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Choose an Industry or Location

If you want to start your business in India, the first thing that is expected of you to do is to choose an industry where you would want to build a business in. An entrepreneur has many concerns: funding, staffing, developing a marketing strategy and ensuring that they have a viable product or service. Before beginning the process of starting a business, however, there is one important decision that must be made: where to start the business. It is one of the most exciting and fundamental parts of starting a business. Don't choose an industry based on trends, statistics or some list of hot start-ups. Look in the mirror, focus on your strengths and weaknesses, your experience, whom you want to be and what you like to do-and start a business that reflects who you are and who you want to be. The best industries for starting a business is based on a range of research, interviews, and scouting reports. As most business owners eventually learn, it's not the person running the business, the marketing or the employees that make or break a company's success--it's the quality and profitability of the idea behind the company. When building a company, you want to work for long-term; the first decision to make is what market to attack. Opportunity cost is incredibly high, so it's important - no, critical - to select an industry ripe to support what you want to build. Before you start a business of your own, get some experience in the industry or profession that interests you-even if you work for free. Learn everything you can about every aspect of the business. If your plan is a plan to be presented to outsiders, then you need to explain the type of business you're in. You'll be expected to explain the general state of your industry and the nature of the business, especially if your plan is going outside your company to banks or investors. Everything in your industry that happens outside of your business will affect your company. The more you know about your industry, the more advantage and protection you will have. In recent years, the Indian startup ecosystem has really taken off and come into its own-driven by factors such as massive funding, consolidation activities, evolving technology and a burgeoning domestic market. A lot of startups in India have entered the industry either unearthing an entirely new market or through gaps in existing markets or product lines. India has been able to significantly increase its capacities to achieve self-sufficiency from an industrial point of view. Indian industrial sector has been forced to restructure itself and thus has become significantly modern than before. There is more focus on reducing costs of production and achieving the levels of technological competence that can help one stay globally relevant and deal with cut-throat competition. He feels that companies that were previously used to monopolising particular areas of business because of protective legislations will find it hard to survive in the new environment.

Conduct Your Feasibility Studies

The only way to determine if your ideas can potentially be profitable as a business and is worth pursuing further is to conduct feasibility studies. The purpose each entrepreneur should conduct a detailed feasibility assessment or study is to test if that business idea makes: Personal Sense, Business Sense, Market Sense, and Financial Sense.  Without looking at the personal aspect, business concept, the market, and the financials, as well as analyzing the data and information, an entrepreneur is likely not to be successful or not as successful as s/he would like to be. Additionally, without evaluating and planning for the business, the entrepreneur would have a difficult if not impossible time convincing others to invest in their idea.  Before you write a business plan and before you invest substantial time, money and resources into developing the idea into a business, you should conduct a feasibility analysis.

The following are the objectives of a feasibility study:

• To find out if a business idea can be transformed into a viable business venture:

          ...is it possible?

          ...is it justified?

• To suggest possible alternative solutions.
• To provide management with enough information to know:

         Whether the venture is possible

         Whether the final product will benefit its intended users

         What the alternatives are (so that a selection can be made in subsequent phases)

         Whether there is a preferred alternative

• To minimize the chances of embarking on an unprofitable business venture.
• To reduce losses.
• To be used to raise capital (source for funds) from financial institutions.

A feasibility study will tell you if the idea has potential, it will start to outline the financial requirements, market opportunities and challenges, and human and technological needs to successfully launch the business. Conducting a feasibility study will help you work out if your business idea has a good chance of success. Your feasibility study should cover technical viability, market viability and commercial viability. It should also include an overall assessment of risks and your strategies to minimise those risks. It's important to look critically and impartially at your business idea when determining whether or not it's worth investing your time and money. It can be difficult to remain impartial about an idea you're passionate about, so talk to a business advisor to get a qualified and objective perspective. In your feasibility study you should analyse your business idea, market and competitive advantage as well as the financial feasibility of the business. While there are no guarantees that your business will succeed, a feasibility study will help you determine whether your idea will make a profit before you make a financial commitment. Feasibility study will help you to determine the profitability of the business venture. It will help prove to the entrepreneur, venture capitalists, lenders and investors the existence of the market, the liquidity of the business ventures and the expected return on investment. Feasibility study will help you to determine the amount of capital required to start the business. It will also help you in establishing the budget plan, working capital and cash flow projections of the business. As an entrepreneur, after identifying a business idea/opportunity, introducing/development of a new product, the next phase in the development of an idea/product is to conduct a feasibility study to ascertain the viability of the business (venture) and obtaining useful information to plan and make decision on whether to go-on or not.

