September 2022 - Page 7 of 9

Sound is a Sound Reason for Business Success! How to Get Rich in Any Business?

It sounds good:

I know you do some relaxation exercise or reading some magazines in your drawing room leisurely. You hear a number of sounds that come from the street outside. Some are attractive while some distract attention! You like it or not, you need to hear all these noises.

Nutty business:

Now also you here a bell-ring sounds differently, with a unique musical rapidity.

You know, it is a special sound coming from a hot selling item on the street: It is the peanuts! Some call it groundnuts too!

This ringing noise is coming from the street and that too you know it is from a peanut seller pushing his handcart. The steel spatula generates the sound by hitting on the rims of an iron Chinese woke.

Sound Attraction:

He has a small stove burning, which heats the sand filled Chinese woke for hot dry frying the peanuts. He pushes the cart, shouts loudly with his special voice and makes the sound just by hitting the rims of the iron woke.

Interesting Musical Note:

By this, a peanut seller informs that he passes on the road; he sells hot fried tasty groundnuts; this shows that he is closer to you on the street; further alerted by the sound that may leave at any time.

Desire with Flavor:

Now the spatula makes a different sound by turning and frying the nuts. It is also unique and your nose is sharper to inhale the flavor of the hot frying of the nuts in the sand bath. Aha, you want to taste it instantly.

Act Fast to Taste the Nuts:

You are just calling your maidservant to go and get it immediately as the peanut merchant may leave at any time. She bought it; you got it! You simply admire at the taste of round bold hot peanuts.

Now, on the business side, let us find what has happened and perceived in this groundnut selling process.

Small Mobile Shop:

The pushcart is a small shop of 6 feet by 3 feet by size drawn on the road. On one side, it is true that the cart is a small retail shop. On the other side, one can expand the business to the size of the world, as much as one can draw the cart.

That is to say, the cart moves to the nook and corner of the city or the village. The business can be expandable with the capacity of the drawing retailer. Naturally, he will get more business with more area and more people.

Further, the process shows the following steps in selling process.

Attention:

The sound is the key factor that initiates the business. If the cart moves on the street with out making any sound, then it would have gone with out the notice of the potential customers residing in the houses. The vocal sound of the street vendor with the noises generated from the hit tings on the Chinese woke is the prime factor that introduces the shopkeeper on the street.

Interest:

The unique noise that emanated from the spatula while frying creates further more interest for the insider.

Desire:

The unique smell of the frying groundnuts brings in desire to the potential buyer.

Action:

Then it is over as the potential buyer moves out, goes near the seller and makes the buying process. The retailer finds the requirements of the purchaser and completes the process of delivering and collecting the sale proceeds.

The students of business management science are learning about the salesperson’s success techniques. The above said example of selling of peanuts is a very simple and true selling process. Of course, the peanut seller knows or not, this has built in scientific sales process!

We call it “AIDA principle”, comprising of the following.

1. Attention is drawing customer’s awareness.

2. Interest is increasing curiosity for the customer.

3. Desire is creating crave by exhibiting more characters and creative visualization.

4. Action is pressing for customers’ accomplishment for completing the sale.

Sound is a Key to Business:

Besides, we learnt that sound is a key factor in bringing business here. You hear the bell ring sound from churches and temples and sacred voice from the mosques. They draw the attention of the people and invite them for the prayer.

The bakeries and roadside fast food counters use radios and speakers to pull the crowd. The street circus player makes sound with drums. Different kind of ring tones are used for different commodities like ice creams soft cotton candies etc. With a threadbare analysis of this sound subject, we can understand that it has unique role in very many ideal businesses.

Hence, sound is a sound business idea to bring more customers into our business.

AIDA is more scientific method of selling anything on earth!

Similarly, there is more number of customer pulling tools.

We shall see them next.

How To Get Emergency Business Loans

Have a business idea and want to see it come to reality as quickly as possible? Then, you are right in need of Emergency Business loans. Running out of time on execution and can’t wait for regular verifications, sanctions, etc. for a business loan are some of the reasons why you end up taking emergency funds for your business. There may be any other form of emergency in your company like underestimation of a project’s budget overestimating its profit, losing a client etc.

Facts about Emergency loans for your Business

Availing an Emergency business loan does not affect your credit score, but while applying your personal guarantee is a must. Approval of emergency business loans hardly takes a day. After approval the transfer of funds happens within 1-8 business days. Unlike bank loans your credit history is not desired when you are applying for Emergency business loans. There is a threshold revenue that a business is to have, to avail an emergency loan for his/her business. Even though credit scores are not required they sometimes require a complete history of the business within the past year or some specified time period.

Alternatives

Sometimes emergency business loans might come with a higher rate of interests on the business loans as compared to the loans offered by a bank. This may lead you to search for other options for getting money for establishing your business or keeping it alive or in case of any other emergency.

