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  • The Rise of the Global Counterfeit Industry and Its Impact on Original Brands (Case Study)

    Would you wear a counterfeited shoe, if nobody else around you can tell if that is fake or not? The answer may vary as it is a very subjective thing. However, we can note that most people will say yes. The reason is simple. Brands are super expensive and if you want to look trendy and all cool, then you might want to consider counterfeited stuff. A counterfeit good is relatively highly cheaper than the original. Not only this, but the fake product will also look exactly the same as the original product, making it more likely to be bought.

    I bet you have already seen counterfeits or fakes of originals, even for once in your life. They are quite everywhere. You can find ‘Air Jordans’ at a price of a cake, a ‘G-shock’ bad copy at about four dollars and Adidas apparel at a local market. All of these are obviously fake or counterfeited to look almost exactly the same. The quality? not at all the same. This article is about the unseen black market of counterfeits at the global level. Read on to know how and why their business is booming and how you can not fall for them.

    “Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.”
    ― Samuel Johnson

    What are Counterfeit Products?
    Why Do People Buy Counterfeits?
    Types of Counterfeits
    The Market Size of the Counterfeit Industry
    What is the Effect of Counterfeiting Products on Luxury Brands?
    What’s in the Logo? (The logo game)
    After-Effects of Counterfeiting
    Brand’s Response to Counterfeiting
    FAQ

    What are Counterfeit Products?

    Replica and Authentic Louis Vuitton Bag
    Replica and Authentic Louis Vuitton Bag

    Counterfeited goods are goods that are not original. They look the same and has all the features but are fake. The hype for fashion brands is so much all around the world. This hype has led to people trying to tap into the market with copies of the original. The fakes look the same with no guarantee of quality.

    Not to mention, counterfeiting is a crime and has legal consequences. Most of the time, a counterfeit uses the very mechanism that a consumer uses to buy original brands. They use the brand name, logo or a phrase that only the real and original company uses to fool customers. For example, the famous “Just do it” phrase of the sportswear brand Nike is hugely counterfeited to lure people into buying fakes.

    Knock Off of Nike Airforce One
    Knock Off of Nike Airforce One

    Brands such as Adidas are also not lagged behind in this, they are copied too. Fake producers or manufacturers try to steal the very authenticity of a brand and in doing that deceive people with fakes.

    In Fact, the most copied brands are those brands whose market value is high. For instance, the most counterfeited brands are – Nike, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Rolex and Prada. All these brands have the best goodwill in this world.

    Counterfeiting, as mentioned before, is a fraudulent imitation (a forgery) of a trusted brand and product, and it is considered a serious crime. Under U.S. federal law, criminal counterfeiting offences can be punished for life (in the prison) and up to $30,000,000 can be asked to pay in fines. Counterfeiting can also be prosecuted as a felony (acquisition or concealment) in most states in the United States.

    Why Do People Buy Counterfeits?

    There can be many reasons why people buy counterfeits. However, there can be many common and obvious reasons for people buying counterfeited products, the list surprisingly does not end here only. Among all the reasons that are common let us discuss every reason why they do this. Let us dive into why this type of industry is booming without any sort of recessions,

    Cheaper in price

    This one is an obvious reason. People tend to turn towards products that are fake because they are much cheaper. They are much cheaper than the relative original products. For example, a counterfeit bag can be purchased for 12 dollars while the original branded bag may cost as much as $500 dollars. This huge price gap makes brand lovers move to a counterfeited product and thus this keeps the industry of fakes moving.

    We live in a world that is changing at a super rapid pace. Not only technology is becoming obsolete fast, but fashion also is not behind in this race. You jump on to one trend and voila! There is another trend waiting to happen. The fashion world has also turned into a hyper changing world. Everywhere you go you see fashion trends, be it on print media, social media and whatnot.

    Making a fashion statement every time you go outside can be hazardous to your pocket. This is not a bad trait or a bad thing. Everyone is just trying to look cool and stay on the trend that’s running elsewhere. Sometimes this pressure to stay in the trend can lead a person to buy first copy products. It is easier on the pocket and makes you the centre of attention instantly.

    Ignorance at work

    In this modern era, where we jump to a website for even small little things, it is normal to fall for fakes. Anybody can sell anything online, without much of a hassle. Sometimes what happens is that people buy products online believing that they are buying an original.

    Many times, they are sold counterfeited or knockoff products that can lead to a damaging effect on the original brand name. While people buy it in ignorance, the revenue generated by these deceptive businesses is often quite huge.

    A famous example can be taken off Amazon. Anyone can sell anything on Amazon without much pre-requisite. This has taken hostage the hopes of many online shoppers and now they only believe the brand’s original website.

    Types of Counterfeits

    Any product that steals the charisma of a reputed brand is a counterfeit. However, when it comes to the legal aspect of counterfeiting, the definition has many types and turns. We are trying to discuss some of them here.

    Piracy

    Piracy is the most common type of counterfeiting that involves people obtaining copies of the original work, and that is done without the maker’s permission. They copy it from the internet, or they download it from somewhere (If that is a digital asset).

    Piracy is a big problem for all artists in and around the globe. Music can be made freely available easily and that too without the artist’s permission. It is the same with sneakers, same with clothing and all sorts of accessories.

    There are many laws to protect it like one that says – Making unauthorised copies of copyrighted music recordings is against the law and may subject you to civil and criminal liability. A civil lawsuit could hold you responsible for thousands of dollars in damages. Criminal charges may leave you with a felony record, accompanied by up to five years of jail time and fines up to $250,000 (Title 17, United States Code, Sections 501 and 506).

    Trade Secret Infringement

    A trade secret, as the name suggests is a set of rules or checkmarks that a company follows internally for its products. The secret formula for Coca-Cola, which is locked in a vault, is an example of a trade secret that is a formula or recipe.

    Coca-Cola secret vault
    Coca-Cola secret vault

    Usually, patent infringement and trade secret infringement go hand in hand and they happen together. If that secret of a brand is made public then, it will have a catastrophic impact on the brand value of that corporation.

    Patent Infringement

    This law is broken when someone breaks the rules of someone’s patent. A patent can be defined as a contract that excludes or stops others from making, using, or selling an original invention by the patent holder for some years. If someone does anything against that patent, that is known as patent infringement and is liable for punishment or penalty as the law suggests. However, it is to be noted that patents are territorial in nature.

    So that means, if a patent is registered in the United States, then anyone in the United States is prohibited from disobeying the patent. However, elsewhere in the whole world, the invention can be exploited to any extent in their country where the patent is not registered.

    The Market Size of the Counterfeit Industry

    The industry’s scale of counterfeited goods is as big as the fashion industry itself, if not bigger than that. The hype of fashion and trendy wear is so much and thus they invite fakes from every nook and corner of industries.

    According to the International Anti Counterfeiting Collision (IACC), the total market value of all the counterfeiting sold products all over the world, was 1.5 trillion dollars in the year 2015. This is a huge old number and we can only assume how much in magnitude it is growing and at what pace.

    If we talk about scaling the counterfeit industry at the global level, the numbers will be shocking. The global counterfeiting industry is literally expected to hit the $4.2 trillion mark by 2022. Moreover, with these skyrocketing numbers, fashion industry losses are also skyrocketing.

    The fashion industry according to reports lost about 50 billion in 2020 alone, due to the sale of fake products. Clothing, as we note later on in this article, appears to be the most counterfeited product in the market. They are followed by the products in the cosmetic industry, personal care, watches and jewellery, luggage and luxury handbags.

    The growing importance of intellectual property rights in knowledge-based economies has generated concerns about the potential adverse effects of counterfeiting and piracy on governments, rights holders and consumers. Footwear is the most counterfeited category amongst all.

    A recent OECD study on counterfeiting and piracy (in 2008) attempted to quantify the scale of the effects due to these illicit activities. This study focused on the infringement, through counterfeiting and piracy, of trademarks, copyrights, patents and design rights, to the extent that they involved physical products.

    Counterfeiting is not a small business but is a very big and scalable business. It can be stretched to any point if not checked and regulated. In the Fiscal Year 2020, the Department of Homeland Security seized over 26,000 shipments of counterfeit goods valued at over $1.3 billion at U.S. borders. This is just random news of one locality but globally the counterfeiting industry is so huge. Not just on the producing side but as well on the consumption side. The trends of growth in the global counterfeit market are led by consumer demand and then an equivalent supply comes out of the blue.

    Total Value of Seized Counterfeit in 2016 by Industry
    Total Value of Seized Counterfeit in 2016 by Industry

    What is the Effect of Counterfeiting Products on Luxury Brands?

    This is obvious to note that when a counterfeit is sold in the market and someone purchases it, the loss is borne by the original brand. The original brand whose products are being counterfeited has to bear the loss of revenue due to the fake product. Each and every sale of this type further and further decreases the profitability of brands.

    Sales Losses due to Counterfeit Goods
    Sales Losses due to Counterfeit Goods

    We can easily see from the above graph that the most counterfeited products are in the clothing industry. The reason can be easily ascertained in a manner that “clothing” is the most visible item of attire. So people love to buy these products that are noticed easily without further (and forceful) flaunting. The second most counterfeited item lies on the face of pharmaceuticals all over the world. All these cause losses of real cash for globally reputed brands.

    What’s in the Logo? (The logo game)

    Fake vs Original Nike
    Fake vs Original Nike

    A logo is the main point of identification, it is the first thing that people notice. It also works as a differentiating factor from other products. Thus, it acts as a quality stamp for a product or service or even experience.

    Honestly, it’s all about the logo. A famous logo helps connect instantly with the values that the brand follows. It is a super important thing to be working at because it is the first impression. It is literally the first impression that customers get of the brand. If it is bad, it will lead to a bad impression and if it is thoughtfully made then it will lead to a good first impression.

    A first good impression then can lead to a customer walking in your store and then most probably buying something from you. It’s memorable, acts as a separator, and even customers expect it.

    Business people or entrepreneurs spend a good amount of time and money on making designs for their brands. They know how crucial they are in building a brand image out there in the public. All the things have to be taken care of while making a brand logo, be it the size of the logo, the story it tells, the colour it wears and much more.