Create your Business Plan

A business plan is an essential roadmap for business success. A business plan provides direction, keeps you on track and is usually a requirement when you seek finance. A business plan is a formal grid map of all of your business goals, and plans on how to achieve them. Writing your business plan is not the end of your business planning process because business planning is a never ending process. Whether you're writing a business plan for the first time or the fifth time, it doesn't have to be hard. In fact, if you write a lean plan or a one-page pitch first, you may find you actually enjoy it. You can start creating your business plan with our free business plan template or with a sample business plan from your industry. Before you even start writing your business plan, you need to think about whom the audience is and what the goals of your plan are. Make sure you write your plan with your key audience in mind. Your business plan should cover the main points of your business, interest the reader, and show you have fully thought through the opportunity. The business plan is focused on explaining what the new company is going to do, how it is going to accomplish its goals, and-most importantly-why the founders are the right people to do the job. A start-up business plan also details the amount of money needed to get the business off the ground, and through the initial growth phases that will lead (hopefully!) to profitability. Although business plans vary in terms of length and scope, all successful business plans contain common elements. The plan should take into consideration your particular business and its environment. The primary value of your business plan will be to create a written outline that evaluates all aspects of the economic viability of your business venture including a description and analysis of your business prospects. We believe that preparing and maintaining a business plan is important for any business regardless of its size or nature. To make it easier here are some steps to planning a business:

• Plan a business that can grow with or without you
• Create a business that will be driven by your vision
• Plan a business that will constantly increase its customer's value
• Create a business that will be led by a strong team
• Plan a business that will be a good corporate citizen
• Create a business that will help you achieve your primary aim

 Writing a business plan is no doubt a hard task. But it's very essential, and it comes with lots of long-term benefits. The planning process forces you to understand more clearly what you want to achieve as well as how and when to take each step towards achieving it. For your business to be successful, it has to be strategically planned correctly from the very scratch. The truth is that without a good business plan in place, you are likely going to struggle to build a business from the scratch in India. Every business owner would want to outsmart their competitors. That is the reason why you need to draft a workable business plan that has unique business strategies.

Register your Business Name

Most entrepreneurs understand the importance of a business name to their branding. A business name, also known as a trading name, is simply a name or title under which a person, or other legal entity, trades. Your business name not only identifies you to your customers, but also allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors and enables your customers to make an emotional connection to your business and brand. For many businesses, the name is often the most valuable asset. As it is required in most countries of the world, you cannot legally operate a business in India without registering the business with the government. If you run a business that is not registered, there is a limit to the height the business can grow to. The most important reason to register your business name is because that's the law. Generally speaking, the public needs to know who is behind a company. Naming your business is an important branding exercise, but if you choose to name your business as anything other than your own personal name then you'll need to register it with the appropriate authorities. When setting up your business, if you choose to operate as a sole trader, partnership or a trust, and not as a company, then you will have to register your business name. Registering your company is what will finally give your start up a legal existence. Before registering it can be sole of proprietorship or a partnership but once you take decision to register, your company takes a life of its own and can be closed only by legal intervention. Here are some reasons for register your business name:

• Protection of personal Assets
• Pay less taxes
• Increased Durability
• Overall transparency at various levels
• The disposal of the whole or part of the business is easily arranged
• Separate Legal Entity from its owners. A company can sue or be sued on its own name

Basically there are four categories of company registration in India you will be required to choose from any of them when you want to register a new business in India. The categories are: Indian Company, Part 1 Company, Section 8 Company and Foreign Company. The various application forms are available for free download in the official website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India. It's necessary to get registered yourself to run your business without any legal problem. India is a land of opportunity, no matter in which field your business is operating the chances of getting success is very high, so it just needs a start.