Two of these many alternatives include:

· Line of Credit

If you happen to know the bank well, which handles your business account or you have a good relationship with them, then you can ask for a line of credit. Even though this is not an immediate approval of loan, it may turn out to be useful for funding your businesses future emergencies at a lower interest rates than those offered by emergency business loan providers.

· Friends or family

Even though people think lending money from your close friends or relatives ruin the bonds of relationship, it is advisable to ask for funds from them if all other options are ruled out and you know that the problem can definitely be solved with very little risk. These may be tricky to get but once you receive the funds, then repayment is something that can be adjusted at times.

It is a known fact that emergency money lenders are definitely going to charge a high rate of interest when no one else is willing to provide a business loan in such emergencies. And this is something you don’t want to have at the moment when your business might already be struggling for its survival. Go for this only when you are confident enough that with this loan your business will flourish and it will generate enough revenue to repay the lender on time.

If your company is tough and has a solid history to give to the moneylenders then obtaining an emergency loan won’t be as difficult as it would have been otherwise. Once you receive the funds, all you need to do is work hard and repay it in time

Types of Business Licenses and Permits

The last thing you want to find out after starting your business is that you have failed to conform to the law by not filing for the right permits for your business. Before establishing a small business, you should pay attention to your town, city, and county regulations. In most locations, every business needs a basic license which is sometimes called a tax registration certificate. Apart from this, other permits and licenses may be required as well.

Business licenses and permits are issued at all levels of government – federal, state and local (city, county, or town). Depending upon the kind of business you are running, you may need to apply for licenses at multiple levels. For example, if you decide to open a restaurant in the city of San Francisco, you will need a business license and health permit from the city of San Francisco, sales tax license from the state of California and a federal tax ID number from the U.S. federal government.

Not sure what kind of license or permit you need for your business venture? Well, as usual, we’ve made it simple for you. Below is a quick checklist covering the most common federal, state, and local licenses and permits you may need to acquire before commencing business:

Business License – This is the basic license that you will need to operate a business legally. If the business is located within city limits, a license must be obtained from the city; if outside, it is procured from the county. Contact your city’s business license department to file an application. Also remember that you need to pay an annual fee.

Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) – Also known as a tax identification number, this is required for almost all types of businesses. Depending on where your business is located, you may also need to acquire a similar tax identification number from your state.

Zoning and Land Use Permits – Before you start your business, you have to find out if the space you are going to use is properly zoned for the kind of usage that is planned. You may need a zoning compliance permit. Zoning laws regulate off-street parking, waste disposal, and the size, construction and placement of signs.

Health Department Permits – If your business involves the preparation and/or sale of food, you will need a county health department permit. Note that the health department will inspect your facilities before issuing one.

Sales Tax License – This license is essential before you can sell almost any product or service in any state.

Fire Department Permits – Businesses such as restaurants, day-care centers or any other that attract a large crowd need a permit from the fire department.

Special State-Issued Business Licenses or Permits – You may need special licenses if your business involves the sale of certain types of products including liquor, lottery tickets, gasoline and firearms.

Special State-Issued Occupational / Professional Licenses – In many states, people in certain occupations must have licenses or occupational permits. State licensing is typically required for auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians, building contractors, collection agents, insurance agents, real estate brokers, repossessors and personal service providers (beauticians, cosmetologists, therapists and masseurs). If you are thinking of starting any of these businesses, you will have to pass state examinations in order to get the permit. Contact your state government offices to get a complete list of occupations that require licensing.

Special Federal Business Licenses or Permits – You may also require special business licenses from the federal government if your business involves investment advising, drug manufacturing, preparation of meat products, broadcasting, manufacturing tobacco, alcohol or firearms.

Licensing and permit requirements for small businesses vary from state to state; it is therefore a good idea for you to contact your state and local government to determine the specific obligations for your new business.

Steps to Successful Exporting

We all want to expand our business to new heights. By overcoming or conquering the local or domestic market the focus shifts to the international market. Almost every businessman at some or other point dream of expanding the venture to international market but only a few of them actually work on it. Most of them are scared of the loss or the charges and expenditure required for an easy export. A successful businessman is not afraid of the outcome but he focuses more on the quality of the product which will eventually lead him to success. Here are some tips for you to successful exporting:

1. Find connections:

This is the foremost thing to do. Good connections and relations help you to build a good ground for overseas business. Some people even choose to tie up with foreign based entrepreneurs as they have more knowledge about the local buyers and their mindset. Yes, this includes few possible risks but a good research will help you through.

2. Travel:

In order to learn about the market, people and culture you will need to travel the country once. Relations cannot be superficially built over the phone. You will need to research, find contacts and discuss your ideas with them in a formal business meeting. Attend trade shows or any such symposium which can help you with your venture.

3. Advertise:

Advertising is the prime factor behind every successful venture. Advertise in a way which connects to the mass audience. Find out the loopholes, the mindset of people, culture and weave them together to yield a promising advertising and marketing strategy. Half of the battle is won by convincing the customers by proper advertisements. With the internet and social media the things are more promising today. You can create websites, helpline, mail support and advertise your venture on social media platforms for an affordable fees. Your main aim should be to target the right audience.

