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  • SaaS Knowledge Base Solution

    Creating a great customer service experience for your audience is essential. But it’s arguably even more important for SaaS companies with tools that aren’t always the most self-explanatory or simple to use. To lower your volume of support tickets and give customers a self-serve support alternative, you need to provide customers with a comprehensive, self-service portal. That way, they’ll be able to find the support answers they need on their own time.

    There’s a growing market for SaaS knowledge base solutions – for a good reason. They help companies organize their knowledge and provide a self-service option for their customers. But a knowledge base can help you with so much more than just basic SaaS customer support. It can serve as a marketing aid (and so much more).

    What is a Knowledge Base?
    Advantages of Knowledge Base

    What is a Knowledge Base?

    SaaS Knowledge Base
    SaaS Knowledge Base

    Simply put, a knowledge base is a platform that includes a collection of questions, answers, guides, and documentation related to a product or service. Users are able to type a few words and find answers to common questions about the product. There are also private knowledge bases. These are collections of documents you create as a resource for your teams. For example, you can create a private knowledge base for your customer support team to help them find answers to common questions much faster. We’ll go through the advantages of a SaaS knowledge base now.

    Advantages of Knowledge Base

    Customization Options

    SaaS knowledge base solutions are generally customizable, although less so than custom solutions. You can create a good-looking knowledge base with no coding on your part. This means you don’t need to invest expensive and valuable developer time, or agonize over what features to include.
    Of course, if you develop a custom solution, you will have absolute control over the form and function you want your knowledge base to take. This could be a good thing – or you may end up with scope creep. Being able to include every feature requested might mean you end up with a mess. SaaS knowledge base vendors understand the problems faced by customers and deliberately build the product with the most popular features. Most of the time, these are the features you badly need.

    Customer Support Plus Marketing

    Knowledge base articles can help demonstrate the quality of your product and set your company apart as an authority figure in your industry. They allow you to show off the features of your software to those who haven’t become paying customers just yet. Here’s how Slack does it in their knowledge base posts:

    Customer support + Marketing
    Customer support + Marketing

    The more versatile and built out that your knowledge base is, the more effective it will be as a marketing tool since it will appeal to a much wider audience.

    Easy to learn

    SaaS knowledge base system usually don’t require any training because they’re out-of-the-box solutions – as simple to pick up as a normal content management system CMS. That’s basically what they are. SaaS knowledge base user interfaces are deliberately designed this way so users are familiar with their environment and can get started right away.

    Gain Valuable Insights

    Creating a comprehensive knowledge database can be incredibly insightful for your team. If you can measure and view which kinds of articles are getting the most attention, you can increase your customer support success by creating more similar content. Or, you can improve what’s already there.
    Freshdesk’s reporting and analytics features make it easy to view similar insights.

    Freshdesk's dashboard
    Freshdesk’s dashboard

    Competitive advantage

    Your SaaS solution will be up-and-running right away. Building a custom in-house software demands a development period. If you have time to spare, then great. Otherwise, your new knowledge base may not get completed in the time you’d like. If your engineers have to split their time between your company’s flagship product and an internal tool, the external product is probably going to win.

    You might not have time to wait for a solution to be developed, in which case SaaS is your best option. The typical on-boarding time for SaaS knowledge bases is minutes. Since it’s hosted on the cloud, you don’t need to install the software on any systems or set up any security measures. All that is done for you by the SaaS solution provider.

    Boost your SEO

    You probably already know that blog posts help boost your SEO. But did you know that knowledge base posts can do the same thing? They have huge potential for helping you grow your audience organically, while also serving up the kind of content search engines love.

    SEMrush
    SEMrush

    Knowledge-rich articles are full of fresh content that you can pack full of keywords and long-tail phrases. This can skyrocket your rankings. With some more effort, you can optimize each post to its maximum potential. And you don’t even have to be an SEO expert to do it. Identify the keywords that best help you reach your SaaS goals for each piece by using SEMrush knowledge base like tool to find keyword suggestions.

    More cost-effective

    The great thing about dedicated knowledge base solutions is they are usually leaner than full-stack help desk solution – thus making them cheaper. A SaaS knowledge base is also cheaper than self-hosting because you are renting the software from another provider. The provider takes care of all the servers, hardware, software and deployment behind the scenes. If you develop it yourself, you also risk wasting time on features you later find you don’t actually need.

    Improve Employee Productivity and Encourage Collaboration

    Research shows that 20 percent of employees’ time is spent searching for information they need but can’t find. That means that employees spend one-fifth of their workday searching through cluttered inboxes. By giving agents a shared platform, you can help them centralize all of this knowledge instead and make it searchable. That way, they aren’t stuck combing through inboxes and thousands of tickets to find the one piece of information they need.

    Freshdesk's collaboration feature
    Freshdesk’s collaboration feature

    Knowledge bases can also give your agents a platform to collaborate on issues, ask questions, tag one another, or leave comments, which can give productivity a huge boost. The collaboration features in Freshdesk make it possible for your employees to collaborate with one another whether they’re across the world or right next to each other.

    Made by the experts

    SaaS knowledge base companies have dedicated their entire business to this one particular type of software, so it’s likely they are the experts. As good as your IT team may be, you may not have this type of expertise in-house. This will take time for your staff to acquire.

    The key to success with SaaS is to choose a solution that has a product roadmap in line with your company vision. Go through the product’s documentation or ask the company’s sales team. If their answers don’t fill you with confidence, that will be another reason to choose a different product.