Finance your Business

If you're planning on starting a business, chances are you'll need some form of capital, which simply refers to the money that finances your business. When you are just starting out, you're not at the point yet where a traditional lender or investor would be interested in you. So that leaves you with selling cherished assets, borrowing against your home, maxing out credit cards and asking loved ones for loans. The best place to begin is by looking in the mirror. Self-financing is the number-one form of financing used by most business startups. In addition, when you approach other financing sources such as bankers, venture capitalists or the government, they will want to know exactly how much of your own money you are putting into the venture. It's no secret that it is harder getting money through those avenues in the current financial climate. But just because it's a bit of a fight, doesn't mean your great idea isn't worth fighting for. Here are some of the ways you can finance your Business startup:

• Self Financing: One of the main problems in starting up your own business is in how to start off and then stay afloat financially. Self-financing your startup can be relatively easy, it can be an attractive option, and if you're in the position to get the needed funds from your own reserves, there are a variety of ways you can go about it.

• Use Your Home as Equity: If you are a homeowner with more than 15% home equity, which can be calculated using the equation: (home value - mortgage value) / (home value), you can potentially get a loan for your business based on the value of your home.

• Bank loans: Banks are an important part of the economy. Along with deposits and savings accounts, banks are also involved in lot of other activities to raise money. The entrepreneur offers any of his assets as a guarantee and takes a loan amount against it at a certain rate of interest and some pay back terms. A person can go for a business or personal loan from his bank.

• Crowd funding: Crowd funding is a relatively new and increasingly popular option people are using to fund business ideas. Many entrepreneurs have used the unique method of crowd sourcing to raise finances for their business. Most of the people take part in crowd funding for getting some rewards or benefits related to the product or service that the new business is going to offer.

• Look to partners or investors: The Business partners and investors can offer your business the much needed financial support while sharing the burden and responsibility of running the day to day business affairs. You would be surprised at how many local or retired business owners just want to give back to their community and can provide more than just capital but can open up many other doors to you and your business.

Many lenders will look for the four "C's of Lending" when evaluating a loan application:

Cash flow

Your ability to repay the cash you are borrowing. This is measured using the cash flow forecast that you created for your business plan.

Collateral

The value of assets that you are willing to pledge for assurance that you will repay your loan. A dollar amount will be placed on these assets and that will be compared to the amount of the loan you requested.

Commitment

 The amount of money that you're committing to your business. You can't expect to obtain a loan without contributing a fair share yourself.

Character

Your personal credit score and history with the financial institution. Your credit rating or score is calculated from your history of borrowing and repaying bank loans, credit cards, and personal lines of credit. Without a good credit rating, your loan prospects decrease significantly.

Make a Good Impression with Your Lenders

You can increase your chances of securing a loan by:

• Having strong management and staff
• Showing steady business growth potential
• Showing reliable projected cash flow
• Offering collateral
• Having a strong personal credit rating
• Always making your loan and interest payments on time, and never missing a payment

MARKET RESEARCH:

