring entrepreneurs, language act as hiccups in their journey as they are not aware about the most common startup jargon used by the entrepreneurial world. Entrepreneurial world is full of startup jargons and if you want to create an impact, you need to know these startup culture lingos. So to make your ride bit easier, we at IndianWeb2 has penned down few startup jargons with their definition.

So below are the few must know lingos & Jargons for all the aspiring entrepreneurs:

1. Accelerator - Accelerators are essentially 'training schools' for expanding startups. Accelerators generally offer startups a specific amount of capital and guidance in exchange for a percentage (usually 6-8%) of ownership in the company.
   


2. Acqui-hire - buying out a company primarily for the skills and expertise of its staff, rather than for its products or services.
   
• MBO buyout - A management buyout — mbo buyouts — is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company/start-up, whether from a parent company or individual. MBOs generally occur to take companies private in an effort to streamline operations and improve profitability.
• LBO Buyout - A leveraged buyout (LBO) is when a company is purchased using a combination of debt and equity, wherein the cash flow of the business is the collateral used to secure and repay the loan


3. Alpha Test - It is a trial of machinery, software, or other products carried out by a developer before a product is made available for beta testing.
   


4. Accredited Investor - An individual potentially interested in investing in the company which can deal with securities not registered with financial authorities by satisfying one of the requirements regarding income, net worth, asset size, governance status or professional experience.
   


5. Bleeding Edge - The very forefront of technological development.
   


6. Buyout - It is the purchase of a company's shares in which the acquiring party gains controlling interest of the targeted firm.
   


7. Bootstrapped - it is a situation in which an entrepreneur starts a company with little capital.
   


8. Cliff - It means that the founders will not get vested with regards to any shares until the first anniversary of the founders stock issuance.
   


9. Co-invest - It is a minority investment, made directly into an operating company, alongside a financial sponsor or other private equity investor, in a leveraged buyout, recapitalization or growth capital transaction.
   


10. Dragon - While a ‘unicorn’ denotes an unlisted company that has achieved a valuation of over $1 billion based on funds raised, a ‘dragon’ is one that raises $1 billion from investors in a single round.
    


11. Decacorns – Term used for companies valued at over $10 Billion. Some of the notable members of the club are WhatsApp and Snapchat.
    


12. Elevator Pitch - An elevator pitch, elevator speech or elevator statement is a short sales pitch which is often an ice breaker, that will (hopefully) lead into a deeper dialogue about the functionality, and specialty, of what you and your startup can offer. In practice you typically have just 60 seconds to leave an exciting, impactful and meaningful impression with whomever you come in contact with
    


13. Exit Strategy - It is a strategic plan of entrepreneurs to sell his or her investment in a company he or she founded. The strategy gives owner a way to reduce or eliminate his or her stake in the business and, if the business is successful, make a substantial profit.
    


14. Full stack developer - A developer with specialized knowledge in all areas of software development
    


15. Gamification - the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.
    


16. HockeyStick Chart - A line chart in which a sharp increase or decrease occurs over a period of time. The line connecting the data points resembles a hockey stick, with the "blade" formed from data points shifting diagonally and the "shaft" formed from the horizontal data points. Hockey stick charts have been used as a visual to show dramatic shifts, such as global temperatures and poverty.
    


17. HoneyPot - A highly attractive offering used to entice a specific, targeted audience.
    


18. Institutional Investor - It is a term for entities which pool money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include banks, insurance companies, pensions, hedge funds, REITs, investment advisors, endowments, and mutual funds.
    


19. Iterate - The term is used for trying something, do it wrong, and try it again in a slightly different way with the hopes of achieving a better result.
    


20. Liquidation - It is an event that usually occurs when a company is insolvent that is it cannot pay its obligations as and when they come due.


21. MVP (Minimum Viable Product) - It is a development technique in which a new product or website is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters.
    


22. NASDAQ - An automated information network which provides brokers and dealers with price quotations on securities traded over the counter.
    


23. Quinquagintacorn - A term used for a startup worth $50 billion or more. Uber is one of the best example of quinquagintacorn.
    


24. Unicorns - It is the most common term used in startup industry. It is used for a startup companies who are valued at more than a billion dollars, typically in the software or technology sector. Flipkart is one of the unicorns for Indian startup world.
    


25. Unicorpse - It is one of the current buzz word in the startup world. Unicorpse are former unicorn, now valued at less than $1 billion. The best example of unicorpse (in India) is Snapdeal [Read Here].
    

These are few startup jargons which every budding entrepreneurs should know and I hope this will help entrepreneurs to write their success story. If you have any startup lingo which I have missed out, please do mention it our comments below.

