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India’s Startup Success Comes Down To 25 Years Of Bold Economic Reforms

On Aug 15, 2016 India celebrated its Independence Day. It was an opportune day to ponder over the progress made by the seventh largest and second most populated nation in the world. During this introspection the author realized that the nation’s economic progress, especially the startups, would not have been possible without the momentum established by the 1991 economic reforms that brought freedom from the bonds of license raj, and gave direction to India’s economic growth story.

Until the 1991 budget, over 90% of the system was controlled by the state, free economy was non-existent and entrepreneurs found it extremely difficult to get clearances from the government in order to pursue their startup dreams. Rather than pragmatic action that was taken to stir up entrepreneurship and help founders of startups, the first set of reforms were implemented under compulsion, in order to avert a financial crisis and meltdown. The government was facing a fiscal and current account deficit. The oil shock of 1990-91 meant that India was paying more for the fuel, with exports falling. Despite borrowing from the IMF in that very year, India’s foreign exchange reserves had nearly disappeared, with just about enough dollars to meet the next three weeks of payments. There was a strong possibility of India defaulting on its international debt obligations. In order to pay its dues, reforms were kicked off with a three pronged strategy:

1. Fiscal Correction and Trade Policy Reforms – The food and petroleum subsidies were cut and fertilizer prices were raised by 40%. Import and excise duties were reduced. Rupee was devalued in two stages and controls on exports were eased.

2. Industrial Policy Reforms – Monopolies Restrictive and Trade Policies Commission (MRTPC) Act was repealed. Industrial licensing was abolished in all but 18 sensitive industries. Measures were taken to promote investments and competitiveness in domestic industries.

3. Public Sector Reforms – The banking sector was opened to participation by private sector. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was converted into a statutory body and the office of Controller of Capital Issues was abolished. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was given a more autonomous role in setting the interest rates and monitoring the money supply in the country.

The reforms enabled entrepreneurs to dream, to grow their nascent enterprises, to start organizations by exploring new sectors. Recalling those days, Uday Kotak, the chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank, says:

I remember how, for days after the announcement, over long telephone calls on the landline, we analyzed every single element of the announcement: what it meant for the country, how industries would benefit, development of private sector, etc. When the significance of the announcement sunk in, that is when we realized how India as a nation was ready to take off.

Narayana Murthy, founder of India’s second largest software company Infosys, remembers that, “Once licensing was abolished, it allowed companies to make decisions in their boardrooms rather than in the corridors of North Block.”
As a result of the reforms, Sunil Mittal started the third largest mobile operator in the world – Bharti Airtel – and Subhash Chandra founded the Zee Television Network. By opening up India’s closed economy there was an increased sense of competition, and subsequently multinational corporations also entered the fray. Over a period of time homegrown startups such as BPL, VIDEOCON and Parle were competing with corporations such as Samsung, Sony and Coke/Pepsi. Although few of them survived to grow into large organizations, the first batch of homegrown Indian enterprises formed the key source of inspiration for founders in subsequent years.

After reforms brought success, and governments became bolder in maintaining the momentum of change. From 1999 to 2005, SEBI was made the single point nodal agency for guidelines and Indian firms were encouraged to acquire foreign corporations. Foreign portfolio investment for Indian companies was made more flexible with 74% foreign direct investment allowed in banking, telecom and 49% in civil aviation. As a result prominent Indian companies such as TATA acquired Jaguar, Land Rover and Tetley Tea in Britain. It also led to the emergence of new enterprises in the Indian aviation sector. According to Captain Gopinath, founder of India’s first low cost airline, Air Deccan: “Reforms take time to percolate down. The new middle class was emerging and so were people’s aspirations. I realized it’s not a country of 1 billion hungry people, but a country of 1 billion hungry consumers.”

Feeling empowered and confident of market conditions created by such policy measures, the timing from 2005 to 2016 was perfect for commencement of a startup revolution in India. Says Sachin Bansal, who started Flipkart, India’s biggest unicorn and e-commerce company,

When we started Flipkart in 2007, we began small by selling books. But we always had the goal of creating a consumer internet company that will be at par with the best in the world. This dream would not have been possible in a pre-liberalized India. Flipkart, I believe, is truly a child of liberalization.

More than twenty five years after initiation of liberalization, even though India finds itself ranked at 130th in “ease of doing business” by the World Bank, it must be remembered that Indian entrepreneurs’ endeavors have resulted in nine unicorns and the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. On 17 Aug 2016 Hike messenger has been valued at more than $1.4 billion and has joined the list of unicorns. The government has further introduced policy changes such as 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in food retail, civil aviation and 74% in private security agency and pharmaceutical businesses, a new e-commerce policy to govern online retailers, and GST (Goods and Services Tax). As a result more than 50% of Indian entrepreneurs feel that now is the best time to start and run a company in this country.

