Tag: lockdown

Toppr: A Journey into Student-Centric Learning and Innovative Solutions

The worldwide education sector is seeing a major shift towards online platforms in the quickly changing field of educational technology (EdTech), where digital transformation impacts the future of learning. As the need for customized and easily accessible learning experiences grows, EdTech is essential in meeting the many needs of students in today’s dynamic learning environment.

In the evolving EdTech landscape, Toppr stands out as a dynamic platform, redefining learning by placing students at its core. It addresses the changing demands of learners in the digital era by exploring the larger EdTech context. Toppr anticipates a time when learning is an immersive experience and responds to the demands of education today with tailored learning paths and creative solutions.

In this article, let’s explore the world of Toppr—its founders, business and revenue model, funding, growth, and more

Even amidst the unprecedented times of the Covid19, one sector that has seen exponential growth is the EdTech industry. With the nationwide lockdown, as announced at the end of March, and many other successive lockdowns and strictures in numerous Indian metropolitan cities, most industries faced severe roadblocks to barely run their operations let alone, maintain or improve profitability. However, amidst the pandemic, online education and e-learning platforms have seen astonishing adoption and growth. This, however, is not surprising because the educational institutions are shut, making 1.5 billion students resort to a variety of digital education sites like Toppr to ensure learning continues. The company had seen good growth before it was acquired by Byju’s on July 24, 2021, in a deal consisting of cash and equity shares, as it acquired Great Learning.

According to a report by BARC India and Nielson, there has been a 30% increase in the time spent on education apps on smartphones since the lockdown. The Edtech sector worth Rs 15,000 crore, has been battling challenges with the low B2C market penetration. The current surge of usage is thus, proving to be pivotal.

Edtech startups are attracting many more investors in the post-Covid19 world, thanks to the increased adoption of digital learning during the lockdown. The learning app Toppr focused on students in classes 5 to 12 and had managed to raise around $112.1 million till July 29, 2020, it’s Series D funding round. Toppr had previously competed with unicorn companies like Byju, Unacademy, Vedantu, Meritnation and more. However, after it was acquired by the edtech giant, Toppr’s revenue declined. The revenue of Toppr noticeably shrunk by 40% in FY21, as per the reports dated January 19, 2022.

After the lockdown subsided, and the coronavirus became less active in terms of potency and the people affected, the edtech sector has been seeing a huge downfall. Layoffs or job cuts and decreased security now wrap the edtech domain. So, here’s learning about when Toppr was founded, how it has served in the pandemic, Toppr’s funding, Toppr’s business model, Toppr revenue, valuation and more.

Toppr – Company Highlights

Company Name	Toppr
Headquarters	Mumbai, Maharashtra
Founded On	2013
Founders	Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goteti
CEO	Zishaan Hayath
Employees	501-1000
Operating Revenue	$6.80 mn (Rs 50.6 crore in FY21)
Products & Services	Toppr Learning App

About Toppr
Growth of Toppr During Covid Pandemic
Toppr – Subscriptions
Toppr – Educational Products
Toppr – Funding
Toppr – Business and Revenue Model
Toppr – Growth and Revenues
Toppr – Layoffs

About Toppr

The logo of Toppr

Toppr is a Mumbai-based Edtech startup, which had seen a 100% growth in paid users on a monthly basis, with free user engagement witnessing a 100% spike. The company was founded in 2013 and offered questions, solutions, concepts, practice tests, videos, and more to students. It also prepared them for competitive entrance exams such as IIT-JEE mains, BITSAT, and NEET.

When the platform announced free access to live classes and video classes, the CEO and Founder of Toppr, Zishaan Hyath said, “in the view of the evolving situation around the Covid19 pandemic, many schools are shut, hence why we are making Toppr live classes completely free for all students in classes 5 to 12. Besides that, our video classes have always been available as a free learning resource”.

Growth of Toppr During Covid Pandemic

The Edtech firms have also taken to the digital media to acquire users and inform people about the free live classes on offer. There had been a 128% growth in digital ad spending by edtech apps during the lockdown, as per the BARC Nielson report. It is not just the big players that spent on advertising as they also acquired an impressive count of users abroad.

Amid Covid, there were more than a dozen Edtech startups including Byju’s, Vedantu, etc., that have raised funding as investors through platforms that have registered strong growth during the pandemic. The learning sessions on its app per month had also witnessed a 2x growth, which was 14 to 15 million before Covid and became 32 million post-lockdown.

Toppr already had around 60,000 students on its learning platform and was aggressively seeking to bring around 2.4 lakh students onboard. The Edtech segment is likely to be on a roll ahead as investors globally are expected to put $87 billion in the world market over the next 10 years. The Indian market is also believed to grow at over 20% per annum to hit $2 billion sizes by 2021.

Though Toppr, which is now a part of Byju’s, showed good growth in FY20’s financials when the company recorded its operational revenues at Rs 84.3 crore from Rs 56.4 crore, which it saw in FY19, FY21’s revenues for Toppr dipped by 40% to stand at Rs 50.6 crore. The last known Toppr valuation was over $100 mn, when it was sold to Byju’s.

Toppr – Subscriptions

The company had emerged as the highest traffic destination for K-12 learning and hosted over 1 million sessions every day. The community of 50,000 educators from across the country had contributed to the platform with over 35 lakh learning pieces, including questions, solutions, concepts, games, and videos curated for the students.

This is was because the annual subscription for the academic year 2020 to 2021 on Toppr started at Rs 20,000, which is cheaper than its competitors. For example, Vedantu’s annual subscription for all subjects for a class 10 student costs Rs 48,599. Given the high costs, the penetration of Edtech platforms was limited, which is why Toppr decided to bring down the cost of their subscription to get more users to the platform.

Some of the well known competitors of Toppr — Some of the well-known competitors of Toppr

Furthermore, the company changed its product strategy and created packages of shorter duration to help people tide over the current crisis. Toppr now has a 3 month and six-month package, starting at just Rs 3000. Both Toppr and Byju’s have registered an increase in paid users during the lockdown, Toppr has seen a four-fold increase, while Byju’s has seen its paid subscriptions double. However, things toppled in FY21, when the company’s operational revenue plunged by 40%.

Toppr – Educational Products

Apart from the main product, which is the school learning app, Toppr also spends on teaching coding to kids and their school operating system (OS) built for teachers and administrators. Toppr School OS is an app for schools and teachers through which they can map curriculum, plan lessons and manage class timetables, automate attendance, assign homework.

Toppr school is an artificial intelligence-based Operating System to run “in school” and “afterschool” learning, creating a standardized and personalized experience. This helps in continuing to engage and explore various features and includes parents and students who are trying online learning as a go-to learning resource in these difficult times.

It also helps in taking tests, correcting test papers, etc. during or after school hours to save time. On the other hand, the coding product, which is called Toppr codr, launched recently, is another opportunity for the company to raise at least $50 million, if let’s say, the overall opportunity for us in digital learning is around $200 million.

Toppr – Funding

Toppr raised a total of $112.1M in funding over 11 rounds. The latest funding of Toppr was raised on Jul 29, 2020, from a Series D round as edtech startups continue to benefit from the pandemic-driven online learning boom. This last round of Toppr funding was worth $44.31 mn. A Dubai-based investment firm, Foundation Holdings, led the fresh investments into the Mumbai-based e-learning platform. Existing investors such as Kaizen Private Equity also participated, according to a statement.

Date	Name of the Funding Round	Deal Value	Lead Investors
July 29, 2020	Series D	$44.31 mn	Foundation Holdings
June 12, 2020	Series C	$189.90K	Kaizenvest
April 10, 2019	Debt Financing	$5.57 mn	Milestone Trustee Services
December 19, 2018	Series C	$35 mn	–
May 9, 2018	Debt Financing	$1.96 mn	Alteria Capital
October 23, 2017	Series B	$5.69 mn	–
April 24, 2017	Venture Round	$336K	WGG International
October 30, 2015	Debt Financing	$2 mn	–
May 7, 2015	Series B	$10 mn	Eight Roads Ventures, Helion Ventures, Elevation Capital
May 24, 2014	Seed Round	$2 mn	–

Toppr – Business and Revenue Model

The Toppr business model is similar to a freemium business model, which remains the same even after it is acquired by the edtech giant, Byju’s. The company offers free live and offline classes, which can be availed full-fledged if the users go for paid subscriptions. The majority of the Toppr income comes from the classes and their subscription fees. The Toppr revenues witnessed a 3X growth between 2016-2019, where revenues received from the students from 5th-12th grade was equally split.

Toppr – Growth and Revenues

The operating revenues of Toppr grew by 49.5% to $11.44 mn (Rs 84.3 crore) during FY20 from $7.65 mn (Rs 56.4 crore) earned in FY19. Furthermore, the income from financial assets of Toppr also witnessed a 46% growth to nearly $814K (Rs 6 crore) during FY20.

