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Business motivation

4 Most Popular Business Models That Can Work Wonders For Startups

If you have ever been a participant in a discussion around establishing a startup, there is no chance you have not heard about the term business model. In case you have not, the startup business is all we are going to discuss in this article. So what exactly is a business model? A business model is nothing but a long term plan that focuses on value, both for the business and the customer.

A business model should be such that it delivers value to its consumers consistently while helping the business monetize the strategies. If you are in the process of starting your business or looking for a better plan to roll things out, this article might serve you the purpose. Read on to know about 4 such business models.

Marketplace Model

It is the kind of business model where a business makes money by charging the buyers and sellers some transaction fees for using their platform. The best part about this model is that the server you need to run your business doesn’t cost that much money and the cost will only go down in the future. You can take inspiration from companies like Uber and Amazon

Sponsorship Model

Have you ever given a thought to how youtube actually earns? Think right now. If you are clueless about it, we will walk you through its business model, that is sponsorship based. In this model, the businesses usually make money from the sponsors and the users usually do not pay to use the platform. Other than youtube, Wikipedia could serve as a great example. 

Franchise

In the franchise business model, Franchisee pays royalties to the Franchisor to use the brand’s name, logo, values, business model, as well as how the entire operation works. Rapid growth can be achieved without much capital vs full ownership. The best part of buying out a franchise is that you do not need to invest a huge chunk of money in the form of capital, rather you will get a steady and regular income out of your association with the established name. The best examples could be food chains such as McDonald’s India.

Reseller 

This is the business model where the businesses give the responsibility to their resellers to sell the products on their behalf. If we talk about the USP of this business model then it would surely be the hassle-free experience of not managing the inventory, as it is managed by the resellers. A great would be Amway. Just by going through its business model, you will get to realize how efficiently and profitably the company has been running the business all this while.

It is important to understand that a single kind of business model would suit all kinds of businesses. Think through what your business is all about and what is it that you want to deliver to your customer and what you want to achieve as a business. Once you have a clear picture, it’s just a matter of time before you see a business model fitting your needs perfectly.

 

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Business motivation

Restaurant Startup: Does it Really Burn A Hole In Your Pocket?

Aspiring restaurateurs are often faced with the question as to how much it really costs to open a restaurant. The question is very important because fulfilling your passion for owning a restaurant does involve some serious money which depends on basically your location and the scale of the restaurant. 

This article is going to revolve around the various costs and expenses that you may face while trying to set up your dream restaurant. Costs that vary from renting a place/buying a place to paying the salary of the staff. If opening a restaurant business has been on the cards, then this guide to calculate your expenses will prove to be a godsend for your business.

Let’s Talk Money

How much do you think the average cost of opening and setting up a restaurant is? Can’t figure it out? Let’s bifurcate it together and proceed step by step.

Owning/Renting A Place

The most difficult part is to finalize the locality where you would want to set up your restaurant. Then comes the size of the restaurant which will have you decide if it is going to be a cozy, small, and casual setup, or is it destined to be a high-end posh restaurant. These two factors will affect your finances hugely. The better the area, the costlier the place. Doesn’t matter if you have a generous budget or a stretched one, there is always a place that you can find accordingly. If you are thinking of renting a place, the average cost would be somewhere between Rs 30,000 – Rs 1,00,000. However, if you are looking to buy out a place, you will have to spend a much higher amount that will vary from Rs 50 lacs to Rs 1 cr.

The Cost Of Acquiring Licenses

The most tedious task and equally time-consuming task is to get all the necessary permits and licenses to run a restaurant business without any hassles. You will be required to have a

FSSAI License: It will cost you around  7500/- for the central license and Rs. 2000- Rs.5000 for the state license. 

Health/Trade license: This license will cost you Rs. 500 – Rs. 50,000 depending on the requirements of your restaurant.

Eating house license: On average Rs. 300 will be the cost to get it and it’s valid for three years.

Shop and Establishment License: The cost ranges from Rs. 200 to Rs. 4,000 per year. The number of employees and the location of the restaurant plays a big role in this license.

