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  • AirCarry – Shop Your Favorite Products Across the World Right Here

    There are particularly two things that every person loves to do – Shopping and Traveling; apart from exploring and enjoying the various lip-smacking cuisines/food. Today we live in an interconnected world and as the world is getting smaller, people are getting exposed to wonderful products from across the globe. But most shoppers don’t get to enjoy their desired overseas products due to their unavailability in their home country/local region.

    Also, there are times when international products and new releases can be hard to avail of in one’s city or region. For example, limited edition handbags from Chanel or a beauty product from MAC/Clarins. One might want to have access to the new release that only exists in Paris or the US. This leaves you with 2 options – either pay the exorbitant international shipping fee or plead to a friend or family member to bring them their favorite overseas product on their trip.

    To address this issue AirCarry.io was launched in 2019 by Preetham Siddalingaswamy. AirCarry is a web platform that helps Shoppers to get products from anywhere in the world through a verified traveler on the AirCarry community who would purchase and deliver the product for a fee.

    Startup Name AirCarry
    Headquarter Bangalore
    Sector eCommerce, Travel & Logistics
    Founders Preetham Siddalingaswamy
    Founded 2019
    Parent Organization AirCarry, Inc.
    Website aircarry.io

    About AirCarry and How it Works
    AirCarry – USP and Innovation
    AirCarry – Target Market Size
    Founders of AirCarry and team
    How was AirCarry Started
    AirCarry – Startup Launch
    AirCarry – Startup Launch
    AirCarry – Business Model and Revenue Model
    AirCarry – Startup Challenges
    AirCarry – Growth
    AirCarry – Future Plans

    About AirCarry and How it Works

    AirCarry Website
    AirCarry’s Website

    AirCarry is a simple to use web platform that is mobile friendly and allows Shoppers across the globe to get any product from anywhere in the world. A Shopper just needs to paste the product link from the international website and in 3 simple steps will be able to get her/his favorite overseas product through an international traveler. On the other hand, Travellers can capitalize on their unused baggage space and offset some of their travel expenses – Travellers can pick and choose which product they want to deliver by going to the orders page on the website. AirCarry has partnered with robust world-class Payment systems like PayPal, which ensures safe and secure transactions on its platform. Shoppers’ funds are transferred to the traveler only after the Shopper has received the product. Shoppers and Travellers can communicate & clarify all things on AirCarry.io through the AirCarry chat messenger system.

    Also Read: Everything you need To know about Retarget Marketing

    AirCarry – USP and Innovation

    AirCarry wants to develop the philosophy of ‘One World. One Community’ and build the world’s most trusted peer-peer community that brings together Shoppers and Travelers alike. While the discerning shoppers get to buy and experience products they care for, AirCarry wants the travelers to earn a little in exchange that will offset some of their travel expenses and further enable them to travel and see more of this beautiful world, we all call home.

    AirCarry – Target Market Size

    AirCarry is set to disrupt the traditional expensive courier industry by creating its peer to peer gig economy in the Travel space between Shoppers and Travellers. Assocham recently published in EconomicTimes that the Luxury goods market alone in India is over $30 Billion and as per Boston Consulting Group this same market in China is over $120 Billion with over one-third of this spend happening overseas. When you add other product category segments like Electronics, Cosmetics, Beauty products, FMCG, Clothing, automobile accessories, etc and expand it across geographies like South East Asia, Latin American countries, Europe and Russia the opportunity get much bigger, as far as billions of dollars.

    On the other hand, the number of international travelers is increasing exponentially year after year – if you look up at the sky, around 1.2 million people are flying on 9,700 planes at any given point of time. Over 50% of these passengers are frequent fliers or passengers with excess/unused baggage space like young professionals, backpackers, students, etc. AirCarry now provides these globetrotters a way to capitalize on their unused baggage space and offset some of their travel expenses.

    Preetham says: “I realized this is a massive opportunity since nowadays everyone is aware of the various amazing products available across the globe and many times shopping from an international market is a much better option. Most of us in the team have spent our lives living and working away from our home countries before we got together to build this peer-to-peer community. We put in significant time & effort to ensure we design the most user-friendly & a simple system that supports people from different cultures and geographies. AirCarry.io today operates in over 80 countries.”

    Founder of AirCarry and Team

    Preetham Siddalingaswamy, Founder & CEO
    Preetham Siddalingaswamy, Founder & CEO 

    Preetham has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science engineering. After having worked in the IT industry for a couple of years, he went on to pursue his MBA at North Carolina State University in Supply Chain Management and Finance. He has over 14 years of experience in Supply Chain and Logistics in the Oil & Gas Industry by working for the most prestigious Oil & Gas firm, Chevron. As part of Chevron’s future leaders’ program, he got to live and work in several international cities across the globe and is known for building and managing high performing teams across countries and continents. Preetham is passionate about helping people, traveling and is a foodie at heart.

    Preetham is supported by an equally talented, dedicated and fantastic team that shares his passion for travel, technology, and shopping. Most of them have spent their lives living & working abroad before returning to their home country, which has helped them in truly understanding the opportunity at hand and think from the Shopper’s and Traveller’s perspective while designing the product.

    How was AirCarry Started

    AirCarry is built on Preetham’s experiences from the years he spent living overseas as well as in India. Experience of craving for something from India when he was away and on the contrary, longing for a few of the things not available when he came back home. It could have been a breakfast cereal or a sweet that he craved for, or a particular brand of apparel and the list is endless. This left him with the only choice – to wait for a traveling friend, family member or colleague to get those little things that give one joy for such little things are what makes this life joyful, right?

    It is this experience that got him thinking that there are many of us in a similar state of affairs, and this made him float the AirCarry platform. The basic idea was mainly to build a trusted community of Shoppers and international Travelers.

    AirCarry logo
    AirCarry logo

    The logo of AirCarry has a hot air balloon carrying a gift box which indicates the scenic route a product, that is most cherished and desired by a Shopper, takes on its journey with a Traveller on the AirCarry community. The Team truly believes that they are delivering happiness to everyone in the AirCarry Community.

    AirCarry – Startup Launch

    Since the launch, AirCarry has helped people to send gifts to their loved ones living across countries; it has helped parents who have extended their stay abroad to get their life-saving drugs from back home; it has helped a lot of fashionistas to enjoy and flaunt the best apparel, handbags, and cosmetics from abroad. There have even been bikers who have started requesting cool biking accessories from abroad to make their ride look more elegant!

    AirCarry works on the governing principles of Trust & Safety. This is the only peer to peer startup in India which connects Shoppers & Travelers providing a Money back guarantee, ensuring the authenticity of products and safety to all its community members. Travelers purchase the requested product for the Shoppers after the shopper has accepted a Traveler’s offer and deposited the funds in AirCarry payment systems. This ensures that the Traveler knows exactly what they are carrying and are assured of payment once they deliver the product to the shopper. This also helps Shopper that they don’t lose their money, and funds only get transferred to Traveler after the Shopper has received their requested product.

    “Transparency, Trust, Safety, and Communities are at the core of everything we do. Our systems are designed to provide the utmost transparency and reliability right from the time you start interacting with us and our community members. Hence, we provide a chat messenger system on our platform for our community members, Shoppers & Travelers, to chat with one another and clarify all questions they might have about a requested product and indicate the taxes being paid. We take pride in helping every member of the AirCarry community” Said the founder

    Also Read: How to Track Customer Acquisition in SaaS?

    AirCarry – Business Model and Revenue Model

    AirCarry charges a service fee on each successful delivery when it helps a Shopper connect with a Traveller, who purchases and delivers the requested product to the Shopper.