Looking at the side of expenses of the company, Toppr spent around $27.63 mn (Rs 203.7 crore) in total during FY20. Thus, it has registered a 31.6% increase when compared to the aggregate costs, which were Rs 154.8 crore during FY19. Coming to the unit level, Toppr has spent Rs 2.41 to earn a single rupee of revenue during FY20, which can be stated as a marginal improvement from what it was during FY19.

However, it is evident that Toppr failed to save its scale in terms of its financial performance in FY21 when BYJU’S acquired edtech startup reported a 6.2X of cash outflow, which increased from Rs 20.74 crore in FY20 to Rs 128.07 crore during FY21. The revenue of the company in FY20 was recorded to be Rs 84.32 crore, which plunged by 40%, thereby recorded at Rs 50.6 crore. The company has also been noted to have lost Rs 128.3 crore in FY21, which increased by 13.1%.

Coming to the unit level, Toppr spent Rs 3.54 to earn a single rupee of revenue. This is reported to be around 46.3% more in contrast to what Toppr spent (Rs 2.42) during FY20. Besides, the acquisition of the company might also be a result of Toppr’s inability to raise follow-on capital, and to scale.

Toppr – Layoffs

Toppr has announced that it would be firing close to 300 employees as of June 30, 2022. This news came when BYJU’S owned WhiteHat Jr. has already reported laying off around 300 employees. The Toppr layoffs would be close to 300 with immediate effect, and this can also go up to 500 later on, according to some reports.

FAQs

When was Toppr founded and who is the founder of Toppr?

Toppr edtech startup has been founded by Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goteti in 2013.

Who are Toppr’s competitors?

Some of the top competitors of Toppr are:

Unacademy
Brainly
Meritnation
Vedantu
Khan Academy
TutorVista
Mockbank
Embibe
WizIQ

What is Toppr codr?

Toppr codr is an app for learning coding made specifically for kids.

What is the revenue of Toppr in FY21?

The revenue of Toppr stood at INR 50.60 crore in FY21, which decreased by 40% from INR 84.32 crore in FY20.

Is Toppr acquired by Byju’s?

Yes, Byju’s acquired both Toppr and Great Learning on July 24, 2021. Therefore, Toppr currently stands acquired by Byju’s.

June 30, 2022

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Event Industry
Covid-19 completely changed our lives and our entire pespective in a span of two years. We never thought that we will be confined in our own homes for months, events will be held virtually and mask and sanitizers will be our best friends.

Most weddings, music launches, concerts, office functions, or themed birthday parties these days are not simple events anymore with the sword of Covid-19 hanging on our heads. However, there needs the intervention of a specific type of services for an event to get successful, they collectively known as event management.

Duties of event management cover selection and reservation of venues, coordinating with merchants, planning for transportation and parking facilities, responsibility for compliance with health and safety standards, crisis and situation management of the event, creating a security strategy, and controlling the entire event. All this comes under event industry sector.

Coronavirus pandemic has hit many sectors across the world. Aviation, Hospitality, Event Industry, and others are some of the worst-hit sectors due to lockdowns and travel constraints. As countries around the world start to reopen their economy, the events industry appears to have drawn the least attention.

It is no secret that corporate events such as conferences and trade shows are very often bundled up with crowd gatherings, which have been proved to expedite Covid-19 viruses.

Hence, events are usually part of the ultimate phase of reopening. In India, this sector accounts for the employment of 10 million people who have been directly harmed due to the crisis.
The event industry is looking forward to some relief as the Government has bnow allowed people to hold events just like before. In this article, we will talk about the situation of Indian event industry post-lockdown.

Impact Across Sectors
How the Event Industry Is Adapting COVID-19 Period?

Impact Across Sectors

Business

All business meetings, Annual General Meetings, associate meets, product launches, tech, and non-tech colloquia, seminars, and association meets are Business Events. The impact of the cancellation of business events is significantly strong. The events that were scheduled for the end of the year have now postponed to 2021 and 2022.

Exhibitions and Trade Fairs

Exhibitions and trade fairs account for up to 60,000 events in leading eleven countries. These events witness a large gathering of customers and marketers across all areas and provide huge business venues and convention centers.

Sports, Entertainment, And Tourism

Events organized to support tourism and regional business have called off their current year’s editions, and the most recent example of which is the Expo 2020, Dubai, originally scheduled in October 2020.
The sector also observed the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics and other events like IPL nationally, who canceled their 2020 edition and was held in 2021 instead.

Social Events

Government norms will now regulate religious gatherings, weddings, parties, festive gatherings, and many more. There is an obligatory requirement of multiple approvals involving paperwork, hence leading to a restricted version of the originally planned event.
- Approximately 52.91% of companies occurred 90% of their business being canceled between March-July 2020.
- 107 firms suffered from an income loss of up to INR 1 crore.
- About 7 companies visualize a 50%-80% reduction in their current workforce and 35 between 25%-50%.
- The working capital/loan expected to keep floating for the next 6 months is around 2-5 Crore for 39 companies and 1-2 Crore for 118 companies.
- About 97 companies need to raise capital or debt from organizations or shareholders, banks, AND OTHERS.
Segmentation of Events

How the Event Industry Is Adapting COVID-19 Period?

Advanced technology is playing a crucial role in the event industry sector. Modern hours require unmatched solutions, and here are a few ways in which the event industry is driving home the new normal.

Virtual Events

The multiple technological disruptions have facilitated the seamless online conduction of events, seminars, conferences, meetings, and gatherings involving a considerable number of participants. There are several platforms used for hosting such activities, which offer features such as-live as well as pre-recorded content, simultaneous running of varied breakout sessions, space for sponsors to showcase their products and services to others. Moreover, the ability to access the information later, even though the event is over serves to be a great joy for the audience. Additionally, the user interface of these events is so influential that it renders the viewer with a realistic experience.

Increased Personalisation

On being asked, many individuals stated that they could not enjoy to the fullest as they felt disconnected by the overpopulation of the venue.
The events which are being organized in the corona times successfully overcome all these flaws by providing consumers the opportunity to enjoy the show from the comfort of their homes. Also, multiple examples are noted where the artists accepted the requests made by the viewers.

Global Presence

Eventually, the most significant change that the new normal brought is the re-establishment of the world as a global village. Virtual events are a sigh of relief as they emerge winners against geographical barriers. As a result of this shift, individuals across the world can experience the performance of their favorite artists.

Modern Advertising Techniques

The current times have noted the rise of advertising methods that are greatly consumer-centric, dynamic, and pleasant. With consumers being bound to homes, their usage of social media has increased. In this trend, various organizations are resorting to their online platforms to generate awareness, drive traffic, promote upcoming virtual events with enhancing viewer participation.

Improved Physical Experiences

With the event industry knocking at the door of a complete restart and the absence of a vaccine, organizers oblige to pay maximum attention to customer safety. People are forced to see a rise in terms of hygiene, be it at the venue or in terms of the deliveries happening for these events. In the post-pandemic, only those will succeed who can make their audience feel safe. This can be achieved through active communication channels and enabling the customers with a choice of easy cancellation of bookings.

Conclusion

The event industry suffered a big blow because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Although, with the new normal being established and the situation coming back to its previous form, with time it will surely increase its growth in the country like it has been doing all these years.

FAQs

How big is the event industry in India?

The revenue of the Indian event industry is said to be over 100 billion Indian rupees in 2021.

Is the event industry growing in India?

The event industry is growing at a rate of 16% CAGR.

What are the three types of events?

Three types of events are:
- Private
- Corporate
- Charity
May 9, 2022
Why Restaurant bodies are seeking waiver – The Performance of Restaurant Industry from 2020 to 2021

The major cities of India are under a lockdown with the Covid cases rising all over the country. The second wave of the virus was an unexpected hit towards the country causing a lot of casualties among the citizens and a lot of businesses going down. With regards to it, the National Restaurant Association of India has asked for a rental waiver. Let’s look at the further details and analyze the performance of the restaurant industry during the year 2020-2021.

Announcement by NRAI
The concerns raised by NRAI
What is Revenue Sharing Model?
Restaurant Business Post lockdown
Performance of Restaurant Industry 2020 to 2021
FAQ

Announcement by NRAI

On 19 May 2021, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has asked the owners of the malls to reduce or provide extra time for rentals during the lockdown phase in the country. They have also asked for a renegotiation on the commercial terms going forward as the malls are closed and this would further affect the restaurant and beverage, industry owners.

The concerns raised by NRAI

In a statement, the NRAI had conveyed that it had written to the mall to urgently solve the various commercial concerns that are faced by the restaurant and beverage industry owners. They have mentioned that in the letter the association has mentioned about two concerns which are waiver on rental charges and a revised model for revenue sharing.

