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  • Ibotta Business Model | How Does Ibotta Make Money?

    I wonder if there’s any space left to be explored in the tech space in the 21st century, or is it just a bunch of first-world issues. With this thought in mind, I present to you a story of a startup that filled the gap of online shopping and retail store closures.

    If you purchase food, clothing, or whatever, you are entitled to receive money back. You spend a fortune on shopping, so why not make some money while you’re there? This isn’t about clipping coupons or looking for refunds. I’m referring to Ibotta.

    Bryan Leach, an entrepreneur quit law to create Ibotta, a Denver-based company with over 400 staff, 20 m installs, nearly $100 million in funding, and alliances with Target, Walmart, and 1500 other companies. Ibotta, among the most popular mobile shopping apps in the U. S., was built in Denver in 2012. Ibotta aims to persuade millennials to do online shopping, and at the same time halt the trend of retail outlet closures by helping these stores.

    Wanna know more about it? Let’s dive right in.

    About Ibotta
    How was Ibotta Founded?
    Tagline and logo of Ibotta
    Business Model of Ibotta
    How does Ibotaa Make Money?
    How is Ibotta Helping some of the Biggest Brands?
    What is the Secret to Ibotta’s Success?
    Future Expansions
    FAQ

    About Ibotta

    Ibotta is a free app that you may get for your smart device. You register an account and then they generate a set of products that you can get at a retail shop, a supermarket if you’re purchasing a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer. It’ll come in handy when you’re out pet shopping.

    Ibotta Homepage
    Ibotta Homepage

    It works everywhere in the physical retail sector, and you choose which things you want to buy, then snap a pic of your receipt with your mobile or pay with your loyalty card, and they offer you a payback incentive right away. It’s essentially a 21st-century version of coupons or rebates, with a quick cash prize that you can collect and use on a gift voucher or deposit into your bank using PayPal or Venmo.

    You can now use it for all of your online orders, such as calling an Uber, ordering online, or booking a flight on booking.com, and it will connect you to other e-shopping experiences and offer you quick cashback as soon as it hits a buy-in another app.

    How was Ibotta Founded?

    Bryan Leach, founder of Ibotta was a Denver lawyer who was glad to resolve global contract issues in arbitration in cities like London and Singapore across the globe, but the most thrilling part of his job was growing his international arbitration practice. When it came to creating his firm and doing the research work, he didn’t find it as enticing as he had hoped, and he hoped to be a part of a group of people who were looking to create something new.

    One time, he was a little antsy when he returned from a conference in Rio de Janeiro saw one taking pics of his business cards so he could keep track of who he had just met at the conference, and Bryan thought about the disruptive power of mobile tech and how you could take pics of your receipt from the store and have quick access to data you need.

    It turned into a task for him to discover how to convey promos and vouchers and have a direct link between the brand itself and the final user so these shoppers don’t have to take these Lil chits into the shop, and he found that there was a lot of tension with the current methods and a large expense on poor tactics.

    The regret of not giving it a shot outweighed the fear of failing at this venture. Although he lacked the necessary business and technical talent to make this app, he travelled to Silicon Valley in search of investors, and to his surprise, the backers were enthusiastic about the concept and were willing to become angel investors. So one step led to another, and he soon found himself with $3 million in initial funding, at which point he formed a team with the right skillsets and the ability to design this app.

    Tagline and logo of Ibotta

    Ibotta Logo
    Ibotta Logo

    “Life Rewarded” is the tagline of the Ibotta app, and it couldn’t be more apt. It is a must-have app if you’re hoping to save at least a few dollars upon each purchase. Every moment in daily life, to be exact.

    Business Model of Ibotta

    Value propositions

    It’s an app that links firms and customers. It assists customers by making their life easier. You get accessibility to unique refunds after performing tasks (reacting to polls, viewing films, etc), and cashback on daily purchases. There are real money benefits instead of credit scores.

    Channels

    The following are the channels used by them: Mobile app, Google Play store, Blog posts, Social networks, Media (Forbes and TechCrunch).

    Customer relationships

    They build customer relationships via Buying sprees, Couponing replaced by entertaining activities, Referrals, Cashback, brands exploration.

    Customer segments

    Their target audience is millennials and Retailers (Marketers, Walmart, Target, etc).

    Key partners

    Their key partners include – Top companies and merchants (FMCG, dining at diners, etc), PayPal and Venmo are two popular payment options, Investors, LiveRamp Alliance

    Key activities

    The activities performed by Ibotta are Cold calls, Auditing, Client Support Systems Engineering, Ecommerce, Data Analysis, Conflict Resolution, Promotion, Project Management, Content Creation, Research Strategies, Ads, Sales, PR, Staffing.

    Key resources

    It’s a framework for smartphone use. The face recognition feature allows you to claim your deals by scanning your receipt. Other key resources include Designers, Salesforce, records of suppliers, Product details from customers, Analytics, and Investment.

    Cost structure

    Their cost structure comprises Lead generation, Branding, Promotion, IT infrastructure and communications, Software design, Operations, and Client service.

    Revenue streams

    Ibotta generates revenue by making the app Free for users, by earning modest fees from brands and stores, Answer polls, and paid ads.

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    How does Ibotaa Make Money?

    Commissions from partners

    Ibotta has used an associate fees business approach to earn revenue since its inception in 2012. Ibotta makes money for each sale made via their application by working with over 1,500 designer labels. Ibotta earns any moment a client buys the product through Ibotta at a partnered label.

    Ads

    Ibotta also earns money by offering marketers ad spaces and displaying them straight to users. They have a total of 8 different ad formats, like banner ads, instant messages, emails, etc.

    Account Upkeep Charges

    On profiles that have been idle for at least 6 months, it imposes a fee. It earns by taking funds from idle customers’ Ibotta account “rewards” balances to pay for the cost.

    Ibotta’s influencer program

    Performance marketing is the most intriguing part of lead generation and the transition to the sale for them and their affiliates. They don’t charge for display ads, views, or hits; instead, they charge per piece sold performance, which is how their influencer program works.

    They pay those who recommend a pal or post material that leads to someone utilizing their app. They split the profits based on the value of the user to them. They make it worthwhile for them to convey the narrative of how Ibotta saves folks time/money.

    They found that the sector’s general trend is to become apt to draw the distinction that assigns that traffic to the location where you bought that ad and away from inaccessible algorithmic media, which has induced firms like P&G to put a complete halt on display ads unless there’s the best approach, and they portray one of those best methods.

    How is Ibotta Helping some of the Biggest Brands?

    They deal with over 1500 consumer packaged goods firms, the majority of which are attempting to tell their brand’s narrative. They also collaborate with merchants with distinct goals. When it comes to FMCG firms, they just want to expose you to a unique product type and explain what makes their brand unique, but drawing your focus is difficult.

    In a nutshell, they’re a one-of-a-kind space where folks can explore a wider customer base eager to learn about what they’ve built. They understand that once customers test their brand, it’ll become a frequent purchase. So what they’ve done is the brand connection in the form of small bite-sized factoids, recipes, and clips that let brands reach out to clients and target people known who prefer rivals’ products, which is Ibotta’s major value.

    Stores are losing a big chunk of their market to e-commerce, but the fact is that mobile-influenced sales account for about $4 trillion in the US economy, which is ten times greater than e-commerce.

    So, how can the technology be utilized to encourage consumers to return to their retail outlet?

    Ibotta is providing a reminder and a reward to attain desired targets. They’re expanding cart sizes and the number of visits to those shops while also making an effort to have the same chat about what sets their brand apart.

    What is the Secret to Ibotta’s Success?