    AirCarry has also been approached by a few brands who want to launch in different geographies where such brands do not have a physical presence. These brands want to deliver their products to international markets through AirCarry community members. The AirCarry team believes there are a lot more avenues in capitalizing on this opportunity.

    AirCarry – Startup Challenges

    AirCarry team realizes that this is a new concept in the Indian eCommerce space and many of its users come to the platform, assuming that they would be able to browse through a product catalog and purchase an overseas product. AirCarry.io is facing the challenge of educating its users that an individual who is already aware of what overseas product they want can use this platform to publish their request which becomes visible to international travelers traveling to their city. Nonetheless, responding to the users’ feedback, the AirCarry team quickly built a blog to showcase some curated deals and international shopping sites from where Users can browse for more relevant products and post their requests accordingly.

    AirCarry, being a bootstrapped startup, is also facing the challenge of scaling quickly since the outreach through social media is restricted without paid advertisements. The team is working hard to create more awareness and visibility of the AirCarry brand.

    AirCarry – Growth

    AirCarry’s growth has been organic through word of mouth and its social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram. Whoever has heard about AirCarry have loved the concept and the platform; people have requested all kinds of items like electronics, watches, luxury handbags, perfumes, clothing, protein supplements, cosmetics, chocolates and now the team is even seeing requests for biking accessories, limited edition comic/action figurines.

    AirCarry has provided a much-needed web platform where people no longer need to wait for a family member to return from overseas or request a traveling friend “Please bring me that from there”. No more awkward requests, no more obligations – now everyone can enjoy all the wonderful products available across the globe without having to pay the exorbitant international shipping fee or having to make awkward requests. All the consumers have to do is post the product link on AirCarry.io and a Traveller would purchase and bring the product to your city. Shoppers are also ensured of authenticity since Travellers must upload the purchase receipt/proof of purchase on the platform. Thus, guaranteeing to the shopper of receiving genuine products.

    Also Read: The Best Calendar Apps that Will Help You Stay Organized in 2020

    AirCarry – Future Plans

    AirCarry.io was only recently launched and made available to the public after ensuring all aspects of its platform was functioning as required. The team wants to work towards making their brand more visible to all Indian shoppers and travelers to such an extent that every Shopper must consider purchasing their desired overseas product through AirCarry. In a couple of years, the AirCarry team also wants to start supporting the B2B space by forming strategic partnerships.

  • Reasons why we should focus on the betterment of user experience (UX)

    When we talk about technology, online presence, or any industry, whether of online type or offline type, User experience or UX is the term that is used widely (commonly). Nowadays, all the companies must manage a great user experience (UX) because user experience (UX) helps a lot in the business to grow well and rapidly. However, still many times, we forget to maintain a great user experience (UX). Through user experience, we can make anything easy, simple, and can fill up with more clarities and can enhance customer satisfaction.

    Some reasons why we should focus on the betterment of user experience (UX)

    • Enhanced traffic with ameliorated UX

    By improving user experience, we can increase the number of traffics from before, if you are stuck with the less traffic or in less number of sales of your services or products optimizing excellent user experience is one of the best solutions to get rid of this problem.

    Improved UX can affect fabulous impressions on the new customers, and once the customer receives impressed, that will draw his/her attention to revisit you. In a survey, it has found that 67% of visitors increased only through an excellent User experience (UX).

    • Improvements in UX design enhances customer loyalty:

    As we have told you that, you can improve 67% of your traffic with an ameliorated UX design, and you also know that returning users are often loyal to us, and the UX design does the same thing it helps to build CJM (Customer Journey Map)

    CJM helps in making a lot of things, i.e.:

    It helps to build empathy towards your visitors.
    It helps to discern bottlenecks.
    It helps to increase retention rates.
    These things make people more loyal to your site/company or your business.

    Improvements in UX design is a continuous process:

    Yes, you have read this right. Improving UX design is a constant process. We should always give shape to the UX design over some time when the new technologies are developed and or when you make changes to the

    Business/website, or in your products. It helps the customer to bring clarity toward your website/business, and also, by doing so, you can make them realize that you are active regularly.

    • You can improve your visibility on the search engines (SEO):

    From survey research, it has found that those who have a clean, user-friendly, and updated UX design are more visible on the search engines because, at this time, the search engine giants, like Google, are updating their algorithms day by day.

    UX easily fits SEO because somewhere both have common goals as SEO always targets search engine visibility, and UX focuses your audiences. SEO always aims people to the content that they need, and after UX design helps them to clear their doubts once they have redirected to your webpages/business.

    So on looking at all these factors and looking at algorithms of search engine giants, it is a must to have an updated UX design to build a better community.

    • User Experience can help to increase your website usability:

    A well-managed UX design helps your website to become more usable because a UX design always provides accurate information in a perfect position. A better UX design can help the user to get the right sense of pieces of information on whatever they are searching for them. SO always try to give out the best of your business/website information because it can directly impact on the mind of the user. Just like this Trebify, a review website mainly focusing to provide better review to users through clean UI and UX.

    • UX design can cut off the Development expenditure:

    What will happen if I say that a better and an updated UX design can cut off your needless expenses? Yes, this is true. By making a better UX design, you can estimate the things more accurately because a good design consists of the detailed structure of your business/site.

    • You can gain credibility through an updated UX design:

    Whenever a user visits you, the first question that hits in his/her mind is that ‘is this a trustworthy company/website/product’? And yes, this so right that through better design, it helps people to trust you even more rather than having a poor design.

    It would help if you always tried to give your customer/user something that your opponent can’t give out, and to do this, UX design is also one of the essential factors. If you are gaining credibility from your plan, it directly impacts the conversion rate and leads them to stand apart.

    Conclusion

    User Experience plays a vital role in every step, and luckily there are several ways from which you can offer your user a good User Experience. A perfect and an updated UX design helps your user to understand the better analytics, to gain the exact information, and to stay loyal to you or your company.

    Through an updated UX design, you can remain visible to your customers/users every time.

  • How Ethical Time Tracking Can Make Productive and Happy Remote Teams

    Everyone has a natural tendency to want to be respected by people around them, whether it’s their boss or subordinates, kids or parents, friends, colleagues, and other relationships. It is the same situation when it comes to work. A study conducted by The Energy Project and Harvard Business Review showed that 63% of employees who feel respected are happy and satisfied with their jobs. The study also said that such workers recorded a 58% increased focus rate and a 110% likelihood to stick to their jobs.

    While time tracking may be necessary to keep remote teams on their toes as they work from home, employers should seek for methods of monitoring their employees without making them feel like they are being disrespected. Using a good time tracker with screenshots to monitor remote employee productivity is helpful. Such a tool will enable you to manage your team effectively even when they are scattered in different locations around the globe. It will also help to increase your staff’s happiness so that they’ll be motivated to give their best to your business always.

    Traqq is a time management software that can help you monitor how your remote team uses their time, without toning down on respect and honor. Moreover, the tool is user-friendly, highly functional, and secure. It has all the features you need to boost workforce productivity.

    Here are tips that show you how ethical time tracking with Traqq can help make productive and happy remote teams.

    1. Providing Reliable Data Security

    Employees value their privacy, and they feel insecure when using software that makes their personal data vulnerable. As a remote team manager, focus on using time tracking apps with high security, so that your workers can perform their responsibilities without fear of losing their confidential information. Traqq is an efficient time tracking app that ensures the security of its users by protecting their privacy. The software guarantees that people using the product have their passwords accessible only to them and other people they divulge the details to.