The association has communicated that the mandated lockdown has forced the owners to shut the shops and prevent the malls to allow the entry of guests and customers or even staff and suppliers. It mentioned that it is a typical situation and would require the rental charges or the common maintenance charges during the phase of lockdown to be waived off completely.

It has communicated that the future agreements on rent have to be made keeping in mind the crisis that is faced due to Covid and the duration the business would take to reach normalcy. The shaping of the model of the post Covid era is expected to be based on a totally variable model.

The association has communicated that the revenue sharing model would interlink the fortunes of the mall owner and the restaurant owners and they would reach a situation where both of them wouldn’t profiteer from each other but support one another.

Statement by NRAI

What is Revenue Sharing Model?

The retailers and the restaurant owners are found to be in talks with the mall owners to waive off the rentals during the phase of lockdown and would want to renegotiate their terms to continue in the future through a revenue sharing model as the road ahead is uncertain.

Restaurant owners are also trying to seek help from the government. The food and beverage industry employs around 7 million people and they fully depend on daily walk-ins which have caused a severe impact on the business due to the lockdown.

The president of NRAI, Anurag Katriar conveyed that they would not be able to operate on old costs with less than half of older revenue. He added that therefore he feels that the revenue sharing model is a very fair model where even if we see an increase in the business volumes at the early stage the malls won’t lose out.

Restaurant Business Post lockdown

The business will recover post lockdown when the social distancing measures and the concerns of consumers about the crowded place would reduce. NRAI also communicated that they do not expect the business to increase as soon as the lockdown is lifted.

They have conveyed that the business would just expect a volume of 30-40% of what they have been received the pre lockdown face and this would be possible by lowering the fixed costs of the restaurants.

The industry body had mentioned in its letter that considering the proportion of fixed expenses in the F&B industry, the businesses are expected to face huge operating losses as the fixed expenses are really high and this would be controlled only if the major expenses such as the rent would be converted into a variable expense.

Performance of Restaurant Industry 2020 to 2021

The restaurant industry had a huge downfall at the beginning of 2020 as there was a nationwide lockdown and moreover, it was totally unexpected and a new concept faced by the businesses. The normal restaurants have tried to manage their operating costs due to the food delivery startups keeping the orders in demand.

However, they also wouldn’t be able to increase their profit compared to the pre lockdown phase as walk in provide higher revenue for the restaurants. While comparing to the food and beverage industry in the malls they had faced huge losses as they were completely shut.

As soon as the lockdown was raised and the restaurants and the public started moving around with fewer restrictions. The restaurants and the F&B industry in the malls had seen a revival in their businesses but soon the second wave had hit the country and the major cities of the country are undergoing a lockdown.

FAQ

Is restaurant business profitable in India?

Restaurant business is a lucrative business which if planned properly the profit margins can be up to 40% per month.

How many restaurants does India have?

India has about 53,000 hotels and 70 lakh restaurants in organised category.

What are five segments of the restaurant industry?

There are five restaurant segments, Family dining full-service, Casual dining full-service, Fine dining full-service, Quick-service(fast foods), and Quick-casual.

Conclusion

The road ahead for the F&B industry is going to be hard as the country would take some time to reach normalcy. Since there is also a new epidemic in the country named Black Fungus the future has become so unpredictable. The NRAI has also taken into consideration to raise concerns towards the food aggregators and the individual landlords.

May 24, 2021

Curated List Of Free Online Courses For Entrepreneurs To Enroll In During This Lockdown

These are crazy times wherein the COVID-19 pandemic has confined the whole world to their homes. It’s as if socializing has come to a standstill. Venturing outside one’s home without any reason attracts penalties and punishments! While the economy and work have taken a deep hit, many companies have capitalized on the fact that people are trying to pass time anyhow in this pandemic, leading to increased revenues for many organizations. One such domain is that of online courses and MOOCs. There are several individuals like you who want to make the best out of this situation by learning and exploring through platforms like Coursera and Udemy.

Hence, we have curated a list of free startup courses with certificates that are either free of cost or are heavily discounted to help you stay at home and improve yourself.

Platform	Course	Type	Where to get
Coursera	The Strategy of Content Marketing	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/content-marketing
Coursera	Content Strategy for Professionals: Managing Content	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/content-management-strategy
Coursera	Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/wharton-contagious-viral-marketing
Coursera	Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/mindshift
Coursera	New Models of Business in Society	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/lecture/uva-darden-business-society/business-in-society-course-overview-6F7mB
Coursera	A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/happiness
Coursera	Introduction to Programming with MATLAB	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/matlab
Coursera	Social Psychology	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/social-psychology
Coursera	The Science of Success: What Researchers Know that You Should Know	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/success
Coursera	Creative Problem Solving	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/creative-problem-solving
Coursera	Code Yourself! An Introduction to Programming	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/intro-programming
Coursera	Psychological First Aid	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/psychological-first-aid
Coursera	Managing the Company of the Future	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/company-future-management
Coursera	Build Your First Android App (Project-Centered Course)	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/android-app
Coursera	The Arts and Science of Relationships: Understanding Human Needs	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/human-needs
Coursera	Communication Strategies for a Virtual Age	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/communication-strategies-virtual-age
Coursera	How to Get Skilled: Introduction to Individual Skills Management (Project-Centered Course)	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/skills-management
Coursera	Probability and Statistics: To p or not to p?	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/probability-statistics
Coursera	Marketing Analytics	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-market-analytics
Coursera	Teamwork Skills: Communicating Effectively in Groups	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/teamwork-skills-effective-communication
Coursera	Getting Started with AWS Machine Learning	Free due to Lockdown	coursera.org/learn/aws-machine-learning
EdX	Digital Branding and Engagement	Free due to Lockdown	edx.org/course/digital-branding-and-engagement
EdX	Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking	Free due to Lockdown	edx.org/course/rhetoric-art-of-persuasive-writing-public-speaking
Quintly Academy	Free Social Media Analytics Course	Free due to Lockdown	academy.quintly.com/
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	SEO Fundamentals	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/seo-fundamentals
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Keyword Research	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/keyword-research
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Page Optimization	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/page-optimization-bootcamp-3
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Backlink Basics	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/link-building-bootcamp-4
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Reporting on SEO	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/reporting-on-seo-bootcamp-5
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Backlink Audit & Removal	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/backlink-audit-removal
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Local SEO Fundamentals	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/local-seo-fundamentals-video
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Technical SEO Site Audit	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/technical-seo-site-audit
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Finding Potential SEO Clients	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/finding-potential-seo-clients
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	The Fundamentals of SEO Client	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/the-fundamentals-of-seo-client-prospecting
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Selling the Value of SEO	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/selling-the-value-of-seo
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Prepare for the SEO Client Pitch	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/prepare-for-the-seo-client-pitch
Moz (Use code "wegotthis")	Client Onboarding	Free due to Lockdown	academy.moz.com/client-onboarding
Google	Get a Business Online	Free due to Lockdown	learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalunlocked/course/business-online
Google	How to make sure your cutomers find you online	Free due to Lockdown	learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalunlocked/course/become-searchable-online
Google	Promoting a business onine	Free due to Lockdown	learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalunlocked/course/promote-business-online
Google	How to enhance and protect your online campaign	Free due to Lockdown	learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalunlocked/course/enhance-protect-online-campaigns
Google	And 122 more courses	Free due to Lockdown	learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalunlocked/courses
Accenture	Digital Skills: Digital Marketing	Free due to Lockdown	futurelearn.com/courses/digital-skills-digital-marketing
Business Science	Jumpstart with R	Free due to Lockdown	university.business-science.io/p/jumpstart-with-r
Clever Girl Finance	The Clever Girl Finance Book Club	Free due to Lockdown	courses.clevergirlfinance.com/p/the-clever-girl-book-club/
Clever Girl Finance	Everything You Need to Know About Life Insurance	Free due to Lockdown	courses.clevergirlfinance.com/p/life-insurance/
Clever Girl Finance	The new business owner (4 course bundle)	Free due to Lockdown	courses.clevergirlfinance.com/p/the-new-business-owner/
Clever Girl Finance	Creating multiple streams of income	Free due to Lockdown	courses.clevergirlfinance.com/p/creating-multiple-streams-of-income/
Clever Girl Finance	Create the right financial goals	Free due to Lockdown	courses.clevergirlfinance.com/p/create-the-right-financial-goals/
Clever Girl Finance	Use LinkedIn to land your next high paying job	Free due to Lockdown	courses.clevergirlfinance.com/p/leveraging-linkedin/
Constant Contact 101 courses	Facebook	Free	blogs.constantcontact.com/facebook-101/
Constant Contact 101 courses	Twitter	Free	blogs.constantcontact.com/twitter-101/
Constant Contact 101 courses	LinkedIn	Free	blogs.constantcontact.com/linkedin-101-2/
Constant Contact 101 courses	Pinterest	Free	blogs.constantcontact.com/pinterest-101/
Constant Contact 101 courses	Instagram	Free	blogs.constantcontact.com/instagram-101/
Constant Contact 101 courses	Google My Business	Free	blogs.constantcontact.com/google-101/
Constant Contact 101 courses	YouTube	Free	blogs.constantcontact.com/youtube-101/
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What are the best courses for entrepreneurs?

