Payment gateway software has become an essential tool in the market. Razorpay is not only a payment gateway present. But it can be a perfect choice for your requirements.
That is why the comparison between Razorpay and PayPal against each other is necessary. If you are reading further this article Then this is obvious that you want to know the difference between Razorpay and Paypal.
Razorpay offers Zepo costs, multicurrency payment, online payment, invoices, etc. whereas PayPal provides analytic payment, online payment, debit card support, and many more functions.
PayPal
Paypal is an online application that offers to pay for items through a secure account. You just need to add the bank account details. Whenever you want to pay through PayPal, you choose which to card or account to pay from.
Indian Brands That Use PayPal
In case of the security for using PayPal. For once a scammer hacked your PayPal account (in case of email scam). This is possible that he can make a payment from your account. Paypal may repay the amount lost to the seller. After confirming that the account was hacked.
There are 3 ways for receiving money on PayPal. That is an email address, invoices, and PayPal. Me link.
How To Use PayPal
Email address
You can request payment who owns an email address. Once you log in PayPal click on tools and request payments. After entering the email address, put the note for the payment request.
Paypal will send the generated link to the client to process the payment. There is no necessarily need to have a PayPal account. You can pay through credit, debit, or PayPal account.
Send invoices
You can create invoices using your PayPal business account. You can customize the invoice with the company logo, schedules date, and payment frequencies.
After updating these details in the invoice. You can send it to your clients’ email addresses. Payment can be processed by clicking on the payment link.
PayPal.me Link
For a person who does not own a website. Or a college-going person who wants to collect charity money. They can use PayPal.me link to receive money. This is a link that can be shared using SMS, WhatsApp, and any other sharing app.
Paypal offers businesses low-cost services. Paypal has been a company since 2015. It allows a wide variety of services including debit and credit card readers. This for small merchants and in credit lines. This is a very secure method of processing payments online.
Summary Snapshot For Pricing Of PayPal And Razorpay
Razorpay is the only converged payment option in India. This offers businesses to accept, process, and disburse payment. You will get access to all payment modes credit, debit, UPI, and wallets.
Businesses That Use Razorpay
You can process the payments with ease without any risk of data theft. Razorpay uses SSL/TLS certificate. This makes sure that no unauthorized person can use your data.
1. Features For Razorpay
Razorpay is a secure and convenient way for payments. This is a reliable payment safe option that does cause any hassle.
Responsive cross-platform payment solution for the website.
Accept international payments.
Easy to start and end payments on the same page.
Availability of pop-ups to show important texts.
Availability to views previous transactions, earnings to generate reports.
| Application Name | Description |
|— |— |— |—
| Invoices |Creating and sending GST compliant invoices that customers pay online instantly. Get paid and faster cash flow.|
| Payment Links| You can share payment links using email, SMS, messenger, or chatbot and get paid. You can accept payments from clients is now just a link away.|
| Payment Pages |You get to take your store online with 0 codings. You can also accept international as well as domestic payments with automated payment receipts.|
|Smart Collect|You generate virtual bank accounts and UPI-IDs on demand. And accept payments using NEFT, RTGS, IMPS, and UPI. you get notified for each incoming payment. |
|Subscription via Links | You can now offer customers subscription plan with automated recurring transactions. This is built for automation. |
Razorpay is the most exciting payment method. The supported team is committed to the customers with a transparent working. In the Indian market, we can predict an excellent future for Razorpay. This platform works with banks and commercial giants.
Integration in Razorpay
For international eCommerce, this would be a mistake by underestimating the importance of Razorpay. This is an ePayment that has nothing to envy of PayPal.
Paypal is the commonly used payment gateway for eCommerce. This is accepted by more than 203 countries. It supports visa, Mastercard, American Express, Citibank, and more.
Whereas Razorpay supports 50 plus banks for net banking. Businesses and freelancers can accept payments by Razorpay. This is the only payment solution provided in India. This offers a business for payment processing with a product suite.
I have tried giving you a complete overview of both the payment gateways. Try it out to get the best results for your business.
Do you think you’re ready to open a retail store? That’s great. It means you have a vision, a product in mind, and an image of how your future business looks like. Opening a retail store amidst tons of flourishing e-commerce businesses can be daunting. Not to worry. In this article, I am going to answer the unanswered question of all the times – What Do You Need To Know Before You Open Your Own Retail Store?
The Plan
While your plan need not be as complex as chess, it is still important to have an idea of how you plan to achieve your business goals. Start with your target audience. To whom are you selling the product? Define your vision. Then think of the ways to market it. Building a brand name is key. Your marketing strategies must concentrate on how to establish the name. What do you want to be known for? Is it the quality that comes with your products or the undivided attention to customers?
The Plan
The next step is to have a financial plan. Set business goals that define what reasonable profit you can earn after certain intervals of time. Use software goals to budget. Certain tools like Centage have forecasting features. Learn how to use them to optimize your inventory. Finally, decide whether you need employees. Running a one-man/woman mission can mean you miss out on vacations, sleep, or worse-lunch breaks. Hire employees according to estimated customer traffic. Attention to detail will give you an edge over your competitors.
A plan details what must be done. A strategy explains the ‘how’. Let’s start at your store. The design layout of your store is important. Experiment to see where each product must be ideally placed. Create an inviting window-side display. Should the products be placed from front to back according to utility or cost? Or some other factor? You know your store best. The display does not have to be fancy; it must make the shopping experience enjoyable for the customer and profitable for you.
Also, stake out your competitors. The products you sell must make an impression on your customer. Now the digital aspect: social media. Everybody has their noses buried in their phones. So make sure you have a digital presence. Instagram and Facebook have a vast reach, which will help boost your business. But it isn’t wise to purely depend on them as their owners can make drastic changes anytime and are in no way liable to any losses your business may face.
The Strategy
A more dependable form of marketing is email marketing. Continuously develop your mailing list and be consistent in sending your customers updates, offers, or any such relevant information. Another way to boost business is to partner with local communities and host events. You can also partner with stores that share the same client base as yours and offer coupons, goodies, and the like. Finally, if you can spare the time, work the streets with some good ole’ traditional flyers!
Money, Money, Money
Yes, we discussed budgeting and financial forecasting. But what about startup costs? The amount necessary to rent/buy space, order merch, pay employees their salaries, and much more. If you’ve saved up enough money, I salute you. If you’re planning to take a loan, think twice about your financial responsibilities. It’s not worth diving into endless debt for your dream, especially if you have a family to support or any such commitment.
If it’s a partnership, clearly define what kind of partnership it is- general, silent, limited liability, etc. Consult a lawyer to help out with this mumbo-jumbo. Invest in a good interior designer, if your product is personalized-say clothing or footwear. Work with the money you have. You can compromise on space if it leaves you more money for quality merchandise.
Money, Money, Money
NEVER compromise on product quality. Know your limitations and turn them into advantages. Another aspect that requires attention is the pricing. Does your store sell luxury goods? Or day-to-day commodities? Price your product on par with its industrial standard. If the cost of your product mismatches with the amount your clientele is willing to spend, you will most certainly go into loss.
The location of your store is a major success definer. The location must meet your cost requirements yet fit your space requirements, as well as be in the reach of your target audience. Phew! That’s tough criteria to meet. Sadly, there are no shortcuts to this process. You have to keep your eye out for the place that ‘clicks’. Advertise, roam the city, work for your circle, and use every possible connection you have.
All right, you have to keep an eye, an ear, an arm, and possibly a leg out at all times to score your dream place. Address all legal and commercial responsibilities diligently once you find a location. A commercial store has its own set of rules of the establishment.
Do your research about the locality. Comply with any (if any) neighborhood rules in place. Give importance to being within traveling distance of your client base. To finish off, if you may find a place that suits all your requirements except the way you dreamt it to be, don’t be disheartened. Work on making it the store of your dreams.
The Clientele
If your product is something new and is yet to be made aware to customers, you have your hands full of planning advertising campaigns. But if your product is a variant of an existing product, say clothes, how will you stand a class apart from your competitors? The answer is to carve a niche for yourself in the market.
