By Aparna V. Singh

It has been 2 years since I started Women’s Web and earlier on this month, I finally took my first “completely off work” vacation. It went like a dream and got me back refreshed and eager to return to work.

While I had taken shorter breaks before and even a week long one, I had almost always stayed connected and worked for a few hours even while on vacation. This time, I would be trekking and bird-watching away in Uttarakhand, with barely mobile connectivity in the areas I was going to. Plus, much as I love my work, there comes a point when you realize that you need to disconnect for a while. I believe that the entrepreneur glued to business 24*7 runs the risk of fatigue and low creativity. 

For entrepreneurs, running their business [...]]]> How does an entrepreneur vacation while keeping her business running smoothly? Learnings from a vacation.

By Aparna V. Singh

It has been 2 years since I started Women’s Web and earlier on this month, I finally took my first “completely off work” vacation. It went like a dream and got me back refreshed and eager to return to work.

While I had taken shorter breaks before and even a week long one, I had almost always stayed connected and worked for a few hours even while on vacation. This time, I would be trekking and bird-watching away in Uttarakhand, with barely mobile connectivity in the areas I was going to. Plus, much as I love my work, there comes a point when you realize that you need to disconnect for a while. I believe that the entrepreneur glued to business 24*7 runs the risk of fatigue and low creativity. 

For entrepreneurs, running their business is exciting – it’s something you are super-passionate about. Yet sometimes, it can begin to feel like the business is running you, and you can’t get off the track. Having switched off successfully for 10 days, these are some of my thoughts on what an entrepreneur can do to take time off without worrying that the business will collapse without her.

…the entrepreneur glued to business 24*7 runs the risk of fatigue and low creativity.

Deciding what’s crucial for your business

For small businesses, one person on vacation can make a difference – and a big difference if that is the founder or CEO. It may not be possible to get everything done in the time you are away – you have to choose. In our case, we are a 2- member core team, with support from writers, bloggers and an outsourced tech team.

We decided that the most crucial thing for us was to keep our publishing schedule going smoothly; everything else could be given a little leeway. Having decided that, we worked well in advance to get the content for my vacation period ready. Almost everything had been received from writers or written by us, and edited before I left. It meant planning our calendar a little earlier than usual and pushing ourselves a little harder the week before, but it made a big difference – I did not have to worry during my break, and my colleague Anne did not have to scramble by herself at the last minute.

While deciding what is crucial, it’s also important to decide what to let go. We decided that our social media efforts could be a little less energetic than usual and I alerted advertisers that replies to campaign enquiries could take a little time.

Planning your vacation time

Besides my experience, I asked Sonu Ratra, President of Akraya Inc., a California based IT-consulting firm for her learnings too, especially since she heads a much larger company with its own set of challenges. One of the key inputs she has is on planning your vacation time well.

According to Sonu, knowing the time periods in the year when business is slower and planning your vacation to coincide with these downtimes can help. She usually takes a week off during the 4th of July week when many of Akraya Inc’s clients are also out of the office. She says that the end of the year or holiday season is also a good time to plan a vacation.

Setting expectations and planning your return

Setting up an ‘out of office’ response to emails that lets people know until when you are away and whom they can contact in your absence for anything urgent, is the basic minimum in setting expectations.

For those running larger teams, it is also important to set expectations among your employees – what challenges do you expect them to take on in your absence? In what cases do they need to call you? Sonu finds it useful to have a dedicated “backup” person (such as the Director of Operations or somebody else from her team) to whom she can forward action items that need to be done while she is away. She also makes a ‘return to work’ plan, a list of projects she needs to pick up right after returning from vacation before she leaves – this gives her the peace of mind that her priority projects are lined up for her return.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to an entrepreneur having an enjoyable vacation is not so much operational as mental.

Your business is bigger than you

Perhaps the biggest challenge to an entrepreneur having an enjoyable vacation is not so much operational as mental. While no one doubts that a founder is important in the case of a startup, at times hubris sets in and we believe that we are indispensable. Newsflash – we’re not! (Well, at least not for short periods). If you really cannot absent yourself from work for even 10 days, you have bigger problems than taking a vacation – you probably need to check what you’re doing wrong with your hiring, if your team members can’t manage without you around. We feel proud of being indispensable when we should be feeling worried.

One of the most important things I had to do before leaving on my vacation was to convince myself that work would go on fine in my absence. And if you have planned well and hired well – there is no reason it shouldn’t, as I found out on my return.

*Photo credit: jordangordon (Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License)

By Piya Jayarajan

With the Internet and social media playing a huge role in buying decisions today, one may be led to believe that an e-commerce business is all about a good website and secondly an account on Facebook or Twitter, or sometimes even both. But in reality, it is not. If you are looking to kick-start an online business, what are the things to keep in mind?

Earning the customer’s trust

An attractive website alone cannot convince a customer into considering your services worthwhile. It helps if critical information such as physical address or location, biography of the proprietor or the management team (preferably with photographs) is published on the website.