    Users who don’t want to share their activities with a third-party are free to adjust their profile settings. Moreover, Traqq does not request your details, such as your credit/debit card details or other payment information. Thus, it is hardly possible to lose important data.

    2. Designed to Keep You Focused

    When using a time tracker to take screenshots or live video recording of activities, it may disrupt what your employees are doing and cause them to be distracted from work. Your remote team will be happier if they can use software that captures pictures and videos without interrupting what they are doing. These features are well integrated into Traqq.

    3. Ethical Monitoring

    Do you want to monitor your employees’ activities without making them feel like you’re spying or exposing them to unseen eyes? Traqq helps you achieve that, with screenshots and live screen recordings of your remote team’s actions. On top of that, the quality of the captured pictures and videos are intentionally reduced to prevent sensitive and personal information from being visible. The reason for this feature is to protect users’ privacy further.

    4. Making Tracking Less Complicated

    There are browsers, games, and other useful applications that tend to reduce the performance of your device when running them. However, Traqq is more computer-friendly. It helps you achieve all that you want without causing any harm to your computer.

    5. Improving Transparency Within the Team

    Do you wish to have an honest appraisal of the capabilities of each member of your remote team? Traqq helps to provide a detailed event log of your work-from-home employees. It also helps to display your remote workers’ activity levels so you can know the ones to encourage to be better. Knowing the capabilities of each member of your remote team helps you gain insight into how to boost your workforce’s happiness and productivity.

    6. Comprehensive Time Tracking Features

    Traqq comes in handy for monitoring and tracking your employees’ work. It offers several features which include the following:

    • Real-time logging of events that are accessible to you
    • Screenshots and live screen recordings of employee activities
    • App and website monitoring to know your remote team’s most frequently used software and the most visited webpages
    • Mouse and keyboard tracking to monitor clicking and typing activities, and more

    With such features, your remote team will be more disciplined with time management, and they will become more responsible with the roles the company has entrusted in their care.

    7. Simplifying Reports and Invoices

    Instead of tasking your brain with collating reports from your remote teammates, allow Traqq to do it quickly. The software automates the generation of reports you need from your employees. This takes the burden off your team and creates a happy, convenient environment for them to work.

    Creating invoices on Traqq is much easier than asking your remote workers to do it manually. The application records the total number of hours worked within a set period and generates an accurate value based on each employee’s hourly rates.

    Conclusion

    While remote work is an ideal alternative for conventional office setups, time management is still as crucial. That’s why you need to monitor remote employee productivity using useful software. With Traqq, your goal of achieving an ethical time tracking to keep your remote team happy and productive can become a reality.

  • Sahil Dev: How I Designed My Own World | Know the StartupTalker

    StartupTalky is one of the strongest community in India and we have a lot of professionals who are doing great in their lives. To share their learnings and inspire as many people as we can, we are interviewing all the StartupTalkers in our “Know the StartupTalker” series.

    Today, we have Sahil Dev as our interviewee. Sahil is an amazing designer who can beat the biggest of the industry with his talent. This is the whole story of this creative man in his own words.

    Who is Sahil Dev?

    I completed my primary education from Akbedkarngar, a very small district near Faizabad. I was good at studies, scored decent marks in 10th & 12th (Uttar Pradesh Board). I used to do draw and I was good at it but in the 10th standard, I chose Sanskrit over Arts and in the 12th standard,  I chose Mathematics over Biology. So, the only option was left for me at that time was engineering. Back then, I did not know design due to a lack of resources. I cleared JEE and joined IIT-BHU for Mechanical Dual Degree (5-year course). In 12th standard, I developed a great interest in Mathematics and Physics but after spending 2 years in IIT-BHU, I started losing my interest. I tried learning Photoshop during my 3rd year in college & designed a few posters for college events but I was never part of the design team (Film & Media Club). I had never thought about designing as a career option before the final year of engineering. I didn’t sit for campus recruitment and also didn’t prepare for the PSU’s and government exams because I was confused about my career choice.

    Due to all these, my M.Tech project got extended for 6 months. During that period, I came to know about CEED (2016) and applied for it. I secured a rank but it wasn’t good enough to get a seat for visual communication in IIT-Bombay. During this time I started doing some personal & paid freelance projects which were related to logo and branding design but as mentioned I didn’t get a call from IIT-Bombay. Because of family pressure, I came to Delhi for the preparation of IES & GATE 2017. I decided that I won’t design anymore but the love for design kept growing. Just before GATE 2017 (5th February), I decided not to sit for it. Within a month, I joined ScrollDroll as a Senior Visual Designer and then Crownstack as UI/UX Designer. After working for 7-8 months, I switched to full-time freelancing. Recently, I joined Guerrillas as the Creative Head & I also do some freelance projects in my free time.

    How does your Normal Day looks like?

    To be honest, I don’t follow any routine. I might end up doing stuff at very unexpected timings, such as watching a movie at  9-10 am or sleeping in the afternoon and working late at night around 3-4 am.

    What are your job responsibilities?

    There are two sides of my work: Business Side & Personal Side.

    Business side involves all kind of business projects which I take such as branding, UI-UX & advertising but the personal projects involve taking up social issues & problems in a creative & thought-provoking way.

    What have you failed at?

    I applied for CEED 2016 but didn’t secure a good rank. I had to make a choice at that time and I came to Delhi for IES/GATE preparation. I come from a middle-class family of a small town where government jobs are given prime importance. So, later when I switched to designing, the most difficult task to convince my parents & family for the same.

    Also, if people might want to consider it a failure, I got two backlogs in the 2nd year & 6 months extension during my M.Tech project.

    Also read: A Brief Case Study of Failed Startups

    What are your Superpowers?

    Creativity = Good Observation + Good Imagination

    What are some tools and gadgets you use?

    Mostly, I use Adobe Illustrator for branding & minimal posters, Adobe Photoshop for mockups & advertising and, Figma for UI/UX. I would like to recommend Figma to all people who are a little bit interested in design because it’s a great tool for UI/UX and also it’s completely free.

    Also read: 10 Best Tools for a Graphic Designer

    Who or what has shaped who you are?

    It’s my father who shaped me to an extent. He is a simple and honest man and that’s all I want to be, a good designer and a better human. There are other great people with whom I am connected and all of them make some impact on my life & work.

    What are some hacks you have learned in the Designing world?

    When we start something new, most of us don’t know where to start from. It happens in the design field as well. For any great creation it is not necessary to develop the idea from scratch. You can also pick any existing idea and enhance it with your own creative knowledge and it will be yours.

    How do you validate your design?

    Whenever I work on a new logo project, I always validate my designs via:

    • Cross-check with the help of keywords
    • Google & Bing reverse image search
    • TinEye reverse image search

    Meanwhile big companies.

    What’s the most inspiring quote for you?

    Everything you can imagine is real ― Pablo Picasso

    What are you currently reading, or what do you recommend?

    I am not much of a book reader but recently I read “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson” and currently I am reading “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari”.

    Also read: List of books for Entrepreneurs

    How do you keep track of what you have to do?

    I use Google Calendar & To Do by Microsoft.

    If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?

    No, I don’t think so. I am content with my career decision and would pursue on similar lines.

    What’s your workspace look like?

    ScrollDroll office:

    Guerrillas Office:

    Anything else you would like to share?

    If you are reading this it would take you hardly a minute to click on my social media links.😊

    What is your long term plan?

    I don’t believe in long term planning. Whatever I do in the moment I make sure to give my 100% efforts. May be in near future, I would like to explore more about my other hobbies – poetry & photography.

    Thank you Sahil Dev for being a part of StartupTalky Community.

