India is the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and home to some of the most promising startups in the world. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to launch your own startup here.
If you have a great idea for a company but aren’t sure how to start or fund it, there are still plenty of options available to you as an aspiring entrepreneur. This guide will take you through all you need to know if you want to start your own startup in India.
There are several factors that play into launching a new business in any country, especially one as densely populated and complex as India.
In this blog post, we will cover all the necessary steps in starting a new startup in India.
Identify the problem and provide a Unique Solution
Problem
In order to start your startup in India, you must first Identify a burning problem that people have.
If you look around you’ll see that there are a lot of problems around us, your job is to find a problem that:
- Is a pain point for you
- You wished that there was a solution for it.
- You’re interested in solving
- Is a burning problem
- No one else has solved it or satisfied the customers yet.
Make a list of the problems you find and find the one(s) that intrigues you the most
Solution
After you’ve identified the problem, now is the time to find a solution for it.
Just like we asked you to identify a burning problem, the solution should be equally unique and compelling.
There probably is already a solution to the problem you want to solve through your product or service, but you might be able to improve upon it, make it faster, or perhaps cover other aspects of the problem.
Ex: There were so many companies delivering groceries to the doorstep but Zepto brought forward the USP of faster delivery.
Do not try to find a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.
Ex: Creating an app to connect plant parents might be fun, but it doesn’t address any pressing issues. They may or may not use it.
This brings us to the next point, your solution (product or service) should be a compulsion or a need and not just an option.
Conduct thorough Market research
Before starting a startup in India, it is really important that you conduct thorough market research as it will give you some insights into the demand, competition, market trends, consumer behavior, and pattern when it comes to your product or service.
Once you get an insight into the market, it will be easier for you to develop a product that is market ready and specific to the customer’s needs and expectations.
A few questions that you may focus on while conducting the market research are:
- Who is the ideal/potential customer? What kind of people would want to buy your product or pay for your service?
- What problems are they currently facing?
- How is our product solving their problem?
- Are these people the type of customers who are likely to become repeat customers? If so, why?
- Are there other businesses similar to yours that are currently operating in your market?
- What are these businesses doing well?
- What are these businesses doing poorly?
- What sets us apart from the competition? Is there an opportunity to create a competitive advantage here?
Build an MVP
Frank Robinson, the CEO of SyncDev, first introduced the term MVP, or minimum viable product in 2001, and Eric Ries popularised it in 2011 with the publication of his book The Lean Startup.
Creating an MVP implies launching a product with just its basic features in order to reach the market as soon as possible, with the least amount of risk (i.e., expense), and to subsequently gauge consumer reaction.
When planning to start a startup in India, an MVP is highly essential for obtaining customer feedback. As they are much less expensive to build and if the feedback isn’t great, you may change course or even scrap the idea altogether.
Furthermore, developing a working minimum viable product (MVP) for your startup is preferable to asking customers what kind of solution they would like, as customers are better at identifying problems than coming up with solutions.
Some of the benefits of building an MVP are:
- Focused vision
- Immediate launch
- Saves time and money
- Early product testing
- Gathering users feedback
- Market validation
- Target audience research
- Clean user interface
Formulate a Business Plan
It is essential to have a business plan before starting a startup in India that covers all the important elements of the company, such as goals, strategies, target market, financial information, marketing strategies, etc.
Since creating a business plan requires extensive preparation and research, it allows you to evaluate your business objectively.
Usually, a business plan includes the following components:
- An executive summary
- A company description
- Market research and Competitive analysis
- Product and/or service descriptions
- The operational and management structure
- Sales and marketing strategies
- Forecasts for the finances
Choose the ideal business model
The most critical part of starting a startup in India is having a well-designed business model.
A business model describes how a company expects to grow its sales, or more simply, how it expects to turn a profit from its products, services, and clientele.
Investors examine your business model to determine whether it is sustainable, profitable, and viable.
Here are a few business models to consider:
- Manufacturer business model
- Brick and mortar
- Bricks and clicks
- Freemium Business Model
- Peer-to-Peer Business Model
- Subscription-Based Model
- Direct Sales Business Model
- Razor and Blade Model
- User-Generated Content Business Model
- Hidden revenue business model
These business models are effective in attracting new customers and anticipating upcoming trends and challenges. Additionally, a well-conceived business model can help a company stand out from its competition.
Name Your Startup
When starting a startup, you should come up with names that are memorable, connote positive values, and convey the right message to your potential customers.
A brand name offers insight into your company’s mission and values. It does more than act as a means of business identification.
Things to keep in mind when naming your startup:
- It should be short and sweet
- It should be easy to spell
- It should be memorable
- Be sure to check the domain name
- It should be unique
- It should be appealing
Secure funding
Getting start-up funding is crucial to converting your million-dollar idea into an actual business.
