Want to startup, afraid of risk? Focus on your strengths

Some of us don’t startup, though we want to, because we’re afraid to fail. The recommended approach in such a case is to do something with low risk. Higher risk means higher chances of failure. Startups who follow a familiar territory, have greater chances of success. If you’re already doing something well offline, then the most logical sense is to take the same online.

In fact, several new online businesses are simply traditional ones that have gone on the net. The advantage of doing this is that they are now attracting customers from various parts of the world. In India, the most popular among such cases is BYJU’s. During my bachelors, I heard about it from my college’s Chief Warden (the truly wonderful Kulwant Sir). He told me that a CAT education institute had opened a branch near his premises whose name sounds similar to mine (haha). They were doing decently well in classroom education. I next heard about them a few years later, when they took the same classroom education online, to an all India audience. It’s so popular now that recently I met a tea seller who proudly talked about his son taking coaching from their mobile app. This has inspired many Edtech startups in India, whose basic marketing pitch is “we are better than BYJU’s”.

Moving away from brick & mortar stores

There are many more examples of traditional businesses going online. I’ve seen a few sweet shops doing business through the web. So that their customers can have the items anywhere without the need to travel physically. Mostly they are doing via a website and some with a mobile app as well. They’ve eliminated the need of opening a physical presence in another city.

The other day I was talking to someone owning a cloth store. He told how his rival was getting more sales, simply by selling on the net. The rival realised that sooner or later, everyone would be buying online. In the process he gained a competitive advantage. That’s one more reason why it makes sense to go on the net, if your regular business is doing well.

Mehandiratta Financial Services was into mutual funds for several years. They have now gone online as finadore.com and made it easy for anyone to invest in SIP. Right now the portal is small, yet effective. They have mentioned on homepage the difference between keeping money in bank versus investing with them. It makes me glad to see them embracing power of the Internet.

If these people can do it then so can you. You can also have your own Internet based startup and attract customers from various parts of the world. Of course, in order to grow, you’ll have to do some planning.

Jump start on the Internet

I have written about this at length in my previous post. In short, here’s what you need to do to take your business online.

1. Set aside a budget. Even if you don’t have shortage of funds, you must start with less.
2. Study the existing players in your domain. See what they’re are doing. Analyse what extra you can do better than them. Write it all down.
3. Know what you’re targeting for. You can’t have a Dream11 like application for USD 250. An application of that level can cost tens of thousands of dollars. What you can do is to plan the most essential features first. So when the first phase succeeds you move to the next one with more features.
4. If you can’t get a technical co founder then outsource development to an IT services company or a startup studio. They’ll tell you what they can do in this budget range, with included features. That way you can plan your startup progress gradually, without the need to incur a bomb upfront. Also, check out Microsoft PowerApps and Airtable, whether these platforms can fulfil your requirements without making you code (*).
5. Be clear on the expected timelines and the payment milestones. Keep a regular track of all the activities being done.
6. Invest in marketing. Think of acquiring users. People might not always come to you on their own, you’ll have to do things. Such as referral bonus, tie-ups with brands, spreading positive word among your target audience, etc.
7. Once your startup takes off then you can plan for expansion. Also build your own team once you can’t handle all the work load (truly magical when this happens!).

Focus on your strengths

A major plus is that since your existing work is already bringing income, there’s little to lose by not starting from scratch elsewhere.

Need another reason why it makes sense to do something you’re already good at? Suppose you’re a skin specialist, with your own hospital. You happen to be based in India and have a creative bent of mind. You’ve thought of an Uber like application which will connect local second hand car sellers and enable users to get one on demand.

The idea sounds good, doesn’t it? To know whether you should go ahead with it or not, answer these questions.

1. Do you have experience in this sector?
2. Are you 100% sure that you are the best person to execute this idea?
3. Can you carry out operations, verify background of sellers, manage finances and handle customer complaints?

If you answered “No” to any one of these then I’d suggest not to go ahead. Instead, I’ll rather suggest you to look at how people in your field (skin specialists) are doing online. In a much lesser budget, you can do content marketing. Share your knowledge. Then run a digital campaign using YouTube and Instagram. Target overseas clients from places where treatment is expensive. Give video based consultation after charging a fee. Keep all the customer data with you. Make yourself a brand. Thereby leveraging what you already know.

Never forget. Job dissatisfaction is not the reason you should become an entrepreneur. If you startup for this reason then you’ll remain dissatisfied as an entrepreneur as well. Your intent should be to solve a problem close to your heart, which will make you money.

For making your startup dreams come true

If you already have a business and want to take it online, then this is a good time. Internet usage is increasing and the time is ripe to make an entry. Being a timely adaptor has its share of pluses. If you have any questions please write them in comments box below.

Note: (*) – startup without coding tools suggested by Mr. Abhishek Shetty. Thanks Abhishek for reading this blog and your feedback!