Music License: The annual fees range between Rs. 3,500 – Rs. 10,000. This license is issued by the Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).

Operational Costs And Staffing Costs

You will always want your restaurant to run as smoothly as possible without any glitches. However, to ensure that you need to get good quality equipment for your kitchen so that the operations are never halted due to the quality of the equipment such as grills, stove, mixers, etc. The appliances would cost you an average of 5 Lcs. Also, the staff you intend to hire to run your restaurant will take up to 20-30% of the total revenue you generate.

Raw Material Costs

Please keep it in mind that the salary of your staff and the raw materials costs are recurring expenses, The raw materials will cost you around 30-40% of the total revenue that your restaurant generates. Getting good quality and fresh material will cost you even higher, hence, plan accordingly.

Marketing and Maintenance

If you do not market your business in the best possible manner, you will cost it its potential customers. If you have built something for a particular type of audience or crowd, it becomes your duty to let the prospect know that you are open to business. Depending on how much and what way you promote your business, the cost will vary.

We hope this gives you a clear idea of how much it actually costs to build a restaurant from scratch. It is important to know that there will always be some random expenses that will raise their heads occasionally and you need to be prepared. Nonetheless, based on the above details, we wish you luck chalking out your business plan. 

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Startup

5 Things to Remember Before Starting a Business

Big cheers to the people who have the ambition to start a business. Remember this before you take the first step towards your startup or even if you are at an early stage when working on the idea formation. You need to step back and think about the strategic vision of your business as starting a business can be stressful.

As you start working on its main plan, you think it’s a million things to get done all in one go. There is no lie, saying every new and small business owner have to take care of many things, and it’s tough. Therefore, a little planning can make it more manageable, and help you in taking action towards building your business.

As said by many, a few simple significant steps taken at the beginning of the business can help you streamline things easily. Therefore, we have listed some tips you need to remember to do before starting a business.

Do your Homework on Customer

Make sure you know your industry you are entering so you can dominate it. It doesn’t matter how different or unique you think your idea is, still you need to be aware of the competition. We always believe our business concept is brilliant, but it doesn’t mean anybody else hasn’t thought about that idea.

You start with the research, with your target demographic as is they are the driving force for your decision making. You can’t earn sales or profit without the right customer. It is crucial to make sure you are presenting what your customer need. Once you have researched the right way, then you will get insight into your customer buying decision and save you time for future experimenting.

Give importance to the legal aspect

Always follow the law, always remember this line. It’s one of the significant factors you need to keep the mind and should take while strategizing. In the first step, you should take in starting your business, choosing the right legal structure. At the beginning of the startup, you need a proper registration from the government, and you need to see all other legal aspects like taxes, paperwork, etc.

As an entrepreneur, you need to create the articles of incorporation, obtain an employer identification number, and apply for all required licenses.

Roadmap Your Finances

Every business needs money, which you need to plan from where you will get the capital. A lot of entrepreneurs start a business with limited capital, which is a large hurdle to many. There are plenty of options for arranging funds, but the most common is to seek from family or friends. And if you have exhausted this option, then apply for a business loan under government schemes.

Therefore, whenever you start your business, then make sure your road map completes financing for the present and future.

Know the risk.

That is the fact, there will always a risk with a new business startup. Understanding, calculating, and then planning as per it is a significant step for any new and old startup. Therefore, this means you need to assess your industry risk before entering and moving forward with your plan.

So, before taking the faith of leap in your idea, you need to sit down and talk about all the risks you about to come across.

Time it right

Time is money because timing is a significant factor in setting up a business. Of course, you want to start your business when the economy is healthy, but there is also a flow to decision making that’s important to be aware.

Therefore, the timing should be right where and what you need to think through and take what decision should be taken.

Starting a business can be exciting and challenging, but you need to do your homework and think about all the steps you need to take now and in the future.

 

 

 

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Startup

List of 4 AI-Based Start-Ups Which Will Inspire, Amaze, And Amuse You

DREAM BIG, ACT NOW – is the new motto for success in any start-up now. In the past few years, AI start-up numbers have tremendously increased. Now, many industries have adopted Artificial intelligence for better and security and other purposes.