Many websites also showcase their associations or affiliations with parent firms, and details on the investors if any. This adds to the [...]]]> Online businesses often seem deceptively easy to start. But what are the pitfalls that you might need to be aware of?

By Piya Jayarajan

With the Internet and social media playing a huge role in buying decisions today, one may be led to believe that an e-commerce business is all about a good website and secondly an account on Facebook or Twitter, or sometimes even both. But in reality, it is not. If you are looking to kick-start an online business, what are the things to keep in mind?

Earning the customer’s trust

An attractive website alone cannot convince a customer into considering your services worthwhile. It helps if critical information such as physical address or location, biography of the proprietor or the management team (preferably with photographs) is published on the website.

Many websites also showcase their associations or affiliations with parent firms, and details on the investors if any. This adds to the legitimacy of the venture. Apart from these steps, it is imperative to provide relevant and updated information on the products or services that you offer.

“Arth markets authentic Indian handicrafts, so we emphasize on blogs and pictures of various crafts and artisans. This helps customers better understand and appreciate the crafts,” says Divya Ravichandran, who is the sole proprietor of Arth Crafts, a venture that markets authentic Indian handicrafts.

Needless to say, social media platforms should address any customer queries, feedback and complaints quickly so that there is no room for doubt. Testimonials too go a long way in adding authenticity to one’s business.

Getting them to “Add to cart”

Unfortunately the adage “If you cannot convince them, confuse them” does not hold good in the virtual world. In fact, it spells disaster!  You must not only convince the customer about your offerings, but also ensure that she makes that final purchase from you and not your competitor. Here is where user friendliness of your website, ease of navigation and cataloguing of your products or services play a huge role. No customer will make a purchase without checking out the product range, testimonials, and most importantly payment and delivery options.

Divya opines that payment options can make a difference, “There is always this initial hesitation to shop online with a new store. Here, a return policy or cash on delivery is helpful to convince customers to make the purchase.”

…the adage “If you cannot convince them, confuse them” does not hold good in the virtual world. In fact, it spells disaster!

The easier and quicker the payment and checkout options are, the better. Saurabh Mathur, one of the founders of Rangiru, a website that offers a variety of handmade products, tells us that it is possible to calculate the drop off rates. He shares, “It is a well known fact that there should be minimal number of steps after the customer has clicked on “Add To Cart” or you risk losing customers at every step. Google Analytics and other e-commerce analytics software offer funnel visualization of your sale flow. This gives a good idea on how much the drop off rate is at each step in the purchase process and you can improve your site based on that.”

Customer retention and growth

Businesses need to nurture customer relationships with excellent after-sales services, attractive offers and competent advertising. The aim should be to attain a right mix of repeat and new customers.

Udit Hooda, owner of Travel Sense India, a boutique travel company believes in updating interested customers regularly. He states, “Once a month or so personal mailers and newsletter about the company’s activities, deals and products is a good idea. Of course they should be subscribed by the buyer out of interest and not spammed’.

Managing expenses wisely

Many a time, we are led to believe that setting up an online business is a lot easier on the wallet compared to a retail store. Well, that is not the case always.

“The expenditures in e-commerce are usually around website development, hosting, online ads, office space and tie ups with payment gateways etc. Services like Amazon web services now provide a free server to companies for up to one year for hosting. This can help you get bootstrapped until you increase the daily user footprint of your site. We built our website ourselves and maintain it too so we didn’t incur that cost,” Saurabh explains.

You may also need to invest in ads on a “pay per click” basis. According to the budget, Google/Facebook will showcase your ads to the target audience. Chalking out such expenses wisely helps to sustain the business and minimize losses.

Adding a personal touch

Many believe that adding a personal touch like an e-mail or phone call can make all the difference. “I call each customer after they receive products; customers appreciate the personal touch and are more likely to make repeat purchases.” says Divya.

It always pays to go an extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. “We often talk to the customers to ask about their orders to reassure them that there are real people behind these websites who care about their preferences. We also have a blog and a Facebook page where we encourage folks to simply chat with us, praise us or bash us,” says Saurabh.

It always pays to go an extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction.

Smooth and secure functioning

If your website is not up to speed and adequately protected by internet firewalls, you are very close to chasing your customers away. Technical glitches and bugs are the biggest turn offs for any online shopper. Having a website which gets disrupted between transactions will only fetch you a long list of disgruntled customers.

Udit reiterates how this can leave a bad impression on the customer. He elaborates, “A website is like your store, and like it is important to have a right location and infrastructure, it is also critical to have the right server, hosting and other technical back-end services in place. Inviting the customer to a malfunctioning site is like closing your store when the customer has come to shop.”

Saurabh adds, “Hosting your site in the country where most of your audience is from, helps to make things faster.”

Also, a virus/bug once identified must be immediately removed forever. As far as misuse of customer’s information like credit card number or bank account is concerned, it is up to the payment gateway to ensure that it stays confidential and well protected.