Modern marketing techniques use storytelling as a form of advertising. That makes sense because our brains are hard-wired to remember stories. A Paper boat is a fine example. The company used childhood stories as a way of relating to the masses. While the product is nothing but fruit juice, a product which has about a million variants in the market, its campaign brought huge success. Try to understand what relates your product to your clients. That factor is what helps you in retaining them.
The Circle
Your network is your net worth – Porter Gale. No words ring truer. Connect with potential clients digitally or through your social circle. Word-of-mouth is more powerful than you think. Build awareness about your product.
If possible, sponsor events, say, college fests that engage a majority of your client base. Market your product there. Develop interactive campaigns. Contact conventions or fairs that will let you rent a space. That will put you within the reach of a wider audience. Get in touch with your customers themselves. Interact and collaborate with them. Customer satisfaction is important. Customer’s happiness and subsequent advertising is a bonus.
We are now at the last, and the least interesting part of the process. The partnership, as mentioned previously, must be defined. Consult a lawyer to draw up the most suitable contract regarding finances, ownership, liability in case of unforeseen calamities, financial loss/gains, tax, etc. Also, look up the necessary permits that you need to obtain before selling. It is a legal offense to trade without the required permits.
Legal Necessities
Now that I have equipped you with the necessary ammunition, I wish you all the success in the world. Opening a retail store, or any sort of business really, takes a business degree (all right, not always!) and an immense amount of courage. Navigating the waters when no land is in sight takes perseverance. Hopefully, going through this article has given you better know-how of how to open your very own retail store.
The digital transformation of the world has created an abundance of knowledge online to teach us, when we don’t have the opportunity to learn from a mentor or guide ourselves. With the help of online courses, we can apply some structured guidance to how we approach our interpersonal interactions, entrepreneurial pursuits, and even the way we think. These hyper-focused, organized lesson plans can help us hit refresh and streamline our paths to success.
Amidst the global outbreak of a lethal pandemic, many of us are surviving the lockdown at our home with some extra time on our agendas at our comfort level. To support those forced to join the office exodus, many online platforms, universities and distance learning organizations are offering free access to their courses.
Maybe this the perfect time, so that an entrepreneur can boost up their career at their own comfort level. There is a list of some of the top7 online courses for entrepreneurs, which can take your mind off things and help you gain a skill or two. This can boost your career at the same time for free, or a small fee. Because when there is a need to master a wide range of skills, then it’s wrong to waste a single second of your time.
Harvard Business School-Online Lessons
Harvard Business School- Online Lessons
Harvard Business School is consistently ranked as the top business school in the world. Since the beginning of the outbreak, when there was this prediction of staying home for a long time, they came up with free interactive business lessons that you can complete online. These lessons are now open for everyone who wants to advance their careers with core business concepts, from leaders to students.
The course offered was: Entrepreneurship essentials and leadership principles, but there is plenty for everyone. This is a great way to stay engaged and sharpen your business skills by learning from the best. Keep an eye out for the next deadline.
Blockchain For Business: The New Industrial Revolution
This course is over five and a half hours, which breaks down how blockchain technologyworks and today’s conception of the potential impact it has on society. If you’re confused about what blockchain is, then this course is made up of you. By the end of the course, you’ll have a firmer sense of what ‘decentralization’ is, and how blockchain is shaping the future of transaction or exchange.
Blockchain for Business: the New Industrial Revolution 4.0
With its clarity in terms, it provides various examples of how large corporations including UBS, Allianz, IBM, Kodak and a range of industries from finance to retail to logistics are using blockchain technology to improve security and efficiency, as well as what developments are on the horizon and challenges the tech will face in scaling.
The Complete Product Management Course
The Complete Product Management Course
Do you ever wonder how organizations like Apple, NASA, and Ticketmaster design their products? This course is designed to give entrepreneurs a deeper understanding of what it takes to bring a product from “idea to launch”, and how to develop strategies and concepts for products, coordinate their development, analyze and validate ideas and help them grow.
It features case studies from NASA, Google, Zappos, and many more. This course also teaches you the fundamentals of Agile Development and industry-standard tools like Pivotal Tracker, Axure, and Popplet.
Artificial Intelligence: Stanford University
Artificial Intelligence Stanford University
This online learning program is based on a course offered at Stanford University, taught by Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of Udacity, CEO of the Kitty Hawk Corporation and founder of Google’s self-driving car project, and Peter Norvig, director of research at Google. There is a prerequisite for the course, however: a background in probability theory and linear algebra.
For a crash course on AI and its applications, head to Udacity for Intro to Artificial Intelligence. In the 4- month course, students can start from the basics of machine learning as well as how statistics, logic, and planning come into play with AI. Then from there, they are going to learn how AI comes into play, per se, move onto the applications lesson segment of the course. They further provide you with insights into image processing, natural language, and processing robotics.
Udacity is an online platform devoted to digital marketing and since Content Marketing is part of it, then Content Marketing Essentials is one of its components. The creator of the course is Hubspot, a marketing software company. They have developed the syllabus to help students plan content marketing strategy and measure its reach and effectiveness.
Basically, the program starts with the segment involving the planned content to best which further communicates a marketing message. Further, the course heads on with content creation through storytelling, curation, and other techniques, followed by distribution, promotion, and tracking.
This crash course also provides tips for designing the user experience (UX) of a website, where actually the content resides, to resonate with readers. In the end, it provides real-world examples of careers in content marketing and gives prospective hires and hiring managers alike a sense of what makes a successful job candidate in the field.
The Essential Guide to Entrepreneurship: Guy Kawasaki
The Essential Guide To Entrepreneurship: Guy Kawasaki
An Apple-alumni and Canva evangelist Guy Kawasaki is sharing his experience as an investor and entrepreneur in this class. It states the each and every step process of starting a business, covering launching, pitching, fundraising, building a team, using social media, and evangelizing in over 56 lectures and 4 hours of content. Described as highly informative and entertaining, Guy uses real-world examples to show you the dos and don’ts of being an entrepreneur. You will definitely be inspired to get your startup off the ground.
Now, this is a sort of important inter-personal skill that every entrepreneur should have. So, whether you are leading a meeting, negotiating with partners, or making a media appearance, it’s important that you master this skill. Body Language for Entrepreneurs teaches “nonverbal communication to increase your income and influence as a business owner” in scenarios like networking, public peaking and delivering an elevator pitch, in order to nail it. Because, it’s not what you say it, but how you say it.
The fact the course states that “93 percent of our communication is nonverbal,” and it’s visible in your online presence, during your interactions with customers, as you connect with colleagues and in just about every other professional scenario involving another human being.
This course reaches not only for entrepreneurs but students on the flip side can apply the same strategies to get a better read on prospective hires, potential clients, and others.
Other Online Courses For Entrepreneurs
Startup India L & D Programme by UpGrad
Inbound Marketing
Inbound Sales
Starting-up Post COVID
Startup School by Y Combinator
Understanding Design Thinking
Introduction to Managerial Accounting
Managerial Economics
Supply Chain Analytics
Human Computer Interaction
Introduction to Data Analytics
Financial Statement Analysis and Report
Security Analysis & Portfolio Management
Enhancing Soft Skills & Personality
Consumer Behaviour
Economics of PR
Economics/ Management/ Entrepreneurship
Web Development with HTML and CSS
Android Programming
Amazon Web Services
Entrepreneurial Idea
Knowingly or unknowingly, we are all learning new things each day. As an entrepreneur, it is important to keep learning and to quit thinking that you stop learning at a certain age. Picking up new skills is a lifelong, ongoing process, and it becomes even more necessary when you are the helm of things with a whole workforce looking up to you for motivation. However, in this age of fast-changing technologies, it wouldn’t suffice to be a jack of all trades.
You will need to have a basic understanding of a wide range of topics. This doesn’t, however, mean that you need to pay humongous tuition fees and attend classes. You can learn new things and pick up newer skills from the comfort of your home through online courses.
Whether you choose to read books, take free online courses, or join a local entrepreneur’s group, the most important thing is that you never stop learning.