    Speaking of counterfeited goods, a logo is their main attraction. The quality might not match with the real original product but the logo is mostly a work of fine art. People buy it for that specific purpose only, they just want to look good from a distance. No one checks the quality of a product, the logo is the only thing that shines and can communicate fashion trends.

    After-Effects of Counterfeiting

    Once you buy a fake product and show it off to your circle of friends, the story doesn’t end here. There are many after-effects to it. The most common and easily seen effects that can affect you are listed here –

    Stealing taxes

    The counterfeit product not only costs some bucks to the company or to you, but it also costs the city where you reside. Why do you ask? Because counterfeiting people don’t pay taxes. Tax comes from products that are rightfully made and supplied, it comes from legit sources and legit manufacturing. All these aspects are not present in the fake market, so it is clear stealing of taxes.

    It’s Illegal

    This point has been seen over and over again in previous paragraphs, that it is illegal to manufacture fake products and it is also illegal to buy and promote fake products. It hurts the company that puts in all the original efforts to make and market the products. This hurts the creative process and literally every process (Unique to itself) that the company goes through to get the product on to customers.

    Health Hazardous

    Again, any fake good or product of any sort can be hazardous to your health. As we saw in the above graph, the pharmaceutical industry is the second most counterfeited industry. This raises concerns about which medicines are real and what are fakes. If chosen wrong, they can be bad for your health. So, a small discount can go a long way in deteriorating your health.

    Brand’s Response to Counterfeiting

    In the year 2017, top sportswear brand Nike thought of selling its products (shoes and clothing mostly) via Amazon. They were determined to cut off the fake products being peddled over Amazon. Soon after, they had to cut off the strategy and they began to pull out all their ties with Amazon. The reason was again “fake counterfeits”.

    Amazon even tried to filter out all the fake names but it didn’t work. Even after delisting, the fake stores popped up again on the website with another name. Due to the high magnitude of fakes in the Amazon market, Nike’s originals were even badly rated.

    Since then, Nike has been investing in customer relationships with direct connection to them and thus on brick and mortar stores. Nike has been investing in creating new store formats, such as a 68,000 square foot flagship store in New York.

    Nike Store
    Nike Store

    Nike’s response denotes what the brands are doing in this regard. While they can’t shut each and every counterfeit producing entity, what they can do is educate their customers. That is what brands are doing, they are trying to reach out to customers directly. They are investing in brick and mortar stores, maintaining their websites like there is no tomorrow etcetera.

    All these tricks are working too, they are able to capture quality customers. Now, people who want to buy originals know where to get them. The most trusted way to buy any genuine product still remains the brand’s website and its brick and mortar stores. This is the way out, to educate customers.

    Another way is to track every item the brand produces, all its appearances and where they live at the moment. To note everything also includes leveraging new solutions, like the blockchain. Louis Vuitton is working closely with Microsoft and ConsenSys to create the Aura Ledger, which will closely trace the origins of their luxury products.

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    Conclusion

    The industry’s size of counterfeited or first copy products is as big as the fashion industry itself, if not bigger than that. The hype of fashion and trendy wear is so much and thus they invite fakes from every nook and corner of industries.

    The game of counterfeits is run by the fashion trends and the people who will go to any length to hop on every trend wave. Any fashion that changes rapidly is known as fast fashion. In this ever-changing world, fast fashion is the keyword in any fashion industry across the globe.

    The hype around these topics and the urge to look good at any cost are setting the fuel for counterfeit markets. The price of these fakes have eventually to be paid by originals and the middlemen who manufacture these products get to earn some real quick cash. However, some believe that these counterfeits are free marketing for the originals but the big picture tells a different story.

    Nike’s are the most copied brand and this establishes some curiosity to try out the real originals. Whatever is the conclusion on the counterfeiting industry, we know that it is fishy in quite every sense. Henceforth, when you want to buy some trend-setting products, go to the store directly or shop from their official website.

    FAQ

    How big is the counterfeit industry?

    The counterfeit industry is worth more than $500 billion.

    Which country imports the most counterfeit goods?

    China is the biggest exporter of counterfeit goods with on the top with estimated half-a-trillion dollar worldwide imports of counterfeit and pirated goods.

    What is the most counterfeited brand?

    Rolex is one of the most counterfeited brands in the world.

  • Netflix Recommendation Engine – How Netflix uses Big data and Analytics to Recommend you your Favourite Shows

    Entertainment is probably as old as the era of humans itself. We have found out different ways of getting entertained. Some of the sources include dance, singing, playing but some of the most famous and widely accepted ways of entertainment are films, theatrics and movies.

    In this 21st century, as the internet penetrates every domain, it has not left the entertainment sector per se. It has boosted the domain to such heights that it is probably hard to go back to square one. The topmost entertainment provider in the world is Netflix. It uses technology to scale great heights and great revenues.

    There was an old film with dialogue where the protagonist says “A film works only when it has three elements to it, Entertainment, Entertainment and Entertainment”. Well, we as viewers might be tempted to say yes it is true but is it still the same in the twenty-first century? The answer may be a little more than just entertainment. It might include promotions, marketing and more. What more you ask? Big data, Artificial intelligence, machine learning.

    Netflix, the prime entertainment host, do it all to cater to your entertainment needs. We will dive deep to understand how Netflix uses its recommendation engine and how it has incorporated this super-tech to reach new heights.

    A little preface about Netflix
    Personalised Entertainment/Content on Netflix
    Data Analytics of Netflix
    The Recommendation Engine of Netflix
    Business Verticals of Netflix
    Some Facts about Netflix that might Interest you
    FAQ

    A little Preface about Netflix

    Netflix
    Netflix

    Netflix is a streaming service that offers a wide variety of movies, TV series, shows, anime, documentaries, and more. As mentioned, it is a streaming service, so it can be accessed on every possible device. You can stream Netflix via the official website, or its android or IOS app.

    You can tune into it instantly on the web at netflix.com from your personal computer or on any internet-connected device that offers the Netflix app, including smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, streaming media players and game consoles. It is a monthly subscribed service, which you have to redeem monthly.

    There is always something to watch on Netflix. So much so that it has a full library of entertainment. It is extensively built for the best experience in entertainment to its subscribers. That is why Netflix is the most famous streaming platform in the world.

    You might wonder that entertainment is top-notch on Netflix but there is one more thing that it pays huge attention to. The thing is not hideous but is often not much talked about. That one aspect is the library and the whole management of this extensively built personalised library of content.

    Netflix, for years, is able to provide personalised content recommendations to its each and every subscriber. How does it do that? What is the magic behind it? let us uncover that.

    Personalised Entertainment/Content on Netflix

    “If the Starbucks secret is a smile when you get your latte… ours is that the Web site adapts to the individual’s taste.” – Reed Hastings (CEO of Netflix)

    Over the course of the last few years, Netflix has become the favourite destination of people who want to binge on some entertainment films and shows. Netflix started as a humble DVD rental business and it later turned into something totally different as technology kicked in.

    DVD rental business
    DVD rental business 

    We can see the huge subscriber base of Netflix as proof of work and growth. One of the most crucial elements of this growth is personalised content. That crucial element is the underlying asset of the presence of Big Data and artificial intelligence.

    Netflix doesn’t just work in managing content, movies, TV shows and entertainment but it has a lot of other data to handle as well. It has user insights, their data and usage patterns and everything connected to them and of course ‘us’.

    The data management part is not easy at all, especially when you have to constantly change to adapt to your surroundings. Netflix does it so well, no wonder it uses Big data to manage and make sense of huge piles of useful data.

    “Where there is data smoke, there is business fire.” — Thomas Redman

    If we see the graph of Netflix’s memberships and subscriptions, we can see a beautiful upward direction to the moon. The reason is its personalised services and the best user interface that is available out in the whole world.

    Number of Subscribers of Netflix in Millions
    Number of Subscribers of Netflix

    The revenue of this streaming giant is also similar to that of its subscriber base. It has grown steeply and steadily. The reason is the efficiency undoubtedly.

    When it first started as a DVD rental service, it was a quite simple video provider. It used to use mails to provide DVD copies of the content. It was in 2010 when Netflix thought of rebranding and using more sophisticated technology as an aid. They began streaming online and the data that they were collecting grew many folds. This marks many years of anniversary for Netflix as a data-driven company. It has been data-driven even from its very inception.

    Their “Data Analytics’ team work very closely with decision-makers of the company. The data team has useful insights, metrics, predictions and analytics so that everyone can work efficiently. They have to work super closely with the product teams, content teams, studio and marketing teams and altogether with the business operations.

    With the data they collect, they have to perform context-rich analysis to provide insight into their business, partners and of course their subscribers or members. This also enriches the experience for Netflix.

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    Data Analytics of Netflix

    When you are dealing with huge amounts of data then efficient data management becomes the reason and a necessary condition for your success. At Netflix, data analytics is the backbone of every work that they do. It is the metric at which they measure their location. It is the basis to know where they are and essentially where they are going. This is where Netflix finds and experiments, it is also the place where they solve existing problems.

    Even from the DVD days, they are a data-driven company first and then anything else. From its inception, they have grown their data department to new heights every now and then.

    As Netflix grew, the need to manage data effectively and efficiently grew too. Every decision is fueled by the data behind it. If you are into any business in the world, you need data to do your best possible job. Netflix does it and it does it quite efficiently.

    Data Science and Engineering at Netflix is primarily and supremely is directed at improving various aspects of the streaming business. Among all the other roles, research applications span many areas including Netflix’s personalization algorithms, content valuation, and optimization for future streaming.

    To maximise the already big impact of Netflix’s research, they do not centralise research into a separate organisation. Instead, they do it within altogether other departments. They have many teams that pursue research in collaboration with business teams, engineering teams, and other researchers. This enables closer partnerships between researchers and the business and engineering in each and every area.

    In addition to that, research that applies to the same methodological area or business area is shared and highlighted in discussion and debate forums to strengthen the work and its impact.