    Continuously improved

    SaaS knowledge bases are based on best practices from other industries and crowd-sourced from a dedicated customer base. By aggregating feedback, a SaaS knowledge base will be better than one you could develop yourself. SaaS knowledge base companies will always be working on adding new features. Competition forces them to continuously iterate. If a new industry standard emerges, you can bet your SaaS solution is focused on integrating it into their software.


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    Conclusion

    A knowledge base software can take your SaaS customer support to the next level. Focus on building a comprehensive knowledge base that will continually satisfy your customers, all while providing tons of unexpected benefits like customer insights, improved SEO, and more.

    Your ideal product is SaaS knowledge base solutions if you want a solution that can help your customers self-serve. They do exactly what they say. They’ll get you up and running straight away and are easy for your employees to learn. There’s no messing about with code or development cycles. You can focus on running your business. Now there are many affordable, dedicated SaaS knowledge base solutions. These are perfect for your startup’s budget and mission.


    Software as a Service—SaaS Revenue Model || StartupTalky
    For customers, the benefits of the SaaS model are clear. It provides lowercosts, lower commitment risk, and a try-before-you-buy model, which gavecustomers a remarkable opportunity to assess a product before making a purchase.Indeed, the benefit is so clear that a 2017 study conducted by BetterCl…


    FAQs

    What is a Knowledge Base?

    A knowledge base is a technology used to store complex structured and unstructured information used by a computer system.

    What does knowledge base consist of?

    The knowledge base may include FAQs, manuals, troubleshooting guides, runbooks, and other information your team may want or need to know. Many knowledge bases are structured around artificial intelligence that can interact and respond to user input. Others are simply indexed encyclopedias.

    How do you build a knowledge base?

    Steps to build a knowledge base:-

    • Step 1: Review your data before building a knowledge base.
    • Step 2: Determine your taxonomy and content plan
    • Step 3: Outline your technology plan
    • Step 4: Implement the right analytics
    • Step 5: Focus on continuous improvement

    What are types of knowledge base?

    Types of knowledge base:

    • FAQs (frequently asked question)
    • PDFs
    • Word documents
    • Spreadsheets
    • Web portals

    The Ultimate Growth of SaaS and it’s Effects on the Business Market in India
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  • 4 Weird Things to Know About Forex Trading

    Entrepreneurs are always looking for fresh ways to make money. Whether it’s meant as a side hustle, a means of long-term investment, or even a way to fund a business venture, there’s always some sort of financial effort underway. And as we covered in Weird and Creative Ways With Which People Actually Made Money there are some bizarre ideas that come up. A true entrepreneur, after all, can see an opportunity to make money in just about anything!

    Often enough though, entrepreneurs will turn specifically to investment markets. These are spaces in which money can be made to grow, often without too much effort, and they can thus be appealing to people who might otherwise be busy starting or running businesses. A few years ago, Forbes took a look at some of the investment opportunities more entrepreneurs were exploring, including gold, real estate, and even startup funding. One that they left out though was forex trading.

    The forex market is a world unto itself, and one that is different from any other investment opportunity, despite some fundamental similarities with stock market trading. Given that it’s also the world’s busiest investment market though, we have to assume it’s one that some entrepreneurs give some thought to as they look for ways to grow their wealth. So, as something of an introduction that goes beyond the basic introductory stuff (which you can read about anywhere), we thought we’d highlight a few weird things to know about forex.

    Every “Major” Pair Features The U.S. Dollar
    Forex Dwarfs The New York Stock Exchange
    3 – Assets Move In “Pips” Not Units
    Forex Is Now (Sort Of) Using The Blockchain

    Every “Major” Pair Features The U.S. Dollar

    Forex is traded in pairs, such that you’re always buying or selling one currency against another. So, for example, many will trade the EUR/USD pair, buying or selling the Euro at its value against the U.S. dollar. One thing you’ll quickly learn if you start to explore the forex market is that some of these pairs are traded more than others. And one bizarre feature of forex is that the pairs unofficially designated as “major” — the most heavily-traded pairs on the market — universally feature the U.S. dollar. This may not be surprising when you think about it, given that the USD is still viewed as the world’s reserve currency. But it can be a bit strange to jump into a global market of currencies and see USD seemingly everywhere.

    Forex Dwarfs The New York Stock Exchange

    Trading in the Forex Market
    Trading in the Forex Market

    When you think about the different investing markets in the world, it’s likely stock exchanges that come to the forefront of your mind. And when you think of those, it’s probably the big ones that you think of first: the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, etc. These indeed represent some of the largest exchanges in the world by market cap, with the NYSE leading the way according to World Atlas. But the forex market dwarfs even the NYSE. It is — by far — the lagers trading market in the world. This can make it somewhat intimidating, but most of all it actually makes for favorable trading conditions due to high liquidity.

    3 – Assets Move In “Pips” Not Units

    In forex, you can’t really express currency price changes in terms of units, because each pair involves two entirely different currencies. Furthermore, most of the movement on a day-to-day basis is marginal, such that it involves only fractions of units anyway. This is where little things called pips come into play. As described in a write-up by FXCM, a pip is a measurement expressed in decimal points that is the “smallest tradable value” of a currency pair. If EUR/USD is trading at 1.1573, a pip would be a single digit at the fourth decimal point (or 0.0001). It may sound like random terminology, but it actually comes in quite handy in that it allows forex traders to measure changes in pips.