    3 most important factors in making an app that’ll be on people’s device’s homepage throughout the globe are:

    • An explicit benefit offer, in this case getting cash rewards for daily transactions via a free app.
    • Using an app that works in every case where you’d like to buy something important, hence why, you now can book an uber and place orders on the app.
    • High rate of usage: they cover aspects where you can return to Ibotta and begin with Ibotta every time if it’s online shopping or binge-watching rather than solely focusing on key value and rare deals, as others do.

    Therefore, they’ll escalate the range of situations in which you can use Ibotta. On your dashboard, they’ll make it a lot simpler to find highly relevant data. Their search is one of the greatest, allowing you to browse the catalogues of all places you would wish to buy something at once.

    Future Expansions

    The app will be expanded beyond the US. They’re one of the top 5 best e-commerce platforms in the US, and there’s still ample space for them to flourish. They’re quite thrilled about launching the app in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the East – Asian nations. They’re actively working on it.

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    Conclusion

    I can’t believe I am now finding Ibotta, although it’s existed since 2012. Just for shopping, you’ll get your money back? Gladly accept my request. Because of Ibotta, our daily regimen has altered, but it is worth giving a shot.

    FAQ

    Who is the CEO of Ibotta?

    Bryan Leach is the current CEO of Ibotta.

    How does Ibotta give money?

    Ibotta earns money from its commission partners, ads, and influencer program, and shares the profit with the users.

    How much do people earn with Ibotta?

    An average Ibotta user earns between $10 to $20 a month.

  • How to Create a High-Converting Lead Magnet Like a Pro

    ‌‌‌‌Being a Marketer is not easy. You need to deal with many things at a time. Irrespective of the work needed by a marketer to perform, their sole aim is to increase the sale and increase the number of customers.

    There are ample techniques available in the market one can look for. But have you ever heard of the word Lead Magnet? Lead Magnet is found to be highly effective when created with proper tools and proper knowledge. But what a lead magnet is and how to create a lead magnet like a pro will be explained further.

    What is a Lead Magnet?
    What Should a Lead Magnet Contain?
    How to Create a Lead Magnet in 3 Simple Steps
    Tools You Can Use to Create a Lead Magnet
    FAQ

    What is a Lead Magnet?

    Let us start with the easiest example you all might have seen. The subscribe option we get in between the article or our favourite author e-book chapters, prompts us to enter our information such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses for further access. Well, that is also a type of lead magnet.

    A lead magnet is any free service being provided to customers at the cost of gaining their contact information such as email address to create a new bond with them. The pdf form of any available text, free template available to download after subscribing, are all examples of lead magnets.

    There are many types of lead magnets available for one to select from. A lead magnet can be in the type of video, image, pdf, checklist, and many more. However, our concern needs to be directed towards the selection of methods and things to include.

    WIDGET: leadform | CAMPAIGN: Link Building

    What Should a Lead Magnet Contain?

    Let’s look at a few things that every lead magnet should contain.

    Call To Action (CTA)

    This is the place from where visitors will be directed to the actual lead magnet. The button will be linked with a lead magnet.

    Landing page

    This is the main page responsible for the collection of their contact details. Once the visitor clicks on CTA, they will be directed to the landing page. Here they will be needed to fill up the information to access the content.

    Thank You Page

    Once the visitor has successfully entered the information and submitted the form. They will be directed to the thank you page along with the needed information of the promised resource. Once on this page, their mailing address will be saved to the list.

    Alerting Email

    After the completion of the whole process, customers now can get the notification of a new email having all the inputted information from the form along with the link to the resource they need.

    How to Create a Lead Magnet in 3 Simple Steps

    Making an effective lead magnet is not that difficult. A poor lead magnet will not attract customers nor is it a good option for any business. Hence clearly considering points to add and the options to select is mandatory.

    Know about your audience and their needed resources

    The first and most basic step in every strategy is to find out who your target audience is. Once done with that, go through multiple platforms they visit to find out their needs. A lead magnet is a type of resource which gives out immediate solutions. So look for a way to replicate the same.

    Create your lead magnet

    You should be now clear about the audience you want to target and the resources they need. For example, if your targeted audience is travellers, you can choose to create a checklist for them. This can help them with the easy planning of the trips or you can provide them with free e-books.

    Once done with considerations, selecting a method of lead magnet needs to be followed. With the selection, the next thing needed is to include contents and the naming part should be completed.

    While creating a lead magnet, always remember to use related services as its part. For a chef, it is more convenient to provide the recipe pdf as a lead magnet rather than giving sample chapters of a book.

    Work On Your Conversion Path

    Select a platform where the CTA will be displayed. Along with the platform, its design and associated links should be decided. With all these considerations, one can easily create an effective lead magnet. And the most important thing to remember is to keep the lead magnet updating from time to time for better results.

    Tools You Can Use to Create a Lead Magnet

    It is not always necessary to make things in a traditional way. One can always look out at the outsourcing platforms for easy and fast work rather than relying on others. Some of the best tools one can use to create lead magnets of different types are given below:

    Canva (E-books, Pdf, Graphic designs, Checklist)

    Canva Homepage
    Canva Homepage

    Canva is one of the well-known platforms used for creating multiple types of lead magnets such as PDFs, worksheets, checklists, e-books, templates, and many more as per the convenience of the user. Canva allows its users to work as an individual or as a part of respected teams. It is a one-stop solution for many types of lead magnet preparation.




    Try Canva Now


    Wistia (Videos)

    Wistia Homepage
    Wistia Homepage

    It is best used to convert videos and podcasts into the marketing content. It is a great platform allowing both limited free and paid services for their customers. One can use this platform to create content from the videos or even create videos.

    Piktochart (Infographics, Reports, Presentations)

    Piktochart Homepage

    Piktochart is a great platform enabling its users with the option of creating infographics, charts, reports, presentations, posters, and many more similar services. It allows its user to create content for both online as well as offline audiences. Piktochart has a great service available for its customers in the form of free as well as paid access.

    Pixabay (Images, Videos)

    Pixabay Homepage
    Pixabay Homepage

    It is not possible to create new content each time. There can be times when using an already existing image or video can attract much traffic rather than creating one. Only if the plagiarism part is covered well. Pixabay is a great platform for downloading images and videos from a large group of images and videos. Pixabay is made free for commercial uses along with high-quality images.

    Wishpond (Marketing Tool)

    Wishpond Homepage
    Wishpond Homepage

    When we talk about tools needed for lead magnets, not only creating lead magnet tools are required. Some marketing tools are also essential for the lead magnet to work. Wishpond is a simple tool used for lead generation and marketing automation. Wishpond has its pricing plans for different customers with different needs.

    Conclusion

    Lead magnet works as an attractive force for driving the contact information of clients towards the business. It allows the change of trials to the fixed customers only if the lead magnet is made properly. Some of the related information has been discussed in the above article.

    FAQ

    What makes a great lead magnet?

    Solve the problem of your customers, keep it simple, giveaway free guides or ebooks and provide valuable information to your customers.

    How long does it take to create a lead magnet?

    Creating a lead magnet should take upto 5hrs to 10hrs.

    What is a lead magnet?

    A lead magnet is a free service provided by marketers to attract customers at the cost of gaining their contact information.

  • Effective cosmetic packaging tips for your brand

    When it comes to makeup and beauty products, cosmetic packaging plays an essential role in how people view your brand. Even if you have the best cosmetic products, truth is, the first thing customer sees is what is on the ‘outside’. That makes packaging a decision-making factor in cosmetic purchases.

    So how to choose the right cosmetic packaging for your products? Are there any packaging guidelines a cosmetic brand needs to follow to become more attractive to the modern consumer?

    Learn more in this article.

    Why is packaging so important in the cosmetic industry?

    While a product’s content is the most influential sales factor, the packaging is also of high importance in the cosmetic industry. Beautiful cosmetics packaging is inspiring, it sends a message, and has a direct influence over customer decisions.

