Category: Startup

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Startup

Loan App Scams: RBI Cautions Against Loans Offered by Unauthorised Platforms, Apps, Here’s How People Can Avoid Falling Prey to it

Scam
Scam (Representational Image) (Photo Credits: Pixabay.com)

Mumbai, December 25: Loan app scams have surfaced lately and a result of which, RBI cautioned people asking them to be careful. Loans are being offered by unauthorised digital platforms, mobile applications promising a quick and hassle-free process.

RBI Cautions People Against Loans Being Offered by Unauthorised Platforms, Apps Promising Quick & Hassle-Free Approach

Several individuals/small businesses have fallen prey to the growing number of unauthorised digital lending platforms, Mobile Apps on promises of getting loans.

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Here’s what the scam is:

Loans are being offered by unauthorised digital platforms, mobile applications promising a quick and hassle-free process. Excessive rates of interest and additional hidden charges are being demanded from borrowers. This also follows high-handed recovery methods are being done.

Several unauthorised apps are involved in the scam, to name a few would be-Hey Fish, Monkey cash, Cash Elephant, Loan Zone, Cash Zone, Water Elephant, Mera Loan. Some instant personal loan apps involved were are Cash Mama, Loan zone and Dhana Dhan.

Here’s how people can avoid falling prey to such scams:

  • Don’t share copies of KYC documents with unidentified persons, unverified/unauthorised Apps
  • Fraudulent activities can be reported to law enforcement agencies or RBI’s Sachet portal (https://sachet.rbi.org.in)

    It is very important for people to be careful and as fraudsters are always finding ways to dupe people.

 

 

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Startup

National Startup Awards 2021: DPIIT Invites Entries to Reward Outstanding Startups; Know Eligibility, Prize and How to Register Online at startupindia.gov.in

Startup
Startup

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched the second edition of the National Startup Awards (NSA) 2021 and have called for entries to reward the outstanding startups. This initiative by the DPIIT aims to acknowledge  the efforts, initiatives and resilience demonstrated by the startups over the period of unprecedent challenges during the pandemic.

This year, additional categories have been introduced to NSA 2021. The NSA aims to recognise innovations focussed towards indigenisation of key products essential for realisation of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Here’s How to Apply for National Startup Awards (NSA), Eligibility and More

  1. Startups can register for the National Startup Awards (NSA) 2021 on www.startupindia.gov.in. The applications for the awards are open till January 31, 2021.
  2. The awards for startups will be given in 49 areas classified into 15 broad sectors. The 15 sectors are Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Drinking Water, Education and Skill Development, Energy, Enterprise Systems, Environment, FinTech, Food Processing, Health and Wellness, Industry 4.0, Security, Space, Transport and Travel.
  3. In addition, there are six special awards for startups from educational institutions, making impact in rural areas, women entrepreneurs, potential for import substitution, innovation for combatting COVID-19 and content delivery in Indic languages. It will also reward exceptional incubator and accelerator as key building blocks of a robust startup ecosystem.
  4. All the other details of the application process may be seen at www.startupindia.gov.in.

Awards for National Startup Awards (NSA) 2021:

  1. A cash prize of Rs 15 lakh each will be awarded to one winning incubator and one winning accelerator as well.
  2. A cash prize of Rs 5 lakh each will be awarded to the winning startup in each area.
  3. The winner and two runners up will also be given opportunities to present their solutions to relevant public authorities and corporates for potential pilot projects and work orders.
  4. They will also be given priority for participation in various national and international startup events. Click Here for more details on awards.

DPIIT had initiated the first ever National Startup Awards in 2019 with a view to recognize and reward outstanding startups and ecosystem enablers that are building innovative products or solutions and scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact. Taking forward the overwhelming success of the first edition of NSA, DPIITnow announces the launch of second National Startup Awards 2021.

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MSME Sales Startup Strategy

4 Successful Tips to Run Discounts & Special Offers For Your Business Ahead of Christmas 2020 & New Year

Discounts, Special Offer
Discounts, Special Offer (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, December 24: 2020 was an extremely difficult year for most sectors due to the lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak. However, towards the latter end of the year, green shoots of recovery were seen as the economy started to open up.

So far, the festivals have been lacklustre in India because of several other factors, including people not willing to spend on unnecessary things. However, the sentiment has picked up and there is a momentum in sales as we approach the year-end.

