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  • Big Biking Commune – An Umbrella for Motorcycling Community

    India is the largest market for two wheelers in the world and it is only natural that the roads are overwhelmed with a majority of the population using it for commuting within the city for work and mobility. But in this melee we find another large group of riders who are driven by their passion for motorcycling and use their bikes to journey long distances not just within their State but across the country and also are brave enough to cross borders on their motorcycles.

    You will find them as part of large motorcycling clubs or even solo riders or a group of friends going on long rides on their motorcycles and increasingly many large motorcycle brands have also moved into this space to organize formal and large rides for their customer base.

    Big Biking Commune has created one of the largest, strongest and the most trusted network of motorcycle riders from across regions in India bringing them together as part of one large community. Read this article to know more about Big Biking Commune, a Bangalore based startup founded by Arun Kumar.

    Big Biking Commune – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Big Biking Commune Pvt Ltd
    Headquarter Bangalore, India
    Sector Motorcycling / Touring / Cruising category
    Founder Arun Kumar
    Founded 2018
    Parent Organization Big Biking Commune Pvt Ltd

    About Big Biking Commune and How it Works
    Big Biking Commune – Startup Launch
    Big Biking Commune – Target Market Size
    How was Big Biking Commune Started?
    Big Biking Commune – USP and Innovation
    Founders of Big Biking Commune and team
    Big Biking Commune – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Big Biking Commune – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Big Biking Commune – Growth
    Big Biking Commune – User Acquisition
    Big Biking Commune – Startup Challenges
    Big Biking Commune – Future Plans
    Big Biking Commune – Funding and Investors
    Big Biking Commune – Competitors

    About Big Biking Commune and How it Works

    Big Biking Commune is one of the largest aggregator platform for the motorcycling community in India and worldwide, catering to the Touring, Cruising, Off-roading and Adventure Motorsports. The Big Biking Commune is the ‘Go To Destination’ that brings together passionate bikers, motorcycle brands, riding clubs, Accessories, Custom and Vintage bikes, bike rentals, bike tour operators and all related products and services under a single roof.

    As a Commune the company is all about creating and curating new experiences for the motorcycling community, putting together events and entertainment to celebrate being a biker, networking and learning from experienced motorcyclists, checking out new motorcycles, discovering new biking trips and routes, meeting with new biking buddies and riding out together celebrating the essence of being a biker.

    Big Biking Commune – Startup Launch

    Big Biking Commune started out by hosting the first of its kind annual celebratory event for the motorcycling community in Mahabalipuram, India at a beach side private property in February 2019. The inaugural event attracted over 3500 bikers from over 150 biking clubs and had 25 of the top motorcycling influencers share their experience mixed with some excellent stunt shows and off-roading experience.

    The inaugural event witnessed big names like Maral Yazarloo (Queen of Motorcycling), K. P. Arvind, Rajini Krishnan, Bullet Bose and many more well known names in the motorcycling community talking part in this festival.

    The response to our inaugural event was overwhelming with motorcycle enthusiast cutting across clubs, brands and individuals, all finding a common bonding under our platform. This has encouraged us to think big and look beyond the horizon and go unconventional, says Arun Kumar, Founder of Big Biking Commune.

    Since then, the Big Biking Commune has curated a unique branded proposition. Today, it has become one of the largest aggregator platforms earning the trust and goodwill of the biking community. They have created one of the largest networks of bikers bringing together clubs, bike brands, individual riders, biking influencers as a binding force in the category.

    Our founding vision now is to create the biggest experiential motorcycling commune benchmarked amongst the best as a globally leading brand; today we have aspirations to take the brand offering beyond India and into the global markets – Arun Kumar.


    Relevant read: Goibibo – India’s number 1 online travel booking portal.


    Big Biking Commune – Target Market Size

    Big Biking Commune is operating in a informal and fractured market category (Clubs, solo riders, Brand clubs), there are no structured reported numbers, but working on guess estimates, they are working on putting some researched numbers and structuring the category in an organised manner. Having said that, they are working with the information available on motorcycle sales figures in their category.

    “For example we know that there are around 3.5 million Royal Enfield motorcycles on the road and they continue to sell over 7 lakhs motorcycles annually. Similarly we know that Bajaj has sold over 2.5 million motorcycles in our category (Pulsar, Dominar, Avenger) and continues to add over 1.5 million more annually to the market size, likewise TVS Motors sells over 5 lakhs Apaches every year. And if we add in the international brands in our category like Harley, Indian, Triumph, KTM, Kawasaki, Ducati, Benelli, Suzuki, Yamaha (in the 200 cc and above category), we know that we are sitting on a sizeable growing market” says the Founder.

    But on the other side they have built a database of motorcycle clubs. At present they have over 2,500 clubs on their database and given the average of around 25 members per club, that gives them a reach of around 62,500 bikers who are in their category.

    How was Big Biking Commune Started?

    The promoter and founding partner of the Big Biking Commune, Arun Kumar comes with over 20 plus years in the event and activation industry. Having worked for brands like Hero Motors, Honda Motors, TVS Motors handling their commuter side of the business, he wanted to create, own and run his own brand IP and leave behind a legacy that people will remember him by.

    The inspiration to do something in this category came from observing that every weekend all the highways out of Bangalore had bikers zipping in and out for rides in large numbers. That is when he woke up to this opportunity and started looking at this rage more keenly.

    Some more research showed that events like India Bike Week and Riders Mania had over 5000 bikers assemble for a 3 day celebration and festivities. And brands were trying to streamline a club format activity for their customers like the HOG, Dominar, Apache, KTM etc. Their first inaugural festival (under the Big Biking Commune) was held at Mahabalipuram in a 40 acre resort. They got over 3500 bikers attending the fest and revelling in the biking brotherhood.

    Big Biking Commune – USP and Innovation

    Big Biking Commune is coming up with a technology based app that will become a single point of convergence for the biking community. It will bind all stakeholders and ecosystem partners on one side and bring in all the bikers onto the platform, building on a strong and robust networking model for the commune.

    The uniqueness of the app is that it will be a neutral face for everyone (irrespective of the bike or brand or rider) to find common ground to engage with each other across different products, services and solutions. They understands the existing pain points in the community and also the offerings from mobile apps which fall short on important biding points which they will be addressing.

    Apart from the app, they have created and curated unique brand properties like the ‘MotoYoga Day‘ which combines Motorcycle Day and Yoga day together (June 21st) and highlights the importance of a strong body while going out on long rides. India Tourism took interest in this proposition and supported the Yoga camp for motorcyclists in Chennai and Bangalore.

    Similarly, the WOW rides (World on Wheels) got Tourism Malaysia interested in typing up with them to promote tourism destination on motorcycles in their country.

    Emboldened by the positive response from the tourism sector, their Motorcycle Tourism Summit will be the first such initiative in the world that will open up a new category in the tourism sector and make people take notice of the opportunity motorcycling can offer to the growth of the tourism market.  


    Also read: Deep Kalra: Travel Booking Made Easy Through MakeMyTrip


    Founders of Big Biking Commune and team

    The Big Biking Commune has been initially funded in-house under parent company Axiom Gen Nxt Pvt Ltd who have infused the initial funds to get off the ground. The firm is owned by Arun Kumar who himself is the leading role model and ideator of the Big Biking Commune and inspiration for the core team.

    They trademarked the brand name and formed a private limited company under the same name Big Biking Commune Pvt Ltd looking at the opportunity and recognizing the need to create a separate legal entity to build and grow this market.

    Arun Kumar is Founder and Convenor Big Biking Commune
    Arun Kumar, Founder and Convenor Big Biking Commune

    Arun Kumar, the Founder Director is a self made businessman having started Below the Line activations and events way back in the late 1990’s. He has worked long and hard to build one of the largest activation companies in India with branches in 5 cities and a staff strength of around 30 people. Today Big Biking Commune has become his most passionate work and he devotes maximum time to shape and structure the brand and realize its potential.

    (L to R) The team - R  Ramasubramaniyan (Co-Founder and Brand Architect), Arun Kumar (Founder and Convenor), Krishnan Iyer (Co-Founder), Madhu Narayan (CEO), Samuel Thomas (Co-Founder)
    (L to R) The team – R Ramasubramaniyan (Co-Founder and Brand Architect), Arun Kumar (Founder and Convenor), Krishnan Iyer (Co-Founder), Madhu Narayan (CEO), Samuel Thomas (Co-Founder)

    He is joined by the other Co-founder R. Ramasubramaniyan who comes with over 30 years of experience in the Marcom domain. As the Brand & Tech Architect, he is tasked with shaping the brand direction and creating values in several sub-brands and is also driving the technology architecture to give Big Biking Commune the edge it needs to bring in some path breaking initiatives in the motorcycling community.

    The name Big Biking Commune came up after they were toying around the idea of what name to keep for their event and after running through many names the thoughts kept coming back to the original name Big Biking Commune.

    Firstly, we wanted a name that would work across geographies. So we avoided anything regional or local. Also, we were clear that while addressing the biking community, we wanted the bigness of the idea of bringing them all under a single umbrella, hence BIG and also we wanted to avoid a limited club format, hence the broader name Commune fitted in well and thirdly anybody who does biking becomes part of the commune making it Big. So all these thought process took us to the same destination – Founder, Big Biking Commune.

    As for the logo look and feel, they looked at a few international events like the Sturgis, Daytona, Phuket bike week etc and knew that they wanted a rugged, sturdy and macho kind of brand design.

    Big Biking Commune Logo
    Big Biking Commune Logo

    The retro handle bar and headlight design with the BIG taking more space, the side wings meaning riders can aspire to more and the Commune as an integral part of the logo unit. Keeping it to simple black and white with a dash of red at the bottom gave the logo its final look and feel they wanted. Today it has grabbed attention very fast amongst the biker community and is one of the fastest brand setting new benchmarks for biker experience in such a short time.

    Big Biking Commune – Business Model and Revenue Model

    The business model or revenue model is simple –

    1. Events and experiences – Their flagship event and other interim events will attract sponsor money.
    2. Technology & App – This is a long term game plan, where initially they will onboard bikers into the app and integrate rides and activities through the app. They are also creating multiple revenue models around the app like ticket sales, merchandise sale, sponsored rides, in-app adverts etc which will grow as the base grows.
    3. Network platform As one of the largest aggregator, once we have all sides of the game on the table, the upside revenue stream from multiple platform and network effect will fully open up the revenue potential with e-commerce, market place models, referral streams and many such innovative initiatives on the plate.