    Packaging speaks volumes. It makes your products recognizable, represents your company vision, and lets people know what your brand stands for. That is why staying up to date with rising cosmetic packaging trends is vital for beauty business success.

    Plastic packaging is slowly being pushed out of the market. In modern days, cosmetic packaging is all about sustainability and eco-friendly materials. Environmentally aware brands have become more and more alluring to consumers.

    For that reason, so many cosmetic companies have started to invest in natural and vegan ingredients, cruelty-free cosmetics, and eco packaging.

    Cosmetic packaging tips for your brand

    Still not sure what type of cosmetics packaging would be the most suitable fit for your brand? No worries. We are here to guide you in making the best decision for your makeup or beauty products. Follow these expert tips on effective packaging:

    Know your customers’ needs

    Creating the desired perception of your skincare or makeup company starts with the packaging. In order to attract the right client base, you have to understand customer needs and customize cosmetics packaging accordingly.

    Customer inclinations and expectations are crucial factors to create likable products and present them in personalized packaging. Proceed with consumer segmentation to identify different kinds of potential buyers (buyer personas) and make smarter packing decisions.

    Use sustainable materials

    Forget plastic and non-recyclable packaging. Sustainable materials are the new craze in the cosmetic and beauty industry. Seek recycled materials or glass for your primary cosmetic product packaging. That would ensure no spillages and secure product containment while reducing cosmetics’ environmental footprint.

    For the secondary (top layer) packaging, go for natural materials like cork, cardboard, or paper. If you settle for cardboard and paper packaging, make sure to sign with FSC-certified or PEFC-certified suppliers, that support responsible forest management.

    Pay attention to design details

    Attractive design is what draws people’s attention to an unfamiliar product or to identify a favorite brand. That is why it is extremely important to set up a branding strategy for your cosmetics packaging and stick to it:

    • Pick a recognizable font
    • Use existing brand colors (colors of the logo or the website)
    • Choose a design style to represent your products
    • Explore unique packaging patterns and shapes
    • Choose a theme for the cosmetics packaging
    • Flaunt aromas and ingredients
    • Avoid standard marketing messages on the packaging

    Getting creative with cosmetic packaging design is the best way to stand out and create emotional affinity to the brand. It is essential to evaluate consumer convenience to create user-friendly packaging that is not too commercial, nor too plain.

    Make it look unique

    Last but not least, be unique. Unique in your products, unique in your packaging design. Let the product packaging speak for your brand through custom signature boxes. Custom packaging is what makes makeup and skincare recognizable.

    Font, colors, design, everything plays a role in how customers perceive your brand. With a signature look in custom packaging, you can highlight selling points, as well as promote sustainability and best practices.

    If you manage to stand out with a unique brand message and cosmetics packaging, the odds of people willing to give your brand a chance will improve significantly.

    How to choose the right packaging supplier?

    Now that you know what cosmetic packaging would make your brand shine, it’s time to choose a supplier. With so many packaging suppliers, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed or need help with picking the right one for your cosmetics brand.

    Packaging budget

    First and foremost, you need to set up a packaging budget and be real with the financial possibilities of your company. The best cosmetic packaging supplier should be able to offer packaging within your budget.

    Order minimum

    If you own a small cosmetics business, you probably don’t have an unlimited budget or a large warehouse to keep a lot of inventory. If this is the case, make sure to look for a supplier that has low order minimums and delivers and restocks on time.

    Portfolio

    A packaging supplier is a fit if they offer a broad range of packaging supplies. That ensures you have a wide choice of packaging options to make a wise decision. Also, as a cosmetic business, you can grow exponentially and your packaging needs might change. Your supplier should be able to meet them.

    Materials

    Low-grade packaging wears out easily and makes beauty products look cheap. Not to mention how bad for the environment some plastic packaging options are. Thus, the most established cosmetics packaging suppliers use only high-quality and recyclable materials.

    Custom packaging capabilities

    Cosmetics supplies should be customizable. After all, the packaging has to fit the needs of the business and the expectations of customers. A good supplier should have custom packaging capabilities to ensure all demands are met.

    Customer service

    Along with the packaging services, your supplier should provide helpful customer service for questions, requests, product tracking, and addressing any technical, payment, or logistics problems.

    A good cosmetic packaging supplier should be able to tick all these boxes. If they don’t, then that supplier might not be the best match for your cosmetic packaging needs.

  • ESOP 101: What are the Benefits of Employee Share Option Plans?

    Running a company is always challenging, with all the tasks that need to be done. You need a motivated, loyal, and productive workforce to help maximize the company’s resources and output. However, motivating and retaining great employees can challenging, considering the salaries and other benefits that you have to provide them in exchange for their services. This is where an Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP) comes into play.

    If this is the first time that you’ve heard of this concept, no worries. This article summarizes what ESOP is and how it can help business owners like you.

    What is an Employee Share Option Plan?
    Benefits of an Employee Share Option Plans for the Companies
    ESOP Benefits to Employees
    Company Share Option Plans and the Indian Companies
    Takeaways
    FAQs

    What is an Employee Share Option Plan?

    Simply put, an Employee Share Option Plan or ESOP is when a company offers its employees the option to buy a specific number of shares in the company, at a specified price that is typically lower than the market price, within a particular date.

    In other words, this is an employee share option that allows employees to have an ownership interest in the company they’re working for. There are two types of share options that can be offered:

    • Incentive Stock Option (ISO) – This type of option allows an employee to get rid of taxes on the shares they own until the shares are sold. After getting the option grant, they will hold the stock for at least two years, and after a year of exercising the option, they can be eligible for a long-term 20% capital gains tax. This option is not transferable to anyone, even within the family.
    • Non-Qualified Stock Option (NSO) – This type of share option requires an employee to pay an income tax on the difference between the price at which you avail of the option and the grant price. Furthermore, the employer can agree if the employee wants to transfer the shares to the employee’s offspring.

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    Benefits of an Employee Share Option Plans for the Companies

    With that general idea of what ESOP is, if you now want to know how an employee share option benefits your company, then the four (4) most common benefits of granting an Employee Share Option Plan to your workforce are summarized here:

    Attract and Retain Talented Employees

    Hiring and keeping talented employees is never easy and this is more of a truth in today’s world, where companies and startups abound. With the fierce competition in the business world, companies are competing with one another to get the staff they want for their company. Aside from attracting the best applicants, offering employee share option plans can also motivate workers to give their best, knowing that their output affects their shares.

    Ideally, with an employee benefit plan such as ESOP in place, applicants will be attracted to join the company while current employees will be inspired to work and stay longer. Considering the fact that they have an ownership interest in the company, they will tend to be more loyal and committed to their job and for a longer period of time. As a result, your organization will be more productive and prosperous today and in the coming years as your employees work together in helping the company grow.

    Boost Employee Morale

    Having shares in the company in which they’re working can help boost the employees’ morale. Instead of seeing themselves as salaried personnel, they’ll feel like they’re owners of the organization and that they have a say over important aspects. They’ll become more inspired and committed to the best interests of the company considering that one of the benefits of availing of the ESOP is that they will get a share of the company’s profits in the form of dividends.

    Cost-Effective

    As mentioned, most companies are looking for ways to reduce the costs of employee benefits, searching for less-cost solutions that offer high value for their staff. This is how offering ESOP becomes an ideal addition to employee benefits.

    Although these share option plans for employees are rarely considered as an alternative for compensation, they’re still a good part of your company’s benefits packages because they can make employment opportunities in your company more appealing.

    Despite the lost chance to sell the shares at the best market price and the cost of executing the plan, you can still get the most out of this benefit option by keeping staff motivated and loyal to stay with the company.