The best online business courses for entrepreneurs are the making of a great Entrepreneur and earn an Introduction to Ecommerce.

April 17, 2021

Profitable Business Ideas To Implement After Lockdown Is Lifted In India

COVID-19 is a deadly, respiratory virus that brought us to our knees in 2020. Almost every nation across the globe has been inflicted by the pandemic induced by COVID-19, popularly known as the coronavirus. World economy has taken a hit, millions of people have lost their lives, and industries such as aviation, hospitality, and real estate have incurred unfathomable losses. Many businesses have shut down.

To curb the spread of the virus, India and other countries have implemented lockdowns, a setup where everything except essential services are suspended momentarily. Now that the lockdown in India is gradually being done away with in a staggered manner, businesses are in full swing to get back to normal. Moreover, new opportunities are bound to emerge. This list of the top business ideas after lockdown is removed in India holds tremendous potential and profitability.

Profitable Business Ideas After Lockdown Is Lifted In India

Healthcare Business
Doorstep Delivery Business
Food Delivery or Tiffin Service
Online Tuition Classes
Social Media Manager
Home-made Gifts
Digital Marketing
Graphic Design
Freelancing or Blogging
Website Development Business
Cab Service
Yoga Trainer
Ghostwriting
Affiliate Marketing

Healthcare Business

Looking at the current state of the world, the importance of healthcare cannot be overstated. Many small business owners and manufacturers have undertaken the production of masks and sanitizers to help people and institutions fight the coronavirus pandemic. We are now extremely considerate over health, well-being, and sanitation. And the producers of healthcare equipment have generated massive profits in the process.

Healthcare Business

If you’re an entrepreneur planning to enter the healthcare business, this is the right time to invest and grow. Reach out to retailers, wholesalers, and other suppliers if you cannot manufacture healthcare supplies and equipment on your own.

Growth Of Online Doctor Consultation Market During Pandemic

In an era, where everything is available at the click of a button it is nosurprise that even a specialist doctor or a clinical examination could be doneonline. The online doctor consultation is a coveted field in India and is ableto offer services like telehealth, telemedicine, telecare and digit…

StartupTalkyPV Vyshnavi

Doorstep Delivery Business

Doorstep delivery has proved to be one of the most reliable business models during this lockdown. With people going to be extra cautious once the lockdown in India is lifted, the demand for doorstep delivery will increase. In the near future, customers will prefer buying vegetables and other essentials online rather than stepping out.

Types of delivery Service

‘No contact delivery’, wherein the delivery staff would drop off the package at the doorstep and not come in physical contact with the customer, is immensely popular these days.

How To Start A Courier Business | Courier Company In India

This StartupTalky post discusses everything you need to know about the courierbusiness and how to a start courier business. It also addresses concepts likeproof of delivery and the challenges of sending food items through courier. With an annual development rate of 25%, the courier industry is es…

StartupTalkyDevashish Shrivastava

Food Delivery or Tiffin Service

Many people prefer ordering food online rather than visiting restaurants. Ordering food online has become a seamless process courtesy of online platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy. Many entrepreneurs are now launching their own food delivery or tiffin services.

Food Delivery Service

After the removal of lockdown, the crowd will barge to restaurants and food joints. And this implies standing in line for hours. As a result, individuals would resort to home delivery service apps and have meals delivered to their homes. Hence, establishing a tiffin/food delivery service is a great idea.

How did Zomato survive the Pandemic: An In-Depth Case Study

Life, as we know, ended with the advent of 2020. It ushered in a new and scaryera by introducing us to COVID-19 [/tag/covid-19/]. This puzzle remains unsolvedeven after toils by the best minds in the world. We now talk about life beforeand after the pandemic. Nothing remains untouched, and one o…

StartupTalkySeema Banerjee

Online Tuition Classes

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, schools and universities have shifted to the online mode of teaching. Online classes have become the new normal in 2020. To make the most out of this trend, professionals with the right educational background and expertise should start online tuition classes.

Online classes

E-learning has become a new standard in education. With the availability of several video conferencing tools, organizing and moderating online classes has become easier than ever.

How To Start A Tutoring Business | Become A Private Tutor

Online tutoring and courses are the new norms in education. This post will tellyou how to become a private tutor. The useful tips explained in this post willhelp you become a successful tutor from home and whether to pursue theprofession part-time or full time. In India, the online tutoring busi…

StartupTalkyDevashish Shrivastava

Social Media Manager

Social media, a powerful and effective marketing medium, should be a part of any business strategy. Maintaining a social media account is important for organizations to stay in touch with their customers and audience. Social media managers are responsible for representing companies on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Social media manager

Many social media managers have the privilege of working from their homes. Moreover, the job allows one to exhibit creativity and innovation.

How To Become a Social Media Manager? | Social Media Management

Social Media is amongst most the powerful platforms available across the globetoday. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are capable of influencingpresidential elections. Moreover, such platforms are now providing employmentopportunities to hundreds of thousands of people in different countries. …

StartupTalkyDevashish Shrivastava

Home-made Gifts

Home-made gifts have a place of their own. Hand-made gifts may be time-consuming in terms of fabrication, but they are immensely popular in gift shops. These products are made from materials such as wood, fabric, clay, and leather.

Home-made Gifts

Home-made gifts are not that expensive to fabricate and can be sold at high prices owing to their demand. If you are creative and love to make DIY (do-it-yourself) gifts, then this business is for you.

Top Profitable Retail Business Ideas in India (Categorized by investments)

Retail industry in India has emerged as fast paced industries due to many newretailers. Retail business in India accounts for 10% of GDP and 8% ofemployment. India is one of the top 5 retail markets in the world by economicvalue. It is one of the fastest growing retail market in the world. On a …

StartupTalkyArbaaz sayed

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is about promoting and branding your business using digital platforms. It is seen as the fastest and most reliable mode of marketing. Digital marketing require skills like SEO, content marketing, and data analytics. Marketeers use this technique to drive web traffic to websites and other mediums.

Digital Marketing

Graphic Design

Graphic design is about creating illustrations and art that sell. If you are creative and have a great eye for detail, then graphic designing is for you. It gives you the opportunity to bring your ideas to life.

Graphic Designing

Graphic designers are required in every industry/vertical for the purpose of advertisements. As you gain skills in the field of graphic designing, your value soars. Consequently, you get new opportunities in frond-end development and UX design.

How To Become A Graphic Designer | Graphic design in 2020

Graphic designing is a perennial job. It’s never going to fade away. This postis going to cover graphic designing by answering questions like what is graphicdesign and what a graphic designer does. What would school and school work looklike if you opt for graphic designing? What are the future pr…

StartupTalkyDevashish Shrivastava

Freelancing or Blogging

If you are a passionate writer, then blogging is for you. Blogging requires patience, hard work, and the knack for playing with words. It takes time to create a successful blog. Blogging can be an good career choice if you know how to create informative and entertaining content. You can earn from blogging by leveraging ad networks, affiliate marketing, and sponsored reviews.

Blogging

Best Content Creation Tips For Bloggers | Tips For Writing Good Blogs

Writing a good blog can prove to be a difficult task. Writing blogs requirepatience and a lot of research on the topic. Getting a large audience on yourblog also requires a large amount of time. But if you work in the rightdirection, you can reach out to many people that will like your blogs. The…

StartupTalkyYash Taneja

Website Development Business

Website development is about building and maintaining websites. It includes aspects like web design, web publishing, web programming, and database management.

Website Development

The field of website development has grown rapidly over the years. After COVID-19, more and more companies are realizing the value of digital presence. Hence, website development is in huge demand today.

Cab Service

Cab Service

The coronavirus-induced lockdown in India raised the need for safe and hygienic modes of transportation; everyone wants to avoid crowded buses, autos, etc. Thus, converting this opportunity into a business model will prove to be beneficial. One can make a good amount of money on a daily basis by providing cab services to people who want to travel inter-city or intra-city.

OLA Success Story – Full Form, Story, Founder, Business Model, Funding History, Team, News

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified informationon different startups and organizations. The content in this post has beenapproved by the organization it is based on. Ola needs no introduction. The first Indian cab aggregator company, Ola has madeavailing cab serv…

StartupTalkyShubham Kumar

Yoga Trainer

With the majority of people turning into fitness enthusiasts during this period of lockdown, Yoga instructors and trainers have made major strides in their field. If you can teach yoga to others, consider becoming a yoga trainer. A yoga training institute can be opened with minimal capital. Yoga classes can be conducted online as well.