Source from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/krnkashyap/2016/08/23/indias-startup-success-comes-down-to-25-years-of-bold-economic-reform/#1ec974095c26

At Hyderabad Job Fair 3,500 Youth Get the Job in Single Day

Among all cities in India, Hyderabad stands on the scale of employability. Recently conducted survey at the mega job fair organized by the NICs (National Institute of Career Services). A total of 10,000 intermediate and undergraduate students got themselves. A total of 10,000 intermediate and undergraduate students got themselves registered at the fair. The job expo, where moreover 75 companies from IT, ITes and manufacturing sectors participated, employed 3,500 of those who registered for grand meet on dingle day.

The NICS Job Mela, which was earlier held in Noida, Uttar Pardesh, had registered around 8,000 jobseekers. Supported by Union and State governments, the fair is organized to help employable jobseekers and prospective employers. Only 2.4 percent of employable workforce has skill, adding that union projects, including Skill India and Make in India can facilitate better this ground reality. India’s poor performance in the ability is in stark contrast with high percentage of skilled workforce in Germany 75%, Japan 80% and China 90%.

The Union Government will set up 8,000 new commercial training institutes to support development of skilled workforce in the country. The Union government will set up 8,000 new industrial Training Institutes to support development of skilled workforce. 2 lakhs students graduate from engineering colleges in Hyderbad and surrounding areas alone. We need to generate jobs for them. At the same time, we cannot disregard ITIs. The centre will grant Rs. 100 crore for setting up and maintenance of it is in Telangana. Job seekers from the country who emigrate to Germany, Australia and Japan can in the future attend skill establishment and training sessions of their choice in ITIs. Students and young graduates, who assembled to the job fair, could not have desired for anything better, as they got a gamut of companies knocking at their doorstep. If such Job Melas are held in each of the districts, the youth will benefit much.

Globalization Paving a Way for Startup India Program by Encouraging Foreign Collaboration

The 1991 Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization policy changed the face of India. McDonaldisation is the result of LPG. While many people criticized globalization, it was widely appreciated by people who cunningly used the opportunity for development.

Our respected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is many of those people who see opportunity in both urbanization and globalization. India has the third largest Startup ecosystem. The startup India and Standup India initiative is further accelerating people to quit their jobs and believe in their dreams. Budding entrepreneurs have the capability to revolutionize India with their creative ideas. More and more people today are quitting their high salaried jobs and choosing to start-up.

Internet is truly a blessing. It has given us a chance to connect with people all across the world and carry out all our operations smoothly. The new internet generation is utilizing the user friendly new media in the most optimized manner and startups are readily indulging in deals with foreign counterparts, thus encouraging cross-border collaborations. Foreign collaborations further give a chance to hire the best talent.

Startups have an opportunity to pitch their ideas to wider audience and raise funds from investors all across the globe.

Startup India is one such program which aims to resolve all the issues faced by young entrepreneurs and help them concentrate on their core business. The Startup India Action plan not only gives you recognition but also gives a relief in various environment and labor laws and further exemption in tax and fast tracking Indian Patent Rights.
Startup India Consultants aims to provide you all the services from idea to execution and gaining recognition under Startup India Program.

Before Getting into StartUps, First Get to Know The Reasons Why Many of Them Fail

“The success of one start-up comes with the failure of 99 other start-ups”

India’s leading web series TVF (The Viral Fever) is coming with the second season of their globally acclaimed mini-TV show, The Pitchers. The first season showed us what really happens in the success stories of many start-ups. We feel a kick of raw inspiration and courage when the show ends. This is not limited to this mini-series, but to many successful stories. But there was a line said by the father of one of the lead characters. He says that when a new business idea leads to success in a start-up, that same day 99 other start-ups fail. He does not say this regarding the business idea, but he puts importance to how we go about the start-up. Logic seems to take a back seat with so many social interactions, but a new business idea cannot afford to not have logic as its prime mover. Thus, before you jump into your idea, research about the ways in which you can see a failure in it. You cannot literally afford to make 999 efforts to failure and then become successful like Thomas Edison. But, what you can do is to make sure to get into the bottom of each aspect as the dynamics of the world is changing due to internet becoming our 6^th sense.