    If you’re a small business owner, administering ESOP can be a cost-effective way of competing with more prominent corporations in your area.

    Offers Tax Advantages

    Including employee share option plans in your employees’ benefits program comes with some tax benefits too for your business. Generally, not until they’re exercised, ESOPs are considered worthless on your company’s book of accounts. This means that you’re not required to list down these options pending as a cost.

    Moreover, once the employees exercise their options, your organization is authorized to deduct a tax equivalent to the difference between the market price and the strike price (fixed price at which the owner can buy the shares) as compensation expense.

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    Some other advantages of ESOPs or employee stock ownership plans for the companies can be summed up as:

    • ESOPs helps boost productivity
    • They save companies from immediate cash outflow
    • They help ageing owners to exit from the company
    • ESOPs help reshuffle ownership
    • They enhance employee retention
    • They help companies attract new employees
    • They are excellent for startups and companies operating in a low to moderate budget
    • The employee share option schemes also helps increase the intrinsic value of the cmpany

    ESOP Benefits to Employees

    ESOPs certainly help the companies and startups grow in ways more than one but not without benefitting the employees. After all, it is centring the employees that the concept of ESOPs are built. According to the recent survey conducted towards the end of 2021, it has been discovered that the employees working with startups have made more than $335 mn solely with the help of employee stock option strategies.  

    Thus, ESOPs definitely help the employees to a great extent. So, let’s have a glimpse into how the employee option plan for stocks prove to be a boon for the employees themselves:

    • ESOPs help enhances the job security of the employees
    • Startup ESOPs extend retirement benefits
    • ESOP in startups improves the employees’ overall commitment to work
    • Share option plans make the employees wealthy
    • ESOP benefits the employees by boosting their professional growth

    Company Share Option Plans and the Indian Companies

    Company share option plans are growing more than ever all around the world. Therefore, the Indian markets are not an exception to it. The Indian ecosystem has seen around 44 companies turning unicorn in 2021. Acording to the reports dated December 2021, the Indian startups have raised a total of $39 Bn till the first week of December, which is an increase of around 225% from $11.8 Bn in 2020. All these fundings are also enabling a huge growth for the startup companies and an outstanding era of growth and innovation for the country as well. Along with the funding it usually boils down to the employees that companies have as far as growth is concerned. It is the talent that a company nurtures, which helps distinguish a great performing company to an average performing or a low-performing company. Here, implementing overwhelming employee stock option strategies comes in extremely handy to boost the employees. While the companies can certainly resort to giving cash bonus, freebies, week offs or gifts to their employees to motivate them, the ultimate motivation comes in with the administration of lucrative share option schemes as offers that the employees simply cannot refuse.

    ESOPs are not only growing in numbers but also expanding in terms of the size. If you are now more curious to learn about the major Indian companies that have been promising decent employee stock options for the empoyees, then let’s have a quick rundown along the best ESOP buybacks that the Indian companies has seen in 2021.

    Well, Flipkart leads the Indian companies with the biggest ESOP buyback amount of $125 mn. The Walmart-led company has been succeeded by:  

    • Browserstack – $50 mn
    • Swiggy – $40 mn
    • UpGrad – $29.5 mn
    • Zerodha – $27 mn
    • Udaan – $23 mn
    • Sharechat – $19 mn
    • Phonepe – $18 mn
    • CRED – $19.3 mn
    • Spinny – $12 mn
    • HealthifyMe – $12 mn
    • Unacademy – $10.5 mn
    • Chalo – $10 mn
    • Khatabook – $10 mn
    • Razorpay – $10 mn
    • Zetwerk – $8.3 mn
    • Urban Company – $7.3 mn
    • Simplilearn – $6.4 mn
    • Meesho – $5.5 mn

    Takeaways

    As you can see, ESOPs can be a perfect tool for businesses that are looking to attract the best talents, and for those who want their business to grow and succeed. For your convenience, this article summarizes information for you to know when you should consider ESOP for your business and more importantly, to convince people about the growth potential of your company.

    FAQs

    What is an employee share scheme?

    An Employee Share Option Plan is when a company offers its employees the option to buy a specific number of shares in the company, at a specified price that is typically lower than the market price, within a particular date.

    What are the pros of offering employee stock options?

    • ESOP acts as a tool of motivation for the employees that once they own a stock they feel responsible for the performance of the company, as it determines the value of the stocks of the company.
    • It helps the employer to retain the company and assure a good level of performance in the work.

    How do I avoid tax on ESOP?

    To avoid paying taxes and potential penalties consider a rollover for your ESOP distribution. The rollover process takes place when tax-deferred funds from your ESOP are transferred to another tax deferred account such as an IRA or 401(k).

    How ESOP is taxed?

    The shares is short-term when held for less than 3 years and long-term when sold after 3 years. The period of holding begins from the exercise date up to the date of sale.

    What is the full form of ESOP?

    The full form of ESOP is an employee share 0ption plan.

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  • Success Story of POPxo: Beauty, Fashion, and Lifestyle Community For Women

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by POPxo.

    POPxo is India’s largest online community for millennial women to read, watch, purchase, and hang out, which was founded in 2015. POPxo brings a welcoming and empowering environment that encourages women to live their best lives.

    POPxo is aimed to merge content and commerce, which started as content and eventually had its own private label brand. POPxo’s articles, videos, and social networking material are in six languages – English, Hindi, Marathi, Bangla, Tamil, and Telugu – which has attracted over 39 million monthly users who spend over 3 million hours across all of the company’s platforms.

    POPxo also partners with the leading companies to increase its reach and engage its audience. The whole platform runs on the basis of content that fascinates young girls. Furthermore, it also features on its website, Bollywood news, life hacks, retail listicles and more.

    POPxo was acquired by MyGlamm’s parent, The Good Glamm Group on August 7, 2020. The six-year-old company’s investors – Chiratae Ventures, Kalaari Capital, and Neoplux Venture Capital have joined the board of MyGlamm soon after the acquisition. Furthermore, Priyanka Gill, the founder of POPxo also joined MyGlamm as a cofounder. Here’s all about POPxo, its Founders and Team, Business Model, Revenue Model, Services, Funding, FAQs, and more.

    POPxo – Company Highlights

    Startup Name POPxo
    Legal Name Luxeva Limited
    Headquarters Gurgaon, Haryana
    Sector Beauty, Health & Lifestyle
    Founded March 2014
    Founders Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom
    Parent Company The Good Glamm Group
    Operating Revenue $1.61M in FY19
    Funding $12.4 mn (2021)
    Number of Employees 251 to 500
    Website www.popxo.com

    Popxo – Latest News

    January 24, 2022 – Popxo parent, The Good Glamm Group acquires Organic Harvest, a beauty and personal care D2C startup led by Rahul Agarwal.

    October 1, 2021 – Popxo enters the Indian cosmetic industry with a Makeup Collection from Myglamm.

    Popxo – About
    Popxo – Industry
    Popxo – Startup Story
    Popxo – Founders and Team
    Popxo – Mission and Vision
    Popxo – Name, Tagline and Logo
    Popxo – Business Model
    Popxo – Revenue Model
    Popxo – Services
    Popxo – Funding and Investors
    Popxo – Growth
    Popxo – Startup Challenges
    Popxo – Competitors
    Popxo – Future Plans
    Popxo – FAQs

    What is POPxo

    Popxo – About

    POPxo has been founded in 2014 as India’s largest online community for women that offers discussions, content, and products across a wide range of domains including fashion, beauty, lifestyle, work, and more. Founded by Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom, PopXo offers millennial women an excellent platform where they can read, watch, shop, and hang out. Along with exclusive products across brands, PopXo also offers text and video content in a manner that is accessible via social media on mobile and PCs across the web. PopXo has last reported having crossed the 9 million mark in terms of user acquisitions every month and has boasted of witnessing over 102 million monthly engaged content views.