The good news is that the majority of these common hiccups normally occur at the teething stages. So worry not; as you master the tricks of the trade, you will have more customers clicking at your doorstep!

*Photo credit: miguel ugalde

By Prerna Malik

For most career women, the office and home tend to overlap. Whether you’re a high-powered executive who brings home projects from work or a working mother with a home-based business, chances are you have a niche that you use to work in.

A home office can be a dedicated room with a door that shuts out the television and the household sounds or it could be an area in your dining room. Regardless of how big or small your home office is, here are ways to organize and improve it to boost your own productivity and efficiency:

Organizing is a working woman’s best friend

You can increase your productivity instantly by keeping your home office organized and clutter-free. Have a system that helps you to deal with paperwork and project work. Whether it [...]]]> Women who work from home can boost their productivity by setting up a comfortable and efficient workspace at home.

By Prerna Malik

For most career women, the office and home tend to overlap. Whether you’re a high-powered executive who brings home projects from work or a working mother with a home-based business, chances are you have a niche that you use to work in.

A home office can be a dedicated room with a door that shuts out the television and the household sounds or it could be an area in your dining room. Regardless of how big or small your home office is, here are ways to organize and improve it to boost your own productivity and efficiency:

Organizing is a working woman’s best friend

You can increase your productivity instantly by keeping your home office organized and clutter-free. Have a system that helps you to deal with paperwork and project work. Whether it is a workflow system or a simple “File, Trash, Act” system, make sure you don’t let paper clutter pile up and files get disorganized.

Sangeeta S Bahl, Founder and Director of Impact Image Consultants and a working mother is a firm believer in dealing with mail as it comes in. She says, “Handle mail within 24 hours and you’ll never have paper clutter to deal with.”

Organizing is also key when it comes to your desk. Since I have a small working area (read, my dining table), I have to make sure that everything on it helps me to work quickly and easily. So, I have a small basket with stationery supplies, a tray for files and paperwork, and a shelf for books.

You can increase your productivity instantly by keeping your home office organized and clutter-free.

A place for everything

Your home office can quickly sap your productivity if every single moment is spent hunting for something or the other. Not only that, it can really impact a working woman’s mood and make her very irritable indeed. That is why, you need to make sure you have a place for everything and everything in its place.

A few ideas to help you improve space management in a home office are:

- Shelves: Invest in a few smart bookshelves that can go up on the wall or stand in the corner so that you can stash your reading material, boxes of stationery and other important things easily and quickly.

- Boxes: To hold papers, stationery supplies and miscellaneous items. These can be both artistic and functional. You can get several affordable and attractive options from most office supply stores.

- Filing Cabinet: If your business involves a lot of paperwork, it would be a good idea to invest in a filing cabinet so that you can keep all important papers organized and safe. Bahl went a step further and got herself some beautiful foldable file folders that not only organize her filing but also look aesthetic.

- Labels: To help you remember where everything is and where everything goes. I use premade ones but you can easily use a marker and label things by hand.

Sit right; work better

The right kind of furniture can make a HUGE difference to the way a working mother works and feels. Investing in a good, ergonomically designed chair and desk can not only boost productivity but also make staying pain-free possible for women at work while at home. In Bahl’s office, the furniture also includes a sofa along with the desk. She recommends investing in office furniture that is workable to make your work time easier and more efficient. 

Aesthetics and technology do matter

At the end of the day, a busy career woman should enjoy working in her home office. So, make sure it looks pretty and appealing to the eye. A vase of flowers, a few photos of fun holidays or some great artwork on the wall can really help keep you inspired and motivated as you meet clients or deal with deadlines. Manika Awasthi, a working HR professional and busy mom, has books, pictures and photos to brighten up her home office and keep her inspired and energized.

At the end of the day, a busy career woman should enjoy working in her home office.

Awasthi, also, strongly recommends investing in technology. A reliable, high-speed Internet connection, a laptop with the right configuration for your work and a smart phone, she feels, are the best ways to make your home office a productive space.

Regardless of the space you have for an office, a few simple improvements to your workspace at home can make it the best, most productive place for YOU – the multi-tasking, ever-on-the go career woman.

*Photo credit: nkeppol

By Nisha Salim

If you think that all Indian women in their golden years spend time singing bhajans, babysitting grandkids or watching saas-bahu soaps, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

On the contrary, many are working their way to success, generating jobs, contributing to our economy and also giving back to the society in a way that most young people cannot.

Pizza – like grandma makes it!

Padma Subramaniam, also known as Pizza Granny, is a 75 year old entrepreneur who runs Pizza Haven, which is well known among the software techie crowd of Bangalore for their mouth-watering vegetarian pizzas. Padma, along with her business partner Jayalakshmi (77), started Pizza Haven to raise funds for Vishranti, the old age home that they started building in 2003.

“I was brought up [...]]]> Many older women are starting businesses quite late in their lives and becoming successful at it too. A heart-warming look at some such senior entrepreneurs. 