Any parent considers at least a hundred names before deciding one for their baby. Well, every startup is its founder’s baby. I say their names require the same amount of attention. The name will lead the startup throughout its career and is the first thing people will come in contact with. This article will discuss some guidelines and methods to answer your question – How to name a startup?
Brainstorm
Pick a corner. Grab a notepad. Write down what your business is about. A very short one-line description of your business. Pick the defining aspect of your business. Is it customer service? Or integrity? Or customization? Play with words. Search for the word in different languages. It is necessary to have an idea of what your name should be like and what it should represent before you seek inspiration.
Brainstorm
Inspiration
Now, for the inspiration. When you have an idea, it is necessary to seek inspiration. I know that the process is usually reversed but hear me out. It is important to be uninfluenced before you start deciding on a name. Seeking inspiration at the start will lead to constant comparisons of whether your name will be better or equal to that of your competition. Inspiration can be from anything- that depends on your product.
Inspiration
Name Generator
Remember when I discussed wordplay. There are online name generators available that ( you guessed right ) generate naming options for your startup. Generators like the one Shopify offers, or Namelix give you a variety of choices. All you need to do is enter the keyword, the ones you wrote down while brainstorming. The options range from misspelled words to catchy phrases. Some generators even check for domain availability at the same time. I’ll discuss domains in a little while.
Name Generator
Simple
Keep your name simple. Don’t exceed more than twenty-four letters. Something that captures the whole essence of your company with one word. And try to stick to a single word. It can even be a compound word and if it has to be two words, make it catchy, for example- Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme. A tall order; taller than a Starbucks latte, unfortunately. If it is more than a few words, make it your catchphrase, like McDonald’s- ‘I’m lovin’ it’ or Nike’s- ‘Just Do It’. Keep it simple and keep it memorable.
Simple
Original
Originality is something important. Not only does that give you creative bragging rights but also makes it easier for you to use the name without competition and escape unnecessary lawsuits involving copyrights. Your originality reflects a part of you. While you don’t have to stress over the name, it is something you need to be original about, because the name and how you describe your product is important.
Original
Spelling
Spelling is one of the most important aspects of your name. Unless you deliberately misspelled your name like Flickr or Lyft, spell it as it sounds. Even misspelled names merely replace letters that do not change the pronunciation of the word. Don’t use silent letters. And most importantly, understand the language of your target audience and name accordingly. It makes no sense to use a french name for a product targeting a Spanish audience unless it is relevant.
Spelling
Say It Aloud
The name needs to sound as good as it is spelled. If your name is mispronounced one too many times, it’s a sign you need to change it. Also, your name shouldn’t associate or rhyme with any negative connotations. Simply put, your name is not something that should be made fun of easily.
Say it Aloud
Relevance
Unless you have the means to oversee a huge marketing campaign, stick to names with relevance. Google, Yahoo, and oracle make no sense by themselves but since they are popular, they needn’t be self-explanatory. In fact those names have developed their own definitions.
For instance, If you are opening a coffee shop,your name should be something such as coffee bean, or coffee hour, or anything relevant.
Relevance
Feedback
Feedback from your circle will give you a new perspective. Your circle is the closest you can get to your target audience before launch. They will also offer valuable inputs from a customer point of view so be sure to take them into consideration.
Feedback
Don’t Be Obsessed
There’s always this feeling of dissatisfaction when it comes to creativity. A better design, a better logo, a better color scheme, a better…stop. Don’t obsess. If it fits all your requirements stick with it. And don’t hold out hopes for changing names in the future. That will give you the unnecessary hassle because there are legal aspects involved. A name is surely important and worth a few sleepless nights but doesn’t obsess over it.
The name shouldn’t restrict your growth. Don’t tie your name to a place or a single product. Names such as ‘Jonah’s books’ or ‘Madras Apparel’ won’t do you any favors when your aim is to scale. Stick to non-confining names. Unless of course, the place is tied to the brand. Kumbakonam filter coffee is one example. Kumbakonam is a place in Tamil Nadu renowned for its delicious coffee.
Growth
Trademark
Once you have your name all set, it’s time to put a TM on it. Look up the procedure on how to register your brand for a trademark to prevent others from using your name. And if anyone does copy your name, they’ll be liable to pay you. Register your trademark as soon as possible.
Trademark
Domain
If you need an online presence, check for the availability of domains. If your domain is available, great. If not, and if you require an online presence, you have to change your name, unfortunately. Or if your domain name is available for sale and if you don’t want to go through the process of choosing another name, buy that domain. And always, always go for a .com rather than a .net or .org because .com implies credibility to the user.
Once you choose a name, you have to register your business. The procedure varies from location to location but a lawyer can help you with all the legal aspects of the business.
Register
Social Media Handles
Retain the same name across all social handles. Don’t change it from one medium to another. Familiarity helps with memorability. Different names will make your customers question credibility. If special characters are part of your name, include them as well at all handles.
Social Media Handles
Are You Satisfied?
Don’t kill me for making you think twice but are you satisfied? Because it is important to be happy with the name you have chosen so that you can focus on other important aspects of your business. Seek validation from trusted ones and make sure you are happy with the name before you proceed to a point of non-reversal.
Be Satisfied with the name you have chosen
The process of finding a name is really nerve-racking. Don’t stop until the name feels right to you. If you have a team, consult them. Your business name is not just the business’ identity, but yours as well. The name will also influence the marketing campaigns and investors. Find your niche and choose (or create!) a name to represent it. Whatever name you choose, stick with it, and do not second-guess it too much.
You have an idea. An idea that you think will make you loads of money. A business idea. And you are anxious. That somebody might steal your idea. Make millions off of it. And you don’t get a single cent. And then you spend millions, which you don’t have, in suing them and hoping you get royalties or a settlement. Which you might or might not. Mostly might not. And rather than being richer by millions, you are poorer. That’s why we presenting today an entrepreneurs’ guide to prevent Idea thievery.
Let’s escape this hypothetical. Because the chances of it coming true are rare because it requires a special set of circumstances. And they are:
Your idea is in the hands of a company with the means to execute the idea
You just presented your idea to a potential competitor while pitching for funding
Your Co-founder fired you or quit to start the same company with a different set of people
An idea is never of any worth unless it is executableand has the potential to be successful. For instance, would you predict that Kindle would be as popular ten years back as it is today? People opposed the change and most found it classier to pretend to be in love with the musty smell of books (Disclaimer: I‘m only talking about the majority that pretended) until they realized the potential of the device.
The mistake lies in assuming that your idea and idea alone has value. No, it does not. Except for the special circumstances mentioned above. Don’t be paranoid about the idea you have for a product or service that you are offering.
Having said that, it is reasonable to want to protect your idea until your startup turns into a business. Let’s see what steps we can take to ensure its safety without handicapping it.
Need-To-Know / Reveal Selectively
Be it to investors, outsourced firms, or employees, tell them only what they need to know. Nothing more, nothing less. It is enough to pitch how your product can solve a problem or how your service makes life easier, to the investors. Explaining the inner workings to them is unnecessary. It is easy to reverse engineer any product if one had the means.
It is good practice to consult a lawyer to go over the legal technicalities of your business. Here are certain legal ways to protect your idea.
Legal Methods
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA)
These bind the party to absolute discretion when it comes to your business idea. When you outsource talent, these come in handy. But don’t use them when you are the funding stage. Investors do not want to be tackled with legalities before they even hear your pitch. Instead, add a confidentiality clause.
Non-compete Agreements
These are especially for the talent on your team.“One party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition against another party (usually the employer).”This is to prevent your ideas worked on by the employee from being reused or influencing the competitor’s product. These come with a time period, meaning the employee will likely be out of work for a while, so you need to carefully work out compensation.
Work-for-Hire Agreement
This agreement is again for the talent hired. It states that all work done on improving or developing the business idea belongs to the employer alone and to be used as the employer pleases. The employee cannot claim the credit.
Provisional Patent
Applying for a patent is a tedious process with huge amounts of money involved, money which can be well spent on marketing strategy. Instead, applying for a provisional patent gets you the same rights as a patented product with the label ‘patent-pending’ for a year. You thereby get a year within which you can work on your idea in peace.