    Also Read: Learn from stories of other StartupTalkers here.

  • How to Overcome 8 Most Common Challenges as a Freelancer

    When talking of the freelancing scenario in the country, it is widely estimated that by the year 2025, the ‘freelancers’ market of India will grow to a whopping $20-30 billion. Nearly 23% of these Indian freelancers have annual earnings of ₹60 lakh and lie under the age of 40.

    With the rise of the entrepreneurship culture in India, freelancing is more popular than ever. The best paying freelancing jobs in India are Web Development, Graphic Designing, Social Media Specialist, Accountant, Digital Marketing, and Content Writing. Contrary to the common beliefs, the freelancing business is not all about perks, the challenges form an ample share of this work culture.

    Most Common Challenges Faced By a Freelancer and How to Overcome Them

    ways to overcome challenges faced by freelancer
    Ways to overcome challenges faced by the freelancer

    Managing Time
    plan
    Finding work
    Not Getting Paid for Work
    Working alone
    Creative Block
    Completing Works Before Deadlines
    Procrastination or De-motivation
    No Consistent Work

    Managing Time

    One of the major challenges one faces as a freelancer is time management. As the line between private time and working hours gets blurred, the subject becomes quite a complicated issue. Flexible working hours were one of the major reasons that made you consider freelancing. But once your work starts getting affected by  ‘flexibility’, it is not a perk anymore.

    How to manage your time effectively?

    Time can be effectively managed by having a proper plan of the day to day activities. Effective planning is considered the most important aspect of time management.

    plan

    How to plan your tasks for efficiency?

    Constantly updating your calendar with your work assignments, keeping track of how much time you spent on every task, setting per day goals, and working with time reports will help you stay ahead in the game. The best part? You don’t even have to do all of that manually. Freelancing tools like Freedom, Tomato Timer, RescueTime, and Freework enable you to do just that with a click of a button.

    Finding Work

    If you have already had your first brush with freelancing, you know what a major challenge can this be. As more and more freelancers join the workforce, the competition gets only tougher each day. Nobody wants to end up with months of unemployment and rejection.

    How to find more work projects as a freelancer?

    There are a large number of online platforms out there that enable service providers and recruiters to come together and benefit from each other. Content mart, Truelancer, Freelancer, Upwork, and Fiverr are some of such popular services, catering to this purpose. Building your brand, keeping an attractive portfolio, Connecting with more people and Active networking helps you increase your probability of finding work.

    Not Getting Paid for Work

    Being a freelancer also means not getting paid sometimes. As you gain experience you eventually learn to protect yourself from non-paying clients. But in the interim, you might even find yourself running after your client to pay you for what you deserve.

    How to overcome Notorious Clients?

    Insist your employer on making a contract before you offer your confirmation and start working on the project. Or better yet, make the process easier for your client and make one yourself, and get your client’s approval. There are several tools like Bonsai, Termsfeed, and Freelancy that help you with the legal issues and generate a contract on your own. In the absence of any job securities, contracts protect your interests as a freelancer

    working alone

    working alone
    Working alone

    Surprised!? It might have been one of the major reasons why you had quit your job. Turns out it doesn’t hurt to have a team, behind your back, who support you when an assignment is becoming too hard and keep updating you with their feedback as you progress. Unless your profits are great, you can’t even hire an assistant and once you accept an assignment, there is no backing out. You are all alone in this.

    How not be lonely as a freelancer?

    Find a freelancer community where you can interact and learn from the experiences of many more of your kind. Platforms like these help you build networks and help you find a support system, wherein you can share your doubts and discuss your problems openly. Taking regular breaks from work and turning to your friends and family for some ‘out’ time helps.

    Creative Block

    One of the major challenges you face as a freelancer is getting stuck in a creative block, this not only hampers your learning but also makes things monotonous.

    How to overcome Creative Block?

    Keep updating your style sense with new trends. Try looking for inspiration in new places and give your old style a break. You can even start with some intense brainstorming sessions instead of directly coming to work. The bottom line is, don’t hesitate to explore new genres and styles, even if they lie out of your comfort zone.

    Completing Works Before Deadlines

    This is also a part of time management. Becoming a freelancer might be easy, getting work also might be easy. But you have to learn to set deadlines. Often, the client will ask to complete a task immediately or give you work to complete within a short period. This is a common challenge that many freelancers face.

    How to complete projects on time?

    Do not hurry while planning the task. Making decisions based on assumptions should be avoided. Taking time to plan the work deadline is a good idea. If any client wants service in urgency then try communicating with them. Tell them why you need that specific time to complete and that the quality of work will suffer if you do it in urgency.

    Procrastination or De-motivation

    You can’t be self-motivated every time and this is a common problem in every profession whether you are doing a job or working as a freelancer. Even sometimes you may feel unwell and postpone your work. Taking a break is not a problem but if you want to become a successful freelancer then you have to work hard without any break.

    How to overcome De-motivation?

    Plan every day and Setting long-term goals can be difficult to accomplish results in de-motivation, so divide your goals and set targets daily. If you feel demotivated anytime, check the good feedbacks which you have received from your clients and also don’t forget to reward yourself for every goal you achieve.

    No Consistent Work

    Freelancers face this problem so often. Sometimes they get a load of work but the next month there is little work or even no job. In India, the competition among freelancers is very high, but to survive this race you have to find a way.

    How to overcome the Inconsistency?

    Don’t depend on the clients you are working for. Research other online platforms searching for work. Getting work constantly is very difficult, so creating your profile on websites like Fiverr, People Per Hour, etc, and doing something different with your gig which makes you stand out might help you to make money consistently.

    Conclusion

    Challenges are everywhere no matter what career field you choose but this is the right time when you should start freelancing and build your own business. We are living in a digital era where we have all the resources and opportunities we need to grow and bring the best out of ourselves. There are also many freelancing communities out there from where you can get the support you need to grow your freelancing business. As when you work with a team you can overcome challenges easily and can bring your freelancing career to another level.

  • LegalDesk – Now Create Legal Documents in Minutes!

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

    Making legal documents is a cumbersome process and this is the reason why often common man gets scared with just a mention of legal documentation and formalities. But thankfully now help is at hand. With the motive of simplifying the process of legal documentation, Bengaluru based startup, LegalDesk.com was launched in early 2014 by  two enthusiastic entrepreneurs Ashok Kadsur and Krupesh Bhat. The sole vision of  LegalDesk.com is to make legal services easily accessible.

    LegalDesk Highlights

    Startup Name LegalDesk
    Headquarter Bengaluru
    Founders Krupesh Bhat & Ashok Kadsur
    Sector Legal Tech
    Founded 2014
    Website www.legaldesk.com

    About LegalDesk and How it Works
    LegalDesk – Founders and Team
    LegalDesk – Startup Challenges
    LegalDesk – Competitors
    LegalDesk – Growth
    LegalDesk – Future Plans

    About LegalDesk and How it Works

    LegalDesk simplifies the process of legal documentation with its user-friendly interface and using the advantages of digitization.

    LegalDesk was ideally designed to help normal people in drafting their legal documents remotely, eliminating the need to visit a lawyer. The needed legal documents can be customized on LegalDesk by filling in the required details. Documents are drafted with utmost caution by a competent team of in-house lawyers of LegalDesk. So all the users have to do is answer some questions on the platform to generate legal documents.

    The users have the option to purchase just the softcopy which they can print on Stamp paper before proceeding further. The next option is to let the company handle the Stamp paper printing part. In this case, LegalDesk acquires stamp paper of recommended value and prints the document on it and delivers it to the users.

