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Tag: Covid-19

  • 5 Founders Share Their Strategies On Keeping Data and Business Cyber Secured While Working From Home

    Covid-19 has shaken the whole world and brought everyone’s life to a halt. This highly contagious disease is spreading so fast that Indian Government has ordered 1.3 billion residents to stay home for more than 40 days now. Malls, theaters, companies, shops, restaurants, and manufacturing units are all shut. Businesses and economy have taken a severe hit. Many organizations have asked their employees to work from home.

    A company has to take permission from its client if the employee has to work on the client’s data from home. Employees need laptop, a good internet connection, communication gear, work-related hardware, and software. Technology has made it easy to do everything online like meetings, attendance, etc. Data security is of prime concern when working from home.

    We asked a few founders about how they are keeping data and business cyber secured.

    Also read:  

    Keep Data and Business Cyber Secured 

    Sequretek

    Sequretek is a Mumbai based Indian cybersecurity company with offices in Gurgaon, Bengaluru, and the United States. We talked with Pankit Desai, co-founder and CEO of Sequretek, about how to keep data and business cyber secured with work from home, or WFH, becoming a norm.

    In the pre-Covid 19 era, employees working across companies were issued laptops and other devices which were checked for security flaws and appropriate end point protection were loaded into them. The entire network architecture and end point devices were periodically patched and checked for security lapses. As WFH was enforced without any notice, companies didn’t get the time or the option to issue cyber safe devices. In some cases, there weren’t enough devices to allocate. Thus, employees are relying on personal laptops, tablets, and other gadgets over unpatched home networks and accessing, sharing, and trading possibly sensitive information with each other to do their work. One of the main concerns we see is that the same devices are being used for personal reasons like searching for a plethora of information—from coronavirus updates to online purchases in your free time. So if hackers gain access to personal devices, they can acquire log details, texts, and there is a good chance that your credentials have been siphoned off. Those credentials can then be used to carry out various attacks. We are aware of certain cases where significant attempts have been made to steal credentials. In order to not be compromised, you can try a few things to help protect your system from such malicious attacks:

    1. Hygiene: Start treating your personal assets as if they are corporate issued. Try not to access any external storage devices and websites that you would not be permitted if you were working in your corporate environment.
    2. End point security:
      – Enterprises should make sure that all the devices (both company issued and personal) that are being used to access the company’s network have updated security software with auto-enabled patching. Use freely available antivirus software or 30/90 days trial version products, if needed.
      – Avoid using Windows 7 as most security products don’t support this operating system anymore. If you are still using it, ensure that the antivirus software is enabled. Windows 10 would be preferred as it comes with in-built security features.
      – Freemium antivirus: Avast / total AV; 30/90 day free trial: Norton/McAfee/ TrendMicro. Also, check out www.cert-in.org.in.
    3. Network security devices and rules will need to be reconfigured to support external communication:
      – Enterprises should ensure that the security monitoring capability understands the difference between company owned and personal devices that are now plugged into the network. It will help understand any abnormal behavior and can bring down the number of false positives that may otherwise create a worrisome situation.
      – Install a firewall if one doesn’t exist. Options range from low end to expensive ones.
      – Review the rules on firewalls to ensure they are valid and no gaps exist. For every mobile user, create a policy on the firewall for access. Secure the communication with VPN technology.
      – Most firewalls have a VPN feature. Use the same or open-source options. Try multi-factor authentication to prevent any abuse of credentials.
      – Enterprises can also implement geofencing to restrict traffic within their networks. For example, if most of the employees working from home on a project are from Mumbai, then the company can make sure that any IP outside the city will not be allowed to access the environment.
      – Also, lock the specific set of assets to an environment so that people from outside that particular geography can’t access specific environments.
    4. Datacentre:
      – Make sure your servers are patched and all recent vulnerabilities are fixed. Servers need antivirus software too.
      – All your OS/DB/network devices are hardened.
      – Review your applications and make sure they don’t have any loopholes which can be exploited.
      – Ensure proper credentials and authentication mechanisms exist for your applications.
      – If feasible, take up services of security monitoring that can help you identify credible threats.
      – Windows Defender is free with all Microsoft operating systems. WSUS is free for Microsoft patching.
      -Several open-source vulnerability scanners are available: Burpsuite/Wireshark/NMap.

    Surmount Business

    Surmount Business targets to become a strategic partner to entrepreneurs and enterprises and help expand beyond their existing roots, professionalize their operations, and enhance their capital efficiency. We spoke with Niraj Bora, the founder of Surmount Business, about how to keep data and business cyber secured with respect to the WFH culture.

    Dropbox, google drive, etc. tools are safe for file sharing and also provide real time sync, separate team login, accidental delete recovery options, etc. as well. They have these options that makes sharing very convenient. Communication and project management tools like zoom, slack, and MS teams have good functionality and are helpful for work allocation, tracking progress, email and chat integration, cloud integration, etc. Paid subscriptions further increase the utility to include call recordings, multiple team member logins, etc.

    Also Read:

    Excess2sell

    Excess2sell is India’s leading B2B excess inventory marketplace which covers multiple verticals. We spoke with Mr Amit Kundra, Technology Director, about how to keep data and business cyber secured when WFH is becoming a norm.

    Work From Home (WFH) has been the biggest challenge across businesses during the lockdown, especially in India where businesses still run the traditional way. The lockdown imposed on us due to the COVID-19 has left us with no choice but to WFH and since most businesses, especially the SMEs had never experienced this way of working prior to now, it has been a paradigm shift for enterprises. In such times, the only way to achieve business process continuity is through digital transformation, work automation, and mobility.

    We at Excess2sell.com managed to keep up the processes going in this crisis situation as our E2S Ecosystem has been architectured in such a manner that majority of our business processes are automated , run independently, and are tightly integrated with each other which had really helped to continue with our tech development, member on-boarding, activation, CRM support process and departments, and most importantly, customer facing apps seamlessly running without any hindrance factoring all security aspects.

    On the Infrastructure side, we decided to manage it out by categorizing it under two heads with strict guidelines:

    1. Use your own laptop.
    2. Company desktop / laptop with guidelines issued to all employees.
      • To beware of phishing emails.
      • To avoid use of public Wi-Fi.
      • To ensure home Wi-Fi routers are sufficiently secured.
      • To verify the security of the devices that they use to get work done.
      • To avoid clicking links in emails from people they do not know.
      • To avoid installation of third-party apps should be confined to bonafide app stores.
      • Daily backups.

    Since security was a bigger concern than the speed of work while allowing employees to WHF and ensuring business process doesn’t get stalled, we immediately actioned Privilege Access Management and transitioned our tech development completely onto offline mode. All new developments and product enhancements work are now being carried out on a separate secured Temporary Cloud bucket besides the ones regularly used considering best practices and team collaboration is happening via Slack.

    Track of every login to the system, Multi-factor authentication, bitbucket and webmails monitoring processes should be strictly followed. Access to All High Availability Production Apps and environments is/should be restricted to a bare minimum mode and only VPN connectivity should be permitted in case of any critical or urgent release need.

    To make communication smoother and faster with customers as well as internally, WhatsApp is being used as a part of enterprise communication along with SMS and email channels. Customers send their documents through WhatsApp or emails and they are tagged through Mobile or Web apps. Other tools that we recommend for efficient collaboration of the team in such times are Slack or Zoom.

    These are hard times for businesses and IT budgets will be impacted in more than one way. But considering the new working normal and moving forward, businesses should invest more in IT to enable employees and customers to operate seamlessly in such unavoidable circumstances in the future. Businesses will definitely benefit by enabling and allowing complete digitization and mobility.

    The need of the hour for every business moving forward is to be pro-active in defining business specific digital solutions rather than being reactive to similar kind of crisis conditions in future.

    Volksara Techno Solutions

    Volksara Techno Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is an all-in-one provider of remedies pertaining to the comprehensive security and safety solutions and integration of products, systems, and services. We spoke with Saily Lad, Director, about how to keep data and business cyber secured when WFH is becoming a norm.

    Due to the extraordinary circumstances we are navigating, working from home has become the norm for a lot of people and companies, possibly for the first time in their lives. This has not been a common practice in the past and hence, there is a severe lack of a strong cybersecurity policy and standards to keep one’s data safe. In fact, every time an employee connects to a corporate network from their homes, they are creating access points that can possibly be exploited by hackers. When this happens over 1000 times on a single network amid lockdowns, it becomes increasingly difficult to guarantee security of each and every connection.

    What we can do in such a scenario is to encourage employees to use a VPN at all times, especially when working with sensitive data. Additionally, we should encourage the use of cybersecurity tools that are capable of performing simulated attacks across remote connections in order to assess risks. This can greatly help determine the extent to which our current settings and defenses are effective, and what changes need to be made to keep our organisations and data safe.

    TechChefs Software

    TechChefs Software focuses on product engineering and multi-cloud engineering. Pratap Simha, the founder and CTO of TechChefs Software, discussed about how to keep data and business cyber secured by working at home.

    Today we live in a world where everything and everybody is interconnected. Technologies like cloud, automation, artificial intelligence, robotics…to name a few, have made life much easier to stay connected with one another, both at an individual and at an enterprise level. But these advancements have also brought security threats which can post significant threat to data, confidential information, and everything else. Fortunately, a host of antidotes are available— the basic ones being Firewalls, antivirus software, anti-spyware software, and password management software.