    Big Biking Commune – Growth

    They launched their flagship biker festival and the inaugural event saw over 3500 bikers take part in it. And today Big Biking Commune have access to over 2,500 biking clubs. Not being complacent, they also reached out to over 100 biking community influencers.

    They also got the support from sponsors like the Tamil Nadu Tourism, Apollo tyres, TVS Motors and many other biking brands and accessories who placed their faith and trust in the concept and took part in a first of its kind event in Mahabalipuram.

    “The journey has been brutal and tough and we weathered many a storm to come so far, the journey ahead also is not easy but we have now gathered a large base that looks at us to glue them together into a single commune and we are receiving more support each passing day from the biking fraternity. We have had more success from directly reaching out to bikers over a call and speaking to them, of late social media is getting a larger response from bikers who want to be part of our platform”, says Arun Kumar, the founder of Big Biking Commune.


    Also read: ScoutMyTrip: Helping You Plan Those Memorable Road Trips!


    Big Biking Commune – User Acquisition

    Nothing fanciful than directly speaking to the bikers has worked well for the company, till date they have not spend a single rupee to advertise on social media, all page fans are bikers (they have about 3000 page likes and growing), they believe in organic and genuine likes and they are going to stick to that method.

    What has also worked for Big Biking Commune is the innovation they are bringing to this community in curating experiences. They are the only ones to first introduce Yoga to Motorcyclists and created a MotoYoga day for them. They also branded thematic rides called the WOW Rides (World on wheels) which saw some internationally acclaimed bikers on the ride.

    They curated weekend ride called the Filter Kaapi ride for South Indian bikers. Like this the company is working on innovating in the category which is making them popular and bikers are reaching out to take part in these activities.

    Big Biking Commune – Startup Challenges

    The company did not see any major challenges so far, everything they did was organic and every biker they reached out to has never said no and in fact they also managed to pull in the 1960’s Sholavaram bikers (all septuagenarians) who shared their crazy days with the youngsters at the event. Big Biking Commune experimented with serious discussion, fun beach side activity, off-roading, stunt shows and exhilarating evening musicals which gave the ambience a festive tone.

    Big Biking Commune – Future Plans

    All these items are WIP (Work-In Progress), the team is still working with back of the envelope calculations and taking inputs from some mentors and advisors on the business side of the commune. However their plan stays firm with the focus on the annual Flagship event and they have bigger plans to take them global in the next couple of years. The app will be a tipping point which is what they are working on today.

    “Our vision for the next five years leans heavily on taking our brand global, starting out with South East Asia by early next year (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia and Indonesia are big markets for our category).”

    They have already made some initial outreach into these markets in the last 6 months in building a strong network with biking clubs and are in touch with over 250 clubs and top bikers in these countries.

    We will then push on to Europe and USA (two of the biggest markets with large motorcycle communities). And in terms of growing the commune, we are looking at tapping corporate and college communities as they offer good potential for this format. More than anything else, we are keen to pursue the Tourism industry which is slowly waking up to the potential of leverage this new category to drive growth and promote tourism through motorcycling”, quotes Arun Kumar.


    Must read: Taxidio Taking Care of Your Travel Planning Woes


    Big Biking Commune – Funding and Investors

    The initial funding (seed and angel) has been in-house with the parent company holding the ship together. They are now working on the range and need for funds and calibrating their business plans to pitch to raise funds.

    On a ballpark estimate they are looking to raise money in the 10 to 30 million USD range initially. But this also might get revised, all their plans are currently fluid and are being assessed in multiple formats across multiple business streams.

    Big Biking Commune – Competitors

    In terms of competition, Big Biking Commune do not have any. There are annual biker festivals like the India Bike Week and Rider Mania. Biking clubs do their own small get together and ride outs; no one has consolidated this space into a common commune platform, which is what they have done.

  • STEPapp – Startup Which Gamifies School Education

    Education is one of the important things for people living in this world. As one important area, we can utilize education in many fields of operation and in our day to day life. Edtech startups in India are changing the scene of education in India. They are making it interesting to learn new things. It ultimately help the nation because we know that children are the future of our country.

    India suffers from skewed pupil-to-teacher ratio, which is rising and it compromises a complete learning experience for students in schools. And hence, these technology-driven learning apps are using gaming elements to help boost the learning process for students and sharpen their basics in various subjects. One such company is EduIsFun providing the product STEPapp. Read this article to know more about STEPapp.

    STEPapp – Company Highlights

    Startup Name EduIsFun
    Headquarter Mumbai
    Sector Education Technology (EdTech)
    Founder Praveen Tyagi
    Founded 2015
    Parent Organization Eduisfun Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
    Website stepapp.ai
    Contact support@stepapp.ai

    Stepapp – Vision and Mission
    Stepapp – Target Market
    How was Stepapp Started?
    Stepapp – Product/Services
    Founders of Stepapp and team
    Stepapp – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Stepapp – Business Model and Revenue Model
    Stepapp – Startup Launch
    Stepapp – User Acquisition and Growth
    Stepapp – Startup Challenges
    Stepapp – Future Plans
    Stepapp – Funding and Investors
    Stepapp – Advisors and Mentors
    Stepapp – Recognitions and Achievements

    You can also have a look at the top Edtech startups in India for some inspiration.

    Stepapp – Vision and Mission

    STEPapp believe in primarily providing a level playing field in education. The idea is to bolster four key parameters that make education effective and complete. These key parameters are AQEA: Accessibility, Quality, Enjoyability, and Affordability.

    They aim to provide universal access to quality education for every child using technology and gamification. The company’s mission is to create a bank of meritorious children who will be transformed into national assets.

    Stepapp – Target Market

    Stepapp is from the Ed-tech industry. Their target group is school going students and the total market size (as per MHRD statistics) is 255 million students currently. And there will be significant growth in this industry due to two reasons.

    Firstly, India has the youngest population in the world and it will continue to be so at least until 2030 (as per UNESCO). By 2022 the number of school going students will be 300 million. Secondly, the current crisis has strongly underlined the urgent need for education to go digital and technology-enabled.

    How was Stepapp Started?

    After 22+ years of teaching, grooming, guiding, and mentoring some of the finest minds of this country through PACE IIT & Medical, there was already an established niche for them. They know Building a technology solution in education is a new ball game altogether. They are trying to solve the two major issues that prevail in our country:

    1. Educational Inequalities in India
    2. Low Technology Adoption in India

    Both of these issues individually create a divide between the latent potential existing in our country, especially in the villages and towns, and the culmination and representation of that talent on a global scale.

    The startup’s main idea was to bridge this gap between rural and urban educational opportunities and provide a level playing field for students of all classes. Secondly, as the world is moving fast in terms of technology, they wanted to provide students with the latest educational technologies for them to stand stronger and smarter.


    Also read: How Byju’s is Making Millions of Students Fall in Love With Learning


    Stepapp – Product/Services

    STEPapp is a gamified, personalized, interactive and adaptive learning app that makes learning Math & Science fun and interesting for school students. STEPapp offers the students of grades 1st to 12th a great opportunity, to experience a virtual gamified learn from home solution that enables the students to learn and play at the same time. This gives the students a conceptual clarity while making the studies interesting too.

    STEPapp is an innovative way to learn concepts while ensuring that all the stakeholders (parents, principals, teachers, and students) are aware of the learning outcomes at all times.

    Following are some of the features of STEPapp:

    • Gamified Format: The gamified format of STEPapp helps the students learn the topics in an interesting way thus keeping them engaged.
    • The syllabus is broken down into small conceptual quanta: STEPapp makes learning seamless by replacing long lectures into small conceptual quanta.
    • Simplified testing methodology and measurable learning outcomes: STEPapp allows the students to measure their learning outcomes in a simplified manner. The outcomes are measured on the basis of speed, accuracy, and the number of attempts.
    • Self-paced learning: Students can control their learning pace by revising the concepts and relearning the topics.
    • Content created by 400+ IITians and Doctors: For better learning outcomes, the syllabus of STEPapp is designed and curated by the expertise of 400+ IITians and doctors, simplified in gamified format.
    • Rewards and recognition: Students get motivated to learn and study when they are rewarded and recognized.

    Founder of Stepapp and team

    Praveen Tyagi is the founder and CEO of STEPapp. Sandeep Singhal is Chief Business Officer and a Physics Mentor and Gaurav Goyal is the Chief Technology Officer at STEPapp.

    Praveen Tyagi is founder and CEO of Stepapp.
    Praveen Tyagi

    STEPapp is created with a team of 400+ IITians and Doctors with over 5 years of extensive research. The concepts and content are generated and created by the extensive research of these 400+ IITians and Doctors, who have combined their knowledge and intelligence for creating such content that is easily understood by the children without any hindrances.

    Apart from these, they have other teams that are constantly aiming to provide a level playing field for students and help the company in fulfilling its mission and vision.

    STEPapp or Student Talent Enhancement Program is a gamified app that enables the students to have a learning experience through a level playing field. The gamified approach helps the students to learn their concepts in an interesting way.

    STEPapp Logo
    STEPapp Logo

    When the student clears a chapter in the app, the virtual character in the app goes a step up to the next level. This up-gradation of a student from one chapter to another or stepping up to the next level ideated them to give the name STEPapp and also represented in the logo.


    Relevant read: List of EdTech Startups in India | Emerging Education Startups


    Stepapp – Business Model and Revenue Model

    The startup have two products in STEPapp:

    • STEPapp Concepts:
      The unique, gamified content is mapped to the school curriculum and it has been broken down into small nuggets of information so students can grasp the concepts easily. The content has been created by 400+ IITians and Doctors to give students conceptual clarity in math and science. The product is priced at ₹ 5000. This is currently available for 6th – 10th for CBSE and ICSE boards.
    • STEPapp Scholarships:
      Top 10,000 performers from each grade (6th – 12th) win prizes ranging from ₹ 5000 to ₹ 1 crore from a total pool of ₹ 50 crores. The Enrollment fee is priced at an affordable rate of ₹ 500, to ensure that nobody misses out on the opportunity. The rewards encourages the students to perform better. Winners are mentored and guided by the expert team for their future endeavours.
    • Grades 1st to 5th app:
      They are soon rolling out a new product for grades 1st to 5th in the next few days. The aim is to make learning fun and enjoyable for all school students.