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    Forex Is Now (Sort Of) Using The Blockchain

    If you have much awareness of the blockchain, you probably know that it’s the engine that drives cryptocurrency. Well, despite the fact that cryptocurrency is not included in the trading in the forex markets, the blockchain sort of is. It isn’t exactly the norm yet, but more and more forex brokers and financial institutions are starting to experiment with running transactions through the blockchain. This shouldn’t make a huge functional difference to most traders, though it may marginally improve security and efficiency. Still, it’s worth knowing that blockchain tech may be involved so that you’re not surprised by it.

    It’s a different kind of market, but one you can actually get the hang of pretty quickly. And for entrepreneurs, it’s one more avenue through which some side income might be generated.


    Comparision Between Stocks and Bonds to Help you make the Right Choice
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    FAQs

    What is Forex Trading?

    Forex trading is the process of speculating on currency prices to potentially make a profit. Currencies are traded in pairs, so by exchanging one currency for another, a trader is speculating on whether one currency will rise or fall in value against the other.

    Is forex trading illegal in India?

    Forex trading platforms are banned.

    How to start forex trading?

    Steps to Trading Forex:-

    • Step 1: Connect a device to the internet
    • Step 2: Find a suitable online forex broker
    • Step 3: Open and fund a trading account
    • Step 4: Obtain a forex trading platform
    • Step 5: Start trading

    GNEISS – Forex Trading Technology Solution Providers | Founders
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  • How will Amazon leverage MGM Studios after the Acquisition?

    Amazon which is a multinational tech giant has been competing against the OTT platforms such as Netflix, HBO studios and Disney+Hotstar with their Amazon Prime App. The OTT platform of Amazon Prime has announced its recent acquisition of MGM studios. Let’s look at the deal and how it is going to help Amazon in the OTT field.

    Amazon MGM Acquisition – Latest News
    Amazon’s Future Plan with MGM Studios
    The main ideology behind the Acquisition of MGM and Amazon
    FAQ

    Amazon MGM Acquisition – Latest News

    Amazon has finally acquired the legendary MGM studios which is a significantly legendary media company. The deal is said to be around USD 8.45 billion. This is considered to be one of the boldest moves in the entertainment industry.

    The deal will help Amazon Prime to take a forward step in the streamlined business and is the second largest acquisition in the history of Amazon.


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    Amazon’s Future Plan with MGM Studios

    Mike Hopkins who is the senior vice president of Amazon Prime Video has conveyed that the real financial value of the acquisition is the collection of the treasure in the deep catalog which they are planning to reimagine and develop together with the talented team of MGM.

    He also added that they are very excited and are looking forward to working with the talented team for high quality story telling. The company is planning to leverage the legendary catalog of 4,000 films and 17,000 shows which will strengthen the platform of Amazon.

    Kevin Ulrich, the chairman of MGM has conveyed that the combination to align the opportunity of the history of MGM with Amazon is inspiring. But above all Amazon needs more content for Amazon Prime video to stay relevant against the competition.

    Buying MGM will provide Amazon Prime video with the access to favorites such as James Bond, Real Housewives and Survivors. It also will improve Amazon Prime’s odds in creating their own originals with a fully fledged studio that has created legendary shows and movies.

    Revenue of MGM Holdings worldwide
    Revenue of MGM Holdings worldwide

    New Guidelines for OTT Platforms Explained
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    The main Ideology behind the Acquisition of MGM and Amazon

    The main idea behind the acquisition of MGM is considered not to be the legendary movies or shows or not just to create original shows but to increase the number of subscribers for the OTT platform of Amazon.

    Amazon earlier had a stronghold by offering shipping discounts to prime members and attracting more consumers but right now a lot of firms have been offering shipping discounts for its consumers. At the same time, we can’t predict what Amazon would do with MGM’s content and it remains unexpected.

    FAQ

    Who is the founder of MGM Studios?

    Louis B. Mayer and Marcus Loew are the founders of MGM studios who founded it on 17 April 1924.

    When was MGM founded?

    MGM studios was founded on 17 April 1924 and It is around 97 years old.

    Has Amazon bought MGM?

    Yes, Amazon has acquired MGM studios for 8.5 billion dollars to compete against other OTT platforms.

    Conclusion

    The deal proves the willingness of Amazon to spend more in order to remain competitive in the streaming industry. It is to be noted that the competitors are spending heavily on developing the libraries and producing original content committing billions. This will be a step for Amazon to emerge as a much stronger brand in the streaming market.

  • Why Facebook, Twitter, Instagram might get banned in India? – A Deep Analysis

    In the past few days, the headlines and the major posts on various social media handles were about the ban of the social media applications in India. Let’s look at why the social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram might get banned in India.

    Why The Government of India might ban Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
    The new Social media norms by The Government of India
    Social media platforms that have not accepted the new norm
    Will the Social media Apps really get banned?
    The Consequences of the Social media Ban
    FAQ

    Why The Government of India might ban Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

    During the month of February, the Government of India had provided a new norm that is supposed to be followed by all the social media companies in the country. The Government of India had provided a time period of 3 months where the deadline for accepting the new norms was on 25 May 2021.

    The social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp have not accepted the norms and have not made any provision to follow the norms.

    The new Social media norms by The Government of India

    As per the new norm, the large social media platforms defined as those who have more than 50 lakh registered users will have to appoint a resident grievance officer as part of a larger grievance redressal mechanism, they will also have to actively monitor the content on their platform and also provide a monthly compliance report for Indian users and self-regulation mechanism.