Startup capital can be obtained from a variety of sources and applied to any project that advances the startup from an initial idea to a successful enterprise.
There are several ways to raise funds for your startup in India.
- Self-Funding / Bootstrapping
- Friends and Family
- Crowdfunding
- Venture Capitalists
- Angel Investors
- Incubators
- Loans / Credit Cards / Debt
Get company registration
The registration of the company is the first stage in launching a new business or startup. There are various kinds of company structures in India. The different business formats that can be found in India include the following:
- Private Limited Company
- Private Limited Company
- One Person Company
- Partnership firm
- Sole Proprietorship
- Limited liability Partnership
Depending on the scope of their operations, the amount of money invested, the number of employees, and the level of risk associated with the company, startups must select the ideal company type.
Get licenses and permits
Starting a startup in India requires obtaining a number of licenses and registrations.
Due to a lack of attention to these factors, some startups end up making grave legal mistakes.
Despite the temptation to get down to work turning your startup’s concept into a reality, founders must first consider their legal obligations.
Below is a list of some of the registrations and licenses required to start a startup business in India.
- GST Registration
- Trademark Registration
- ISO Certification
- Articles of Association/Incorporation
- Shareholder’s Agreement
- Bylaws
- Intellectual Property assignment agreements
- Founder’s agreement
- Website Terms and conditions
- Non-Disclosure Agreement
- Employees Contract
Register your startup under Startup India Program
The Startup India program is a prominent government of India initiative that was introduced on January 16, 2016, with the goal of fostering and assisting Indian start-ups by giving bank financing.
Several advantages of registering your startup with the Startup India program include:
- Tax Exemptions
- Financing support and encouragement
- Industry-Academia Collaboration and Incubation.
- Patent Protection
- Government Support
- Opportunities for networking
It’s vital to remember that there are criteria for a business to qualify for this program. Once the criteria are met and after registration is complete, a startup can enjoy the above-mentioned benefits of the program.
Secure the Intellectual properties
Any business, but especially startups, must protect its intellectual property (IP), as it is an intangible asset.
The property involving the work or creation of human intelligence is known as intellectual property. Any invention, whether scientific or technological, literary or artistic, graphical or other, can be considered a creation.
To safeguard intellectual property, the government provides a variety of rights known as Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are legal privileges granted to the inventor or creator to safeguard their work for a predetermined amount of time.
As part of IPR, there are three ways to safeguard intellectual property:
- Copyright
- Trademark
- Patent
Build a brand identity
Branding is the process of giving a company a distinctive identity so that customers can easily recognize the brand and use the products/ services of the company, choosing them over those of competitors.
The strategy calls for the creation of a name, a logo, and other design elements that can be used to quickly identify a business.
Many startup companies in India don’t understand the importance of branding and leap right into the operational processes. Building a brand identity from the ground up helps a business establish itself over time in the marketplace.
However, other factors like product quality, customer satisfaction, and even your pricing strategy affect the brand identity.
The essential components of branding are listed below:
- Defining the Brand Message, Values, and Vision
- Identifying the brand voice
- Choosing a Color palette and Fonts
- Creating Tagline and logo
- Designing the Website
- Selecting a domain name
Build a Dream Team
Many startup founders fail to understand the importance of building a team for their startup and believe that just because they produced a billion-dollar idea, the success of the business depends solely on them. However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
In truth, a startup’s success is heavily dependent on the team. Building up your team is essential for scaling and sustainability so that they not only work efficiently for your business but also collaborate well.
It is imperative to hire the right employee for a startup in India because the wrong hire could severely impact your startup, while the right one could propel it to success.
The following set of questions will help you in selecting the right candidate for your startup:
- Does this person have a positive approach?
- Is this person flexible and efficient?
- Is this person resourceful?
- Is this person in alignment with the core values, mission and vision of the company?
- Is this person self-aware?
- Is this person an action-taker?
- Does this person have any complementary skills?
Find the ideal Workspace
For entrepreneurs, finding an office space that meets their needs can be a significant challenge which is why coworking spaces are proving to be an ideal solution.
Co-working spaces offer a place to work and collaborate with other businesses, as well as access to resources that can help a business grow.
A few ways that coworking spaces are proving to be beneficial for startup businesses.
- Coworking spaces are more affordable than typical offices
- Coworking spaces offer flexibility in membership and work hours
- Coworking spaces offer opportunities for growth and learning
- Coworking spaces facilitate networking
Conclusion
Throughout this article, we have discussed everything you need to know, understand, and practice in order to start a startup in India.
We hope you find this article helpful. Feel free to share it with friends and family who are planning to start a startup in India.
If you have any questions, let us know by sending an email to info@execube.in
