In my last post I captured few points discussed by participants during OCC meet. Here are other key points discussed along with my comments :
Hiring & Retention Policy : Most of us think that employee retention is very important. You should have somebody working for you as long as possible. A lot of people tend to forget that the cost of employee becomes fixed-cost once he is associated for longer duration. Also his expectations during appraisals are quite high, if he is staying with the same organization for some time. The productivity of employee also decreases in most of the cases once he becomes complacent. In some cases, companies feel that they made a mistake by hiring wrong person. So, employees should not always be seen as assets and attrition should not have a negative connotation. One specific example of a BPO was given where they hire 100+ people every month. A lot of employees join here at a salary as low as Rs. 4000 and work for 3-4 months before moving to some other organization. But from company's perspective the cost of hiring & training is lower than keeping highly paid long-term employees. Even maintaining a work-force who works for you on part time basis is also a good option for organizations.
So folks, within your organization try to figure out cost of long-term vs. short-term employees before judging whether attrition is good or bad for you.
E-commerce & Mobile Advertising : All of us hear a lot about e-commerce and mobile advertising. The potential for both these technologies is quite huge, but currently it will take some time to pick-up. Few big challenges for e-commerce is establishing credibility and service guarantee. In India still there are only 2.5 Million e-commerce transactions happening. Once everything is in place and people will have good faith e-commerce will pick-up fast. The companies offering their services using e-commerce as a base should be ready for great end-user experience, good supplier network and security of financial information.
Mobile advertising is currently INR 40 Cr. industry and it growing fast. Smaller players are also using these means to touch-base with their customers. Getting a SMS from nearest Mall or restaurant is becoming popular. The only problem is information overload for end-users in long run. Intelligent background study is also required to send relevant messages to right people. The key lies in providing right advertisements to right people at right place and right time.
Need of low-cost solutions for SME's : There are huge number of emerging organizations in India and abroad. There is an urgent need to have customized application packages bundled for Small & Medium Enterprises. These kind of offerings would be priced reasonably,having key features only and easy to use. Think of a strip-down version of ERP software for SME's at reasonable price. The emerging organizations need good system in place to manage their business and technical functions.
Overall the discussion was quite enriching and people who missed out this time should definitely join next time.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Open Coffee Club Delhi Meeting - July Edition Vol.1
Yesterday, I attended Open Coffee Club Delhi July edition meeting. The meeting saw bunch of aspiring & emerging entrepreneurs sharing their ideas on different issues. The energy level of guys at Cafe Coffee Day was quite encouraging,despite of loud music,which was reduced to some extent after request. I would try to summarize some of the key-points:
1. Office Space for Startups : With rising cost of infrastructure in metros,getting a space for startups is a big problem. Another problem is due to small team-size, since most of the available places start from 600-700 Sq. ft. which can easily accommodate 6-8 people. The cost of such a place may range from anywhere from Rs. 30,000-80,000 depending on location. Let me give you some specifics, Rate in Noida (sec -16) is Rs.50-75 per sq.ft. while in Gurgaon is Rs. 80-120. Even if we take lowest figures i.e. Rs. 30,000 for a team of 2 the cost per seat would be Rs. 15000. The numbers are not at all attractive for any early-stage startups. Now let me tell you some options in NCR (National Capital Region).
a. NSIC, Okhla, New Delhi : They have an incubation center, where you can get a cubicle for 3 @Rs.10,000 with internet connection. They do have shared conference room for meetings. Here your per seat burn-rate would be close to Rs. 3,500. More For specific details you can contact Avinash, Founder of RouteGuru.
b. JSS Noida, Incubation center : They have an incubation center, where you can get a place for 2@Rs. 5,000-6,000 with all supporting infrastructure. Contact : Mr. Raunak Mustaffa
Email:itbi@jssstepnoida.org Tel:91-120-240115 Extn:268
c. The other option is Amity Incubator in Sec-125,Noida. Contact : Apoorv R. Sharma - Tel No. 0120-4659000, 4392243,E-mail : info@aii.amity.edu .
d. CDAC Incubator : The facility is quite good at reasonable cost. They charge something between 20,000-25,000 Rs. for 8-10 people desk-space. All supporting infrastructure is also present there.