4. Get help:

Apart from building up contacts, focus on building up an efficient staff. It is not a one way but a collective game. Success is dependent on a lot of factors with unity being the utmost. Group activities fetch more benefits than alone. Ask your staff about their ideas, suggestions in making this fruitful, appreciate them and take their suggestions into account. Often great ideas or suggestions come from the staff members which we avoid listening to.

Moreover, work on the quality of the product. These things come second to the integrity of your venture and the product. Do not compromise with it. With good quality comes impeccable confidence and with confidence everything is possible. Focus and work smartly.

Why Advertising is Important For Your Business

Businesses exist to sell products and services to the public for a profit. If the public does not know that your business exists, finding customers to make enough purchases for your business to survive will be a failure without some additional help. It is an important factor in business because it gets the word out about your company and establishes a presence and a brand about what you are offering.

One of the best ways to advertise is by word of mouth, also known as referral marketing or referral advertising. When other people hear good things about your business or they have a positive experience shopping with your business, they become walking billboards for your business without you having to spend additional money on ads to create it.

Advertising locally through newspapers and fliers as well as billboards can be an effective source of it when your business is up-and-coming, but expanding your advertising sources becomes important as you grow. You can extend your advertising approach out to television commercials as well as radio in order to reach wider audiences, but the revenue from your business should be able to pay for it costs for these methods to bring you the value you are looking for.

Creating an assortment of advertising and marketing techniques will help you to reach many different customer bases. Identifying a target market to advertise your business to is also very valuable, because a target market of customers will be more interested in your business than trying to appeal to masses of people with varying interests. Making sure that enough people know that you exist who are naturally interested in your product as a target is a great way to bring in customers and increase the profit of your business.

Creating an impulse in potential customers to purchase your product is very important when it comes to advertising. It can be easy to create it that puts your customer in a mindset not to purchase your product, either by unintentionally avoiding the sale of your product by focusing on information or topics that draw attention away from your product. Be sure to study the needs of your target market to get the best results.

First Step to Successful Entrepreneurship: 12 Ways to Cut Off High Business Startup Loans

When it comes to startups, the common problem that most entrepreneurs face today is the money to start a business. Being an entrepreneur is not easy, you have to take risks and move forward with optimism psychology. You need to think of ways by which you can obtain maximum output with minimum input. Well, that’s the basic rule of the business and widely followed by entrepreneurs all over the world. You need to be creative in what you do and innovative in your decisions. Few opt for business start up loans while few look for different alternatives. Bright ideas make a better future and some good initiatives can lead a foundation for you to become a successful entrepreneur. If money is scarce, that does not mean that you put your dream on hold, you always have better options to look forward. So, here are some creative ways to finance your business.

Steps to a Better future

• Sell your product to raise money – Well if you resale your product and find a suitable buyer, then you can raise funds for your business in an effective manner. No doubt there are many successful entrepreneurs all around the globes who started this way and once they complete their target, they expand their business with funds they collect.

• Support from family and friends – It is the traditional way and the most effective way in this contemporary world. You can convince your friends and family to invest or provide small business startup loan which may help you to implement your ideas better without any pressure. This way is much better than taking loans from any other alternative.

• Double Dipping – You can always start a side business to raise funds for your business startup. In this way you will not be under any kind of debt and burden and thus it is the safest way to start the business.

• Selling stuff – Well, sometimes it’s hard to sell out your stuff, but as Jarod Kintz said “Instead of burning the midnight oil, you should try to sell it”. Sometimes you have to compromise to achieve success. You can make good money out of it.

• Credit card – You can use a credit card to finance your money. This is an easy way, but it involves risk. If something goes wrong, then the interest rate goes up at a very high rate.

• Angel investors – It is one of the recommended methods and many leading companies like Google and Yahoo have used it. Angel investors give you the required amount to start up the business. You get a friendly environment and moreover a better and quicker way to deal with business.

• Microloans – You can lookout for various firms providing small loans for the young entrepreneurs. These firms are generally better than taking business startup loan from a bank.

• Get new order and deliver – There are a number of entrepreneurs who receive the order from the customer, but they are not able to supply due to lack of money for the production. There are some companies who provide loan in this scenario. With this you will be able to raise funds for your startup in a better way.

• Real estate – This is one investment which provides greater output if done after a research. Before investing your money, always do a little work to find out the current rates etc and do the right thing. With this you can raise money successfully without complications.

• Cut out liabilities – Well, it’s another creative way to earn good money. For example, you can rent your home for some time and raise a good amount of money by doing that. Many entrepreneurs have employed this way and were successful to earn enough money to start their business.

• Crowdfunding – It is a very popular way among entrepreneurs. In this you can make a good use of internet by finding people having similar thoughts on investing with small amounts. Collectively, these small amounts on adding up will provide you with a better alternative to startup your business.