The Best Free Resources For Startups

Starting a new business takes a lot of planning and strategic decisions. As a young entrepreneur, you have big aspirations and goals for your company but don't really know the right path to get there. Hence, it is always good to have a little help. Here, in this article, Indianweb2 brings to you Top 10 Free Resources & Tools that worth to be used in daily activities of young entrepreneurs who want to make it big in the Startup World.

1) FoundersKit

Founderkit is a reviews site for tools to help you save time and money while building your startup. It essentially offers unbiased reviews of startup tools from experienced founders. It was started as a spreadsheet, which creators shared with other founders, and quickly evolved into a full-fledged reviews site with a highly curated list of products that startups use.

2) Investor List

If you don't know where to look for money for your business, the Investor List will get you sorted. It is a searchable, crowdsourced list of over 1,000 investors built by a tech startup called Peg who were inspired to built the List when they themselves faced problems while raising investment for their startup.

3) Syrup for Startups aka GetSyrup

We spent too much time and money looking for solutions to our problems. In small business, every dollar and minute counts, and that's why Getsyrup was created for startups. Its a curated list of only the best of the best products discounts and exclusive deals on top tools for startups, also it's free, so that's cool. Free site for free stuff.

4) Marketing Stack

It has been observed that a majority of the entrepreneurs while starting up prefer doing most of the work themselves so as to ensure 100 per cent productivity and save money at the same time. One of the toughest hats that the entrepreneurs have to don is that of a marketer. Marketing Stack provides entrepreneurs with a curated directory of marketing resources and tools all under one roof.

5) Good Email Copy

When you're getting started, you have to email a bunch of people on a day-to-day basis. But, the problem is, sometimes even when we have passion for something, we don't really know how to convert that passion on to the paper and get the word out. This is where Good Email Copy will come to your help. A rich resource of email copy from some of the greatest companies in the world, this particular resource will ensure that you don't dread writing an email ever again in your life.

6) Launchpad for Sketch

Your website is your door to your world. Hence, it is very important to have a website that highlights your products/ services and glorifies your achievements. All the hard work that you do in getting the word out of your startup goes in vain, if you're website is unpleasing and hard to navigate. This is where Launchpad for Sketch comes to help. The platform acts as a service for static websites and lets entrepreneurs publish responsive websites directly from Sketch. All a user has to do is design on sketch, and the platform puts it on the web.

7) Mixmax Calendar

Since as a new business and entrepreneur, meeting numerous people is a part of your daily hustle, therefore having a good meeting management system is a must. Mixmax Calendar is considered as the fastest way possible to schedule meetings with anyone, anywhere in the world. All you have to do is customise the days, times, duration and maximum meetings per day that you’re free to meet, and add your link to emails, websites, social profiles, or wherever you want. The final step step involves your guests picking a time and the meeting is added to both the people's calendars instantly, without any back-and-forth.

8) Social Media Academy by Buffer

In the Internet age, social media is probably the cheapest way to get the word out about your product, service and startup. The Social Media Academy by Buffer helps startups up their social media marketing game, one article at a time. You can read articles and examples from today's top social media marketers and become a social media wizard yourself.

9) Drift 2.0

A scalable way to talk to your customers, Drift 2.0 claims to be the next generation of marketing technology. The tool brings the power of Artificial Intelligence to the most important part of your business: the relationships you have with your customers. The tool helps companies provide their customers premium, concierge-quality experience at scale.

10) Asana

Hoping to get startups from a state of chaos to clarity, Asana enables teams to move work from start to finish. The management tool helps its users organise their tasks into shared lists or boards for their initiatives, meetings, and programs.

11) SpreadShare

The tool lets users explore community-curated spreadsheets. These spreadsheets can be anything. Contact lists, product comparisons, financial tools, dashboard templates and whatever you can imagine. Using the tool, you can challenge and improve your spreadsheet’s content through feedback, additions, corrections and ideas from the crowd.

12) Slack

Team communication for the 21st century, Slack helps companies organise their team conversations in open channels. One can make a channel for a project, a topic, a team, or anything—everyone has a transparent view of all that’s going on. In addition to this, one can take a conversation from typing to face-to-face by starting a Slack voice or video call in any Channel or Direct Message. Further, everything in Slack—messages, notifications, files, and all—is automatically indexed and archived so that you can have it at your fingertips whenever you want.

5 Online Platforms That Will Make Small Businesses Grow Bigger

Are you looking for ways to increase productivity and visibility of your venture? Wondering which will the best-suited tool to build your e-commerce website? If the answer is ‘Yes’ then you should definitely read this article. If you look around, you can find thousands of website platforms out there, but the question is which is the best for your small business? To help you decide, here is the list of 5 platforms which might be just what you need to make your small business grew bigger.