Copyright
A copyright gives you control over the use of your intellectual property. If you have a prototype in place, copyright will prevent misuse and unauthorized usage. And if anyone does use the product without your consent, you can sue them for copyright violations.
Trademark
A trademark is the signature of your company. It can be a phrase, a symbol, or just the name. It protects the product/service and all of its features associated with the company.
“It is a recognition of that company’s ownership of the brand.”
This applies to your employees, clients, partners/ potential partnerships, and investors. Ask for letters of recommendation before you hire. Investigate if the client is a potential customer or a competitor in disguise. If any investor or client shows a sudden interest in your product, apply need-to-know. Look for any red flags in their credentials. Trust your instincts. Do a background check if necessary. Corporate espionage is not just a theme for a book or film. It happens in real life.
Build Partnerships With Competitors
The competition is the one most likely to steal your product. What if you worked through your competitor? You would have the means, and they would have no reason to steal ideas because they get a cut of profits! It is a win-win situation, even if not an ideal one.
Build Partnership with competitors
Beware of Your Colleagues
Remember when I said there is no use of an inexecutable idea? That’s true. But your colleagues hold the execution in their hands. That is why you carefully choose who you hire or going to partner with. Also, it is not desirable to have a founder who does not believe in the idea. Let him/her go. Make sure that they sign a confidentiality agreement that prevents them from disclosing proprietary information beforehand. And always trust your instincts. If you find unprofessional behavior from any of your employees when it comes to your product, fire them immediately.
Document Everything
Keep a record of what is discussed whenever possible, from board meetings to pitching investors. Creating a log of all business transactions will guarantee you evidence in the unlikely event you need to take it to court. Keep track of what information you share with whom. A paper trail builds a sturdier case.
Document Everything
When You Should Sue If Your Idea Is Stolen
It takes time for any idea to become profitable. If your idea is stolen, they require the same time as you do to get it into the market. Don’t use your advantage to sue them for stealing when, if you are fast enough, you can launch your product before they do and make a profit out of it.
If your idea is stolen and your startup fails but theirs is successful one.Then with the help of proper documentation and any agreements you have put in place, it should be easy enough for any lawyer to win your royalties or at least a settlement.
Don’t let the fear of your idea getting stolen prevent you from pitching it to potential investors, customers, or anyone who can give you valuable feedback. Hiding your prototype until it is finished without getting it continuously evaluated by your circle is a reason for startup failure. Very rarely does an idea get stolen. As long as you take care of all legal necessities, you may worry about other aspects -such as marketing and development- in peace.
Being hit by the Coronavirus has left us all in an awkward position on how to set up a business or how to put your business back on track. Geronimo! COVID-19 came up with an exciting business setup of COVID essentials. Masks: one of the basic essentials to put on while stepping out of your safe zone to protect yourselves. Then learning some tips to sell masks online becomes important and how to sell masks online in India especially.
As we all know, individuals did face the difficulty to buy covid essentials during a time like this. Etiquettes like practicing social distancing,wearing masks in public, and covering your mouth while sneezing or coughing have adapted in our lifestyle. 2020 has been a metamorphic year, where till now we have seen an outbreak of a virus, lack of basic resources, global lockdown, and protests. Protests and manual factory jobs have brought back humans on to the streets again—where 6 feet rule is quite impossible to follow.
With this recommendation, everyone is looking on the internet- from where to buy masks online. The tastes have variedfrom face masks as a style icon to breathable face masks. In the interim, you can start your own business out of selling masks online in a trice.
List of 7 Best Face Masks Manufacturers in India:
VENUS Safety & Health Pvt. Ltd.
Thea-Tex Healthcare (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Z Plus Disposable
Salus Products
Smilepad Hygiene India Pvt. Ltd.
Cartel Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.
MBL Impex Private Limited
The demand for these face masks is on a steep rise, as more and more people are stepping out of their homes and thus need an appropriate face mask. There has been a funny caption out there to encourage everyone to wear a mask:
Masks: So, you can perfect the skills of eye contact.
Although cloth masks will not guarantee the contraction of coronavirus or passing it on, this is a sort of public health precautions which should be considered seriously if not for themselves then others. Selling masks online in India can definitely turn out to be the most productive and high pay work, not for yourself but to society.
Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a shortage of face masks on a large level, so in response to it, many have started making homemade cloth masks, which is highly recommended everywhere because whatever the myth may be, it has slowed down the spread of virus yet.
How to sell face masks | Print on Demand
The past few months have seen increasing demands for face masks, so learning new skills and listing them in your online shop could be a great opportunity for a small business. Listed below are some tips:
Tips to Sell Face Masks Online
1.Don’t Fake Medical Claims About Your Masks
Try not to make a fuss out of a fabric face mask and not make any medical or health claims for it. It’s seen that some of the online sellers have to claim their masks as of antibacterial properties or comparing to N95 masks. Never use this language or that type of publicity for a product which is mere homemade fabric. Cut that out on tags, description or listing photos. Because people out there are not fool.
2. No Reselling
Making your own masks are way good deed than reselling of masks that you already bought because either way you can donate to one’s who really need like donate them to workers in a local hospital. Reselling is highly not recommended at a turbulent time like this.
A product listing with a description of masks and descriptive buyer’s questions with answers. Product photos make it more clear about what’s for sale and the quality of the fabric. All the descriptions and photos give shoppers all the basic information about the product and give them the assurance of making a good purchase. Try listing the items under a category named Personal Care, this will make it easier for shoppers to find products of their personal interests.
Mask Sizing Guide
4. Highlight Product Info
DO highlight important product info about masks which could be the fabric type of masks, washable, reusable, reversible, and adjustable masks. These specific features are eye-catchers to almost every customer. You can add this under listings with a little description and similar keywords that help highlight your listings with buyers’ searches.
5. Increased Sales and Marketing
Introduce your product on social media or talk to a local marketing agency that could help to get your product out there and boost the sale of your product. Talk to your friends and family who could help increase the sale of face masks in your society. Start promoting out in your circles as the important message is out quickly which could further add up the sales.
Often, there is a complaint of delayed deliveries which could lead up to the lost interest of buyers. Try to make your deliveries quick and swift. Giving them a notification about their products being dispatched could be a sign of relief that their product is on way. A special set of Delivery Profile gives you the same settings to multiple listings at once and for future deliveries. Always show your customers an estimated delivery date, add mail and delivery carrier, so that they can track their orders. If in any chance, an order got delayed then reach out to your customers and let them know about the safety of their product. This could help you to update the date when it’s dispatched and this ensures about the less communication gap between you and the customer which means that both of you are on the same page.
Update your customers about the delivery
7. Be Updated
Try keeping up with processing up to date as this will let customers know about the time their order is going to take to dispatch at their doorsteps. If you think that loads of orders would lead to a shortage of masks, then let them know about it. Maintaining a friendly connection with your customer can also increase the sale of the masks in the coming future. Adjusting your processing time will give them an accurate estimate about when their orders will arrive and when can they order soon.
8.Setting Realistic Expectations for Both the Party
Getting a good lot of orders could be exciting and overwhelming on both hands. In a good way, you can try limiting the quantity to the number of products you currently have or just turn off the renew on the listing of that product so that you don’t have many sales for. Be more realistic about your working hours because that way you can complete the demands of your incomplete orders.
feedback from customers.
Step-Wise Guide To Sell Face Masks Online On Amazon
Step 1: Register as an Amazon Seller
You will need some of your following details to create your seller account on Amazon. That’ll be: your GST Number, PAN Information, and an Active Bank Account for Payments.
Step 2: Listing Your Products
This is the important step to display your products on Amazon.in for customers to buy it. so, you need to list them by either Adding a New Offer (scanning the product barcode) or Creating a New Listing (uploading product images and fill in the details).
Now, when your product has recieved an order, then you’ll need to deliver it to the customer. There can be many ways to do this:
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Amazon stores, packs & delivers your products. Products on FBA are Prime eligible.
Easy Ship You store & pack your products, Amazon delivers.