If you have an online business or a store, then you can offer some discounts to entice your customers for Christmas and New Year. However, promotions and discounts should be given in such a manner, so that they don’t eat up the profit margin and help you in increasing sales.

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Define your objective: 

Before you start any promotional offer, you should define the objective. What is the purpose of running this sales offer? Is it to get new customers or target the existing customers? Is it to increase sales or hook them to your brand. Be clear in your head with these answers.

Should have a fixed timeline:

Sales, discounts and any offers should be there for only a limited time period. The promotion of your brand should clearly mention the start time and the end time.

Market well:

If you are running a sale and your customers are not only aware of it, then the entire purpose fails. Therefore, make sure to advertise your promotional offers, incentives properly. Promote the news of your sales on social media. Spend money to run promotional campaigns and target audience based on your location and TG.

Track Your Results:

After any campaign, it is very important to track your results. This will help you to understand your customer behaviour, which segments are responding better to your campaigns or which type of campaigns are more effective. You need to study the results and this will help you to run your next campaign

We hope that these tips will come in handy for your business and you run successful marketing campaigns.

 

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MSME Startup

Kisan Diwas 2020: Here Are 4 Agriculture Business Ideas Which You Can Start in 2021

Organic Farming
Organic Farming (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Mumbai, December 23: The coronavirus crisis has impacted all sectors across the world, but agriculture continues to be one of the most evergreen sectors. The best part is you can start your agriculture business with low, medium and large investments, depending on your budget.

You can start any agriculture-related business and earn a good income out of it. This sector has also witnessed huge changes thanks to technology which has improved efficiency. Earlier this sector used to depend much on the climate for its flourishment but with the introduction of technology and science, the agricultural business has also has witnessed huge development.

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On the occasion of Kisan Diwas 2020, we have listed 4 agriculture business ideas which you can start in 2021:

Mushroom Farming: Mushroom business is very profitable. It can be started with low investment and it requires less space also. Mushrooms today have become a popular ingredient that forms a part of different cuisines.

Fertilizer Distribution: This is another business which you can get into. Here, you have to plan and buy fertilizers from big cities and sell them to rural areas.

Dry Flower Business: This is another business, which you can start as dry flowers have been becoming extremely popular. Demand has increased for dried flowers over the past few years, as more people discover easy and fun DIY challenges.

Organic Vegetables: This is a profitable business as people have been increasingly purchasing organic vegetables because of health benefit.

We hope that these ideas come in handy if you are planning to invest in this sector in 2021.

 

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Startup

Google India Partners with Sheroes to Support 500 Rural Women Entrepreneurs in India; All You Need to Know About the Programme

Rural women entrepreneurs

New Delhi, December 22: In a bid to support rural women entrepreneurs in India, Google India on Monday said it has partnered with Sheroes to support 500 women entrepreneurs by connecting them with experts and enabling access to resources, guidance and mentorship. In 2019, Google had started a small pilot for an accelerator programme for 10 women entrepreneurs in rural India across its Internet Saathi network. The programme by the tech giant is centered on solving for basic business issues like customer acquisition, selling and marketing, digital presence, management and self-confidence.

Google has now joined hands with Sheroes to scale this to 500 rural women entrepreneurs. Under the initiative, the tech giant would connect them with experts, urban women entrepreneurs in the same or adjacent industries and enabling access to the right resources, guidance and mentorship over a six-month period. Kerala-Based Startup Inks Pact With UN Women’s Empowerment Principles to Train, Promote and Empower Women.

In a statement, Google India said within three months, there was a rise in confidence among the participants and the women went back and applied the learning to their businesses. It stated that 80 percent of them started working on their digital presence and one of the participants had a working website within months. In a separate statement, Google said it has launched new insight tools for the travel industry.

In 2015, the Internet Saathi programme was initiated in collaboration with Tata Trusts to bring basic digital literacy skills to women in Indian villages and have them become informal teachers for other women in their communities. Since then, the programme has touched over 30 million women across the country.