    Stepapp – Startup Launch

    The company started its journey by implementing STEPapp in various government and private school chains. They received an extraordinary response and great reviews from students when they played the game while learning the concepts in the app. This is what encouraged them to start implementing STEPapp in more schools and this is how they got their first 100 users.

    We had approximately 1 million downloads within the first month of our launch.  We are focused on improving and innovating more products and services to enhance the students learning experience and that is the only marketing technique we are focusing on – Praveen Tyagi, Founder and CEO of STEPapp.

    Stepapp – User Acquisition and Growth

    This product is not a push product but a pull product. Since the mission of the product is to impart knowledge and provide it to the children, they have always aimed to strategize their activities to fulfill this mission. They aim to provide the students to get the conceptual clarity by the content created by 400+ IITians and Doctors.

    Also, they give the stakeholders, i.e. the parents, the teachers and the policymakers, in-depth data on learning outcomes to make informed decisions about the child’s career through the interactive STEPapp Dashboard.


    Must read: Coursesity- Getting all the Online Courses Under One Umbrella


    Stepapp – Startup Challenges

    One of the biggest challenges that came before STEPapp’s team was to reach out and build connectivity in remote areas and provide them with the e-learning experience. There was also an issue of improper infrastructure to provide school education in many areas in the country.

    After extensive research and development of STEPapp, they successfully implemented the offline feature in their app to provide a platform to educate children in the underprivileged areas. With STEPapp, students can now learn and revise the topics thoroughly without any disruption at the ease of their homes.

    Stepapp – Future Plans

    STEPapp see itself as a global product that has huge potential, not just in the Indian market but in global markets as well. The company is soon rolling out their product for Grades 1st to 5th app. They are also working towards making STEPapp a multilingual product. There are some new features in the product which are currently into BETA testing which will be announced soon.

    Stepapp – Funding and Investors

    Eduisfun has raised a total of $28M in funding over 1 round. This was a Venture round raised on Dec 24, 2019.

    | Date | Stage | Amount | Lead Investors |
    |— |— |— |— |— |—
    | Dec 24, 2019 | Venture Round | $28M | Amitabh Bachhan, Piyush Pandey |

    They are raising funds that will be utilized in strengthening their technological backbone, product enhancement, innovation and distribution on a global level. The startup will be using the funds in innovating more apps that are personalized, gamified, and packed with data analytics features and AI software.

    Stepapp – Advisors and Mentors

    STEPapp have a team of 400+ IITians and doctors with 21 years of experience in teaching and they are the advisors and mentors.

    Stepapp – Recognitions and Achievements

    The company have implemented STEPapp in hundreds of private and public schools, where, after playing on the app, students’ performance has improved remarkably. They have recently signed a deal with the Tamil Nadu government to implement STEPapp in their schools which will benefit over 10 lakh students.

    They have also implemented STEPapp as a learn from home solution in the reputed Podar Group of Schools. Also, they will have approximately 1 million downloads within a month.

  • Google Shopping- A Smart and Free Way of Attracting New Opportunities.

    Google has announced that they will be allowing the merchants to list their products on Google Shopping search results for free of cost starting with the US and to be continued in the whole world. This is one of the new way to kick start their work while helping the retailers to sell their product and asking the ads merchants to take the advantage of this new opportunity in the person of lockdown. The main concentration of Google in this case is to revive their revenue source in this difficult situation where they are not having work due to complete global lockdown. Google Shopping ads now drive 76.4% of retail search ad spend, generating 85.3% of all clicks on Adwords or Google Shopping campaign ads. Let us discuss that weather this initiative will be going to be a boon or a bane for Google.

    Benefits of the Google shopping campaign

    Benefits of the Google shopping campaign
    Benefits of the Google shopping campaign

    The Google has shown the benefits and the interest of all 3 sections of the society (retailers, shoppers and ads merchants) who are directly connected with the Google shopping facility.

    • The change given in Google shopping, in the product search offering will help the retailers in such a way that; -now they will be able to get free exposure and experience to millions of people( new and existing) who come to Google every day for fulfilling their required shopping products and materials.
    • Like the retailers, the shoppers will be able to get more choices over the product and the brands over better pricing from more stores due to the new campaign by Google Shopping. This will be all possible on discovery through the Google Shopping tab on the Google search platform or Google search engine.
    • The advertisers will also get the benefit of this new facility provided by Google shopping in such a manner that, now they will be getting a new section for running paid campaigns because of this free listings on Google shopping tab. The Ads merchant will be able to get the advantage of the free listings, and this will inspire the new Ads merchant to work in this streamline and make it a new source of revenue.

    Also Read: Things To Remember Before Buying From AliExpress


    Partnership in Google shopping campaign

    Partnership in Google shopping campaign
    Partnership in Google shopping campaign

    Google has also made a new partnership with many other platforms for the Google Shopping tab that are working in the same field and helping the businesses by providing their premium facilities. These platform include


    Also Read: Flipkart – Bringing Products at Your Fingertips


    Reason behind the Google shopping campaign

    During the period of COVID-19 and so far, Amazon’s trillion-dollar company, Jeff Bezos has been considered, the most notable winner in terms of business working and expansion who has added  $24 billion in his total wealth from the same time, the global shutdown began. While on the other hand, the tech giants like Google and Facebook who are having all their revenue from ads are facing heavy crisis, as there is no business in the world and so, advertisers has cut a big portion from their 2020 marketing budgets. This has pushed the tech giant like Google in the back-foot. The company is now trying to search a new source income in the person of global lockdown.

    Since, all the businesses are shut down in this time period except the e-commerce and the basic utility business so, this tech giant is also trying all it’s strategies in the same sector by just integrating it their own business model and making this facility, free for all.

  • The Ultimate Guide To Find The Right Mentor

    In this current century, research has shown that the most powerful weapon in making a successful business is having a good mentor for your business. Finding the right mentor can sometimes be difficult, especially for new entrepreneurs, if they are trying to do it alone. No matter how resourceful an entrepreneur is, they can only get what they want with a little help, and that’s where a startup mentor can help and make things work.

    Steve Jobs was a mentor of Mark Zuckerberg, Co-Founder and CEO, Facebook

    Warren Buffet is a mentor of Bill Gates, Founder and Technology Advisor, Microsoft

    Sir Freddie Laker is a mentor of Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group.

    A good mentor for your business
    Finding right mentor

    Your startup mentor is someone who you will be working closely with. A good mentor for your business always serves as an adviser at critical points throughout the year. Thus as a good mentor for your business will make sure to speak for the company at the tables where young entrepreneurs don’t have a seat, like a board meeting, because this is where most of the information or probably decisions about the startup’s future are made. They can also provide guidance on career management and an insider perspective on business, as well as make introductions to key industry contacts.

    It does take a bit of time to get to know someone, so don’t discount a relationship too quickly, but pay attention to any cues that could indicate long term conflict. Don’t be afraid to voice your concerns or end the relationship. Odds are, you and your startup mentor are both feeling the same way.

    Importance Of Mentor In Business

    In an aspect of life, we need a mentor to guide us in the right direction. The same is true in the case of any business establishment. It might be a small business but mentors can increase the success rate. Having a good rapport with the mentor is the pivotal point for success. It is a gut instinct that people should be able to know immediately, even if they cannot explain it. Importance of mentor you will understand when they would stop the entrepreneur at the right time from doing something wrong and make sure to utilize the opportunities that lie ahead.

    A business mentor works with you and supports you. They are focused on the agenda, discussing your business with you, they also ask questions to broaden your understanding. Mentors listen to you, provide fruitful feedback to you, and bring a diverse perspective to your business. They help and sort out many complex issues of running a business, share their understanding and knowledge. Along with it, they inspire you, motivate, and support you with the experience that they have gathered. There are many benefits of having a mentor, both for the business and personally.


    Also Read : Inspiring Quotes of Indian Entrepreneurs


    good mentor for your business
    Right mentor for your business

    Also Read : List of Famous Entrepreneurs You Must Know About


    Here are the following are the criteria you can use to choose a good mentor for your business,

    Experience Is Important

    It is a must that a mentor should have a greater experience than the entrepreneur and a success record over the years. Thus a mentor should be a career expert. Because somebody has discovered achievement doesn’t mean they will readily share it with you.

    It’s not about finding a mentor with the most years of experience or the biggest title. It’s about finding a mentor with the knowledge and expertise to help you on your journey.

    Sometimes a new entrepreneur needs some constructive criticism or a reality check while at other times they need a high five or pat on the back. A well-chosen startup mentor can provide all of those things. A good mentor should preferably be in the same business area as the start-up to have a better understanding whenever there is a business challenge or concern.

    Compatible With You

    In the process of searching for a good mentor for your business, start thinking about future prospects and narrow down on successful and admired leaders in the same stream because research has shown that successful business relationships happen when the mentor and mentee are the right matches.

    Research shows that the success rates of mentored small businesses as compared to those without a mentor are much better. According to some reports, 70% of mentored businesses survive more than five years which is double the rate for non-mentored small businesses for the same period. The same report shows that 88% of business owners say having a mentor to rely on is ‘priceless’.


    Also Read : List of 23 Startups Funded by Ratan Tata


    Providing Honest And Helpful Feedback

    Mostly as an entrepreneur, you might become overly attached to a business plan or be single-minded as to the best way to achieve your goal. A mentor can help you look past the tunnel vision of your original scope and make you realize the weakness in your model. A different perspective will help you decide to rethink your business module. It may help you see that time has come to upgrade from the outdated system to new technology. Constructive feedback and criticism from your mentor should be welcome as that input can pay you rewards.

    Working with a mentor will help to maximize business performance and your performance in the business. With a business mentor, your business result will improve as well as your efficiency and it will utilize your full potential.

    A business mentor may not have all the answers, but he/she should able and willing to connect you to people who can help. A good mentor can help you find investors, clients, contractors, or co-founders who will provide valuable services.