• Financing by vendors – This is very helpful to obtain the material to sell your product. The manufacturers do not take any payment from you till your product is sold. In this way you get a better extension to sell your goods much efficiently.

After reading these 12 ideas, you must be very confident about your startup. But remember that things aren’t that easy as they seems. You need to work harder to achieve the best out of it. Moreover, just by visualizing ideas in your mind you won’t be able to implement them practically. You must be able to adapt according to the situations and work practically to achieve the requisite aim. Risk is always involved for young entrepreneurs, but that does not mean that you can’t do it. Overcome your fear and be creative and innovative and always ask yourself that do I have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur?

The MBA Who Sold Vada Pav’s to India – Dheeraj Gupta

We live in a country where our future professions are decided based on our highest education. So, if you studied engineering, it is assumed you would be making software. If you studied hotel management, you would be an hotelier and if you did an MBA, it is believed you would be working at a managerial position in a multinational corporation. But, Dheeraj Gupta was going to break these stereotypes.

Gupta at first wanted to brand Indian Mithai’s overseas. The idea flopped miserably and he learnt a harsh and expensive lesson. Although, his parents had offered to support him through it but he took a loan instead. He tried turning the business around for 2 years but it just did not pick up. He ended up bleeding Rs. 50 Lakhs in the process and decided to go back to the drawing board and rethink. All the research he undertook for the sweets business came in handy, wherein he had read and learnt about how giant corporations like McDonalds and Subway focused on a single product. He chose to take the same route.

He shortlisted to take a product, which is the staple food for every Mumbaikar and is very popular in the city. With hundreds of sellers, the market was huge but unorganized. He saw this opportunity and decided to set up shop outside Malad Railway Station. He hired four employees and started sourcing patty from a local vendor. He would fry it at the shop and maintain high levels of hygiene as the staff would wear gloves and the Vada Pav’s were neatly wrapped just like burgers. Also, the product was 20% bigger than those of the other sellers. Hence, the name Jumbo King emerged. It was witty and catchy and it clicked instantly with the masses.

On the very first day, Gupta’s venture made a profit of Rs. 5,000. The word spread and Jumbo King’s Vada Pav’s soon became a rage. At first, they focused on just one kind of Vada Pav and the turnover touched Rs. 40 Lakh in the first year. Gupta managed to repay the debt of his earlier venture. In 2003, he opened his second outlet in Kandivali and in 2005, five more outlets. In 2006, he expanded to Surat but soon shut the outlet down as it was not feasible to transport the patties and quality would be compromised too.

In 2007, Gupta met a manufacturer who would help him freeze the patty at -18 degree and hence was just the solution he needed. He started expansion by means of franchising and by 2009 had 38 outlets. Ever since, they have been growing rampantly. Currently, Jumbo King is present in 12 cities and has over 65 outlets. Till date, they have sold more than 100 Million Vada Pav’s in the country. They intend to set up more than 500 outlets in the coming years. The predicted turnover for the brand this year is more than Rs. 45 Crore. From being told by his batchmates that he was competing with roadside vendors for a living to being the called the “King” of Vada Pav, Gupta has come a long way. The line that keeps him motivated is “Success comes to those who believe in it the most, and believe in it the longest.”

If you too have entrepreneurial dreams or wish to have a venture like the ones listed above, you need to have faith in your Chatur Idea. You will always wonder who will fund this idea and from where will you find investors. In that case, you can participate in the #BeAChatur Contest and not only be mentored, but also stand a chance to win a whopping Rs.10 Lac funding for your dream startup idea.

Starting Your Business: Avoiding the "Me Incorporated" Syndrome

Many people who want to start a business have similar reasons for their ambitions. Typically, they are seeking autonomy from an employer, freedom, or control over their own destiny, which also means that they can determine their own income, work schedule, job duties, and career trajectory. However, upon launching a business, it becomes immediately apparent as to why many entrepreneurs describe their position as that of “chief cook and bottle washer.” This is another way of saying–in the absence of anyone else to address all of the major and minor tasks that must be accomplished to run the business–it is the entrepreneur who him or herself, must do everything.

Sweeping the floors, taking out the trash, wiping counters, answering phones, taking care of customers, packaging, shipping, invoicing, receiving, repairs, handling the bookkeeping, marketing: performing these tasks as well as anything else that must be done, is all in a day’s work for the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur becomes a jack of all trades and also falls into a trap. This scenario bodes well for a prediction: The business will never grow. This is because at the onset–when the entrepreneur’s imagination should have been running wild with “blue sky” possibilities surging through his or her head–there was only one overarching compulsion, which was to rush forward and print the title “President” on the entrepreneur’s new business cards. The entrepreneur was already afflicted with the “Me Incorporated” syndrome.

