Entrepreneurship, technology, impact: test your business creativity with Edition 61 of our quiz!
This insightful feature from YourStory tests and strengthens your business acumen! Here are 5 questions to kick off this 61st quiz. Ready?
Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 61st edition of the quiz, we present 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 and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?
Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 340 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.
Q1: Surgical assistance
Maintaining accuracy during operations is a key concern for surgeons, and hospitals need such skills at scale as well. Some types of surgeries are fairly routine and common. How can technology assist in such situations, and in what ways?
Q2: Speed and scale for video
The growth of video content for ecommerce is a major trend driving online retail, and digital gaming is witnessing a significant boom as well. What technology can scale up the use of such media, and how will it affect other sectors as well?
Q3: The first step
Finding a problem worth solving is the first step for an aspiring entrepreneur. The solution must also resonate with needs of other potential customers. But there is more to the launch of a startup than the problem focus – what else is key at this stage?
Q4: Business success
Business success can be measured in terms of sustainable profits and customer satisfaction. Uniqueness of the brand and investor interest are other measures. But there are other success factors beyond financial metrics: where else does success lie?
Q5: Funding sources
Impact investment and government support are key to ensure that the social sector is thriving and environmental targets are met. Development agencies also play a major role here. What’s another important source of funding to ensure social and environmental goals are met?
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: Surgical assistance
“The progress of motion control technologies has enabled surgical-assistance robots to become more precise. Such robots are assisting surgeons and doctors to achieve high levels of accuracy and speed while performing complex surgical procedures with computer vision-capable and AI-enabled technologies,” explains Vineet Aggarwal.
“Robotics is also being used in labs and hospitals for repetitive tasks, rehabilitation, and physical therapy and to support patients with long-term conditions,” he adds. Read more here about how robots are also being pre-programmed to carry out common orthopaedic surgeries.
A2: Speed and scale for video
“With 5G pushing consumption of video content, live commerce will become more frequent, and ecommerce platforms will be hosting more such sessions during the festive season and business-as-usual periods,” predicts Amit Relan, Co-Founder of mFilterIt.
“There is a consensus among the 5G community that cloud gaming is an immediate opportunity for consumers in the 5G era,” he adds. Read more about 5G impacts on influencer activity here.
A3: The first step
“To get into any business, it is very important for you to like that business, know about it, and have some passion for it. Otherwise, it becomes very difficult for a first-generation businessperson,” explains Ashish Anthony, Co-founder of pet-care startup JUSTDOGS.
When he was leaving his corporate job, Ashish mulled over what to do next in terms of launching his own venture. He chose what he was good at, for which there also was a market gap: choices in pet products. Read more here about the founder journey in the space of pet food and accessories.
A4: Business success
“The kind of impact that the women entrepreneurs from the hinterland have had in creating jobs, training, and livelihood for other women in their region show that success of a business isn’t just in the financial numbers as we are often made to believe,” explains Vishwajyoti Ghosh, co-author of ‘WE Mean Business – 20 Women Entrepreneurs, 20 Stories’.
Businesses have broader impact on the communities and environment in which they are located. The broader social and environmental ripple effects of businesses, particularly social enterprises, should also be considered. Read more from the stories of 20 entrepreneurs here.
[Year in Review 2021] How women entrepreneurs pivoted during the pandemic and saw tangible results
A5: Funding sources
“CSR will play a key role in India meeting sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2070,” explains Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.
“The cohort of senior and young tech entrepreneurs holds the potential to play a crucial role in meeting the country’s social sector fund requirement,” he adds. Read more about the importance of altruism and philanthropy 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).