    Comfortable With You

    Research has shown that most entrepreneurs find it difficult to stand the presence of their mentor, thus it is difficult for them to communicate freely with their mentor, which makes things even worse. While choosing a mentor to make sure it’s someone likable, someone, who can be freely spoken to about both good and bad experiences to make the business grow and help in business growth. In this way, the mentor would be a neutral party and a great adviser. You don’t want a clone of yourself or your best friend as a mentor. You need diversity to make sure you’re getting a truly different perspective on things.

    A business mentor will work as a confidence booster, totally focusing on you, listening to you, and discussing your business. He/she will be there to share your successes and challenges thereby supporting you to achieve your goal. More comfortable he/she is with you will signify your success.

    Mentors can help you in many ways in your career. They can help you gain confidence, develop skills in a new job, and even help you get promoted.

    Trustworthy

    Trust is the most important thing as you will be telling things in confidence. The Mentor should also trust you as it will be more successful if the trust is both ways. This mutual trust can get the most out of your relationship. Make some ground rules to avoid some conflicts. After a few meetings, you will know each other better and once trust is established, you will be able to take your business ahead.

    It is always advised to seek a mentor who has a strong character and traits that are worth emulating. Also while looking for a good mentor for your business keep in mind that he is caring, someone that will invest in the company’s professional growth and will always speak the truth.


    Also Read : The Income of the Top Richest People in the World


    Challenging

    A good mentor is not the one who will agree with everything you say. Importance of mentor will come to know when they should ask the questions which you may not want to hear. Challenge you on your decision, query, and drill you on your intent, which is done with the best interest and intention at heart.

    Find a mentor who will give you challenges to improve. You can ask mentor any tough questions. The Mentor should be able to deliver real positive or negative feedback.

    Once someone has been identified, be prepared, explain what is expected from the individual and how his insights and expertise might be helpful. Therefore, when the right mentor comes on board, a lot of decisions of the company start falling into place and things become easier for all parties involves. Make efforts to find the right person for the said business and see how the company flourishes.

    If you choose a wrong mentor for you business, you can not accelerate your business. Instead, you will set back your career. You should make a plan of action for choosing a mentor for your business. The Mentor should teach you something from your failures. Picking the right mentor can be the most significant professional choice you’ll ever make.

  • How To Create A New Product People Will Love

    When it comes to products, consumers are more informed than ever because the information is readily accessible online. This is all thanks to ample references, like product review websites, company websites, and social media brand mentions. That’s why creating a new product that people will love is a real challenge.

    From product design and manufacturing process to testing and marketing, creating a new product is a tough job. You want to ensure that your new product is durable, functional, safe to use, and high-quality in all aspects. In this way, your target audience will discover and appreciate its great features, benefits, and value.

    In this post, you’ll learn how to create a new product that people will love.

    Create an Effective Product Design Plan

    Creating a new product always starts with a product design plan. It involves brainstorming your team about coming up with a new product idea that is not only valid, viable, and profitable, but also appealing and helpful to your intended audience.

    Here’s how to come up with an effective product design plan:

    • Draw a new product idea based on customer feedback obtained through surveys, social media brand mentions, comments, and product reviews.
    • Write down all observations, ideas, and suggestions, including new technologies or techniques you can use to create a new product.
    • Set your goals and provide a timetable from product design, research, and development, prototyping, to the actual manufacturing process.
    • Discuss how you and your team will go through the product development process in a seamless way possible. The product development process may involve consultation with a formulation development expert, formulation development, reviewing and commenting on prototypes, getting additional product support (e.g., regulatory assistance, packaging selection, and shelf-life analysis), and technology transfer o your manufacturing facility.

    Product Research and Development

    Creating a new product should always prioritize research and development. It’s a great way to understand if your product idea is worth materializing fully. Every product creation should start with this step, which involves in-depth research on customer needs, product demand, and applicable technology to attain the required product technical specifications.

    You can benefit from product research and development by hiring experts for additional support, refining your initial product idea, and create high-quality finished products that people love. Professional product research and development companies can provide the R&D services for a successful new product launch.

    Check out the following product research and development services:

    • Sourcing and testing raw materials
    • Verifying marketing claims
    • Finding and testing appropriate product packaging
    • Performing stability and shelf-life studies
    • Performing scale-up and providing manufacturing support
    • Setting up a good relationship and partnership with a contract blender for product manufacturing
    • Verifying that product meets industrial and government regulations
    • Producing small batches or prototyping to show distributors, manufacturers, investors, or for use at trade fairs

    Note: A product research and development company can also conduct product deformulation and reformulation, which involves reverse engineering, replicating, and modifying existing products so that you can expand your product lines based on your existing products. In addition, you can also obtain intellectual property and litigation support to verify that your product won’t violate existing patents and obtain patent protection of your new product formulation.

    Take Advantage of Prototyping Services

    Prototyping involves creating a new product in its small or minute form for testing or research purposes before full production. It’s always an important aspect of new product design to avoid wasting time, money, and effort and avoid creating a new product with poor design and quality. For instance, 3D production systems enable electric car manufacturers to build engine models from a digital file that can be tested for a specific period.

    If you want your new product to stand out, take advantage of rapid prototyping services. In that way, you can manufacture different high-quality products or parts you need for your manufacturing company that people will love. There are many prototyping services available today that you can take advantage of depending on what new product you want to produce.

    Here are some examples of rapid prototyping techniques and services:

    • Direct Metal Printing (DMP): With DMP, a high precision laser is directly applied to metal powder particles. In that way, thin metal layers are built in succession. That’s why challenging geometrical metal parts greatly benefit from this technology, which is impossible to do with other methods. Functional metals, like prototypes and production series, are available up to 20,000 units.
    • Directed light fabrication or DLF: It’s a process involving a fusion of metal powders that are delivered by gas and using a high- powered laser beam, forming a metal deposit that is fully-dense.
    • Fused deposition modeling or FDM: It’s a type of 3D printing technology, allowing the construction of 3D objects, prototypes, and CAD products.
    • Laminated object manufacturing or LOM: It’s an additive manufacturing process wherein an object can be built by successively layering sheets of material. They are bonded using heat and pressure. After this, they are cut into desired shapes using a carbon laser or a blade.
    • Direct-shell production casting or DSPC: Ceramic molds are made in a layering process.
    • Laminated resin printing or LRP: It’s an easy, fast, and cost-effective way to build different 3D printed structures for different applications, like electronics, sensors, wearables, and Internet of Things devices.
    • Shape deposition manufacturing or SDM: It systematically combines the material deposit with the material removal processes. This layering process build prototypes that are identical to the end product.
    • Stereolithography or SLA: Stereolithography is a rapid prototyping process that turns photosensitive liquid into three-dimensional solid plastics. It involves using a photopolymerization and low-power laser in a layer-by-layer manner.
    • Selective laser melting or SLM: It’s a 3D printing technique that uses high power-density laser, so metallic powders are melted and fused.

    Conclusion

    When creating a new product, it’s important to have a great design plan to ensure that you have a strong foundation when it comes to the product development process. Also, working with a product and research development professional can save you tons of time, effort, and resources studying the market and your consumers by doing this tough task for you.

    Before finalizing your new product, prototyping and testing are important to ensure top product quality. Prototyping services help you make certain modifications or adjustments without spending much on materials. Also, it’s an excellent way to save money and test your new product before mass-producing it.

  • Try these Zoom Settings to Protect Your Privacy and Avoid Zoombombing Trolls

    Zoom, a cloud-based meeting platform, is making into headlines almost everyday. The video-conferencing software has been gaining attention from researchers and journalists lately for a number of potential privacy and security issues. The use of the platform has seen a boom in usage due to increase in coronavirus related remote working. One of the biggest security issues facing Zoom is the increase in “Zoombombing” when uninvited attendees break into and disrupt your meeting.

    Zoom is huge these days. The cloud-based meeting platform lets you arrange virtual conferences with video, audio and screen-sharing options. It is a great way to continue conducting business when so many people have to work from home. Ever since rising into popularity, Zoom found itself bombarded by reports of privacy and security issues.

    In the wake of COVID-19, people have rushed to the video chat platform due to stay-at-home orders and lockdown. People are massively using Zoom app as their employer or school requires it and to stay in touch with friends and family. But journalists, researchers and regulators have noticed its many security and privacy problems. Zoom will have to follow its security and privacy promises if it wants to regain users’ trust.

    Government of India has also released the notice eventually regarding controversy-ridden video conferencing platform Zoom. The Ministry of Home Affairs on April 16, put out a detailed two-page long advisory for Zoom users in India and stated that the video conferencing platform Zoom is unsafe. They have also urged people to protect their virtual meetings from Zoombombing phenomenon where pranksters join Zoom calls and broadcast porn or shock videos.

    Zoom has had a rough few weeks. These further led many to quit the platform and cyber security experts to issue advisories. Thankfully, Zoom itself appeared to take matters seriously, roping in key cyber security faces such as ex-Facebook security head Alex Stamos, and more recently Katie Moussouris of the Pentagon bug bounty fame.

    What are Steps being taken by Zoom?

    Zoom is clearly responding quickly to the issues that have been raised. There are still more issues to address and improvements required, but 20 days after Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan promised changes, we’re now starting to see exactly how Zoom is responding.

    Zoom has released a new Zoom 5.0 update designed to address some of the many complaints that Zoom has faced in recent weeks. With this new update, there’s now a security icon that offers a number of Zoom’s security features. It can be to quickly lock meetings, remove participants, and restrict screen sharing and chatting in meetings.

    Zoom is also now enabling passwords by default for most customers. IT admins can now define the password complexity for Zoom business users. Zoom’s waiting room feature is also now on by default for basic, single-license Pro and education accounts. This feature allows a host to hold participants in a virtual room before they’re allowed into a meeting.

    Zoom is also improving some of its encryption and upgrading to the AES 256-bit GCM encryption standard. It is an improvement for the transmission of meeting data. Business customers can also control which data center regions will handle meeting traffic for their Zoom meetings after concerns were raised that some meetings were being routed through servers in China.


    Read More: Alternatives to Zoom App while Working Remotely


    Steps to be Followed

    After all of these improvements from Zoom, there are certain steps which one needs to follow to ensure privacy and safety from user’s end. In the meantime, one must take these steps to increase the Zoom privacy settings and protect meetings from Zoombombing trolls.