The other option is to form a group of 6-8 people from 2-3 emerging startups and share the infrastructure cost. This way your cost per seat may go down to upto Rs. 3500-4000 which is decent. Even people running their businesses in NCR with bigger facilities can think of sharing their infrastrucre on rent. Any takers?
2. Venturing into New Areas: One of the participant was working for UNICEF for last few years. Now after deeper introspection, he realized that he should come back to corporate world. Which areas he should focus on?
a. Leveraging past domain expertise always helps you to grow faster. It was suggested that he should try to explore opportunities where he can leverage his knowledge of not-for-profit sector. There are special initiatives like Driving Simulation School, Training Schools for Security Guards, IITians for ITI, Reach 4 India which can be explored. These initiatives provide right exposure to business & social aspects.
b. He can come-up with some good initiatives which can be pitched within UNICEF or any other organization working in similar areas. The initiative can take him away from purely social-work to business related work.After all the experience which he has gained should be utilized properly.
There are a lot of other points like cost-cutting strategy by hiring right people, e-commerce proliferation,customized application packages for SME's which I would cover in the next blog. After all, its good learning experience when bunch of creative minds sit together.
1. Office Space for Startups : With rising cost of infrastructure in metros,getting a space for startups is a big problem. Another problem is due to small team-size, since most of the available places start from 600-700 Sq. ft. which can easily accommodate 6-8 people. The cost of such a place may range from anywhere from Rs. 30,000-80,000 depending on location. Let me give you some specifics, Rate in Noida (sec -16) is Rs.50-75 per sq.ft. while in Gurgaon is Rs. 80-120. Even if we take lowest figures i.e. Rs. 30,000 for a team of 2 the cost per seat would be Rs. 15000. The numbers are not at all attractive for any early-stage startups. Now let me tell you some options in NCR (National Capital Region).
a. NSIC, Okhla, New Delhi : They have an incubation center, where you can get a cubicle for 3 @Rs.10,000 with internet connection. They do have shared conference room for meetings. Here your per seat burn-rate would be close to Rs. 3,500. More For specific details you can contact Avinash, Founder of RouteGuru.
b. JSS Noida, Incubation center : They have an incubation center, where you can get a place for 2@Rs. 5,000-6,000 with all supporting infrastructure. Contact : Mr. Raunak Mustaffa
Email:itbi@jssstepnoida.org Tel:91-120-240115 Extn:268
c. The other option is Amity Incubator in Sec-125,Noida. Contact : Apoorv R. Sharma - Tel No. 0120-4659000, 4392243,E-mail : info@aii.amity.edu .
d. CDAC Incubator : The facility is quite good at reasonable cost. They charge something between 20,000-25,000 Rs. for 8-10 people desk-space. All supporting infrastructure is also present there.
The other option is to form a group of 6-8 people from 2-3 emerging startups and share the infrastructure cost. This way your cost per seat may go down to upto Rs. 3500-4000 which is decent. Even people running their businesses in NCR with bigger facilities can think of sharing their infrastrucre on rent. Any takers?
2. Venturing into New Areas: One of the participant was working for UNICEF for last few years. Now after deeper introspection, he realized that he should come back to corporate world. Which areas he should focus on?
a. Leveraging past domain expertise always helps you to grow faster. It was suggested that he should try to explore opportunities where he can leverage his knowledge of not-for-profit sector. There are special initiatives like Driving Simulation School, Training Schools for Security Guards, IITians for ITI, Reach 4 India which can be explored. These initiatives provide right exposure to business & social aspects.
b. He can come-up with some good initiatives which can be pitched within UNICEF or any other organization working in similar areas. The initiative can take him away from purely social-work to business related work.After all the experience which he has gained should be utilized properly.
There are a lot of other points like cost-cutting strategy by hiring right people, e-commerce proliferation,customized application packages for SME's which I would cover in the next blog. After all, its good learning experience when bunch of creative minds sit together.
Friday, July 11, 2008
10 Slides Fast-Track Business Plan Presentation
I am reproducing this article here for the benefit of budding entrepreneurs.