So, every passing day we get closer towards an AI-first world, and it will be no wrong to say it’s the right time to step into this world and make your mark on it. We all talk and say, in the future world will be run by AI and robots. We listed a few startups who are working hard to bring a great change in transformation in the Indian tech ecosystem.

The fight against Covid-19 is still going on and many companies from the world are leveraging the use of technologies in the best possible way

Ajna AI

Ajna is a Chennai- based founded in May 2020, AI start-up which aims to build SaaS products that deliver a vision-based video Analytics solution. This app currently provides solutions like crowd safety intelligence, automated queue management, and retail video analytics system. Tasks carried out by them are mask detection, social distancing, people counting, safety reporting, crowd density analysis, and risk prediction.

Their focus industry is the retail industry, where they try to solve problems like limited information about customers and their behaviour in-store and many more.

Expertrons

Founded in 2019, Mumbai – based start-up is the world’s first AI video bot- assisted platform. This platform helps aspirants to learn from the interview experience of other experts in the field.

The main motive of the platform is to help college graduates understand the experience of a big organization’s work. The start-up owners say the best way to know how to crack a certain interview when you know from the people who have cracked it. They provide 24*7 interview question- related queries through video-bots of mentors.

Blocksapp.AI

This Hyderabad based start-up has developed an AI-based drone for a monitoring solution for helping police and local bodies in their work. Their drones help in sending an accurate image to the ground station to keep track of the situation. To fight with the Covid-19, solve many purposes like surveillance on hot spots, unsecured locations, spraying of disinfectants by drones Supply, and delivery of essential medicines.

BlueSemi

Another Hyderabad based tech start-up has developed a contactless and wireless thermal scanning device. The best part of this AI-enabled device helps in recording the temperature without any manual interference and is integrated with any healthcare platform.

BlueSemi can be handled by any Bluetooth/wireless device, ideally on a mobile app. We can call this new – age wireless technology helps in minimizing the exposure of healthcare workers by providing useful information at record speed.

Our country is among the top nations to have achieved millions of funding tech-based start-ups. Through their innovation, great minded strategy, and use of impactful use of technology made these startups stand out. We have mentioned just a few start-ups who work on AI-based, but there are many more on the list.

 

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Business motivation Strategy

Visa, IFundWomen Announce Grant Programme to Empower Women Entrepreneurs in India

Mumbai, September 21: With an aim to empower women entrepreneurs in India, Visa along with its global partner IFundWomen on Monday rolled out a grant programme to boost the morale of women entrepreneurs across the country. According to a report by IANS, the digital payments technology leader will seek applications from women entrepreneurs across all sectors till October 20, 2020. IfundWomen is the go-to marketplace for women-owned businesses. The applicants need to submit details about their business and online presence, along with a short video about their business to www.ifundwomen.com/visa-india. Three winners will be selected and receive grants of Rs 7 lakh each and training from leaders within the Visa and IFundWomen network.

Women-owned businesses constitute around 14 percent of the total entrepreneur base in India. To spread the word, Visa said it has partnered with FLO (the ladies’ wing of FICCI) and Instamojo as digitisation partner for the programme in the country. T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa, said, “We want to see this number increase but our interactions with women entrepreneurs show that access to capital to fund, run and grow their businesses remains a challenge”.

The Visa and IFundWomen grant programme in India, the first outside of the US, “aims to boost female entrepreneurship and empower budding businesswomen through our network, guidance, financial support and resources to help achieve their dreams”, he added.

Visa’s partnership with IFundWomen is specifically designed to help women entrepreneurs secure the funding they need through a series of grants. This year in June, Visa had committed to supporting 50 million small businesses globally to power recovery and enable them digitally. In August 2020, through the first India edition of Visa Everywhere Initiative, it awarded three fintech startups with monetary awards and technological support to take their solutions to market, the company said.

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Startup

Checklist for Your Dream Restaurant!