The job description above also explains why some displaced corporate executives who start businesses are completely unprepared for their new roles as business owners. Now they have to do everything; but, they were trained as specialists who operated in silos. They never had to clean the toilet or polish the brass handrails at “Behemoth Worldwide.” Their jobs there did not prepare them for survival in the “mean streets of Entrepreneur Town.” They can’t deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty that surrounds entrepreneurs, who must create their own destiny and fly without a manual. Their jobs were about keeping their mouths shut, fitting in, and saying, “Yes, boss–that’s a great idea [which you stole from me, you wheezing, blundering, conniving, drooling…idiot].”

Lest I go on into a full fledged rant about oversized corporations and the drone-like behavior that they seem to thrive on (not to mention ethical breaches and other shenanigans), let me stop right here and get back to the primary theme of this article. Suffice it to say that you want to start your own business, and you have your own reasons.

Given that I have explained the outcome of the “Me Incorporated” syndrome, it would be appropriate for me to discuss cause and effect, so that the affliction can be avoided. Let’s start with how you should think about your business in the beginning. Now hang in there with me folks, I’m going to be talking about imagination, crayons, scissors and paste, and being considered just a bit on the edge for a few moments.

Prior to starting a business, there are no restrictions as to the thoughts that you are entitled to have. When you are in the planning stages, it’s no time to squelch anything that pops into your head. There will be plenty of time for you to confront impediments after you start the business. Feel free to doodle, draw, color, paint, cut out shapes, and assemble anything that you wish. Draw other people a picture that’s clear as a bell and show them what you are made of. It’s your vision. Make it big and bold, and throw in a dash of pure crazy colored sugary sprinkles. Many phenomenally successful inventions were created by people who were proven to be geniuses instead of lunatics, only that was after they became successful.

As an example, let’s suppose that you imagined, instead of one sandwich shop, starting a chain of sandwich shops throughout a city. These shops could benefit from efficiencies of scale. Did you know that anything that you have printed, such as napkins, menus, cups, and sandwich wrappers in this instance, is cheaper in larger quantities? If you print 1000 of something, for a few dollars more, you could probably have printed 2500. Most things are “cheaper by the dozen.”

A few other examples of efficiencies are well worth mentioning here, so that your imagination becomes fully engaged. I once serviced a group of franchised business owners who wanted to collaborate and purchase advertising, acting together, instead of separately. First, I helped them write a cooperative agreement. You should know that even though they each provided the same services, realistically, customers would do business with the franchise owner whose store was closest. In other words, customers who were located downtown did business with the downtown store; customers who were located on the east side of town did business with that store, and so on. Technically, these stores competed with one another, but not really.

The store owners purchased a large advertisement in the yellow phone directory, and they split it up so that they had plenty of room to promote not only their individual locations, but also their brand name, and the features and benefits associated with their services. Any given single location could not have afforded to get all of that across; acting as a group of stores, they could.

The majority of all advertising is local advertising. Mom and pop companies advertise to consumers in their own respective market areas. Your single sandwich shop, acting all by itself, just about definitely cannot afford television advertising. However, with five or ten stores in a city, a chain of sandwich shops probably can. TV might be a great medium for featuring the satisfied faces of customers who are consuming your delectable culinary creations–if only your vision had called for that. Purchasing supplies, advertising, food, and anything else can probably be accomplished more efficiently when you are acting on behalf of several stores.

Let’s talk about personnel, too. Instead of rushing to become President, you should think about becoming CEO. In that role, your job is to be the visionary, and the team builder. “What are the qualifications for becoming a successful store manager?” is the question you should be asking. In case you haven’t followed my leap of reasoning–you need ten such store managers in our hypothetical scenario. You are the CEO, remember? Your role is to hire and motivate, compensate, and grow the overall enterprise. Your primary responsibilities are to plan, to confer with other team leaders, take the pulse of the markets in which you operate, understand the economy, and to fulfill the unmet needs of customers. As an entrepreneur, by definition, fulfilling unmet needs is what you are in business to do.

“Where do I get the money?” you may ask. Did you ever think about the fact that you can “sell” the notion of a bigger return on investment more effectively when you are wielding a more imaginative, stronger plan? Many small businesses, afflicted by the “Me Incorporated” syndrome as they are, will do nothing more than struggle and exhaust their owners, who are doing too much, for too long, for too little. Eventually, both the businesses, and the owners will submerge beneath the waters of insolvency and sink to the bottom of the entrepreneurial sea–or they will be eaten alive by larger, better adapted predators.

It is just as easy to say, “All I need is nine-hundred-and-seventy-three thousand dollars to underwrite the opening of ten highly competitive, efficiently run, strongly promoted, professionally managed sandwich stores” as it is to say, “Mom, dad, I was hoping that you could lend me two-thousand bucks for first and last month’s rent on a ‘sandwish’ shop.” No, it’s not a typo. I meant to say “sandwish” shop, because that’s what it is. It’s an uncertain proposal on the part of an unimaginative would-be entrepreneur, who has already demonstrated a lack of foresight or an ability to think beyond him or herself. It’s one thing to bootstrap a business startup, but it’s another thing altogether to proceed without any of your creative juices flowing. If you think “me, me, me,” all of the time, then you won’t think about sharing the work, sharing the profits, or building a team.

