Every other day, I come across a new
company which is trying to carve a market for itself. I often wonder about
their future.It is really fascinating that they may make their founders
millionaire or they might leave them high and dry. But, the experience you
get by starting up is unmatched. I have high admiration for people who
come out of their comfort zone to chase their dreams. Someone from them will be
our own Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Larry Page.
Let us see what are the 7 tips
from a Startup Evangelist to budding entrepreneurs.
1. Website- Your website has to be
truly cool and amazing. It should looks neat and appealing.
2. Price- I remember a time when
Mac Donalds, Dominos and KFC were the restaurants for the elite. They
recognized that this perception is affecting their business prospects
and hence came up will inexpensive food items on their menu along
with all the other items just to attract new customers into their outlets.
Also, I know of a Salon in Vashi, Mumbai which initially offered all kinds of
hair cut at Rs.100/- , which was much less than the market price. The outlet
started to flourish and after sometime they gradually increased the price. But
the steady flow of customers never stopped. I think you can take a lesson or
two in pricing strategy from these.
3. Marketing/ Audience- Word of
mouth is one of the most reliable mode of marketing for the unaided start-ups.
Also, you need to start engaging people on social networking sites.
You can keep on sharing interesting things related to your product or services.
It will be appreciated by your audience if you manage to engage them through
puzzles, links to good articles, short videos, interesting quotes, etc.
4. Customer support- Once you
start getting large number of orders then you will require an excellent
customer support center to manage feed backs and assist the customers. All your
good work will be forgotten If you are unable to delight your customers. A
strong customer support is desirable to gain the trust of the customers.
Remember that the competition is stiff and almost everyone is focused on
getting order and marketing. Customer Support is a dark horse hence focussing
on it will yield brilliant results.
5. Safety- Whatever you are
offering to the customers, you have to think about the safety of the consumers.
The recent Maggi fiasco is a live example where a safety scare is giving
nightmare to Nestle, not only in terms of revenue but also in terms of loss of
valued customers. One safety concern can tarnish the image of your brand.
6. Payment Modes- At the very
initial stages, you might have only cash on delivery option. I know there are
lots of complications in integrating the net banking, card payment modes etc
and it will take some time to get it done. However, you can strike a deal with
companies like Paytm who are aggressively marketing their
wallet. It will not only allow your customers to have a facility to pay online
but this arrangement will also help in marketing as you will have access to the
huge numbers of members/users of Paytm. It might be a master
stroke at this stage.
7. Promo codes- Earlier the
brick and mortar companies used to offer discounts on special occasions like
Diwali, New Year, Christmas, etc. Now, with Promo codes the next generation
companies are giving a tough time to their traditional competitors.
Two clear benefits of offering discounts
through promo codes rather than simply offering flat discount are:
· It creates engagement with the company
as people will keep searching and talking regarding the current offers like we
do for foodpanda. It’s a dynamic process and is not like the offers
from brands which have flat 80% discount throughout the year.
· There are various companies/ websites
like savemyruppee, coupondala, etc. which are the encyclopedia of the current
offers and deals offered by the companies. They will offer a mode of alternate
free marketing.
Crazy Deal- We, Indians are crazy about deals and are
generally conscious about money. So, consider to offer something similar to the
following so that people are tempted to experience your services.
·Tinyowl is offering 100
% cashback on your first order ( Maximum discount – Rs. 150)
·Foodpanda started offering
crazy discounts to a tune to 50%
·Box8, a startup from the
IIT fraternity is offering discounts generously on delivery on food.
Please know that I acknowledge that these
companies have started getting Investments and hence are able to offer free
lunches on large scale for some time. However, you can try the following:
·Engage peoples on your social media
pages and conduct simple competitions and sometimes offer an inexpensive item
like a book, key ring, photo frame, coffee mug, etc with your company name
embossed on them to few people. Tag the person whom you are offering a gift so
that his friend circle will get to know about your company and in this way
you can develop your brand name.
·It is prudent to make your customers
feel like Royals and they will be your brand ambassador forever. Some of the companies like Bigstylist and Medioctor are
truly promising as they have a strong founding team and their offering is
unique. While Bigstylist wants to transform the way people do styling by literally bringing the salon to their home. Whereas, Medioctor wants to be a one-stop solution for all the healthcare requirements of people in India. It is exploring a huge market and good thing is that it is banking on support from all the stakeholders like doctors, chemists, patients, pharma companies, hospitals, fitness centres, diagnostic centres,etc. I have no doubt that they are all set to be big players in their respective fields.
I follow startups closely and am deeply
fascinated by the idea of running a company. However, I acknowledge that
a lot of hard work and passion is involved in it.
BY- Rohan Sinha
An engineer by profession but a self
proclaimed startup evangelist. A sharp observer who monitors and analyse the
activities of promising newbies. To read more articles click here.