Self-Ship You store, pack & deliver your products.
Step 4: Get paid every 7 days
You will get paid for your delivered orders in 7-day payment cycles after deducting the Amazon fees, with funds deposited directly into your bank account.
How to sell masks and covid essentials online | Start your business
During the pandemic, many crafty people are sewing face masks at home too for family friends and neighbors which is obviously a good thing. Many top brands like Levi’s, United Colours of Benetton, Banana Republic, Zara, and online shops Like Shein, Bewakoof.com have started to manufacture funky masks style. Even Kardashians and Kylie Jenner have come up with their magic wand and launched their own designer lines.
The world has changed and not only changed, but some would say transformed. People are also on the edge and fighting their lives to bring on a new normal. It’s easy to get scared and isolate yourself, but instead of victimizing yourself we can all take a step towards providing a solution to our community.
3Doodler. A product that lets you create 3D structures using plastic. I’m quite certain you have come across an advertisement or at least heard from your friends about the company. This is one of the most successful way of crowdfunding for startups in India, raising over $2,344,134 in thirty-four days, and that’s no small feat. I hope that helps you realize the power of crowdfunding.
Back up. What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is one of the more recently popular forms of funding your project or venture that lets you raise small amounts of money from a large audience through the internet. There are lot of best crowdfunding websites for startup available too.
Types of Crowdfunding
Donation-Based Crowdfunding
‘Help save flood victims’, ‘Help pay for Sarah’s cancer treatment’, and so on are a few examples. This is mostly utilized by not-for-profit campaigns to raise money for social causes. The campaign is launched on a crowdfunding platform and people donate to the cause without any questions asked and no rewards expected. The only reward is the satisfaction of doing something for the welfare of others and maybe getting a little credit publicly for that. If your venture is a non-profit one, say helping stray dogs in town or building shelter for the homeless, then this is the right fit for you.
Donation Based Crowdfunding
Equity-Based Crowdfunding
This form of crowdfunding declares a certain percentage of your company for sale in exchange for a certain amount. For example, you put up ten percent of your venture in exchange for raising an amount of $1,000,000, then contributing $10,000 will give the investor a one percent ownership of your company.
How is this different from an IPO (Initial Public Offering)?
An equity-based crowdfunding has a much lower minimum investment amount compared to an IPO. There are also eligibility criteria in place for an IPO. Crowdfunding is only restricted by the rules put in place by the platform, and those rules majorly affect the campaign goals rather than the product itself.
Reward-Based Crowdfunding
The counterpart of shares in equity-based crowdfunding here is rewards in the form of a product or service. The rewards can be anything; from something as simple as a shout-out to a limited edition of their product. Creative products such as jewelry or music have the most to gain from choosing this type because they are the most likely to attract a general audience and can easily appease them with simple rewards. Since the field is predominantly creative, you have to be careful not to give away any ideas while you create your campaign.
Reward Based Crowdfunding
Debt Based Crowdfunding
This is similar to taking a loan from the bank without the hassle of waiting for loan approval and needing to qualify loan eligibility criteria. The investors only have to trust your campaign. The interest rates are considerably lower compared to a bank. The assets are offered as collateral rather than putting them up for sale as in equity-based crowdfunding. The advantage is not having to sell your stock but you have to return the money with interest.
A crowdfunded campaign is a way to find your customers hidden as investors. People who invest in your product naturally have a desire to see you succeed. That leads to their suggesting what you can do to improve your product and if they find any faults with it ( hopefully you don’t ). These suggestions are feedback. Use them. And don’t hesitate to request feedback on future occasions as well, without giving away too many details ( strictly need-to-know ).
Before we start with the ‘how to crowdfund guide’, take a moment to think if crowdfunding is the way to raise funds for your startup. It may seem like an appealing way to make so-called easy-money but crowdfunding is as hard as you will realize when we discuss the factors behind a successful crowdfunding campaign in India.
How to Run a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
Before Letters Come Numbers
Deciding the amount you want to raise is the first step. Your goal should be a guesstimate of what you need. Raising more than you need will require making promises or commitments you can’t deliver, and raising lesser will lead to…well you know what it leads to. Some platforms let you keep whatever amount you raised while some cancel the campaign altogether.
Your Target Audience
To whom are you going to sell the product? Take time to think about your target audience. Does your product/service cater to a certain age group, gender, demographic, or any such division? Or is it a little more sophisticated, catering to techies, artists, or any other profession? The only thing you should know better than your audience is your product.
Your target audience will decide the platform you launch your campaign in. “Gofundme” is known for its social causes and “Kickstarter” is known for its creative and technical ventures. And there are many more platforms available. Do your research on which platform has the largest reach of your target audience.
Your Marketing Campaign
Now it’s time to work on your campaign. It goes without saying and I’m saying it so you know how important it is – You need a kickass campaign. Humans are visual creatures. Creating a small video (90-120 seconds) of your journey or how your product is used can go miles in making an impression. You can use any channel which suits your requirements best- websites, social media, etc. And they should lead back to your crowdfunding page. Again, research marketing tactics suited to your product. Explore your competitors’ marketing campaigns.
Marketing Campaign
A Timeline
Apart from setting a funding goal, you need to create a timeline of smaller goals you mean to achieve periodically. While the initial days can be a gamechanger for a crowdfunded campaign, you should set realistic goals to recognize whether your campaign is working or not. Know when to accept defeat.
The Rewards
Any form of crowdfunding offers some sort of reward. Take the first type. The feeling of supporting a good cause is a reward in itself. In other types, however, the reward is more of an incentive, monetary, or goods form. Assuming you have spent enough time to understand your audience/ investors, you should have a clear understanding of what reward they might expect.
Logistics
As mentioned before, don’t over- or under-raise. Assess your capabilities to commit. Go over finances, forecast your demand, and calculate the demand you will be able to meet. Also, have a contingency plan in place for when you over- or under-raise.
Now you know what it takes to run a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
Assuming people will throw money at you as soon as you launch the campaign.
The conclusion is research. Lots and lots of research. Enough for you to get a Ph.D. in it. Look at other successful crowdfunding campaigns for inspiration and continuously evaluate your own. Every campaign is unique so don’t compare the results of yours with another. Understand when to persevere and when to accept defeat. I wish you all the luck in the world for a successful crowdfunding campaign!
The emergence of Rural and Remote areas into marketing is untapped potential and so there’s an emphasis on the need to explore them. Marketers over the past few decades, with innovative approaches, have attempted to understand and give opportunities to rural markets. Rural marketing is an evolving concept, and as a part of any economy, has untapped potential; marketers have realized the opportunity recently.
The rural population has shown a trend of moving to a state of gradual urbanization in terms of exposure, habits, lifestyles, and lastly, consumption patterns of goods and services. Rural per capita consumption expenditure grew by 11.5 percent while the urban expenditure grew by 9.6 percent.
Rural marketing is a process of developing, pricing, promoting, and distributing rural specific goods and services leading to the desired exchange with rural customers to satisfy their needs and wants, and also to achieve organizational objectives. The concept of Rural Marketing in India Economy has always played an influential role in the lives of people. In India, leaving out a few metropolitan cities, all the districts and industrial townships are connected with rural markets.
Rural Marketing
The rural market in India generates bigger revenues in the country as the rural regions comprise of the maximum consumers in this country. The rural market in the Indian economy generates almost more than half of the country’s income. Rural marketing in the Indian economy can be classified under two broad categories. These are:
Rural Marketing in India Economy covers two broad sections
1.
Selling of agricultural products in the urban areas
2.
Selling of manufactured products in the rural regions
There’s a simple 4A model to streamline rural business is total customer-oriented. And if implemented, then your own rural business could skyrocket. The 4A’s are Affordability, Availability, Awareness, and Acceptability.
There’s a simple 4A model to streamline rural business is totally customer-oriented. And if implemented, then your own rural business could skyrocket. The 4A’s are Affordability, Availability, Awareness, and Acceptability.
1. Affordability
The design of the product should match the needs of the customer. The Customer should not think that they cannot buy it, which means it should be in their buying capacity.
