Do you have an innovative idea that you want to pursue as a startup? Then Startup India is the right platform for you!
Startup India is a plan of action that is aimed at promoting and financing startups. It is an initiative of the Government of India. The campaign was first introduced by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August, 2015.
The Indian government has introduced over 50+ startup schemes in past few years. Each Startup scheme is aimed to promote the Indian startup ecosystem.
India is expected to reach over 12,000 startups by 2020.
If you’re wondering “How Startup India is helping businesses?” Here is the answer to your question.
Easy access to funds
The Government of India has set aside Rs 10,000 crores to fund the startups as venture capital.
The government is also giving guarantee to banks and other financial lenders for providing capital.
2. Exemption from tax for 3 years
Startups will be exempted from income tax if they get a certification from the Inter Ministerial Board.
3. Reduction in cost
Startups will enjoy 80% reduction in the cost of filing patents.
4. Easy process
Government of India has launched a website and a mobile app for registration of startups. Anyone interested in Starting a Startup (Provide link to How to start a startup) can fill a simple form on the website and upload the required documents. The full process can be completed online.
5. R&D Facilities and opportunities
New research centres will be set up to provide facilities and opportunities for startups in the R&D sector.
6. No time-consuming registrations
Numerous compliances have been simplified to save time and money for startups.
7. Apply for tenders easily
Startups can apply for government tenders. They are exempted from the criteria of attaining a particular turnover.
We have written a very interesting article about lean startup .
This article talks about some of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India and how they are an inspiration to a new generation of budding entrepreneurs.
Gone are the days when women were stereotyped to be subtle, soft, to cook, to take care of children, to dress up in a certain way, to be dependent, to be submissive, and to choose only few professions.
Today, the women of our country have come a long way from just being a homemaker.
From heading global businesses to starting the most innovative startups, women have made their mark. Their journey to the hall of fame hasn’t been easy for these women and they have fought against all the odds and proved everyone wrong who have doubted their entrepreneurial abilities. Interesting Statistics of Women Entrepreneurship in India: About 57% of women started their business alone. About 58% of women entrepreneurs in India started their business between the ages of 20 –30. About 71% of women entrepreneurs employ 5 or less people.
Here is the list of 10 most successful women entrepreneurs in india –
1 Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Founder – Biocon.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was born and brought up in Bangalore. She completed her bachelor’s in zoology from Mount Caramel College, Bangalore. She later did her master’s in Malting and Brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University.
She founded Biocon India in 1978. It was a joint venture with Biocon Biochemicals Limited of Cork, Ireland. In the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey, she had to overcome obstacles like shortage of funds and inexperienced workers. Today, Biocon is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the country.
Apart from this, she was also awarded Padma Shri in 1989 and Padma Bhushan in 2005 by the Government of India.
2. Indu Jain
Chairman – Bennet, Coleman and Co. Ltd.
Indu Jain was born in Faizabad. She is the current chairperson of Bennet, Coleman and Co. Ltd., which owns the Times of India and other large newspapers. They are best known for their popular newspaper The Time of India, The Economic Times and the TV news channel Times Now. Under her leadership, the Times group has achieved a lot. She is also a spiritualist, humanist, entrepreneur and an educationalist.
Mrs. Indu Jain was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2016 by the Government of India.
3. Vandana Luthra
Founder – VLCC
Vandana Luthra was born in Kolkata. She is the founder of VLCC Health Care Limited. It is a beauty and wellness brand. The wellness brand has its presence in over 11 countries over Asia, Africa and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
She got proficient in beauty, skin care, fitness and nutrition while pursuing her higher education in Germany, UK and France.
Mrs. Vandana Luthra was awarded the Padma Shri in 2013 by the Government of India.
4. Ekta Kapoor
Managing Director – Balaji Telefilms
Ekta Kapoor is one of the main people behind changing the face of Indian Television forever. Ekta Kapoor has singlehandedly founded and made Balaji Telefilms a successful production house.
She has produced many hit serials. The longest running TV serial and the Most watched TV serial is produced by her.
Ekta Kapoor has won numerous awards for the TV shows and movies that she has produced.
5. Richa Kar
Founder – Zivame
Richa is the founder and CEO of Zivame, an online lingerie store. she is on of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India. Zivame is probably one of the first online innerwear players in India and has played a great role in educating women across the country about lingerie.
From starting in a small office space to having a valuation of around $100 million, Richa kar and Zivame have come a far way!
6. Aditi Gupta
Founder – Menstrupedia
Aditi Gupta was born in Jharkhand. She has a degree from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Aditi is the co-founder of Menstrupedia. The company works towards spreading awareness about menstruation and educating the society about menstrual health and hygiene.