    When we think about big data and Netflix, what comes to mind? More than often you would think that it has something to do with the content recommendation algorithm or the streaming to your personal device. Yes, you are right in most senses, these two topics are the main contributors for data research and analytics but there is more.

    They both are an integral part but there is more to the whole picture. So, further data is used to “make the experience even better than before”. Data has to do a lot with questions like “Which piece of content makes our customers or members most joyous” or “What are some of the areas in which Netflix can collaborate to provide 360-degree entertainment”.

    Data solves the problem of finding the right market fit for the product in any sort of market. Which in turn enhances the user experience of Netflix as a whole.

    The Recommendation Engine of Netflix

    As we discussed previously, data is fuel for Netflix’s smoothness and convenience. The motive is to constantly improve the predictions on how someone is going to react after watching a certain type of movie, genre and another basis. This helps in knowing about the customer preferences, which can be used in future for making better predictions.

    This is when their recommendation algorithm comes into the picture. Netflix has, over the years, designed an algorithm that can suggest recommendations to its users. It is called the Netflix recommendation Engine or NRE. it has been reported that 80% of Netflix viewer activity is driven by personalised recommendations from the engine. Which is a pretty good number for a streaming platform like Netflix. It also saves marketing costs for the streaming giant.

    In Netflix’s case, the NRE or the Netflix recommendation engine has some different factors of inputs. It collects data that will be the most relevant in the prediction of user behaviours. Some of the most commonly tracked inputs are as follows,

    1. The device used to stream on.
    2. The number of searches.
    3. If the show was paused or fast-forwarded.
    4. Whether the entire show/movie was completed watching.
    5. Whether the viewer gave the show or movie a thumbs up or thumbs down.
    6. Scenes that the user replayed.
    7. Time and date at user watched a show/movie.
    8. Profile information such as age, gender, location.

    These are some most used inputs that Netflix recommendation engines use. Moreover, of all the websites that use big data and other predicting technologies, Netflix does it the smoothest. It has been reported that 47% of North Americans prefer to use Netflix with an exclamatory 93 % retention basis. This marks proof of the efficient working of the Netflix model.

    Nevertheless, Netflix is not just winning because of its near-perfect prediction and recommendation technology but also good management. Let us know a little about the business verticals at the heart of this streaming giant.

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    Business Verticals of Netflix

    What you see is the content and recommendations, well stacked on Netflix, what you do not see is the work that goes behind curtains. There are business verticals/segments that work as a team to improve how we binge-watch content online. Let us read about them in brief words.

    Product

    Netflix Homepage
    Netflix Homepage

    Product is the actual product that the streaming giant is providing. It is the segment that deals with the Netflix app. The motive of this department or business segment is to deliver high-quality streaming, smooth user interface, best customer service. The product segment also has to ensure that the members get the right content recommendations at the right time.

    Content

    The content segment is the cream for the cake. At the heart of Netflix, it also is a content producing company. The content vertical is accountable and responsible for licensing and enabling shows and movies for Netflix. This department also works on all things that can be joyous to the public. Buying decisions at this and all other levels are done by this area of the business vertical.

    Membership

    Netflix Membership Pricing
    Netflix Membership Pricing

    Memberships are the very fuel with which Netflix works. Anything that can increase memberships or subscriptions are managed and promoted by this business vertical. This includes marketing, sign up prompts, pricing and even partnering with other companies for promotions. They manage and handle all the incomings and welcomings at the Netflix website and app.

    Studio

    Netflix Studio
    Netflix Studio

    A studio is a place where a piece of content is shot. Many of the content that Netflix produces is done in already set up studios. This is also a cost-saving or cutting method. This department works at planning, development, and all the pre and post-production activities for the content. Thus, they work closely with content verticals.

    Marketing

    Netflix Instagram Marketing
    Netflix Instagram Marketing

    This vertical is focused to spread awareness and promotions about the content that Netflix is producing. This is done through new or traditional media or a combination of both. You must have seen advertisements for Netflix exclusive movies and tv shows, this is the department behind those.

    Platform

    This is the team that ensures the efficient, secure and state of art use of technology tools to manage the whole working of the platform. The data analytics and engineering tools are managed here to provide personalised content to each and every member/subscriber.

    Some Facts about Netflix that might Interest you

    • Despite more competition, Netflix still has the largest subscriber count in 2020.
    • 60 million US adults have a Netflix subscription.
    • Netflix was originally called “Kibble”.
    • Netflix staffers think that you decide on a movie in two minutes.
    • The company is older than most users realise.
    • Netflix at its IPO sold its shares about 15 dollars, as its market grew, the share price went up to 350 dollars.
    • 41% of Netflix users are watching without paying thanks to password and account sharing.
    • Nearly two-thirds of US households now have Netflix.
    • Netflix was one of the first streaming services available as an app on different devices.
    • You’ll Soon be able to Stream Netflix in a Tesla.

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    Conclusion

    Data analytics is the fuel that powers Netflix. Netflix doesn’t just work in managing content, movies, TV shows and entertainment but it has a lot of other data to handle as well. There is no efficient way other than “Big data” to handle such enormous amounts of data efficiently.

    Netflix does it so well that we do not even notice that change. It cleverly posts content recommendations that are exactly matched with our likes. The data analytics at Netflix brings tailor-made and personalised content to each and every subscriber.

    This makes Netflix best not only on the content basis but also on the overall user experience. That is the sole reason why we see steep spikes in Netflix viewerships over the years.

    FAQ

    How accurate is the Netflix recommendation system?

    Netflix’s Recommendation Engine is so accurate that 80% of Netflix viewer activity is driven by personalised recommendations from the engine.

    How do I get better recommendations on Netflix?

    Whenever you watch a show on Netflix, you can give a thumbs up or thumbs down. Each time you give a show or film a thumbs up, Netflix will likely recommend similar content.

    Is Netflix recommendation supervised or unsupervised?

    Netflix recommendation engine is a supervised quality control algorithm.

  • OYO Vs Airbnb – Competitors in Hospitality Industry of India

    A traveller, a tourist and a first-time backpacker. These three have something in common despite their differences in experience. They all want a peaceful night to stay after having a long walk to someone’s dream place or to a normal visit or a trip. The business of giving people home or a place to stay dates back to AD 707.

    The hospitality business is one of the indestructible industries wherein famous chains have generations of families leading, in particular, the empire built by people through hospitality. Hotels are the face of this industry. There are buildings that provide people with a place to stay with the utmost comfort. They make people feel cosy in corners not owned by them, yet have rights over them.

    The hotel industry was once owned by the owners with no regulatory bodies on the top of their heads. They had their own business model. But the new generation turned the system into a marketplace that involved filters of the various layers. The whole system was immediately converted into a well-oiled machine. A new system that sided with the huge Indian population.

    This huge system turnover was brought by a 22-year-old Indian Boy named Ritesh Agarwal.

    Current Status of Hotel and Tourism Industry
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Experience in Industry
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Front-end
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Places to Stay
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Stay Duration
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Business Model
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Revenue Model
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Marketing Strategy
    OYO Vs Airbnb – Social Media
    Conclusion
    FAQs

    Which is better – Airbnb or OYO?

    Current Status of Hotel and Tourism Industry

    The Tourism and Hotel Industry in India is one of the main drivers of growth among the services sector of the country. The tourism industry in India has significant potential as it has rich & diverse culture, historical heritage, a vast range of ecology, and flora and fauna. Indian is known for its geographical diversity, attractive beaches throughout the coastline, 27 world heritage sites, 10 biogeographic zones, 80 national parks and more than 441 sanctuaries.

    According to reports, over 39 million jobs were created in the tourism sector which equates to over 8% of the total employment in India. By 2029, the country’s tourism sector is expected to grow 6.7% to reach $488 billion, which will account for 9.2% of the country total economy. The industry has slowed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, as the country had many lockdowns and restrictions on travel.

    As per the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), the Indian hotel industry had a loss of approximately $17.82 billion in revenue due to the ongoing pandemic. Despite taking a hit, the industry is looking to come back up with the help of schemes and opportunities provided by the government. The Indian Government is providing free loans to the MSMEs to help them deal with the crisis and revive the tourism sector.

    It is also planning to tap into a staycation, which is an emerging trend where people stay at luxurious hotels to revive themselves of stress in a peaceful getaway. With many upcoming developments, the international tourist arrivals are expected to reach 30.5 billion and generate revenue of over $59 billion by 2028. OYO and Airbnb have in many ways helped the industry grow especially in 2020 and 2021, as domestic tourists are expected to drive the growth post-pandemic.

    OYO Vs Airbnb – Experience in Industry

    Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of OYO Rooms
    Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of OYO Rooms

    When it comes to trust, experienced companies are trusted more.

    Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of OYO, formed the most famous chain of leased and franchised hotel chains. We Indians often refer to it as a place to look for the best deals for hotels, The Oyo Rooms. Oyo Rooms started 7 years ago with a bunch of hotels. The company has now expanded globally with thousands of hotels and vacation homes. Oyo Rooms was started in the year 2013.

    Ritesh is the second youngest self-made billionaire in the world.

    Airbnb's Founders
    Airbnb’s Founders

    Airbnb was conceived years ago by two roommates who rented out an air mattress in their living room. This turned their whole apartment into a bed and breakfast. This was done to sustain the high-priced living in San Francisco. This gave the company its name Airbedandbreakfast. Airbnb was started in 2008.

    So the winner here is, Airbnb, which has a lot of experience.

    Both the companies share a common goal, i.e. to provide accommodations, a safe place and comfortable corners to people. Yet both the companies have a very different working business model.

    Oyo is often believed to be India’s answer to Airbnb. This article will take you through the different business models and things that are uncommon between the two companies.

    OYO Vs Airbnb – Front-end

    OYO Rooms
    OYO Rooms

    OYO, as people know, is a website where one can go through various filters and find a hotel. But this is the front-end of how the Oyo company is. Oyo is a marketplace for only hotels.