Business commentators are divided on the ability to effectively plan in the new economy. Some opine that the pace of change is so rapid that it is impossible to plan for the future. Successful companies during this competitive era are preparing clear, flexible business plans that develop their vision of their intended destination. Planning is necessary to develop your vision, but it needs to be flexible. As a result, I am advocating a variation of the traditional business plan that I call the "e-plan."
The e-plan helps you capture your vision while providing a flexible platform for responding to the inevitable changes and shifts in the economy. The new economy is no place for the 100-page business plan that flushes out every conceivable detail. This exercise is not about earning a gold star on your business plan from a difficult teacher or some picky banker. Rather, it is about capturing your vision in a flexible format that facilitates the execution of your business model -- that is the essence of the e-plan.
Elements of The E-Plan
Executive Summary
In the following text, I provide a one-paragraph summary of each of the slides in the e-plan. Just because a plan is concise, however, doesn't mean developing it is easy. I devote an entire chapter of my book, entrepreneurship.com to each of these slides: what information investors are looking for, how to gather and condense this information, and insights gleaned from the successes and failures of other start-ups. This article is intended as an introduction to the e-plan; my book will guide you through process of preparing one.
This one- or two-page document is the single most important part of your plan. In a nutshell, it summarizes your particular market opportunity and the solution to a problem that your business offers. Busy investors often don't have the time to read the complete business plan, particularly when they are qualifying potential businesses. They usually rely on the executive summary to provide a snapshot of your business model. One way to look at the summary is to think of it as the story of your business. What need does your business fulfill? How can you best summarize your business in 60 seconds or less? What is your vision?
Slide 1: Name of Company
Suffice it to say that the name of any Internet business is extremely important. As you might have already found out, selecting a domain name these days is no simple matter. Choice domain names are being bought and sold for heavy premiums. With the domain name so important, it is obviously something to which you need to give considerable thought. Start immediately searching for one if you don't have a name already.
Slide 2: Mission Statement
The mission statement is an abbreviated form of the executive summary. In one or two sentences, what does your company stand for?
Slide 3: Management Team
The management team is of particular concern to investors. Note that I use the word team. Writer John Dunne proclaimed that "no man is an island." In addition, no entrepreneur is an island, either. The entrepreneurs that can attract the right people are the ones that ultimately succeed. The management team is the backbone of the company. A founder that cannot attract a quality management team will have trouble attracting good employees as well as customers.
Slide 4: Market
This slide will analyze the size of the potential market as well as its growth rate. One of the primary advantages of the Internet is that the target markets are so huge.
Slide 5: Industry
Industry concerns a discussion of the structure of the particular industry that you are targeting. Who are the buyers and the sellers? Who are the suppliers? What is the market chain of the industry? How would you diagram it? Is the industry in a growth mode?
Slide 6: Pain -- The Market Opportunity
This slide considers the pain or the opportunity in the market. Where is that part of the market broken or inefficient? How does it create an opportunity for you? Where is a problem that your business will solve? The best business opportunities are based on the most compelling needs of the marketplace. This often applies to a highly fragmented industry or an industry with an inefficient market chain.
Slide 7: Solution
What is your solution to the problem or pain in the marketplace? What is your answer to the disintermediation or the need in the marketplace? How does your product or service benefit the marketplace? Why is your solution unique from others? Do you have a competitive advantage that can be sustained? Is your solution scalable, allowing it to be implemented on a large scale?
Slide 8: Marketing Plan
This slide represents an overview of your marketing plan. How are you going to attract customers? Are there viral marketing possibilities you can exploit? Viral marketing is a strategy in which customers do much of the marketing for you. What unique marketing advantages do you have? What important alliances can you develop?
Slide 9: Financial Projections
This portion of the plan involves the projection of revenues and expenses from the business. Although many investors discount projections, they can play an important role in examining the financial portion of the business model. The most useful projections are developed around a meaningful unit of measure, or metric. For example, revenues and expenses could be analyzed and expressed on a per customer basis. What is your acquisition cost per customer? What is his or her worth in terms of lifetime revenue? How many customers do you need to break even? Your projections should detail your use of start-up funds, which include capital expenses and working capital needs until the business reaches breakeven.
Slide 10: Valuation Analysis
This final slide can be thought of as a segue between where your presentation ends and negotiation begins. Build the case for the valuation of your company based on your business model. Choose the most relevant metrics to compare your business with one traded publicly. This slide is very useful in talking with potential investors and employees.