    All the legal forms are subjected to several rounds of review and are guaranteed to be flawless. The users can also customize and add clauses that they feel are necessary in their case.

    LegalDesk offers specialized services for startups. It addresses the concerns of budding entrepreneurs through its unique product- Startup Package. This product helps startups with their initial processes like getting registered with required authorities and simultaneously also taking care of all the legal documentation and related paperwork for the newborn venture.

    The Incorporation packages at LegalDesk covers some of the most hectic and essential procedures like obtaining the DSC certificate, PAN, TAN, MOA & AOA and their approval and registration of the name. This venture also offers a business documentation package that interestingly offers a set of DIY legal documents and eSigns at a great price.

    With the above-mentioned services, there’s a lot more than LegalDesk caters to in totality. They cover a wide range of legal documentation needs. LegalDesk also offers stamp paper printing and door-step delivery services in the majority of the metros and cities.

    LegalDesk – Founders and Team

    LegalDesk founders Krupesh Bhat & Ashok Kadsur were classmates in college but they followed different paths after graduating. Krupesh after taking his degree in MCA moved to the States after working in India for a while. He worked as a software engineer for ten years in the US and then did an MBA in Finance from the University of Maryland. After returning to the home country, he set up Enclever in Bangalore, a digital media marketing venture

    While the other co-founder, Ashok after finishing his graduation worked in a variety of Business Development & Marketing jobs at varying levels with multinationals & Indian companies. After Krupesh returned to India, they went on to curating their own venture- LegalDesk.com

    The LegalDesk team consists of Lawyers, Developers, Graphic designers, Digital, SEO, Support & Business teams.

    LegalDesk – Startup Challenges

    Like any online platform that digitally serves people, LegalDesk too has the same hurdles as constantly being on their toes to ensure that there are no technical glitches on the platform. Next is being in touch with the consumers to ensure their satisfaction in the best possible manner.

    LegalDesk – Competitors

    With the advent of digitization, there are a lot of other platforms like VakilSearch, MyCase, LogicalDoc amongst a plethora of players that have been entering the industry. With that, the threat of competition is increasing at a substantial level in the online legal services sector.

    LegalDesk – Growth

    • More than 55000 hits per month
    • More than 6500 registered users
    • Sold more than 2100 different kinds of legal documents.

    LegalDesk – Future Plans

    Like most modern-day start-ups, LegalDesk too is hoping to impact the lives of many Indians through its easy and effortless services and products. With firmly rooted values that run in the organization and a competent team that works tirelessly, LegalDesk is shooting for the stars.

  • TNQ InGage- Curating top-notch technology advancements to create a better world!

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

    While the world was still stuck to the smartphone revolution, there was this founder who had the vision to revolutionize the way people and businesses train, learn and perform with superior technologies like AR, VR, etc to significantly enhance knowledge and improve the quality of life. We’re talking about none other than Vijay Karunakaran who launched InGage technologies in 2012.

    Startup Name TNQ InGage Technologies LLP
    Headquarter Chennai
    Sector Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES)
    Founders Vijay Karunakaran
    Founded 2012
    Parent Organization TNQ InGage Technologies LLP
    Website tnqingage.com

    About TNQ Ingage and How it Works
    Founders of TNQ Ingage
    What problem does TNQ Ingage solve?
    TNQ Ingage – USP & Innovation
    TNQ Ingage – Target Market Size
    TNQ Ingage – Acquisitions & Mergers
    How was TNQ Ingage Started
    TNQ Ingage – Startup Launch
    TNQ Ingage – Business Model and Revenue Model
    TNQ Ingage – Startup Challenges
    TNQ Ingage – Funding and Investors
    TNQ Ingage – Growth

    About TNQ Ingage and How it Works

    TNQ InGage offers construction-based services to overcome workforce training challenges, to improve performances, creating a safe work culture, and closing the experience gap – all while reducing cost and risk. The TNQ InGage services are meant for all core sectors such as Buildings & Factories, Oil & Gas, Transmission & Distribution, Heavy Civil, and Highway Engineering. The modules it provides include Site Equipment Erection Techniques & Inspection, Fire & Excavation Safety, Heavy Vehicle Management, Power Tools Training & Operation, and a whole host of others. The Augmented Reality Field services here include the provision of digital manuals – which helps the field crew to assess real-time task-based information, and Inspection & Design Reviews – where it uses HoloLens to deliver remote inspections and design review by enabling 3D views over a building.

    In the manufacturing sector, TNQ InGage training helps reduce risk and accelerate implementation during the laying of complex automated facilities, and benefits configuration, safety, and workplace ergonomics. Performance training is provided in terms of product training, disassembly and maintenance training, etc. The AR Field Services in the manufacturing sector caters to Repair & Maintenance – where technicians are allowed to work hands-free and faster, with each step in a troubleshooting or repair process displayed in their field of view; Expert assistance – through AR solutions that provide remote experts with virtual views, with which they can monitor and provide instant feedback; and Quality Control – through solutions that guide operators to perform inspection tasks and identify parts that are missing or incorrectly assembled.

    In the healthcare sector, custom immersive solutions are capable of enhancing the proficiency of the trainees. TNQ InGage builds realistic training simulators integrated with force-feedback technology and motion tracking so that professionals could train with real medical procedures before facing the patient. It’s customized modules here include Medical & Healthcare Training, Patient Experience, Physician Empathy, Vision Care Assessment, Rehabilitation, and more.

    And its Digital Experience Centres, as already observed, is a place that encourages collaboration and has proven to be a valuable resource for company-wide workshops and employee onboarding.

    Also Read: 16 Must-Watch Bollywood Movies For Entrepreneurs

    Founders of TNQ Ingage and team

    TNQ Technologies is a 21-year-old company that focuses on content technologies and products, with a strength of 2,500 employees in its ranks. “They’ve joined hands with us on the firm belief that the future of content consumption lies in leveraging AR and VR environments and have made this investment with TNQ InGage as a part of their long-term strategy.” Said Vijay. Its extensive work over the last seven years and the strong relationships with prestigious customers and partners furthered the company’s interest in forming this Joint Venture.

    On the other side, Ingage is looking at TNQ Technologies as a long-term strategic partner that would help them with growth and scalability. As stated earlier, they are investing in R&D to improve human interaction with virtual objects, with the object of developing projects and services that will have a socially meaningful impact on how people train, work and live. They are also looking to penetrate the global market, which includes the world of book-publishing by leveraging TNQ’s existing capabilities and competencies.

    TNQ Ingage Team
    TNQ Ingage Team

    TNQ Technologies would be involved in the following roles as a part of this Joint Venture:

    • Supporting growth and scalability by introducing process, best practices, and bandwidth.
    • Providing essential HR and Software support for sustaining rapid and significant growth.
    • Providing financial support to make investments in people, technology, and products.
    • Providing strategic investments with a long-term strategy.
    • Promoting AR to book publishing by leveraging our contacts and capabilities.
    • Leveraging its reach in the Indian market to support sales.
    • Leveraging the existing global marketing capabilities through sales personnel across Europe.

    InGage’s role in this partnership is to provide meaningful technical solutions with a human touch. In this new and most exciting phase, they emphasize their commitment to providing customers with a more enriching and productive experience through our Immersive Technology portfolios. The Ingage team believes that this partnership will help us in our pursuit of developing their range of AR/VR products by embedding HCI (Human-Computer Interface), through which the objects in our environment can interact with each other, as well as with humans. And they are also looking to penetrate the global market, which includes the world of book-publishing by leveraging TNQ’s existing capabilities and competencies.