    Airbnb
    Airbnb

    However, Airbnb is a marketplace that helps a traveller find an abode of his type. It can be for lodging, primarily homestays and homestays. It also lets the provider of the property fix a price. This helps both sides as well as Airbnb. The company has recently started offering experiences too.

    This shows a more varied and real-world applied concept. So, Airbnb has a better front-end.

    OYO Vs Airbnb – Places to Stay

    OYO Online Booking
    OYO Online Booking

    Oyo used to get hotels and book a majority of the rooms for a definite time. It then standardizes the room according to the Oyo standards. Later, list the hotels on its website with huge and heavy discounts. The whole business model used to work by acquiring clusters of hotels for a definite time. Standardizing them and making them proper before listing.

    Airbnb Online Booking
    Airbnb Online Booking

    Airbnb is based on the sharing economy. It makes owners share the property or rooms they own with travellers who in turn share money with the owners. It is believed to be the most successful business that works on sharing economy. A two-faced system that works for the public.

    OYO Vs Airbnb – Stay Duration

    Oyo works on hotel stays, so an individual can stay there for a good amount of time. Oyo rooms have no particular rule about leaving a room after a set date. The whole system is similar to how one can stay in a hotel. But in Airbnb, there is a 90-day rule. This rule was introduced in 2017. This rule is only for areas in London. The listings in that area cannot be occupied for more than 90 days.

    This makes Airbnb not suitable for very long.

    Oyo had 5,855 hotels in its network in the year 2016 with an inventory of over 68 thousand rooms. If compared to today it has a portfolio of more than 35 thousand hotels and 125 thousand vacation homes. It has over 1.2 million rooms across 80 countries and 800 cities.

    But, the founder and CEO of Oyo – Ritesh Agarwal made an announcement in the year 2017 that the company had evolved its Oyo business model to 100% franchise, managing, or operating. He also mentioned that his company would no longer go for hotel aggregation and will shift towards becoming a proper full-scale hospitality company. The CEO stated that this change in business model will reduce operational costs. Hence, improve service.

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    OYO Vs Airbnb – Business Model

    Oyo changed its business model to the Franchise model in the year 2017. The company earlier used to take up some rooms on lease and would sell them to customers. This model involves partnering with many hotels and asking them to operate as a franchise. Then selling their rooms to all the customers at competitive prices.

    Airbnb, known for not owning any of the properties. Yet known for having a business that does work on providing shelter. All the company does is providing a platform. A platform on which all the people can rent out properties they own or spare rooms to guests. The property prices are set by the owner themselves. But the company intervenes when it comes to the collection of money.

    The Business model of Airbnb is a multi-sided marketplace that connects all the travellers with the host and experience providers. The company makes money from the fees that come from bookings from stays and experiences. Airbnb’s model is exponential when it comes to growth.

    Airbnb has a better business model in terms of customer comfort and reach.

    Airbnb’s business model is quite simple yet very innovative which often dubs it as the world’s fastest-growing travel site.

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    OYO Vs Airbnb – Revenue Model

    Oyo charges around 22% of commissions. This has to be paid every month by the hotels’ owners. However, commissions may vary as per the services and features offered. Oyo also charges a commission out of the room reservation fee according to their services chosen.

    Airbnb makes all the money through commissions. It charges a 3% commission on every booking from hosts and between 6 – 12% from guests. Unlike Oyo, Airbnb takes reviews and feedback from both ends. Be it the host or the guest, this makes it a proper marketplace.

    Airbnb seems to have an upper hand at everything, making it a proper place to visit before actually vising one.

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    OYO Vs Airbnb – Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

    Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a tool that lets a company store customer and prospect contact information. It also helps the company identify sales opportunities, record service issues, and manage marketing campaigns. Depending on what type of CRM a company has, they can get basic information about their prospective customer and interact with them. CRM helps the company in better analyzing and understanding their customers, which will help them offer better and more efficient customer service. Airbnb and OYO have very different CRM strategies.

    CRM of OYO

    The CRM that OYO uses is Blueshifts Programmatic CRM, which has helped the company to become a leader in 1:1 customer engagement across all marketing channels. With Blueshift’s precise recommendations and targeted triggers, OYO has been able to achieve 5X higher bookings from email and mobile channels. The company also has a mobile-first approach which has helped it to expand in over 500 cities across ten countries.

    CRM of Airbnb

    The CRM that Airbnb uses is Twilio, which helps connect with hosts. How it works is, when a traveller makes a reservation through Airbnb, the host has 32 hours to respond to a booking request and this is possible because of its CRM. There is systematic mobile communication between hosts and travellers using a text message. The host can also decide whether they want to accept or deny the customer. The company also uses Hootsuite social media management, which helps them monitor their follower’s growth and social CRM. The system also helps the company to find certain keywords that can eventually be used in campaigns.

    OYO Vs Airbnb – Marketing Strategy

    OYO – Marketing Strategy

    Oyo is known to use the 360-degree marketing method as it implies having a presence on all forms of digital and traditional media. They also have their unique room strategy which helps in attracting more customers with lower room prices in comparison to the base price of the hotel. Besides that OYO has made many successful multimedia marketing campaigns such as #AurKyaChahiye. It also shares location-based posts, promotional posts, which helps people to browse destinations to travel, check for new offers & discounts and encourage them to book OYO.

    Airbnb – Marketing Strategy

    Airbnb on the other hand uses the marketing approach to building and maintaining a strong community among its users. It also mainly targets long term loyalty from both the guests and hosts. The main marketing strategy of the company is to take your business in front of your potential guest and turn them into bookers. The customers who previously enjoyed their stay with Airbnb places are sent an email encouraging them to list their own property. Airbnb India aims to make its guests feel welcome, its app did the same, as it has a unified interface on Android and iOS platforms.

    OYO Vs Airbnb – Social Media

    OYO on Social Media

    Over the years the company has leveraged the power of social media as it has been able to retain its ranking and stay ahead of OYO competitors in the market. OYO currently has over 169k followers on Instagram and 65.4k followers on Twitter, with actor Sonu Sood as its current brand ambassador. On all the social media platforms, the company promotes itself as being a brand that offers two types of services which are promoting tourist spaces and a safe space to spend time with your loved ones in your own city. OYO also uploads many ad campaigns like ‘Fir Badhega India’ and ‘Sanitised Stays’ that helps in engaging with their customers especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Airbnb on Social Media

    Airbnb has a different approach to social media marketing as it heavily relies on awareness generating strategy. The company also uses travel influencers to further promote the platform as it does its social media relies on user-generated content (UGC). So far the company has over 4.9 million followers on Instagram and 733k followers on Twitter. It also has over 6.3 million photos using #airbnb on Instagram which shows us how widespread the company is. Airbnb also heavily invests in video marketing as a part of telling its brand story, it currently has more than 500 videos generating over 100 million views on YouTube.

    Conclusion

    In a nutshell, Airbnb and Oyo share the same kind of services, i.e. hospitality service. Moreover, Airbnb is a website for people to list, find and rent lodging whereas Oyo is a chain of budget and premium rooms partnering with different hotels. Oyo is all about providing a customer experience within a stipulated budget range while Airbnb doesn’t control the customer experience as such.

    FAQs

    What is the difference between Airbnb and Oyo?

    OYO has more hotel rooms whereas Airbnb has more residential plots. In Airbnb, the apartment may have been misinterpreted, not so in the case of OYO as an audit is done every week.

    Are OYO Rooms similar to Airbnb?

    OYO’s business model is kind of similar to that of Airbnb, i.e. they are an online aggregator of budget hotels. Bookings for these rooms would be made via the website and the mobile app of OYO Rooms. However, the main focus is always is the quality of service provided.

    How to give your property to OYO Rooms?

    For OYO Rooms registration, you can write an email to partner@oyorooms.com or give a call to this number +91 70530 70530.

    Is OYO successful?

    OYO Rooms has been one of the most successful startups in India being the country’s largest budget hotel chain. It focuses on standardizing the hotels in the non-branded hospitality sector.

    Is Airbnb better than Oyo?

    OYO is better in terms of privacy and security. OYO assures quality service while Airbnb doesn’t guarantee anything from their end.

  • How is a Company Listed on NSE or BSE? – The Complete Process

    Everything is business. Well, it is true, just look around you and you will see multiple examples of a corporation selling something. We are all covered with businesses and it is efficient.

    Having businesses is efficient because it provides us with things that we want. In other words, they provide us with something of value. Otherwise, we would have to make everything on our own which would be inefficient and time-consuming and practically impossible. So businesses make markets efficient and society a better-managed entity.

    When a business turns big, I mean really big, then it needs to scale accordingly. Scaling in India is a very hard process because of different types of people everywhere. Most companies are primarily limited in nature and at their inception. This means that they operate mostly on private capital but at some point in time they need more funds than their private capacity. Thus, when a company successfully pulls off the magic of scaling then happens the true magic. It goes on and lists itself as a public limited company that now can make money from people to scale and fuel other activities.

    Not to mention, the listing process may seem easy and simple, the fact is that it isn’t. This is an article about how a company lists itself in India. There are majorly two important exchanges in India, namely NSE and BSE. Read on to find out how a company is listed on NSE and BSE.

    What is Listing?
    Why do Companies Go Public?
    What is a Stock Exchange?
    The Process of Listing (Initial Public Offering)
    Prerequisites for Listing on National Stock Exchange
    Prerequisites for Listing on Bombay Stock Exchange
    FAQ

    What is Listing?

    Every company which operates in a market of high demand has a good scope of growing and scaling. From the inception of a company, most companies are privately limited. Private limited means that these companies are funded privately, or the source of the capital is just normal private people or organisations behind the promoting chair. Hence, they operate on a limited capital that they can privately afford to fuel the operations at that company.

    Some companies, however, go ahead and become big national companies that need huge cash flows to fund their activities. At the point when companies become big and quite popular in a nation, the promoters or the chair people will be needing more capital.

    There can be many sources of funds to be considered, as a loan, or issuing debentures or selling stakes etcetera. One of the most famous ways to raise capital is to list the company on a stock exchange.