Uses of The E-Plan
The main audience for your e-plan is you. First and foremost, the e-plan is a way of quickly capturing your vision and putting it in a format for execution. The plan has to make sense to you and guide you in propelling your vision into reality.
The next audience for your business plan is potential investors. Investors today simply don't have the time to wade through long plans. A short, direct format serves the purpose better. Moses Joseph of Anila Corporation relayed that knowledge of the market is much more important than a written business plan. He mentioned that he can tell whether a person really knows the market within five minutes of talking to him or her. In Joseph's opinion, the value is not so much the written plan but rather the discipline of the planning process itself. This process forces you to fully examine the particular market opportunity and confront certain critical issues associated with your venture. It is very important for entrepreneurs to completely and fully understand their markets.
The next audience for your business plan is your potential employees, suppliers, and affiliates. For this use, a good business plan can show them that your business is for real and that you have given it considerable thought.
Enter The E-Plan
Extensive business plan were often aimed at traditional lenders who wanted to be sure that no stone was left unturned. Chances are that in today's economy, many of the old stones will disappear and be replaced by new ones by the time a conventional business plan is finished.
I was never a fan of the business plan treatise. Supplementary information, such as product circulars and marketing materials, can be included in an appendix, but the narrative part of the plan should be a maximum of 20 pages. The object is not to unearth every conceivable detail but to think through your business model. Few plans are read in their entirety by potential investors, and the new economy requires an even more concise way of formulating a business model.
This new format -- the e-plan -- is designed to help all the users of the business plan, which includes the entrepreneur as well as potential investors and employees. It is streamlined both for speed of digestion and ease of use.
The e-plan consists of an executive summary and approximately a dozen PowerPoint slides. Each slide addresses an important component of your business model. I consider the e-plan to be more of a compass than a map. It is designed to guide you in the right direction but is flexible enough to accommodate shifts and changes in the marketplace. As these changes occur, the e-plan can be used to produce a corresponding shift in strategy.
Some of the advantages of the e-plan format are its overview, flexibility, and presentation.
Overview. The executive summary and the slide format provide a quick overview of all important components of your business model and provide a comprehensive understanding of the model. The e- plan serves as a ready reference for the big picture.
Flexibility. The slide format provides you with the ability to change directions quickly. As changes occur in the marketplace, your big picture can be changed accordingly.
Presentation. The slide format also facilitates the presentation of your business to potential investors and employees. Chances are that more people will be hearing your presentation as opposed to reading your plan.
Article Copyright 2001 by Tim Burns, author of Entrepreneurship.com. All Rights Reserved. Click here
Business commentators are divided on the ability to effectively plan in the new economy. Some opine that the pace of change is so rapid that it is impossible to plan for the future. Successful companies during this competitive era are preparing clear, flexible business plans that develop their vision of their intended destination. Planning is necessary to develop your vision, but it needs to be flexible. As a result, I am advocating a variation of the traditional business plan that I call the "e-plan."
The e-plan helps you capture your vision while providing a flexible platform for responding to the inevitable changes and shifts in the economy. The new economy is no place for the 100-page business plan that flushes out every conceivable detail. This exercise is not about earning a gold star on your business plan from a difficult teacher or some picky banker. Rather, it is about capturing your vision in a flexible format that facilitates the execution of your business model -- that is the essence of the e-plan.
Elements of The E-Plan
Executive Summary
In the following text, I provide a one-paragraph summary of each of the slides in the e-plan. Just because a plan is concise, however, doesn't mean developing it is easy. I devote an entire chapter of my book, entrepreneurship.com to each of these slides: what information investors are looking for, how to gather and condense this information, and insights gleaned from the successes and failures of other start-ups. This article is intended as an introduction to the e-plan; my book will guide you through process of preparing one.
This one- or two-page document is the single most important part of your plan. In a nutshell, it summarizes your particular market opportunity and the solution to a problem that your business offers. Busy investors often don't have the time to read the complete business plan, particularly when they are qualifying potential businesses. They usually rely on the executive summary to provide a snapshot of your business model. One way to look at the summary is to think of it as the story of your business. What need does your business fulfill? How can you best summarize your business in 60 seconds or less? What is your vision?
