Lateral Sparks: Test your business creativity with Edition 8 of our quiz!
This fresh feature from YourStory tests and strengthens your business acumen! Here are 5 questions to kick off this eighth edition. Fire away!
This weekly quiz from YourStory tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see last week’s quiz here). In this eighth edition of the quiz, we present five issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.
What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Q1: The D2C boom
India is experiencing a boom in D2C (direct to consumer) brands. Broad growth of ecommerce and a large base of millennial users are two driving factors. What are the other key enablers of this D2C boom?
Q2: The subscription economy
The subscription economy is mushrooming, with a range of firms offering everything from retail to entertainment via subscriptions in order to improve retention. Indian users apparently have 4.8 subscriptions per head, which can be problematic to share and manage over time. So can this issue be fixed?
Q3: Reflection and improvement
Having a circle of supporters and like-minded people can be a valuable boost in one’s entrepreneurship journey or corporate career, especially during tough times. But if you stick only to similar people, you lose out an important source of growth. What is that source?
Q4: Pandemic pivot
Many design, apparel, and manufacturing companies pivoted during the pandemic to making masks and safety equipment. But if you are a company that offers deals and coupons for shoppers, what would you pivot to when retail and delivery were restricted during lockdowns?
Q5: Better sleep
Yoga and meditation help relieve stress and give better sleep. Healthy workouts and good eating habits help, as well as time with family or hobbies. But what’s another important but often-overlooked enabler of good sleep?
Answers!
Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning – and happy creating!
A1: The D2C boom
The D2C boom in India is also driven by growing aspirations of consumers, global exposure, ambitious entrepreneurs, and savvy investors. Kanwaljit Singh, Co-founder of Fireside Ventures, has a goal to build 25 iconic consumer brands over the next 15 years.
Its portfolio companies include Mamaearth, Bombay Shaving Company, boAt Lifestyle, and Vahdam Teas. Read more here. Ecommerce giant Flipkart is also providing support to emerging ‘Made in India’ brands.
A2: The subscription economy
Managing payments and identities across multiple places needs a seamless solution, according to Arvind Eashwar, Founder of Fleek. It gives the user sole control of all subscription services with ease and simplicity.
For example, subscribers who share Netflix can set up a recurring stream of payments through Fleek. It has raised $1 million in a seed round led by Axilor. Read more here.
A3: Reflection and improvement
One can achieve clarity by opening oneself up to diverse views, being questioned and challenged, and being willing to listening intrinsically, according to Vani Kola, Managing Director at Kalaari Capital.
“Don’t spend time with people who tell you everything is great. You learn more from people who disagree with you,” she says. Get more insights and tips from Vani here.
A4: Pandemic pivot
During the pandemic, discount coupon startup CashKaro smartly diversified into deals for online content offerings such as OTT, gaming, audiobooks, and e-learning. It partnered with BYJU'S, Udemy, Testbook, upGrad, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, RummyPassion, Gamezy, and others.
This eventually constituted up to 30 percent of the total revenue, according to Swati Bhargava, Co-founder of CashKaro. Read more here.
A5: Better sleep
“Many people suffer from sleeplessness, fatigue, etc., but are unable to relate this to using the wrong mattress,” explains Rakesh Malhotra, Founder, Livpure. During the pandemic, he pivoted from making purifiers to mattresses, pillows and bedsheets.
Sleep innovation has become a buzzword, but an estimated 65 percent of India’s mattress market is unorganised. Other D2C brands in the space include Wakefit, The Sleep Company, and SleepyCat. Read more about this remarkable opportunity here.
YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).
Edited by Teja Lele