    In corporate finance, a listing refers to the company’s shares being on the list of stocks that are officially traded on a stock exchange. Thus, listing means that anyone from the public or a retail investor can now take part in a company by buying its shares. The general public will be buying a company’s shares to earn capital appreciation or dividends.

    Why do Companies Go Public?

    A very valid question that may arise in your head is, why do companies go public? There can be many reasons why a company chooses to go public. It depends on the entrepreneur running it on how he/she is willing to go about raising funds. The most common and eligible reasons for a company to go public and the list itself is given here –

    1. Fund Capex from internal accruals
    2. Raise a Series of funding from another PE (Private Equity) fund
    3. Raise debt from bankers
    4. Float a bond (this is another form of raising debt)
    5. File for an Initial Public Offer (IPO) by allotting shares from authorised capital
    6. A combination of all the above

    Let us go into some detail about how these reasons arose in the first place.

    Capex requirements

    Let us first understand the term Capex first. Capex is made up of two individual words, that are capital (Cap) and expenditure (ex). Capital expenditure is that form of expenditure that is required to fund the management and acquiring of fixed assets. Fixed assets are those assets that are fixed in nature that will pay benefits after a year or so. Thus, capital expenditure is spending money on fixed assets that are not to be converted into cash quickly.

    They include land, building and machinery. So we can conclude, Capex expenditure is the expenditure that a company incurs for growth in business. This long term growth expenditure has to be fuelled from somewhere, that is why companies go public.

    Provide an exit for the company’s early investors

    After the process of listing is done, the shares of the listed company go around in the market and are traded freely. When this situation arises, any existing shareholder can exit the company by selling his/her shares. That existing shareholder could be one of the promoter, anger investor Private equity funds or venture capitalists.

    They can use this opportunity to sell their shares in the stock market. Thus, by selling the shares or stake that they own, they can exit the venture and thus exit the initial investment they made in the company. However, they can also choose to sell shares in multiple parts and slots. There have been many successful and famous exits in India like that of Kunal Shah from Freecharge.


    Avoid paying interest and other finance charges

    When a company chooses to go public, it avoids taking any sort of loan. The reason is that taking loans is hefty work, it also comes with much financial burden and high-interest rates.

    So many entrepreneurs refer to selling stakes or ownerships in the form of shares. The best way to do that is to be listed. The listing makes a company’s shares trade freely in the market and makes space for funds that the company needs to grow. That too happens without paying any form of interest and any other sort of financial charges.

    Reward employees

    There is a thing called “Employee stock option plan” or ESOPs. They are awarded to employees who are early in the venture and/or are outstanding with their work. They work as an incentive for employees who work really hard to make a successful venture.

    Once the company is listed and shares start trading freely, it makes space for more ESOPs. They are awarded to employees to keep the work motivation high and construct a better work environment. A few examples where the employee benefited from ESOP would be Google, Infosys, Twitter, Facebook etc.

    Improves clarity

    As a company goes public and gets out of its private cocoon, it raises its status. Being a listed entity in a stock exchange is definitely not a small thing, it makes the company stand in the limelight of investors. Which interests people more in getting to know about that company. This will eventually create a positive impact on the company in its future prospects.

    What is a Stock Exchange?

    When we discuss ‘listing’ and all the technicalities of listing, it is extremely crucial to talk about stock exchanges. Whether you are a person trying to list your company or a person willing to invest his/her money with the company, one entity that you both have to work together with is the stock exchange. So, what is a stock exchange?

    Let us take one example to know clearly what a stock exchange is. Imagine the Kirana store near your house, or a supermarket or a shop of essentials that has a lot of items in its store. Just like a Kirana store is a store for items, a stock exchange is a marketplace for equities. It is a place where buyers and sellers come together to complete trade and settle transactions.

    The stock market is where everyone who wants to transact in shares goes. Transact in simple terms means buying and selling. It is impossible for a stock to be traded without being listed on the stock exchange. Thus, the main purpose of a stock market is to facilitate equities trading.

    Trading is buying and selling of securities. In India, there are two main stock exchanges. The names of these stock exchanges are National stock exchanges and Bombay stock exchange. Let us read a little about them.

    National Stock exchange

    NSE was incorporated in 1992. It was recognised as a stock exchange by SEBI in April 1993 and commenced operations in 1994 with the launch of the wholesale debt market, followed shortly after by the launch of the cash market segment. IT is the leading stock exchange in India. Located in Mumbai, Maharashtra and is owned by some leading financial institutions, banks, and insurance companies

    Bombay stock exchange

    BSE was established in 1875. It was Asia’s first and the fastest stock exchange in the world. It is called the fastest stock exchange as it operates at a speed of 6 microseconds. It was established over 143 years ago, and BSE has helped the country to grow its capital market by ensuring a smooth flow of equities. Though it is now known as the Bombay stock exchange, it was established as “The Native Share and stockbrokers association” in the inception year of 1875. In 2017 BSE became the first listed stock exchange of India.

    The Process of Listing (Initial Public Offering)

    Now we will discuss the cherry of the cake, the process of listing. It is also known by the name of initial public offering because it is the first time (Initial) when the shares will be offered to the public. This is a very strict process and both the National and the Bombay stock exchange take it very heartedly. It goes without saying at this point that the company which is trying to list itself has to follow dedicated guidelines of the desired exchange. However, the most common checkpoints to be ticked are listed here –

    Appointing a merchant banker

    Merchant bankers are also called Book Running Lead Managers (BRLM)/Lead Managers (LM). The work of a merchant banker has diverse actions. It includes conducting some efforts to check all the legal compliances at the company filing for the IPO and issuing a due diligence certificate.

    The Lead Manager has to work closely with the company to prepare the DRHP. DRHP stands for draft red herring prospectus. He also has to underwrite shares, which is agreeing to buy all the unsold shares. He then has to help the company to reach a decision on a reasonable price band of the offering. Thus, these are all the major functions that a merchant banker does.

    For example, The merchant banks (book running lead managers) for the issue are Morgan Stanley India, Goldman Sachs (India), ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, JP Morgan, Citigroup Global Markets India and HDFC Bank.

    Applying to SEBI with a registration document

    Not to mention that everything at a listing is done through the rules of the securities exchange board of India. After getting the work done by a merchant banker, you have to pitch a registration document to SEBI. That document should contain what the company does and what is the motive of the listing along with all other mandated information. After all the process, the company should look for an affirmative response from the regulating body to go ahead and issue a DRHP.

    DRHP

    DRHP of Zomato
    DRHP of Zomato

    DRHP stands for Draft red herring prospectus. It is a disclosure document that describes information about the IPO to the general public. It contains a lot of information about the company and the issue price and that is often too deep in finance terminologies. The most important and imperative information that is present in a DRHP is as follows –

    1. Estimated IPO size
    2. Everything about the shares that are to be issued
    3. The risk involved in the business
    4. Why the company wants to go public and how does it plan to utilise the funds
    5. Revenue model and all sorts of expenditure
    6. Complete financial statements
    7. Management relevant information

    Marketing the IPO

    After DRHP is issued and is made public, it is important to float some marketing about the IPO. The company would want to reach the maximum audience of investors for the purpose of its public offering. So they take support of print media and other sorts of media to market the IPO more.

    Fixing the price band

    Fixing the price band is super imperative when preparing for an IPO. The price is the only number which the people would see first. So, it is important to set the number not too high and not too low to attract the right amount of people on the board of directors. This is helmed by the existing shareholders and is helped by experts like merchant bankers. Once the price band is fixed, that becomes the base on which the company is listed on the stock exchange.

    Book building

    Book building is the process of capturing and recording investor demand for shares. For example, if the price band is between Rs.100 and Rs.150 then the public can choose. They can choose what is the right amount per share that the company deserves. The process of book building is to collect these price points along with respective qualities of shares and demand. Book building is perceived as an effective price discovery method.

    Closing date

    After the book building process is done and completed, it is said as the closing date. Generally, it is open for two to three days and maybe more in some exceptions. Thus, then the price point is selected which has the most bids from investors. That price becomes the listing share price of the company.

    Listing day

    Paytm Listing Day
    Paytm Listing Day

    Then comes the day when the company actually gets listed on the stock exchange. That becomes the day when the shares start to be traded freely in the market.

    When the shares are being bid, they lay a foundation for future selling values. This happens when investors choose the desired price from the given price band. This whole arrangement around the date of issue is known as the “Primary Markets”. After the initial bidding has stopped and the stock gets listed on the stock exchange, the share starts to trade normally like any other listed company. This situation in this share is known as the “Secondary Markets”.

    Once the stock transitions from primary markets to secondary markets, it gets traded daily on the stock exchange. People start buying and selling the stocks regularly and normally like any other company.

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    Prerequisites for Listing on National Stock Exchange

    There are many checkpoints that one has to fulfil before getting listed. Some of the most needed and crucial prerequisites are –

    • The paid-up equity capital of the applicant shall not be less than 10 crores and the capitalization of the applicant’s equity shall not be less than 25 crores.
    • The Issuer shall have adhered to conditions precedent to listing as emerging from inter-alia from Securities Contracts (Regulations) Act 1956, Companies Act 1956/2013, Securities and Exchange Board of India Act 1992, any rules and/or regulations framed under foregoing statutes, as also any circular, clarifications, guidelines issued by the appropriate authority under foregoing statutes.

    Prerequisites for Listing on Bombay Stock Exchange

    There are many checkpoints that one has to fulfil before getting listed. Some of the most needed and crucial prerequisites at the Bombay stock exchange are –

    • The minimum post-issue paid-up capital of the applicant company (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) shall be Rs. 10 crores for IPOs & Rs.3 crore for FPOs.
    • The minimum issue size shall be Rs. 10 crores.
    • The minimum market capitalisation of the Company shall be Rs. 25 crore (market capitalization shall be calculated by multiplying the post-issue paid-up number of equity shares with the issue price).

    Conclusion

    In this article, we got to know why a company goes public, the needs that make a company think about listing itself. We read about the stock exchanges in India. The two most important exchanges are the NSE and BSE, the national stock exchange and the Bombay stock exchange. They lay the foundation of stock markets in India. Then we read about the process of how a company is listed in a stock exchange.