By Nisha Salim

If you think that all Indian women in their golden years spend time singing bhajans, babysitting grandkids or watching saas-bahu soaps, you couldn’t be further from the truth.

On the contrary, many are working their way to success, generating jobs, contributing to our economy and also giving back to the society in a way that most young people cannot.

Pizza – like grandma makes it!

Padma Subramaniam, also known as Pizza Granny, is a 75 year old entrepreneur who runs Pizza Haven, which is well known among the software techie crowd of Bangalore for their mouth-watering vegetarian pizzas. Padma, along with her business partner Jayalakshmi (77), started Pizza Haven to raise funds for Vishranti, the old age home that they started building in 2003.

“I was brought up in a very conservative South Indian family. Within 10 years of my marriage I lost my husband and was left with the tremendous responsibility of raising my 8 year old daughter and 3 year old son. People may sympathize with you for a few days, but after that you are on your own. But there are also people who go out of their way to help you,” says Padma.

Padma was offered a job at her husband’s office and she retired as a Finance Manager. “I wanted to give something back to the society that has given so much to me,” she adds.

Padma acknowledges the strong support provided by her daughter Sarasa Vasudevan to start Vishranti and Pizza Haven. Now they have several outlets in Bangalore and they also operate out of the premises of many software companies. Sarasa attributes the success of Pizza Haven to Padma and Jayalakhmi, and the connection that they have been able to build with the younger generation.

I wanted to give something back to the society that has given so much to me…

“There were many naysayers, but they are all singing a different tune now,” laughs Sarasa. Vishranti is now providing vocational training to youngsters and has several other social service projects in the pipeline. “Women must think big. If you are making pappadom and pickle for the local market, why not think about exporting? Why not pack an energy bar?” questions Sarasa.

Vishranti and Pizza Haven help these entrepreneurs build meaningful connections with society and enrich their own lives.

Beautifying nails, improving lives

Improvement in the quality of life is one of the most positive effects of starting her own business, according to Greta, 53, a nail artist who runs RVS Nail Studio FX (in pic) at Raghu Leela Mega Mall, Khandivli. Greta started her own nail business in 2005 after 16 years of being a homemaker. Her French tipping, nail piercing, artificial nails, stencils and nail tattoos are hugely popular among the well-groomed Mumbaikars. “Since I usually travel abroad along with my husband, I could learn more about nail art and source good quality materials,” states Greta.

Being a nail artist has totally changed her life, by Greta’s own admission. It has brought her out of her shell and has improved her life. She advises all women to start something that they are interested in. “Of course you need a supportive family, else it is very difficult,” reminds Greta.

Family support is something that comes up time and again during discussions with these amazing women. Men have always had this support by default. It is heartening to see that modern women in business, both young and old, are also being supported in just the same way by their families.

Keep warm and cozy – with granny’s love.

Puspalata, 79, got married when she was 13 years old. Even in those days, her young husband used to bring home English text books to teach her. Now, with the support of her great-grand-daughter-in-law, Lima, Puspalata has launched a totally novel online store called Granny’s Love, which sells knit materials. It is more of a labour of love than a money making venture for Puspalata and the 7 other grannies who knit for orders placed via their website.

Granny Puspalata has a happiness in her voice that leaves one with a warm glow. “Don’t keep complaining and sit inside the house brooding. Learn from both the young and old.” This is her advice for a happy life.

Never too late to overcome obstacles

Women at work in India have some peculiar cultural obstacles to overcome, whether they want to take up a career or start a business.

Ela Bhatt, the “gentle revolutionary” who founded SEWA, couldn’t have said it better. “The way to move ahead is to focus on moving ahead as an entrepreneur and not get caught up in the limitations. What we as entrepreneurs do with these limitations is more important than how well we worked, or complaining about the limitations in our enterprise.”

It is heart-warming to see how these older women are contributing to the society and enriching their lives. The way they are forging ahead successfully is an inspiration for men and women of the younger generation as well.

By Vandana Chatterjee

Plain vanilla Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Partnership with registered deed, LLP and Private Limited – many such terms confuse the first-time entrepreneur.  Add to this, issues such as Sales Tax registration, Service Tax number, personal PAN, Company PAN, TAN number, lawyers, accountants… phew!

Truly, the ‘business’ of starting a business can kill many an entrepreneurial dream. Yet several women have overcome these seemingly insurmountable obstacles to start and sustain their own ventures. How does one decide which route to take while starting off on one’s own? To answer this, we spoke to three women who operate in diverse spaces, about how they structured their companies and what they would advise other people starting out.

Business models suitable for start-ups

Sangeeta Khushalani runs X-cellent Technologies at Gurgaon, selling and servicing computers office [...]]]> First-time entrepreneurs are often overwhelmed by the paperwork and processes involved in starting up. Some help to sort out your registration blues!

By Vandana Chatterjee

Plain vanilla Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Partnership with registered deed, LLP and Private Limited – many such terms confuse the first-time entrepreneur.  Add to this, issues such as Sales Tax registration, Service Tax number, personal PAN, Company PAN, TAN number, lawyers, accountants… phew!

