Many of us cherish the dream of running our own successful business. Our dreams are important and each one of us deserves a fair chance to make a wholehearted attempt to fulfill them. This is a good time for small businesses. India is home to over 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), who contribute around 29 percent to the country’s GDP, according to industry estimates. Luckily, the advent of the Digital Age has opened up a new growth avenue for MSMEs in the form of e-commerce.
Meticulous planning and flawless execution would go a long way in starting your own business. Sharing below with you, some vital tips to make the experience of starting a business easier. This is based on the experiences of several talented women students I have trained in my academy to become entrepreneurs and make a head start.
Having a detailed plan which can take care of all contingencies can help you take the first step with conviction. This simply means that you have laid a very strong foundation for the business which you seek to build, including the financial aspects.
During my initial years of working as a G.E.T. in Tata Motors, we were taught by Ratan Tata himself that a worthy business has the best chance to succeed if we have spent 70% of our time and resources in planning it with meticulous details.
Business owners would do well to plan after research into market needs, trends, and consumer sentiment. Data-driven insights can help you identify market gaps and business opportunities. A good step would be to partner with an e-commerce platform like Flipkart that helps you do all this.
Lay a strong focus on letting your product or service speak of the brand you wish to create. At this point, you need to showcase your products and also catalog them in a way that leads to quick buying decisions.
One of the woman entrepreneurs I spoke to had taken advantage of Flipkart’s seller hub to design and develop the product catalog. This kind of support is crucial in the early days of establishing your business.
Post adequate planning and getting ready with your product it is time to give your business an impressive reach so that you can get orders from far and wide seamlessly.
As a small business, your resources may only allow you to sell locally. But internet penetration and digital awareness across the country means that being part of an e-commerce platform will be beneficial in having a pan-India customer base.
I recently read that Flipkart has opened several new fulfillment and sortation centers to support more and more small businesses, MSMEs, local artisans, weavers, and craftsmen sell through their robust e-commerce platform.
This makes it a win-win situation for both the small sellers who get a fair price for their products easily as well as customers who get the best products right at the comfort of their home. I love how Flipkart stays committed to technologically transforming e-commerce in India.
They can thus be instrumental in helping you start and build your business well.
MSMEs selling online save on costs like not having to maintain a physical footprint. You would save on warehousing costs since an e-commerce platform does that for you. There is also no need to develop supply chains as you get support on this front too. If you have partnered with Flipkart, then the entire cycle of order to delivery to return or exchange is taken care of by the platform. Again, the entire process is backed by technology so that businesses can easily manage that at their end.
When you start your business, steer clear of people who mock your endeavor. You need to keep learning, especially when it comes to new technology and market trends. Learn the art of selling online and upgrade yourself constantly. If you need, e-commerce platforms help you with training too. Flipkart has webinars and a self-paced learning platform to help small businesses get the edge when it comes to selling online.
The future belongs to MSMEs and e-commerce is enabling them to become competitive business owners and I cannot wait to see how more women entrepreneurs make use of these opportunities.
References:
1 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/277643
3 https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-promotion/pricing
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