    Over and above these, there a host of tools/activities which when diligently followed can have a significant impact on staying secure:

    1. Encryption of data and creating back-ups:
      The two most important aspects in staying secured are (1) to prevent sensitive information/data falling into the hands of hackers and (2) rendering the data useless if it falls into the wrong hands.
      Here, encryption plays a significant role addressing the issue. In parallel, creating a robust data back up to fall back upon in the event of any breach.
    2. Safeguarding the hardware:
      Much has been spoken about security from the software aspect. Theft of computers/laptops can also pose a threat. It therefore becomes important to secure the hardware system with a complicated and difficult-to-break-into password. Virtual Desktops on the Cloud are gaining popularity amount enterprises and eliminate the aspect of hardware theft.
    3. Cyber Security Insurance:
      Insurance for data, a relatively newer concept, is gaining popularity. At the end of 2019, cyber security was valued at USD 1.97 Billion with projections to be at USD 3.05 Billion by 2022. According to a joint study by PwC India and Data Security Council of India (DSCI), the average cost of a data breach in the country has gone up to INR 11.9 Cr, an increase of 8% from 2017. The losses incurred due to breaches can be best mitigated by investing in cyber security insurance. It is estimated that the yearly cyber premium is in the range of Rs. 80 – Rs. 110 crores with IT/ITES and Banking & Financial sectors as early adopters.

    Internally, creating a security-focused work place culture and educating all employees about the pit falls of an unsecured network makes it binding on every employee to be responsible for data security.

    ADDA

    ADDA is a must have for apartment residents. The App by ADDA is fully integrated with the ADDA SaaS platform which is meant for Community Administration. We spoke with San Banerjee, the co-founder and CEO of ADDA, about how to keep data and business cyber secured when WFH is becoming the new norm.

    There should always be a single secure entry point into all the digital systems and all other online systems should authenticate with this system. Email from Google Apps is ADDA’s single secure entry point and also serves as the company email inbox. We follow a default two factor authentication system that cannot be turned off by employees. During on-boarding their registered cell phone number is set as the second authenticator.

    The other online portals we use like CRM, Support Ticketing, etc are all synced to the single Google mail for authentication. For an in-house system, whenever employees log in, an email with a 6 digit OTP is sent to their company email inbox. Without this OTP the internal systems will not be allowed. Also, if more than a preset number of tries are exceeded, we deactivate the account and also send an email to the admins. When an employee leaves, deactivating the company email is sufficient and that automatically removes their access to all other portals instantly.

    Also Read:

  • 16 Founders shared Steps Taken by Companies after the Outbreak of CoronaVirus

    The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively brought normal life to a halt in whole world. Social distancing, work from home and a lockdown are the only ways to stop the spread of this virus. Situation is not different in India too. The Indian government has done the smart thing by implementing a 21-days lockdown along with an international and domestic flight ban, and a stoppage of the railway service. But, this lockdown, work from home will impact Indian economy.

    Transportation has stopped, manufacturing units are closed, shops which sell non essentials are closed, so this will affect economy for sure. One of the biggest potential impacts to India’s employment and economy could be the shuttering of manufacturing plants and assembly lines in the tech sector. So, this will affect startups too.

    Also read  – How Government is helping startups fight coronavirus

    We have asked few companies about what policies they have adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of CoronaVirus.

    Policies the company has adopted for the recent outbreak of Corona Virus

    MyGate

    MyGate is India’s leading security and community management solution for gated premises. MyGate helps residents to manage guest entries and delivery executives. We talked to Vijay Arisetty, Co-founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    Quick access to medical expertise and credible information, particularly in the era of social media, is extremely important in the fight against coronavirus. We are very keen on raising awareness on the matter and ensuring the availability of qualified medical advice for our 1.5 million+ users, and found strong partners in digital healthcare platforms DocsApp and mfine who promptly agreed to offer online consultation via their nationwide doctor network. Their doctors were kept busy over the weekend, with 2800 consultations completed over the last weekend alone, at no cost to our users.

    Rising Sun

    Inatur Ayurveda & Aromatherapy manufactures Organic and Natural skin, hair care and wellness products. These are safer, eco-friendly, and more effective skin care products. We talked to Pooja Nagdev, Founder and CEO,on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    We have taken the following steps to ensure the safety of all our customers, our partners & most importantly our employees.

    1. Our manufacturing facility, office and retail stores are being disinfected regularly.
    2. All employees have been given complimentary gloves, sanitisers & masks which are to be used at all times, without fail.
    3. Strict measures are taken against anyone working in an unhygienic way.

    Zamit

    Zamit- a one-stop platform that networks & supports school ecosystems to be future-ready. It is an information, engagement and interaction platform that networks schools, students, teachers, parents, and school service providers. We talked to Aarul Malaviya, Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    The various steps taken by the company are as follows-

    1. Our HR has created a ready-to-refer document and shared it with every employee of the company which contains all the information related to the virus and preventive measures to be taken. (The information is taken from verified sources)
    2. Hand sanitizers are being placed at every entrance of the office and in all cabins/rooms of the office. The employees are asked to wash their hands at regular intervals and only enter the office premises on washing your hands using waster or Hand sanitizers.
    3. The employees have been asked to communicate using various communication platforms like slack, hangouts etc. as much as they can to maintain social distance.
    4. All the employees are being given strict instructions to clean and sanitize their stuffs like laptop, bags, mouse & mouse pads, phones etc. using Antiseptic Wipes which are placed in every room/cabin of the office.
    5. The cleaners are instructed to clean the office using an antiseptic liquid throughout the day in equal intervals of time.
    6. Disposable gloves are being provided to the cleaners and the people managing the pantry. The gloves will be worn every time they are serving any food item to anybody in the office.
    7. Time slots have been given to each department of the office for lunch in the pantry to avoid employee’s exposure to crowded areas.
    8. Face masks are made available in the office for every employee. Whoever feels the need, someone who is coughing, sneezing, running nose or symptoms of COVID-19 will have access to the mask.
    9. Lastly, info graphics, posters are set up across the office as a way of encouraging the employees to eat food & adopt practices which will help in immunity building of the human system.

    CASA EXOTIQUE

    The company has been exploring the depth of Interior Designing and Styling with the help of a remarkable team of professionals who takes each and every turn to make your vision come to life. We talked to Ms. Bhawana Bhatnagar, Interior Stylist, Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    After consulting with experts in the field, we have adopted a number of routines to ensure that the risk of any possible outbreak is minimized.

    1. The workplace is routinely cleaned and sanitized to provide a safe working environment for our employees.
    2. Travelling, especially overseas, has been restricted and is permitted only in urgent or exceptional cases.
    3. We have also employed a temperature gun at the office so that in case anyone contracts the sickness, it could be detected at the earliest. This would help prevent the disease from worsening and would also prevent the infection from spreading.
    4. We have also asked sick employees to stay at home and we’re providing flexible leave policies as well. The alcohol-based sanitizer has also been made mandatory at the workplace.

    121 Experiences

    121 Experiences specializes in experiential brand communicating solutions to drive behaviour changing consumer habits. We talked to Aniket Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    Following policies have been implemented starting this week –

    1. Office will be open from 11am to 4pm Monday to Saturday.
    2. No visitors will be allowed within the office premise.
    3. All employees who have laptops need to work from home; also they need to be available on phone calls and emails during office hours.
    4. For those who cannot work from home, a rotational cycle for attendance will be applied.
    5. Avoiding non-essential local travel.
    6. Domestic and international travel must be prohibited.

    Also Read – Tips to work from home efficiently.

    MyStarHub

    In their endeavor to create the most authentic and memorable fan experiences across the world, MyStarHub provides a platform where fans can book personalized video shoutouts from their favorite celebrities. We talked to Swapnil Mahajan, Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    The safety of our employees is of utmost importance for us, and understanding the seriousness of the situation, we have been constantly tracking the turn of events.

    1. We have been maintaining the highest hygiene standards within the office premises and communicating detailed guidelines for personal safety and hygiene.
    2. Initially, we started by restricting travel and face-to-face meetings to only urgent ones. But as the coming few days are crucial for India to control the spread of Coronavirus, we have declared work-from-home for all our employees since March 18.

    Sify Technologies

    Sify is the largest ICT service provider, systems integrator, and all-in-one network solutions company on the Indian subcontinent. We talked to Praveen Krishna, Investor Relations, Public Relations & Corporate Communications, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    At Sify we have taken certain precautionary measures to safeguard the employees like daily mailers on hygiene, use of santizers, awareness through WHO videos, reporting colleagues who might be coughing or sneezing inordinately, no physical contact with each other, etc –
    Specifically, these are the is what is being implemented.

    People

    1. Stipulation that everybody should sanitise their hands a minimum of 4 times in the day.
    2. Report anybody who is coughing or sneezing inordinately.
    3. No shaking hands
    4. Hydrate with warm water regularly.

    Precautions

    1. Daily mailers on maintaining hygiene.
    2. If in doubt, get it checked at the nearest designated hospital.
    3. Recommended home quarantine for 14 days on the advise of a medical practitioner.
    4. In the event of co-habited work space, they have to have sanitisers on the desk.
    5. WHO videos on best way to avoid and if contracted what to do.
    6. Videos on fundamentals, for e.g. how to wash hands, how to wear a mask when out in public, what to avoid etc
    7. All events, offsites etc have been cancelled.

    Travel

    1. If carpooling, recommended to exercise caution and not drive other’s vehicles.
    2. International travel has been completely barred.
    3. Domestic travel is also being monitored with hot spots like Delhi, Hyderabad and now Bangalore not recommended.

    Quarantine

    1. Anybody who has internationally travelled in the last 30 days is quarantined for 14 days as a precaution and a report is shared with the travel and health authorities.

    Team Pumpkin

    Team Pumpkin is a 360 Degrees Marketing & PR agency commenced its operations in 2012 with a clear mission to help brands win in the Marketing and PR space. We talked to Ranjeet Kumar, Co-founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    1. We were one of the first few offices to declare WFH for all our teams.
    2. We had taken a note right from the beginning and have been preparing to tackle the situation.Initially, we created a COVID-19 response plan and shared it across teams to keep them aware of the probable actions according to the corresponding situations. This was shared along with detailed information about the transmission of the virus and guidelines to ensure safety.
    3. Sensing the seriousness of the situation we had limited travel only to the critical ones and restricted in-person interviews and meetings at all our offices.
    4. The use of the biometric machine has been completely stopped and attendance management is being done through the partner app.