2. Availability
The greatest problem in the rural market is to reach the customer or retailer. It’s the logistics way to make the product available there.
3. Awareness
The Awareness program should be in such a manner that it should reach the customers’ mindset. The only way of reaching the customer is through the commercials on media like TV, Radio, and banners.
4. Acceptability
The customer should think that they can buy the product by putting extra money on that. They should feel that the product is designed as per their needs and it should deliver a great solution to the customer.
How To build business in Rural markets? By Maanav Yashroy
Remote areas are a goldmine for any business person for a long time and who are obviously willing to take the risk. Such business not only increases your income among the rural folk but it’s clearly visible that there has been an improvement in consumer purchasing power, and therefore there is a demand for products and services. Although it’s never easy to establish the market in a remote area. You will face challenges such as underdeveloped infrastructure systems and a lack of proper distribution channels among others.
Here are ways in which you can overcome these challenges and run a successful business in remote areas
Strategies To Run A Business In Remote/ Rural Areas
1. Conduct Market Research
This is the most important factor in a business in a remote area. You need to understand the target customer base for your product. Get to know the income levels of the communities residing, the purchasing power of the basic family in that community, their needs, and how much they would be willing to spend for that product. This will not only help you identify your prospective customers but their characteristics too, such as age groups and social class among else. Also, have a look at what grants you could get in a rural area.
Promote small business in remote areas
2. Gain the Trust of the Local Community
Urban businesses are usually profit-centered and there’s no need for extra hard work like what’s needed in remote businesses because they are community-centered. If you want to achieve long-term success in a rural area, then you need to earn the trust of the people around you. Establish a long-term relationship by providing consistent, efficient, reliable, and cost-effective products. And if the community is satisfied with your services then, you will be able to retain existing customers and attract prospective ones.
The success of any business totally depends on the product or service reaching the intended customer base. It i often difficult to access them. What you can do is, you can develop a multilayer distribution channel where you have sub-distributors at different points. You can also have a delivery van to take the product to the customers’ doorsteps. To ensure you have excellent communication with your retailers and always ensure, the product is always available to the customers.
Distribution channels through supply chains
4. Use Rural Marketing Strategies
Businesses in remote areas need marketing strategies tailored to rural areas. One of the best marketing strategies for rural area business is to identify and develop rural talent into the business. They are always in a better position to understand the mindset of their people and then you can work with them easily. Locals are also likely to embrace business that gives opportunities to their own community. There is no better strategy for a remote business than training and promoting a local up among the ranks. You can also use the services of local influencers and opinion leaders to market the business.
Inventory management will help the business have a clear vision of how best they can cater to the needs of their customers, where they are doing and where they need to improve, and whether their marketing strategies are working or not. This sort of inventory helps keep a regular update of which products are moving and which ones are slow, and how the different categories of customers are responding to the different products.
How to market and build a business in rural araes?
6. Have a Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a way of your business, to give back to the community. To gain strength, participate in the development of communal infrastructure and facilities such as the construction of dispensaries, environmental conservation efforts, and giving scholarships to needy students. You can also organize workshops for the unemployed rural youth or uneducated youth to equip them with job skills even if they won’t be absorbed by the business. This will go a long way in helping the business integrate into the community and gain acceptance everywhere.
Farm Market in rural areas: MANDI
The concept of rural marketing in India is often been found to forms ambiguity in the mind of people who think rural marketing is all about agricultural marketing. However, rural marketing determines the carrying out of business activities bringing in the flow of goods from urban sectors to the rural regions of the country as well as the marketing of various products manufactured by the non-agricultural workers from rural to urban areas.
The rural market in India is not a separate entity in itself and it is highly influenced by the sociological and behavioral factors operating in the country.
If you analyze, it’s quite easy to market your rural business and it becomes super easy if you perceive a customer-oriented approach.
Semrush is the best SEO tool. It has all in one SEO solution. It also has great PPC research integration. It is the time tested any pack of SEO tools out there in 2020. But despite its impressive lineup of features, it’s clear that SEMrush isn’t for everyone. It has some drawbacks such as pricing and functionalities limitations.
This is a list of SEO tools that will be the best SEMrush alternatives. These tools are great as well as are similar to SEMrush. The given tools are cheaper or similarly priced. These tools aim at different audiences than SEMrush.
This is a quick price comparison of all the SEMRush alternative tools that will be mentioned in this post:
Tool
Price
Google Keyword Planner
Free
Ubersuggest
Free
SEO Powersuite
Free, $269/year, or $629/year
Searchmetrics
Starting from €890/year
Advanced Web Ranking
Starting from $49/month
Serpstat
Starting from $69/month
Raven Tools
Starting from $39/month
Surfer
Starting from $59/month
WebCEO
Starting from $39/month
Woorank
Starting from $60/month
Spyfu
Starting from $39/month
Free SEMRush Alternatives
We all like free things, and these free options are great for small bloggers just starting out, small businesses with a tight budget, and some of them are even good enough for big companies that don’t really need the advanced features of SEMRush, Ahrefs, or other premium keyword research tools.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to find an alternative that can match everything SEMrush has to offer. The best you can do is identify the aspects of SEMrush that are important to you and find individual tools to replace them.
Google Keyword Planner Reviews
The very first and free alternative for SEMrush is the Google keyword planner. This is a simple tool to use. Also, this is a part of your Google Ads account. Yet this software is not as robust as the SEMrush. Its metrics gives unclear ranges but not the precise values. So it can be perplexing for your SEO team.
Since most of us are aiming our SEO efforts to rank on Google, it would only make sense that Google’s own Keyword Planner is one of the best keyword research tools available.
Google Keyword Planner Dashboard
Features Of Google Keyword Planner
You can find keywords using domain, services, or products. It also suggests SEO campaign ideas to rotate it around the keywords.
You will get historical data. Such as monthly searches and analyzed keywords.
It provides an idea of any keyword’s performance. It is calculated according to the predicted clicks and conversions.
It offers advanced sorting features. Such as clicks, average CPC’s, CTR, and filter search results.
Ubersuggest is another free tool with similar core features to Google Keyword Planner. Coming from Neil Patel, one of the most prominent thought leaders in the world of digital marketing, and it’s absolutely free.
Contrary to Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggests is pretty accurate with its metrics. It only displays 3 metrics: search volume, PPC cost (CPC), and SEO difficulty, but all 3 are pretty accurate, comparable to SEMRush.
Ubersuggest by Neil Patel
Features Of Ubersuggest
The keyword research is broken down into 3 main sections: overview, keyword ideas, and SERP analysis.
It breaks down the cost per click, the SEO difficulty, and the paid difficulty.
The keywords are pulled using both Google Suggest and AdWords recommendations. This way you can get a comprehensive list of potential keywords you may want to rank for.
It recently launched a new “Content Ideas” feature, where it will suggest topic ideas, along with useful metrics like number of backlinks generated by similar content and estimated monthly visits.
Ubersuggest Pricing
It is available free to use.
SEO Powersuite Reviews
It is the one in all SEO solutions, but not cloud-based. This comes of course with its own difficulties. This software has been split into 4 apps. That is keyword research, rank tracking, backlink research, building link, on-page SEO, and website audit.
You have only pay for the functions you require. You will get paid plans that offer you limitless experience. Also, there will be restrictions on the number of researched competitors. And this is what makes it a cheaper alternative and an all in one solution for marketers.
Website Auditor for SEO Powersuite
There will be some limitations on competitor and keyword research. You can use it for running lower-volume campaigns.
Features Of SEO Powersuite
This tool offers you 19 keyword suggestion tools. These tools outline the bounce rate and traffic rate of keywords.
It weighs backlinks to 50+ factors and creates reports. Also gives link building suggestions.
You will get optimization recommendations for improving page ranking and indexing.
You will crack competitors’ backlinks, keywords, and content strategy.
SEO Powersuite Pricing
| Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Free Version (1 month) | $0/year | |
| Professional Plan | $269/year |
| Enterprise Plan | $629/year |
While as mentioned, the most common issue people have with SEMRush is its hefty price tag, some of us are probably looking for SEMRush alternatives due to other reasons. Below are some paid alternatives for SEMRush, along with a brief discussion for each on how they’ll compare to SEMRush.
