The Startup-Sutra-1: Say what?

Lately, “Startup” as a term has caught my attention and it’s a whole new world with endless possibilities and high riding dreams. Earlier it was considered as a “Not so cool” thing in India, where people were not ready to invest at monetary as well as daughter (Talking about marriage: P) level. But today things have changed.  Entrepreneurs have become talk of the town. Now I see, a special page in newspapers, dedicated forums and large number of investors lined up to even catch the sneeze of a startup aspirant, having a nice plan and workforce to execute it successfully. Almost every day, one learns about new B-plan they come up with, new marketing strategies; whether “Ambush Marketing” or “Single day Complementary joint ventures”, things which one can’t find in books and journals.

A person starting this endeavor is like a one man army, who has to decide the line of defense (from other competitors), the strategic points of attack (targeted consumer base), the ammunition power (Money required to run the operations) and even the army which will take this battalion to success. A startup though sounds cool, is a tedious job. It is laden with stress, sleepless nights and hard work, as even the success can be transient when complacency creeps in.

Websites plays an important role in deciding the hits per second and even the success of company. A beautiful website with laid out structure, which is easy for consumer to understand will be preferred more than the websites which have many options, but no specific way of direction, the live example being Flipkart. It has one of the most sophisticated and easy to eyes website. One knows where to go and how. That’s why it is called “The Amazon of India”.  A bland website of a company can be thought as ‘Seriously, are they even working?’

Here are few points, a new startup can work upon to increase its brand awareness and attract investments, apart from providing best services to consumers:

• A mobile app is the way forward in future and doesn’t hurt the pocket if managed properly.
• Recommendations from your previous clients and there story how you helped them grow, if possible. The best example is Flipkart’s re-seller advertisement. It helps connecting with other consumers.
• Dedicated pages can be made on LinkedIn, Facebook. Website content can be managed through Blogs, twitter, and Video logs. Active updating is required for more visits and hence awareness.
• A team can represent itself in multiple conclaves and startup meets, which are organized periodically by many big names, Nasscom and Yourstory being two of them.
• If you are product based company, initial product can be given as free for trial.
• If possible merchandising of things can help a lit bit, if easy on pocket- Visiting cards, Mugs, Tees etc
• Competitions can be run on Facebook pages as well as company websites.
• Interns are always helpful in bringing new energy and new ideas on the table. Plus they are less demanding then some other so called experts.

These points are for the people who are venturing into Startup. Little marketing can help you in future. Competition will increase and the way you connect with the people and the way you present yourself will matter a lot. Your product will have an answer in the market before you will even come to know about that. And, most importantly never lose hope. A failure opens thousand new ways of possibilities, and one of those thousand ways will lead you to success. Think and grow, as a thought lost is a change lost….

PS: This post is the first part of the trilogy on Startups. Continue to read and follow J