    Popxo was acquired by MyGlamm in August 2020 and has since served as a subsidiary of MyGlamm, which eventually turned into The Good Glamm Group in September 2021. The Popxo parent, MyGlamm includes The Moms Co, St Botanica and Sirona, along with other content platforms – POPxo, Scoopwhoop, and BabyChakra, as per January 2022’s reports, and has already turned unicorn in November 2021, thereby being hailed as the first beauty commerce unicorn company of India.

    Popxo – Industry

    The Indian industry comprised of online personal care and beauty brands and products are estimated to reach $4.4 billion by 2025. There is also likely to be a 4X increase witnessed in the number of shoppers of beauty and personal care products online, which was last reported to be 25 million in FY20 and would be going up to 110 million in FY25.

    Popxo – Startup Story

    The Popxo is founded by two dynamic women – Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom. During 2012-13 there was no content platform at scale in English for women. So, this was the point when they thought of creating a useful platform for women and began Popxo in March 2013. Priyanka Gill first started Estylista in September 2013 in London for the NRI women, which is popularly known as the base of PopXo. For the first few years, the company started working out of London and raised its first institutional round of funding.

    Initially, Popxo created content that enthused women who love to delve into fashion, beauty, lifestyle, wedding, relationships, work, fitness et cetera. The most popular things that attracted women to the Popxo website are hair and skin protection, and other products.

    The greatness of the website lies in the production of 1500+ articles in six languages that the Popxo website was last recorded to be publishing every month. The team understood the audience well and presented articles in the same way, which lead to content creation to adding relevant videos. Today, the platform produces 60-70 videos a month and generates 100-150 million views a month. The duration of videos is between 3-7 minutes. Furthermore, they even produce web series.

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    Popxo – Founders and Team

    Priyanka Gill, Founder of PoPXo 

    Priyanka Gill

    Priyanka is the Co-Founder and President of MyGlamm and the Founder and CEO of POPxo and Plixxo. She lives in London with her husband and two children as a digital media entrepreneur and storyteller. She enjoys working with creative and entrepreneurial people, particularly women, and considers it a privilege to be in their company. She is now enrolled in a joint London Business School and Columbia Business School EMBA – Global program, said her Linkedin profile post dated May 24, 2021.

    Her passion for writing merged with entrepreneurship when she started her own site, Estylista, which is now known as POPxo. She returned to India in 2014 to create POPxo, envisioning her company as a safe and engaging community that helps Indian women lead their lives. Influencer marketing seems to be on the verge of breaking out in India. As a result, she began developing a tech-enabled platform to take advantage of this enormous opportunity. Plixxo was released in 2017 and is powered by PopXo. It was here that India’s first generation of influencers grew up. Priyanka Gill has experience serving as a freelance writer and editor and an investor and board member for several companies. She eventually served as an advisor at PolkaRare and a seed investor of Kalamint, a role that she is still continuing with. She co-founded The Good Glamm Group on Darpan Sanghvi and Naiyya Saggi in September 2021 initially with the merger of MyGlamm, PopXo, and BabyChakra.      

    POPxo’s Plixxo also joined MyGlamm, India’s premier beauty conglomerate, in 2020, marking a watershed moment and a watershed year. Three powerful brands merged to form one incredible enterprise that goes by the name The Good Glamm, the parent company of MyGlamm in August 2020 and since then, Gill has been appointed as the Cofounder of the latter.

    Namrata Bostrom was the co-founder of PopXo, who has also been the CEO of the company as well from the initial phase of the company and stepped down from the role in March 2017. Bostrom is an Economics student who has The University of Oxford and London Business School as her alma mater. Bostrom earlier served as a Consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, and as a Sales and Product Strategist at EDITED before co-founding PopXo. After leaving the role at PopXo, Namrata joined Facebook, the company that she is still aligned to as the Product Management Lead.

    PopXo initially had a team of 15 people working together, which eventually grew to include more than 200 employees strong.  

    POPxo Founder and CEO – Priyanka Gill talks about POPxo

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    Popxo – Mission and Vision

    PopXo’s vision has always been “to build a content-community-commerce platform for women.”

    The mission of the company was to help the users find their inner natural glow. Now, as a part of The Good Glamm Group, PopXo’s mission is aligned with the mission of its parent, which aims to build the global Digital FMCG Conglomerate of the Future.

    PopXo Logo

    PopXo’s tagline has said, ‘Take it up a POP!’ – and we live and breathe it with everything we do.

    Popxo – Business Model

    Popxo targets millennial women aged between 18-35 with a range of products across diverse industries including fashion, beauty, lifestyle, wedding, wellness, and entertainment. The company has recently forayed into the cosmetics industry. The social community platform for women has entered the cosmetics industry, which is currently valued at $20 billion with a Makeup Collection by MyGlamm. MyGlamm has acquired Popxo towards the end of last year, and this development has come almost a year after that.

    This new makeup collection is termed POPxo Makeup Collection by MyGlamm and will include nail kits, face kits, eye kits, and lip kits in order to cater to all makeup needs. The entire range is reported to be priced under Rs 499 per product in an effort to stay within the affordable limits for younger women. The Popxo Makeup Collection powered by MyGlamm will be sold on the MyGlaam app and website along with being available at popular company stores and kiosks across the country.

    Popxo – Revenue Model

    Sponsored content is the initial source of revenue. The company approaches brands and claim to have a large audience. Popxo knows what people want and can assist you in selling. The company made content for them, including social media and video content. That comes first while influencer marketing comes in second. Ads come in third, and e-commerce comes in fourth.

    Popxo’s money comes from sponsored material, which accounts for half of our total. Influencer marketing accounts for 40% of income. They started selling online in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year.

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    Popxo – Services

    POPxo Services- Beauty, Fashion, Lifestyle, Wedding, Wellness
    POPxo Services- Beauty, Fashion, Lifestyle, Wedding, Wellness
    • Fashion– POPxo allows you to stay up to speed on the latest fashion trends by reading fashion articles and watching videos. Thefashion experts of the company provide the users with everything they need to stay on-trend, from styling advice to shopping hotspots and must-have items. The platform also offers the latest news on fashion in both western and Indian. It also provides the best tips and fashion hacks that suit you. This platform also offers the latest updates on celebrity attires (both Bollywood and Hollywood).
    • Beauty– The team of beauty specialists is committed to providing the users with the best services available in the industry. The beauty section has it all, from unbiased product reviews to makeup hacks to skin and hair care advice. The users get updates on skincare, makeup, hair, bath & body, nails, hair products, beauty products and DIYs.
    • Lifestyle– POPxo also offers related content from a wide range of topics. It provides the consumers with popular articles across all categories, from travel and education to sex and relationships.
    • Wedding– Wedding planning can be as stressful as you imagine, which is why Popxo is also there to assist. The wedding area keeps young brides-to-be up to date on the latest trends. POPxo has all you need to know about weddings, from bridal makeup to honeymoon ideas.
    • Wellness– Overall wellness, according to POPxo, is at the heart of a healthy lifestyle. So, if the consumers want to live a healthier life, check out Popxo’s wellness section which has articles on managing stress and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
    • Entertainment– Popxo will make sure the users get the best of everything from the comfort of their homes on laptops or mobile phones, from movie recommendations to what’s going on in the lives of their favorite celebrity.

    Popxo is home to all feminine things. POPxo’s online store, which includes items such as home decor, beauty, clothes, face masks, mobile accessories, stationery, rakhi presents, and more, is an attempt to make online shopping for women in India more enjoyable!