    After all these discussions, we can say that companies get listed, mainly to fund their Capex (Capital expenditure) requirements. This helps a company grow and get out in the market of more people. If you want to invest in a fresh new IPO then you must read the DRHP that is the draft red herring prospectus. It is super important for an investor to know where he is investing. In this modern world, one thing to make sure of is that your money should grow faster than inflation.

    FAQ

    What happens when a company gets listed?

    When a company gets listed it can raise additional funds by issuing its shares on the stock market.

    Can a private company be listed?

    No, a private company cannot go public. It will first have to convert itself to a Public Limited company, then only it can be listed on the stock exchange for trading its share.

    How long does it take to IPO?

    The IPO process depends on many factors but it typically takes six to nine months for the company to complete its public debut.

  • YouTube’s Creator Program: An Aid For Individual Journalists | Eligibility Criteria To Apply

    YouTube, a social media platform that has been providing creators with an opportunity to reveal their talent. The creators from all over the world have received an equal space to show what they are best at. There have been numerous people who have transformed their lives through Youtube. A few have even brought change to others’ lives. So, we can say that YouTube has offered a hell of a lot of varied content to the audiences. Moreover, it has been adding new features every time to make the space more accessible and preferable too, especially for the creators.

    About YouTube
    All About the new Youtube Creator Program for Individual Journalists
    What does The Youtube Creator Program Offer To Journalists?
    Eligibility Criteria For YouTube Creator Program Application
    Indian Participants of The Youtube Creator Program for Journalists At Present
    Conclusion
    FAQs

    About YouTube

    YouTube is a social platform owned and managed by Google and is headquartered in California, United States. The social media platform was launched in February 2005, and was started by three people, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. Around one billion users visit the platform every month making it the second most visited website.

    It provides features in video creation through quality and formats variation, content accessibility, live streaming, comment system, and localization as well. The various services offered by Youtube include Youtube Kids, YouTube Community, YouTube Movies, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, YouTube Shorts, YouTube Stories, YouTube TV, and TestTube. Mainly, the platform targets all groups of people ranging from kids to senior citizens.

    All About the new Youtube Creator Program for Individual Journalists

    As suggested by the name, this program started by YouTube is an initiative for the prospering digital news ecosystem to support individual journalists. The program includes training of the journalists who will report on current affairs and rely on modern technologies and digital videos.

    Further, the program provides the journalists with training on several topics such as video production, grants to fuel capabilities, YouTube best practices, entrepreneurship with people around the world, and access to dedicated support from specialists concerned with this field.

    Also, the program will be focusing on training the participants who will be representing 25 different nations speaking 20 languages. They will report on topics that include national politics, local news, and issues about marginalized communities.

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    What does The Youtube Creator Program Offer To Journalists?

    Well, the Creators Program by YouTube is a bundle of several offerings to the independent journalists, thereby supporting them financially and technically too. The features of the program are beneficial for the present and future as well. So, let’s see the features of the program:

    Grants

    The program will select about 40-60 journalists globally. After which, the selected participants will receive a grant of $20,000 to $50,000 (In rupees, it’s up to 37 lakhs). Moreover, it will depend on their country of residence.

    Best Practices Training

    The participants selected for the program will receive training on various topics such as entrepreneurship, video production technicalities, and YouTube best practices. The curriculum of the program is designed in partnership with Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

    The main goal of this YouTube creator program for individual journalists is to build a strong, strategic, empirical understanding of video production and build a large digital audience. The selected journalists will offer to work with YouTube in order to collect the best practices available for independent journalism so that they get enough knowledge of the program.

    YouTube Specialist Support

    The best part of this program is that the program offers one-on-one coaching and support from a YouTube specialist to the ones selected. Well, now the question arises, who are these specialists? So, they are the ones who have broad knowledge and experience working with newsrooms and creators to expand their business on the mentioned platform and grow their audience as well. Also, specialists are located around the world.

    The goal of this Creators program is to provide training to the journalists about digital content creation, video production techniques, and to grow an online audience. The participants need to have a vivid understanding of the technicalities and practical aspects as they reach the end of the program. On completion, they will get an opportunity to work with YouTube to apply their learnings and practices to the broader news industry to analyze the output from the program.

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    Eligibility Criteria For YouTube Creator Program Application

    Those journalists who fulfil the eligibility criteria can apply for this YouTube Creator Program. But before that, make sure you read these guidelines in order to know how the application process works. These are:

    • The first and foremost step in this program is that your Google Account must be verified with 2-step authentication.
    • Your YouTube channel must follow the required guidelines then only, your channel will be standardly reviewed for checking whether the channel fulfils the guidelines or not. Make sure there aren’t any active community guidelines strikes on your channel.
    • Make sure your channel meets the subscriber’s count and public watch hour threshold. After this, sign the Terms & conditions for the program and monetize your channel.

    If your channel doesn’t meet the data, click on “Notify me when I’m eligible” to get the valid email.

    • After signing in, you’ll be marked done and then, sign on the “Review Partner Program terms” card.
    • Connect your AdSense account in order to get paid. Make sure you have one already and link your channel with it. Now, after finishing this, sign on the “Sign up for Google AdSense” card.
    • You’re almost signed in with the YouTube Partner Program terms. After this, put your application in the review queue. The content of your channel will be reviewed and will check whether it follows the guidelines or not.

    Once you’re accepted, set up ad preference and facilitate the monetization on your channel.

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    Indian Participants of The Youtube Creator Program for Journalists At Present

    At present, 49 people are working with YouTube from all over the world. Out of which, six belong to India. The Indian participants who are a part of the Creators program are Anubha Bhonsle, Pari Saikia, Prema Sridevi, Rohit Upadhyay, Sehar Qazi, and Tanzil Asif.

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    Conclusion

    YouTube, along with the announcement of this program, took the initiative to flourish journalism and support journalists as well. The motive behind training journalists is to give a wing to journalism to report authentic issues digitally. Also, the technical knowledge will enhance the quality of the reports provided by the journalists.

    YouTube has become the most preferred platform by video creators to manage their content in their way. So, observing the preferability and inclination towards the platform, YouTube decided to back the journalists with training that includes a few necessary elements that a journalist should have. So, now the independent journalists are geared up to offer actual, authentic content to the users.

    FAQs

    What is the Youtube Creator Program for Journalists?

    The program by YouTube is an initiative for the prospering digital news ecosystem to support individual journalists.

    What will the Youtube Creator Program offer to journalists?

    Yoitube program for journlaist will offer grants, Best Practices Training and Youtube specialist support.

    Are there any indian journalist for Youtube Creator Program for Journalists?

    Yes, at prenset 49 people are working with YouTube from all over the world. Out of which, six belong to India.

  • PNB Scam: How Did Banks Lose Money in Nirav Modi Case

    Banks play an important role in the economic development of the financial sector of India. They are running a business that involves all the transactions done by every person. As banks are running a business, sometimes they earn and sometimes they lose. The very common cause of banks losing money is the inability to collect the money-back which was distributed as and if they have a concentration of loans in a particular business segment that falls in hard times, those losses are even more severe.

    In 2018, Punjab National Bank, one of India’s largest public-sector banks experienced a fraud of INR 11,400 crores at its Brady House branch located in Mumbai. The accused person was Mr Nirav Modi, a well-renowned diamond maker of India. Here’s the complete story of how the PNB scam was unfolded.

    Who is Nirav Modi?
    Nirav Modi’s Business of Luxury Diamond
    How did Nirav Modi Avail Loans from Banks?
    How Nirav Modi Operated the PNB Scam?
    FAQ

    Who is Nirav Modi?

    Nirav Modi is an Indian fugitive businessman; he is the founder of Firestar Diamond International and his uncle Mehul Choksi is the chairman of Gitanjali Group. These two companies were involved in the Diamond business and had a retail chain of 4000+ stores in India.

    Nirav was brought up in Belgium and did his early schooling at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He came back to Mumbai and started with his family business of jewellery manufacturing.

    Nirav Modi’s Business of Luxury Diamond

    In 1999, he founded Firestar. After working for years and getting experience in the business Nirav in 2008 launched a diamond store bearing his name in New Delhi. Seeing and attracting a huge crowd he thought of opening more stores and started the 2nd store in Mumbai followed by 17 more stores. Nirav launched his stores globally with stores in New York and Hong Kong city.

    Nirav Modi Store
    Nirav Modi Store

    According to news, his company had a presence in 12 countries with 30 boutiques in 2018. Firestar is the only diamond manufacturing company in India to source the coveted Argyle pink diamonds, found only in Western Australia.

    At this time Nirav was also looking to expand its product line with more affordable pieces. He became a lot popular after designing his “Golconda Lotus Necklace” with an old, 12-carat, pear-shaped diamond as a centerpiece in the year 2010. The diamond had previously been sold in the 1960s and had to be repolished.

    Golconda Lotus Necklace
    Golconda Lotus Necklace

    Stores were running very well and were recognized as a theme of pure luxury, many Indian celebrities were doing the advertisement for Nirav Modi’s jewellery. Nirav Modi was also featured in the Forbes list of Indian Billionaires in 2013. To run such a vast and huge business globally he was always in the need of funds which he took from small public sector banks.

    How did Nirav Modi Avail Loans from Banks?

    At first, he started with a small number of loans which he was able to repay the bank within the time limit. The first fraud started in 2010 when Nirav took the loan with the help of a fake letter of undertaking issued by PNB bank at its Brady House branch. Letter of Undertaking is said to be a sort of guarantee that is issued by a banking entity to the concerned party for attaining short-term credit from the overseas branch of an Indian bank.

    How Nirav Modi Operated the PNB Scam?

    Nirav thought of this as an easy way to obtain short-term credit. He then started giving fake Lou’s to the bank and used to obtain a lump sum amount of money. Nirav managed to get 1,212 more such guarantees in the next 6-7 years.

