The Startup Dream – Soar or Bust?

The Modi government, if nothing else, has given young India hope. In the 2015-2016 budget, Rs. 1000 crores were allocated for funding startups. In addition, a number of initiatives that help in all kinds of support through government led agencies have been initiated. The business ecosystem has really seen some hardcore disruptions, loads of risks taken and some great successes, that have changed the way business and markets work in India. Online enterprise is one such new disruptive business strategy that has shaken the foundation of retail in the country. The brainchild of young entrepreneurs, Flipkart and Myntra and Snapdeal…the list is endless…and it seems to swallow up good old fashioned shops and companies.

It would seem that the success of these brands has created a very fertile ground for many more to take the risk- and the leap of faith. But without some ground rules, strengths based on hard reality and of course, cash- many of these are doomed to fail.

It all starts with an idea, a passion. Says Vamsi Krishna of Vedantu, an educational start-up which has garnered interest as well as funding, “as with any entrepreneur, you feel strongly about some problem, the underlying itch is a constant that doesn’t go, and you end up trying to own that problem and getting a solution to it. That’s the predominant point from where it starts. It grows on you, and you cannot think of anything else. Then you think of taking a plunge- wanting to do something about it,” and you are hooked!

Healthcare sector has seen a number of startups, particularly in the mobile healthcare- mHealth space.  Jeyandran Venugopal, Founder and CEO of eClinic247 adds,” I was very clear I wanted to do it for social impact, definitely, not only financial.  So initially I thought of a couple of areas- education and healthcare sectors were fundamental to the growth of society. I felt there was huge gap in healthcare services in the country, and I needed to make meaningful impact to a large chunk of population. I felt there was scope of innovation, healthcare and education,” and the mHealth start-up was birthed.

So what are the ground rules that need to be understood before giving your most brilliant idea a shape?

“Some of the questions that need to be thought through: Why do you want to do a startup? What is the problem you are trying to solve? Who has the problem and how many people have this problem? How will you solve the problem differently? Are you aware of the challenges, the risks, and the trade-offs the commitment, and what you have to give up? Who else will join you? Do you have the support of your family? Don’t do a startup for sex appeal / glamour value. It is a hard risky proposition. There are easier ways to make money!”, says Sanjay Anadram, a venture partner with Seed Fund, an advisor to Ojas Ventures & KARSEM, and an investment committee member at Ennovent, an Austrian social venture fund. He was founding partner of JumpStartUp Venture Fund, a pioneering early stage US-India cross border VC fund, and speaks from long
experience.

Adds Sumit Datta Choudhury, Founder CEO ‘Gaia Smart Cities’, Business Leader, Author & Motivational Speaker and Coach,  “Before you start your own business, you need to be sure you have a product or service that is required somewhere in the world. You need to know if you are creating a new widget, better widget or cheaper widget. If you have this figured out, know how to start from your position of strength. What have you got that others have not got – money, ideas, resources, contacts or IP that will help you in good standing and give you a leg-up over others.“

For the young risk takers, everything is a challenge, and they have already taken it up. As Vamsi says, “the first and biggest challenge is to convince yourself to take the plunge- it’s an unknown territory, unpredictability of your financials … so it makes it tougher – Coupled with the fact that with no experience, you need to convince your family and parents also. And then, ten people give 10 advices. But once you decide, creating the team is the biggest challenge- when you have nothing, how do you convince others??” here his passion came in handy, in order to convince other  team members, his conviction on Vedantu’s base concept was the biggest strength on his
side.

Adds Sumit Datta,“the path to success comes from trying. If you don’t try and keep trying different things, you will never succeed consistently. So my suggestion will be consistency and sincerity of effort. You have to identify and play from your position of strength and need to identify and get support from all kinds of resources that you don’t currently have. “