She started the venture after her personal experiences. She used to have menstrual issues and after finding out other women also have similar issues, she decided to make a website and make illustrations that educate women on menstruation.
This venture has become very useful and helpful to the women in India.
7. Upasana Taku
Founder – Mobikwik
Upasana co-founded Mobikwik with her husband, Bipin Preet Singh. Mobikwik provides a mobile phone based payment system and a digital wallet. Customers can add money to the Mobikwik wallet and that can be used for payments.
She has completed her masters in management science from Stanford University.
8. Malika Sadani
Founder – The Moms Co.
Malika Sadani is the founder and CEO of The Moms Co., a leading brand for toxin free new born baby products and products that are safe for mom’s skin care during pregnancy.
When Malika moved back from UK to India after her first child was born, she personally found it difficult to find chemical free, quality products in the country.
With Moms Co., her goal was to help moms in India and across the world to have access to safe and good quality baby products.
9. Ruchi Garg
Founder – Venuelook
Venuelook was founded by Ruchi Garg in 2014. It’s a Noida based company. Venuelook is into venue booking and event planning. The company has its operations across 16 cities in India.
Ruchi holds a degree in computer science. She has an experience of more than 15 years in the industry and still loves to solve her business problems using technology.
10. Sugandha Agarwal
Founder – Docttocare
Sugandha is the sole founder of Docttocare. Docttocare is an online healthcare service provider which provides best doctors, clinics, hospitals with brief information and virtual walkthroughs of the ambiance to showcase hospitality and their facilities.
Sugandha has previously worked in Infosys, Oracle and Google Maps before starting Docttocare.
Digital marketing is one of the best and cost efficient ways to strengthen your startup.
In this fast paced digitally driven world, you need to formulate a powerful digital marketing strategy to establish your brand name.
Everything you do in the digital platform contributes to your online presence and puts your company on the map of the digital world.
It is very important to hire a dynamic Digital Marketing Agency (Provide link of Top Digital Marketing Firms) that takes care of your online activities.
Here are 10 crucial digital marketing tips for startups:
SEO Optimization
SEO optimization is one of the most reliable digital marketing strategies to get organic traffic to your website. It is not easy for a startup to rank on top initially. Due to competition and SEO technicalities, it is better to hire a good digital marketing agency to do your SEO. This will save you time and add value to your investment.
2. Relevant use of social media platforms
It is essential to be dynamic in nature as the social media platform keeps changing all the time. It is very important to keep up with the current trends. You need to stay updated and see how you can use the latest trends to increase your sales.
The voice of your brand needs to be present on every social media channel. According to research, it is effective to put up 5 to 10 posts every week on Facebook, once a day for LinkedIn and 5 tweets daily on Twitter.
In order to run a successful campaign, it is important to have a clear brand voice first.
3.Constant site updating
Making sure that your website is ready and user friendly is very important. And constantly updating your website with new products that are introduced is essential.
Your website should also be ready for conversions whenever a user decides to purchase something. The customer should not face any issues as this is one of the major parts of brand building and customer retention.
4. Video Marketing
Video marketing is seeing an upward trend in the market nowadays. A majority of the current generation prefers to watch videos compared to reading things and this makes video marketing a powerful tool.
You can consider video advertisements, Facebook live, Instagram stories and SnapChat stories to engage your audience.
5. PPC Marketing
PPC stands for pay per click. This is a form of marketing in which the advertisers pay a fee each time their advertisement is clicked. It is a way of paying to get visits to your website rather than earning those visits organically.
Google Ads is popular platform for this form of marketing.
6. Educate your customers
Nobody likes only promotions. Customers will like your brand more if you are educating them and answering their queries.
7. Engage your target audience
Your posts don’t always have to be general. Engaging your target audience is an important task. Tag them in curated content, conduct Q&A sessions for better interactions, ask interesting questions and conduct an audience poll. Basically keep the target audience engaged with your brand. This will make them feel like you care for their needs and their loyalty towards your brand will increase.
8. Concentrate on your target audience
This is one of the best strategies to convert your viewers into customers as they are looking for exactly what you are selling. It’s important to narrow down your market as they are the segment that’s likely to give you business.
It’s a smart move to segment your target customers according to gender, region, age and so on for maximum returns.
9. Creative content
You will have to invest on a solid content writer and a good graphic designer. The content these people produce will primarily engage your audience.
Creating content that is unique and relevant can have a strong impact on your target audience.
10. Be Dedicated
Be dedicated with your digital marketing. You should invest time and put your best efforts for your campaigns to be successful.
If you are dedicated and devoted to your startup, you can achieve your dreams in no time! Don’t hesitate to take calculated risks. No risk, no return.
