Author: yazdi

Business Ideas, Finance

A HUNT FOR INDIA’S MOST INNOVATIVE BUSINESS IDEA

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Indians are some of the biggest, greatest and best entrepreneurs in the world. Their business acumen and passion for success has been recognized and lauded the world over. They have inspired millions to think big and doggedly pursue their dreams of making it big. Today, doing business across any vertical is wrought with stiff competition. We are seeing a whole new generation of entrepreneurs who are doing things differently through some innovation and identifying new business opportunities. You can click here to get help you with your business finance.

These New-age Entrepreneurs and visionaries are redefining the way business has been traditionally done. Through every new opportunity, we see individuals who are not only young but are also not averse to taking risks.

Continuing with Network18’s endeavor of promoting ‘entrepreneurship’ and ‘start-ups’ in India, ‘The Venture’, a joint initiative with DS Group, hunts for next big entrepreneurial idea that is yet to be conceived.

Why Apply:
  • Raise up to a maximum of INR 1 crore for 10% equity
  • Opportunity to pitch to a highly renowned group of Jury members
  • Service providers & experts to facilitate deal closure & documentation
  • Extensive mentoring by top industry leaders

 

www.theventure.co.in

Business Ideas, Innovation, Motivations

10 offbeat startups that are trying to make it big in India

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It’s ingenious but, er, does it make money? Perhaps all the entrepreneurs who feature in this special package would have been asked this question at some point in their startup journey.

Kalyani Khona, who has started up Wanted Umbrella, which she claims is India’s only matrimonial agency for differently-abled people, may have had observers wondering where the money will come from. Her quick answer: “I have married a social cause and business.”

It’s ingenious but, er, why on earth would people want it? That’s a query Alpana Agarwal, co-founder of Con Affetto, which makes edible bouquets — think cupcakes, cookies, truffle — may be used to by now. Ask her about who are the potential customers and she just might tell you about the good lady who placed an order in New Delhi for her grandson’s first birthday and carried it to Jaipur.

It’s ingenious, but will it fly? That’s what Mrinal Pai must be asking himself on the odd bad day. His startup is a farsighted concept that offers custom drone products and services. Pai sees a (near) future when drones will be used to transport organs between hospitals, flying over gridlocked roads; and when you could use his service to drop a quick personalised note of endearment to your beloved. Yes, but will regulations — which have yet to be framed — allow his drones to keep flying?
These are just three of the 10 offbeat startups we’ve deep-dived into; just three of the 800-odd startups added every year; and just three of the over 3,000 startups that are trying to make it big in India.

The 10 that we’ve picked are novel, but being different or a first mover is no guarantee of being the best mover — or moving at all a few years later. After all, success rates in the world of entrepreneurship are notoriously low, as low as 10% in the tech world. And funding is no guarantee of success. CB Insights, a US-based venture capital database, reckons that companies typically die around 20 months after their last round of funding and after having raised $1.3 million.

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Finance

Government may tweak rules to save startups from angel tax

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Startups currently in the market for angel funding may soon not have to worry about the taxman or relocating overseas. The government is working towards a solution to ring-fence angel investments that are currently taxable under the Income Tax Act. The move, if pushed through before or in the upcoming Union Budget, would help accelerate the growth of the domestic angel investor community and stem the drain of startups and critical intellectual property to overseas locations such as Singapore, North America and the UK.

The amendments under discussion, if taken on board, would directly benefit organised angel investor networks such as IAN, Mumbai Angels and Hyderabad Angels. IAN is currently the largest organised angel investor network with 350-odd members and more than 60 investments to date. In 2014, such networks along with high-profile individual angels such as Google India chief Rajan Anandan, iSprit founder Sharad Sharma and AppLabs founder Sashi Reddi, pumped $115 million into 285 startups, according to data from VCCEdge. This, however, is miniscule compared with the late-stage capital that venture capitalists invested, closing off 2014 with $2.1 billion.

“The population of genuine investors who are willing to put money on the table is not growing fast enough. This move will encourage more investors to participate in funding startups,” said Ravi Kiran, founder of Mumbai-based startup accelerator and angel network Venture Nursery, which has 30 angels in its network.

Education, Training

8 Image-Building Tips

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Put a positive spin on sales by creating a professional image.

