India is currently fifth largest economy globally, with projections indicating that it will soon become the third largest. The country has witnessed a surge in new startup activities, especially among the youth. India has way more unicorns than it used to be years ago. If you are willing to start a business, we would like to give you some tips that may help you to grow and plan to achieve your goals as soon as possible.
Key Considerations:
1. Market Research: Understand your target market, customer needs and competition. Conduct market research to identify opportunities and challenges.
2. Business Plan: Develop a plan outlining various aspects like goals, targets, audience, marketing strategy, Operational plan, financial projections.
3. Legal Structure: A business may be registered as a sole proprietorship, partnership, Pvt Ltd, Ltd, LLP etc. Each structure has different implications for registration costs, taxes, compliances cost, closure cost etc
eg. A Pvt Ltd or Ltd company may be costly to incorporate and maintain, but it comes with more transparency, reliability and trust.
4. Finances: Assess your financial position. Determine the startup cost, monthly fixed and variable expenses, cost of production etc. Also include a backup fund, if possible, if the things do not work out.
Finances may differ from business to business but a general 6-month finance must be kept, considering that the business may not generate profits initially.
5. USP: Determine your USP (Unique Selling proposition). You need to identify how your product is better than the product of the competitor.
i. In service industry your USP may be your fast response time, quality of services, expertise, personalised service, transparent pricing, user friendly platform etc
ii. If you are selling goods, then your USP may be Innovative Design, High Quality, affordability, Eco-friendly, customizable goods, exclusivity, limited editions, technology integration, convenience, time-saving features, high performance, health and wellness benefits etc
6. Target Audience: Identify your target audience. Depending on your product/ service, your customer may be from a particular age group, a particular demographic area, a high-income group, it may be a business person or a college going student etc.
7. Legal Compliances: Familiarize yourself with basic compliances like GST, TDS, Income Tax. Ensure proper compliances. You can also appoint a trust worthy professional such as a CA, CS, CWA, Tax Advocate who can keep your compliances up-to date.
8. Branding and Marketing: Develop a marketing strategy, consider how will you promote your business to attract customers. Now a days various online marketing platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Google Ads, Just Dial, Instagram can help you to get your customers. You can also appoint a digital marketing company do to the same for you.
For Offline marketing personal visits, seminars, references, cold calling, print advertising etc may help you get new customers.
9. Risk Assessment: Identify potential risks like competition, market fluctuations etc and develop a plan to mitigate them.
10. Networking: Build a network of contracts within your industry. It may help you to get valuable insights, partnerships and support.
11. Customer feedback mechanism: Establish a system to gather customer feedback and analyse the same to improve customer satisfaction.
12. Scalability: Consider scalability of your business model. Plan for growth and expansion to increase demand of your product/service.
13. Work-life balance: Understand the importance of work life balance. Avoid burnout by taking physical and mental well-being.
14. Exit Strategy: Develop an exit strategy. Know that you might transition out of the business in the future, which is nothing to be ashamed of. Many founders of Unicorns have failed, but they came back even stronger with all the previous experiences, they are able to overcome the mistakes they made earlier.
Before diving into entrepreneurship, take time to evaluate each of the above aspects. Seek guidance from mentors, industry experts and professionals.
Additional Points:
1. Also consider the Legal structure of the business on the basis of number of important people in the team. Consider the fact that the management team should be reliable and the goals of the team should be same. An excellent team with different goals generally does not perform well. A well-defined agreement between partners/directors may help you to resolve most of the future problems. The agreement may include profit percentage, duties and responsibilities powers, exit clause etc of each partner/Director.
2. Try to re-invest your initial profits into business. This may help you to build higher capital in future.
3. Avoid High Interest loans initially like personal loans from banks, loans from NBFC. Try to start with your own capital and go for loans once the things are streamlined.
4. If you are a salaried person and depend highly on salary, try to build some business along with your job, which makes it easier to start a business with a base already developed. However, it is not recommended if your employment agreement does not support the same.
5. Make sure to do all business compliances on time. Late filings/ Penalties/Interests etc may end up burning your finances.
Remember, these recommendations are general and may differ from business to business. It is important for you to first understand your business and convince yourself before trying to convince others to be a part of your business. The entrepreneurial journey is full of ups and downs, but the journey will teach you, imparting invaluable lessons that ultimately contribute to flourishing your business.
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To get any support in registering your business or mentorship, you may contact us at 9899595719 or acakunalchhabra@gmail.com
Author Bio
I plan to establish a proprietorship business in Mumbai. Please help me, with which Govt. regulatory authority I have to register my business. This is a MSME.