Slide 1: Name of Company
Suffice it to say that the name of any Internet business is extremely important. As you might have already found out, selecting a domain name these days is no simple matter. Choice domain names are being bought and sold for heavy premiums. With the domain name so important, it is obviously something to which you need to give considerable thought. Start immediately searching for one if you don't have a name already.
Slide 2: Mission Statement
The mission statement is an abbreviated form of the executive summary. In one or two sentences, what does your company stand for?
Slide 3: Management Team
The management team is of particular concern to investors. Note that I use the word team. Writer John Dunne proclaimed that "no man is an island." In addition, no entrepreneur is an island, either. The entrepreneurs that can attract the right people are the ones that ultimately succeed. The management team is the backbone of the company. A founder that cannot attract a quality management team will have trouble attracting good employees as well as customers.
Slide 4: Market
This slide will analyze the size of the potential market as well as its growth rate. One of the primary advantages of the Internet is that the target markets are so huge.
Slide 5: Industry
Industry concerns a discussion of the structure of the particular industry that you are targeting. Who are the buyers and the sellers? Who are the suppliers? What is the market chain of the industry? How would you diagram it? Is the industry in a growth mode?
Slide 6: Pain -- The Market Opportunity
This slide considers the pain or the opportunity in the market. Where is that part of the market broken or inefficient? How does it create an opportunity for you? Where is a problem that your business will solve? The best business opportunities are based on the most compelling needs of the marketplace. This often applies to a highly fragmented industry or an industry with an inefficient market chain.
Slide 7: Solution
What is your solution to the problem or pain in the marketplace? What is your answer to the disintermediation or the need in the marketplace? How does your product or service benefit the marketplace? Why is your solution unique from others? Do you have a competitive advantage that can be sustained? Is your solution scalable, allowing it to be implemented on a large scale?
Slide 8: Marketing Plan
This slide represents an overview of your marketing plan. How are you going to attract customers? Are there viral marketing possibilities you can exploit? Viral marketing is a strategy in which customers do much of the marketing for you. What unique marketing advantages do you have? What important alliances can you develop?
Slide 9: Financial Projections
This portion of the plan involves the projection of revenues and expenses from the business. Although many investors discount projections, they can play an important role in examining the financial portion of the business model. The most useful projections are developed around a meaningful unit of measure, or metric. For example, revenues and expenses could be analyzed and expressed on a per customer basis. What is your acquisition cost per customer? What is his or her worth in terms of lifetime revenue? How many customers do you need to break even? Your projections should detail your use of start-up funds, which include capital expenses and working capital needs until the business reaches breakeven.
Slide 10: Valuation Analysis
This final slide can be thought of as a segue between where your presentation ends and negotiation begins. Build the case for the valuation of your company based on your business model. Choose the most relevant metrics to compare your business with one traded publicly. This slide is very useful in talking with potential investors and employees.
Uses of The E-Plan
The main audience for your e-plan is you. First and foremost, the e-plan is a way of quickly capturing your vision and putting it in a format for execution. The plan has to make sense to you and guide you in propelling your vision into reality.
The next audience for your business plan is potential investors. Investors today simply don't have the time to wade through long plans. A short, direct format serves the purpose better. Moses Joseph of Anila Corporation relayed that knowledge of the market is much more important than a written business plan. He mentioned that he can tell whether a person really knows the market within five minutes of talking to him or her. In Joseph's opinion, the value is not so much the written plan but rather the discipline of the planning process itself. This process forces you to fully examine the particular market opportunity and confront certain critical issues associated with your venture. It is very important for entrepreneurs to completely and fully understand their markets.
The next audience for your business plan is your potential employees, suppliers, and affiliates. For this use, a good business plan can show them that your business is for real and that you have given it considerable thought.
Enter The E-Plan
Extensive business plan were often aimed at traditional lenders who wanted to be sure that no stone was left unturned. Chances are that in today's economy, many of the old stones will disappear and be replaced by new ones by the time a conventional business plan is finished.