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    Social media platforms that have not accepted the new norm

    As of now only the Indian based social media application Koo has accepted the norms and the guidelines put forward by the government. The other social media giants have not accepted the norms and WhatsApp has also filed a complaint against the government in the High Court of Delhi.

    The social media giants such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have conveyed that accepting the new norm would end the privacy of the users and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp will no longer be end-to-end encrypted.

    Number of social network users in India
    Number of social network users in India

    Will the Social media Apps really get banned?

    It is to be noted that if the social media platforms do not comply with the new norms and don’t follow the guidelines, they will not be banned by the Government but they will lose their status as a social media platform and various protections they receive as intermediaries.

    The Government of India can also file a case against the social media companies for not following the rules as per the law of land.


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    The Consequences of the Social media Ban

    The main consequence if the social media platforms accept the ban would be faced by the users and the citizens of the country is that they would lose the right to speech and they would not be able to freely express their view points on the social media platforms.

    If the social media platforms are banned in the country it would largely affect the economy of the country adding to a lot of people becoming unemployed as a large number of people run their online businesses through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

    The ban on the social media giants will also largely affect the other companies in India as they rely on these platforms for advertising their products and services. The social media platforms even provide an option where the companies can target their customers.

    It would even affect the Indian based employees working in the various social media companies as the ban would lead to unemployment to a lot of them working in the Indian subsidiaries of the social media companies.

    This is estimated to largely affect the economy as the businesses which have build a profile on the social media platforms would run under loss and also taking the critical situation of the Covid pandemic and increase of unemployment in the country would have a large effect on the economy of the country.

    FAQ

    Why is social media getting banned?

    Social media apps might get banned if they fail to comply with the new intermediary guidelines for social media platforms.

    What is the new IT rules for social media?

    The new IT Rules 2021 for digital media platforms includes the requirement to appoint a resident grievance officer as part of a larger grievance redressal mechanism, active monitoring of content on the platform, and monthly compliance reports for Indian users.

    Has WhatsApp sued Indian government?

    Yes, WhatsApp has filed a case in the Delhi High Court against the Indian government, seeking to block the new IT rules.

    Conclusion

    India has around 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook users, 21 crore Instagram users and around 1.75 crore Twitter account holders. These are the major social media companies operating in India and the Indian based application Koo has around 60 lakh users.

  • Kavin Mittal: Founder and CEO of Hike Messenger

    Social media is a platform dominated by various countries. The most prominent ones are based out of the United States, with China at second. However, we’ve seen a thing or two from the Indian sub-continent as well. Hike is the most popular one amongst the few Indian startups that have left a dent on the social media circuit. The Hike messaging is an Indian app and was developed by Kavin Bharti Mittal.

    Quick Facts
    Family Background
    Entrepreneurial Ambitions
    Kavin Mittal’s Hike Messenger
    Success Mantras

    Quick Facts

    Name Kavin Bharti Mittal
    Born August 31, 1987
    Age 33
    Education University of York, Imperial College London
    Occupation Founder and CEO of Hike Messenger
    Net Worth $150 Million

    Family Background

    Founder of Hike Messenger
    Kavin Mittal – Founder of Hike Messenger

    Kavin Bharti Mittal is the son of Bharti Mittal, one of the richest Indians. Kavin charted out his own path despite a solid business background. He grew up in a family where business was omnipresent.

    Kavin found it much easier to set foot in the startup circuit when compared to his father due technological advancements. Moreover, entrepreneurship has undergone drastic changes after the nineties.

    Entrepreneurial Ambitions

    Apps, both mobile and web, are the basis for several ventures today. The introduction of the iPhone paved way for development of new segments hitherto unknown. Kavin Mittal picked up the basics of entrepreneurship from his dad. The father-son relationship was also a mentor-mentee relationship that helped groom the lad in various ways.

    Kavin witnessed the launch of applications like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube while in college. These platforms and the digital world in general—inspired Kavin to launch his first venture, Appspark. He saw an iPhone during his internship at Google in New York and was in awe of the device’s potential to change lives of people. Apple’s App Store was still in infancy, and Kavin thought of launching one idea every month, thereby creation and launch of eight apps on the App Store in eight months. This dream remained elusive as Kavin witnessed the hurdles transforming an idea from a figment of imagination to reality. After eight months of struggle, Kavin created his first app, Movies Now. It was the first-ever movie reservation app on the App Store. It allowed users to stream trailers both in HD and SD prints. Since the number of competing apps was negligible, Movies Now never received real competition.

    The introduction of the iPad saw Movies Now improvise and get enhanced. It functioned much better than the earlier versions. While Movies Now was popular, it wasn’t an actual money spinner. Kavin had to think of another way to prove himself as a successful entrepreneur.


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    Kavin Mittal’s Hike Messenger

    Hike Logo
    Hike Logo

    After returning to India, Kavin was living a normal life in New Delhi, the nation’s capital. He saw majority of the people in Delhi own the iconic Nokia 1100, the phone which set the ball rolling for the technology revolution in India. However, the phone had its limitations since it could only send SMS and be used for normal calls. Internet access was impossible. This limitation spurred Kavin’s willingness to bring Indians and internet closer, and inspired him to create a messaging platform—Hike. His team received funds worth $7 million from Bharti SoftBank, a collaboration between Bharti Enterprises and SoftBank, a Japanese telecom company.

