The start up culture probably took a while to take off here in India, but it is a burgeoning industry in India, mainly based out of metro cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon. While prominent start ups like Housing, Flipkart, Minance etc. have grown into successful companies flush with foreign funding and expertise, there are many others which aim to reach such heights and sustain themselves both commercially and financially. Lets discuss the various obstacles faced by startups in today’s environment.
Resourcefulness
To develop a successful startup venture, one needs to have people with the same winning mindset working together. Steve Jobs had a saying, that A-team members like working with fellow A-team members and not the B-team. If you possess a maniacal drive to achieve something, make sure to surround yourself with similar people or you might find yourself managing inter-party disputes and frivolous issues rather than the main issue at hand.
The Idea
For any start up to thrive, one need to find the weak link in the ecosystem where your idea or product can really grow, in the absence of an alternative. If you have an idea that you think, “Hey, this might work here”! then take a good long look and study the market environment before jumping into the deep end.
The Competition
Even if you’ve analyzed the ecosystem you wish to work in, even if your product is great, you could end up losing a lot of resources and time if there are established competitors out there doing what you’re doing and doing it better than you are. Is your product better and cheaper? Are you doing even one thing better than the nearest competitor? These are questions you need to ask yourself.
Resources
The biggest hurdle any start up faces initially is funding. Funding is hard to come by. It isn’t easy convincing someone, like a bank or an investor about why they need to invest in your company. Money is worth a lot to people, no matter how rich they may seem. After all, they haven’t got to where they are without possessing some shrewd financial acumen themselves. Before you go in for a meeting with a potential investor or a bank requesting them for funds, make sure you’ve got your points on the tip of your thumbs. If someone with experience offers you advice or points out a potential flaw, study that flaw and examine it before dismissing it completely. It might be they’ve caught onto something you missed.
Managing the Environment
“Managing the Environment” was a term used by Dhirubhai Ambani to refer to greasing pockets and cutting across red tape. While we obviously don’t suggest you go around paying bribes to people, studying the obstacles that lie ahead of you go a long way in cutting down on bureaucratic delays and hurdles. You could come up with several alternative plans to avoid obstacles you would face along the way.
We hope these pointers go a long way in helping you plan out your next big idea and see you successful!
Startups are seen as the future of the business empire. We can find the successful stories of many startups going on AIR already. However, there are still a lot of problems that are faced by a startup. Lack of team coordination, right people on the side are the hindrance from the team. From outside, the funds, manpower and factors like competition in the market adds on to the troubles of young entrepreneurs.