Adobe Business Catalyst

Build An Entire Online Business With One Tool

Adobe Business Catalyst is targeted at website designers; however, it is very user-friendly for small business owners to build their own site. Its claim to fame is integrating content management (CMS), e-mail marketing, CRM database, e-commerce, and analytics in one platform. The others on this list do much of the same, but if you’re familiar with Dreamweaver and other website building tools, Adobe offers an elegant way to build an entire site and an entire online business with one tool.

Instappy

Create Your Own Mobile App

Instappy.com enables Android and iOS users to create customizable native mobile apps. It is a user-friendly platform which is easy-to-use, intuitive, innovative and does not require any coding knowledge. With the help of the platform, one can instantaneously create, launch and publish the apps on app store/play store for a variety of businesses in a days’ time.

It allows its users to get an app with fully functional built-in CMS for unlimited updates over 46 Rich media and social API's along with reliable data backup, secure cloud hosting, unlimited customization options, native utility features, built-in system for offers and deals, push notifications in the app and much more such things.

Squarespace

Create Impactful Online Presence

This is definitely an e-commerce platform for the type of business that one can run from their living room. Founded in 2003 in Anthony's dorm room at the University of Maryland, Squarespace is fully loaded e-commerce platform which helps its users to share their stories and create an impactful, online presence with the help of their website. With Squarespace, users can select various layouts of the template without having to know a stitch of code. Further, it allows users to upload an unlimited number of items on their online store with full control of their inventory management.

Squarespace won’t offer you a lot of capabilities in search engine optimization (SEO) or customer relationship management (CRM). Still, it’s a great platform for any type of business from small retailers to professionals wanting to sell their services.

CommerceHub

Now Retailers Can Increase Their Inventory And Product Offerings

Founded in 1997 by Frank Poore and Richa rd Jones, CommerceHub is headquartered in the heart of New York’s Tech Valley. It provides cloud-based technologies and services that enable retailers to radically expand their product offering without inventory risk. How do they accomplish this? Essentially, CommerceHub works as a merchandising and fulfillment platform that connects online retailers to suppliers -- which, as anyone who’s tried to build a relationship with suppliers knows, is a major milestone to reach.

Joomla

An Open Source E-Commerce Solution That Is Freely Available To Everyone

Joomla is a content management system (CMS), which enables its users to build a website and powerful online applications. Its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular website software available. Not only this, Joomla is an open source out-of-the-box e-commerce solution that is freely available to everyone.

So these are 5 options you can opt to turn your small venture into a fully developed firm while beating all odds. If you have any other options apart from the above mentioned open, do share with us in the comment box below.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

5 Online Platforms That Will Make Small Businesses Grow Bigger

Are you looking for ways to increase productivity and visibility of your venture? Wondering which will the best-suited tool to build your e-commerce website? If the answer is ‘Yes’ then you should definitely read this article. If you look around, you can find thousands of website platforms out there, but the question is which is the best for your small business? To help you decide, here is the list of 5 platforms which might be just what you need to make your small business grew bigger.

Adobe Business Catalyst

Build An Entire Online Business With One Tool

Adobe Business Catalyst is targeted at website designers; however, it is very user-friendly for small business owners to build their own site. Its claim to fame is integrating content management (CMS), e-mail marketing, CRM database, e-commerce, and analytics in one platform. The others on this list do much of the same, but if you’re familiar with Dreamweaver and other website building tools, Adobe offers an elegant way to build an entire site and an entire online business with one tool.

Instappy

Create Your Own Mobile App

Instappy.com enables Android and iOS users to create customizable native mobile apps. It is a user-friendly platform which is easy-to-use, intuitive, innovative and does not require any coding knowledge. With the help of the platform, one can instantaneously create, launch and publish the apps on app store/play store for a variety of businesses in a days’ time.

It allows its users to get an app with fully functional built-in CMS for unlimited updates over 46 Rich media and social API's along with reliable data backup, secure cloud hosting, unlimited customization options, native utility features, built-in system for offers and deals, push notifications in the app and much more such things.

Squarespace

Create Impactful Online Presence

This is definitely an e-commerce platform for the type of business that one can run from their living room. Founded in 2003 in Anthony's dorm room at the University of Maryland, Squarespace is fully loaded e-commerce platform which helps its users to share their stories and create an impactful, online presence with the help of their website. With Squarespace, users can select various layouts of the template without having to know a stitch of code. Further, it allows users to upload an unlimited number of items on their online store with full control of their inventory management.