    75F

    75F provides Internet of Things (IoT) hardware & software building products that makes office building more energy efficient, controlled and comfortable. We talked with Mr. Deepinder Singh, CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.  

    1. 75F Technologists and Sales Teams is working remotely to provide troubleshooting, ongoing training, best practices, and guidance to its customers.
    2. Their Facilisight are fully operational through which customers can monitor, manage, and control buildings remotely through their desktop, tablet or 75F apps to lower set points, power down building lighting, or bring down unused zones or floors selectively to conserve costs and equipment.
    3. 75F warehouse are fully staffed, and their flexible cloud-based infrastructure will ensure minimal disruption to the business.

    Dineout

    Dineout is India’s largest Dining out and Restaurant tech platform, helping more than 17 million diners monthly discover new restaurants, reserve a table, pay for their bills and get offers and discounts combined with a SaaS product offering to its restaurant partners manage their operations. We talked to Ankit Mehrotra, Co-founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    At Dineout, our team is our extended family, and their health and safety always comes first! When the coronavirus outbreak first hit globally, we were as surprised as everyone else however we did start taking preventive measures right from the beginning.

    1. Rigorous office sanitisation, availability of masks and sanitisers, as well as a Self-quarantine policy was implemented under which all employees (or family) with a travel history outside India, or those who have been in contact with affected persons or even flu like symptoms were asked to self-quarantine themselves for 14 days.
    2. We also urged our teams to cancel any work related travel, reduce visitors and fever screening through IR thermometers at the entrance for the last 2 weeks.
    3. We also practiced social distancing at all our offices by sitting at alternate work stations and maintaining 6 feet distance at all times.
    4. From Monday, 16th March, we implemented work-from-home policy for our teams across all cities until March 31st 2020.
    5. Our sales teams have also been advised to focus on virtual training and virtual client support for the next two weeks. In fact our teams are also having lunch together digitally!

    In such challenging times, we continue to work together to overcome operational hurdles by leveraging technologies like Google Hangouts, Slack and Google Meets to stay connected virtually and ensure continuity of work.

    Huddle

    With a rich pool of dedicated experts and mentors to support the growth of early-stage ventures, Huddle enables the ventures to take their business to the next stage. We talked to Sanil Sachar & Ishaan Khosla, Co-founders & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    The current challenges due to Covid-19, act as a reality check for a lot of startups and large ventures to realize who their real customers are and how valuable their product/service is. In an environment where doing less is helpful, there is a lot of reduction in spends which is funneling out and reducing customer base, which indeed has a detrimental impact on the cash flows of a venture. For us, we have taken measures to help our ventures from day one to create businesses that have a strong back end and therefore, not only those that can sustain during such unfortunate and unexpected times.

    This period of isolation and in the day and age where social distancing is important, companies will see a reduction in funding, financing of their working capital due to reduced sales or utilization of their service and product, but the gain from this ‘downtime’ is to create sustainability within ventures through offerings that can add value despite the environment. We are prepared to support our startups through infrastructure and our team, with the resources we have to help them sustain and not succumb to any of these losses. At a time like this, is when our Huddle of portfolios are standing strong together to support one another. For us, we are preparing all the measures to support our ventures. Luckily we have not seen any decline in the speed at which our companies are working, and our onboarding of newer companies, because innovation is needed now more than ever.

    Zolostays

    Zolo provides fully managed, long-term affordable stay options with a warm and homely environment. We talked to Dr. Nikhil Sikri, CEO & Co-Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    At Zolostays, the safety and health of our residents and our employees is of out utmost priority. Since we operate a co-living model, we have come up with specific policies to tackle the spread of COVID-19 for both our employees and our residents.

    For Employees

    1. We have advised employees to ‘Work from Home’, if they are experiencing any kind of flu, cold, cough and breathlessness and have been asked to self-quarantine and get in touch with a doctor.
    2. We have also encouraged hand hygiene by placing hand sanitizers around the offices and the commonly touched surfaces and objects are being wiped with disinfectants regularly.
    3. We have also cancelled non-essential business trips and our efficient HR team regularly shares all the advisories released by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs.

    For Residents and HouseKeepers

    1. We have initiated special training of the housekeeping staffs for the best practices of personal hygiene and sanitizing for COVID-19 prevention.
    2. Personal Protective Equipment have also been provided to all our housekeeping and kitchen staffs including gloves and masks which are disposed off at regular intervals.
    3. We have also provided hospital-grade disinfectants and cleaning agents approved by WHO for cleaning purposes.
    4. All community activities have been suspended and a special trained support team is kept on standby to help the residents of any related COVID-19 instances.

    Ozonetel

    Headquartered in Hyderabad and Singapore, Ozonetel has several industry firsts to its credit in the area of Cloud Communication. We talked to Chaitanya Chokkareddy, Co-founder & Chief Innovative Officer, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    1. Ozonetel has adopted Work From Home (WFH) as one of their policies with respect to the recent COVID -19 outbreak. We believe that remote working model can be as efficient as working from office if we use the right tools. And since we can offer this option for our employees, we did.

    Tjori

    Imbibing cultural and traditional crafts from around the globe, Tjori is a platform for treasured designs across apparel, footwear, bags, decor, and jewellery. In keeping with the essence of our brand, it also offers a range of organic and ayurvedic skin care products, using secrets whispered through generations. We talked to Mansi Gupta, Founder & CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    We at Tjori are trying our best to create awareness and precautionary measures for our Tjori family, our employees, our vendors and our customers.

    1. The measures taken under the office premises are that of compulsory mask on everyone who enters the office, a sanitization process for our vendors and customers who walk-in for their respective needs. The sanitization process contains the simple steps of handing a surgical mask and using an alcohol derived sanitizer has that helps killing the viability of the office.
    2. The everyday cleaning processes has amplified and now every two hours a thorough cleaning is done.
    3. The people who are ill have been given grace leave in-order to help them recover without any stress.

    Packman Packaging

    Packman Packaging is one of India’s largest manufacturers of corrugated boxes, corrugated rolls, bubble rolls, bubble pouches, courier bags, POD jackets, duct tapes, e-commerce shipping bags and more. We talked to Gaurav Jalan, Director and Founder, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    Packman Packaging is trying what it can by implementing some of the things not just for the betterment of its employees but in a broader aspect its customers as well. Packman Packaging has already implemented certain work policies that include everyone from the workers and the management.

    1. Packman Packaging is primarily working as a manufacturer so in the manufacturing unit, Packman Packaging has adopted a policy where the workers are being asked to work in shifts so that there will be a lesser number of attendances at a given time.
    2. It will also ensure that every worker has a proper space to work because it is not crowded as it used to be before the pandemic days. As of now, this seems to work well.
    3. Packman has a huge advantage because of its online store. And because of that the majority of the staff related to IT and customer service the marketing and sales teams are working remotely from their homes most of the time.
    4. As for the senior management teams are concerned, the employees are working on a rotational basis. The management team members are working on alternate days. This way it not only helps the normal flow of work but also, ensures everyone remains safe.
    5. The most important thing Packman Packaging has assigned its guards an added responsibility that whoever is entering the premises of the office and manufacturing unit he is making sure that everyone is getting their hands sanitized and wearing masks.
    6. Also, there has been a floor manager assigned who is monitoring that everyone is washing their hands with sanitizer and wearing masks for every exit and entry in the respective floors.
    7. Sick employees are advised to stay at home as much as possible.

    Bridged.co

    Bridged uses a combination of AI and a 13,000 strong highly skilled workforce to develop unique and vast data at scale significantly improving the quality of data models. We talked to Ashwin Chalam, CEO, on policies the company has adopted with respect to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus.

    1. We’ve educated our employees on best practices (such as washing hands often and limiting physical contact) to implement during this health crisis.
    2. We’ve placed hand sanitizers across spaces in the office, and even requested employees to practice social distancing and avoid unnecessary travel.
    3. We’ve implemented a work from home policy.

    With these efforts, we hope to flatten the curve by reducing the probability of our employees catching the virus, which is essential to mitigating this pandemic.

  • 3 Founders Shared their Opinions on Situation of Firing of Employees in Coronavirus Outbreak

    COVID-19 virus is spreading so rapidly and it has hit dozens of countries globally. Indian government has put 1.3 billion residents in lockdwon. This pandemic has impacted many industries like stock market, travel industry, healthcare, supply chain, manufacturing units. Most of the start-ups are on the verge of closure or bankruptcy. Every individual has been adversely affected however it has largely impacted the new start up’s. Companies are firing people from work. This situation is panic for employer and employees too. This virus originated in China but has spread-ed to many countries. Nobody knows when this contagious disease will end.

    We have asked founders of few companies their opinion on how employees should react on firing happening now in this corona virus outbreak and lockdown.

    Also Read:

    Firing of Employees in Coronavirus Outbreak

    Mamaearth

    Mamaearth is Asia’s first Madesafe certified brand that offers 100% toxin free & natural baby and mama care products. We talked with Ghazal Alagh, C0-founder, about how employees should react on firing happening now in this corona virus outbreak and lockdown.

    How should employees react to the firing happening right now?

    It’s undoubtedly a hard situation to be in — losing your job in a general atmosphere of fear and panic is not ideal. However, most employers are trying to avoid lay-offs unless it’s the absolute last resort and are also cushioning the blow with generous severance packages.

    The laid-off employees need to first take a breath and realize that what has happened is purely due to these extraordinary circumstances and nothing to do with their ability as employees. It’s okay to have a moment of anger and sadness because of the situation— but wallowing over a prolonged time will only make the situation worse. Even though it sounds hard to believe, there are a number of organizations taking a long-term view of this situation and looking to hire employees at this time. This is the right time to focus on their CV and consolidate all the work they’ve done and the skills they’ve acquired. Many platforms and universities across the world are providing great courses at a discounted price or even free of cost. This is the right time to acquire some additional skills.

    How/Where can employees, fired after Corona should look for the new job opportunity?