Yoga Trainer

All you need is a globally-recognized certification that shows your expertise in performing yoga asanas and other poses.

How To Become Full-Time Yoga Teacher | Start Teaching Yoga

If you are planning to make a living as a yoga teacher, this post is for you. A full-time yoga teacher is a lucrative career if implemented correctly. If youare an inspiring yoga teacher and worried about the challenges of starting outas one, this post is there to help you. In India, the value o…

StartupTalkyDevashish Shrivastava

Ghostwriting

Ghostwriting

If you belong to the writing industry, you may have heard of the term ‘ghostwriting’. In ghostwriting, you write for other individuals without taking credit. Hence, you are a ‘ghost’ whose write-up ends up as someone else’s intellectual property. Ghostwriting assignments include novels, blogs, articles, stories, and other forms of write-ups.

How To Become Corona Millionaire

All this time, while a section of people was complaining of job losses, another set of people started their Entrepreneurial journeys and the most fancied product category this time was health and hygiene

StartupTalkyTanusha Verma

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing enables people to earn commission by marketing or selling some other website’s product on their blog or website. As an affiliate marketer, you can promote others’ products/services on your medium (website, YouTube channel, etc.) using a unique web link and get paid if people end up making a purchase through that link.

Affiliate Marketing

Step By Step Guide To How Affiliate Marketing Works – StartupTalky

Affiliate marketing is the process by which an affiliate earns a commission formarketing another person’s or company’s products. An affiliate is a person orcompany that promotes products and/or services for a merchant. The sales aretracked via affiliate links from one website to another. Most of …

StartupTalkySouvik Dey

We hope you are making the best use of the lockdown period in India. Do comment if you know about any other feasible business idea.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

What are some profitable business in India?

Blogging, ghostwriting, and online tutoring are some business ideas that require low investment but yield massive profits in India.

How can I come up with a great name for my business?

You need to brainstorm by coming up with a bunch of names that sound interesting and convey the idea and value behind the service/product. Choose names with easy spellings. Identify the names that have already been registered by someone else. Strike them off. Then finalize on one name from the available ones and purchase an online domain with that name.

What are the biggest challenges to starting a business?

Some common challenges are the shortage of capital, coming up with a good business plan and executing it, not giving up on the first sign of failure, hiring a trustworthy team, time management, and maintaining a good work/life balance.

January 27, 2021
Amazon And BigBasket Approved For Home Delivery Of Liquor In West Bengal

The lockdown due to the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) affected the Indian economy in a bad way. The Indian economy came to a standstill ever since the lockdown has been imposed. Most of the industries except those which manufacture essential day-to-day products such as food products, medicines, etc. were allowed to operate. All the other businesses, shops, and factories of non-essential products and services were put to a complete stop to contain the spread of Coronavirus. The alcohol sector of India was one of the many that very badly affected. While the alcohol and liquor stores all around the country have started opening, it is still a great risk to stand in long queues for buying alcoholic drinks. However, now the people of West Bengal will be able to buy alcohol online through online stores Amazon and BigBasket.

According to reports, The West Bengal State Beverages Corp., which manages the sale and distribution of alcohol in the state, has authorized Amazon and BigBasket for sale of alcoholic drinks on their online portals. The online stores can now deliver Beer, Wine, Spirits, and other alcoholic drinks in the state of West Bengal. The stores have been permitted for the sales of alcoholic drinks. The notice stated that both of these stores are eligible to register with the government authorities and to start the sales and home delivery of liquor when they like. However, no announcement or statement has been given by either of these companies regarding the same.

Also Read: Steps Taken by Online Food Delivery Startups amid CoronaVirus Outbreak

Apart from this, online food delivery applications such as Swiggy and Zomato have continued the delivery of alcohols, beer, and wines since last month when the alcohol shops were allowed to reopen and restrictions on the ban of alcoholic drinks were lifted by the government after about 45 days from the start of lockdown.

Also Read: Online Alcohol Delivery in India: Did Zomato and Swiggy get the approval to Deliver Alcohol?

As of now, these privileges have been granted to the 2 online stores only in the state of West Bengal. Will all the other state governments will permit these stores for the online shopping of liquor is a big question. This is because all the states have different regulations and policies regarding the sales and trade of liquor.

Will this step help the Indian Economy?

The alcohol sector of India has a large contribution to its economy. All of the Indian states, combined together, earned about ₹ 2.25 lakh crore from taxes on alcohol in the last financial year. This means that many of the states of India derived more than 15% of their tax revenues through the sale of alcohol and liquor. This means that the states of India combined together earned more than ₹ 600 crores per day through taxes on liquor, which in turn means that the Indian economy suffered a loss of more than ₹ 600 crores per day since the sales of liquor and alcoholic drinks were put to a stop. So, this step will definitely be a slight help to the Indian economy. And if all other states permit the online sale and home delivery of alcohol and liquor too, it will give a huge boost to the economy of India.

Amazon Gets Permission For Delivery Of Alcohol In West Bengal

This step will also ensure the safety of people who consume alcohol, who stood in long queues outside liquor shops when the sale of liquor started again the previous month. People standing in queues outside liquor shops often ignore social distancing, and few of them even do not bother to wear masks for their safety. Thus, the no contact home delivery service for wines, beers, spirits, and alcohol will ensure the safety and good health of the customers and stop the people from putting themselves along with the others at risk by standing in long queues outside the shops to buy liquor.

June 23, 2020
These Companies are Laying Off due to COVID-19 Crisis

Needless to mention, Coronavirus has affected every aspect of human life. To contain the spread of the virus, many precautions are being taken at different levels. Many countries like India have declared lockdown to cope with the situation. While the delivery of essential services has been allowed, the supply chain is still struggling to cope with the security measures. India’s 21-day lockdown may have thrown up an opportunity for online grocers to shine, but the rest of the industry sectors is drowning in the Covid-19 tsunami.

But beyond this, the real economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic will come in the weeks and months to come. Many large companies are also helpless in this time, yet they are trying to manage things. But this pandemic has left small businesses & startups with no more option but to downsize & layoff.

Layoffs and downsizing in the startup ecosystem are set to accelerate as businesses take a hard look at high operational costs and dipping demand in an uncertain environment made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, India has banned entry of all foreign nationals till May 17 with exceptions, such as diplomatic visa. This means that international firms have to put their business plans on hold.

Coronavirus have some far-reaching consequences – besides killing human beings, this deadly virus can result into unprecedented economic recession. However this will have more impact on startups than on bigger firms. Last couple of quarters has seen startups laying off thousands of employees.

Indian startups and SMEs(small and medium-sized enterprises) have begun evaluating their options to cut spending as demand for their products and services has taken a massive hit due to the Covid-19 outbreak as startups are finding it difficult to raise funds.

Nearly, 71% of businesses have seen reduced demand. The firms are also looking to cut spending on marketing and advertising, tech infrastructure, commercial rentals and employee costs to survive during this tough time.

Lay-offs in Travel Startups
Lay-offs in Travel & Hospitality service Startups
Lay-offs in Online Food Delivery startups
Lay-offs in Cab Services Startups
Lay-offs in Scooter Rental Startups

Also Read: Effect of Coronavirus Crisis on Employment

Layoffs increased in Startups since COVID-19 Outbreak

Many sectors are greatly affected due to COVID-19. The sector, especially startups, is likely to see more layoffs if the virus outbreak continues to cause havoc. In this, travel industry, startups, IT firms seem to be the first casualty. For India’s venture capital industry, 2019 was a milestone year with $10 billion deployed into overall startups, that saw a 55% jump from 2018, according to Bain & Company, highlighting how the industry grew amid global economic uncertainty.

But now this situation is taking another turn; layoffs have already started happening. Rituparna Charkraborty, co-founder, Teamlease Services, a staffing firm, told that as demand slows down, it will impact startups and might result in layoff. She explained that unlike bigger firms, they don’t have deep pockets and have to be frugal.

Travel Startups

India’s biggest travel portal: MakeMyTrip has decided to lay off 350 employees as its business has been affected severely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. MakeMyTrip has told employees that MMT has analysed impact closely and has spent considerable time figuring out the path to business recovery. Founder Deep Kalra and CEO Rajesh Magow sent out a letter to all employees informing them about the layoff.

Kalra and Magow have writtten in their letter,
“What’s evident is that the impact of COVID-19 crisis is going to be long drawn for us. It’s unclear when traveling will become a way of life, as it was pre-COVID-19. We are living through extraordinary times that have impacted individuals, communities, businesses, countries and our world at a magnitude unknown before and there is no let-up in sight.”

MakeMyTrip promised to offer support to laid-off employees compensation including Mediclaim coverage for individuals and their families till the end of the year, leave encashment, gratuity, retaining the right to exercise part of RSUs as applicable. Employees can keep the company laptops and will be provided outplacement support apart from salary payments as per their notice periods.