    The entire team of TNQ InGage live, breathe, talk, walk immersive Computing. The team of storyboard artists, 3D engineers, animators, and lighting artists bring the creative half to the table, while the unity and unreal developers, algorithm developers, hardware specialists, Android and IOS developers, and program managers get their heads down and build solid experiences for clients. This venture hires people who are ceaselessly driven towards the pursuit of excellence and they are currently a team of 50 plus people.

    TNQ InGage – What problems does TNQ InGage solve?

    Its services involve empathy, which makes this venture build life-like experiences in a virtual world. VR taps into the power of tech and creative storytelling to make learning immersive, retainable, explorable, and seamless. It is a truly immersive and tactile medium that engages all senses to imprint training sessions on memory, which results in higher retention and absorption rates. Its main USP lies in upskilling, as 50% of global business leaders identify skill shortage as a key workforce challenge.

    The training mode significantly reduces the time, cost, and risk spent on traditional training sessions; statistics suggest that VR Based Training improves learning quality and retention rates by 76%.

    The virtual environment empowers people to practice experiences that would mean a lot of risk in a physical setting. It is a platform for technicians and engineers to explore, investigate, and learn to navigate scenarios that would be a part of their working lives. The TNQ InGage team’s expertise, which has helped complete more than 500 projects with many Fortune 500 Companies, is continuously working towards creating compelling experiences. Also, their design-centric VR development flow drives experiences across all Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs). The feedback mechanism would track the performance of people so that they can rectify their portions of error.

    The AR Based Services allow engineers in the construction and manufacturing industry to use AR glass or a smartphone to get virtual step-by-step live instructions while performing machine repair and other maintenance tasks. The integration with IoT leads to faster performance of machines, embedding sensors and intelligence that can monitor and generate data so that timely action can be taken to prevent any instances of downtime. AR Healthcare Solutions enable surgeons to perform complicated procedures better, by rendering 3D reconstructions of the body part. TNQ InGage converges IoT and AR to transform industrial maintenance and field services by real-time capturing of data and conversion of the same into recommendations. This leads to faster and efficient identification of errors, with scope for speedy remedial.

    Ideally, TNQ InGage conceptualizes, designs, and delivers Digital Experience Centers that provide a hands-on, experiential space for customers, employees, and trainees to collaborate with technologies such as AR, VR, MR, AI, IoT, Robotics, and other techniques. It is specifically designed for performing thoughtful, transformative digital initiatives in a space that encourages innovation and engagement. These Centres have proven to be a valuable resource for company-wide workshops and employee onboarding.

    Also Read: Top 10 Youngest Entrepreneurs of India

    TNQ InGage – USP and Innovation

    TNQ InGage’s technology-based solutions are specifically meant for enterprises because it believes that to make the world better, one needs to make it smarter. “We don’t believe in tech for tech’s sake, but in tech for humanity’s sake. Since our inception, we have been continuously observing, developing, and testing production techniques and optimized hardware solutions. Our passion for this technology means that we will continue to learn from any future advancements as the technology is moving towards mainstream adoption. Our higher level of consumer focus helps us deliver projects with compelling content.” Says the founder

    TNQ InGage also has creative technologists who blend creativity and technology to create compelling experiences. Its Bespoke range of solutions serves the purpose of analyzing requirements and caters to other purposes like Architecture and Interior Design, procurement and deployment of the appropriate hardware, as well as the development and deployment of content. Apart from this, the team works with strong expertise that has helped them complete more than 500 projects in a short span of years, a cross-platform technology that can be deployed across all AR & VR devices, and an intelligent feedback mechanism. Last but not least, TNQ InGage solutions are cost-effective.

    TNQ Ingage – Target Market Size

    Industrial investments of AR/VR are exceeding the expectations. It is envisaged to triple its size in the years to come. To say that we are in a digital age is an understatement, post-digital may be an appropriate term. This is because the technology of today is getting more and more intuitive that it would change the way we learn and conduct our endeavors.

    The global market of AR/VR was estimated at USD 18.4 billion in 2018, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 76% and hit the 180 billion mark by 2022. The Indian AR/VR market is expected to grow to $ 6.5 billion by the same time. We have a lot of significant players, both minor and major, in the areas of Technology and Platform Development, App Development, and System Integration, who could tap into the promising global Immersive Media Market. We can look forward to a time when India emerges as a large supplier of the global AR/VR demand, while also catering to the domestic segment.

    How was TNQ Ingage Started?

    It all started much before the company was founded. Vijay’s journey with this technology began in the year 2002 while at Intel, building the first generation bulky VR systems for healthcare industries. As a Director at Intel, he was part of the team that drove the 1st two waves of computing – desktop & mobile. He was fully aware that a third wave of “immersive computing” is around the corner where technology can sense, predict with the possibility of virtual presence anytime, anywhere using virtual and augmented reality.

    And so he launched InGage Technologies in the year 2012, sensing the next wave of immersive computing that would make people change the way they create and consume content from observation to immersion.

    Vijay has been in this industry for around 15 years and witnessed closely the seeds of transformation that we are experiencing now. His first-hand experience in this sphere and the knowledge of potential implications made him believe in immersive computing, which comes with a lot of scopes, thanks to its brilliance and transformative capabilities.

    “We began our endeavors by coming up with India’s first-ever 4D Augmented Reality application in 2013 for Rajinikanth starrer Kochadaiiyaan Film. We had tied up with Karbonn smartphones & Kochadaiiyaan for the project.” Says Vijay.

    The application, which allows Rajinikanth fans to see him perform stunts and actions right at their home, was then shown to the Superstar, who was quite delighted with the experience and approved the project immediately. The AR application received very positive feedback and won accolades across the world for its quality.

    TNQ Ingage – Startup Launch

    The belief in immersive computing, 18 years of international experience and the financial stability that Vijay achieved by then helped in launching the company with no user. Digital marketing, attending events, references through our good work and age-old networking helped in the acquisition of initial customers.

    TNQ Ingage – Business Model and Revenue Model

    The current focus is service business through customized AR VR short-term and long-term projects across the manufacturing, construction and healthcare industries. TNQ InGage just launched VR As A Service (VAAS) model that would give us a recurring subscription revenue. The team is also working towards launching products next year.

    TNQ Ingage – Startup Challenges

    Team building was a challenge since there was no AR VR development talent pool then. As a result, the top management had to train the hires within the company through a rigorous process to overcome that. At the time one of the AR platforms/App called Jaadu that lets people scan objects, images and find the cheapest deal available across on-line & nearby stores didn’t work out since it was too early for consumers to download the App and change their buying behavior. This posed a threat back then.

    Also Read: A List of Books You Must Read if You Are or Want to be an Entrepreneur

    TNQ Ingage – Funding and Investors

    In early 2019, Eyeing strong AR & VR business opportunities in India’s enterprise market, TNQ Technologies has formed a Joint Venture (JV) with InGage to launch TNQ InGage. This Joint Venture brings together InGage’s immersive technology expertise and IP, and TNQ’s initial investment of $2 million and management expertise. The funding will be used to scale up the delivery of immersive products and services and invest in product R&D.

    TNQ Ingage – Growth

    As mentioned, the current focus is service business through customized AR VR projects across manufacturing, construction and healthcare industries. TNQ InGage also just launched VR As A Service (VAAS) model that would give them a recurring subscription revenue. The team is also working towards launching products next year. The future is quite positive and exciting due to the penetration and adoption of the immersive technologies in the enterprise market and the success, expertise, and clientele the venture has achieved so far

  • How To Make Invitation Videos In 8 Steps?

    Sending SMSs, cards, emails to invite relatives and friends for any occasion are mediums of the past. Today the technology has changed and so has the way we send the invitations.