    Luckily most recruitment has shifted seamlessly to online channels. People are doing multiple rounds of interviews via Skype/Zoom, and many are even making final offers. As I mentioned before, many companies are looking at this time as an opportunity to hire skilled people without too much effort.

    Try to part on good terms with your employers. They will want to help you, making sure you land on your feet, and you can even ask them for both a good recommendation as well as referrals to employers who are hiring. Besides this, going through all the regular channels — your network, LinkedIn, and job portals— should yield the right results.  

    What do you think is the best way for employee to connect with an organisation/HR for any opening?

    The best way to connect, of course, is through your networks— whether batchmates/seniors from your college/business school, colleagues and seniors at work, or even general friends and family. This is the time to use all your social media networks to connect the dots and find who can connect you with which organizations.

    If that’s not an option, doing some basic research will help you figure out which organizations are hiring. Use LinkedIn to find relevant managers/HR within those organizations and send them a polite and personalized cover letter.

    What are different ways companies can implement to stop this firing?

    The best way is, of course, implementing salary cuts for senior management. This isn’t always the best course of action under ordinary circumstances. For instance, when a company is going through a bad time, experts always recommend lay-offs over salary cuts. That’s because a salary cut makes competent employees leave the company and join somewhere else. However, this isn’t an ordinary business situation — this is a global pandemic resulting in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Employees are even voluntarily taking salary cuts at this time so that others don’t experience hardship. This is definitely a good short-term measure.

    For companies where cash flow is the biggest issue, delaying part of the salaries might be an option. In this way, they can pay a minimum basic to every employee, but those who earn above a certain threshold could get part of their salary later.

    Whatever course of action companies choose to take, it’s important to explain the “why” of these actions in a clear, unambiguous way to all stakeholders.

    upGrad Education

    Founded in early 2015, upGrad offers online programs for working professionals. We talked with Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, about how employees should react on firing happening now in this corona virus outbreak and lockdown.

    How should employees react to the firing happening right now?

    Our economy has taken a massive hit over the past few weeks of lockdown and has directly contributed to situations like  job loss, appraisals being called off, and downsizing along with other career opportunities turning obsolete are impending concerns. A recent report by CMIE (Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy) suggests that the nationwide lockdown saw the unemployment rate shot up from 8.4% in mid-March to the current 23.4%.

    Amid such crucial times, when the anxiety of losing job and economical pressure is rapidly penetrating through our system, the only way to survive through the treadmill of life is by upskilling. One must use this extra time at hand to use it cautiously and meaningfully to develop new skills, understand rooted fundamentals and enhance their professional growth at large. While all hiring procedures have been put to freeze as of now, these newly acquired skills will help professionals bounce back into the system with ease and confidence once the dust settles down, leading towards the greater evolution.

    Also Read:

    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 employees should react on firing happening now in this corona virus outbreak and lockdown.

    How should employees react to the firing happening right now?

    Although difficult, employees need to accept the fact that the business has to justify profits to be sustainable. If it shuts down due to losses, every loses their jobs and is not good for overall good of stakeholders. Whatsapp and Alibaba was founded after the founders were not selected for an interview. Also, I know few people who planned to switch their profiles but never did for fear of low pay. They shifted to something they like and earn out of it. Staying alive is the only mantra for everyone through this, and once the market reopens many opportunities will come up in various positions. Also, next few months could have lower pay till the market stabilises and you have to manage till then.

    Employees can spend time learning more skills they through of but could not do so in past due to lack of time. It could be another language, an online course to add to resume, coding, etc. That really helps in future with getting back on your feet. Udemy, coursera, Unacademy, etc are great online learning tools for everyone.

    How/Where can employees, fired after Corona should look for the new job opportunity?

    Since WFH kicked in, searching only through job portals, linkedin, referrals are good ways to start with. Identify sectors that can compliment your skills and are recruiting. Look beyond your cliche profiles that can also switch your monotonous work.

    Nowadays, many freelancing websites are available that pays you on a project / task basis. Identify and search for such options and start working for any company anytime you want to.

    Eventually, the globalisation would be like a product you buy might be designed by teams spread across europe, using US technology manufactured in Asia, with materials specifically made in Africa for a brand based in some other country with no physical office. I believe the Gig economy would be a big market for all who can work from home.

    What do you think is the best way for employee to connect with an organisation/HR for any opening?

    Seek referrals online on social media, linkedin, job portals, etc. and connect with relevant persons. Understand the employers perspective with respect to skills required, get in touch with employees who are already working in the said organisation to understand more about the job opening or the profile/ work culture to better assess the prospect of working there.

    Also Read:

  • 6 Founders Shared Work from Home Tools and Hacks used by them during Lockdown

    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. But on the other hand, other sectors such as eCommerce, EduTech have benefited immensely.

    But, it’s not easy for the company to let all employees to work from home. Company has to take permission from its client if employee can work on client’s information at home. Companies need tools for it. Employees need laptop, a good internet connection, communication gear, work-related hardware & software. Of course, technology has made it easy as you can do everything online like meetings, attendance, etc. But, all companies have to make plans how they can make it operational.

    We asked few companies about what tools and hack they are using to work from home.

    Also Read:

    Work from Home Tools

    AppViewX

    AppViewX is a modular, low-code software application that enables Certificate Management as well as Network Infrastructure Automation and Orchestration using an intuitive, context-aware, visual workflow. We asked Anand Purusothaman, Founder, about tools and hacks they are using for work from home during lockdown.

    We are using Slack and Zoom to stay connected with our teams. We have leveraged these tools from quite some time as it helps us get real-time updates from our teams and also have the much needed face time for virtually connected teams. Cloud based content and collaboration suites are also proving to be invaluable in these times. Our team is very familiar with these tools, so adapting to a completely virtual model was easy.

    Creating a task list to plan your day effectively is key. When you are working from home, especially now when you have your family with you, there could be a lot of distractions. So planning your tasks ahead, scheduling recurring meetings on a calendar and keeping the communication channels open with your team goes a long way. These are simple to follow, but very effective.

    LegalWiz.in

    LegalWiz.in is focussed on helping early-stage startups and small businesses stay compliant and maintain legal hygiene while maintaining the highest transparency on deliverables. We asked Shrijay Sheth, Founder, about tools and hacks they are using for work from home during lockdown.

    We are fortunate to be living in a networked world and each colleague is online – given the nature of our work at LegalWiz.in, we have not seen much disruption. Technology is a great boon.We leverage technology (skype, zoom, work-flow tools) and have conference calls as well.

    The HSE protocols – Health, Safety & Environment. Taking care of one’s Health, One’s Safety and Environment. These basic few precautions can help to ensure good health and prevention of COVID 19

    Primus Co-Work

    Primus Co-work partners with restaurants ,that open only during the night, to convert them into co-working places from Mon-Fri/10am-6pm. We asked Shardul Bayas, Founder, about tools and hacks they are using for work from home during lockdown.

    We are using Zoom conference calling and whatsapp. Create a daily ToDo list down the pyramid and ensure thorough followup to keep the team engaged and focused on work.

    Mamaearth

    Mamaearth is Asia’s first Madesafe certified brand that offers 100% toxin free & natural baby and mama care products. We talked with Ghazal Alagh, C0-founder, about tools and hacks they are using for work from home during lockdown.

    Luckily, we’ve always incorporated digital workplace tools even when we weren’t working from home, so the transition wasn’t too hard. We have standard communication tools like Slack and Zoom in place, along with productivity and collaboration tools like Trello. Then there are, of course, the regular sharing and storage tools — GSuite being the big one.

    Also read:  

    Excess2sell

    Excess2sell is India’s Premier and leading b2b excess inventory marketplace which covers multiple verticals. We talked with Mr Rajan Sharma, Founder & CEO, about tools and hacks they are using for work from home during lockdown.

    All our functions are equipped to work from home with complete backup in terms of hardware support, accesses to required data; and critical support to buyers and sellers as was available earlier.

    We are using all technology tools like WhatsApp, Zoom and other apps to have team meetings/conferences with our employees. It is important to constantly keep in touch so that the team remains motivated and on the ball. Similarly we are encouraging our marketing team to engage with our customers on a regular basis to allay any fears or doubts they might harbour.

    ZingHR

    ZingHR is one of the oldest HRM providers. ZingHR is one of the few global ventures which offers almost all web/mobile-based modules from Hire to Retire Solutions with state of the art tech supporting those applications. We talked with Prasad Rajappan, Founder and CEO, about tools and hacks they are using for work from home during lockdown.

    We are leveraging tools like Flock for our internal communication, What’s App, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Go-to-meeting to make it work.

    Schedule – Plan – Collaborate – Praise – Work Harder – Rinse Repeat

    Also Read:

  • Steps Taken by Online Food Delivery Startups amid CoronaVirus Outbreak

    The Coronavirus or COVID-19 which started last year in December in Wuhan, China has impacted the global economy and no industry sector has remained immune to it. All businesses, startups and industries across the globe are coming up with safety measures to deal with the virus like asking employees to work from home, avoid social gatherings, etc. Foodtech startups are no exception to this.

    Top Indian food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy together deliver an estimated 2.6 million orders every day. But they have taken multiple measures to deal with the situation. These measures ensure the safe food delivery considering the safety of delivery executive as well as consumers. The measures are helping these startups to keep operations going and to reduce any negative impact on consumer deliveries

    Foodtech Startups to Follow Hygiene Practices

    Indian foodtech startups Swiggy and Zomato have announced several safety measures in an effort to combat the novel coronavirus. While the Bengaluru based foodtech unicorn Swiggy already sent an email to all its consumers how they are taking the different measures to cope with the situation. Zomato soon followed suit with safekeeping measures of its own like contact-less delivery.