At the same time, MakeMyTrip’s associated companies like GoIbibo and Redbus can fire 60% of their contractual employees due to decreasing demand. There are 650 such contractual employees in these three companies. Majority of them are working in customer service and backend support.

Travel & Hospitality service Startups

Airbnb also plans to lay off nearly one-fourth of its employees. The 25% of the company includes nearly 1,900 employees who will be laid off. According sources, the news would be broken to employees by CEO Brian Chesky.

CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky stated in his memo,
“Airbnb’s business has been hit hard due to COVID-19, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what we earned in 2019. We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill.”

Chesky told that prior to the layoffs, Airbnb had 7,500 employees. Airbnb will halt projects related to hotels, a transportation division and luxury stays for some time. But Chesky has assured that laid off employees would get some facilities from company’s side.

Chesky said that U.S. employees laid off will receive 14 weeks of base pay plus an additional week for every year they worked at Airbnb. The company will also provide 12 months of healthcare for laid off U.S. employees. He also mentioned that May 11 will be the last work day for impacted Airbnb employees in the U.S. and Canada.

Similarly, around 5000 Oyo employees will be laid off across the world due to coronavirus outbreak. Oyo Hotels is laying off staff in the U.S., China and India as the company tries to find its way to profitability in turbulent times.

Oyo expanded rapidly after its founding in 2013 and reached a valuation of $10 billion but investors have soured on money-losing businesses after WeWork’s meltdown and SoftBank has pushed portfolio companies to prioritise profitability.

The travel and hospitality service company TravelTriangle has laid off about 50% of its workforce in the past 10 days. “TravelTriangle has fired about 250-300 people since March 20,” said one of the sources. Impacted employees are from operations, marketing, customer support and business development functions.

In addition to this list, corporate travel planning company TripActions, that was valued at $4 billion last year, laid off 350 employees via Zoom. The reports state the layoffs consist of about one-quarter to one-fifth of the total company. The company said in a statement, “We’ve cut back on all non-essential spend and made the very difficult decision to reduce our global workforce due to pandemic.”

Online Food Delivery startups

On May 18, Bengaluru-based food delivery startup Swiggy announced that it will lay off 1,100 employees and shut down some of its businesses as the coronavirus continues to take its toll. The core food delivery business has been severely impacted and will stay impacted over the short term.

Co-founder & CEO of Swiggy, Sriharsha Majety stated,
“While we are very fortunate to have raised capital just before Covid-19 hit and have sufficient runway today, it is incredibly important to prepare for worse scenarios in the macro environment and make sure we are protected.”

Swiggy will give at least three months of salary to all impacted employees. For every year spent by the employee, they will be paid an additional month’s salary. Along with this, Swiggy plans to provide medical insurance for impacted employees until 31 December, 2020, as well as career transition and access to free learning on Linkedin for upskilling. Moreover, it has allowed the staff to retain office laptops and communication allowance for the next three months.

Similarly, Gurugram based Food delivery platform Zomato decided to layoff 520 employees which is 13% of its workforce. Also it will temporarily cut salaries of the rest as the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant nationwide lockdown has hit its businesses, Zomato’s Founder & CEO Deepinder Goyal said in the email on May 15.

Deepinder Goyal said in his mail,
“Our business has been severely affected by the COVID lockdowns. A large number of restaurants have already shut down permanently, and we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I expect the number of restaurants to shrink by 25-40% over the next 6-12 months.”

As compensation, the laid-off employees will receive half of their salaries along with health insurance for the next six months or till they find another job. Goyal also said that the company will provide impacted employees outplacement support to find jobs.

Cab Services Startups

Uber, American ride-hailing Mnc, announced on May 6, that it will lay off 3,700 employees which is about 14% of its total workforce. Also CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will forgo his base salary for the rest of the year as COVID-19 has crushed the travel industry because of lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus.

Uber has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Uber’s global gross bookings are down by 80%, according to reports. The company is set to lay off up to 700 people that is about 25-30% of its overall workforce in India as per sources. Uber has over 2,000 employees in India. The decision has been almost final and likely to be announced when lockdown will get lifted.

On May 18, Uber’s CEO, Khosrowshahi told employees Uber will lay off an additional 3,000 employees and close 45 offices globally. As part of the layoffs, Uber is expected to pay up to $145 million to employees via severance and other benefits, and up to $80 million in order to shut down offices, according to a filing with the SEC.

CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi said,
“We are looking at many scenarios and at each and every cost, both variable and fixed, across the company. We want to be smart, to move fast, to retain as many of our great people as we can, and treat everyone with dignity, support and respect.”

On May 20, Indian ride hailing unicorn Ola said that it will lay off 1,400 staff which makes about 35 % of its workforce due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Ola’s CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said in a note to employees that COVID-19 has led to a drop of 95 per cent in Ola’s revenues in two months. The impact of the crisis will be long-drawn for Ola. Every affected employee will receive a minimum financial pay of 3 months of their fixed salary.

Similarly, other Cab service companies are also facing the heat as more people avoid taking public transport and cabs and have started working from home. Pravin Agarwala, co-founder of The Better Place, a blue-collar management firm, said cab aggregators are already witnessing drop in demand and this drop would go up to 30-40 % if the same situation continues.

Drivezy, a self-drive car rentals platform, has also cut part of its workforce to stay afloat, according ET’s report. Moreover, B2B platform Udaan has cut back on ground staff over the last few months at its pharmaceuticals and fresh division, according to four employees at the firm.

Scooter Rental Startups

Electric-scooter startup Bird said it is laying off nearly a third of its workforce to survive damage done to its service by the coronavirus pandemic. Bird has already paused shared scooter operations in many markets around the world and drastically cut spending and is now “laying off” 30 % of its workforce, founder and chief executive Travis VanderZanden said in a memo to employees.

In the same way, scooter sharing app Bounce has begun laying off hundreds of employees across functions and levels. At Bounce, the job cuts are across verticals and levels, operations staff, call centre, and technology and product according to reports.

Number of Layoffs is likely to Increase more due to Covid-19

Startups are Terminating the Hiring plans

Apart of layoffs, some of India’s top companies have also stopped hiring plans and are moving talent internally. Meanwhile recruitment firms have announced that processes of hiring have dropped by 50%, as interviews are being cancelled. Meanwhile recruitment agencies are informing that Indian startups also have cancelled upto 50% of all hiring and interviews with layoffs going on parallel.

Bengaluru-based firm Rupeek, which operates an online marketplace for gold loans, has terminated a human resource contract with Aasaanjobs, a recruitment marketplace for blue and grey-collar jobs. This will allegedly indirectly impact 600 jobs. Rupeek told it won’t renew the contract with the human resource contractors and reduce the number of outsourced staff in the current economic environment.

Rupeek said in a statement.
“Considering current business and economic environment, we had to take the unfortunate decision of not renewing our contract with our human resource contractors & the consequent reduction in the number of outsourced staff. We regret the unfortunate timing of this event. To protect their interests, we are offering a generous severance package over and above contractual dues.”

Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno, a staffing agency said, “Almost 50% of ongoing interviews, new requirements, on-boardings have stopped for the last two weeks now, particularly in the IT sector.” He also added that close to 25 captives opened in India last year and hired close to 5,000 people. However, this number is likely to come down as the coronavirus has made the execution a challenge.

According to experts, most firms have delayed the hiring process by 4-6 weeks. Appraisal hikes may also see a 2-3 % drop as well this year. In addition, with sectors across under stress, performance pressure will also be high, leading to more layoffs, said the experts.

Also Read: 8 Tips to Stay Productive while Working Remotely

Final Words

Due to this laying off process going on all over the world, the United States, Europe, China and India are experiencing slowing economic activity that analysts predict will likely last through at least two quarters. India’s stock market has already taken a beating over the last week, and the pressure has now trickled down to private markets as well. India’s GDP growth slowed from 2.5% to 5.3% since the crisis began.

To add to that, the coronavirus outbreak has emerged as a new threat to the global economy and Indian manufacturing. India is currently in its fourth week since the first batch of Covid-19 positive cases were identified. The startup ecosystem in India has taken a major hit and entrepreneurs are trying to figure out how to run their operations by cutting costs in trying to stay afloat.

May 31, 2020
Survival Tips for Startups during Lockdown

Today almost every country in the world is under lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Small businesses, startups & entrepreneurs are wondering how to survive lockdown. On one hand, you want to keep the operations going as long as possible but on the other hand, the health of yourself and your workforce is the top priority. There are survival tips that must be followed to protect your company to avoid closure of business.

The business has surely been slow since the last few months and with the coronavirus pandemic rapidly spreading around the world, the economies are falling down drastically. Now, as over a Billion Indians are under lockdown due to the novel Coronavirus. It has created many hurdles for many established business, startups and their employees to survive in markets.