Truly, the ‘business’ of starting a business can kill many an entrepreneurial dream. Yet several women have overcome these seemingly insurmountable obstacles to start and sustain their own ventures. How does one decide which route to take while starting off on one’s own? To answer this, we spoke to three women who operate in diverse spaces, about how they structured their companies and what they would advise other people starting out.

Business models suitable for start-ups

Sangeeta Khushalani runs X-cellent Technologies at Gurgaon, selling and servicing computers office automation equipment. X-cellent is a Sole Proprietorship firm. Sangeeta who has built a strong network of clients in the NCR region today, says, “The Sole Proprietorship model suits new entrepreneurs best. There is minimal to no paper work, your personal PAN number is also your company PAN; making your accounts and the finances of the enterprise indivisible. Any regular CA who files your Income Tax can handle the accounts of a Sole Proprietorship firm.”

All you need to start business is a current account in your firm’s name. If you are into manufacturing or reselling products however, you do have to be registered with the Sales Tax authorities and get a TIN number from them, both State as well as Central Sales Tax (CST). For registering a company, you need to have one CST Purchase with a courier receipt of the delivery along with the invoice. It is called First Purchase. Along with that a simple form has to be filled. No lawyer is required. The cost of getting this registration is below Rs 5000. Sales Tax returns have to be filed with the relevant authorities every quarter.

Some points to ponder on Partnerships

Divya Keshav, who runs her family business, Krishna Printernational at Delhi is also of the opinion that a Sole Proprietorship is the easiest and most painless way to get a business off the ground. It is simple to start, easy to run, is low in costs and compliances. However she points out certain drawbacks to Sole Proprietorships as well as Partnerships. The main issue in these is that the liability of the Proprietor or the Partners is unlimited. Simply put, it means that if your business has incurred losses, or unpaid bills –  your personal property can be attached to make good that loss, be it to suppliers, vendors, clients or employees. Partners are liable in proportion to their partnership.

…to safeguard one’s interests, drawing out a detailed Partnership Deed and getting it registered is of utmost importance.

Another important issue that Divya highlights is that Partnerships generally start very well, but once the honeymoon period is over, disputes can emerge. In such situations, in order to safeguard one’s interests, drawing out a detailed Partnership Deed and getting it registered is of utmost importance. This Deed should cover all important aspects such as succession issues, capital brought in by partners, profit sharing, mode of profit calculation, distribution of work among partners, the time frame for which the partnership should exist at a minimum and solutions in case of death of any of the partners. This ensures the continuity of the business as well as a clear understanding of responsibilities.

Scaling up to a Private Limited Company

Ruhee Chopra-Dubey has been running a successful events business at Gurgaon for the past few years. She started her company as a Sole Proprietorship, but has now converted it into a Private Limited Company to suit her company’s growth needs. Ruhee says that when you operate in a B2B model with large corporates as buyers, having a private limited registration helps project your business as stable and also prove your credentials as a serious player. It helps you to scale up more easily as adding more Directors brings in more capability into the Management Team.

The process of registering is simple and does not need a lawyer, although professionals are available to guide you through the process. Once registered however, annual declaration of accounts have to be made to the concerned authorities, and once your scale of operations goes beyond a certain figure, your accounts need to be audited by an independent auditor as well. In the case of a Private Limited company, the company has to have a separate PAN number. Service organizations have to have a Service Tax number. Service Tax returns need to be filed every quarter.

…when you operate in a B2B model with large corporates as buyers, having a private limited registration helps project your business as stable and also prove your credentials as a serious player.

Special businesses such as those in Food and other perishable items require separate licenses and permits which vary from state to state. Certain kinds of businesses need a Trade License which is issued by the Municipality of the concerned city.

In conclusion, a Sole Proprietorship seems the simplest route to start an enterprise. As your business settles down and you consider scaling up, other models could be considered.

Are you an entrepreneur? What model did you start your business in and how did it go? Do leave a comment and let us know!

Photo credit: creationc

By Nandini Hirianniah

“Help me find a co-founder.” “Where can I find a good co-founder?” – a couple of common requests/questions I am challenged with. I say ‘challenged’, because in my opinion you cannot find a co-founder. A co-founder happens to you naturally. I know, it sounds like old-wives tales; “love happens” or “you’ll get your perfect life partner when the time’s right”. But my experience tells me that this is indeed it. Let me explain further.

Do You Really Need A Co-Founder?

When working on a startup venture, a good partner/co-founder is very important to have. A co-founder’s role could be all pervading, ranging from picking a suitable business name to making vital strategic decisions. Entrepreneurs often face paranoia, super-multi-tasking, Murphy working at his best and a dozen other things that fail as [...]]]> A co-founder is a critical component of a business and finding one can be quite a challenge. Some pointers to help you out!