Failures are the Stepping Stones for Your New Business Idea

If you are planning to associate your business idea with government initiatives, it becomes essential to know the crux of the schemes. Initiatives like Start-Up India and Skill India are made available to youth (or any person wants to start a business) so as to encourage the power of converting dreams into reality. It is a great support introduced by the government. TED talks are one way to increase our knowledge relating to start-ups, its failures, managing assets and overcoming challenges.In one of the TEDvideos, a person talks about the result of reading a book per day. What we are trying to say is, books are the best way to make your building blocks of the start-ups.Note that books provide in-depth knowledge about a subject so that should never be ignored (missed) in this era of everything-is-on-internet. Reading the autobiographies of the world’s most influential people will tell you why they were what they were. Imagine the power of books which can take us through the important facets of such people. If internet is your 6^th sense, then make sure that book becomes your heartbeat. Get into a bit of history and become smart enough to know that 15-16^th century brought a whole new level of scientific innovations, 18-19^th centuries brought political creativities into people and 19^th century was the effect of globalisation. Hence, what time period do you think this one is.

Creation has always been the ultimate things for human. In today’s world, creation means business! Remember that start-ups aren’t just selling or buying, but it’s a way to understand the working of the world and all the above things support it. The better you understand the reasons of failure, the better you would be going ahead with your new business ideas.

Post Modern Investments Ways Prove More Efficient Than Traditional Ones

We live in a world where start-ups are defining the norms. Their efficiency has proved itself to be the winner among public. The simpler a concept is, the wider it gets followed. The same thing is happening with the start-ups nowadays. The whole notion of the world getting smaller with globalisation and technology has increased the potential of new business ideas. Where traditionally, people had to go out in the market and arrange physically their business and had to think a lot beside their idea on how to grow the business. But, now people can put a great deal of time in their idea with the advent of technology. One thing that is never far away from a start-up is problem. We should feel lucky that today, any problem can be solved by just typing that on our keyboards. Same is happening with the problem of investing in a new business ideas. Initially, where preliminary money generation or what now has transformed a typical market term, seed funding, people used to rely on their families, friends and relatives. A big funding was only possible if the idea has run its way into the masses.

Now, the world is changing at the speed of our thoughts. New funding ways have evolved. The best thing is that all the big money makers such as angel investors or the people who had made big money in the last quarter of the 20^th century are really vouching for the success of start-ups. They have understood the power and potential of the technology we are into. All over the world, the wealthy people are supporting their talents be it in India, China, Iran or any other place. However, a budding entrepreneur must understand few new ways which if done properly could bring them huge investments.

Crowdfunding – Crowdfunding is one of the latest modes of capital venture. A large number of people from various backgrounds gather to make contributions for new business ideas. The venture capital emerged from crowdfunding is enough for the seed funding. Also, a good word of mouth in the people who matter really take the idea to scale new heights. Many platforms are there in India which have made crowdfunding easy and make the campaign affective.

Pitching in Fest Events – This is one of the perfect places to pitch your business ideas for various venture capitalists and angel investors. Usually, in these scenarios, various fests and events are organised where instead of models ramping up the stage, new entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and if investors like them, they give them funding. One example of such a stage in India is NASSCOM.

More Seed Funds –In India, there is always going to be a need for more seed funding in the coming few years. Good news is that the VCs and angels have got support from the India government over no tax on investing. Such initiatives by Start-Up India will bring confidence to promising businessmen. It would result in better and efficient competition leading to proficient and deserving ideas to rise above.

Availability of investors’ database – A database of investors is a good thing as their public space can be used gather information. Such information can be resourcefully and judiciously be used to get seed funding. A background check of many investors will open multiple possibilities as their portfolio will provide signs of investing.

How Social Media can Accelerate The Growth of Your Business

Technological development is surely opening up new vistas for business growth. Harnessing the power of social media in optimize manner can surely help accelerating the business growth. For a budding entrepreneur, it is extremely important to understand the role social media to outshine his or her startup in the startup ecosystem of India.

Most of the entrepreneurs have a false belief that online presence is needed when the business model starts working. But in reality in this tech driven world, digital marketing should be an integral part of your business plan. Startups often have constrained budgets and limited workforce. Overlooking the power of social media can lead to poor marketing.

Social media is one such medium which helps you target your audience in the most effective and efficient manner. It gives you an opportunity to connect to your target market 24/7 and your product can be viewed at multiple devices. But just having a website and presence online won’t necessarily work to build up your customers. One needs to have an apprehensive understanding of various result-oriented tools like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Digital Display Advertising, Email marketing and Affiliate marketing.

You should prepare a social media plan which should mention the social networks necessary for your business. For example, Facebook might be used by millions of users but if it does not include much of y our target audience, it cannot be the base of your plan.

If you are not aware much about social media tactics, you can visit Startup India Consultants, who provide services on everything to maximize your capacity at startup attempt. The Skill India programme by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is another platform where you can get knack of almost everything.