Humankind has never witnessed anything like this before. Companies are complaining about stranded supplies and non-uniform implementation of orders by law-enforcing authorities. In addition to this; the ever-changing government rules and notifications that are putting restrictions on transport, gatherings, etc.

Due to COVID-19, there is a huge cloud of uncertainty and darkness but as an entrepreneur needs to deal smartly with the circumstances and understand what can be done differently to get over this crisis. Many are looking for business survival tips in lockdown.

While people are locked inside their houses for safety concerns,many major companies have adopted new ways to operate like asking employees to work-from-home, safely shutting down facilities, etc. As the markets have witnessed record falls, it is more difficult for startups to survive in this situation. So here are some strategies to help startups survive during lockdown.

Be Open and Honest with your Customers

Right now we are all facing uncertainty, may it be self-employed, business owners, stay-at-home parents or working a full-time job. It is important to keep our relationship with existing clients alive. Empathize because they are as badly hit as we are. So be honest with your customers and tell them what actions your business is taking.

Experts say, company’s website must be designed well as many customers can visit it during lockdown. Adding an FAQ section to your website is the easiest way to give your customers the info they need. Consider creating a pipeline of business through digital outreach. It is necessary to connect with older customers.

Work from Home Efficiently

Working from home is not a new strategy anymore but how to work efficiently from home is the question before many employees. In almost all affected countries, the advice is to work from home if you possibly can. According to a research, 86% of people feel less stressed working remotely.

To work efficiently, employees need to use the right kind of tools. Thus, startups must ask their employees to use video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Slack, etc. Apart from this, one must ask employees to maintain strict hygiene while working remotely also. One must ask teams to have regular communication to inform about progress and updates.

Manage the Expenses

At this point, the only thing startups should focus on is staying afloat and come out of this situation diligently. This can only be done by managing the expenses in a proper way. Question every expense, get rid of everything that is not important, re-negotiate agreements with suppliers, take a hard look at team costs, chase every single receivable, and do not sell without advances. In times like this, the single focus is to keep the business afloat at all costs, which may need founders to be very careful.

Find out what Help Government is offering

Many governments across the world, are just putting measures to fight COVID-19 but they are also rendering financial help to startups and SMEs to restore falling economy. For instance, the UK has announced plans to offer various grants, loan schemes, reduced business rates, and statutory sick pay relief for SMEs.

The US Government recently announced a $2 trillion relief package for its citizens and businesses, impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. New Zealand’s measures include wage subsidies for small businesses. So, it’s your responsibility as entrepreneur to keep yourself updated with any such help offered. It is advised to check your local city or state website to find out what steps officials are taking or what is available in your area.

Related: 9 Founders Shared their tips on Surviving Coronavirus Outbreak

Update your Google My Business page

If you haven’t got one yet, it is advisable to claim your Google My Business listing now. It’s free and it will help customers find your business online. If you already have Google My Business page, log in to your account and you’ll see a new option on the homepage called “Coronavirus (COVID-19) ” option that has been added recently.

By following the link, you will reach a page where one can make suggested changes to their business information. There one can update their business hours, adding extra services they are offering to customers or their local community or informing them about delays to normal service and so on.

It is necessary to communicate with Suppliers and devise plans accordingly

Move your Sales to Online Shop

Now, selling your products one-to-one is impossible due to lockdown but selling online is still an option. Selling online has never been easier and now is the perfect time to start an online shop to earn extra revenue. Depending on your country, postal services and couriers might still be running, otherwise, lots of companies are starting to offer “doorstep deliveries.”

It is totally safe as the business owner drops the parcel on the doorstep and the customer collects it from there, so there’s no contact involved. This is also a great way to help the people in your community get the goods they need. This may help the operations keep going due to continuous cashflow.

Keep in touch with your Suppliers

Because of restrictions on transport and meetings, there might be interruptions in the supplies you need to make your products or do your job, depending on your line of work. Knowing this ahead of time and keeping track of inventory can help you prepare and set realistic expectations for your customers.

You can ask the suppliers or vendors how long it will take them to deliver the goods. If it’s going to take you longer to fulfil orders than usual, your customers will be more understanding if you let them know in advance.

Looking at the current scenario, stabilization of inventory and logistics may not be achieved immediately. But businesses should then turn their attention to pre-booking rail and air freight capacity and using after-sales stock ensuring continuity in their supply chain network.

Take Tough calls

According to experts, the need of the hour is to make a impartial analysis of the current state or position of your startup and take tough calls based on that even if it means merging your startup with another venture. Sooner or later, startups will come face to face with the reality-survive at any cost.

To take such calls, entrepreneurs would require support and help to think clearly. A few other options, that founders can explore, are holding on a favourite project or letting go of a resource that might be valuable but not affordable at this hour.

Have Patience

During this tough time, having patience until things restore back is really essential. For this, a team has a valuable role to play. A Team should be strength, motivating and bonding the team is important. A leader must share the situation so that the team can support and help. Sharing the problems can give hope and might find you a solution to deal with the situation.

Also Read: How Different Sectors will Resume their Operations after Lockdown?

Conclusion

Each new learning becomes a rule, and each failed attempt becomes new learning. In the matter of just a week, India went from a do-not-panic state to a state of complete lockdown. So during such testing times, there are several financial and legal aspects that all businesses should bear in mind to lower risks and cut down on their losses. By adopting the appropriate strategies, any business can survive this lockdown. And remember it is a matter of time!

May 21, 2020
UPI transactions Fall by 20% due to Lockdown, Lowest in 12 Months

Due to the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, UPI has recorded transactions of less than one billion for the month of April after 12 months of constant growth. This is the first time in the past seven months that UPI volume went below the one billion mark. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI has registered 0.99 billion transactions amounting to Rs 1,51,140 crore(Rs 1.51 trillion).

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an RBI regulated entity. UPI can be used through various apps like Google Pay and PhonePe to make direct payments from one bank account to another.

The lockdown imposed by government due to COVID-19 has caused everything to shut down or just semi-operational. The coronavirus outbreak has devasted many sectors of human life, let it be financial sector, industrial sector, etc. resulting into economic crisis. Yet, India’s success with unified payments interface (UPI) has continued to bring essential services to consumers amid the lockdown as well.

Though the government was able to transfer the relief money through UPI in the bank accounts of crores of Indians, UPI witnessed 20.8% drop in volume and a 26.7% fall in value as compared to the previous month. As corona effect, UPI had registered a little drop in payments volume in March resulting from 1.25 billion transactions worth Rs 2,06,462 crore or Rs 2.06 trillion.

Moreover, along with UPI, NPCI’s real-time payments service IMPS has also registered a sharp fall in volume as well as the value of transactions. In April, IMPS processed 122.47 million payments worth Rs 1,21,140.79 crore which is almost half of the previous month. In the previous month i.e. March, the figure was 216.82 million transactions worth Rs 2,01,961.70 crore.

The decline is shocking as in February 2020, the RBI governor, Shaktikanta Das, had highlighted that digital payments accounted for almost 97% of the daily payment system transactions in terms of volume. He also mentioned that digital payments had accelerated by 50% in terms of volume in the last five years.

However, UPI body NPCI’s CEO Dilip Asbe said,
“ For the last five years, the number of transactions of UPI has been growing continuously month-on-month. But now there has been a slight drop in the volume due to the lockdown. The drop in volumes is due to near-zero restricted spends such as on e-commerce, travel, and similar online platforms. We expect volumes to pick up soon.”

Reasons behind the Drop in Transactions

It was anticipated that a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic would affect the digital payment volumes. However, financial experts were assured that digital payments will not get affected adversely but rather continue to grow as people would rely on digital transactions to avoid physical contact.

During the initial days of the lockdown, e-commerce, foodtech, grocery as well as other online platforms were unable to operate. This led to gradual fall in transactions but later the government had allowed essential services to continue. Moreover, payments to PM-CARES via UPI have been the driving force behind UPI’s growth which is still 20.8% drop and these numbers are only in a few million.

Yet, transactions did not comeback to the normal as government only allowed transactions on essentials. Hence, a majority of e-commerce services are still waiting for government orders. Soon, the government is likely to relax the norms for e-commerce platforms and allow them to deliver non-essential goods as well.

According to payment gateway Razorpay’s digital transaction report, for the month of April the transactions in the logistics have dropped by 96%, the travel sector has declined by 87%, food, and beverage by 68% and groceries by 54%. In the last 30 days, transactions in cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai took a hit of 43%, 32% and 25% respectively. The report recorded transactions between, when the lockdown was announced.

Razorpay’s report also stated that UPI emerged as the most popular digital payment method from March 24 to April 23, with 43% of the total transactions during the period. It was followed by card payments with 39% and net banking with 10%. However, compared to previous month, transactions through UPI declined by 37%, cards by 30% and net banking by 28%.

