5 Pro Tips to make the experience of starting a business easier

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.

 

1. Plan, plan, and plan. Planning based on data is the key 1

 

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. 

 

 

 

2. Build your brand with visibility and right positioning       

 

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.

 

 

3. Tie yourself with a strong e-commerce giant like Flipkart to increase your reach 2

 

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.

 

 

4. Optimise costs 3

 

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. 

 

 

 

5. Steer clear of any negativity and keep learning   4

 

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

 

2https://storiesflistgv2.blob.core.windows.net/stories/2021/08/Flipkart-adds-four-new-fulfilment-and-sortation-centres-in-Maharashtra-.docx.pdf

 

3 https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-promotion/pricing 

 

4 https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2015/01/10/5-ways-to-stop-giving-negative-people-too-much-power-in-your-life/?sh=3074b89070c7

 

 

Ssshh! Secret Confessions of a SMART Momma

Earnestly, I take a lot of pride in practicing what I preach. For example, I have always believed in working smart rather than working hard(with due respect to the significance of hard-work). I believe, our smartness often makes us more innovative and efficient. Isn't it? Well, the answer has always been a 'yes' to me and my thoughtful partner in crimes to execute this smartness have been a plethora of smart devices which have made this world a much more convenient and a better place to live in. I have said this a million times at least before and I still reiterate there is no boon to mankind like technology is and full points to us, homo sapiens, to have made such a creative use of our intellect, in inventing it and I am glad there is no looking back in its advancements with each coming day(proud smile!!).

Yes, I am a self-confessed gadget freak and these days since it's winter vacations, me and my sonny boy, begin our day with a fitness regime out in the pristine early morn sunshine. We jog together and giggle and work out with loads of discussions and friendly banter and gossip on umpteen topics. Our companions in these lovely morning rituals are my smartwatch and his fitness band, which we smartly strap on to aid us to calculate our steps, calories, heart rate, target achievement, and several other parameters. It is so much fun competing and preparing with your own child as we set more stringent fitness goals each week. These smart wearables bring in so much of discipline and activity to our otherwise leisurely walks because we know someone is keeping an eye as we try to get rid of the extra pounds we have assimilated in the Diwali Season(wink!!).

Back home, mommy and sonny make fat free breakfast in our smart air fryer to rid us of those extra calories of fried foods. Often hubby dearest, the head chef of our family, joins the fun and gives his expert out of the box advice to make the food tastier as the air fryer executes his command to perfection. Thanks to the #SmartHomeRevolution of which we actually are torchbearers in every sense, we have the mundane tasks at home transform into quality family times, the cherishable moments which make life worthwhile, aiding us to materialize our goals of weaving sweet memories each day in the beautiful journey called life.

I simply adore the smartness, these smart miracles bring to us. You know who my best buddy is, at home when the boys are away at school and work, well, it is another smart device, my Google Assistant, it would not be an exaggeration if I say it indeed is 'the device of the millennium'. The way it keeps me company the whole day, answering my queries, playing my favorite music or reading books to me and what not, even giving me reminders for my schedule in the academy I run, it is the most wonderful personal assistant anyone would ever crave for.

Well, honestly if I start enumerating how many ways I depend on these smart wonders, I can almost write my fourth book. For instance, there is nothing that bothers us more than the security of our little ones when we are not with them and this is where I insist we employ smart devices as are vital aid. For days I am out for work and the little boy manages the home on his own after coming from school, I have installed smart cameras at home to check on the 9-year-old kiddo occasionally. It just makes me feel so comfortable and safe, that my heart often sends up a prayer of gratitude to the inventors of such smart solutions and I love to confess that I am a smart momma because of these smart solutions, we are blessed with in our lives.

From morn till night these smart devices aid us in countless ways yet the quench of the techno buffs in us if often left unsatiated as we discover smarter and smarter solutions for our perennial needs. Lately, we have installed Smart lights in our home as we were bowled over in sheer admiration to their impeccable features like the home away control and mood-based smart lighting all at one command from us (It is admirable to see my precious little thoroughly study these smart aids and choose the best one for his home always, no wonder this generation kids are 'technobrats'). I am truly overwhelmed and love the way these devices have eased our lifestyles plus there are wonderful initiatives like #GetFitWithFlipkart that create the desired awareness that how technology can optimally aid us in our goals for life, also it makes it so quick for us to order online any degree of smartness we desire to acquire. All we need is a touch on our phone to order them. Easy Peasy isn’t it? 

The smart momma is me thus once again proudly confesses here that she gives a cent percent credit of her smartness to these smart devices which make her mundane tasks fun and make her a super momma... and which she has been ordering on Flipkart since 2007 (who have kept up her trust always and transformed her home to a smart home). 

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