    Change your background

    The space you’re in during a call can expose a lot of information about where you live, your habits, and your hobbies. One can set a virtual background like beach, outer space or anywhere else you can imagine by customizing your background while on Zoom calls.

    One can set a virtual background by following the below steps. For this,  go to Settings > Virtual Background and select or upload the image you want from there. However, you do have to make sure that your system meets all of the requirements to do so.

    Zoom Virtual Background
    One must Set Virtual Background Image

    Make Sure Chat Auto-Saving Is Off

    Zoom has a feature that saves the chat automatically. One must check if Auto saving is ON or OFF. In your Zoom account settings, under In Meeting, make sure Auto saving chats is toggled off to the left.

    Mute your Audio and Turn off your Camera by default

    In most of the meetings, not everyone needs to have their camera ON. While scheduling a meeting, host can mute audio and camera buttons by default. To do it, go to Settings > Audio > Mute microphone when joining a meeting, and then Settings > Video > Turn off my video when joining or hosting a meeting.

    Lock Down Screen Sharing

    In your Zoom account settings under In Meeting (Basic), set Screen sharing to Host Only. This means, when you are hosting a meeting, only you(host) can share their screen. No other meeting participants will be able to share their screen.

    Depending on the calls you plan to host, you can also turn screen sharing off entirely by toggling it off to the left.

    Make Sure Attention Tracking is Off

    In your Zoom account settings under In Meeting (Advanced), make sure Attention tracking is toggled off to the left. The attention tracking setting toggled off to the left

    Keep the Meeting ID Private

    One of the reasons why privacy issues arose is that many people posted the meeting link on their social media groups. Thus, whenever possible, do not post the link to your meeting or the meeting ID publicly. Send it directly to trusted people and groups instead.

    After Zoom’s most recent update, meeting passwords are now on by default for free Basic and single licensed Pro accounts as well as education accounts. But Zoom passwords can behave in unexpected ways. If you use the “Copy Invitation” functionality to copy the meeting link and send it to your participants, that link might include your meeting password.

    If you send the meeting link directly to trusted participants, having the password included in the link will be no problem. But if you post the meeting link in a Facebook group, on Twitter or in another public space, then it means the password itself will also be public. So while copying the invitation link, passwords must be deleted to have privacy. It advisable to set a password and inspect the Meeting Link carefully before sending the link.

    To find the password settings, go to your Zoom account settings under Schedule Meeting. Make sure Require a password when scheduling new meetings is toggled on to the right. You’ll find additional password options in this area of the settings as well.

    Use Waiting Rooms to Approve Participants

    This is the best way to monitor who joins the meeting. After Zoom’s most recent update, waiting rooms are now enabled by default. A waiting room allows hosts to screen new participants before letting them join which can help prevent disruptions or unexpected participants.

    To find this setting, go to your Zoom account settings > In Meeting (Advanced). Make sure Waiting room is toggled on to the right.


    Also Read: Best Webinar Platforms


    Lock the Meeting

    Last but not the least, this feature has to be used. When everyone has joined the meeting and all your expected participants have arrived, you can lock the meeting to prevent anyone else from joining. For this, at the bottom of the Zoom window, click Participants and select Lock Meeting.

  • EdpowerU – How this Startup is Helping Students and Professionals Reach Their Career Highs

    One’s workplace behavior has a lot  to do with one’s performance and progress at workplace. How you deal with your colleagues and team, how you handle stress, your decision making power or your creative skills and innovative thinking, everything plays a crucial role in your career. While traditionally the focus was only on technical skills required for a job, of late the intangible skills required in the workplace is being given importance. Considering this requirement for development of non-technical, intangible and soft skills for career development, EdpowerU, a startup based in Mumbai is offering various programs for students, executives, managers and corporate leaders, to help them give and achieve their best at workplace.

    EdpowerU Highlights

    StartupName EdpowerU
    HeadQuarter (city) Mumbai
    Founder/s Name Shubika Bilkha
    Sector Education, Training and Leadership Development
    Founding Year 2019
    Registered Company Name ImpactU Edu Solutions LLP

    About EdpowerU and How it Works
    EdpowerU – Market and Industry
    Founders of EdpowerU and Team
    How was EdpowerU Started
    EdpowerU – Startup Launch
    EdpowerU – Name, Logo and Tagline
    EdpowerU – Business Model & Revenue Model
    EdpowerU – Startup Challenges
    EdpowerU – Competitors
    EdpowerU – Advisors & Mentors
    EdpowerU – Growth

    About EdpowerU and How it Works

    EdpowerU is a first of its kind initiative in India focused exclusively on workplace behavior and personal leadership development relating to the millennial and GenZ audience through specialized “Campus to Corporate”, “Career Enhancement” “Executive” and “Leadership Development”programs.

    Their unique Workplace Behavior Assessment (WBA) developed by global experts in organizational behavior, works with universities, graduate programs and corporates with a view to assess candidates on the key intangible future ready workplace skills needed in their roles.

    As specialists in workplace behavior through detailed insights and research on the development of the younger (millennial and GenZ) workforce, EdpowerU focuses on building intangible workplace skills, enhanced self-awareness and management, building emotional intelligence, and addressing the challenges of individuals towards career development and acceleration, and corporates towards improved performance, productivity and retention.

    Their specialized Millennial Management Program is designed to work with leaders/managers as they navigate the changing dynamics of a young workforce to become partners of their millennial employees.

    EdpowerU’s 5 point coaching framework of Discovery, Identification, Challenge, Accountability and Transformation, based on the Co-Active model, is an intensive process of self-awareness with a view to enhancing personal effectiveness, finding balance, streamlining objectives, increasing personal accountability and driving individual development through a commitment to change.

    Powered by experts from across industry and guided by the philosophy of ‘Educate to Empower’, Edpower-U is committed to raising the Career Quotient (CQ) and improving the personal leadership development capabilities of 1 million millennials by 2025.

    Services Offered by EdpowerU
    Services Offered by EdpowerU

    EdpowerU – Market and Industry

    At EdpowerU, the focus is on inculcating key workplace behavior skills and leadership development capabilities to drive individual growth, enhance performance, improve productivity and take individuals to the next stage in their professional journeys. Their work with executives, managers, leaders, entrepreneurs and graduates across industries to enable them to manage themselves, their teams, their workplaces and their careers in the 4.0 workplace. They focus primarily on millennials and the GenZ that today constitutes almost ~50% of the workforce slated to increase to 70% by 2025.

    “In the age of the Fourth Revolution or the 4.0 world, we have found that as global connectivity increases, the on-demand culture emanates, machines get smarter, new media comes to the forefront, and mindsets, approaches and behaviors see a shift, an area of significant change is coming in the way we work, what defines work and the skills needed for the evolving workplace.” quotes EdpowerU founder Shubika Bilkha

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) identifies the Top 10 skills for 2020 as cognitive flexibility, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, complex problem solving, creativity, people management, collaboration, judgment and decision making, service orientation and negotiation. Forbes in their August 2018 report added some skills such as awareness and sensitivity, reading intelligently, communication, analytical, leveraging technology and learning how to learn in their recommended future ready skills.

    Whether its feedback received from think thanks, or leaders such as Mukesh Ambani to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the future ready skills for the 2020 world are all largely non-technical or intangible in nature. It has been estimated that 60% of workplace success comes from those intangible skill sets.

    In India, this is a significant shift away from our traditional educational ecosystem that has operated with a keen focus on building technical capabilities rather than individual workplace skills.

    At EdpowerU through the extensive work with millennials and GenZs in the workplace, they have defined these key intangible skills that are slated to contribute to 60-70% of workplace success as follows:

    Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

    • Self- Awareness
    • Self- Management
    • Self- Motivation
    • Communication/Social Skills
    • Empathy
    • Resilience

    Behavioral Skills

    • Business Etiquette
    • Teamwork and Collaboration
    • Negotiation Skills
    • Time Management
    • Navigating Difficult Situations
    • Relationship Building
    • Confidence
    • Commercial Awareness
    • Decision Making

    Other Key Skills

    • Critical Thinking
    • Problem-Solving
    • Cognitive Flexibility
    • Creativity/Innovation

    Relevant Read: The Emerging Edtech Startups of India

    Founders of EdpowerU and Team

    Shubika Bilkha, Amit Bose and Lina Bilkha are the Founding Partners of Edpower-U.  

    Shubika Bilkha is a business advisor, entrepreneur, author, media spokesperson and leadership coach. An alumnus of Mount Holyoke College(USA) and Columbia Business School (USA), Shubika is an Associate Member of the Chartered Securities Institute (CSI) in the UK; and has completed the “Building Excellence in Higher Educational Institutions” program at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. Shubika has rich experience of working with large companies such as Deloitte, and managing two early-stage start-ups in the technology and education sector. She has also experience of working in various positions in financial, e-commerce and real estate sectors in India and internationally. Shubika is also a published author.

    Amit Bose, a mathematics graduate from Mumbai University, and an IIM- Ahmedabad alumnus, Amit has 40 years of rich and diverse experience in Senior Corporate Leadership roles and as an entrepreneur. Amit specializes in Strategy, Marketing and Consumer Technologies and has worked extensively in India and across Asia

    Amit worked as President(Tata Teleservices), President (Reliance Infocom), CEO (Mattel India), Vice President (Pepsico, Asia Pacific) and Head of Marketing Foods (Hindustan Lever) to name a few. He also worked with Bakrie Telecom, and own and investee Startups in E-Commerce, Social Commerce, Mobile Platforms and Enterprise Messaging

    Lina Bilkha, a graduate in German language and Psychology and post graduate in Linguistics, from Bombay University, Lina specializes in Inter-cultural Consulting, Executive and Life Coaching, Leadership and Talent Development, High Performance Team Building and Gender Diversity Consulting. Lina has over 25 years of experience of working with blue chip Companies in Financial Services, Technology, Telecom, Pharmaceuticals, Consulting, and Government Organisations. Lina has international certifications in Executive Coaching and Gestalt Training from the AoEC UK.

    Lina’s latest accreditation is of MEWS – A Managerial and Executive Wellbeing Survey from Eek. Lina is also Director India of Talking Talent ( a Global firm specialising in Parental Transition Coaching, Progression Coaching and Inclusion and Diversity Coaching)  and Cross Cultural  Consulting ( India and UK). Lina is also a member of the International Coaching Federation, the Mumbai Coaching Association and several Business Associations including IBG, CII and BBG.