    The main focus of the announcements is to inform people about different measures that food delivery platforms are taking to ensure that their delivery partners follow all the safety and hygiene guidelines approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW). They also announced that the consumer will now have the option of choosing to ask the delivery partner to leave the food at their doorstep. Some startups are also offering insurance and financial support to delivery staff in case they are infected with the virus

    There are certain directives that these startups are following. They ensure that the crew member who assembles the food, the one who packs food and the delivery executive do not touch the food with bare hands and take all possible precautions to ensure hygiene. The delivery packets are sealed and delivered by a runner who drops the order at a pre-appointed spot usually outside the door and then watches from a safe distance while you pick up your order and go back inside.

    Co-founder and CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal explained this through a tweet that “A consumer can now choose for this option through our ‘delivery instructions’ feature.” An app update over the weekend will make this explicitly clear to everyone.” Through this option, the delivery partner will keep the delivery parcel on a clean surface outside the door. When the consumer receives a photo of the delivered food, the consumer can then pick up the package at their convenience.

    As India prepares to face the current health crisis, Westlife Development, the company that owns and operates McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India, has launched contactless delivery service to deliver food to the customers’ doorstep. According to the company, McDonald’s India is ensuring that food reaches customers without being touched by bare hands and delivered safely with by following social distancing measures.

    “Our customers’ safety has been and will continue to be our top priority. On one hand, we have increased the safety and hygiene processes at our restaurants. On the other hand, we are ensuring contactless delivery to retain consumers’ trust in McDonald’s. Both our consumers and the industry look up to McDonald’s for path-breaking initiatives and contactless delivery,” said Smita Jatia, managing director of Hardcastle Restaurants.

    Online Food Deliveries Declining Fast

    Unfortunately, even after adopting the hygiene practices, online food delivery has seen huge fall in demand. Online food delivery orders for Zomato and Swiggy have dropped 70% in the last 10 days as customers step back and top restaurants shut shop during lockdown induced by the Covid-19 virus outbreak. The reason behind this is that people do not want to perform any practices, which in any way, can expose them to the virus.

    Their investors revealed that even before the lockdown, the orders had started declining. In the first two weeks of March, food delivery orders declined 20%. When lockdown was imposed, Swiggy and Zomato said about 60 to 70% of its cities would be shut for food delivery including few prominent ones. As a result, steady state of 2.5 million deliveries a day, the deliveries have fallen down quickly. In the last 10-15 days, online food delivery orders have dropped 70% to under 1 million a day.

    But considering food delivery startups, the Grocery delivery apps are in demand more than ever not only in India but in many countries during this health crisis. As many countries are under lockdown, the governments are asking people to strictly avoid getting out of their houses to maintain social distancing. Hence, majority of the people are relying on the Grocery delivery apps to avoid social gatherings.

    As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the countries, grocery delivery apps have begun seeing record numbers of daily downloads, according to new data from app store intelligence firm Apptopia. The firm said that online grocery apps like Instacart, Walmart Grocery and Shipt hit yet another new record for daily downloads for their respective apps.

    Typically, these apps see tens of thousands to as many as 20,000+ downloads per day. But on April 12, Instacart saw more than 38,500 downloads and Walmart Grocery saw nearly 54,000 downloads. Experts told the delivery strategies need to be better optimised at this time of uncertainty. Considering grocery is in high demand, this makes sense for all players involved in it.

    Also Read: Ideally Tested Food Business Ideas you can Start in 2020

    Zomato & Swiggy will also deliver Groceries Now

    In India too, Grofers, BigBasket and other grocery delivery apps have seen a boom in demand over the past week on the back of panic buying. As many consumers are stuck at home, they are heavily relying on these online grocery stores offering doorstep delivery. Seeing these demands, many foodtech startups are also turning towards these grocery sales to earn some revenue.

    Food-delivery and restaurant discovery app Zomato has decided to try hands at the grocery sale as the category sees a major demand amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The Gurugram-based startup Zomato has decided to partner with e-grocers, Grofers and BigBasket, to sell food products and essentials on its platform by facilitating their deliveries.

    Online Grocer Delivery or E-grocer
    Zomato & Swiggy have started to Deliver Grocery in Major Cities

    Zomato has begun delivering grocery in more than 80 cities in India. Users can access this service by downloading the Zomato app and visit the Zomato Market section. Zomato Market identifies nearby grocery stores that are available and open for delivery. They have started grocery delivery in 80 plus cities across India to help with the supply of essentials.

    CEO & founder of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal said, “Our delivery network in the country is the second best after India Post. Thus, we are ensuring that in every effort we put it to good use to serve the community. We would like to thank the government authorities, grocery stores, FMCG companies and other startups that have come forward to partner with us and support the community in this endeavour.”

    Apart from its grocery deliveries, Zomato has also extended paid Zomato Gold memberships by two months at zero additional cost. This new extension is valid in India, UAE, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Lebanon, Turkey, New Zealand, Portugal, and Qatar.

    The food delivery app Swiggy is also not behind in this league. Swiggy has announced a new service to deliver groceries through the application. The lockdown has encouraged the company to spread this service to over 125 new cities across India. Swiggy will be providing essential commodities by partnering with numerous national brands.

    Swiggy has launched a hyper local delivery service called ‘Genie’ that will pick and drop items from any local store that is open. The service is currently only available for essentials and even medicines. During the launch of the service in September last year, the service was labeled ‘Swiggy Go’.

    Swiggy will be partnering with Hindustan Unilever Ltd., P&G India, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Dabur India Ltd., Marico Ltd., Vishal Mega Mart Pvt. Ltd., Adani Wilmar Ltd., Cipla Ltd to provide essential items across various cities.

    Also Read: Abhinay Choudhary: Simplified Grocery Shopping Through BigBasket

    Conclusion

    Due to lockdown, Swiggy and Zomato are finding it difficult to grow online food deliveries but this has led them to partner with local grocery shops to provide essentials to the people who want to avoid social gatherings. But this has given people a good opportunity to maintain social distancing by ordering groceries from home only.

  • 14 Founders Shared Opinions on how Industry and Customer Behavior will Change after Coronavirus Fight

    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. But on the other hand, other sectors such as eCommerce, EduTech have benefited immensely.

    How Industry and Customer Behavior will Change after Coronavirus Fight? 

    We have asked few companies about changes in industry and customer behavior with respect to their company after this coronavirus outbreak.  

    Also Read:

    Rising Sun

    Pooja Nagdev, Founder and CEO

    At this time people have become more aware and going back to the basics. I see that with respect to FMCG ethical labelling will be enforced and people will more watchful of the ingredients they are consuming. The trend for natural and organic care will be the rise.

    Indi Collage

    Anuradha Singh

    At the moment people are more inclined towards online shopping but once the epidemic comes under control we expect to see more of experience based buying & shopping as a social interaction

    Tres’Chic Academe

    Chitra Balasubramaniam, CEO

    Since we operate online most of the time doing business the customer satisfaction is high & this corona virus situation has made us realise our step taking our business online earlier & given us good dividends by doing so.

    CASA EXOTIQUE

    Bhawana Bhatnagar, Interior Stylist, Founder

    There is no denying that business has taken a real hit because of the spread of this menacing disease. Many business firms are closing their stores, and numerous art and design fairs have been either canceled, postponed, or their upcoming plans have been modified. Moreover, due to the hindrance brought about in the global business, overseas procurement has become impossible. Due to this, the supply chain is going to be affected and this will change the dynamics of business. Customers are looking at products customized for them, made locally by us.

    MyStarHub

    Swapnil Mahajan, Founder & CEO

    Well, we are already experiencing a shift from traditional gifts to personalized online gifting due to the digital revolution. With isolation being the key preventive measure in checking the spread of Coronavirus, digital gifting solutions will certainly get a boost.

    While celebrations have been put on hold and people are staying indoors, getting a personalized video message from one’s favorite star on a special occasion will be a unique gift to cast off gloom in the environment and bring some cheerful moments to make the day memorable. Especially in the current scenario, being able to send and receive these celebrity video shoutouts that too without any fear of being exposed to the virus will gain popularity to keep the celebratory spirit on.

    Also Read:

    Team Pumpkin

    Ranjeet Kumar, Co-founder

    Just like every other industry, the digital media and advertising sector is also strongly impacted by the virus outbreak. Since consumers are locking themselves indoors to stay safe and social distancing has become the norm of the day, there is a likely boost expected in the consumption of content online. Internet penetration has already taken B2C marketing online, the isolation mandate due to COVID-19 will now de-popularize out-of-home advertisement and also lead B2B ad turn towards digital.

    As people keep avoiding social gatherings and public places, they eventually would rely more on social media and therefore, the digital media consumption will increase significantly. Social networking platforms will shine even brighter during the need to stay connected and access content. And above all, digital marketing will provide immense opportunities for businesses to create leads without traveling and having any face-to-face interactions.

    Ozonetel

    Chaitanya Chokkareddy, Co-founder & Chief Innovative Officer

    We are already seeing many companies curious to understand how the work from home model can work for their industry. We have executed Work From Home facility for Acko General within a quick time span. We do think this might act as a point where companies start thinking about their backup for remote functioning.

    Dineout

    Ankit Mehrotra, Co-founder & CEO

    The pandemic has severely affected our operations and we’re seeing a heavy downfall in demand of our services at the moment. Social gathering is the key to our industry, while social distancing is the key to fighting this virus today and we’re strongly promoting it on all our platforms.  

    While we are not sure of the full consequences of the ongoing crises, this is certainly going to affect consumer behaviour as far as the F&B industry is concerned. Consumers will take some time to gain the confidence to go out again. The key is to provide for the safety and confidence for our diners once the pandemic subsides. We need to go above and beyond to make customers feel safe and engaging with them over the topic. A slew of measures can be taken as per the protocol prescribed by the Health Ministry, including increased access to hand sanitizers and hygiene procedures, body temperature checks for everyone at the premises, etc.

    Meanwhile, we stand strong with our partners and are hopeful and positive for the betterment of the situation. We shall be ready with the help of technology to help serve both our diners and restaurants stronger and better than ever.