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    Popxo – Funding and Investors

    POPxo has raised a total funding of $12.4M in over 7 rounds of funding. POPxo is funded by 21 investors. Neoplux, IDG Ventures, Summit Media, Oppo, Kalaari Capital, STRIVE, Chiratae Ventures are the lead investors of POPxo.

    Date Round Amount Lead Investors
    Apr 25, 2018 Series C $5M Neoplux, Oppo
    Mar 1, 2018 Series B $750K –
    Mar 16, 2017 Series B $3.3M Chiratae Ventures, STRIVE
    Nov 5, 2015 Series A $2M 500 Startups, Chiratae Ventures, Kalaari Capital
    Nov 1, 2014 Angel Round $500K —
    Jul 1, 2013 Seed Round $300K —

    Popxo – Growth

    PopXo grew considerably with a well-knit team of 33 people in its textual content team. Let’s look at some of the prominent milestones that PopXo managed to attain throughout the years:

    • It has drawn over 39 million users per month
    • PopXo has delivered content in over 6 languages
    • The startup has seen over 10.18 mn visiting its content across the mobile app in a month
    • PopXo claims to have 1.6 bn monthly social media impressions

    Popxo – Startup Challenges

    Founded by Priyanka Gill and Namrata Bostrom, ideating, founding, and growing PopXo was difficult for two independent women entrepreneurs, which both of them managed really well, earning themselves quite a name in the industry. The first challenge for PopXo was to expand the content it produced and the kind of content produced by the website. The challenge that followed was the creation of an app. Even here PopXo absolutely nailed it. The website witnessed an overwhelming 500K initial downloads!  

    Popxo – Competitors

    Though Popxo, when it was launched,  was the sole platform focused on confident and educated women, which speak to them directly without taking down to them, PopXo has been a lot of companies competing with it once it started achieving milestones. Some of the PopXo competitors can be noted as:

    • ScoopWhoop
    • Polka Cafe
    • BuzzFeed
    • The Business of Fashion
    • nippon.com
    • Luxe Radio
    • The Canberra Times

    Popxo – Future Plans

    Popxo forayed into the beauty segment with POPxo Makeup Collection by MyGlamm, where both MyGlamm and PopXo are a part of The Good Glamm Group in October 2021 and is currently targeting a revenue run rate of Rs 100 crore in the upcoming 12 months.

    Popxo – FAQs

    What is POPxo?

    POPxo is an Indian online platform specially for women to read, watch, shop and hangout. POPxo covers content related to beauty, weddings, health and lifestyle.

    Who started POPxo?

    Priyanka Gill has founded POPxo in 2015.

    Who is the owner of MyGlamm?

    Darpan Sanghvi owns MyGlamm.

    Does POPxo creates videos along with content?

    Yes, POPxo is able to create over 2000 pieces of content along with 150 videos, 800 stories and a large number of social media graphics.

  • Contribution of Agritech Startups Towards Rural Development in India?

    This article is contributed by Mr. Chattanathan Devarajan, Co-founder, Arya.ag

    Agriculture sector in India continues to be the backbone of rural economy employing almost 50 percent of the country’s population with a contribution of 19.9% on the GDP. There has been an increased focus on the growth of agriculture and the Government of India has been talking about doubling farm incomes. It is in this context, that it becomes crucial to understand the potential impact and change agritech could create in the country and how new age agri start-ups are contributing to income improvements in rural households especially within the farming community.

    Growth in AgriTech Industry
    Pricing Factor in AgriTech Industry
    Contributions of AgriTech Startups in Rural India
    Conclusion

    Growth in AgriTech Industry

    In the last few years, there has been a phenomenal growth in the agritech/agri-fintech space with substantial investments flowing in the sector. The pandemic allowed for a swift change and acceptance to digital technologies, and it is further anticipated that about USD 25 billion dollar investments need to flow into this sector. Also keeping in mind, the challenges of fragmentation, diversity and accessibility in the sector, the only way to bridge gaps is to overlay technology to the Indian agriculture ecosystem. Digital technologies led services that enable presence closer to farm markets can enable large scale irreversible positive change and the investments flowing  into the sector are precisely working towards building these much-required efficiencies, traceability and trust in the agri value chain.

    Pricing Factor in AgriTech Industry

    Furthermore as is widely known, price is a factor of demand and supply and in India, the price of end produce is not absolutely under control.  There is always a risk that continues to remain with some mitigation by way of MSP support by the Government. In this context, the ways in which farm incomes can be increased is through better yield and output. A farmer could work towards increasing productivity through high yielding varieties, the adoption of good agronomic practices and relevant inputs.

    The problem of low incomes is further aggravated by the number of intermediaries in the value chain. Lower transparency of market prices, non-availability of competitive services closer to the farmgate and inefficiencies keeping with smaller quantities, often reduce the bargaining power of the small and marginal farmers. With limited access and resources, the cost of production increases and so do logistical expenses from farm to market. Each step of the value chain and the reduced efficiency that goes along with small and marginal farmlands, eat into the profit margins of the farmers and often, a farmer receives only 25% of the actual value of the agri-commodity.

    Contributions of AgriTech Startups in Rural India

    Most agritechs are working to solve these systemic challenges, re-balancing the agri value chain and shifting the power economics back into the hands of the producer. They are primarily trying to address the inefficiencies in the value chain and increase transparency, removing intermediaries as well as enabling easy access to finance.

    We can broadly classify the agri startups contributions as follows:

    1. Increasing incomes through cost reduction:  There have been lot of new agriculture start-ups which have been trying to provide input market linkages through their respective tech interface innovations. They strive to effectively aggregate the needs at the farm level and enable direct supplies of inputs, tools and tech to effectively reduce costs.  
    2. Increasing productivity and optimisation of resources: By adopting information and technology-based farm management system more specifically called precision farming, and crop canopy management through satellite imagery, the use of better agronomic practices has led to appropriate usage of inputs and thereby increasing productivity and improving income of farmers.
    3. Storage solution and access to finance: Lack of farmgate storage and access to finance, often force farmers into distress sales. New-age agritech startups are looking at creating integrated solutions by enabling famers to store their produce through near farmgate storage solutions, digitising agri-commodities, triggering innovation in storage infrastructure and providing easy access to finance and leveraging the price differentials between off season and on season to improve rural farm incomes.
    4. Provision of higher price due to quality: Agritechs have had success with effective output quality management through AI and traceability due to technological advancements. This has had both reduction in food loss and better revenues.
    5. Providing efficient market linkages: Providing a good platform for increasing the optionality for sellers. Enabling more buyers for the same produce, ensures producers have both choice of whom to sell, when to sell and at what prices to sell at.

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    Conclusion

    While some agritech startups have focused on one specific benefit and improved revenues in that section of the value chain, others have layered multiple services. A few of the agri start-ups are in nascent stage, few have moved to the proof of concept and a few have established business models. With the emergence of integrated platform players, one can witness growth in access for services like never before. Access to competitive services, products and tools are no longer limited to the tertiary markets but have seamlessly shifted to the primary and secondary markets. The key benefit in this growth is to the producers in the rural spectrum. Technology advancements have allowed for the growth of efficient and transparent value chains and these interventions have benefitted farmers and other stakeholders with an increase in revenues anywhere between to 30%. Indeed the agritech sector has immense potential to enhance the overall socio-economic considerations of the country’s rural ecosystem.

  • Enhance Work-life Balance: A Guide for Employers by Divay Chadha, COO of Growup Group

    The Article is contributed By Divay Chadha, COO, Growup Group.

    The desire to achieve the perfect work-life balance is not new. But with the growth of remote working and flexible working hours, the lines between work and life are continuously blurring. So presently the need for a better work-life balance is more than ever.