By Nandini Hirianniah

“Help me find a co-founder.” “Where can I find a good co-founder?” – a couple of common requests/questions I am challenged with. I say ‘challenged’, because in my opinion you cannot find a co-founder. A co-founder happens to you naturally. I know, it sounds like old-wives tales; “love happens” or “you’ll get your perfect life partner when the time’s right”. But my experience tells me that this is indeed it. Let me explain further.

Do You Really Need A Co-Founder?

When working on a startup venture, a good partner/co-founder is very important to have. A co-founder’s role could be all pervading, ranging from picking a suitable business name to making vital strategic decisions. Entrepreneurs often face paranoia, super-multi-tasking, Murphy working at his best and a dozen other things that fail as you move tiny steps towards success. Now, in this frenzy having a wrong working partner only slows things down and many-a-times this is the SINGLE reason why startups shut down or give up!

However, if you are a single founder, do not fret! As long as you have the skill to build and sell, you are doing well alone. Do not look for a co-founder endlessly. If there are key skills that you do not have and is difficult for you to learn on-the-go – then you can always get someone with that skill-set on board as a right-hand man!

Startups/Ventures that have had a natural coming together of people to work on an idea have a tendency of lasting long, doing well and fighting the obstacles to turn into positive outcomes. Aditya Sahay, co-founder of Radbox mentions in Choosing Co-founders, “If you’re picking a co-founder, or joining someone as one, the single most important question is: Can you tell him/her openly that he/she is slacking and needs to work harder?” This mostly sums up the relationship that’s required within the founding team.

When I look around, most teams that are doing exceptionally well and have lasted through worst times are the teams that have naturally come into forming founding teams. These are a group of people who got together at college, best school buddies who share the same passion, a team that was formed for some other reason but found their calling in a new idea, couples dating each other or even husband & wife duos who plan on starting a successful business. In my experience, teams that have come together with the aim of forming a founding team and working on an idea are the ones who have failed mostly! (Jogging my memory back to my experiences, I’d say such teams have a very high failure rate)

What you need in a Co-founder

Some of the things that are important for a founding team to have while working on a startup are:

1. Single focus on realizing the dream/vision: Teams that seamlessly focus on one goal i.e. the benefit of the venture, are the ones who easily make critical decisions and progress. Speed is super important for startups.

2. Complementary Skills: All of us have our negatives and positives; skills we know and we do not. A teammate who focuses on their strengths and ensures he covers for someone else’s weakness is a winner. Also, a team that realizes that there is an entire world to be built as a startup – figuring out what skills they already have and what needs to be developed and by which teammate is also one that has a winning streak.

3. Not ego silly, selflessness: Another important trait for teams to have. We’re all humans – aren’t we? And silly ego is something that obviously comes in between many of our interactions. But, if you are obsessed about the venture you are working on – it should not and will not! The realisation that you are working for your benefit and none other will make the whole journey worthwhile, with no ego hassles!

4. Transparency. Speaking your mind. Open Discussions: A co-founder’s job is really tough. The best co-founders are the ones who balance each other, have healthy discussions and are transparent about their thoughts and activities. These are the ones who love challenging each other and stand by each other. The ones who do not fear to have a difference of opinion and know that conflicts are to be resolved.

Irrespective of the gender of your co-founder(s) the founding team must work passionately towards their vision assuming that all co-founders are One. Trust is super important, as in all cases.

By Jessica Chapman Clark

As a woman entrepreneur, I know how challenging it can sometimes be to manage all of the staff, vendors and tasks I have in my business. Not to mention the after-hours family obligations!

We wear about 20 different hats and spend so much time on activities to make our business run that when someone tells us to step back and strategically evaluate what’s working and what’s not working, it seems like a waste of time and energy. After all, you’re profitable. It doesn’t matter that you’re also exhausted, does it?

Self-Employed Equals Having More Time. Or Not.

We are entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons; more time with family, more control over our lives, more flexibility to do what we really want to do, et cetera. Since we are the [...]]]> Time-stressed entrepreneurs often find both business and home suffering! Here are some tips to sharpen your organizational skills and improve productivity.

By Jessica Chapman Clark

As a woman entrepreneur, I know how challenging it can sometimes be to manage all of the staff, vendors and tasks I have in my business. Not to mention the after-hours family obligations!

We wear about 20 different hats and spend so much time on activities to make our business run that when someone tells us to step back and strategically evaluate what’s working and what’s not working, it seems like a waste of time and energy. After all, you’re profitable. It doesn’t matter that you’re also exhausted, does it?

Self-Employed Equals Having More Time. Or Not.

We are entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons; more time with family, more control over our lives, more flexibility to do what we really want to do, et cetera. Since we are the masters of our destiny, the time we invest in our activities needs to be focused, efficient and effective; not tiresome, frustrating and anxiety ridden because we can’t find what we need when we need it!