There’s so much talk about “image” nowadays. In addition to marketers and managers, there are now spin doctors, who polish their clients’ images by putting the best spin on what the public hears and sees. As a new business owner, it’s important to be your own spin doctor, molding and honing your business image to successfully appeal to your prospects and customers.

I got an e-mail the other day from an entrepreneur who worries that potential customers see his new business as merely a hobby and wants to know how he can get them to take him seriously. Thousands of entrepreneurs nationwide are faced with the same dilemma. The key is to create an image that communicates professionalism right from the start . . . beginning when customers call your company for the first time.

Every time your phone rings, what your prospects hear makes a big difference in the way they perceive your business. Here are four steps you can take to make your business sound professional:

  • Choose a great company name. Your company needs a name that’s descriptive and easily recognizable, such as “Jones Public Relations.” If the name you’ve started out with isn’t working, change it.
  • Answer professionally. Answer the phone clearly and distinctly with the company name, followed by your own name, to help the caller remember it, such as “Jones Public Relations. This is Sally Jones.”
  • Record a professional-sounding message. The way your phone is answered when you’re unavailable says a lot about your concern for customer satisfaction. One simple solution is using voice mail from your local phone company. For less than $10 per month, voice mail allows your callers to leave you a message even when you’re on the line. Whether you use voice mail or an answering machine, make sure your outgoing message is upbeat, short, crisp and professional.
  • Become an expert at describing what you do. Write down a single, clear sentence that describes what your company does. Then memorize it and repeat it in every contact with prospects, from networking to cold calls. Being able to describe your business in a consistent, memorable fashion is a great way to position your company in your prospects’ minds.

When it comes to creating an image for your business, what your prospects see is as important as what they hear. To convey an image of professionalism and stability, you’ll need a family of top-quality tools that work together.

  • Start with a stationery package. To stand out, coordinate two-color business cards (black ink plus a second color) with letterhead and matching envelopes. Add a distinctive logo with help from your printer or a graphic designer. Then use your logo on all your printed materials to maintain a consistent visual image.
  • Create a company brochure. This single tool must convey that your company is solid and stable, communicate the benefits of selecting your company and create a distinct visual image. Examine your principal competitors’ brochures to assess the formats they use and their key selling points. When developing your own brochure, production quality is critical to the success of the piece–and to your professional image. So be certain your company brochure can stand up to those of your largest competitors in terms of design, readability and paper quality.
  • Polish your forms. Print invoices, contracts and estimates on letterhead or pre-printed forms, so every communication your prospects and customers receive from your business conveys a consistent, professional image.
  • Tie in presentation tools. If you need presentation folders or proposal covers, have them printed at the same time you print your brochure. A large portion of printers’ charges are for “inking” the press. If your materials use the same kind of paper and ink colors, printing them together will save money.

This article originally appeared in the March 1998 issue of Business Start-Ups magazine.

Kim T. Gordon

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Calendar, Motivations, News

Vote for India’s most innovative student startups.

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We are delighted to announce that over 430 student startups from 69 cities across India have been nominated for the fourth edition ofTATA First Dot Powered byNEN Awards!Which of these startups will win the coveted People’s Choice Awards? Any from your college or city? You decide!

Visit www.tatafirstdot.com and vote for the most innovative student startups! Help us recognize and support India’s next-generation entrepreneurial leaders.
VOTE for your favorite student startup
Three simple steps to vote:
Visit the Nominees page on our website
Check out nominees by city, industry, institution or name
Go to your favorite nominee page, read more about them, and click VOTE. And yes, you can vote for more than one startup!
Cheers,
TATA First Dot team
Business Ideas, Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship

This Indian start-up could disrupt health care with its powerful and affordable diagnostic machine

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Kahol and his Indian engineering team built a prototype of a device called the Swasthya Slate (which translates to “Health Tablet”) in less than three months, for a cost of $11,000. This used an off-the-shelf Android tablet and incorporated a four-lead ECG, medical thermometer, water-quality meter, and heart-rate monitor. They then enhanced this with a 12-lead ECG and sensors for blood pressure, blood sugar, heart rate, blood haemoglobin, and urine protein and glucose. In June 2012, they sent this device to 80 medical labs for testing, which reported that it was as accurate as the medical equipment they used — but more suitable for use in remote and rural areas, because it was built for the rugged conditions there.