    The Letters of Understanding were signed in favour of Indian bank branches for the one-year import of pearls, with the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines allowing for a total of 90 days from the date of shipping. The guideline mentioned in the letters were ignored by overseas branches of Indian banks. They disregarded providing any documents or information with PNB that had been made accessible to them by the companies when they applied for loans.

    When PNB approached banks to provide a 100% cash margin, the bank argued they had availed this facility in the past as well. The transactions were never registered in the bank’s main system, leaving PNB management in the dark for years. This suspected there could be a fraud that led to them digging further into the transaction history.

    Later it was found out that PNB employees were also involved in this process of providing fraud loans. They got the commission from Nirav and used to do the job for him. PNB employees used the SWIFT network to send messages to Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank regarding financial requirements.

    At that time they found that these letters were on a fraud basis and the money was transferred to Dummy accounts of firms that were inactive in business and were acting according to the command of Nirav Modi. A total of INR 6,400 crore acquired through PNB Lou’s was transferred abroad to buy real estate and personal property through “dummy corporations.”

    Nirav Modi New York House
    Nirav Modi New York House

    All these methods were used by him to transfer the money received by these banks for business purposes and were spent on his personal use and luxury. He escaped India in January 2018 after which a warrant was issued by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate to arrest him.

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    Conclusion

    The PNB scam is said to be one of the biggest fraud cases in India’s banking history to date. Till now the Government authorities of India have sealed and auctioned several thousand crores worth of properties and assets of Modi. Yet the government has not been able to get money recovered in full.

    There is a need for improvement in our Indian Banking Sector and mainly a focus on providing the loans and credit facilities to the people who need them the most and who can repay without making defaults.

    FAQ

    How did Nirav Modi get loans?

    Nirav took the loan with the help of a fake letter of understanding issued by PNB bank.

    How much money did Nirav Modi borrow from the bank?

    Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi defrauded the bank of over Rs 14,000 crore.

    In which year did Nirav Modi take the loan?

    Nirav Modi took the first loan from PNB on March 10, 2011, and later managed to get 1,212 more such guarantees over the next 74 months.

  • Reliance Jio Business Model | How does Jio Makes Money?

    Reliance Jio, we all have been hearing a lot about this company for the past few years. Reliance Jio is a well-structured company whose business model is considered ‘the sweetest data bait.’

    Jio has proven itself the icon of international tech and private capital investors. According to estimated data, Jio has raised Rs. 67,194.75 crore from the forthcoming technology investors including Silver Lake, General Atlantic, Facebook, and Vista Equity.

    With the vibrant interest of the foreign investors in the Indian market have signed several deals for Reliance Jio. When it comes to the business model of Jio, the company has opted for very cleverish strategies which have resulted in remarkable profits for the company.

    Reliance Jio holds a very strong position in the market with an immense customer base. Through this article, we will be discussing the business model of Reliance Jio briefly along with its tremendous marketing strategies. Let’s begin!

    About Reliance Jio
    Key Product and Services of Reliance Jio
    Target Audience of Reliance Jio
    Business Model of Reliance Jio
    What is unique about the business model of Reliance Jio?
    How does Reliance Jio make money?
    Conclusion
    FAQs

    About Reliance Jio

    Reliance Jio Logo
    Reliance Jio Logo

    Jio is officially termed as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited which functions as the Indian telecommunications company. Jio was founded by Mukesh Ambani in 2007 as the subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

    Reliance Jio, which functions as a subsidiary of Jio platforms and telecommunications services providers has its well-established headquarter in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Alongside the company operates all 22 telecom circles through the National LTE network. Through this, Jio provides the voice service on its 4G network, that too only from the LTE network.

    Today, Jio is known as the largest mobile network operator across India and the third-largest in the world. The company has over 42.62 crore subscribers. Recently in 2019, Jio launched its service of fiber to the home, where it offers television, telephone, and home broadband services. As of 2020, Reliance Jio raised its funds by selling around 33% equity stake in Jio Partner, worth Rs. 1.65 lakh crore that is, US$23 billion.

    Jio Business Model and the success story

    Key Product and Services of Reliance Jio

    Reliance Jio Services
    Reliance Jio Services

    Reliance Jio offers tons of amazing services through its fiber-to-the-home services. Its key services include telephone services, television, and home broadband services.

    While its key products are Mobile Phones, top-notch internet speed and services, fixed-line telephone, OTT services, and Wireless broadband.

    Target Audience of Reliance Jio

    Reliance Jio majorly concentrates on the audience who are smartphone users. It provides the service of high-speed internet and great android mobile services. Jio targets the urban and two-tier middle and upper-class people. Jio works towards transforming India into a digital nation.

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    Business Model of Reliance Jio

    Jio, being the highest in the market strategizes its business model in a very significant and unique way. It has opted for the formula of ‘Unique Selling Point.’ This basically means Jio offering such unique and advantageous services to their customers that can not be resisted.‌‌ This can be elaborate as when Jio launched the unlimited offer with a 4G server, people of India weren’t encountered 4G at all. And with such a unique offer, how can someone turn it down? And that’s what benefits the company of Reliance Jio.

    Jio offers a broad range of customer-based features and services like high-speed Internet, free voice calls, unlimited texting, and many other. All these are developed to charge money from the customers. Its tariff plans are exclusively built to catch consumers’ eyes.

    Jio has offered some very exclusive services to its customers with a fully served 4G network. Jio was the first to bring on the popularity and use of 4G network while other telecom companies were still working with 3G networks. And with this significant approach, Jio builds the biggest loyal customers base.‌‌ People wanted more things in less price, Jio took the opportunity and provided them that. This unique strategy is what brought Jio where it is now!

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    What is unique about the business model of Reliance Jio?

    Jio has opted for the most powerful and promising business strategies, which has surely brought great benefits and profit to it. Its business model is very simple, yet unique. The most unique thing about Jio is it offers free voice calls to its customers. According to statistics, only 10-15% of the Jio 4G network is used for calling while the other 85-90% is used for data. And when you have this amount of popularity and usage, paying a little price is always worth it. That’s what Jio does!

    In this way, it attracts more and more customers to its services and creates a significant marketing buzz with free offerings. In all manner, it’s beneficial for the company.

    How does Reliance Jio make money?

    Reliance Jio generates its money from two major options- Charging extra per unit and selling more units. And as compared to other telecom companies, Jio sells way more of its units to generate more money.

    For those who refer to Jio as a cheap telecom service provider, they are talking about its per-unit cost. But apart from this, the company charges its customers INR 154 for ARPU. And this amount is higher than any other telecom operator company.

    So, the Jio customers are actually paying more for the cheap products. Jio does not provide the facility of paying just INR 10 per month as compared to other telecom companies. Jio majorly focuses on generating more money through all its plans.

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    Conclusion

    ‌‌With its incredible marketing strategy of generating money through Jio tariff plans that come in 4G network brings great profit for the company. Jio follows different pricing options and makes enormous customer deals.

    They offer various applications, devices, and fiber services to multiply their revenue. This helps Jio to win numerous business verticals. And with such marketing strategies and development, Jio’s market value and position are unbeatable.

    FAQs

    What is the revenue of Reliance?

    Reliance has a revenue of 7.27 lakh crores INR (US$100 billion, 2021).

    Who is the CEO of Reliance Jio?

    Atul Kansal is the CEO of Reliance Jio.

    When was Relinace Jio founded?

    Mukesh Ambani founded Reliance Jio in 2007.

    Who are the top competitors of Reliance Jio?

    Some of the top competitors of Reliance Jio are:

    • Airtel
    • Vi (Vodafone Idea)
    • AT&T

  • 6 proven startup strategies for entrepreneurs in the hospitality space

    This article is contributed by Sohail Mirchandani, Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder, Ekostay, a homestay venture.

    Despite the setbacks, the hospitality and tourism industry is only projected to grow by leaps and bounds by the year 2029. For aspiring start-up owners, this is the motivation they were looking for. Because as intimidating it is to launch a start-up, it is even more of a challenge in the post-COVID era – knowing the industry can dip due to factors beyond its control. The journey will be a lot less daunting and more exciting if you know how to navigate the paths beforehand. These six proven startup strategies will help you turn your startup into a lasting success:

    1. Understanding your industry/ sector

    The first step before starting your entrepreneurial journey is to do exhaustive research of the industry or sector your start-up belongs to. For the hospitality space, this involves keeping up with the present and future movements in the local and foreign markets that are shaping it continually. For instance, understanding the growth predictions for hospitality and travel amidst the local and international markets can help you analyze customer demand and scope for penetration in the existing market. Another instance would be the rising demand for staycations and staycation packages post-COVID along with mandatory sanitization and a heightened need for adherence to safety/ cleanliness protocols.

    Also Read: Travel and Tourism Industry Trends in 2021: Post-Pandemic

    2. Learning from your competitors

    A core part of research also involves analyzing what your competitors are up to. Competitors aren’t rivals; they are your inspirators. You can take competitor research as a personal fuel to motivate you to carve your start-up goals and find your niche. Understanding what the major hospitality players are doing, specializing in, and preparing for will give you excellent insight into what the market is missing and how you can fill the gaps in what is lacking. That way, you can even gauge your core demographic and market your unique selling point better. For instance, travelers are on the lookout for luxury-like yet affordable staycations – something which top hoteliers might not be able to offer to meet their financial margins – but a start-up like you could fuse the two and rake huge profits.

    3. Building presence through marketing and social media

    At present, nothing reaches prospective customers more effectively than digital marketing and social media. As a startup, it is crucial to build a strong social media and digital presence to garner the maximum number of customers. Ensure that before you launch your website, you have registered on all the popular social media apps as well like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Once you are operating, you can develop daily or weekly posts that engage with your key demographic. Make sure to grow your reach organically and resort to paid adverts rarely. Not many users appreciate being bombarded with or shown sponsored posts.