Searchmetrics Reviews
Searchmetrics is an all in one software. This includes keyword analysis, SEM & PPC, site, and backlink audit. This tool provides marketing insights and integration of the cloud. This can be a great option as a SEMrush alternative with a broad range of capabilities.
Searchmetrics reviews
Features Of Searchmetrics
Its global SEO features with historical searched data. It covers five years, 130 domain names, and 30 countries.
It also helps you in monitoring SEO trends in 14 countries.
You can use the power of backlink analysis to manage off-page performance.
You get deep website evaluation reports that help you uncover your website architecture. Visibility guard feature guards your converting pages 24 hours from traffic loss.
It provides comparisons of PPC and organic activities. And also intelligent suggestions to manage both.
Searchmetrics Pricing
| Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Research Cloud National | €890/year | |
| Research Cloud International | €1,590/year |
| Suite (3 Versions) | Contact for Demo |
Advanced Web Ranking Reviews
Advanced web ranking works great with some other tools. It does not brag about its index of features with any kind of degree proficiency. Advanced web ranking is the best tool to boost Google analytics research. This is an all in one SEO solution because of the integration of Google’s free tools.
It can help you with a rank tracker. However, it does not have absolutely everything in one app.
Advanced Web Ranking Dashboard
Features Of Advanced Web Ranking
This tool gives white-label reports. It can be on-demand or daily or can be weekly too.
You will get ranking reports with all SERP features and for all search engines.
It has localization which enables drilling down on location-specific data.
This tool builds custom SEO reports in top templates.
It also has a developer API. this offers to integrate your SERP statistics into tools.
Advanced Web Ranking Pricing
This tool offers four packages:
| Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Starter Plan | $49/month | |
| Pro Plan | $99/month |
| Agency Plan | $199/month |
| Enterprise Plan | $499/month |
This software aims for people who need to run their SEO campaign run from a single HQ. you can compare this though the price to SEMrush. It provides a higher allowance for researched keywords and crawled pages.
Serpstat domain data
It provides you convenient extensions for opera, firefox, and chrome also. After installing, you will get all the SEO information easily. You will be provided the insights of page speed, CPC information, keywords research.
Features Of Serpstat
You can find top-performing keywords for ads and pages.
It analyzes search suggestions and international SEO data. Also, you will get keywords trends and variations wit no extra cost.
You can point out domain visibility using SERP analytics. Also, it offers relative positioning and the best performing content or pages.
You will be provided with the AdWords of competitors. Also, you will know their budgets and keywords that are targeted.
It offers you suggestions for content creation. And relate databases for keywords.
Serpstat Pricing
| Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Lite Plan | $69/month | |
| Standard Plan | $149/month |
| Advanced Plan | $299/month |
| Enterprise Plan | $499/month |
Raven is an almost similar tool to SEMrush according to the features. This software has a different approach to data. SEMrush uses the original index. Raven tool brings all the data together using different APIs. APIs such as Moz and Majestic and provide the results.
Review of raven tools
It offers perfect HQ for all the sales operation. It gives smooth email automation and a calls tracking facility. You can import data easily from the MailChimp. So that SEO campaigns run side by side with email campaigns.
Features Of Raven Tool
Branded reports can be pulled up from 30+ data modules. You can add notes and observations.
It identifies discrepancies in HTML code and site structure. It shows issues that generate health score of the site.
You will get to uncover toxic competitors and backlinks. They provide 50,000 backlinks for any URLs.
Daily, weekly, and monthly rack reports will be shown. This will be for all Bing, Google, Yahoo, Baidu, and Yandex.
Raven tool Pricing
Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Small Biz Plan | $39/month |
| Start Plan | $79/month |
| Grow Plan | $139/month |
| Thrive Plan | $249/month |
| Lead Plan | $399/month |
Surfer Reviews
Surfer targets a slightly different audience than SEMrush. Its functions revolve around real-time SERPs analyzation. This software analyzes SERPs. And provides best recommendations relying on ranking keywords.
Surfer SEO – Optimize pages, write new content, and rank as #1
Features Of Surfer
It is cheaper.
Offers unlimited keyword research.
Provides free chrome extensions containing SEO data.
Surfer Pricing
Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Basic Plan | $59/month | |
| Pro Plan | $99/month |
| Business Plan | $199/month |
WebCEO is definitely not SEMrush’s cheaper alternative. As this provides the same features as SEMrush. Such as social media management, keyword research, and backlink. This is B2B oriented. Also, it has a generation tool designed for sales departments.
WebCEO Dashboard
Features Of WebCEO
Emphasis on sales tasks.
Lots of users having higher-priced plans.
White label SEO functions.
WebCEO Pricing
Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Solo Plan | $39/month |
| Startup Plan | $99/month | |
| Corporate Plan | $299/month |
| Agency Unlimited Plan | Pay as you grow model |
Also, you get more projects, backlink research, and an extended keyword for an extra price.
Woorank Reviews
This software targets a few fractions of SEMrush’s users. Those who are running low to medium SEO campaigns will get help a lot from this tool. For the website, owners provide convenient keywords. Also, website audit tools that cover all features of SEMrush.
Woorank SEO Audit Tool
There will be no backlink research in this software. It has lead generation tools and features for handling links.
Features Of Woorank
This is cheaper.
Provides fewer features overall.
Offers sales-oriented tools.
Woorank Pricing
Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Pro Plan | $59.99/month | |
| Premium Plan | $179.99/month |
| Enterprise Plan | Negotiable as per agreement|
SpyFu is an all-round SEO tool that offers cheaper. This is the competition-oriented software. It provides SEO features from the backlink to keyword research.
SpyFu PPC Keywords
You will also get your competitor’s Google Ads history. Also, you will get organic keywords that were ranked in the last 10 years.
Features Of SpyFu
This tool is cheaper.
Attention on competitor research.
There is no on-page SEO.
You get unlimited backlinks and keyword research.
SpyFu Pricing
Plans | Pricing | |
|— |— |— |— |— |
| Basic Plan | $39/month | |
| Professional Plan | $78/month |
| Team Plan | $299/month |
We all have different needs to fulfill different SEO goals. For some people, SEMrush still is the best option after knowing all these alternatives. Yet, there are various tools that are made with certain specific features. This is what makes it a better alternative for SEMrush. These tools would be sufficient for your current needs.
Coaching is the act of giving special classes in sports, in a school subject or a work-related activity, especially to one person or a small group. Coaching institutions are the places where this activity is organised. Coaching institutes provide training on a variety of topics like educational, recreational, sports etc. One can opt for any one of these depending on their interest.
Generally, we see a pattern in the type of coaching industry thriving in a particular region. In developed nations, coaching institutes for academia is not that popular as it is in India. One reason for this is the better quality of education in the developed countries are sufficient to cater to the academic needs of the students which is not the case in India. Another reason for this is the rising demand for the limited number of seats in India’s elite colleges like IITs and AIIMS which have led to the exponential growth of coaching institutes in India. In this blog, we are going to present a case study on the exponential rise of the coaching institutes in India in past few years.
The share of the education sector in India was 91.7 Billion USD in 2018, which has risen to 117 Billion USD in 2020 and continues to expand. The coaching industry alone contributes approximately 3.5 billion USD to this, which is huge considering there are various types of educational institutes in the country including schools, colleges etc.
Most parents understand the crucial role of coaching in their children’s future. They feel that it helps their children in solidifying their knowledge which is not possible by schools alone. Coaching institutions also enhance the conceptual learning of the students which is very crucial for their selection to prestigious institutes like IITs, AIIMS or IIMs. It is the trust of parents who are willing to pay exorbitant amounts of fees for their child’s education, coaching institution as an industry is witnessing massive expansion.