    After a series of developments, Hike was officially launched in the year 2012. Within two years, Hike Messenger became the most downloaded application on the App Store (in India) and the Play Store(in India).

    Kavin’s smartness and strategy had a major hand to play in this achievement. After launching the app, he introduced the concept of “stickers”. This concept was recently implemented by WhatsApp—another messaging platform. The stickers in Hike were catchy and innovative, and attracted the youth. Thus, these stickers were imperative for surge in Hike’s popularity. While the platform was gaining prominence throughout India, Hike tied-up with Airtel and launched a policy in which if a user had an Airtel postpaid connection, the service provider gave free mobile data for 3 months to use Hike.

    To keep up with the trend, Hike also launched unique two-way chat themes that were liked by many Hike users and attracted several new customers. This proved to be a master strategy since the company got a solid 15 million users strong base by the end of its first year. Hike gave stiff competition to other messaging apps like WhatsApp.


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    Success Mantras

    • According to Kavin, an entrepreneur must have a clear idea about their field of work. They need to decide between offline and online space. Finalizing the idea of the startup is one of the most important aspects for creating a business, Kavin mentions.
    • Failures and mistakes accompany growth. Learning from mistakes is the most important quality an entrepreneur should possess. As errors are an inevitable part of business, one should be ready to withstand them and grow as a leader.
    • Another important mantra is to strive to achieve one’s goals. Despite failures, an entrepreneur should work on improvement and not stop until the target is achieved.
    • The fourth mantra of success according to Kavin is passion. No one can become successful without having a passion about something. That’s the key to making it big.
    • The fifth of his mantras is patience. Patience has taken successful entrepreneurs to unfathomable levels of prosperity. Success is never achieved overnight; one has to wait for the right moment and work tirelessly to achieve fame.

    FAQs

    Who is Kavin Mittal?

    Kavin Bharti Mittal is an Indian internet entrepreneur. He is known for having founded and led Hike Messenger, a now-defunct platform that was once the world’s sixth-largest mobile messaging application.

    Is Kavin Bharti Mittal Indian?

    Yes, Kavin Mittal is Indian.

    What is the net worth of Kavin Mittal?

    The net worth of Kavin Mittal is $150 Million.

    How old is Kavin Bharti?

    Kavin Bharti is 33 years old.


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  • What are Regulatory Credits and How Tesla made it a Business?

    TESLA’s dependence on Regulatory Credits that shot up their revenues in the last four quarters has been yet again under scrutiny and this time the critic is the American investor and hedge fund manager Michael Burry, who’s betting against Tesla and its strategy of monetizing from the regulatory credits. The investor is long puts against 800,100 shares of Tesla, as revealed in the filing with SEC.

    Burry in a tweet (now deleted) said that TESLA’s reliance on regulatory credits to earn more profits concerns him and also bet against the EV maker betting that Tesla shares will go definitely go south.

    In a regulatory filing with the U.S Security and Exchange Commission, Burry revealed a short position against Tesla worth $534 million. “The Big Short” also mentioned that Tesla might be impeding the company’s long-term prospects by relying on profits generated from regulatory credits.

    In this article, we will be exploring what are regulatory credits and how Tesla has made it the company’s alternate medium to generate revenues.

    What are Regulatory Credits?
    How Tesla generates revenue from Regulatory Credits?
    Business Model of Tesla
    How does Tesla Benefit from Regulatory Credits?
    Regulatory Credits in other countries
    FAQ

    What are Regulatory Credits?

    In a pledge to reduce carbon emissions, governments around the world have introduced incentives for electric vehicle manufacturers to develop environmentally friendly, low carbon-emitting cars. Every car manufacturer has to develop a certain number or percentage of eco-friendly cars in order to avail these credits.

    Regulatory Credits are like subsidies provided by the State of California and 13 other US states in the country for regulating factors that are responsible for environmental pollution which include: zero-gas emission, greenhouse gas, clean fuel, and carbon emission.


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    How Tesla generates revenue from Regulatory Credits?

    The governments issue regulatory credits to vehicle manufacturers. Auto manufacturers require to produce a certain number of Zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) to obtain these credits. If they fail to comply at the end of the year, companies are levied with hefty fines.

    Since Tesla has an all EV line-up, it stacks up surplus credits. These credits are tradable and therefore other automakers buy these credits from Tesla to avoid an excessive fine. For example, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has reportedly committed to buying $1.2 billion worth of regulatory credits from Tesla to comply with the new European environmental regulations going into effect from 2021.

    In the last quarters, Tesla’s revenue grew by 46% YOY from $7.38 billion to $10.74 billion. This revenue isn’t just from auto making and leasing cars. A significant portion comes from the sale of regulatory credits.

    Business Model of Tesla

    Tesla has three business segments that generate revenue: Automotives, Energy, Services, and others. Automotive revenue include sales and leasing. Further, under automotive sales, we have new vehicle deliveries, autopilot, supercharger networks, and self-driving cars.

    Another segment under Automotives that fuels the revenues is the sales of regulatory credits. When complied, this figure aggregates Tesla’s total sales revenue.

    Tesla’s regulatory credits sales have been increasing YOY at a CAGR of 57% between 2012 and 2021. A record high for the company, Tesla’s regulatory credit sale revenue rocketed at nearly $1.6 billion last year.

