Tomorrow…. even toddlers will open Startups

Yes, opening a startup is now a craze. Recently, I read this article “Evolving startup ecosystem, support from parents fuel under 22-year-old student-entrepreneurs in India”, a question came to my mind almost instantly, is it the quick money which is driving this or creative hunger? The answer I could think off was may be both, as most of you all would also agree. But there is catch to it. Is it enough to have just the creative hunger and quick money will follow. I would say a strong "No".

 Off course, it certainly fascinates to have one’s own Startup.  Thanks to the latest technology of Mobile Apps, Social Media and Internet awareness, it’s easy to open one nowadays. But one has to remember that there is another side to this. The side which is full of challenges for the firm to grow an idea, expand & sustain it against all market volatility. Though there is no hardline rule that startups can’t be open by 22 year old students or just college pass outs. Exceptions will always be there and we have seen some cases too. But can this be generalized to the extent that anyone and everyone can easily open a startup without having a proper work experience, understanding of the market, how to be a leader and most importantly matured overall experience which comes by age where only life teaches most of the lessons. Who will teach these young minds the art to accept, tolerate failures & persevere for success as not everybody will succeed instantly and surely. May be life itself but can this be again generalized to the extent of considering it to be a trend ? Again I would say, a strong "No".

The article mentions about Youngsters being better-positioned to work on newer technologies just because they are digital natives or have an advantage because they grew up with social media. It further states that: for venture capitalists, the added advantage is that these entrepreneurs come with little or no baggage. I do not agree with this perception. Talk to any serious venture capitalist and I am pretty sure he will have tons of conditions before he puts his money for risk, be it on a 22 year student entrepreneur or a seasoned, experienced guy just because he is digital native or has an advantage of growing up with social media”.

I personally fee, any such developments in the market scene is far from being called as a trend and I am sure this too will pass off like any other fad

The irresistible decentralized and monetized world of Social Media

Among the internet based communication mediums, email has always been for many years the most dependable way of communication. Only of late, the majority of communication is happening through more active and user friendly web interfaces which lets one achieve much more than just by sending electronic mails. The social networking companies have brought out a whole new cosmos of possibilities much beyond than just sharing information. This component of Social media has immediately become a breading platform to conceptualize, develop and sell ideas. With its open advantage of bare minimum operating cost – it’s more lucrative than ever earlier. For the users, hosting a profile on these social networking sites is actually an extended self or ‘virtual avatar'. It’s easy to exhibit likes & dislikes, select friends, telling them what’s going on with life, where did we go for vacation this summer and even occasionally expressing individual opinion on social matters. No doubt, the more information one puts around oneself in social media, to that extent the person will be like an open book to others. It may cause an adverse impact too on privacy, but one thing is for sure, if one can manage it, that person is already a celeb or at least in the making in one’s own individualized way.

Celebrity’ ism decentralized

So I say, Celebrity’ ism decentralized. Anybody and everybody are heading for fame. This is the holistic shift which social media vouched for in recent times. The strength of the individual profile in a social media site lies on the number of connections it has and how often it is updated with details of the events happening in individual’s life. This makes profiling more interesting and interactive with the masses. How? The influence of the profile starts growing each time a connection is added. One may start adding up friends initially, but soon crosses the boundary of friends and start adding those whom one doesn’t even know. And whenever there is an update in the profile, it is visible to all the connection equally. Some may appreciate and even at times negatively react. If one actually notices, every active profile has a fortune to utilize this and carefully craft a status of its own. With regard to traditional media, now a day, promotional campaigns of film, sports & political personalities definitely take a back seat in capturing mind share, if social media are not utilized. Social media makes anybody and everybody a celebrity because every person is heard, seen & so gets a due share of noticeable fame. For instance, pick up a social cause and you see people instantly liking your points and start following you. It offers equal opportunity for you to observe others and like their point of views too. All this cumulatively defines yours and others status, and I call it a personalized celebrity status even if you don’t have the intention to do so. No one else other than you are the brand promoter of your own uniqueness. This has been main driving factor for the masses to embrace social media.