Government has asked people to prefer Contactless Payment

Travel Restrictions affected the Digital Payments

The fall in UPI and digital payments is not only because of global and national lockdowns and restrictions on non-essential segments but due to restrictions on tour, travel as well. During the lockdown, people are not allowed to travel by train or aeroplane. This resulted into massive fall in transactions as people cannot book tickets of train or plane.

The report revealed that the metro cities were affected the most and the impact was still limited in other cities and towns. This difference in impact is more significant in metro cities because the number of people travelling by air, especially for work, is also higher in the metros. The report added that leading firms are also processing fewer online and offline digital transactions with air travel, hospitality, and retail being the three most-impacted sectors.

Read More: Coronavirus Impact on Digital Payments Startups

Steps taken to deal with the Drop

As of now, NPCI seems prepared to handle the lockdown. CEO Dilip Asbe said that NPCI can multiple sessions and has a spare capacity to handle the demand. In order to ensure that everything keeps running smoothly, around 5% of the NPCI’s workforce is still going to office.

NPCI has already devised a plan for the situation with due consideration of all the factors. Asbe said that NPCI has received complaints from some businesses about delays in cheque clearing. He added that there could be issues on the last mile. While we are in touch with banks, there might be some issues with uploading because of the lockdown.

These issues are might be hard to resolve now as most of the workforce isn’t available now. However, Asbe said that the main objective here is to keep employees safe. If they are safe, the operations can be managed. There are things we cannot disclose, but there is enough backup in case something goes wrong.

Government is also using UPI technology for facilitating the transfer of money in the bank accounts of beneficiaries within a day under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). He noted that besides this transfer of relief funds, the government has been using UPI for transferring monetary perks in various schemes such as Ujwala and MNREGA.

After the success of the implementation of UPI in these schemes, many state governments are now relying on UPI technology to transfer funds under various schemes. Madhya Pradesh government which recently transferred some relief money in the accounts of lakhs of construction workers. PM Narendra Modi has urged people to go for digital payment to ensure safety from the infection.

Also Read: Best Payment Gateways in India for Your Business

Meanwhile, several big names in the Indian startup ecosystem have come forward to appeal. Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog and Rajan Anandan, managing director of Sequoia Capital India, have been encouraging people to make online payments. Both Kant and Anandan through social media have emphasised that digital payments are the safest way to make payments to ensure minimum exposure to coronavirus.

May 2, 2020
Facebook launches Messenger Rooms to Compete Zoom

During lockdown imposed due to COVID-19, video calling software is hugely popular at the moment especially Zoom has seen the boom in its usage. Now the world’s largest social network Facebook has released a new video conferencing tool Messenger Rooms that resembles Zoom.

Due to lockdown and restrictions, many companies have asked their employees to work from home. We can say that Zoom rules the working from home video group chat kingdom right now as millions of people are relying on Zoom during the Coronavirus pandemic. Facebook wants more of the video calling market and hence has introduced a new tool called Messenger Rooms.

The feature will allow up to 50 people to participate in a video chat through a link. It lets you video chat with multiple people through Messenger even if you don’t have a social media account. Facebook says participants do not need to be Facebook users to access the feature. This could help the company compete with popular videoconferencing app Zoom during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The reason behind Zoom’s success was the requirement for businesses looking to keep connected and working with the maximum haste and minimum spend. But security and privacy was simply taken for granted by Zoom. One of the biggest security issues in Zoom is the increase in “Zoombombing” when uninvited attendees break into and disrupt your meeting. Thus, journalists, researchers and regulators have noticed its many security and privacy problems.

Taking security and privacy concerns for granted wasn’t a great idea after all. As a result, many users started looking out for other videoconferencing tool which can also ensure security & privacy concerns. Taking advantage of this situation, Facebook must have taken the decision to launch Messenger Rooms.

All about Messenger Rooms

As explained by Facebook in a blog post, Messenger Rooms is not a separate app but rather a feature that can be launched from the existing Facebook or Messenger apps. And users can play around with virtual backgrounds too, like Zoom app.

On Friday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a live broadcast,
“ Messenger Rooms allows your friends and family to drop in at any time. Video presence isn’t just about calling someone. It’s starting to be a fundamental building block of a private social platform with lots of different use cases.”

More than 700 million accounts participate in voice and video calls every day on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Facebook said that the number of group video calls has gone up by more than 10 times in some cases since the coronavirus outbreak began.

Mark Zuckerberg said,
” I know that this is a challenging period for so many of us around the world. My hope is that we can make a difference during this time and in the months ahead.”

Facebook said that it would soon be adding Messenger Rooms integration to Instagram, WhatsApp, and the Portal video caller too. So users can jump into a video chat from whatever app or device they happen to be on.

In many countries, video calling on Messenger and WhatsApp more than doubled and views of Facebook Live and Instagram Live videos increased significantly in March when the lockdowns and social distancing came into practice globally. way of keeping in touch with friends and family while we’re all shut up and separated indoors.

Comparing both apps, in social distancing times, Zoom allows up to 100 people to join a free video meeting from the comfort of their homes. But Zoom has put limit of 40 minutes on free calling. While, Facebook has announced Messenger Rooms that will allow group video calls of up to 50 people with no time limit.

How to use Messenger Rooms?

People can create a room right from Messenger or Facebook and invite anyone to join the video call even if they don’t have a Facebook account. In Facebook Messenger Rooms, the users can also post links in their News Feed or in Groups or event pages. All you need to do is create a Room by clicking on a video icon on Facebook Messenger.

When you create a room, you choose who can see and join it. You can remove people from the call. Users can also lock a room if they don’t want anyone else to enter. If your friends or communities create rooms that are open to you, you’ll see them on Facebook so you can find things to do and people to hang out with. You can join video calls through a phone or computer.

Facebook has given many controls to Host

What about Privacy?

Facebook says it has added a number of privacy features to secure Rooms unlike Zoom. The person who creates a room has the authority to let people join and must be present in order to initiate a call. The room creator can remove guests, and the room automatically locks for that person when he or she leaves.

If your colleagues or friends create a room that is open for you, you will see them at the top of your news feed. The room can be limited to the members of the group or else anyone with the link can be allowed in. You can control who sees the room.

Those who have been previously blocked on Facebook won’t be able to see the feature or join in. Additionally, people can report a group video chat for violating Facebook’s rules. Facebook has assured that it does not view or listen to calls. Facebook clarified that room calls are not end-to-end encrypted.

Stan Chudnovsky, Facebook’s vice president of Messenger explained,
” We don’t view or listen to your calls, and the person who creates the room controls who can join, who sees the room, and if the room is locked or unlocked to new guests.”

Related: Alternatives to Zoom App while Working Remotely

Difference between Messenger Rooms and regular video calling on Facebook

Facebook already has video calling feature in its Messenger app. There are several differences between Messenger Rooms and regular calling on Facebook. In messenger rooms, participants do not compulsorily need a Facebook account to join a video call created in Messenger Rooms.

Like Zoom app, users can lock a room once everyone has joined in so that no one else can join. Only the person who created a room can grant permission to let someone join the video call. If you’ve blocked someone on Facebook or Messenger, they won’t be able to join a call. These features cannit be seen in regular Facebook video calling.

Facebook is also adding new augmented reality effects in Messenger Rooms. It would include 14 camera filters to brighten your space and your face. Facebook is also introducing 360-degree backgroundsso users can feel like they’re somewhere else like the beach, space, etc. while they video chat. Users can play with AR effects like bunny ears and new AI-powered features like immersive 360 backgrounds and mood lighting.

Facebook plans to add an option in Facebook Dating feature that makes it easier to meet and start new conversations with people who share your interests. This feature will be integrated within the main social network so that users can invite people to video chat in Messenger.

When will Messenger Rooms be available?

Facebook said it will be releasing out Messenger Rooms in selected countries this week before expanding globally. Other countries will get Rooms in the coming weeks. The social network didn’t specify which countries will get the new feature first.

The release of the new tool Messenger Rooms is part of Facebook’s efforts around video presence which he defined as the ability to feel like you’re connected to someone live over video.

Also Read: Say Namaste- An Indian Alternative Conferencing Platform for the Apps like ‘Zoom’

What is the plan of Facebook?

The company has also been expanding features for Facebook Live which is a tool people have been using more during the pandemic to work out, cook or attend religious services virtually. Facebook said it will bring back a tool that allows users to add another person to a live video.

Instagram will now let you comment on live videos on your desktop and it also will make it possible to save your videos to IGTV so people can watch them after 24 hours. Facebook also plans to introduce a feature that’ll let you broadcast a live video from Facebook Portal to Facebook Pages and Groups.

WhatsApp Group Calls will now be able to host a maximum of eight people instead of four. During lockdowns, views of Facebook Live and Instagram Live videos have also increased significantly in March. Facebook’s Live With video will allow people streaming a live video to invite another person to participate alongside them.

April 28, 2020