    Packman Packaging

    Gaurav Jalan, Director and Founder

    It is too early to say currently, the industry is still operating as much as it can. But if it becomes a prolonged situation then there might be some issues but they will be temporary not permanent.

    There might be a possibilities that sales of packaging materials may dip a bit because of several advisory such as not going outside a designated territory in that case several businesses that uses packaging materials will be affected.

    One may also see rise in online sales that may still boost the packaging industry as it will open an avenue for supplying their products to several e-business platforms.

    For Packman, their customers are the assets so it will ensure that it can continue its services to its clients and customers. In general one should be prepared and monitor where the company and industry will go in these tumultous times. Customers also understand what is going on so we are sure that our customer will still view us in the same light as they do.

    Bridged.co

    Ashwin Chalam, CEO

    We expect potential and present clients to become conservative with their expenses. Businesses will not be looking to experiment much (with good reason) and will only want to work with teams that have a proven track record and can satisfy critical requirements.

    The coronavirus outbreak doesn’t change the fact that businesses are in the information age, and they will need access to high-quality data. Bridged’s USP is that we provide businesses across industries (primarily AI/ML and financial services) with a cost-effective and scalable data solution. During these trying times, we will leverage that.

    Zolostays

    Dr. Nikhil Sikri, CEO & Co-Founder

    With respect to the co-living space that we operate in, we will most likely see a decline in the number of bookings as this is a pandemic situation which has been declared by the World Health Organization and social distancing is the need of the hour. However, we do have single room occupancy which could also have higher response rate for our prospective customers and existing residents to shift into.

    CarveNiche

    Avneet Makkar, Founder & CEO

    The online education market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 44% between financial years 2019 and 2024, these trends are expected to disrupt the industry going forward. Keeping current trends in mind, ed-tech services will offer immersive and industry-specific learning across larger groups. Online learning and personalization of education will garner prime importance.

    ZEUX Innovation

    Hemal Gathani, Co-founder

    Post the COVID pandemic, we will see the world becoming even flatter. COVID will teach people how to work remotely. And companies would want to take advantage of the best available talent from across the globe at the right price with the location not being a factor.

    We will also see a surge in spending on digital initiatives. Industries would want to digitize everything possible. But going digital won’t be a differentiating factor and won’t necessarily lead them to success. Companies that provide the best user experience on digital channels will take a lead.

    This is the time to invest in enabling best in class user experience as not only businesses will be compelled to go digital but there will be a massive shift in user behavior to do more things online.

    Tjori

    Mansi Gupta, Founder & CEO

    The most important thing is to inform the customers about the exact reality of the scenario and give guarantees and assurances about the safe guarding of their money and products. Nobody loses anything because of this and all people need to realise that we are just at a halt for the next 21 days’ post which all activities would resume better than normal.

    The pre planning done at any situation always help the company and we are also banking on ours, but at this unforeseen times we solve every problem as it comes. Through this platform I wish to advice people to stay indoors and safe.

    Also Read:

  • 3 Travel Startup Founders Shared Opinions on how they will Recover after CoronoVirus Outbreak

    COVID-19 virus is spreading so rapidly and it has hit dozens of countries globally. Travel industry, airlines companies have got the worst impact. Indian government has put 1.3 billion residents in lockdwon. So, international flights are shut, trains are shut. So, travel industry has come to a halt. After lock down, people will be scared to travel as travelling caused this virus to spread from China to different countries as it is heavy contagious. This virus originated in China but has spread-ed to many countries. Nobody knows when this contagious disease will end.

    We have asked few travel companies about the impact of coronavirus outbreak on their business and what are they planning to recover it.

    Also Read: Coronavirus Challenges for Travel Startups & how to Survive them?

    Impact of Covid-19 on Travel Startups

    Travart International

    Travart is experiential travel startup working to achieve 10X improvement in discovery, booking and consumption of travel experiences through deep tech vertical integration of travel services. We talked with Akash Deep Choudhary, Founder and CEO, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    The last few weeks have been very tough for all travel corporations and startups with the sharp, sudden spread of COVID-19 globally, and in India. Our growth for the current FY as well as our expectations and projections for the next year are in limbo, the travel and tourism sector being one of the worst hit among all.

    There has been a sharp drop in bookings with mounting cancellations, and the latest global travel restrictions have brought the entire industry to a complete standstill. We are constantly in touch with all our suppliers in over fifty international destinations we serve, and it seems to be the same story in all parts of the world, playing at different time frames.

    These are incredibly tough times and we are seeing a huge number of travel startups folding due to the gravity of the situation which hasn’t even peaked yet. As a mature and more established company we are focusing on two critical areas- the safety and well being of our team, customers and the general public; and minimising the impact to our business.

    We have swiftly taken action, basing our market behaviour expectations on data extrapolated from the SARS epidemic of 2002-03, which in itself is a tough endeavour given that the scale of COVID-19 is incomparable to anything we have seen in this century. We are continuously working to reduce operating and variable costs. This is being achieved by taking a hard look at our costs and deciding to allocate the available resources towards endeavours which allow us to come out of this situation strong. At such times, most of our teams have offered to take a reduction in salaries, which speaks volumes about the passion these teams carry for travel and for Travart.

    The path to recovery of the industry will be a slow and tough process, more so because we are yet unaware of the scale this is capable of reaching globally. As of now, it is impossible to correctly estimate the damage COVID-19 would cause the industry as a whole.

    We are positive we will be able to weather this storm and come out stronger. We also understand this might not be possible for a lot of passionate travel startup founders, hence we are offering support and partnership to every travel startup with the same shared vision of providing customer-centric experiences.

    We are also very thankful to the global medical services staff and crew members of the travel industry who are on the front line of this pandemic, and are working to ensure anyone and everyone needing to get home safely, does.

    We will get out of this stronger together.

    Journey Weavers

    Journey Weavers is a Delhi based Boutique Travel Consultancy that has crafted journeys for individuals and corporates to over 125 destinations since past 4 years. We talked with Ms. Shalini Raj, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    The market latest storm has plunged the global travel and tourism industry into uncharted territory. This drastic effect was unexpected for which no one in any economy and industry was equipped. It is a kind of slowdown when nothing seems in our control. As we are into travel consultancy and create personalized trips for people due to lockdown and suspended all the flights and trains creates a major issue for us and our all advance bookings have been canceled and there seems to be limited queries for future months.  

    We are convincing our customers to postpone their trips for next year so that they cannot bear the full loss. To look out the current situation International borders will not start in the next 6 months so we are targeting winter travel and destination weddings from December through that we will be emphasizing on the importance of beautiful India.

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    FareHawker.com

    FareHawker.com is an leading airline group booking platform for multiple airlines that has changed the experience of flight group ticket booking process in India. We talked with Shiv D Gadekar, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    The world is going through its toughest time as this Corona Outbreak has affected us in every way it can. Lockdown all over the country has done immediate disruption to the travel sector. Travel startups are boom and have screeching halt for a few weeks. It’s been seen a major drop in bookings combined with a rise in customer service demand as people with existing travel plans seek to get in touch to cancel or reschedule trips. It’s the biggest drop in demand I have ever seen in the Online Travel Industry. Airlines group booking travel is facing huge stress as demand is dropping off in booking behavior because of the orders passed by the government, our aviation portal is on hold till further notice is passed by the government on aviation. After hunkering down for three months and even more it will be challenging to recover. We’ll be very optimistic through this but we cannot expect to recover in a night or few days it’ll take at least a year to fully recover from this loss. It will likely start in 2021 and we have to think of long term recovery. If your startup has some unique selling proposition lean into that! Also we’ll work on tools to better merchandise, segment, and market our products and services. Also, another way of marketing can be a new partnership with aviation companies. We have been collaborating with almost every company but now is the time to expand. Every startup company has to be ready for a lower valuation offer. We have to lower the cost of tickets if we need capital, we have a lot less leverage with a lot fewer investors who could potentially join the round.

  • 6 Health Care Founders Shared Opinions on how they will Recover after CoronoVirus Outbreak

    COVID-19 virus is spreading so rapidly and it has hit dozens of countries globally. Indian government has put 1.3 billion residents in lockdwon. This pandemic has impacted many industries like stock market, travel industry, healthcare, supply chain, manufacturing units. Most of the start-ups are on the verge of closure or bankruptcy. Every individual has been adversely affected however it has largely impacted the new start up’s. Healthcare startups have also got impact of this pandemic. This virus originated in China but has spread-ed to many countries. Nobody knows when this contagious disease will end.

    We have asked few founders of few healthcare companies about the impact of coronavirus outbreak on their business and what are they planning to recover it.

    Also Read: Coronavirus Challenges for Travel Startups & how to Survive them?

    Healthcare Startups Covid-19 Impact 

    Freedom From Diabetes

    Freedom From Diabetes is a innovative healthcare organization that educates thoroughly, supports implemention and inspires transformation in diabetics and family members. More than 6000 are already free of insulin and medicines. We talked with Dr Pramod Tripathi, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    It’s already geared through specialized FFD App, what’s app group support and telephonic consulting to continually serve the patients during lockdown.

    Those start ups who haven’t invested last 2-3 years in creating the right online support will find it very difficult to adjust to this sudden developement.

    Mediconation

    Mediconation is a top-notch medical education consultancy with Pan-India presence. We talked with Geeta Jain, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    In the past couple of weeks this Corona Outbreak as shaken many lives. This global pandemic of novel Coronavirus has affected all startups as well. This kind of situation has not been seen in centuries and has put massive pressure on the healthcare department and economy. The Indian government is taking all the preventive measures to stop this virus from our country. Covid-19 has made massive disruptions in the healthcare industry and supply chains that have wreaked destruction on global financial markets.