Business ….decentralized

Today’s business is more socially conscious than ever. It seeks an easy reach and impact through social media. Mobility and Cloud, the driving engines for social media are enabling an environment for decentralized business to take place. Now, it’s easy to give wings to the ideas and open a startup. Mobility helps business to link with consumers who can reach desired products or services through mobile apps at the tip of fingers and cloud supports this architecture from almost anywhere. This, coupled with social media networking sites for marketing, one cannot conceive of a better business scenario than this. That is why, any existing business or a startup you name is either already or at least aspiring to have its social media presence at the earliest. This commercial enterprise model is so lucrative that one need not limit opening a business alone, one can be an investor too. Hundreds of startups today seeking for capital and equal scores of small and large investors are there to invest. What more simplified yet very aggressive business scenario, one can ever expect. Tremendous dynamisms to the business world all thanks to latest technologies coupled with Social media. Give few more years when the flavor of Robotics adds to it- will render all of us spellbound

 The core… reorganized

At the core of the social media are the social networking companies. These companies, in early phases of the social media rise were focusing on metrics around user growth and involvement. Only nowadays are trying to figure out other ways of generating revenue stream specifically through ingrained advertising or non-standard ad units that are explicit to the platform and are organically integrated into the content experience. The Mobility based business concepts like Instagram, Vine and SnapChat are all success stories, which represent a progression in social media by converging on the single essential utility of catching and distributing interesting content captured through mobile phone cameras. This is only an example to show how latest technology is reorganizing the core of social media by ever increasing its reach to the masses and speed with which people can interact with each other increasing the chances of monetizing it further.

 

Certainly, the world is getting monetized at a remarkable pace and social media is adding to it further. Every step one takes and moves one makes, there is a business opportunity to be reaped. Welcome to the irresistible decentralized and the monetized world of social media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outdo your competitors : The art of survival

Wining a deal goes right from the stage of Business Lead selection. One time during a high level meeting, I picked up one of the top management executive saying, if even the Security Guard of his firm shares a business lead, he will look for his cooperation. Of course, he said this to emphasize the importance of generating Business leads. And this set me thinking, do all the leads, qualify as confirmed sales prospects? The answer is “No”. Ideally speaking, influencing on the business lead that carries you to the proper kind of needy customer is more important than just the maturity of the contacts generated. So, I value lead selection to be a vital step in business generation. It should take towards the right customer, selling just the right thing, at the proper instant to make a perfect kill. The challenge is to sniff the right opportunity from among the best available options and placing yourself in a comfortable position much before your competition cements its own ground

As a business analyst and strategist, I get across certain facts that are classic rules one must follow for a perfect business win

·       Selecting the right target

Never select the lead based on the maturity of the contacts generated but evaluate your target (desired customer). Choice of the right target mainly depends upon its outsourcing health. With little effort of gathering market intelligence, certain parameters can easily indicate the same.

Cost cuts: Broadly speaking, outsourcing is a major means to defeat rising costs

Layoffs: Decreasing number of permanent employees and getting contractors in is another indicative for outsourcing requirement

Opening or Closing of certain businesses units: This may suggest for overall revamp target is undergoing, so not really the right time to pitch in

Strategic hints: In the Analysts meet, the top management is often heard suggesting the demand of new technological transformations to support business needs

·       Know everything possible about your target.

Company profile

Existing outsourcing landscape

Ideas about the outsourcing budget

Analyze the existing deals / vendor contracts

 Most important is to understand where does the target fits in the Value Chain of the clientele it is into

·        Seek proper Business Partner assistance

Help from Business Partners like deal sourcing advisors / product selling vendors who will help confirming your understanding and validating the target needs

·       Identify the needs

Sell what target needs and not what you wish to trade. One can quickly strike the right chords from the beginning of the engagement by promptly identifying the current business scenario. This should determine the correct pitch to address the client. For this, it is important to identify the underlying need for outsourcing. These may vary from:

Technology Transformation

Geo expansion

Mergers and Acquisitions and scores of many other reasons

·       Focus on relationship building

At the close of the day, always remember, you are not dealing with Rocket science. All the bidders are selling virtually the same thing. There are few differentiating but decisive parameters on which deals are sealed. It is important to build the relationship after selecting the lead and before entering into any possibility of replying to the proposal. The maturity of the lead plays a major role out here.

·       Track your competitors

Probe the comfort zones of your competitors. Examine areas such as:

Partnerships

Joint Ventures

Strategic interests

Awards

Analysts recognition

Leadership vision

Existing deal landscape

Delivery Support Model

CXO Movements

Participation in Industry organized events

·       Proposal writing

Lastly we arrive at “nail the coffin” factor, which is the Proposal writing. At times so much high focus is on writing proposal that above mentioned facts get neglected. We must prevent this to happen. The mantra for this section should be flexibility to adapt to sudden changes in requirement which client may suggest during the bid cycle. Most of the win loss analysis I have undergone, this seems to be the greatest stress factor sales folks undergo. A smart proposal writing includes certain important considerations :

Proposed Apps / Tools part of Technical Solution should be supported by the industry analyst firms like Forrester / Gartner / IDC

Value based pricing

Flexible and win and win proposal

Simple and to the point answers

Always reply proposals on time

A dedicated proposal writing team concentrating one proposal at a time

Quick approval process supporting the proposal

I would conclude the article with a cautionary annotation: DO NOT ANSWER, ALL THE PROPOSALS, there may be a trap J