If you are planning to get into the food business in India, you should start by acknowledging major factors like time, efforts required, and of course, the capital and the market research. Above these, you have so many options for you to enter into the food and restaurant business.

Beyond these, you have so many options for you to inscribe into the food and restaurant business. Simply start preparing the checklist of the requirements and the resources needed for any restaurant idea to go on the floor. Once you make your mind to get into this business, you require to keep a close eye on the next basic steps.

Let’s have a look at the top 4 steps required to be on the top list of your checklist.

Legal requirements
Any commercial enterprise, first and foremost, requires to have legal documentation. For opening restaurants, you need to take in the right knowledge regarding the licenses you need. For opening restaurants, you need to get permission from the local bodies and a license for the area where you want to set up your restaurant.

Along with this, you need to have an FSSAI license for making food safer for the customers, a GST registration, and a business registration to file the ITRs.

Cost to Evaluation
While setting up a restaurant, you need to look at the cost as it is a major factor when it comes to opening a restaurant. These costs are to be further divided into food costs where you need to make an inventory of raw material daily.

Another most significant factor for evaluating cost is infrastructure costs, this is one time during or periodical an investment like rent, interiors, kitchen equipment, and engineering cost.

Fixing Technology Requirements

Technology is your best friend in this fast-paced world. When you open a restaurant, you will need some or the other kind of software which will facilitate you to ease your operations and management process. Careful investment in technology will help you add meaningful value to your job.

Technology not just helps to manage or operate a business; it also helps you connect with your customers in the best possible ways. Therefore, make technology the most significant factor to work on while building your restaurant.


Marketing is important

To gain traction for your restaurant, online or offline, you need your marketing and promotion game stronger than ever as it will bring cash flow in your business. Invest your hard work in marketing your restaurant and menu in the best possible way.

In terms of digital promotion, you need to register your business with all websites where you can attract your customer. This will not only increase visibility but also will give an option to your customers to order online. Don’t forget to be your most active self on social media and run as many campaigns as possible. When you think about offline promotions, you need to have posters and pamphlets with some attractive offers and discounts on them.

When moving forward with any business, you need to have a checklist that could facilitate you to ease out this mammoth of a task. We hope after reading this article, you can be one step closer to your dream restaurant. Start creating a checklist to give wings to dream restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Startup

Cloud Kitchen the New Saviour for Restaurant Business

Ordering food online is the new big thing entirely due to COVID-19 and several lockdowns that have kept restaurants closed and affected business too. But the takeaway meal scenario is at an all-time high, and we believe that people’s interest in ordering food is going to stay with us for long.

As per NRAI reports, over 500,000 restaurants and around 20 Lakh people employed in this sector are likely to lose business due to a pause in the restaurant business. Due to this global pandemic, people are holding on their distance from the restaurants and are now drawn towards cloud kitchen ordering facilities that cater to online delivery.

Here are the factors which make Cloud Kitchens a silver lining in the dark skies of a pandemic-

Delivery is faster
As per reports, restaurants are facing all-time lows and sales are down by 90%. Therefore, the takeaway option has become a vital source of income for the business.
Research has been conducted by the Red Seer company, according to which, the number of orders increased by 60%. Therefore, the Cloud kitchen comes as a rescue as it works best in such a scenario.

Reduction of Operational Cost
While running a restaurant, operational cost is one of the toughest factors in terms of managing a business, and in the current scenario, it’s tougher to achieve.
Cloud kitchen came to be known as a great aid in minimizing the cost of operation in terms of rent and staff. This leads to a higher number of opportunities, low investments, and chances to experiment and scale.
Cloud kitchens don’t just help in maintaining social distancing, but also turn the operational cost in half.

Technology And Food Are Becoming Friends
The advanced technology and love for food are leading to the high growth of the Indian food tech industry. Digital menus, QR code scanners, and app orders have given a new definition to the dining culture.
This not only guarantees social distancing but also assures end to end contactless dining experience in the current situation.