There is no denying the fact that effective organization techniques are an indispensible entrepreneurial skill to run any business. Most of us small business owners lose at least one hour each day of productive working time searching for and digging through piles of paper that were misfiled or misplaced. If you have staff, that is one hour of their time you just paid for, where they weren’t doing what you hired them to do. If you don’t have staff, then imagine the hour you spent looking for something could have been a billable hour in your business. So instead of making $100 in an hour you just spent $100 on your hour.

Investing time in strategically creating business and personal systems that work for you returns time and financial dividends. Imagine being able to delegate work and not have to double check it for accuracy. Imagine knowing the order will be processed accurately the first time around. Imagine you feeling 100% confident you did everything you were supposed to do every time you managed a client’s paperwork. Your customer orders would increase because customers could expect consistent outstanding results and you’d sleep better at night.

Investing time in strategically creating business and personal systems that work for you returns time and financial dividends.

Continuous Self-Evaluation Is Essential

When was the last time you stepped back and took a constructive, critical look at how your business workflow runs? Or how you personally are working in your own office?

One of the best things you can do to improve your personal working process is reclaim the “lost” hour a day. Break the hour into two 30 minute sessions. At the beginning of the day, before work, spend 30 minutes strategically evaluating your office/workflow. What’s working and what’s not working? What causes you frustration and what makes it easy for you to work quickly and calmly? Change the things that aren’t working to systems that do work for you. At the end of the day, take the other 30 minutes to evaluate your day. Write down notes of things you want to accomplish the next day and make notes of what worked and what did not.

If you’re having a tough time doing this on your own, here is a self guided program I developed to teach you the skills for stepping back, evaluating what’s working and what’s not, and how to take action to create your ideal office.

3 Tactical Ideas To Improve Personal Workflow

• Designate: what you keep on your desk or in the drawer attached to your desk as the “hot file”. This means the projects you touch every single day and only those you touch every single day stay in this drawer. Everything else goes someplace else.
• Label: Use little plastic tabs to label all of the hanging file folders in your desk drawer. Write the exact contents on the tab. Naming the file “clients stuff” or “miscellaneous” will only create confusion and waste your time. By taking a few minutes to label exactly what’s inside the hanging file, you’ll save hours looking for it later.
• Alphabetize: For hot files and quickly clearing off project files from your desk, alphabetizing is the fastest and easiest way to get it in a folder and find it later.

Establishing and following some simple steps everyday will go a long way in clearing up your schedule, thereby enabling you to concentrate on other aspects of your business effectively. In the long run, you would certainly become more productive and your business, much more profitable.

By Surekha Pillai

There is no greater work satisfaction than being your own boss (and runner, depending on the situation!) but small businesses often come with the challenge of limited resources. Public Relations (PR) is an invaluable tool to entrepreneurs who would like to build credibility and increase visibility on a limited budget. However, PR does not come ‘cheap’; it offers great flexibility and is immensely resourceful, adjusting itself to the demands and limitations of businesses. Irrespective of the money you invest in PR, it has to be approached strategically to benefit your business.

Here is  a guideline to developing a communications framework for small businesses. Please note that this is a generic approach and would have to be customised to suit different business needs.

Messaging: It is a critical component [...]]]> Public Relations is important to develop any business and more so for small businesses. Having a sound strategy in place is indeed essential.

By Surekha Pillai

There is no greater work satisfaction than being your own boss (and runner, depending on the situation!) but small businesses often come with the challenge of limited resources. Public Relations (PR) is an invaluable tool to entrepreneurs who would like to build credibility and increase visibility on a limited budget. However, PR does not come ‘cheap’; it offers great flexibility and is immensely resourceful, adjusting itself to the demands and limitations of businesses. Irrespective of the money you invest in PR, it has to be approached strategically to benefit your business.

Here is  a guideline to developing a communications framework for small businesses. Please note that this is a generic approach and would have to be customised to suit different business needs.

Messaging: It is a critical component of a successful communications campaign and the key messages for your product/service should be arrived at after careful evaluation of the business objectives, target audiences, strengths and weaknesses. All communications activities undertaken should incorporate one or more of these themes.

Tone of communication: Once the messaging has been finalised, the ‘personality’ of your brand of product and business will determine the tone of these messages. Do you want to be quirky, mature, playful, funny or sombre? This tone should reflect in all your communication activities including advertising and PR as well as display including logo, packaging and decor among others.

the ‘personality’ of your brand of product and business will determine the tone of these messages

Media: Depending on your budget, target audience and geographies targeted, you can identify the relevant media mix. Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and local resident directories would be able to point to the local community newspapers in the area. Always negotiate hard for the advertisement rates as most of them would agree to a heavy discount. Check with other local shops on the market rates.

If your target area is larger, you  could consider a website or blog for your product. Local supplements of newspapers and local channels would also be important for you. Depending on your proficiency and level of expertise in the particular field or industry, national media could be added to the media mix.