    Swati Patel Vasan is the Head of Business Development and Training at EdpowerU.  Swati Patel Vasan joined EdPowerU’s network with nearly 14 years of experience with the U.S. Federal Government, 11 of which were as an U.S. Diplomat with the U.S. Department of State.  While Swati was inducted as a Public Relations Officer, she has worked in several portfolios to enhance bilateral or multilateral relations between the U.S. and the countries in which she was assigned.  

    In her last posting with the US Consulate, she oversaw all educational and professional exchange and cultural programs for the USG for all of Western India.  Once settled in India permanently, Swati worked with an educational company as Director of Outreach.

    Swati’s passion is people.  She taps into her experience in public speaking, negotiations, liaison work, mentoring, strategy, soft skills training, leadership and management programs, policy, marketing, etc. to enhance EdPowerU’s work focused on the millennial workforce.  

    Making an impact and actively working on providing opportunities as they develop individuals to maximize their potential is the key motivational factor for all of the core team members.

    How was EdpowerU Started

    There have been a number of factors and influences that have contributed to the creation of EdpowerU.

    The founding partners have been actively involved in the educational landscape in India having established key vocational training institutes that prepare both graduates to improve their employability, as well as executives and leaders to enhance their potential. It is through this insight and experience with key stakeholders across industry, corporates, educational institutions and the government that the gap in terms of honing these key intangible skill-sets was first identified.  

    EdpowerU – Startup Launch

    Before the launch, EdpowerU actively approached corporate and industry leaders, deans of educational institutes, presidents of industry bodies and the investor community across their extensive network for their feedback on the EdpowerU proposition. The team received an encouraging response from all stakeholders, as well as some very helpful insights on how they could build the business.

    The market need for their offering has been so robust that they had customers and business opportunities on Day of the launch of the business. Their repeat customer rate has been extremely high and EdpowerU is growing steadily in this domain to establish themselves as specialists.

    Relevant Read: How You can Use ‘Medium’ to Boost Your Business

    EdpowerU Logo
    EdpowerU Logo

    EdpowerU’s tagline “Educate. Empower. EdPowerU” is driven by the fundamental belief that it is through an increased understanding and insight of oneself and one’s environments, as well as by taking an evolved or educated perspective, everyone can be equally empowered to achieve their fullest potential.

    EdpowerU – Business Model and Revenue Model

    EdpowerU’s revenue model is fee and license based.

    EdpowerU – Startup Challenges

    As a unique proposition that focuses on building workplace skills and developing individuals, EdpowerU envisioned some challenge when explaining their proposition to the customers. However, given the proven initial track record, the teams’ domain expertise, the excellent client feedback that the company received, as well as the overall market need, the EdpowerU team has been able to overcome this proposed challenges.

    EdpowerU – Competitors

    There are a number of players both Indian and International who provide corporate training services and career focused programs. However, the landscape is extremely fragmented with global brands, business schools, as well as independent providers.

    The formula of driving individual growth and development through self-assessment and awareness as a first step is what differentiates EdpowerU’s offering. Their delivery methodology and interactive but practical learning formats make their programs relevant and engaging. Their extensive research on the characteristics of the generation they focus on has enabled them to develop the content in  a manner that resonates with the multi-generational audience.

    Whether in group programs, individual sessions or web formats, it is EdpowerU’s focus on the individual and addressing those personal challenges that has most worked in their favor.

    EdpowerU – Advisors & Mentors

    The EdpowerU team is being mentored by Industry experts like Siddharth Bhansali, Dr. Ann Means and Tina Trikha

    Siddharth Bhansali an alum of the University of Southern California (USC), USA founded Noesis.tech, a technology solutions and services company that focuses on enabling digital transformation for the enterprise. Siddharth has  experience of working extensively across the domains of Banking and Financial Services, Food and Beverage, Education as well as Retail and FMCG.

    Siddharth also serves as a technology advisor and consultant CTO for leading Indian start ups such as StyleCracker, MissMalini and FoxyMoron. Siddharth believes that while India can generate technologists at at a very large scale, these technologists enter the job market with skills that limit their ability to deliver value.

    Dr. Ann Means is MsC and PhD in Organisational Behaviour from Birbeck College, London and a BA in Modern Languages from Birmingham University (UK). Ann has 30+ years of experience in corporate consulting with research, training and government service. She specializes in developing the skills and knowledge essential for success in international business, in particular intercultural, team and leadership capabilities. Ann has experience of training and coaching individuals and groups across industries and locations worldwide.

    Tina Trikha is currently head of communications and talent development for SeaLink Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Mumbai.  She has close to two decades of experience working with companies in the United States, India, and South-East Asia. Prior to SeaLink Capital Partners, Tina was Vice President of corporate planning and strategy at Godrej Industries Limited.  She also worked with Scholastic, a children’s book publisher and distributor in New York, and financial companies like McKinsey & Company (New York) and Credit Suisse (New York and Hong Kong)

    Relevant Read: Excess2Sell – Helping You Profitably Sell Your Excess Business Inventory

    EdpowerU – Growth

    EdpowerU have had an encouraging start since their inception earlier this year and have been growing steadily month on month. Their programs and offerings are increasing on a quarter on quarter basis, and they are seeing very encouraging traction across large conglomerates, fast growing SMEs, funded startups, industry associations and educational institutions.

    Additionally, EdpowerU has a number of key affiliate organizations who are specialists both in India and globally in the realm of leadership development and training. These organizations work extensively with large companies across the world in sectors such the financial services, pharmaceuticals, professional services, technology, among others.

    The focus for the startup is on industries that have a high component of millennials and GenZ leaders and EdpowerU are gradually building their expertise across the digital, technology/IT, financial services, FinTech sectors, to name a few.

    Our biggest achievement today has been the wonderful feedback and support that we have received from all our Clients and participants – Shubika Bilkha

  • IT Services giant Cognizant Hit by ‘Maze’ Ransomware

    New-Jersey headquartered Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is one of the world’s largest providers of IT services. But on April 18, it became a victim of Maze ransomware attack that has caused disruptions to its clients. The incident comes at a time when businesses have been already disrupted by coronavirus pandemic that has forced companies to turn to initiatives like work from home to ensure business continuity.

    Cognizant released a statement on Saturday on its official website which stated, “Cognizant can confirm that a security incident involving our internal systems and causing service disruptions for some of our clients, is the result of a Maze ransomware attack.

    Cognizant has around 300,000 employees and over $16.8 billion in revenues. It handles the IT services for many of the top Fortune 500 companies. Cognizant has majority of its employees in India and the Philippines working from homes during the lockdown caused by Covid-19.

    Among other services, Cognizant provides a wide range of outsourced IT services for the financial services sector. The financial sector accounted for over $5.8 billion of its total revenues in 2019. The company, that has 3 lakh employees working worldwide, said it was hit by the Maze ransomware group and is engaging law enforcement authorities to take some legal actions against the group.

    In January, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) had issued an alert warning to all U.S. companies about the Maze’s ill practices of threatening to release company information if the desired ransom is not paid to them.

    Even after being attacked, Cognizant has not yet been named on a website that is associated with Maze attackers. The website has named other companies in the past for failing to fulfil the Maze related ransomware demand. Brett Callow, security analyst, said that the group could simply be A/B testing alternative negotiating strategies to see whether permitting companies to control the release of information results in better outcomes or not.

    What is the Maze Ransomware?

    The infamous Maze ransomware was discovered in 2019 and since then, it has gained notoriety. The anonymous hackers behind Maze have made headlines in recent months for publicly holding its victims hostage. The group is known for threatening to leak company’s valuable information if the target doesn’t pay its desired ransom.

    The cyber criminals behind the Maze ransomware use a range of different techniques to gain entry to the companies it is targeting. It includes exploits kits, remote desktop connections with weak passwords or sophisticated fraudulent campaigns. The ransomware itself is sophisticated so that its code avoids detection by security programmes.

    According to March 2020 McAfee analysis, Maze malware is a binary file of 32 bits usually packed as an EXE or a DLL file. This indicates that the Maze ransomware can also terminate debugging tools used to analyse its behaviour, including the IDA debugger, x32dbg, OllyDbg and more processes. So it is almost impossible for a ordinary firewall software to detect the threat.


    Also Read: Sequretek is Working Hard and Smart to Secure Your Startup


    What does Maze Group do?

    Typically the goal of any ransomware attack is to infect computers in a private network and encrypt files on these computers and then demand a ransom to recover the files. According to experts Maze is different. The attacker in this case has the ability to format or transfer the data onto his or her server. The data is then held on this server until a ransom is paid to recover it. If the victim does not pay the expected ransom, the attackers then publish the data online in public.

    According to Beenu Arora, CEO & co-founder of US-based cyber security company, Cyble, Maze ransomware operators are known to conduct their attack below the surface. They are known for stealing the company’s data first followed by locking their target systems. They fully understand their victim’s reputational risks and hence their approach is basically “steal, lock and inform.”

    According to a report, the attackers even justified their actions in a statement saying:

    We want to show that the system is unreliable. The cybersecurity is weak. The people who should care about the security of the information are unreliable. We want to show that nobody cares about the users. Now it’s our turn. We will change the situation by making irresponsible companies pay for every data leak.”

    Arora further added that the notorious ransomware group understands the brand value of the organization it plans to attack. It has turned into a well-funded network in recent months. The reason behind this is successful ransomware attacks due to growth in their group and organizations increasingly paying ransomware extortions as no options are left. Also, some certain cyber insurance companies are negotiating with the ransomware operators to make payments.

    Maze Ransomware
    Maze has tried to target many U.S. Companies

    The alleged targets of Maze have included the city of Pensacola in Florida, cybersecurity insurance provider Chubb Ltd. and Canadian construction company Bird Construction Inc., according to various media reports. The Maze group has claimed to post files from all three companies on its website. Now, the same might be done in case of Cognizant.

    According to Brett Callow, a threat analyst at Emisoft, even though hackers linked to Maze have denied their involvement in the attack on Cognizant, it does not mean that Maze isn’t responsible for the attack. For the moment though, no Cognizant data has been advertised for sale or published online.