If we look at the competition for the seats IIT-JEE has around 10,000 seats, yet more than 200,000 students show up for its entrance exams. More than 770,000 show up for the NEET for an insignificant 2,140 seats. Despite the miserable proportion of the students accepted in these engineering or medical institutes, the total number of candidates appearing for IIT-JEE or NEET goes in lakhs, and most of the students who appear for these exams opt for coaching in some of the well-known coaching brands like Aakash, FIITJEE, and others. These coaching classes are seen as the stepping stone for the students for the successful preparation of these entrance exams.
The coaching institute craze also extends to post-graduate studies like MBA in India. Every December, several candidates appear for the Common Admission Test (CAT) to gain admission to the top Indian B-schools. There is also very stiff competition for a paltry number of seats and coaching institutes for CAT thrive on this competition.
Split Of Education Market As Per Different Categories
Lakhs of students happily struggle to cut down their living costs steeply to pay coaching institutes’ hefty fees. All of them have a common aim of getting admission to the crown jewels like All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Birla Institute of Technology Sciences (BITS), Christian Medical College (CMC), National Institute of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and several other prominent institutes. Statistics and trends suggest that coaching institutions in India will continue to flourish in coming times as well.
Although there are lakhs of coaching institutes in India. But, some of them have outgrown and have established themselves as big brands. It is a dream for many of the students to get into any of these coaching institutes while preparing for the exam as they have a good reputation in the education market for the selection of a particular kind of exam. Students often find them as a more secure choice compared to the other options out there.
Here are the top 10 coaching institutes that aspiring candidates may consider in their quest to choose the ideal institute:
Vibrant Academy
VIBRANT ACADEMY Logo
A foundation established to prepareIIT-JEE students, Vibrant has established itself as a solid contender among the top coaching institutes. One of the best coaching institutions with a record level of 43.2% (1243 out of all-out 2836) selections from ordinary homeroom courses in the 2019 JEE Advance, this coaching institute has set a benchmark for itself and its rivals.
Resonance
Resonance Logo
Since its establishment in 2001, Resonance has become a household name. With 12+ study programs, 300+ full-time employees out of which 25% employees are from the IITs, and with the most noteworthy number of understudies fitting for JEE Advance, this coaching institute is known well-known for producing entrance exam toppers.
Bansal Classes
Bansal Classes Logo
A pioneer in the coaching industry, Bansal Classes has always demonstrated its value with respect to the different entrance exams in India. With two understudies in the top 10 All-India rankers and 19 in the top 150 All-India rankers in JEE Advance 2019, Bansal Classes is known for its teaching prowess.
With almost 4,000 understudies accomplishing an All India Rank in JEE (Mains) 2019 and 3,729 understudies accomplishing a position in JEE (Advance), FIITJEE has been a highly favoured coaching institute, particularly for engineering exams. It is one of the biggest names in the coaching institute industry and gives a perfect platform to genuine JEE applicants.
The Narayana Group
Narayana Logo
Narayana is counted amongst the prestigious coaching academies in India. With a focus on 17 significant urban cities (including Delhi), the organization offers study materials alongside experienced educators. With about 400+ qualifications in JEE Mains and 200+ JEE Advance, Narayana enjoys a strong image when it comes to entrance exams.
Allen Career Institute
ALLEN Logo
Almost 45,000 students enrolled in Allen’s classroom course in Kota for the 2019 session. With 990 students qualifying for the JEE Advance 2019 and 380 absolute determinations in AIIMS 2019, the accomplishments of Allen Career Institute are well-known.
Vidya Mandir Classes
Vidyamandir Classes Logo
Vidya Mandir has gained prominence among IIT competitors by giving proper courses in more than 30 urban areas. With almost 48 top scorers through the proper course and 9 top scorers through a correspondence course in the JEE Advance, Vidya Mandir is certainly worth it for exam preparation.
Aakash Institute’s branches can be found throughout India. Almost every school-going kid knows about Aakash. An extraordinary community for great training, Aakash’s understudies have been doing wonders in different selection tests. The foundation packed away 908 determinations in JEE Advanced 2019 and 26657 in NEET-UG 2019.
IITians Pace
Pace IIT & MEDICAL Logo
IITians Pace was launched in 1999 with the sole purpose to guide understudies in Mumbai who wanted to get admits to reputed engineering and medical colleges. In recent years, IITians Pace has positively shaped Mumbai and has also expanded to different locations in the country. There is a campus in Dubai as well. Students from IITians Pace have performed exceptionally in Olympiads as well.
Super 30
Interest in Mathematics and a will to assist monetarily poor understudies aiming for the IITs gave birth to Super 30 classes. Situated in Patna, Super 30 picks 30 gifted understudies every year and prepares them for JEE. Until this point, Super 30 has cemented its place by conveying a 100% achievement rate in 2008, 2009, and 2010 when the entirety of its 30 students were selected into the IITs.
As per the reports from IBEF India is the second-largest market for e-learning after the US. As digitalisation is growing and reaching every nook and corner of the country, the e-learning market is expected to get even stronger in the coming year. The e-learning sector is expected to reach US$ 1.96 billion by 2021 with around 9.5 million users. Thus, coaching industry is projected to grow in the near future as well.
While the coaching institutes are growing, their reach is limited only to bigger cities as of now. The greater part of these classes are running in metro cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai which are favoured for common administrations, law, and chartered accountant examinations. On the other hand, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kota, and Pune are favourable destinations for engineering and management exams.
Another thing to notice is that a significant number of the best educators of presumed schools and universities have found employment elsewhere and taken up private training; the straightforward explanation being that the monthly payments of a good mentor is higher than a school teacher. Consequently, we find that mentors in coaching institutes are the best in their work, which is a benefactor in growth of these institutes.
Education Industry In India
Private mentors charge anything between INR 500 to INR 4,000 every hour for each student depending upon the cities and the subjects, which for multiple educational subjects costs between INR 1,000 to INR 6,000 every month to a student. Thus, there is a very huge earning potential for private tutors.
Factors Behind The Growth Of Coaching Institutions
As discussed above we have found that coaching institutes has been growing exponentially and will continue so in coming times as well. The factors that are causing this growth has been discussed below:
Roboust Demand: India has currently 250 million school going students as per IBEF report. This presents coching industry a huge market for growth.
Competitive Advantage: India has competitive advantage to its counterparts due to large English speaking population. This allows easy delivery of educational products for students to access.
Increasing Investments: The education market in India is expected to amount 225 billion USD in FY25. Ed-tech market in India is also projected to reach 10.4 billion USD in 2025. This will be major factor behind the growth of coaching institutes.
Exam Anxiety: The test fear is a significant attribute for trying out training classes. These classes are viewed as the most widely recognized arrangement among youngsters who need to exceed expectations scholastically.
Extra Push: Even the most elite understudies have the opportunity to get better. And coaching institutes are known to provide this push.
Expected Growth Of Coaching Institutions In Future
India’s coaching institutes have an incredible opportunity given that around 580 million of the country’s populace lies in the age group of 5-24 years making it the largest population in this particular age bracket. This large market comes with the lots of opportunity for the education sector in general and coaching institutes in particular. India’s education sector is expected to reach $225 billion by 2025.
Expanding web infiltration will help in training conveyance. India has more than 250 million school-going understudies, which is more than the entire population of several nations. It has probably the biggest system of education establishments in the world.
Proportion Of Students Taking Private Coaching
The Central Government intends to dispense $1 billion to states for aptitude- improvement activities. In October 2017, to support the Skill India plans, SANKALP and STRIVE were propelled at a cost of $1.02 billion. Reviving Infrastructure and Systems in Education by 2022 was declared in the govt budget of 2018-19 with INR 1 lakh crores allocated for the initiative.
‘Expertise India’ program has profited more than one crore youth every year. Under the Union Budget 2019-20, the government gave INR 400 crores for ‘World Class Institutions’. The training area in India stays to be a key need for the administration. The Government of India has permitted 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the instruction area through the programmed course since 2002.
The Government of India is chipping away at the draft of the New Education Policy to address the changing elements in the instruction business of the nation. ‘Organizations of national significance’ (NID) will have the option to build private associations and work together with research labs across India. According to the Union Budget 2019-20, under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), more than 2 crores of rustic Indians have been educated.
Ashwini