    Video invitations are trending these days as it offers a way to interact with the guests in a better way, and the host can share all the information related to the occasion in a short while. Several apps help you create video invitations easily and quickly.

    If you have been thinking of creating a video invitation for your upcoming party, then here is all the information to make an impressive invitation and leave a mark on your guests’ hearts.

    Reasons to send Video invitations

    • It is tempting: Although written invitations are informative and images draw the attention of guests, above all these, video invitations engage your audience with combined effects of sound, images, and written messages.
    • Viral Effects: Another reason for the popularity of the video invitation is it’s being a personal invitation. You will create videos by personally inviting the guests through it. The more engaging your invitation is, the more compelling your guests may feel to be a part of the event.
    • Sound Execution: The video invitation itself is a strong associating medium, which gets more effective with sound execution. The main motive of an invitation video is to attract the guests and compel them to attend the event. Thus the great content along with the matching audio track is enough to make a difference.
    • A faster way of invitation: Video invitations can be sent online within a few seconds to the guests staying far away from your place, informing them about the event and its details. Guests will enjoy the invitations in the form of videos more than the text.
    • Online RSVP: The invitees can watch your invitation videos and reply instantly to your invitations through their smartphones. This will allow you to get an estimate of the number of people attending the event so that you can plan accordingly.
    • Eco-friendly: The traditional wedding invitations are sent in the form of paper cards, but invitation videos will allow you to send the invitations in a digital and creative way, thus saving the paper. Also, the distribution of traditional wedding cards consumes too much fuel that contributes to pollution. So you can save your environment too using video invitations.
    • Economical way of invitation: Invitation videos save you the money as you can easily create them online and send them across to the guests with just a click. Also, you can share them on your social media apps.

    How to create a video invitation?

    It is super easy to create a video invitation, thanks to the variety of online tools. You have to pick the template as per the theme and occasion of your invitation. Then you add the content of your choice by showing your creativity and impress your guests with your unique way of invitation.

    Go through the steps and create your invitation video-

    Choose the template:

    The style and design of the invitation video is the main game-changer. Every online video making site has a wide variety of templates to choose from. You can select the template that showcases your party theme. As an example, if it is a birthday party invitation, then you can choose a template with balloons.

    Create a compelling story:

    Make the video narrating the story behind it. Date, time, and venue are part of the invitation, but you can make the video more engaging by giving a personal touch to the video. As an example, in the case of a wedding invitation, you can show a glimpse of the special moments, how you met, and thus making your guests attached emotionally with your beautiful journey.

    Add Images:

    Then you can customize your video by adding your favorite images and give it a personal touch. With each image, you can showcase a memorable moment related to the picture. You can make your images more alluring by editing them. You can edit videos online using any online tools and make your videos look more interesting.

    Personalize with the messages:

    Adding personal messages in fun fonts makes a difference to the video and to the overall invitation. Use classic fonts for a traditional event or stylish fonts for a fun event. You can add messages such as “Be a part of” or “You are cordially invited” followed by the reason for invitation, date, time, and venue of the event.

    Add music/audio:

    The next step is to give a voice to your video. You can choose matching music or choose to add personal messages in your voice. Music adds flow to the video. Therefore, musical invites are quite popular. The online platform you are using to create your invitation video might have many pre-recorded music files that you can choose or you can select any other music of your choice.

    Add Special Effects:

    The invitation videos can be made more appealing by adding special effects with the help of online editors. You can use the online editors that come with unique features such as animated effects, text styles, overlays, filters, and much more. There are varieties of editing tools, most of which are easy to use that even a computer novice can utilize it.

    Give the details:

    You have done with enough effort to make your video unique, but do not forget to give the most relevant information on an invitation video. Add date, time, and venue of the event to make your guests present at the right location and right time.

    Add finishing touch:

    Before finalizing your video, make sure to proofread all the information provided in the video. Add special effects or flying fonts if you want. Do remember to play and watch the video before saving to see if any other changes are required.

    That is all, and your invitation video is ready to welcome your guests.

    Conclusion

    All in all, video invitations are the most trending way to invite guests for your next event, whether it is a wedding invitation, birthday invitation, a simple get together, or any other kind of gathering. You can also be a part of this trend and give it a try for your next party.

  • VisionWagon- Buy affordable Fashion eyewear online

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

    Consumers who use eyewear know how expensive and high-maintenance these products can get. To provide a viable alternative to this and make the experience hassle-free and simple, Amman Kumar, Bhavik Kumar, Rohan Kumar, and Shrijay Sheth launched VisionWagon in 2019 to enable consumers to buy eyewear like eyeglasses and sunglasses online.

    VisionWagon is an online eyewear and sunglasses company, providing affordable fashion eyewear, with high standards of dispensing. The vision here is to build India’s most valued multi-modal Eyewear solutions company offering availability, accessibility and curative experience to its customers.

    Driven by the core belief to provide affordable yet fashionable eyewear for the evolving needs of the customer’s lifestyle, concerning their work and other requirements. VisionWagon is all set to become the number 1 online eyewear company.

    Startup Name VisionWagon
    Headquarter Ahmedabad
    Sector Ecommerce – Online eyewear store
    Founders Amman Kumar, Bhavik Kumar, Rohan Kumar & Shrijay Sheth
    Founded 2018-19
    Parent Organization SarvaGunAushdhi Pvt. Ltd.
    Website VisionWagon.com

    About VisionWagon and How it Works
    VisionWagon – Target Market Size
    How was VisionWagon Started
    VisionWagon – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    VisionWagon – Startup Launch
    VisionWagon – Business Model and Revenue Model
    VisionWagon – Competitors
    VisionWagon – Growth

    About VisionWagon and How it Works

    VisionWagon’s products provide the kind of protection that your eyes need, in an “always-on” world. No individual is not using a screen today – laptops, tablets, computers, phones etc. All these constitute a significant amount of screen time.

    For VisionWagon, each of these individuals is a customer whose eyes will require protection from excessive use of the screen. This goes beyond the scope of consumers having a prescription and continuous education of the customer for this requirement would open the market for a much wider audience.

    By using the code “STARTUPTY25” to buy anything on VisionWagon, you can get 25% off.

    VisionWagon – Target Market Size

    According to Business News Media Sources, the Indian eyewear market is quite complex. With independent opticians commanding 94.02% of the market, organized retail chains form 5% of the pie and Ecommerce accounting for the remaining 0.98%.

    In the next 5 years, a big surge of smart eyewear in the affordable range is anticipated. More in line with smart devices like mobile phones, watches & headphones.

    Also Read:  How Pepperfry Grew to Become the largest online furniture store in India

    VisionWagon – Founders & Team

    VisionWagon - Founders & Team
    VisionWagon – Founders & Team

    VisionWagon was founded by Amman Kumar, Bhavik Kumar, Rohan Kumar and Shrijay Sheth. Amman, Bhavik and Rohan were working in the same business. Shrijay’s success with his earlier Ecommerce ventures made him the natural choice as a partner for the venture – creating a hassle-free eyewear shopping experience online.

    How was VisionWagon Started

    Three of the co-founders were working in the same business. And Shrijay”s experience in building scalable Ecommerce ventures made him the natural choice as a partner for creating a hassle-free eyewear shopping experience online.

    The founders wanted to take their legacy of 60+ years online to reach out to a wider audience beyond the geographical scope of physical stores. The Ecommerce market in India is booming and the online eyewear market is very negligible, hence there is a lot of scope for players who focus on customer-centric eyewear solutions.