    What are Steps being taken by Cognizant?

    Cognizant has about 200,000 employees based in India. This means it must take the necessary steps to contain the ransomware in order to not cause any furthermore disruptions as its clients are spread across the world.

    As a solution to this, Cognizant has said that it is looking into the incident and the company is also communicating with clients on the measures to be taken by them to deal with the disruptions. Cognizant quoted that their internal security teams along with the leading cyber defense firms are actively taking steps to contain this incident.


    Also Read: 9 Battle-Tested Hacks to Market your New Startup Organically


    Cognizant has also engaged with the appropriate law enforcement authorities to take required legal actions. Cognizant is in ongoing communication with our clients. They have provided them with Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) which identify potentially malicious activity on a system and other technical information of a defensive nature.

  • Government Support to the Women Entrepreneurs

    Imagine that you want to have a beautiful garden at your home. You buy the seeds, the manure, the soil, the pots and everything that you need to set up a garden at your home – but then you realise that you forgot to seek approval from your parents about it and then you are forced to withdraw the idea because your parents aren’t supporting enough. Well, in case of startups – the Government is that parent whose support can turn the tables upside down, and especially when the point of debate is the benefit that is associated with lending support to women – the boost that it provides and the sense of equity and equality that’s embedded among the masses. Let’s see what our women have to say about the Government and it’s support to entrepreneurs.

    Ms. Geeta Ramakrishnan, ontological coach
    Our government is very cognizant and cued in empowering women.  We are a member of the government-run Maritime Taskforce formed by the DG of Shipping, India. Its objective is to facilitate and increase in women’s participation in the Maritime industry.  We also partner ‘mother and child’ projects run in rural areas.

    Himani Khanna, Co-Founder & Director at Continua Kids
    I always believe that rather than expecting from the government I would ask myself as to what I have done for the government. The government has a strong focus on startups and gives a tax advantage, as it is healthcare is exempted from GST. The government has given priorities to Divyangjan in terms of various subsidies, facilities give me particular satisfaction to make them stand on their feet. I consider that rather than dependent on government we have to work in sync with the government to increase the awareness of the facilities provided by the government to the people who cannot grab. We are happy to be a bridge between the government and the needy.

    Ms. Aarti Gill, Co-founder of OZiva
    When we were planning to start our venture, the government had just launched its new initiative ‘Startup India Standup India’ to provide support and motivate the budding entrepreneurs. Under the scheme, we got a loan from the government which in a way motivated us to take the company forward. And, since then we have majorly grown with our internal accruals.

    Geeta Kumana, Proprietor at Prime Health Support
    Prime Health Support is still growing and hasn’t really reached that stage where we can ask for support from the government. When we do, the first thing I would like the government to do is make women CEOs get as much as men CEOs as remuneration and women CEOs pay less tax when earning the same as men because very often, married women who are either separated or divorced tend to take their children with them and hence have the responsibility of looking after the house and the children. This requires much more money than divorced/separated men need. Hence, a woman needs to have a larger take-home salary by paying less tax than a man.

    Sumita Tulsiani, Co-founder & Director at TravelDilSe
    We got selected as one of the incubators by IAMAI Mobile10x Haryana Government wherein we are currently getting support on mentorship and industry networking.

    Annu Talreja, CEO, Founder at Oxfordcaps
    The start-up community is the future of India and will be the platform through which millions of youth of this country will be successfully employed. The government has already taken great initiatives like ‘Start-up India’ to support the start-up ecosystem of the country. The government will play a crucial role in building a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the country that will further drive sustainable economic growth.

    Dr. Patricia Connolly, CEO at SMC Squared
    I received no special support, yet I know I am growing in business environments that welcomes new enterprises and entrepreneurship. This is true in the state of Texas, USA and also in Bangalore, India. I appreciate these business environments, ease of stablishing our legal entities and ability to grow in an environment that supports innovation, initiative and grit.
    What would I suggest? I’d love a mentor in India that could help me with growth and scale. We have strong partners at BCIT and have great leaders on board. A mentor would be great next step, whether government or privately attained. Also, I’ve seen incubation center models that offer support and services to young business owners. These are great concepts and I’d encourage more of this thinking.

    Meha Bhargava, Founder at Styl.Inc
    As per the recent Economic Survey 2019-20, just 43% of the 27,084 recognised startups in India has one or more women directors.
    In my opinion Govt. should focus more on promoting women entrepreneurship.
    The taxation of start-ups has been handled by the Govt. with utmost care. Even though there are a lot of loan schemes provided by the government by which any woman with an idea can become an entrepreneur from small to large scale the need for Special cell to address grievances, deferment of tax on ESOPs and increase in the turnover limit for tax exemption are a few steps which will further strengthen the start-up ecosystem in general in India.

    Kavya Dommeti, CEO, iB Hubs
    iB Hubs is committed to inculcate the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth of the country.
    Realising what we set out to do is only possible when different stakeholders in the country join hands together. Several government bodies and officials have been very supportive towards the vision and we are closely working with them. iB Hubs has partnered with several state governments already to transform the country into an entrepreneurship hub and an innovation powerhouse.

    Harjinder Kaur Talwar, National President at FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) and CEO at Comvision India Pvt Ltd
    There’s a lot government can do to empower women in this country.  Government is the biggest buyer of the goods and looking at this is era of women, looking at government’s focus to promote entrepreneurship, looking at that employment generation can’t be as high as they want, looking at that women contributes to 49% of the population, all is expected from the government and I want to highlight here that women just want opportunities, they don’t want reservations. If government provides them with opportunities, they will do exceptionally well. For eg., MSME government this year has given 3% reservation for procurement from the women entrepreneurs. If they can achieve this 3% also, it will be a big boost for women entrepreneurs. Nobody can stop a woman if she wants to become an entrepreneur, all she needs in the initial stages is probably a mentor. I am ready to mentor any woman who is willing to become an entrepreneur and then she is strong enough to mark her own journey.

    Ms. Deeksha Rai Chawla, CEO at Housee Of Cleeo
    While we haven’t reached the stage where we would require the government’s help as we are running a self-funded business, we have gone through some fair share of schemes that the government is providing to encourage women entrepreneurship. These not only offer loans or credit but some of them also involve conducting trainings and counselling. Some of them offer assistance to start from scratch, some upgrading and modernisation of existing projects and other expansion of business. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Scheme, Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) Scheme, Mahila Udyam Nidhi Scheme are a few among such schemes introduced.

    Kavea R Chavali, Anchor & Co founder at KALANECA- House of Handloom
    I am in the handloom space and honestly I am expecting a better support from the government . While I do like is their Make In India campaign for the outsiders I really wished they could lend more support for the brands that are already MADE IN INDIA . Setting up business and running it still comes with too much of paper work and documentation that the ease of doing business feels like a myth.I suggest more active participation by the governments at the state level to start with and create Handloom cells because this is our national pride. Get the govt to connect with Founders like us and others to create more visibility and opportunities because right now we all are working in silos.

    Dr. Sruthi Gondi, founder at Founder and Dermatologist at Science Of Skin
    I received the Telangana Healthcare award 2 years in a row and that has been extremely rewarding for me. Rewards and recognition motivate you to work harder and perform better.

    Vedaxari Joshi, Founder at All ’bout Communication
    Honestly, ABC is a bootstrap firm and we haven’t sought any Government support financially. I do feel that the Government, in last 5 years has done a lot of policy based changes like implementing GST which have made it tougher for small businesses to survive. I would like to suggest them to be lenient with start-ups. Living in Mumbai, which is also the financial backbone of the nation, I feel the Government should take some prompt action towards fixing the city’s roads. It has been an extremely challenging task to commute in this city.

    Rashmi Shetty, Co-founder at Storytellers 101 Communications
    The Government does have good schemes for entrepreneurs and one must have a good legal and finance team to utilise the same. As always, more tax benefits would enable entrepreneurs especially women entrepreneurs and this can be looked into.

    Malika Sadani, Founder & CEO at The Moms Co
    We would love for the government to be more women-centric in their approach, helping us balance the needs of a fast-growth startup with the needs of women. For example, the government has brought forward an incredible policy around maternity leave ensuring women get the right time needed at home, even when the company is small and growing. However, the government should think through holistically about how companies that are very small and very dependent on each team member would do when a critical resource is absent for 6 months. In the absence of this 360 thinking, I’ve had some conversations where startup founders are finding it tough to take a call to onboard women employees because they can’t afford for someone to not be around for 6 months. This is exactly the opposite of what the policy intended!

    Devangi Dalal, Audiologist and Speech Therapist, Co-Founder at JOSH Foundation and first Indian to win the Humanitarian Award from American Academy of Audiology
    I am a citizen of this country and I am very much aware of the pros and cons of being one. Wherever I go I try to see that I feel proud about my country. Since I am working in this area, I have managed to get an international conference to be held in India this year. I want the government to support, create and evolve in this area so that more people can be benefited in the country.
    Having said that, I think we have a long way to go when it comes to the development of hearing-impaired children. The government needs to more actively involved to increase awareness about hearing-impairment and there have to be few policy changes towards these people. Government authorities can play an important role in the early detection of children with speech and hearing-impairment and they can also help by creating protocols so that every child is screened, and proper timely help is provided. Early detection makes a lot of difference in the treatment of these children. Hearing impairment and speech issues, if not detected and addressed at an early stage, can cause social withdrawal and a deep lack of self-confidence due to difficulty in communication with other people.

    Charmi Sheth, Senior interior Designer at Livspace
    While I personally have not needed to engage with government stakeholders for support, there are two callouts I have for the government, basis the observations I have made about women in business. The first is a need to bring more women to join the formal workforce by providing them with the opportunity to participate in the economy and set up their own businesses. It is important that such opportunities aren’t relegated to urban areas but also extended to women in Tier- 2, Tier – 3 towns and villages- enabling their participation in the formal economy. Apart from this, emphasis must also be placed on supplementing education with access to loans, grants and other tools to help provide women with the resources needed to set up their businesses and engage in entrepreneurship.