The Swasthya Slate is portable, affordable and offers a wide variety of tests. (Swasthya)

By January 2013, Kahol’s team had incorporated 33 diagnostic tests, including for HIV, syphilis, pulse oximetry, and troponin (relating to heart attack) into the Swasthya Slate and reduced its cost to $800 per unit. They also built a variety of artificial-intelligence–based apps for frontline health workers and started testing these in different parts of India.

In March 2014, the Indian government started a pilot of 4,250 Swasthya Slates in six districts of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, which has a population of 2.5 million. Antenatal testing, which often took 14 days because mothers had to go from clinic to clinic for different diagnostic tests, was done in 45 minutes in a single clinic. The proportion of the time that frontline health workers spent on administrative paperwork, recording data from tests and filling out forms, was reduced from 54 percent to 8 percent of their work day. Hundreds of thousands of people gained access to medical care that had been unavailable to them.

…………..Vivek Wadhwa

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Business Ideas, Mentoring, Motivations

TiE Launches ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ Project for Startups

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The Indus Entrepreneurs’ Hyderabad chapter launched Dec. 18 its Billion Dollar Babies project for startups.

An initiative of TiE’s Silicon Valley chapter, the B$B project will select a few startups from India which have a potential to become a $1 billion company. The program aims to help select Indian product startups reach $1 billion in global enterprise value through this ambitious initiative that promises to leverage the reach and resources of TiE Silicon Valley, said a statement.

With its first class next month, the program will bring selected startups to Silicon Valley. It will help entrepreneurs go global, connect with mentors, potential customers and venture capitalists.

The companies will be able to participate in the TiE CIO Forum and other educational events, and receive help with legal, accounting, HR/benefits, hiring, marketing, and other company-building tasks. The project was unveiled by Venktesh Shukla, president of TiE Silicon Valley. “The program represents a unique opportunity for young Indian companies aspiring to break through into a competitive global market,” the Indian American entrepreneur said.

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Innovation

Indians have tremendous potential for inventions and innovations

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India needs to overcome 'white hair syndrome', Ratan Tata says

 Tata group’s chairman emeritus Ratan Tata onThursday said Indians have tremendous potential for inventions and innovations but the country needs to overcome its “white hair syndrome” which restricts opportunities.
“I have always really felt India has tremendous potential for inventions and innovations, but we never really had the opportunity because we suffer from the ‘white hair syndrome’. I have white hair (experience) and your idea is never as good as mine,” Tata said at an event where the XPrize organization launched its India chapter.

Tata said he always visualized that an Indian engineer or an inventor solving global problems.

“An Indian engineer or an inventor could solve a global problem but never had a chance to do that from India, and now this may provide a motivation for that to happen. Your ideas have been so visionary. There have always been things considered technically impossible — artificial eyes, autonomous cars, robots, application of robots, things of this nature,” he said.

“This XPrize really broke that tradition to enable a 20-year old to have a great idea and be recognized on a global level for what he has done, with no limitation on his age or wealth or his name, and makes no limitation on what he chooses to do,” Tata said at the event.

XPrize is a USA-based non-profit organization, which motivated development of ideas with large prizes, on whose board Tata serves, along with Google founder Larry Page, acclaimed movie maker James Cameron, Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post as well as PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, among others.

“For me, this is an opportunity. You are very receptive to taking XPrize to India and not restricting it to the USA. Why not look at a country like India which I think has enormous capabilities and strength,” Tata said.

Asked about what his dreams are for XPrize India, Tata said, “I think that depends on imagination. What I would like to see is that we give India, and our entrepreneurs, a chance to participate in an area that the US has excelled in, as well as an opportunity to take a chance, to undertake to do something that is considered impossible, and to achieve that in an organised manner with incentives,” Tata said.

“I would hope that one day, XPrize India becomes globally visible as a Nobel Prize and in many ways a Nobel Prize for innovation,” he said.

India has shown its innovation skills in many areas, Tata said.

“In the medical area also, it has been genome sequencing. It has always been something that is not easy to do. Dreams form a spark and you have the satisfaction of converting it into reality,” he said.

Tata said he got attracted to the XPrize as it encouraged to people and facilitated change.

“I was drawn to technological motivation coupled with the physical feat of doing something and not just doing it in a lab, but out in the real world,” he said.