    The impact of this wildfire on health startups in India has brought a paradigm shift in the Indian healthcare industry. Public healthcare for rural areas is still weak and in shortage of health resources. The Digital Healthcare market has gone down due to the lockdown in the entire country. There’s been seen that health insurers are asked for health insurance from all over the country, people are scared and frightened. Early action might be impactful than later action. While the economy is down and all the crisis in the country is difficult, but survival is the single most important thing. The salaries will need to be slashed by some percentage. Be Creative and find for sources where you can generate revenue for your firm to stay alive including doing some short term deals with other startup companies. It’s hard to tell what  a countries economy will look like when this will pass but if your company is flexible and alive than there will be great fortuity.

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    The Centre of Healing

    The Center of Healing, which is rejuvenation and healing center for helping people to overcome their mental and health problems has taken an initiative to help these poor and degraded sections of our society. We talked with Swati Sawhney, Director, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    Corona outbreak has impacted human life in all aspects of life. It has impacted human life and its lifestyle a lot. Busy Entrepreneurs, employees are under lockdown these days. The world economy is at a toss. The entire business community is experiencing huge losses. All Imports and Exports of the necessary goods are almost shut down. No one dares to take risks of importing any goods from impacted nations these days. Even the Coronavirus Kits are hard to import from other nations because of their non-availability and risk of importing the virus along with the kit. New startups are hit hard due to this pandemic majorly in terms of financial loss.

    Most of the start-ups are on the verge of closure or bankruptcy. This pandemic has adversely impacted new investments, fund-raising, new hiring’s, expected growth opportunities, expected promotions and hike in salary of individuals, inflation, stock market, travel industry, healthcare, supply chains and whatnot. Every individual has been adversely affected however it has largely impacted the new start up’s because of lack of backup, lack of chain of customers, less exposure to the market, lack of new investment and fund-raising opportunities, etc. Same as any other industry, this pandemic has harmed Healthcare start up’s as well. We know that everything is showing downfall however to see a ray of light in dark is what makes us lively and vibrant.

    There are certain opportunities that this pandemic has given to this healthcare industry and people with great vision are grabbing it with both hands. Some organizations have come forward and announced a special fund to support innovators and researchers to fight against this ultimate pandemic coronavirus. Some of the organizations are looking forward to stepping ahead and manufacture such machinery for which we were dependent on the outer world to date.

    Some of the big giants of industry have raised funds to invest a huge amount of money into the start up’s that are working on a possible solution for coronavirus and this kind of activity brings motivation at such a time. A great achievement by Pune based Lab – Molecular diagnostic company Mylab becomes the first Indian company to have received the validation for its Coronavirus diagnostic test kits.

    At this time any start-up which has innovative ideas and is looking forward to implementing the idea or need of hour into reality by way of action will not only survive perhaps will excel. So, analyzing the situation, implementation of innovative ideas into action holds the key. This ability can make even a start-up do wonders and create history.

    Xtraliving

    Xtraliving Pvt Limited is a wellness and fitness solutions company. We talked with Mr. Rishikesh Kumar, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    All start-ups have been affected by the Covid -19 outbreak. It all depends on how well they are able to cope up with the situation. There is a financial crisis along with the health crisis.

    Some health care will see opportunity while some tends to close down. Agility and alignment with future needs is the key. Companies who will be able to make life better during this crisis will do better than others. Cash flow will be a very critical for survival and the global economy will put pressure to cut cost. It is important for any company to have 8-12  months of reserve to be safe.

    We at Xtraliving, have changed our format and we will be investing in online services. We need to drastically change our ways of working to be relevant tomorrow. The pandemic will result in drastic change in habits and behaviour.  

    Docttocare

    Docttocare allows the users to schedule their surgery appointment with the right doctor or hospital, which is best for their health and which is cost-effective. We talked with Sugandha, Founder, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    As the government urges people to stay indoors, most hospitals have closed down their OPDs because of the risk of transmission. But Health-tech startups are taking these challenges into stride by working on different ways patients can opt for on call consultation.

    Healthtech startups believe that this is the best time for them to step in to solve critical situation. We at Docttocare, are making things easy in difficult times. We are helping patients to get admitted in hospitals, we take care of their stay and transport. We provide them a online guidance regarding their surgeries. We are providing  this service at zero extra cost.

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    CliniVantage Healthcare Technologies

    CliniVantage Healthcare Technologies is a comprehensive healthcare platform that delivers various PaaS-based healthcare solutions for clinical, non-clinical, radiology and administrative services. We talked with Nilesh Jain, Co-Founder and Managing Director, about their plans to recover after Covid-19 outbreak.

    With the growing concern of the pandemic in the country, India is trying to put its best foot forward to tackle the situation. A skewed doctor to patient ratio, lack of medical supplies, and shortage of hospital beds has become a daunting concern for the country. The demand for health tech companies to develop data analytics and profiling-based early disease detection solutions to help reduce the load on doctors and hospitals is increasing. In the wake of this situation, Health tech startups across the globe are already pivoting their technologies to help fight the spread of this deadly virus.

    For a country like India, testing and diagnostics to consumers, and scale up the development of home kits is very crucial. Existing modern solutions in diagnostics, monitoring, and molecular development are being used as powerful tools to help fight the current pandemic. Healthcare technologies like big data, cloud computing, supercomputers, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, telemedicine, and instant screening instruments are effectively used to ensure increased hygiene, point of care delivery and continuous monitoring during self-quarantine. These technologies can help identify outbreak hotspots, prevent infections and reduce the need for physical contact in diagnostics.

    In this critical time, we have understood the importance of smart and digital healthcare. Officials at railway stations, airports and in other public areas are using smart thermal scanners to record temperatures from a distance, thus helping in identifying potential coronavirus carriers. Companies like CliniVantage Healthcare Technologies have launched Caremate Health ATM. It provides pre-screening using the health ATM and the suspected cases with their case history can also be tested using a rapid test for the Corona COVID-19 test. Such kind of technology can be implemented at the Airports, railway stations, educational institutions and hospitals. The ATM can provide instant patient screening for symptoms , includes self-screening parameters and secondary rapid test for Covid-19 – instant test results.

    There is also a surge in the demand for care management solution to keep diagnosed patients engaged at home, in quarantine facilities and hospitals and also cater to post-diagnosis activities such as health checks, diets, follow-up tests, etc. Amid the corona virus outbreak, Telemedicine startups are helping to cater the need for remote care. For patients, telemedicine provides faster care and helps them avoid hospitals, where they risk either infecting others or coming into contact with the disease.

    Virtual care can also reduce the strain for the healthcare system and help track the spread of diseases across geographies. One thing virtual doctors can’t do is test people for the disease. But they can help to coordinate with healthcare centers or direct symptomatic patients to the drive-thru coronavirus testing centers that are now cropping up around the country. Such solutions reduces the burden of the healthcare system and keeps the healthcare staff away from the danger of contracting the infection. Studies shows that 22% of healthcare workers exposed to Covid-19 patients contract the infection and the pandemic in India increases the ratio of patients to doctors and nurses increases exponentially.  Hence, need for smart and proactive care via telemedicine is very necessary.

    We also see startups coming up with home detection kits for COVID-19. The benefits of such kits could be substantial, allowing everyday people to test themselves for COVID-19 in the privacy of their homes instead of visiting a hospital, potentially exposing health care workers and other healthy individuals.

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  • 11 Founders Shared how they are Dealing with Biggest Issue of CoronaVirus

    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 for 21 days. 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.

    We have asked few companies how they are dealing with this current biggest issue.

    How Companies are dealing with Covid-19

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    AppViewX

    AppViewX is a modular, low-code software application that enables Certificate Management as well as Network Infrastructure Automation and Orchestration using an intuitive, context-aware, visual workflow. We talked with Anand Purusothaman, Founder, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    I wouldn’t say issue. But our biggest priority right now is figuring out the way forward once the lockdown is removed. The health of our growing team and community is priority. So, ensuring that all measures are taken to ensure their safety is what is running in my mind right now.

    LegalWiz.in

    LegalWiz.in provide services to early-stage startups and small businesses to help them stay compliant and maintain legal hygiene while maintaining the highest transparency on deliverables. We talked with Shrijay Sheth, Founder, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    Uncertainty is the biggest issue that not only we, but the whole business world is facing as of now. Disruptions in schedule, looming crisis…all these are worrisome factors. We are dealing with it the way we know best – being there for our team and clients & offering the best possible service we can, as of now.

    Primus Co-Work

    We are a hyperlocal, proptech, consumer business which partners with restaurants, that open only during the night, to convert them into co-working places from Mon-Fri/10am-6pm, and have an mobile app using which the customers can look up a co-working place across multiple pincodes, make payment online and book a seat. We talked with Shardul Bayas, Founder, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    Our business is dependent on the restaurants and since they are closed, our business is also paused for now. Thus we are doing the only things that we can do – clean up our backend, speak to all the leads we had(especially those that were not interested) to generate a “prospect list” so that we can approach them when we open, create an action plan for when things normalize, plan, plan and plan so that we prepare to get into action when we are back.

    Mamaearth

    Mamaearth is Asia’s first Madesafe certified brand that offers 100% toxin free & natural baby and mama care products. We talked with Ghazal Alagh, C0-founder, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    Since we are an eCommerce company, we’re obviously dealing with the complete disruption of services — whether that’s delivery of the products or their manufacture. Instead of stressing about what we can’t control, we’re trying to use this downtime productively— focussing on some medium and long-term marketing goals that we want to achieve.

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    Metro and Metro

    Metro & Metro is one of the leading manufactures of shoes and allied product in india. We talked with Meenakshi Kalsi, Business Partner, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    There’s a lot of uncertainty at the global level because we are exporters. We don’t know how our buyers would react to the COVID crises. On the other hand, there is ambiguity on the labour future which is our major issue and our responsibility. The need of the hour is to work as a United factory where the workers and our staff are all in one spirit. We all have to fight the pandemic together!
    The best way to deal with the crisis is to stay calm and foresighted with the passion of forever moving forward.