Media Relations: It is a two-way relationship; if you can add value to the media  by way of interesting news and content, the media will be interested in you. Any  information shared with the media should help the news consumer make an informed decision about something or enhance her knowledge significantly about a relevant subject or person. Pass your stories through this filter to see whether a piece of information would be favourably received by a journalist/news outlet. Once you have an interesting story to tell, make sure you pitch your story well.

Entrepreneurs and small B2C businesses cannot afford to ignore social media. There are excellent resources  such as these tips by social media marketing guru Chris Brogan to help you leverage social media.

Media Activities: Here is a quick guide to leverage media for your business:

- Develop a press kit with background information and photographs. These could be shared with interested media during interviews and events. If you work in the lifestyle/glamour/entertainment industry, invest in a good portfolio of photographs.

- Build a media database.  Identify journalists and columnists who might be interested in your product by scanning the media to identify writers who have covered similar services or products.

- It helps to meet a few journalists with prior appointment to introduce yourself and your company. Start small and with the local media to gauge response. Do not expect immediate results; it is a long-term exercise.

- Identify product launch columns in newspapers that you could tap for your product. When you launch a new product, invite select media for trials and offer the product for reviews. Be prepared for negative feedback and criticism.

- Issue press releases when you have a significant announcement to make. Draft a 4-5 paragraph press release and send it out to relevant media. Do not spam the media with frequent releases. Utilise this tool sparingly.

- Leverage special occasions and festivals to talk about your product. If you own a gifts shop, Diwali, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and any other special occasion could be used to create interesting story pegs around your product.

- Get familiar with the lead time required for stories to be published, especially in feature supplements and magazines. You would have to send your press release well in advance for it to be carried on time.

- Tap event listings in local supplements to announce any interesting sale, exhibition or event you might be organising.

Personal Branding: Credibility comes from trust and trust is built on accessibility and strong business ethics. It also helps if one can associate a face/name with a business. Social media is a great way to build personal branding – start with a Twitter account. It works pretty much like the mainstream media filter. You are interesting as long as you are not imposing or hard selling your own products. You could generate more interest by offering special deals, discounts and freebies to your followers. It requires patience to build a personal brand. Follow successful entrepreneurs to see how they use the medium. A little personality goes a long way, but you also need to aware of the pitfalls of personal branding.

Credibility comes from trust and trust is built on accessibility and strong business ethics

Word of Mouth: Word of mouth (WoM) plays a critical role in ensuring sustained business. When limited resources might stop you from employing an army of salespeople, happy ambassadors could play that role for you. Word of mouth can be generated through sample testing (Show up at a tweetup with some freebies for the group, for instance), showing extra care for customers (If you own a store selling baby products, charts with vaccinations and milestones with useful phone numbers could be given out with every purchase) , offering loyalty programs, announcing special sale period, in-store promotions and events and occasion-specific special offers, among others. WoM can also be generated by seeding the product among relevant influencers of a particular community/media. If you work in a small town, consider community building activities.

Measurement: Last but not the least, do not forget to measure the impact of your communication campaign and the PR ROI (PDF). Keep track of consumer feedback and impact of each PR exercise undertaken by way of mentions, increase in footfalls, enquiries received, goodwill generated and sales registered. This would help you fine-tune your communication activities as you grow your business.

By Vandana Chatterjee

Vandana Chatterjee turned entrepreneur 4 years ago with Skan Consultants, a professional executive search firm. More recently, she has launched Beehire, a specialist recruitment service for startups and SMEs.

Being able to convert a personal skill or talent into work is perhaps the happiest state of being. To be paid for doing what we love! Yet, even though the business may be based on a unique skill, it will still be a business, and all the due diligence that would go into starting any other enterprise, has to go into starting a hobby based business as well. Is there a large enough market for my product/service? What is the unique slot I can occupy? How much money will be required to start? What sort of equipment will I need? How many hours per day would I need to dedicate? Who will supply me raw materials? At what cost? How do I market my product/service? These are just some of the questions you would need to find answers to.

A recent highly successful movie Band Bajaa Baraat highlights the typical issues faced by entrepreneurs converting a personal passion into a business, and what makes them fail or succeed. In the movie, a young woman passionate about event management, ties up with a friend and starts a business. Their flexibility, nimble-footedness and ability to scale up both their operations and personal capabilities takes them from zero to being an established name in the market. The same team then falls out due to personal reasons, and is unable to separate their personal issues from the professional. They lose clients, start undercutting each other and eventually lose their credibility in the market. While the movie ends on a happy note, let us look at the reasons for the failure of their venture, Shaadi Mubarak:

By Vandana Chatterjee

Increasingly many women are getting bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. How often do we get feedback from friends and well-wishers that if only we could bottle and sell our skills, we would have a ready market? These skills, when converted into practical working models, have the potential to create huge value for the entrepreneur as well as the economy at large. Just as often, the biggest obstacle to starting a sustainable business is       M-O-N-E-Y.

This is because of the fear that a business failure could end in losing one’s carefully put up savings. In this article, I will be sharing my learnings with would-be entrepreneurs on what elements of cost and money they think to think about before starting a business.