One of the most important steps before fully committing to the idea is to do market research. It is most important stage of the lean startup approach is market validation. The potential market for your products or services can be defined as the pool of consumers or businesses who would consider purchasing them. In other words, they have a need that your business might help them address. It is key to clearly define your market before endeavouring to conduct research. Market research will provide you with unbiased opinions of others so you have a good idea of how your product will likely do when it's available for sale. If there are other businesses competing for your market, think about what will make you different. It is important to be open-minded and adaptable when conducting market analysis as some of the feedback you hear may not be exactly what you were expecting and hoping for. You may feel attached to your business idea and wish to change nothing about it, but after conducting a survey maybe you find that customers are looking for a slightly different service or additional features. Market research, then, can prove invaluable in determining your idea's potential. You can gather information from industry associations, Web searches, periodicals, federal and state agencies, and so forth. A trip to the library or a few hours online can set you on your way to really understanding your market. Your aim is to gain a general sense of the type of customer your product or service will serve-or at least to being willing to find out through the research process. In order to take any business idea to the next stage it is essential to prove, using reliable information, that the idea is wanted or needed by the target market. Using biased participants to conduct primary research will not aid the launching of your product or service. Further to this, any business plan that is solely based upon figures resulting from biased primary research will almost certainly prevent a business from being successful. Despite this many entrepreneurs only undertake this minimal amount of market research. Market research for start-ups is essential. Understanding the needs and wants of your target market can be the difference between success and failure.

What can market research help your startup determine?

• Market Validation
• Market segmentation
• Strategic Business plan
• Target market prioritization
• Market planning
• Competitive analysis
• Price analysis
• Customer resonance
• Product development
• Trend identification
• Media landscape

Market research shouldn't only be carried out at the beginning of a business venture. There are all sorts of other points in the business process where a business owner should be undertaking research, from developing a new product or service and bringing something new into their product portfolio to finding out how they can deal with legislative change and increasing the price of their product or service.  Whatever sector you're in, understanding the cultural, social and economic context in which you're trading is crucial. You'll need to know about the local area, what your competition is, and what people will be prepared to pay for your product or service. When a product or service can satisfy a need or a want in the target market the business plan pitch becomes far more valid and reliable; one factor that will attract investors time and time again.

Build a Professional Website

Modern consumers expect brands to be online, and without a Web presence, you're losing a valuable opportunity to make a good impression and gain those customers' business. The average Indians are internet savvy, so if you intend starting a business in India, you must ensure that you open a professional website for the business. When you have a professional website for your business, it makes it easier for people searching online for businesses to locate your businesses. Having a well-designed website can also be an effective way to market your business and compete with larger brands in your industry. A business website generally serves as a space to provide general information about your company or a direct platform for e-commerce. A website is more environmental friendly when it comes to advertising and marketing. There are lots of ways to advertise your products or services through the internet. Having a good SEO service provider can boost the ranking of your website which quickly results in increased sales and higher profits. Smart business owners create a blog page for their company. Having a blog to post fresh content will keep your website attractive and fresh. Having a website can build better relationships with your customers. You can send messages instantly to your customers through email. Also, your customers can review your products online and can also leave feedback for you and your business. A website gives you the opportunity to prove your credibility. You have to tell your customers why you deserve their trust through your website. You can include the date your company was formed, some pictures, achievements and important milestones.

Some Advantages of Creating a Website for Your Business:

• A website provides your company history
• A website can be viewed at leisure
• A website can cross geographical boundaries
• A website can attract new suppliers
• A Website help you leverage web services for streamlining data transfer to and from your organization
• Greater possibilities for promoting your business portfolio
• 24/7 availability
• Giving new contacts an easy way to learn more about you
• Providing a place for all the information you need to answer prospects' questions
• Making your company look professional and established, while extending your brand
• Enabling you to hit the business goal you're reaching for

Having a website for your business is not just an advantage; it's an essential way to protect your business brand online. A website is not very difficult or costly to create, and you will probably be able to manage the whole site yourself. You may need some help from a professional designer who can update the site from time to time - or teach you to do it. Running a website takes lots of dedication and hard work. To really get the benefits of a website for your business, your site will need to serve as a professional online presence that conveys your credibility, showcases your solutions, and makes it easy for people to contact you. Additionally, it should be optimized so that people can actually find it when they search online. Your website is a powerful marketing tool. A well maintained website can help Benefits of Website you gain a competitive advantage in your industry and improve your business image. Developing your web site offers many benefits including helping you get more leads and prospects, increase sales, enhance your professional "brand," and improve your customer service.