    Simply Fresh India

    Simply fresh AI technology in farming for growing, nourishing, picking and processing. We talked with Sachin Darbarwar, Founder & CEO, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    Biggest issue we are facing right now is making sure our farms are operating at optimum capacity and we meet the demands of the orders we are receiving from our retail, corporate and HoReCa clients. We are working closely with our clients, vendors and logistic partners for a smooth operation. We have taken necessary steps for our staff at farm. We have sanitized their living quarters and are providing them their basic essential food requirement on daily basis. Also, making sure they are maintaining hygiene. We have arranged for doctors to visit our farm every alternate day to brief our staff and check for any symptoms of health issue.

    Cosmo Films

    Cosmo Films is a global leader in specialty films for packaging, lamination and labeling applications. We talked with Mr. Pankaj Poddar, CEO, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    • To run the operations with limited number of manpower is biggest issue as we are a continuous process plant. We are running with limited manpower and employees are stretching their work hours, exhausting them.
    • Getting vehicles i.e. trucks and containers is a big challenge. Employees, at times are unable to reach the factories due to certain travel restrictions imposed due to the lockdown.
    • We are approaching year end appraisals, and it is a challenge for us to help facilitate employee self assessment and managers review, so it is not affected.
    • There are various training programmes and Talent Management initiatives, which are getting cancelled due to the lockdown.
    • For employees working from home, it has become ironic as they have to put more hours of work time than normal.

    upGrad Education

    Founded in early 2015, upGrad offers online programs for working professionals. We talked with Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    The remote working model for us has indeed brought certain advantages to the forefront. Things like a lesser distraction, more time to think and think innovatively, and the introduction of new practices, are taking over the system. We have increased the usage of online collaborative tools like Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Slack to communicate internally, and group video conferencing has proved out to be extremely useful for us.

    Ecolab Digital Centre

    Ecolab’ Digital Centre focuses on finding solutions to real-world problems around water safety, energy conservation, food security, and health & healthy environments. We talked with Malahar Pinnelli, MD, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    Power cuts, Band width issues and New laptops for the team being recruited. Given the situation there is not much we can do as Laptops, UPS or buying a new broadband connection at home, as are not an essential item.

    Excess2sell

    Excess2sell is India’s Premier and leading b2b excess inventory marketplace which covers multiple verticals. We talked with Mr Rajan Sharma, Founder & CEO, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    Uncertainty is always bad for business and right now we are in a major state of flux. So people are undecided on how soon things will be back to normal. Our team is constantly in touch with our partners assuring them of the safety of transactions even during these times. In absolute terms things don’t change much, although not many deals are happening since people are adopting the wait and watch mode.

    Fortunately, none of our buyers or sellers has backed out from the deals so far. However instead, we have witnessed a spurt in the E2S Premium Membership as more partners are looking to align with excess2sell in anticipation of inventory pile up. We have already tasked and equipped our customer support, logistics and tech teams to face any eventuality in the current scenario.

    ZingHR

    ZingHR is one of the oldest HRM providers. ZingHR is one of the few global ventures which offers almost all web/mobile-based modules from Hire to Retire Solutions with state of the art tech supporting those applications. We talked with Prasad Rajappan, Founder and CEO, about how they are dealing with biggest issue.

    One of the biggest issues which we are facing right now is Ensuring Employee Safety and Mental Agility.We started our BCP ( Business Continuity Planning ) very early even before the lockdown and ensured that the above mentioned are taken care off. Our products like Geo-Fencing, Timesheets,  Zero Touch Payroll, Learning Management Systems, Mobile Notifications and many more have come quite handy during BCP for self and clients.

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  • 11 Founders Shared Opinions on Strategies to Fight with Situation if the Lockdown Continues

    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 for 21 days. 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.

    But, noone knows when this lockdown situation will end as number of new infected cases are increasing. So, Government may extend this lockdown till number of cases become low or government can remove partial lockdown from few places.  

    We have asked few companies about their strategies strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    Also Read:

    Strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues

    AppViewX

    AppViewX is a modular, low-code software application that enables Certificate Management as well as Network Infrastructure Automation and Orchestration using an intuitive, context-aware, visual workflow. We asked Anand Purusothaman, Founder, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    I think we are well prepared should the lockdown continue as we have always been a virtually connected organization, with teams working across multiple geographies. We always had 4 day work week and work from home for all our customer facing teams. The investments and technical decisions made in cloud based services, virtual services, video conferencing has helped us run the business productively. Also having mandatory video conferencing for all leadership calls and key meetings helps us collaborate better with the personal touch. Last but not the least, the leadership team at AppViewX is committed to frequently communicating to all employees to keep the spirits up and move forward in a progressive and creative manner.

    LegalWiz.in

    LegalWiz.in is focussed on helping early-stage startups and small businesses stay compliant and maintain legal hygiene while maintaining the highest transparency on deliverables. We asked Shrijay Sheth, Founder, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    Our approach has been pro-active for the start. Our client relationships are robust, time-tested and we continue to deliver a superb CX – amply attested to by a 9.6/10 rating. That said, we plan to offer customised packages for our services. Moreover, there are a few sources from which we ensure a good business flow and hence we are equipped to cope. We will ensure that the team moral and efficiencies are high.

    Primus Co-Work

    Primus Co-work partners with restaurants ,that open only during the night, to convert them into co-working places from Mon-Fri/10am-6pm. We asked Shardul Bayas, Founder, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    If it continues, we will continue to plan and prepare for the day things open up. Keep the chin high so that we are ready to kick start when the lockdown is over.

    Mamaearth

    Mamaearth is Asia’s first Madesafe certified brand that offers 100% toxin free & natural baby and mama care products. We talked with Ghazal Alagh, C0-founder, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    We’ll use this time to focus on more medium and long-term strategic goals. Deep diving into our marketing, making our tech stack even more robust, improving our online discovery and user experience, and so on.

    Also Read:

    Metro and Metro

    Metro & Metro is one of the leading manufactures of shoes and allied product in india. We talked with Meenakshi Kalsi, Business Partner, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    We have to create opportunity out of adversity. Though the areas are very limited as we are manufacturing company as labourers won’t be allowed to come because of social distancing we need to find new processes and techniques so that we can start manufacturing without putting our labour in danger. We have already started to move in this direction. It’s a kind of challenge that none of us ever perceived but this is the time when the true sportsman spirit comes out and handles the challenge face to face. We may have to bend for a little time but surely we shall rise up because the wind does not break the trees that bend. And as I firmly believe that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

    Cosmo Films

    Cosmo Films is a global leader in specialty films for packaging, lamination and labeling applications. We talked with Mr. Pankaj Poddar, CEO, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    Even if the lock down continues, the company would keep running operations in line with the permission of government authorities. We are a law abiding organization and would never compromise on compliance.

    All necessary hygiene and safety compliance would be taken care of for the employees who are required at our different factories for essential operations. Their transport, food and safety will remain our responsibility.  

    Employees in support functions like HR, Purchase, Sales, Marketing and IT would continue to work from home with all necessary arrangements. They will help operations by providing them necessary support for smooth functioning of the plants.

    upGrad Education

    Founded in early 2015, upGrad offers online programs for working professionals. We talked with Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    The current situation is a net positive for online education sector at large. With over 100% Q-0-Q jump, upGrad has expanded its portfolio twofold in the last quarter (Q4) by adding new programs under its Management and Data verticals and is in a position to command the highest ARPU of ₹2.4 lakhs in the Indian online education sector.

    While I also believe that the WFH model is a double-edged sword, which could either bring new practices to life for higher productivity or could break the system in the long run. As a matter of fact, it is now ensuring our safety, but there will always be a demand for the physical workforce due to the nature of our product.

    In order to minimise disruption, we are now video calling and conducting webinars with our prospective learners, to have the same impact that any personal interaction would have. This has also helped us in conducting additional counselling sessions for them every day, including that on weekdays which was earlier limited due to time lost while travelling.

    So, to conclude, if we move into a time where the teams are to work from home, we would swiftly adapt to new practices and march towards creating new benchmarks.

    Ecolab Digital Centre

    Ecolab’ Digital Centre focuses on finding solutions to real-world problems around water safety, energy conservation, food security, and health & healthy environments. We talked with Malahar Pinnelli, MD, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    We will continue working from home irrespective of mandated lock down for next one month and we are now used to making most of this situation. But If complete lock down continues, I think we need to add more to essential services such as Laptops, UPS and New internet connections so that parts the businesses can contiue without larger Impact.

    Excess2sell

    Excess2sell is India’s Premier and leading b2b excess inventory marketplace which covers multiple verticals. We talked with Mr Rajan Sharma, Founder & CEO, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    Since the lockdown deadline has been extended we might witness a massive hit to businesses and consequently to the revenues. We feel that the challenges of situation will be realised across functions –in short term we expect the revenue to drop in absolute terms, but from a business development perspective we expect major scale up as sellers and buyers will start looking for liquidating unsold and overstock inventories.

    ZingHR

    ZingHR is one of the oldest HRM providers. ZingHR is one of the few global ventures which offers almost all web/mobile-based modules from Hire to Retire Solutions with state of the art tech supporting those applications. We talked with Prasad Rajappan, Founder and CEO, about their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    At ZingHR we have initiated some steps to manage the implications of the current situation with two priorities:

    1. Ensuring Business Continuity for internal external stakeholders
    2. To safeguard the health and safety of our employees, their families and our customers.
    3. To ensure productivity is never compromised.

    We are also conducting simulation exercises wherein we are regularly testing the communication channels which includes scenarios impacting the customers and employees.  

    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 their strategies to fight with situation if lockdown continues.

    If lockdown extends, a lot of business processes will be redesigned and online methods will be widely used to cater to consumer needs. So, the strategy would be to tweak the business to cater to people without having an office / FaceTime with the team. Easier said than done, but it is possible since the entire IT sector currently is doing the same and many have reported increased productivity due to reduced commuting time.
    E.g. An agri-supply chain company supplying only to B2B started to cater to society groups where the areas have been sealed in Pune. That has enabled them to continue or rather increase the business in the lockdown phase. They have tied up with Dunzo, etc to supply to B2C segment as well now.

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