Squarespace won’t offer you a lot of capabilities in search engine optimization (SEO) or customer relationship management (CRM). Still, it’s a great platform for any type of business from small retailers to professionals wanting to sell their services.

CommerceHub

Now Retailers Can Increase Their Inventory And Product Offerings

Founded in 1997 by Frank Poore and Richa rd Jones, CommerceHub is headquartered in the heart of New York’s Tech Valley. It provides cloud-based technologies and services that enable retailers to radically expand their product offering without inventory risk. How do they accomplish this? Essentially, CommerceHub works as a merchandising and fulfillment platform that connects online retailers to suppliers -- which, as anyone who’s tried to build a relationship with suppliers knows, is a major milestone to reach.

Joomla

An Open Source E-Commerce Solution That Is Freely Available To Everyone

Joomla is a content management system (CMS), which enables its users to build a website and powerful online applications. Its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular website software available. Not only this, Joomla is an open source out-of-the-box e-commerce solution that is freely available to everyone.

So these are 5 options you can opt to turn your small venture into a fully developed firm while beating all odds. If you have any other options apart from the above mentioned open, do share with us in the comment box below.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

The Myth of Mega-Successful College Dropout, And Its Ruining India's Entrepreneurial Fibre

Last couple of years have seen a new trend emerge in the startup ecosystem. While it is good to see more and more people with innovative ideas and a zeal to make them possible taking the startup plunge, the only problem is that a majority of these young entrepreneurs are literally young and are dropping out of college/school to try their hands at entrepreneurship. Sure, there is no denying the fact that if a person is really enthusiastic about their passion, they should be given a fair chance to pursue their dreams and make it a success, but unfortunately, a lot of this inspiration is coming from media stories glorifying billionaire dropouts.

Yes, Mark Zuckerberg did dropout of his college in his sophomore year and has made Facebook what it is today, but statistically speaking, his case is just one in a million. If one looks at some of the success stories ruling the corporate and tech sector today like Satya Nadella (CEO, Microsoft), Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook) and Jack Ma (Founder and chairman, Alibaba), one would find that they're all graduates from some of the most elite colleges in the world today. This reinstates the ages old saying, "Half-baked knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance." In fact, the great Steven Hawking, who himself is Oxford educated has bettered this saying. According to him, "the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but it is the illusion of knowledge."

Does College Dropout equal Mega Success?

In order to do an extensive study on the matter, Jonathan Wai (Research Scientist, Duke University) and Heiner Rindermann (Professor of Educational and Developmental Psychology, Chemnitz University of Technology) set out to study a whopping 11,745 United States leaders, which included CEOs, politicians, federal judges, multi-millionaires and billionaires, business leaders and internationally-renowned powerful men and women. The main aim of the study was to find out how many of these wealthiest and the most influential people in the US graduated college and how many of them belonged to an “elite school.”

The study churned out some interesting facts. According to the study, out of the 11,745 U.S. leaders studied, 94 per cent attended college, and about 50 per cent were product of an elite school.

Though according to another research done by United Nation's National Bureau Of Economic Research, there is no difference in adult income of students who attended elite school and students with similar SAT scores who attended regular schools. The research highlights that when it comes to long-term earnings, where you go is not that important, as long as you attend and graduate.

However, the data from the Wai and Rindermann study shows that students who aim make it to the top, an elite college might help them get there faster, courtesy the networks they make during their time in college or the brand name shining on their resume.

What About India?

A close look at the Top 5 Indian Unicorns would yield that all the founders/cofounders of these over $1 billion valued companies are product of elite Indian colleges. Whether its Flipkart's Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (IIT Delhi) or Ola Cabs' founder Bhavish Aggarwal (IIT Bombay), they are all products of some of the top most colleges in India.

Yes, India does have examples like OYO Rooms' Ritesh Agarwal and Freecharge's Kunal Shah, but they haven't been able to achieve the same success pinnacle as the college educated Indian Unicorn founders. Also, when we talk about college dropouts in Indian startup scene, how can we forget mentioning Housing.com co-founder and dropout from the elite Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, Rahul Yadav. Crowned as the bad boy of Indian startups, Yadav was ousted from the company after the board found about his behaviour towards investors, ecosystem and the media. In fact, Yadav's second venture Intelligent Interfaces, which was supposed to provide intelligent data aggregation and visualisation solutions to the Government of India, to make governance 100 times more efficient, has also unfortunately failed to make a mark.

So, the bottom line here is, while some people might be a success without a college degree by their side, but they're one of those fortunate exceptions. As far as statistics are concerned, when it comes to success, a college degree might help you climb the success ladder faster, especially in India.