No, you’ll do it all yourself. No thanks to all of the other people who have let you down. There’s nobody who can make a “sandwish,” any better than you can. Nor can they run the cash register, accept a delivery, or do anything else as well as you can. “Oh, baby, baby, you are the best!”

To avoid the “Me Incorporated” syndrome, you need to create strategic and tactical plans representing your solutions for recruiting, hiring, training, developing, compensating, and retaining personnel. You need to have external resources lined up to accomplish what is not done in-house. You need a detailed marketing plan, to include the product, pricing, publicity, advertising, facilities, delivery, and customer satisfaction processes that you will utilize. Similarly, you need a financial plan, an operations plan, a technology plan, and contingency plans to manage business interruptions and risk. Whatever you were planning to write down, just add zeros, because that’s what it costs to start a real business and run it right, so that everyone gets their money back, along with a profit.

You will probably not have time to do all of this planning after you are overwhelmed with the responsibilities of handling every aspect of running your business all by yourself. It will be too late by then, for you will already be trapped in a quagmire.

Before you take the entrepreneurial plunge, decide what kind of business you want to create. If you ask for something bigger, and justify it, you may just have a chance of making it happen. What’s the alternative? You’ll be in charge of your own tiny little fiefdom, never knowing how things could have been, if you had only thought a little longer, a little harder, a little bigger, and a little less about how you could do every little thing all by yourself, either scheming to keep all of the profits, or avoiding reality thinking that you could wing it forever.

Put that “sandwish” down and think beyond what you can do yourself, and focus on what you can imagine. The transcontinental railroad that spans the United States was built one railroad tie at a time, but it was always the plan to connect the East Coast, with the West Coast (and a larger part of this vision was to connect the East Coast with goods shipped by merchants from places such as China and India). If you can envision, articulate, sell, and implement a business concept that entails serving, employing, partnering, leading, and uplifting others, you are probably cured.

An Insight Into the Emergence of Women-Owned Businesses As an Economic Force in India

1. Introduction

During the last two decades, Indian women have entered the field of entrepreneurship in greatly increasing numbers. With the emergence and growth of their businesses, they have contributed to the global economy and to their surrounding communities. The routes women have followed to take leadership roles in business are varied. Yet, most women business owners have overcome or worked to avoid obstacles and challenges in creating their businesses. The presence of women in the workplace driving small and entrepreneurial organizations creates a tremendous impact on employment and business environments.

Indian women business owners are changing the face of businesses of today, both literally and figuratively. The dynamic growth and expansion of women-owned businesses is one of the defining trends of the past decade, and all indications are that it will continue unabated. For more than a decade, the number of women-owned businesses have grown at one-and-a-half to two times the rate of all businesses. Even more important, the expansion in revenues and employment has far exceeded the growth in numbers.

The result of these trends is that women-owned businesses span the entire range of business life cycle and business success, whether the measuring stick is revenue, employment or longevity. This strengthens the view that all governmental programs and policies should target at strengthening women’s entrepreneurship in their native lands.

Although, many of the earlier obstacles to women’s business success have been removed, yet some still remain. This has initiated the scholars of entrepreneurship and small businesses to study the influences of and the impact on business ownership by women. The number of these research studies are growing steadily.

2. What Are The Characteristics Of Women Entrepreneurs In India?

Indian women of today have taken many strides towards business ownership. The broad classification of women business owners include women who establish, inherit, or acquire a business; women who start businesses with spouses or business partners but are either at the forefront or behind the scenes; and finally, women who start fast-growing or part-time or slow-growing firms. Although earlier researches on women entrepreneurs have suggested that significant differences existed between female and male entrepreneurs. However, more recent studies have shown that there are far more similarities than differences between women and men entrepreneurs in terms of psychological and demographic characteristics. The dominant predictors of success in case of women entrepreneurs are work experience and years of self-employment.

Generally, women view their businesses as a cooperative network of relationships rather than as a distinct profit-generating entity. This network extends beyond the business into the entrepreneur’s relationships with her family and the community. Certain cross-cultural studies on women entrepreneurs have reported that their management styles emphasizes open communication and participative decision-making, and their business goals reflect a concern for the community in which the business operates.

The majority of women business owners operate enterprises in the service sectors, whereas the majority of male business owners operate enterprises in non service sectors, particularly manufacturing. Women are not only achieving economic independence and wealth creation for themselves, but through job creation, they are also providing opportunities for others, particularly for other women.

A series of researches have shown that the workforce of women-owned businesses tend to be more gender balanced than the workforce of men-owned businesses, although women business owners are more likely to hire women. Put simply, an investment in women’s entrepreneurship is an investment in the economic independence and well-being of all women.