    Tesla Revenue from Regulatory Credits
    Tesla Revenue from Regulatory Credits

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    How does Tesla Benefit from Regulatory Credits?

    Regulatory credits can be availed with zero to a negligible cost and can be sold with a 100% profit margin. Over the decade, Tesla has been stacking up on huge amounts of credits as it has surplus credits over the required compliance. It made $428 million last year’s second quarter from selling regulatory credits alone.

    Regulatory Credits in other countries

    Other than the US states, Tesla has its business in China and Europe who have emission rules along the same lines. China has been steadily progressing in the emission-free cars campaign since 2019 and Tesla is bound to receive the green credits.

    In Europe, the lawmakers stated that the average emission of carbon dioxide from cars must not exceed the limit of 95 grams per kilometer. Europe is aggressively pushing the development of cars that emit less than 50 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

    FAQ

    How does Tesla get regulatory credits?

    Regulatory credits are provided by the State of California and 13 other US states to Tesla.

    What are regulatory credits?

    Regulatory Credits are given by the state and federal government for contributing zero pollution to the environment.

    How much does Tesla make selling carbon credits?

    Tesla sells regulatory credits to other carmakers, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has reportedly committed to buying $1.2 billion worth of regulatory credits from Tesla.

    Conclusion

    In 2020, Tesla reported a regulatory credit revenue of $1.6 billion breaking all prior records. When we look at all the quarterly reports, Tesla seemingly isn’t generating profits from its automotive sales and is rather relying on the sales of regulatory credits which has in fact helped Tesla stay afloat.

    In the fourth quarter of 2020, Tesla’s CFO was asked about the sustainability of revenues coming from regulatory credits for 2021. In an interview with CNBC, he stated “What I’ve said before is that in the long-term regulatory credit sales will not be a material part of the business and we don’t plan the business around that,” he said at that time. “It’s possible that for a handful of additional quarters it remains strong. It’s also possible that it’s not.”

    Tesla’s net profits went south amounting to $600 million without the regulatory credit revenue in its first quarter in 2021.

    Burry and other financial experts are predicting that selling regulatory credits won’t be a winning move for Tesla in the long run as most of the automakers will get into EV line-ups either with the fear of compliance or for the sake of the environment.

  • How to Become Corona Millionaire?

    The article is contributed by S Shriram, Former VP Marketing and Sales, Levista Coffee.

    I stayed home for 150 days straight from March 23, 2020, onwards, when the first one-day lockdown began followed by multiple lockdowns. It was the first time perhaps I stayed at home, ever since I joined LKG four decades back. During the five months, I was on WFH mode, a first for me in my retail career spanning 23 years before when I first scooped Ice-Cream at India’s second and Chennai’s first Baskin Robbins outlet in 1997.

    All these years, I had a strong belief that Sales and Marketing professionals can simply not work from home, especially for this long. I was made to revise my thought process all these months even as we sold one more cup of coffee (or more) every hour, every day from April 2020 onwards until now. While thousands of people worldwide have been displaced or retrenched from their jobs, many have chosen alternate professions and have fared well, perhaps better than their previous jobs or businesses.

    Our friendly neighbourhood grocer is one such example. Many others too, but what’s striking is the resilience with which these entrepreneurs have risen to the occasion and have not only served customers but also made money, well.

    During Unlock 1.0, the Union Government laid down restrictions on shop opening times and the Kirana Shopkeepers took the opportunity on their head, something that established Modern Trade Retailers, as well as the cash-rich Online Retailers, couldn’t live up to. The Kirana opened her / his shop by 6 am every day rain or shine, served customers with glee until 11 am (and later up to 2 pm, followed by 6 pm and eventually till 8 pm) and in the meanwhile, managed their staff and family, store inventory, daily cash flows, spread positive word of mouth in the local community and experimented with the digital media – from sending WhatsApp Posters to taking orders through the same medium as well as instant home-delivery, especially for the comfort of the Elderly, sick patients and the physically challenged.

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    Coffee and Tea Vendors, on the other hand, saw this as a great opportunity. Those who ran petty shops ventured early in the day and served those who were working on the roads and streets while the more smart ones offered to sell add-ons to their customers as well as cater to those who were in the line of duty such as Conservancy workers, the Police Force and others.

    All this time, while a section of people was complaining of job losses, another set of people started their Entrepreneurial journeys and the most fancied product category this time was health and hygiene. From liquid soaps to sanitisers, floor cleaners to disinfectants, there was a sudden rush in this category, especially and there was no stopping for their efforts as this market is about to explode sooner than later.

    While FMCG giants like ITC, HUL among others launched revolutionary products in this segment, what took me by surprise was that the secondary, unorganized and unbranded market grew and expanded beyond seams.

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    Those who have never tried the concept of washing hands before a meal were washing hands (and all exposed parts to sun and air) multiple times every day. Similarly, the “Mask Movement” has gained unparalleled popularity and opportunity. I have seen so many roadside vendors who were earlier selling various products now focusing on this segment.

    Coming to Coffee, we at Levista have appointed dozens of new Distributors during H1 FY 20-21 and all this is because we have seen a huge surge of coffee consumption at home. With a high prevalence of WFH or rather SAH – “Stay At Home”, it is but natural to witness consumers drink more hot beverages. And in the process, we have seen many of our partners double or treble business during this period. I reckon that we have just begun. The making of “Corona Millionaires” has only started now and we shall see results over the years.

