The risks & challenges the startup companies face at the verge of starting up
A startup business is always at a high risk. Not even the big entrepreneurs could have avoided certain challenges that their growing business had faced at its infant stage. So it’s better to be prepared.
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In the world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” This quote from the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, clearly defines that he also had to take risks when his masterpiece was just a concept. This is still true from every inch that most of the startup companies are vulnerable to many issues from every aspect.
In India, the struggle period of an entrepreneur runs with this motto “failure is the pillar of success”. If a businessman’s life seems quite glamorous to you, then he or she must have worked hard to sustain in this constantly changing marketplace for years. As India relies too much on the FDI and outsourcing, a slight hit on the global economy harms the surface of the Indian marketplace easily. The blank truth behind the startup companies in India is that 90% of the startup organizations intend to fail. Why? It’s because they lack the potentiality to sustain in this volatile market.
In a country where almost every day a new company mushrooms up in the next alley, the market becomes highly saturated in every field. As per the economic survey of 2015-16, there were at least 19,000 tech startups till 2016, which has increased within this one year no doubt. If we add the startups in other fields like advertising, financial firms, audit sectors, private banks, hardware industries and FMCGs, the number will go on increasing.
According to the Small & Medium Enterprises Development Act or MSMED Act, 2006 which has set up certain rules for the small and startup businesses of India, enterprises are divided into two types, the manufacturing enterprises, and the service enterprises. The Act says that the manufacturing enterprises whose investment doesn’t exceed 25 Lakh INR are micro enterprises and whose investment are within 25 Lakh INR to 5 crore INR are small enterprises. In the service sector, the enterprises whose investment doesn’t exceed 10 Lakh INR are considered as micro enterprises and whose investment are within than 10 Lakh INR to 2 crore INR. Many entrepreneurs establish their organizations almost without any knowledge of the marketplace and competition and thus, fails immediately. In this scenario, facing challenges and taking up risks can only help a company survive. But what kind of challenges we are talking of here?
Competition
India is full of challenges for an entrepreneur, where to touch the ceiling, you have to aim for the sky. Competition is one of them. With 1.252 billion population and diverse cultures, the young business owners of India face competition hugely from other startup organizations with an aim of positioning as one of the best companies in the nation. Finding a niche market and distinguishing from everyone by providing exclusive product or service can actually save the startups from falling on the face.
Constantly Changing Environment
Indian market is always volatile that always goes through rapid changes in terms of technology and marketing strategy which creates huge pressure on a startup business. This can corner a startup company in India who is struggling to come up with these changes. The only doorway to reduce this risk is to upgrade the organization on a regular basis by keeping pace with the changing environment. To keep updated, the entrepreneurs need to evaluate their market positions, aims, and concepts.
New Product or Service Launch
If a startup business promotes a new product or service, grabbing the market is the first challenge they have to face as they have to convince the buyers for purchasing it. When the buyers have no idea of what they are going to buy, most of them going to bounce back. Convincing them and outdating the similar products with proper marketing strategy is the first step an entrepreneur should take.