In comparison to their women counterparts who established their businesses two decades earlier, women who have started their businesses sometime during the past decade are more likely to have the following:

o a higher level of education, previous professional and managerial experience, as well as executive level experience

o a greater appetite for capital, both credit and equity

o a strong motivation for autonomy and achievement

o a dynamic personality

o a passion for what they do

o creativity to innovate and implement

o independence and self reliance

o high self confidence

o willingness & ability to take risks

o alertness to opportunities

o ability to marshal resources

o ability to respond to market & environment signals

Thus, from the above discussion, we can conclude the following traits of personality of women entrepreneurs:

Risk taker Proactive Opportunist Visionary Inventor Tolerance of ambiguity Commercialiser Desire for independence Trader High energy Innovator Ability to bounce back Flexible Results oriented Need for achievement All rounder Internal control Decisive Self confident Self Motivated Pragmatic Flair

3. Why Do Indian Women Undertake Entrepreneurship?

In spite of the growing number of female entrepreneurs, the share of female entrepreneurs is still significantly low when compared to their participation rate. However, there are several factors responsible for increasing the level of female entrepreneurship in India:

1. Nature of Entrepreneurship: Women enter into entrepreneurial activity because regular employment does not provide them with the flexibility, control or challenge offered by business ownership.

2. Motivation : Several evidences suggest that women do not lack the motivation to enter into business ownership. They are often highly motivated than their male counterparts to overcome the barriers to business start-up.

3. Empowerment : Indian women are becoming more empowered now-a-days. Legislation is being progressively drafted to offer them more opportunities at various levels.

4. Social Conditions : Population growth results in a strong positive relationship on entrepreneurial activity. Across genders, the increase in demand and competition for jobs pushes more people into necessary entrepreneurship. For women, in particular, the relatively high involvement in necessary entrepreneurship indicates that self-employment is used as a way to circumvent institutional and cultural constraints with respect to female employment, as well as a way to provide supplemental family income.

5. Economic Conditions : Auspicious economic conditions favour the participation of women in entrepreneurial activity. The smaller amount of financial capital requirement and higher proportion of available bank loans positively correlates the level of female entrepreneurship to economic conditions. In fact, in a country like India, the relationship between the size of unofficial economy and entrepreneurial activity is positive.

6. Literacy & Education: Increased levels of education has played a crucial role in initiating the process of entrepreneurship. It is not only the illiterate that are starting the businesses but those with education & skills are also exploiting profit opportunities.

4. What Are The Needs Of Women Entrepreneurs In India?

1) More and better access to finance/credit is mentioned very frequently. Give a woman 1000 rupees and she can start a business. Give her another 1000 rupees and she will be able to feed not only for her family, but for her employees as well.

2) Access to business support and information, including better integration of business services.

3) Training on business issues and related issues

4) Better access to local and foreign markets.

5) Day care centres & nurseries for children, and also for the elderly;

6) Positive image-building and change in mentality amongst women, whereby women see themselves as capable achievers and build up confidence.

7) Breaking through traditional patrons and structures that inhibit women’s advancement.

8) Role modelling of women in non-traditional business sectors to break through traditional views on men’s and women’s sectors.

9) More involvement and participation in legislation and decision-making processes.

10) Removing of any legislation which impedes women’s free engagement.

11) Awareness-raising at the governmental as well as private level to truly and really create entrepreneurial opportunities and not just programs that stay on paper.

5. Which Important Problems Are Faced By Women Entrepreneurs In India?

1. Women hardly interact with other women who are successful entrepreneurs. This results in a negative impact on their networking skills.

2. The areas, where one can see women acting as entrepreneurs, is in the very typical women’s sectors of 3Ps. This is also the area, where women are accepted in society to be experts in and thus have the capacity for entrepreneurial activities.

3. It is clear, that women have the responsibility of getting children and taking care of them. Very few societies accept fathers taking over the role of staying home and taking care of the children. Once these children are old enough to take care for themselves, they have to bear an additional responsibility of taking care of elder parents. If they want to become entrepreneurs, the society expects them to be able to do both: take care of family and home and do business.

4. Women are very critical when it comes to themselves – can I really do this, am I good enough, maybe I have to learn more, others can do it better. It is quite interesting that many successful women have been educated in only girls colleges and schools, which often deliver a safe environment to try out ones personal strengths, learn to overcome weaknesses and be proud of oneself.

5. Discrimination – it is hard to believe but women are still treated differently in our society. Women do get lower salaries compared to men doing the same job, women do not have access to men dominated networks who take their decisions about successors in the company during golf plays or sauna meetings….

6. Missing networks – through centuries business men have build up their networks but women still have to learn to catch up.

7. A lot of women tell stories about not being taken serious by bankers, when they wanted to get a loan for their business. Often enough, they have to bring their husbands or fathers to be able to be heard and receive financing. So, the domination of men in the banking world is a problem.