  • How did Barbeque nation witnessed profit even during the Pandemic

    The Casual dining chain Barbeque Nation had posted a profit in the quarterly earnings. The restaurant chain is well known for its buffet business model which focuses completely on dine-in. Let’s look at how Barbeque Nation managed to increase its profit amidst the pandemic and lockdown in the major cities across India.

    Barbeque Nation – Latest News
    Reason Why Barbeque nation witnessed profit even during the pandemic
    How did Barbeque nation survived during the pandemic
    FAQ

    Barbeque Nation – Latest News

    On 24 May 2021, Barbeque Nation had projected a profit of INR 6.1 crore for the March quarter when compared to a loss of INR 27 crore in the previous year. There was a 19 % increase in the revenue from operations of the company which amounted to INR 190 crore.

    The operating profit or the EBITDA of the company had seen a year on year increase of 128 % with margins of 24.8 % which stood at INR 56 crore. The important point to be noted is that the chain’s delivery revenue had seen an increase of 471 % which amounted to INR 28.5 crore.


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    Reason Why Barbeque nation witnessed profit even during the pandemic

    The Barbeque-Nation Hospitality has developed an integrated digital ecosystem which had proved to be beneficial during the pandemic. The company has been able to widen its reach and capture new customers as they have invested in their delivery with their dine-in business model.

    The company had focused on continuously investing into the digital platforms of their business which provided the firm with an additional revenue source. The company’s own digital asset contributions had provided a revenue of 24.7 % and the delivery business has grown 6 times compared to the previous year.

    Yearly Net sales of  BARBEQUE-NATION HOSPITALITY LTD
    Yearly Net sales of BARBEQUE-NATION HOSPITALITY LTD

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    How did Barbeque nation survived during the pandemic

    The managing director of Barbeque Nation Hospitality Kayum Dhanani had conveyed that this year has been challenging for the restaurant chain due to the lockdown in many cities but they have adapted to the lockdown and restrictions by introducing a new product called Barbeque in a box.

    He said that the product was introduced keeping in mind the pandemic and the lockdown. He added that this could become a successful product as they have a strong digital presence in their own app as well as third party websites and operators.

    The CEO of the company had commented that amidst the lockdown and the pandemic restrictions Barbeque Nation has emerged to come out of the difficulties faced. He added that as the restrictions have been reduced and the stores being opened there have been customers coming into the outlets as well as the delivery of products going on hand in hand.

    He added that the restaurant chain would focus on building the delivery business and it is expected to grow double by the end of 2022.

    FAQ

    Who is the CEO of Barbeque Nation?

    Rahul Agrawal is the CEO of Barbeque Nation.

    Who is the owner of Barbeque Nation?

    Kayum Dhanani is the owner of Barbeque Nation.

    Is Barbeque Nation an Indian company?

    Yes, Barbeque Nation is an Indian company.

    Conclusion

    Barbeque Nation is planning to continue its position as a casual dining and delivery business with cost optimization, growth in delivery segment, strong cash flow segment and market penetration strategy. The top priority of the company is to provide maintain employee wellbeing and the safest environment for the guests.

  • Why the parent company of Zara is shutting down its stores in Venezuela?

    Inditex is a Spanish based multinational clothing company. It has its headquarters located in Spain and was formed in the year 1985. They own the famous clothing brands such as Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Zara Home, Massimo Dutti and many more. The company has announced that it is shutting down all its stores in Venezuela. Let’s look at the reason behind it.

    Zara – Latest News
    Email Statement by Inditex
    About Phoenix World Trade
    Reason Why Zara is shutting down its Store in Venezuela
    FAQ

    Zara – Latest News

    The parent company of Zara, Pull&Bear and Bershka, Inditex has conveyed that in the next few weeks it would close all its shops in Venezuela. The companies Zara, Pull&Bear and Bershka have been operating as franchises in Venezuela since the year 2007 even though it is owned by Inditex SA.

    The three retail brands have already shut down a number of their outlets in the malls with some of the outlets displaying new logos and names carrying the board coming soon.

    Email Statement by Inditex

    The Operations Director Andres Brant has conveyed through an email statement that the other 5 outlets which are open under the previous model will cease their operation in the next few weeks. He added that the franchises of Inditex which is operated by Phoenix World Trade in the Dominican Republic and Aruba will stay open.


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    About Phoenix World Trade

    Phoenix World Trade is a Panamanian based company that is run by Camilo Ibrahim. The Phoenix World Trade manages the franchise. The company has conveyed that they are re-evaluating the commercial presence of their brands Zara, Bershka and Pull&Bear according to the new model announced by Inditex SA.

    The new model is expected to make the outlets more logical towards digital transformation and integration model.

    Number of Inditex Group stores Worldwide
    Number of Inditex Group stores Worldwide

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    Reason Why Zara is shutting down its Store in Venezuela

    The reason for the move is mainly because the Venezuelan government had increased its efforts to bring in more foreign direct investments into the country by withdrawing the socialist policies which were present in the country for a very long time.

    The administration under Nicolas Maduro had allowed the country to transact through dollarization from the year 2019 due to the compel by the U.S sanctions. This let the private companies in the country more freedom to operate.

    The Inditex brands were very popular among the Venezuelans as they used to always line up outside the outlets in order to purchase the products whenever the government had forced to reduce the prices or allowed the company to import merchandises at a subsidized price.

    FAQ

    How many stores does Zara have in 2020?

    Zara has around 2000 stores in 2020.

    Which country has the most number of Zara stores?