I was never a fan of the business plan treatise. Supplementary information, such as product circulars and marketing materials, can be included in an appendix, but the narrative part of the plan should be a maximum of 20 pages. The object is not to unearth every conceivable detail but to think through your business model. Few plans are read in their entirety by potential investors, and the new economy requires an even more concise way of formulating a business model.
This new format -- the e-plan -- is designed to help all the users of the business plan, which includes the entrepreneur as well as potential investors and employees. It is streamlined both for speed of digestion and ease of use.
The e-plan consists of an executive summary and approximately a dozen PowerPoint slides. Each slide addresses an important component of your business model. I consider the e-plan to be more of a compass than a map. It is designed to guide you in the right direction but is flexible enough to accommodate shifts and changes in the marketplace. As these changes occur, the e-plan can be used to produce a corresponding shift in strategy.
Some of the advantages of the e-plan format are its overview, flexibility, and presentation.
Overview. The executive summary and the slide format provide a quick overview of all important components of your business model and provide a comprehensive understanding of the model. The e- plan serves as a ready reference for the big picture.
Flexibility. The slide format provides you with the ability to change directions quickly. As changes occur in the marketplace, your big picture can be changed accordingly.
Presentation. The slide format also facilitates the presentation of your business to potential investors and employees. Chances are that more people will be hearing your presentation as opposed to reading your plan.
Article Copyright 2001 by Tim Burns, author of Entrepreneurship.com. All Rights Reserved. Click here
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Support from Family Members for Entrepreneurs
Sometime back I wrote about 6 Key Aspects before Quiting your Job to start at your own which includes one key aspect "Financial commitment & support". The support of family-members and friends during initial days helps a lot to keep the ball rolling. Any startup venture has initial gestation period before tasting success. For first generation entrepreneurs the time-period may be even longer. I am detailing few scenarios in which you get support from family-members & close friends:
1. Scenario 1 : You went out to meet a potential client, to pitch your product/service. He listened to you for few minutes and then moved out suddenly saying he need to attend a meeting in next 2 minutes. He asked his subordinate to keep a copy of your presentation. You forwarded the presentation and came back to your office. You felt that the boat drowned even before sailing for some time. The potential client was strategic and your mood was offbeat due to the series of events. You came back to your home, but still your mind was processing the same data. Your spouse & kids anticipated that you are feeling low. Your spouse discussed few general things and positive things happening in life. Your kids gave a cute smile and asked silly questions. These things helped you to come-out of bad experience. You discussed the whole episode with your spouse and she said its OK, losing one potential client is not the end of your journey. Next morning your batteries are recharged, and your are geared-up for next business meeting.
2. Scenario 2 : You hired a very good software engineer few months back and he was doing great job for your company. One fine day he came to your desk and informed that he is leaving your company in next 15 days. You felt a lot of pain, since a lot of deadlines were associated with this chap and now all estimations may go haywire. Somehow you convinced that guy to stay for 1 month. You were thinking, what to do next and suddenly you thought of calling one close friend. After few minutes of casual chat you discussed your problem with him. He said that he got few references and passed on the details to you. You talked to them and got a good candidate within next 2 weeks.
3. Scenario 3 : Today is last day of the month and you need to pay salaries to your employees. A few employees need to pay EMI of their home-loan, hence a single day delay would mean some financial loss for them. You are getting monthly service fees from your client ( which is around 50% of your total revenues) and normally you receive it by 25th of the month, but this month they won't be able to pay before 05th day of next month. Now you are stuck? The current reserves can take care of 60% of your requirements, but still you need 40%. You give a call to one of your old friends who is running his own business and he assured you to give 20% immediately. The amount is credited to your account in an hour. The rest 20% you manage from your close family-members. On receipt of money from client you return the money with BIG THANKS.
So in short you get financial support, emotional support, strategic directions , feedback and lot of other good things from your family-members and friends. So keep them involved to make your venture successful.
Read similar story here.
1. Scenario 1 : You went out to meet a potential client, to pitch your product/service. He listened to you for few minutes and then moved out suddenly saying he need to attend a meeting in next 2 minutes. He asked his subordinate to keep a copy of your presentation. You forwarded the presentation and came back to your office. You felt that the boat drowned even before sailing for some time. The potential client was strategic and your mood was offbeat due to the series of events. You came back to your home, but still your mind was processing the same data. Your spouse & kids anticipated that you are feeling low. Your spouse discussed few general things and positive things happening in life. Your kids gave a cute smile and asked silly questions. These things helped you to come-out of bad experience. You discussed the whole episode with your spouse and she said its OK, losing one potential client is not the end of your journey. Next morning your batteries are recharged, and your are geared-up for next business meeting.