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Startup

5 Effective Online Marketing Strategies For Your Bakery Business Ahead of Christmas 2020 & New Year 2021

Bakery
Bakery (Photo Credits: Twitter)

Mumbai, December 21: Christmas 2020 and New Year 2021 is just a few days down the line and the craving for cakes, and pastries are on the rise. If you are in the bakery business, this is the time, when you should focus on your marketing game.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, like all the festivals, this year, Christmas and New Year is also expected to be a muted affair. However, this won’t stop people from ordering cakes online and having them at home with their loved ones.

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Here are a few effective marketing strategies which you can keep in mind to promote your bakery business.

    1. Make frequent updates on social media: With the help of platforms like Instagram and Facebook, you should frequently update your page with offers, promotional incentives or the menu which you will have for Christmas or ahead of New Year 2021.
    2. Upload good photos: Click good photos of the bakery items. They should be enticing enough for the people to order. Share special stories about the item which you are baking. Add a special note, reading which people may feel connected. Play on their emotion and ride on nostalgia by weaving exciting stories
    3. Share positive reviews of your clients: Share positive reviews by your clients. This will give faith to other customers who have been thinking or hesitating to order from your site.
    4. Make yourself reachable: If you have a shop, then make sure that the location and the how-to reach options are updated on social media pages or on Google. Reply immediately to customers having queries on social media. Update your number and be reachable.
    5. Run promotional offers: Make the customers feel special and loved. You can always run some promotional offers, without hurting your profit. For e.g. ‘Order 1 Kg cake and get 2 cake cakes free this Christmas’.

      We hope these marketing tips come in handy for your business ahead of Christmas 2020 and New Year.

 

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Startup

Kerala-Based Startup Inks Pact With UN Women’s Empowerment Principles to Train, Promote and Empower Women

Women Entrepreneurs in India (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Thiruvananthapuram, December 21: With an aim to empower women, a Kerala-based startup has inked an agreement with the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles. This is for the first time that a woman majority startup named Vydyuthi Energy Services (VES) has signed an agreement with the United Nations body. With the signing of the agreement, the VES will establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality, promote education, training and professional development for women. It will also implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that has the capability to empower women, promote equality through community initiatives and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.

In India, Kerala is already in the top list of the Niti Aayog for implementing the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles. According to a report by IANS, of the 170 companies from India which had signed for the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, 64 companies are from the private sector. The Vydyuthi Energy Services is the 65th company from India and the first from Kerala to have signed the pact.

As per details available, at Vydyuthi Energy Services (VES), the woman help businesses and organizations across sectors to identify energy efficiency drivers and enable them to adopt viable action plans. The start-up firm was established by an NRI, Anoop Babu from Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, Kerala State Electricity Board Energy Efficiency Department is the patron head of VES. The founder, i.e. Babu has a vast experience in the renewable energy sector and is involved in multinational projects in various countries, including the Middle East.

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Startup

Planning to Start a Business? Here are 4 Tips for Women to Become Successful Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs (Photo Credits: Pexels)

Starting a business is not easy. One has to really think out of the box to become a known and successful entrepreneur. When it comes to creative thinking, women are no less! Female entrepreneurs can do wonders if they are given the right guidance and motivation they need. Right from picking up a business idea, creating a business module to funding, a woman can become a successful entrepreneur in no time.

According to research, entrepreneurship rates among women increased by 13 percent versus 5 percent for men, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), which monitors 40 economies from around the world. Female entrepreneurship is growing with each passing but it still has a long way to go. Here are four tips that will empower you to get started today. 5 Schemes Focused on Development of Women Entrepreneurs in India.

Love What You Do

When you are planning to start a new business, keep in mind that you will have to pick a business that you love. Ultimately, you will work with passion for things that you love and wish to do. So, choose a business that you think you will never lose your interest in! As yourself, what are you completely and absolutely passionate about? Maybe it’s a hobby or maybe there is something you’ve been longing to do. When we feel completely and utterly passionate, there is no room for judgment.

Believe in yourself

Sometimes, we doubt our own skills. We often underestimate our talent that leads to failure and rejections. You should always let your passion burn brighter than your fears. Keep in mind that the only thing that you have that no one else has is ‘you’. Your dreams, your passion, your power and the world will be yours. You just need to do one thing- that is, to believe in yourself.

Never give up

Failure is just a part of the deal. If you are afraid of rejections, you will always face hurdles in your business because you are not open to learning new things. This will however, hinder your growth in the long run. For becoming a successful entrepreneurship, all you need to do is keep trying. The formation of great companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google are classic examples of motivating us never to give up on our ideas. Don’t quit. Keep going.