Chance to Bounce Back
Due to this pandemic, many small restaurants and cafes are getting closed. With the help of Cloud Kitchen, they can re-open themselves and receive a steady income.
It also allows these restaurant owners to cater to an increased delivery demand and experiment with the menu levelling up in the acting field.

New Home Dining Experience
Thanks to the huge pandemic, which has transformed people’s approach towards dining out, normal dining out now looks like this – Pre-reservation of tables, sanitizer bottle on the mesa, and servers wearing PPE kits. However, still many are trying to stay away from going out for dining.
A bunch of restaurants has come up with the idea of sending the chefs to homes with the necessary ingredients for experiencing home dining or from 5-star hotels, sending full course meals delivered at homes with the help of a cloud kitchen.

Saying bye-bye to dining out is hard, but in the current scenario, your safety should be your priority. The customer has shifted from dining out to dine-in, which is making people choose a safer alternative like a cloud kitchen. So, if you are a restaurant owner or planning to open one, Cloud Kitchen will help you in stabilizing your business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Business motivation

What Are The Best Sources Of Credit For Business Startups?

It takes a village to raise a child! Similarly, it takes you a well thought out research, determination, hard work, and some good sources to gather capital to turn your dream venture into reality! Where the entrepreneur is all thrilled and excited by the mere imagination of their business coming into existence, they are equally stressed about the venture and the capital it would require for the respective business to survive and thrive in the market.

 

Considering how important and unavoidable it is to raise the capital for your business, it will be a great idea for all the entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs to conduct detailed research on how and from where they can arrange the finances. With the help of this article, we are going to introduce you to some great options that you could consider while arranging the capital.

 

Venture Capitalists

One of the major sources of investment, venture capitalists are the groups that are known to buy equity in a start-up in exchange for the capital they provide. However, it is important to keep in mind that venture capitalists do not really entertain all start-ups. The only startups that are backed by venture capitalists are those that have tremendous growth potential and are driven by technology. If venture capitalists identify and acknowledge the potential of a startup, they will provide the capital as well as the skills and strategies that the entrepreneur lacks to grow further.

 

Bank loans

This is the old classic that could never go out of trend. Banks, since ages, have been giving out business loans to startups. It is certainly the best and most highly used option for the MSMEs to gather funds for their business ventures. In case you are a small or a medium enterprise, you can consider getting a business loan from a bank. Nevertheless, careful research and a solid business plan are the criteria banks have set to give out loans to start-ups.

 

Angel Investor

In case your business requires a large amount of money, the best option out of the lot for you is to reach out to an angel investor. An angel investor is defined as a wealthy individual with extensive and enriching experience in a particular domain. Sometimes people confuse Venture capitalists with angel investors, however, there are some prominent differences that tell them apart. Venture capitalists do not invest their own money into a startup whereas angel investors do bring their own money into play. An angel investor will invest their own money in a business venture in their early stages and are very much involved in the process of supervising the operations. 

 

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is the newest resort that is becoming a rage, especially among the start-ups that promise to serve the society with the service or the products they offer. It is the process of raising small funds individually from a large number of individuals. People invest their money in these startups expecting a reward, product, service, or equity in the business, generally. However, there could be several individuals who do not expect anything in return in case a startup is trying to serve the society.

 

Conclusion

Business financing has become a basic necessity for almost all businesses and this is when the options mentioned above play the most important role. Once you figure out nature, relevance, performance, and market opportunities, it will be a cakewalk for you to decide which option serves your business best.

 

 

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Business motivation

Startup Ideas: Be Your Own Boss With These 3 Business Ideas

Success is just a wise decision away! A wise decision to come up with the best business idea that fulfills your passion as well as your wallet. Since ages, people have been making these decisions to live an independent life by becoming successful entrepreneurs for various reasons varying from flexible work hours to being their own boss, from getting to follow their passion to contribute to society the way they want.

 

When things boil down to picking one startup idea, it becomes equally important to see the pros and cons of starting that business. With a ton of amazing and tempting business ideas available in the market,  it can be hard to figure out which are worth investing your money and time in. This is where we want to be of some help to our readers. We will be sharing a few business ideas with you that may work out in your favour.