    Kusum Bhandari,  Director at Bhookh Haathi
    We are registered under MSME and DIPP. Till now we have not sought any support from the government. Our vision to reduce tobacco consumption in India at least by 50% by 2050 aligns with government’s mission of “Swastha Bharat”, we would like government to provide more encouragement to entrepreneurs who are working towards a larger social cause in form of tax exemptions and other financial schemes so that both entrepreneurs, as well as consumers, can benefit from it. This step will encourage more and more entrepreneurs to come up with more such solutions enabling them to work towards a common mission and target other such widespread vices in the society that affect the health and well-being of people.

    Kanika Trekriwal, Founder & CEO at JetSetGo Aviation
    Our government’s initiatives and commitment towards economic growth in Aviation and start-up sector has been nothing but only inviting and encouraging. After all, we did receive the National Entrepreneurship Award in 2016. Central controls truly are beginning to observe the indispensable benefits of supporting entrepreneurs and thought leaders, and I believe that in a couple of years, we are definitely going to be one of the biggest economic global powers through policies that relax stringent and unnecessary government red tape while tightening economic funds towards aviation. A recent development that comes as a welcome change to the nation’s aviation sector is the Regional Connectivity Scheme by the Airports Authority of India and Start-up India to name a few.

    Moushumi Pal , the founder at Woodpecker Media
    The government has already taken a lot of steps in order to push for women entrepreneurship. From sustainable business models to subsidised financial help, a lot is being done.
    However, there is an impertinent need to foster women entrepreneurship right at the grass-root level in the form of education programs and policies. They must be introduced to the idea of entrepreneurship right from a young age where they can think of themselves as future founders of Indian conglomerates.

    Regila Marinus, Cofounder at Vidhya Vidhai Foundation
    There are schemes for women entrepreneurs, the government supports through capacity building and funding of the women.
    My suggestion to encourage women entrepreneurship in the country is to include it in school curriculum and have more conversations on this in public forum.

    Meghna Kishor, Co-founding Greendigo
    We have not yet availed of any aid from the government however, we are registered as an MSME entity. We are also registered with Niti Aayog for their Women Entrepreneurship Platform.

    Ms. Pooja Nagdev, Cosmetologist & Aromatherapist, Founder, Inatur
    So far so good. My company is a member of CII and Chemixil and they keep organizing trade shows abroad that have helped us participate in some good exhibitions and get into the overseas market. Government support should be transparent and available to all. We all keep hearing about the incentives in the paper but in reality, it’s very different.

    Ms. Bhawana Bhatnagar, Interior Stylist, Founder of Casa Exotique
    The government launches many schemes to empower women entrepreneurs, but simply launching schemes is not enough. There is a need to check whether those schemes are being implemented at the ground level, and to what extent.

    Diksha Chhabra, founder of Diksha Chhabra FItness Counsultations
    So far I have enjoyed the relaxation on Taxes. Though I have been felicitated by many Govt led projects for my entrepreneurial journey. to name a few, Startup India, Khelo India, Make in India and NSWEE respectively.

    Aditi Olemann, Co-founder,  Myelin Foundry, The government can help female founders by creating training programmes and incubation for women-led companies. They can also create more awareness by having platforms where successful women entrepreneurs can talk about their journey and inspire the next generation of young minds.

    Kavita Mehta, Founder & CEO at Caymus
    Startup India has been a great support in accessing benefits that have saved the company money and time on core services and necessary compliances. I would really love to see the investment process become more streamlined, especially as it relates to taking in foreign investments.

    Sangita Desai, Co-Founder, Raw Nature
    I have not approached the government for any support as yet. But I am considering it now seriously to see what benefits are offered. There is existing support already to the women entrepreneurs. However, I believe that there could be much more that can be done. For example, currently, the women need to be a majority stakeholder to avail of any benefit, and that in many cases deprives her of any benefit, i.e. if in case she does not have 51% ownership. Also, being a woman entrepreneur, there should be some benefit with respect to funding on equity basis from government bodies.

    Ghazal Aalgh, Co-founder at Mamaearth
    While in India, women have been conditioned as homemakers and lack the basic financial and emotional support from their own family members, the government has taken some initiatives to encourage women to start up their own businesses. Some of the scheme includes Mudra Yojna, Annapurna scheme and Mahila Udyum Nidhi Scheme.

    Mona Dahiya, Co-Founder and Director at Homefoodi
    I think the Government has done a praiseworthy work in igniting the women entrepreneurial spirit in the country. “Nari Shakti” and “Bharat Ki Lakshmi” campaigns and Start-up India initiatives and schemes by the Government are most certainly helping build confidence in women to turn into entrepreneurs. Women empowerment is a central feature of Start-up India and there is no better time than today for women to become entrepreneurs and reap the benefits of the available schemes. We are really thankful that Ms Vimla Batham (President of the Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Women) has been a strong pillar of support in this journey.

    Tina Garg, CEO at Pink Lemonade
    Pink Lemonade and my efforts have been recognized by way of some awards that the government bodies have conferred on us. Bodies like the MSME have helped us in our finance policies and we have won a few prestigious projects. But apart from that there is a lot that the government can do — by way of opportunities, easier financing, sponsored delegations to overseas markets etc. Many a times we don’t know of such programs.

    Nupur Khandelwal, Co-founder at Navia Life Care
    Government has launched various schemes for women like Stree Shakti Package For Women Entrepreneurs, Bhartiya Mahila Bank Business Loan, Orient Mahila Vikas Yojana Scheme etc. for assisting women in financial capital which can be a major roadblock on their entrepreneurial journey. Not only this they have introduced many programs for boosting women entrepreneurs in central, State and nongovernmental levels. Most of the entrepreneurs are utilizing and benefited and few entrepreneurs are waiting for availing the benefits. There is no specific suggestion but there should be continuous attempt to inspire, encourage, motivate and co-operate women entrepreneurs. The government should introduce extensive entrepreneurial development program for women.

  • 3 Founders shared how Small Businesses Coping with Situation of Covid Outbreak

    Covid-19, which has shaken the whole world has brought everyone’s life at halt. This highly contagious disease is spreading so fast that Indian Government has ordered 1.3 billion residents to stay home. In this lockdown period, all malls, theaters, companies, shops, restaurants, manufacturing units are shut. This will affect businesses and economy badly. Many companies have told their employees to work from home. But, its not possible for all companies like manufacturing units, theaters, malls to let their employees work from home.

    People are also scared of going out. This coronavirus has made people’s lifestyle slow and it will take time for everyone including companies to come back on track after this long period of lock down. COVID-19 has put slowdown to a business everywhere. Travel, Hotel, Events, and Entertainment are the sectors that are suffering.

    Many small businesses may close because of many issues due to losses. We asked few founders of few companies about how small businesses are coping with situation of coronavirus outbreak and business closure.

    Also Read:

    Small Businesses Coping with Covid Outbreak

    How are small businesses in manufacturing coping with business closures?

    Surmount Business

    Surmount Business practices targets to become a strategic partner to entrepreneurs and enterprises to help expand businesses beyond their existing roots, professionalize their operations and enhance their Capital Efficiency. We talked with Niraj Bora, Founder, about how small businesses in manufacturing are coping with business closure.

    Few people in Manufacturing I know have pivoted to produce some or the other essential commodity / product in F&B, healthcare, etc. That might not be possible for everyone, but the said situation warrants us to pivot from one thing to other to cope up with the losses and keep it going. On one hand, workers want to work but are out of jobs, and on another hand essential factories face labour problem due to migration to hometowns. Mobilising manpower with other factories to utilise manpower and reduce burden of salaries is another way to beat the market lockdown.

    upGrad Education

    Founded in early 2015, upGrad offers online programs for working professionals. We talked with Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, about how small businesses in manufacturing are coping with business closure.

    The current COVID-19 situation has brought economies across geographies to a standstill. Especially businesses involved in manufacturing where units have been shut, supply chain has been disturbed, and all imports have been stalled. While the companies are trying and testing new policies and undertaking relief plans to revive from the clutches of the current pandemic and keep their workforce intact, the Government must also take necessary measures to cushion the adverse effects, especially for small scale businesses, as compared to the larger companies who operate with extra cash flow.

    Also Read:

    How corona Outbreak has affected Ecommerce startups and how they plan to recover?

    Xboom Utilities

    A one-stop E-Commerce startup based in Bangalore that provides safety and security products across categories ranging from vehicle safety, women’s safety, home safety, personal safety to defense. We talked with Vishal Saurav, Founder & CEO, about how corona outbreak has affected Ecommerce startup.

    First of all, I urge all of the readers to follow the guidelines and stay safe in this dire situation. As the impact of the pandemic is global, the trade has slumped and most of the economy is hit hard. Our economy is no exception. Even e-commerce players like us are facing the blow, logistics and human resources issues add on to our lag. Export and import has been severely affected and speculations are that the situation will continue for another couple of weeks (or more), when the business is expected to be slower. Both demand and supply are low as people are prioritizing the basic needs only and not prepared mentally to buy other things, be it offline or online.

    Most of the states have announced a lock-down and numbers are going to be grimmer this week onwards. We are adapting to the situation but it will take a bit of time to get back to the normal. To speed up things, all companies should adopt the work from home policy, which we had already implemented and wait until any remedy becomes available.  On an individual level everyone should look out for oneself and the families, stay home, stay hygienic and stay safe. In this adverse situation, if all of us, individuals and corporates alike, follow the basic rules and cooperate, then we should be able to work and stay safe at the same time.

    upGrad Education

    Founded in early 2015, upGrad offers online programs for working professionals. We talked with Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, about how corona outbreak has affected Ecommerce startup.

    Talking about online education sector at large, seems, it took a global pandemic to bring online education into the mainstream, which has otherwise played second fiddle to the offline model. As per our recent statistics, the current situation has been a net positive for us. The inflection point was the second last week of February 2020 (17th Feb – 24th Feb) followed by the week next, when we started witnessing exponential traction towards our platform.

    In the last week of Feb, leads (~interested learners / prospects) increased by around 34% compared to the week before. It further soared as the country started to move towards the concept of social distancing. In the first week of March, our interest went up by 75% as well. Two to three weeks ago, we used to get 2,500 enquiries a day, but there has been a 50% upside with over 3,800 enquiries per day.  Therefore, to conclude, I would like to mention that the only way to move ahead is by adapting to the evolving environment as quickly as possible, else businesses would fall prey to such uncertain times and consecutive circumstances.

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