Get feedback

Where there is love and inspiration, you can never go wrong. But you should keep on asking people for feedback. Feedback is critical to validate your business and its reach. It can also help you understand what customers want. You should read reviews, find articles and interact with them to develop and good understanding. Pay particular mind to negative reviews and ask people specifically what they wish they were getting out of the product.

 

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Startup

4 Key Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have to Be Successful and Stand Out From the Rest

Women Entrepreneurs in India (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Any person aiming to be a successful entrepreneur will always think out of the box and have several creative ideas as to how to go about in the business. There are key traits to success in small business which attributes no matter what your endeavour is. A great entrepreneur must be able to effectively communicate, sell, focus, learn, and have the skills to manage efficiently. The ability to keep on learning is not just a key entrepreneurial skill, but also a very valuable skill on one’s life. Some of the characteristics are innate, while some others can be nurtured.

If there are new businesses, more jobs will be created in the market. New ideas will pour in and better ways of doing business will be incorporated. Entrepreneurship also makes the marketplace more competitive so that outdated thinking is challenged.

Here are few characteristics of an entrepreneur can take you far in the workplace.

Communication:

Communication holds the key to any business, be it small or big.  Any entrepreneur needs to be an effective communicator to become known in the industry. No matter even if it’s a solo entrepreneur, you need to have the communication skills to attract all the potential that will bring profit to the business. An entrepreneur to be able to communicate with employees, investors, customers among others.

Creativity:

This is the most important entrepreneurship skill that one must possess. If your idea is not out of the box, you will not be able to stand out from the rest in the market.  “They want employees to be able to not only carry out assignments, but also come up with better ways of doing things,” Litzinger says. It is very important to be creative in this competitive world. If you are creative, you can improve your company’s workflow, productivity.

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Persuasiveness:

In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have the quality to persuade people with your creative ideas. Persuasiveness can make you a better negotiator and help you achieve great things in your businesses. You may face hurdles in your business journey, but you will have to convince your client or your co-workers to take actions on certain things, so you need to be persuasive.

Ability and desire to Learn:

Any entrepreneur, who wishes to reach great heights, needs to be always open to learning new things. The ability to learn is one of the most important skills to have in life, be it an entrepreneur or be it anyone else. If a person is able to learn in any situation, even failure, they have the skills necessary to become a successful entrepreneur.

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Startup

Here Are 5 Easy Ways in Which Small Business Owners Can Manage Work Stress

Stress (Photo credits: Mypain.ca)

Mumbai, December 18: Being your own boss is the most satisfying job on earth. However, it comes with extreme work stress as well, since all the major decisions are taken by you.

It is therefore very important to manage stress and channelise it in a positive manner, which will not affect your health, mind and also work.

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Here are 5 easy ways in which you can manage your stress: 

  1. Take a break. In between work, if you are feeling too stressed out, take a break. Go out for a 10-minute walk around the office premises, chat with your employees, grab a coffee at the office canteen or simply go out in the balcony and inhale fresh air. These are some quick fixes to uplift your mood instantly and declutter your mind.
  2. Get enough sleep. Don’t ignore sleep. It is very important to keep your mind working. The more you are sleep deprived, you will be burdened and won’t be able to concentrate on your work.
  3. It’s okay to fail: There is no harm in failing, accept the fact that it is okay to fail and then move on. Don’t always keep on telling yourself that you will have to succeed or else there is no way out.
  4. Channelise your stress in a positive manner: If you are being stressed and burdened, then learn to find ways in which you can channelise it in a positive manner. For e.g. join a gym class, go for a run or listen to soothing music. It is very important to take care of your health because there are others who are dependent on you.
  5. Learn to Say No: Small business owners need to remember that when you are starting out, there may be several opportunities flying at you and so you end up saying yes to everything. However, it is very important to learn to say No and focus on things which will help your business in the long run. Don’t pile on to your stress by accepting everything that comes on the way.

During your free time and on Sundays, start to keep yourself away from devices like mobiles, laptops and instead spend quality time with your friends and family. It is also very important to unwind yourself. We really hope that these things come in handy for you to relieve your stress.