 

Educational Mobile Apps

If you have always had an interest in teaching and have a knack for it, the business idea of coming up with an educational mobile app would be the best idea for you. For all the technicalities of designing the app and other requirements, you can have a third party involved and get it outsourced. We are certain that EdTech is one industry that is blooming in this pandemic amidst all the restrictions and will continue to grow and flourish even after things get back to normal. There are many verticals in the field of online education, ranging from the subject matter experts to the professionals who provide courses around business and marketing, you can choose which option serves you the best.

 

Consulting

In case you are an expert and find yourself well-versed in a particular field or an industry, we would highly recommend exploring more about how consultation and consultants work. If you are good at providing expert advice and it ends up benefiting the individual or an organization you serve, you may get paid a hefty amount as a fee for this consultation. Once you make a place for yourself, you could also start becoming a part of professional events, meetups, conferences where your expertise would be more than welcomed. You can become a professional consultant in the field of education, education overseas, business, coaching, investment, etc.

 

Blogging/Content Writing

 If you often get complimented for your out of the box thinking and unique writing style, you might as well make a living out of it and turn it into a flourishing business eventually. Blogging or content writing is that kind of business idea that doesn’t require you to spend your entire savings or burn a hole in your pocket, the capital requirement is as minimum as it gets!

 

The popularity and importance of bloggers and content writers have only increased over the last few years and clients are ready to pay handsome amounts of money in exchange for some quality content that could help them shape the brand and help it position in a positive light on digital media. Blogging and content writing has become the bare minimum necessities for businesses and has the potential of a great startup idea that earns you good money.

 

Conclusion

With a plethora of options available around us regarding the startup business ideas, the process of narrowing the list down and selecting THE one could be a daunting and intimidating process. Nevertheless, careful and sincere research could help you choose your dream venture that not only supports your passion but also feeds your wallet.

 

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Business motivation

Start Business from Home With These Essential Steps

When time is harder, you get toughest. Amid this pandemic, when you think everything is difficult to catch up with, you need to find a solution. The pandemic has forced lots of small businesses to shut down and as per The Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), at least 5 million salaried people lost jobs in India in July 2020. The situation is grim, but at the same time, presents an opportunity for people to look at becoming entrepreneurs from home.

We bring you some ideas or ways for starting a business, being at home when everything is closed. Big businesses were not born overnight. Someone had an idea, concept, and worked on it. Here are some steps you need to keep in mind when planning to Start Business at Home –

  1. Assess Your Business Idea
    Start brainstorming your ideas or anything you believe you can be work on being at home only. One requires to have an idea before beginning anything. With various business options possible, you need to focus on one, which matches your skill.
  2. Consider Your Skills With Training
    Nobody is born without skill or talent. So pick something that you think you have an expertise in and start with what you have proper knowledge of. You can try some specialized courses also if need be. Additional skills will always help you improve your business.
  3. Write Down Your Project Report
    Your project report will define how well you have done your homework. The more uniqueness you offer, the faster you will be on the path of success. Study the markets well, be it domestic or international market, as per your business idea. Write down your report based on research, which may include a revenue model with cost and sales price, taxes, delivery charges, etc.
  4. Source of Funding
    The funds play a major role in any business, but small businesses or start-ups are either self-financed or acquired from friends and family. Therefore, you need to be careful with your finances as you need to keep your business running until you start earning profit. With this, you should have one backup for the funding source if something goes wrong.
  5. Fix Your Work Location
    As a small business, you need to own a small workplace, small shop, or an office. This is an essential aspect of your business because you require to register your business as you will receive a permit from the registration office for running your business, and this permission will help you get power and water permits.
  6. Registering Your Business
    Thanks to new direct instructions given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, you only need one working day for registering your business. Now the option of registering is available online and every necessary information is on the website.
  7. Launch a website
    In today’s time, owning a website plays a major part in any business for providing information on the products and business. It is a significant step for building a business and building trust among your target audience. There’re many websites that guide you and help you build your website.

These are seven simple yet essential steps to keep in mind for starting a small business while being home during these tough times.