    Ideation and consultations with the supply-chain partners, end consumers, and business consultants gave them added insights. Ease of shopping online was amongst the core insights the founders derived from the research.

    VisionWagon Logo
    VisionWagon Logo

    The founders wanted VisionWagon to come across as a wholesome Vision solutions company that carries all relevant eyewear solutions currently available in the market. And also they were geared to embrace any new developments in this ever-changing scenario. Hence they wanted a logo that appealed to the youth.

    VisionWagon – Startup Launch

    The first few customers of VisionWagon came from friends & family, where the founders actively promoted the brand. Later, they incentivized them to bring their connections to visit the website.

    Apart from the organic push, they found social media, both organic and paid – to be an apt traffic source for their brand. Since eyewear is a product that has visual appeal, Instagram, in particular, is observed to be an apt platform for promotions.

    Their outreach through various marketing campaigns is backed by re-marketing channels like emails (for registrants) and re-marketing through social media and google are important to get initial traction.

    VisionWagon provides 15% discounts to 1st-time sign-up clients. Adding new collections, cash-back on each transaction through PayPal and attractive discounts during festive times. This has helped this venture reach out to more customers through the initial phase.

    Also Read: How to Find the Right CTO For Your Startup

    VisionWagon – Business Model and Revenue Model

    The revenue model looks simpler for VisionWagon. There are 3 simple price-points (inclusive of lens-prices). Any additional coatings or features that the client wishes to add over the existing lenses can be add-ons for a very nominal cost. VisionWagon is enabled with an online transactional model with secure payment gateways.

    VisionWagon – Competitors

    Though the online market for eyewear products is minor as compared to the offline market, there are still competitors playing in the minor online market. The major competitors include lenskart.com, eyedo.in, coolwinks.com, Lensbazaar, Titan Eyeplus, Vision Express to name a few.

    VisionWagon – Growth

    The company is growing steadily in revenue every month, orders per day are growing, repeat customers are assuring that VisionWagon is giving the right quality. With more social media influencers approaching the company to collaborate, the fashion quotient of the eyewear is increasing with every passing day.

    “We wish to constantly improve and upgrade the customer experience by embracing new trends & technologies.” Said the founders.

    FAQ

    Who are the Founders of VisionWagon?

    VisionWagon was founded by Amman Kumar, Bhavik Kumar, Rohan Kumar and Shrijay Sheth.

    Who are the competitors of VisionWagon?

    The major competitors of VisionWagon include lenskart.com, eyedo.in, coolwinks.com, Lensbazaar, Titan Eyeplus, and Vision Express.

    What is the Revenue model of VisionWagon?

    There are 3 simple price-points (inclusive of lens-prices). Any additional coatings or features that the client wishes to add over the existing lenses can be add-ons for a very nominal cost.

  • 6 Easy-To-Learn Technical Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Know

    Entrepreneurs in the age of digital media and the internet have a lot on their plate. Increased competition has highlighted the importance of adopting technical methods and skills to keep your business stable and progressing. There is vast array of technical strategies and tactics that people apply in their business planning to keep their brand relevant and known.

    “Even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15% of one’s financial success is due one’s technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in human engineering, to personality and the ability to lead people.”
    – Dale Carnegie, American writer and lecturer

    Unfortunately, not all entrepreneurs have formal technical learning and therefore do not consider themselves a website builder expert. In fact, the basis of entrepreneurship is selling a product or service. Technical knowledge can improve your ability to market your brand with much more efficiency. Here are some crucial yet easy to grasp skills that every entrepreneur should know.

    Coding:

    As complex as it sounds, modern-day technologies have made coding, including the use of HTML, quite simple for even novice entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur these days can easily be the programmer of his own business website or blog.

    There are tons of courses available online that teach all the necessary knowledge, tips and tricks for successful coding approaches and amendments. Learning how to manage the algorithms of your own website can significantly help you cut down the expenses you’d otherwise spend on programmers. Khan Academy, Codecademy and Code.org offer free online coding courses that can be helpful for entrepreneurs.

    Wireframe is another useful technique associated with coding that can help you to understand the mechanisms of web development and designing. Understanding how web technology works can also help you to communicate and deal better with your digital teams and producers.

    Read Also: Brand Positioning Strategies for Business | How to Make Customers Loyal?

    Search Engine Optimization:

    Successful SEO is similar to building blocks. You can arrange and rearrange until you get your desired proportions and start noticing a visible change in your website statistics and activity. Optimized content is absolutely necessary if you want to grow as an entrepreneur.

    Gimmicks that help redirect traffic to your website are actually quite easy to learn. Having the right blend of correct keywords and accurate keyword research, providing relevant and reader-friendly information, linking pages from your website and other websites and distributing the burden on your site to reduce loading time are some ways that you can excel at SEO.

    Neglecting SEO could do serious harm to the ranking of your site and it could be removed from mainstream search results. Creating and managing SEO-friendly content is a handy skill that helps you attain a significant boost in your brand marketing.

    Read Also: How to Create Quality Content that Ranks & bring Quality Traffic

    Conversion Rate Optimization:

    CRO is essentially a part of SEO, which means to present your content in a way so as to develop more customers from your visitors. It includes understanding the customer’s mind, analyse his needs and then experiment with your site data accordingly in order to generate more revenue and passive income. It is a mix of marketing and technical strategies.

    CRO enables you to optimize your website’s functionality, while helping you understand the whys and hows of visitor behavior. The fact is, your site never reaches its maximum potential until it’s rigorously experimented.

    Web Designing Skills:

    Graphic designing is another skill that is vital for entrepreneurs in terms of creativity and communication. Eye-catching graphics can grasp the visitor’s attention and eventually persuade them to take action.

    A website with an attractive interface, logo, colour themes and font isn’t too difficult to create. You can use software such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator to create suitable logos and thumbnails.

    Hosting websites conveniently offer amazing and unique themes for both basic and premium domains. This is something that an entrepreneur can do just with the help of his imagination and some basic operational knowledge of good software.

    Read Also: How to Choose the Perfect Logo for your Startup
    Read Also: The Best Website Designing Tools for Businesses

    Content and E-mail Marketing:

    Without content, your website is useless. Without proper marketing, your content becomes useless too. Keep the content on your website useful, relevant, concise and updated. Unattractive, unverified and basic content and information is a big turn off for customers in the entrepreneurship world.

    Naturally, an entrepreneur’s topmost priority should be the focus on the quality and presentation of his content that would help him keep his business running and the money rolling in. An entrepreneur who also knows how to write to sell is definitely a customer’s delight.

    E-mail marketing is a vast and highly critical platform for marketing and reaching out to millions of users. With just a subject line to represent his entire brand, an entrepreneur must know exactly what he’s trying to sell and why he wants a customer to buy it. Keep your e-mail inbox decluttered and organized, have templates designed and customised yourself to give them maximum authenticity.

    User Experience:

    An entrepreneurs’ source of earning is the user, as a potential customer. Each user who visits your digital platform, whether your website, e-mail or social media decides to take a deep dive only on the basis of how user-friendly the platform is. This includes a swift accessibility, interactivity and responsiveness. Content marketing and writing, SEO and CRO form the basis of a fruitful and magnetic user experience. If the entrepreneur learns how to keep the user engaged, he can successfully market his product without spending too much on advertisements or other strategies.

    Conclusion

    In any business department, from accounting to sales to procurement to front office, technology comes in handy. So, knowing how that technology works to power the various operations in your business will put you a step ahead of the rest. Technicalities and strategies go way beyond their basic and simplified forms. Nevertheless, learning a few basic skills could make the world of difference to your success as an entrepreneur.