2. Scenario 2 : You hired a very good software engineer few months back and he was doing great job for your company. One fine day he came to your desk and informed that he is leaving your company in next 15 days. You felt a lot of pain, since a lot of deadlines were associated with this chap and now all estimations may go haywire. Somehow you convinced that guy to stay for 1 month. You were thinking, what to do next and suddenly you thought of calling one close friend. After few minutes of casual chat you discussed your problem with him. He said that he got few references and passed on the details to you. You talked to them and got a good candidate within next 2 weeks.
3. Scenario 3 : Today is last day of the month and you need to pay salaries to your employees. A few employees need to pay EMI of their home-loan, hence a single day delay would mean some financial loss for them. You are getting monthly service fees from your client ( which is around 50% of your total revenues) and normally you receive it by 25th of the month, but this month they won't be able to pay before 05th day of next month. Now you are stuck? The current reserves can take care of 60% of your requirements, but still you need 40%. You give a call to one of your old friends who is running his own business and he assured you to give 20% immediately. The amount is credited to your account in an hour. The rest 20% you manage from your close family-members. On receipt of money from client you return the money with BIG THANKS.
So in short you get financial support, emotional support, strategic directions , feedback and lot of other good things from your family-members and friends. So keep them involved to make your venture successful.
Read similar story here.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
IIT's role in promoting Entrepreneurship : 2008 Global Conference
The IIT Global Alumni Conference has established itself as a premier event by bringing together an eclectic group of industry visionaries, thought leaders and IIT Alumni from across the globe.
The overall theme for the 2008 Global Conference to be organized at IIT Chennai from 19th to 21st December is "Inspire, Innovate, Transform". Under this banner, six thematic tracks have been identified to help provide greater focus, and to enable participants to derive the maximum value in their area of interest. These tracks are:
1. IIT's role in promoting Entrepreneurship
2. Research & Technology initiatives in Nation-building
3. Vision & Leadership in Rural Transformation
4. Challenges & Opportunities in India's Infrastructure
5. Enhancing Quality & Accessibility in Education
6. Innovate or Stagnate: India's road ahead
In the Entrepreneurship track, key issues involving IITs can be reviewed:
• Impact/ Payback/ Value-Add Analysis for IITs
• Science & Technology in the Service of Society
• Role in Nation-Building, Sustainable Development
• Finance and Support Options for Micro-Entrepreneurs
Click here to see the list of panelists & speakers.
One can participate as a panelist, speaker or moderator in any of the tracks mentioned above? Click here
What's your take on IITians role in promoting Entrepreneurship.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
6 Key Aspects before Quiting your Job to start at your own
Sometime back, I was talking to a manager of incubation center and he was discussing specific case of a senior executive of big MNC, who started his venture recently. This gentleman was having a great idea, but he wasn't sure about startup dynamics & uncertainties and also the idea of losing annual benefits of INR 7.5 Million was frightening him. He was totally confused?
Then one fine day he decided to start this venture on part-time basis for few months and based on initial development he thought of deciding his future road-map. The idea started taking shape appropriately and within 2 months he started running his venture full-time.
This is very common dilemma for people who want to start their venture after working for few years. I think every person trying to start his venture should look at following 6 aspects before quiting job:
1. Idea Valuation : One should try to test the value of idea by involving all key participating parties. One should talk to customers, suppliers, friends, family-members and investors to get their feedback on envisioned idea. Valuation of market-size using standard market research tools also helps a lot. The valuation should be done subjectively & objectively. The subjective elements would be - need of product/service, competition, innovation etc. If you are smart, then your idea won't get copied and you would get feedback from stakeholders too.