    4. Listening to your customers

    Listening to what your core clientele wants is a marker of trustworthiness and reliability – two qualities that you must establish as a start-up. For your startup venture to be a success, people need to know that you are listening to them and coming up with ways to serve their needs. One of the best ways you can tap into your customer’s mind is through social media. Social media applications enable customers to reach you directly and engage with them in numerous ways – including chat, email, call, direct message (DM), tags, and comments. So, if there is any negative feedback or complaint, use it as constructive criticism to change/ upgrade to what works best for the customer. Acknowledging this feedbacks will also make you adaptable and establish your business/ company as a people-first organization.

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    5. Being ready to adapt

    Reiterating on the point above, being ready to adapt is one of the most vital essentials of transforming from a hopeful startup to a successful large-scale venture. The world we live in today is hyperdynamic and constantly evolving. Just last year, no one would have predicted how the coronavirus would take our world by storm. And while the hospitality sector took one of the biggest hits, it still found a way to get back on its feet and adapt to people’s changing needs. So, if you cling on too tight to your old ways, you run the risk of becoming inflexible and losing out on revenue/ profits in the long run.

    6. Re-investing any money earned into the start-up

    Those who save a penny today earn a penny later. Saving whatever income you earn from your start-up helps you stay prepared against emergencies that require your immediate attention. Resist the urge to spend away from your earnings or profits on your personal desires at least for a few years from your launch. Re-invest that money into your startup and see the scope of returns multiply within the next few years. Focus on the aspects of the business that need financial assistance and improvement. Sow to reap more and grow beyond expected margins.

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    To Conclude –

    The hospitality industry is an exciting space, especially for spirited entrepreneurs. Before COVID-19 hit, the hospitality space was thriving and ever agile. It is no secret then that the impact of COVID-19 left several leading players, let alone young start-up owners struggling to stay afloat. However, with almost everyone vaccinated and the resumption of local and international travel, the hospitality sector is seeing a bigger, better, and wiser revival. Now is the perfect time to strap on your entrepreneurial gear and kick-start (forgive the pun) your start-up journey with these six proven-to-work strategies!

  • Things to Know Before Starting up in the Food Industry

    This article is contributed by Megha Rawal, Founder of Mezmo Candy.

    The present-day food industry is the result of food startups and companies which popped up in the ’90s. Quite a few multinational companies started around the same time which is now a famous brand and go-to option for people of all age groups alike across the globe. What is it that made them famous? What is it that we as a better technologically equipped generation are not able to understand? What was the success mantra which is still working for them?

    There’s one answer to all these questions. What separated the MNCs from the startups is that they provided cost-efficient solutions and constantly evolved/improvised their products with the changing needs and mindset of the 21st-century consumer. This is exactly what made them a popular household name and helped them flourish in domestic and international markets. Venturing into a food industry is always a good idea because this business will never be saturated. We all love food and we need to eat to survive.

    What you are offering to your customers is what makes the difference for your brand. If you are providing a specific food item, you will be catering to a niche audience, if you have general food products, your quality, quantity, and price factor come into the picture to decide the success graph. Generally speaking, niche products are less price-sensitive than general mass-market products.

    You need a passion for food and hospitality when you decide to venture into this sector. Along with this, marketing is the tool you have to exfoliate to your advantage. There are numerous things that set you apart from your competitors, how well you leverage them for your benefit is what decides the success or failure of your brand.

    Speaking about the same, Megha Rawal, founder of Mezmo Candy says, “First and foremost, make a business plan. Weighing out the pros and cons of entering a new business is the vital step. Give ample thought to your customer value proposition (CVP). What are the profit areas and what can be risky, what will connect with the audience, and what will face hesitant acceptance, how much time will the licensing and paperwork take, literally everything has to go in the plan along with a strong backup plan. Having another plan is smart work as you are ready with options if the first one doesn’t work out. Calculate the timeframe for the return on your investment and proceed accordingly”.

    Market research is very important, especially if your product is niche. For B2C products, conduct a survey over a minimum of 150 people belonging to mixed groups. Depending on the result of the survey your CVP may need modifications.

    Begin trials of your product, rope in open-minded chefs and food technologists who are willing to experiment and give life to your product. Tasting sessions can commence with your friends, family, and connoisseurs of taste. You will have to go through numerous rounds of trials till you perfect your products. Lock in the items which you think will definitely work. They are called safe bets as it appeals to one and all. Add a few items which will please a selected crowd and a few options for the people who love trying something new. If you want to be in the D2C space, having a good shelf life is very important.

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    It’s best to keep your costs low and aim for a lean start-up. Moving on, creating your brand positioning and story is very important. So outsource it to the best because it is very important to make a powerful first impression of your product.   Your packaging has to be very attractive to pull prospective clients towards trying your product. Market it the right way and see how the word spreads.

    With a bad experience, you not only lose one customer, but a series of them as word of mouth creates a huge impact. Their experience will be shared with their friends and just like that, you will lose out on a chunk of potential customers.

    Knowing your competition is something you have to do before you even start contemplating any other possibilities. Identifying your few key strengths and reiterating those will create a brand recall. What you can do better than your peers’ matters when you are calculating the success rate. What is profitable for them might not necessarily be profitable for you and the determination of the same is a part of being an entrepreneur.

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    No one has had it easy and neither will you. The time will test you, demand a lot more than you could ever imagine you are capable of, take you to a point where you would feel completely saturated and feel like giving up, but in that exact moment, if you manage to keep your calm and be level-headed and pivot,  that’s the battle half won. Passion and perseverance are two things that need to be in abundance in an entrepreneur’s life. Consistency, concentration, and cooperation are the 3Cs of success that you will have to embrace. The key is to manage your lows and bounce back to keep that fire burning inside you. Going might get tough, and the fire will mellow down, but don’t forget that embers are enough to ignite a fire again.

  • HR Strategies to hire talent from tier 2/3 cities: Paid internship training program

    This article is contributed by Mr. Bala Kumaran, CEO, Brandstory.

    Running and developing your own business is no easy feat, I’ll tell you this from my personal experience in building, scaling, branding, and managing a startup of my own. Boiling right down to it, the very first challenge that most startups face is HR, that’s right – Human Resources!

    That is because, in a bustling digital world like ours, there is no dearth of opportunity for people with the right skill set. This, of course, makes recruiting all the more difficult when we consider the startup ecosystem.

    One of the first things startup owners must learn to do is, understand when to take off their entrepreneur hat, and put themselves in the shoes of their potential employees. Then, weigh questions ranging from why someone would want to work for them, to the growth opportunities they have within the organization.

    Although there are no magic mantras to solve this problem, there are a few rather nifty strategies that can help proliferate a much better hiring experience! Something that can likely be implemented across the board for startup owners who are still on the hunt for the right skill sets!

    The following are the approaches that we had implemented with Brandstory.in –

    Leveraging Satellite Offices

    A satellite office is just a branch of a company that is physically separate from the main office or headquarters. That’s right! You just have to go right to the core of it, and place yourself right in the center of wherever the talent is at!

    When a company hires, it is not just hiring an employee, it is hiring a skill set, a skill set that helps contribute to the one thing that customers across any industry appreciate and that is – quality! Skilled employees make a company’s product, service, or customer support what it is and help brand and scale the company’s reputation over time.

    This means every hire you make is an investment towards this goal. Hence, you would seek to make your workplace the most appealing to your workforce, in the hopes of attracting new talent and retaining your team!

    For instance, many people resent having to relocate, and would much rather live and work in the city they currently live in. This is exactly the issue a satellite office will help curb – by eliminating the need to relocate and hence automatically making your company a better, more appealing place to work at for any potential hires in that area.

    Also Read: Checklist for Hiring Remote Employees – Everything that you need to do

    Hiring Freshers from Tier 2 and 3 Cities

    Just the mention of freshers often scares people off, but the truth is they can be one of the most loyal, and valuable additions to a company over time. However, you will need to invest your time and resources in transforming them into the skilled professionals you have always wanted to be working alongside you, within your organization.

    This holds to be especially true when hiring from Tier 2 and 3 cities because unlike metro cities there aren’t 100s of companies desperately scavenging for talent where you are competing with both funded and non funded enterprises. Hence, it would both provide freshers residing within Tier 2 and 3 cities a better chance to develop their skills, while also giving you a stream of hand-trained talent flowing into your organization!

    This is precisely why Brandstory has long been working to identify talented individuals in these cities, and providing opportunities for them to further themselves all the while ensuring good placements within the organization itself – through its paid internship program.

    I am proud to say that, after years of refinement, we at Brandstory have developed one of the finest training and development internship programs within the digital industry. We had worked to develop an extensive curriculum integrating hands-on work experience in which freshers can work on real-time projects; all while being mentored by experts in the field.

    This type of training program and hiring regimes would probably prove to be helpful for startups who are looking to attract fresher talent from Tier 2 and 3 cities across India and the world! This is especially because these new candidates can be shaped from the ground up to reflect your brand’s core work ethics, values, and morales all the while adhering to the quality standards and expectations as benchmarked by your respective organization.

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    Compensation: Paying Out A Tier 1 City Payscale in Tier 2

    This is perhaps a very lucrative opportunity for your organization to quickly snatch up the local talent, and absorb them into your organization. Due to a dynamic spread in the cost of living, companies often payout lower salaries to employees located in Tier 2 cities, but that may not benefit your organization when you consider the long run.

    A higher pay eliminates the need for people within Tier 2 cities to migrate to Tier 1 cities, all the while enabling them to adhere to a much higher standard of living. This sort of recruitment strategy not only helps you attract talent faster but also allows you to keep your team happy and less likely to start looking for other opportunities.

    Ghoshak’s Founder on Game of Hiring for Bootstrapped Startup
    Rajesh Subramanian is the Founder of Ghoshak. He talks about the Hiring culture of a bootstrapped startup and gives advice on hiring the right team
    StartupTalkyJeenal Jain

    Summing It Up In A Nutshell

    We can likely agree that recruitment is one of the biggest challenges companies face in the 21st century. However, we can also agree that it makes sense that the problem would be drastically reduced if people sought out your company or organization as a place they just have to work at!

    So, hopefully, these HR hiring strategies and the advent of paid internship training programs can eventually help startup owners bridge the gap between their requirements and talented personnel!