    Spain has the most number of Zara stores.

    How many stores does Zara have in India?

    Zara has around 22 stores in India.

    Conclusion

    In the year 1998, Inditex had entered the Venezuelan market, in the beginning managing the retail stores and then moving into the franchise model. The lack of merchandise often led the company to temporarily close the franchise outlets due to years of price controls and exchange rates.

  • List of Indian Companies that are providing Covid vaccine to its Employees

    The Covid cases in India has seen a surge due to the second wave in the country. Amidst the rise in cases and the shortage of vaccines certain Indian companies have announced that they would provide vaccination for their employees.

    A handful of companies have also announced that they would provide the vaccination to the families of their employees as well as the third parties involved with the company’s day to day activities. Let’s look at the different companies who have announced that they would provide vaccines to the employees.

    Wipro
    Sony India
    Indian Bank Association
    Hindustan Uniliver
    ITC
    TCS and Infosys
    Reliance Industries
    All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA)
    Indigo
    Capgemini
    upGrad
    Betterplace
    Atos
    ICICI Bank
    HDFC Bank
    Piramal Enterprises Limited
    FAQ

    Wipro

    Wipro had announced that it would start its Covid vaccination drive for its employees in their Electronic city campus in Bangalore. A spokesperson of Wipro had conveyed that the company is taking all the measures in order to start vaccination camps in all their other branches in the country.

    Sony India

    Sony India had provided a policy for its employees which is a Mediclaim policy in order to cover the expenses for the Covid treatment of their employees at home. The company has announced that it is in the process of setting up vaccination camps for their employees.

    Indian Bank Association

    The Indian Bank Association had made an announcement conveying that the vaccination of the Bank employees should be given the top most priority. They added that around 10 lakh bank employees should be vaccinated immediately and the expenses should be reimbursed. But the association had left the decision towards the individual banks in regards to the vaccination.

    Hindustan Uniliver

    A HUL spokesperson had conveyed that the company is looking forward to vaccinate all its employees as government has given permission to provide vaccination for the individuals above the age of 18. However, the shortage in the availability of vaccines have been a setback.


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    ITC

    Amitav Mukherji who is the HR head of ITC have conveyed that the managers have been designated by the company to conduct the vaccination drives across various locations in the country by tying up with healthcare facilities. ITC has also announced that they would provide the vaccination drive towards their service providers as well as their supply chain partners.

    TCS and Infosys

    TCS have announced that they are working on various types of models in order to conduct vaccination drives with direct partnership with their suppliers. In the same way the HR head of Infosys has conveyed that they are in discussions with the healthcare providers and vaccine suppliers.

    Reliance Industries

    Nita Ambani who is a non-executive director of Reliance Industries had conveyed in a letter to their employees that the company will provide vaccination for them as well as their family members. It is estimated that the company has a count of 2,00,000 people.

    All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA)

    Ajay Bansal who is the President of the association has conveyed that the vaccination of all the petrol pump attendants and staffs should be given the top most priority and that they should be considered as essential workers.

    He has conveyed that the Government should ask the oil marketing companies or find some other mechanism to vaccinate them as they were considered as an essential worker during the lockdown and were not considered eligible to receive the vaccination jabs.


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    Share of People who received at least one does of vaccine
    Share of People who received at least one does of vaccine

    Indigo

    Indigo has also announced that they would vaccinate their employees and their family members. The company has announced that they are working towards providing vaccinations in a phased manner so that their operations doesn’t get affected.

    Capgemini

    Capgemini had also announced that they would provide vaccinations to all their employees and also their dependents. The company has also tied up with wellness consultants in order to resolve the doubts and queries related to vaccination.

    upGrad

    upGrad had also announced that they would provide vaccination for its employees as well as their family members. The ed-tech company has announced that they would provide vaccines to full-time employees, interns, contract-based employees as well as their ex-employees.

    Betterplace

    Betterplace which is a tech-based company has announced that they would cover the full cost of the vaccination cost of their employees and their dependants. The company is also providing a day off for their employees on the day of their vaccination.


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    Atos

    Atos which is an IT and a consulting firm has announced that it would cover the cost of the vaccination for its employees as well as their dependents under the medical insurance programme of the company. The company also conveyed that they would work together with local healthcare providers of the companies to implement the vaccination programme.

    ICICI Bank

    ICICI Bank has also announced that they would provide vaccination for their employees and their immediate family members. The bank has conveyed that it was a gesture of appreciation from the company towards its employees for dedicating their service during the tough times.

    HDFC Bank

    HDFC Bank has also announced that they would provide vaccinations for over 1 lakh employees and their family members. The bank has announced that they would reimburse the expenses for the mandated two doses of the vaccines.

    Piramal Enterprises Limited

    The company has announced that they would provide vaccines for their employees and their immediate family members and the choice of getting vaccinated is optional for their employees. They have set up a help desk across their offices for answering the queries of the employees.

    FAQ

    When did Covid vaccinations start in India?

    16 march, 2021

    How many Covid vaccines are produced daily in India?

    This means, on a daily basis, 28.33 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are produced in the country.

    Are Indian companies providing covid vaccine to its employees?

    Yes, Many major companies in India are providing Covid vaccination for free to its employees.

    Conclusion

    However, these are the major companies that have announced to provide vaccinations to their employees. Almost all the companies have decided to provide free vaccination to all their employees, in which around 70% of the companies are offering it to the dependents of their employees as well.