2. Self- Assessment : One should carry out detailed self-assessment to find out strengths and weaknesses. If possible, try to list down and your strengths. Try to evaluate your professional expertise in terms of technology knowledge, team-management, quality , anger management, client interaction and other business aspects. Running your own startup would require multi-tasking and prior knowledge of technology & business aspects would help a lot. One should strongly believe in the idea and execute it well. A lot of things/situations would be new and one should be comfortable handing such things/situation.People with less professional experience should try to start anticipating these key aspects of any business/technology.
3. Financial Commitments & Support : One should try to estimate past & future financial commitments. The point is to take a stock of bare minimum financial requirements ( assuming everything would be normal).Also one should try to see for alternate sources of income during initial phase of start-up, in case you are self-funded. I remember Sanjeev Bikchandani ( CEO- Naukri.com)joined a management institute, as part-time faculty to support his venture and get some cash in hand. Try to gauge the support level of your family members and close-friends who may help you out in case of any adversities.
4. Short-term & Long-term plan: Before starting your venture you should have clarity about your short-term and long-term plans. Try to set some targets for next 2-3 years for benchmarking performance against targets. Also in case the venture becomes unsuccessful, then one should have clarity about future course of action.
5. Right Team in Place : One should have right mix of people to make any venture successful. Before quiting your job one should try to form the right team ( formal/informal commitments ). This would boost-up your confidence and help venture grow at fast pace. Right mix of people helps a lot in securing funding from angels and venture capitalists.
6. Right Network in Place : Building a good network of people would help you to take your venture to greater heights. Try to establish & develop contacts of people working in different fields. You can start with your college, organization, social-networking platforms, events etc to look-out for good people. Be proactive in relevant groups & social forums. A lot of people would help, if they start believing in you and your vision.
If you have evaluated following points and most of them work in your favour then the time is just right to start your venture.
$6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!
Then one fine day he decided to start this venture on part-time basis for few months and based on initial development he thought of deciding his future road-map. The idea started taking shape appropriately and within 2 months he started running his venture full-time.
This is very common dilemma for people who want to start their venture after working for few years. I think every person trying to start his venture should look at following 6 aspects before quiting job:
1. Idea Valuation : One should try to test the value of idea by involving all key participating parties. One should talk to customers, suppliers, friends, family-members and investors to get their feedback on envisioned idea. Valuation of market-size using standard market research tools also helps a lot. The valuation should be done subjectively & objectively. The subjective elements would be - need of product/service, competition, innovation etc. If you are smart, then your idea won't get copied and you would get feedback from stakeholders too.
2. Self- Assessment : One should carry out detailed self-assessment to find out strengths and weaknesses. If possible, try to list down and your strengths. Try to evaluate your professional expertise in terms of technology knowledge, team-management, quality , anger management, client interaction and other business aspects. Running your own startup would require multi-tasking and prior knowledge of technology & business aspects would help a lot. One should strongly believe in the idea and execute it well. A lot of things/situations would be new and one should be comfortable handing such things/situation.People with less professional experience should try to start anticipating these key aspects of any business/technology.
3. Financial Commitments & Support : One should try to estimate past & future financial commitments. The point is to take a stock of bare minimum financial requirements ( assuming everything would be normal).Also one should try to see for alternate sources of income during initial phase of start-up, in case you are self-funded. I remember Sanjeev Bikchandani ( CEO- Naukri.com)joined a management institute, as part-time faculty to support his venture and get some cash in hand. Try to gauge the support level of your family members and close-friends who may help you out in case of any adversities.
4. Short-term & Long-term plan: Before starting your venture you should have clarity about your short-term and long-term plans. Try to set some targets for next 2-3 years for benchmarking performance against targets. Also in case the venture becomes unsuccessful, then one should have clarity about future course of action.
5. Right Team in Place : One should have right mix of people to make any venture successful. Before quiting your job one should try to form the right team ( formal/informal commitments ). This would boost-up your confidence and help venture grow at fast pace. Right mix of people helps a lot in securing funding from angels and venture capitalists.
6. Right Network in Place : Building a good network of people would help you to take your venture to greater heights. Try to establish & develop contacts of people working in different fields. You can start with your college, organization, social-networking platforms, events etc to look-out for good people. Be proactive in relevant groups & social forums. A lot of people would help, if they start believing in you and your vision.
If you have evaluated following points and most of them work in your favour then the time is just right to start your venture.
$6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!
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