    Undoubtedly, time management and work optimization by the employee plays a crucial role here. But what about the role of the employers? How can employers help their employees achieve a work-life balance? Surely 100% balance cannot be guaranteed. But with small changes in attitude towards work, it can be achieved to a great extent.

    Here we have listed down some ways in which employers can help achieve the much-needed work-life balance for their employees.

    Offer Flexible and Remote Working Hours
    Focus on Productivity rather than hours
    Review Workloads
    Increased Flexibility for Parents
    Trust your employees

    Offer Flexible and Remote Working Hours

    Employees prefer to choose how they are spending their time. So it comes as no surprise that the employee will perform better when the working hours suit his lifestyle and efficiency. Allowing the workers the work at hours as per their convenience will help them to achieve maximum productivity in a limited time. They can plan their day better, stay focused and get the work done much quicker.

    Focus on Productivity rather than hours

    There is no point in staring at the clock from morning till evening when the job can easily be done in a couple of hours. Instead of keeping a track of the number of hours the employee worked, focus if the tasks for the day were accomplished.

    Review Workloads

    Make sure you regularly review the work allocated to individual employees. Keep achievable targets to avoid burnout. It would be helpful if the employer is aware of the efficiency of each team so the distribution of work can be done accordingly. It’s also necessary to create a friendly work environment where the employee can speak up if they feel any kind of stress or work pressure.

    Increased Flexibility for Parents

    We all know how tedious your day can be when you have kids around. Parents need a better work-life balance more than anyone since they not only need time to relax but also time to cater to their kid’s needs. Corporates often end up losing talented employees because they cannot offer flexibility to the mothers. Help your employees split their time effectively between work and family so that your organization doesn’t suffer from the loss of skilled workers.

    Trust your employees

    Need to leave early? Make sure the targets for the day are achieved. Need to work from home? It’s played as long as the job is done efficiently.

    If you are offering your employees the flexibility for time or space for their job, it’s become indispensable to trust your employees. You won’t be able to keep a check on your employees the entire time, which makes the role of trust even more important.

    People are the most valuable asset of any organization. Offering them a better work-life balance will lead to happier and more productive employees, ultimately benefiting your company’s productivity. Besides, it helps improve your company’s image, attracting a pool of talented workforce.

  • 7 Tips for Crushing Your First Design Startup by Ink n Bliss Founder – Pooja Bhagwat

    The article is contributed by Pooja Bhagwat, Founder of Ink n Bliss.

    Starting a new business is so overwhelming. You need to have a solid plan to build a reputation & to take your company to the next level. Here are 7 tips to help you become an effective start up right from the beginning.

    Tips for Setting Effective Startup

    1. Being Passionate
    2. Setting Goals
    3. Creating Content
    4. Creating Great Customer Experience
    5. Networking Skills
    6. Community Over Competition
    7. Taking Care of Yourself

    Tips for Setting Effective Startup

    Being Passionate

    “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excite you” – Oprah Winfrey

    If you really are willing to start & sustain your start up, being passionate about what you do is the key. You are more likely to sustain if you love what you do. You will face sacrifices, failures & low moments along the way but your zeal & your passion will keep you going. You will have the motivation & you will work tirelessly to make it happen. Without passion success in impossible.

    Setting Goals

    Goals help you create a clear path & it will make or break your business success. Of course people with goals are more likely to succeed. So setting goals & achieving them is a must.

    Spend more time visualizing your goals so that you will be more specific about what you want to accomplish. Try to define each step of your roadmap & remember it’s not just about a big picture but having some short term, small goals are also important. Commit to your goals, track them & don’t forget to reward yourself after completing the goals. Stay motivated throughout the process.

    Creating Content

    Creating new content frequently is necessary for any business industry. It reflects your areas of expertise & makes you look like an expert. It will help establish your brand & will also attract new viewers necessary for business growth.

    Though its overwhelming to choose from many different social media channels available today from Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn etc. It’s best to start with just one that you like the most & then slowly going over other social platforms. Also, planning your monthly content helps more than planning a single post. You can quickly overview all the important dates, festivals & events happening in a particular month & can plan your content accordingly. Once your plan is ready, you will be able to create creative content that will delight your audience & hence will help you grow.

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    Creating Great Customer Experience

    How customers feel about you & your brand is extremely important. Attracting new customers & retaining the old ones is essential for a brand’s success & that is possible only through effective customer experience.

    How do you interact with your customers? How well you behave with them? What do you do if something goes wrong? How do you handle crisis? How do you manage to give your best work within deadline? How do you implement your skills effectively? Every step of the communication is a key to creating a good customer experience.

    Always go extra mile while delivering your products or services to your clients. Stay in touch with them right from the beginning conversations till the final delivery. Your logo, packaging, professional email ID, your language, your appearance everything matters & it silently reflects on the minds of your customers & helps build brand loyalty.

    Networking Skills

    The importance of networking is obvious. A strong professional network is definitely needed for any business success. The more you network, the more you will grow & you will build long lasting connections. Networking gives you access to more people & hence more opportunities. The referrals & resources you get through networking works like magic.

    Even if you are an introvert & you don’t like to go out & talk with others, you need to do this somehow. Begin with going to small networking events happening in your area. Try starting a few conversations or just listen to others. Put yourself out there & eventually you will feel more comfortable meeting new people & staying longer at the networking event.

    Community Over Competition

    It’s easy to get caught up in the fear of ‘losing’ customers over competition but life is not a competition. In fact it’s all about relationships. Our lives are enriched by strong bonds & friendships & so does our businesses. Businesses are built on how to best serve your customers & not on how to steal your competitor’s customers. If you are not skilled enough in a particular area, pass on that work to someone else. The more you give the more will come back to you in different forms.

    I firmly believe in community over competition. Coming together & collaborating within your industry is tremendously helpful. Together we feel protected, we understand each other better & when we help each other & cheer each other on, we accomplish things on a different level. After all no one can take away your ‘YOU’ factor & that’s what sets your business apart.

    Taking Care of Yourself

    Though your business is like your baby & you want to work on new ideas 24×7, nothing is as precious as your health. It’s non-negotiable. Eating unhealthy, losing sleeps, working extra hours every day will drain you & you won’t feel energized enough to work on your goals.

    So invest good amount of time in yourself & ultimately in your business. Sleep more, eat healthy & exercise regularly.

  • How to Work on Your Sales Skills to Stay Prepared for an Unexpected Lockdown?

    This article is contributed by Gaurav Bhagat, Founder, Gaurav Bhagat Academy

    In the sales domain, it is often said that “sell the problem you solve, not the product”. Amidst the looming fear of an unexpected lockdown, a concern regarding how sales representatives will carry on with their performance is emerging.

    It is an undeniable fact that the sales team are always the one to take to the front line, ensuring that the product or service finds its way to the key stakeholders. But it all came to a halt with the Covid 19 outbreak that pushed every opportunity of sales indoors. Covid 19 has surely sent shockwaves across the business world, forcing many of them to either change their sales strategy or wither away.

    The conventional way of conducting sales pitches through face-to-face meetings, building bonds and gaining customer confidence has come to a standstill. Further, the dip in sales across various sectors such as travel, hospitality, automobile, real estate, etc demonstrates the pressing need to make way for newer and creative sales skills and strategies.

    Moreover, advancements in technology have led to businesses now looking up to e-commerce sites to list their products for sales. With no respite in sight, it is important the people or team engaged in sales start afresh and harness technological solutions to revive steady sales and revenues. Read more to learn about the sales skills one would want to work on in order to stay prepared for an unexpected lockdown.

    1. Engage in Sales Training
    2. Improve your Customer Research Skills
    3. Work on your Presentation Skills
    4. Master the Skill of Facing Objections

    1. Engage in Sales Training

    Sales Training
    Sales Training

    For a successful sales career, it is imperative to invest generously in your sales skills and that is why sales training is important. Sales training includes the intensive process of core product training, technical industry training, identification of customer pain points, posing pertinent discovery questions and effective storytelling. It’s the remote selling skill that has posed its importance, in case a situation of lockdown ensues.

    Sales representatives can no more shy away from tech-driven solutions and have to become proficient at software that will improve their sales figure, engagement with the team, keep a track of their sales and enhance productivity.

    If you are a sales representative and want to improve your performance, then get hands-on experience with sales software such as CRM, Dealhub, Outreach, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Seismic, Salesforce CPQ etc.

    Learning the aforementioned software and application will give a sales representative thorough insight about various factors that influences a sale i.e., the content customers are engaging with the most, customized approaches to send cold emails, drive more pipeline, create accurate quotes in a short span of time, track buyer engagement, etc.

    2. Improve your Customer Research Skills

    Customer Research
    Customer Research

    The ability to acquire knowledge and pain points of a potential buyer will make a sales representative stand out of the lot, thereby improving their sales prospect. A major part of the remote-selling strategy would account for how effortless and personalized the customer experience is. This would entail in-depth customer research.

    Get familiar with your buyer’s industry, expose yourself to the data surrounding the buyer in recent times, monitor their purchase and communication history, assess the buyer’s growth in recent years and examine their competitor activity.

    It is very important that you take a close view of how the aforementioned details have changed since the onset of Covid 19. Having awareness about such information will provide you with a better perception of the buyer’s situation; thereby helping you draft the perfect sales pitch.

    3. Work on your Presentation Skills

    Presentation Skills
    Presentation Skills

    Making a sales presentation has become relevant in the pandemic world and that is why becoming adept at it will definitely shoot up your chances at sealing a deal.

    The presentations must be impactful enough to remind the customer about their pain points, how you or your organization will solve them, what method you would adopt to solve and why you have the capability to solve them better than other competitors in the market. Therefore, do not simply just tell a story; fill your presentation with leading and discovery questions.

    A usual mistake that the sales representatives make is talking too much and too loudly. Abstain from doing that and in fact, invite a dialogue between you and the audience. The sales presentations are only effective when the audience retention rate is high i.e., there is the flow of information from both ways coupled with well-designed visual aids.

    While demoing the product, try to strike a conversation with the customer instead of keeping it a monologue. This is where you would need some prior customer research in order to ask the right leading questions and thereby demonstrate the acumen to answer them.

    4. Master the Skill of Facing Objections

    Facing objections from buyers is a part and parcel of a sales representative’s job. And therefore, learning how to overcome such objections will go a long way in not just handling the objection of the buyer but also boosting their confidence in your product or service.

    Engage in a simulation practice and run down some common objections that a sales representative might face such as:

    • Indifference because of lack of urgency or trust.
    • Scepticism because of lack of authority or trust.
    • Drawbacks because of lack of information or knowledge.

    Conclusion

    It is always better to sell the problem, focusing on pain points, apprise of the long-term benefits, talk numbers i.e., return on investment or profit margin, explore multiple possibilities where your product or service can be in use, etc. The journey of making a sale is rarely a piece of cake and therefore, a sales representative should always hold their nerve while making a pitch.

  • Effective Ways to Reboot Your Career After a Break

    This article is contributed By Nishant Agarwal, Founder of Proctur

    Taking a break from a career can have several reasons ranging from personal to professional. Apart from working for a job and earning a salary, a person can obviously have other passions to pursue, maternity/paternity leave to take, or simply have the urge to improve oneself for a job switch. And truth be spoken, it is absolutely fine to take a break from a career. However, resuming work after a hiatus can be challenging because of various factors such as lack of relevant skill sets, inability to keep up to speed with the demands of the industry, difficulty in orienting your state of mind immediately to the working space, etc.

    As the world is witnessing the emergence of Startups, MSMEs, freelance jobs, there is actually no dearth of opportunities if one starts searching at the right place and persists on upgrading their skills. Read more to learn the effective ways to reboot your career after a break.

    Upskilling is Unavoidable
    Work on Your Soft Skills
    Create a Professional Network
    Try Your hands at Short Term Projects
    Conclusion

    Upskilling is Unavoidable

    The working environment across the globe has become a highly dynamic space, with the demand for technology related skills taking a front seat in order to stay relevant. The need to adapt to such advancements for a person who wants to restart their career is more than it was ever required. Upskilling would make a person more desirable in the eyes of a recruiter as they would be part of the workforce, which would help close the skill gap emerging within the organization. Moreover, having additional and pertinent skills in one’s quiver would not only serve as a testament of their relevance but also secure a satisfactory salary. Up-skilling would also have a massive impact on their personality and self-confidence.

    Assess the skills that have become relevant in the industry that you want to enter and accordingly begin your learning through a course or talking to a mentor. Finding people who can help you with important insights about any industry is just a touch away on LinkedIn. Having a professional guide, you through your relaunch journey can make you feel comfortable with what the job might entail and also expedite the entire process.

    The onset of Covid 19 has led to the digital transformation of every field. And that is why the most important aptitude that everyone needs to learn, irrespective of the industries they want to enter, is digital upskilling. Digital skills such as awareness about information technology, social media, web development, digital business analytics, digital design and data visualization, digital marketing, data science, etc. are the most in demand.

    Work on Your Soft Skills

    Before dwelling into why soft skills are important for restarting your career, it is imperative to understand what soft skills are. It is an umbrella term to represent various aptitudes such as adaptability, emotional intelligence, listening skills, mindfulness, motivation, teamwork, leadership skills, work ethics, etc. In a world that is becoming more and more automated, the significance of possessing appropriate soft skills cannot be stressed more.

    Possessing a proper set of soft skills can make you stand out as it will definitely help a person who does not have immediate past experience to strike a chord with the recruiter. In a fast-paced world, it is not only the technical skills that find importance but how a particular individual is to work with also matters to a large extent.

    Although technology driven machines play a major role in handling work, they cannot manifest soft skills that bind an organization together. Luminaries like Warren Buffet also consider “integrity” to be the success mantra of a long-standing organization. In a technologically advanced world, the recruiters tend to observe if the applicants are flexible enough to shift gears, manage uncertainties, adapt to the team’s needs, handle different responsibilities, etc. This is why people who are more open minded, agile, creative and flexible stand a higher likelihood of getting recruited.

    Create a Professional Network

    Having a widespread and strong professional network can work wonders for people wanting to restart their careers. Talking to working professionals can provide you with a lot of pertinent trade information; create a bond by exchange of ideas and help in reassessing your qualifications.

    Just a simple conversation with the right individual may lead to opening doors to newer opportunities or provide you with much needed professional advice which will enable you to become more competent. Talking to new people on a regular basis, will also help you get out of your comfort zone and build invaluable social skills. This will charge your self-confidence which is a must after a long hiatus.

    Observing the accounts and assessing the accreditations of people who are currently working will help you take further actions towards adding the necessary certifications and skills. It is a way to gain information about how the industry operates at the present time.

    Try Your hands at Short Term Projects

    Dabbling with short term projects and freelance jobs will give you a chance to find the skills that are required and polish them, and at the same time make money. It is basically a way to either explore new jobs or better your already existing skills. Since, someone who wants to restart their career already has some experience; therefore, getting hired for a short-term project would not be difficult as well. This is an effective way to refine one’s skills before entering a long-term opportunity and gives a major boost up to confidence.

    Conclusion

    What we have discussed above is an ideal plan of action that one must practise when deciding to make a come-back after hiatus. It is important to keep in mind that it will be a process before one gets comfortable after a break and not an overnight assimilation to the environment. Therefore, have a steady learning process and do not quit!