6. What Are The Challenges Faced By Women Entrepreneurs In India?

One of the major obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs has been that they are not taken seriously. Even though women have achieved credibility as competent entrepreneurs in areas such as retail, personal services and business services, perceptions that women-owned businesses are less successful, credit worthy & innovative continues to be a barrier.

Besides this, there are several other challenges being faced by Women Entrepreneurs:

1. Lack of Visibility as Strategic Leaders: Changing the perceptions about the likely success of women-owned businesses depends on increasing women’s visibility in leadership positions within the greater business community. In an assessment of women’s presence as CEOs or Directors of large business enterprises, it has been anticipated that the exodus of women to entrepreneurial growth firms might be because women believe that have greater representation in strategic leadership positions in privately-held or family-owned firms as they provide better opportunities for leadership than available to women in publicly-traded companies.

2. Differential Information and Assistance Needs: Another significant need of many women business owners is obtaining the appropriate assistance and information needed to take the business to the next level of growth. In a study conducted to gather information needs of women entrepreneurs, those who were just starting their ventures, requested assistance and training in implementing the business idea, identifying initial sources of financing, and advertising/promotion. The entrepreneurs who were already established, had a somewhat different set of needs including financing for expansion and increasing sales. Another conducted study had identified ten most desired needs of fast growth entrepreneurs:

(a) using cash flow to make operational decisions

(b) financing growth

(c) increasing the value of the business

(d) compensation for self and associates

(e) hiring, training and motivating for growth

(f) succeeding in a rapidly changing world

(g) successful selling

(h) sales force management

(i) management success

(j) problems and pitfalls of growth.

Unfortunately, this differences in information and assistance needs can be found across cultures as well.

3. Family Influences on Women Entrepreneurs : The overlapping of the family and the firm is not significant for women business owners. Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on the dynamics of family-owned firms headed by women. As the boundaries between the firm and the family tend to be indistinct, women operating family businesses face a unique set of issues related to personal identity, role conflict, loyalties, family relationships, and attitudes towards authority. Additionally, family businesses owned by women are at a disadvantage financially and are forced to rely on internal resources of funding rather than outside sources. The critical role of family in business, also emerges in cross-cultural studies which show a women relying heavily on the family for start-up capital.

7. What Steps Need To Be Initiated For Women Entrepreneurial Development In India?

A possible set of three inter-linked and inter-dependent clusters of recommendations can be aimed at “pushing” a larger number of women entrepreneurs towards growth opportunities, unlocking their potential as creators of wealth and jobs, and providing a more conducive legal and regulatory framework. These recommendations can also ensure the proper positioning of “pull mechanisms” to enable the growth-oriented women entrepreneurs to expand and grow in terms of investments, markets and profits.

1. Prioritizing and Pushing at the micro-level : There is a large and seemingly ever-increasing number of women entrepreneurs operating in micro-enterprises and in the informal economy. They can be facilitated to grow into sustainable, formally registered & large enterprises with the help of following actions:-

o Conducting gender analysis for all entrepreneurial support programmes

o Gathering data on women and men entrepreneurs

o Applying “target group segmentation” to women entrepreneurs

o Using targeted approaches for priority categories in order to provide additional “push” to women entrepreneurs to the next level of growth

o Promoting mobilization and organization of representative associations

o Examining differential impacts of governmental policies, programmes and actions

o Promoting development of demand-led supports for women entrepreneurs

o Promoting more flexible and innovative financial products by banks

2. Unlocking and Unfettering Institutional Framework: Policies, laws and overall regulatory environment are frequently seen as barriers and disincentives to expansion and growth. However, they need to be promoted in such a way that women entrepreneurs see the advantages of and benefits that come with compliance.

o Reviewing impact of existing and new instruments on women entrepreneurs

o Identifying those instruments that act as barriers to expansion and growth

o Modifying or dismantling these instruments

o Taking account of the social and cultural contexts affecting policy implementation and redress inequalities and abnormalities

o Making use of IT and associations so as to minimize the administrative burdens on women entrepreneurs

o Holding regular consultations with key factors like women entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs’ associations, financial institutions, etc, to review progress and identify new bottlenecks.

3. Projecting and Pulling to Grow and Support the Winners : The first two sets of recommendations are aimed at trying to “push” more women entrepreneurs into growth situations as well as ensuring that laws & regulations do not stand in their way. The third possible recommendation relates to facilitating and “pulling” the women entrepreneurs into situations where they can actively pursue growth strategies.

o Providing incentives for expansion and growth after removing barriers and disincentives

o Encouraging and rewarding dynamic representative associations of women entrepreneurs

o Promoting strong links and synergies with existing major economic players

o Profiling the economic and social contributors among women entrepreneurs to the national economy

o Promoting and rewarding programmes that serve women entrepreneurs

o Making full use of data gathered to inform new policies, programmes and supportive actions

o Ensuring synergies between (a) women related ministry (b) economic ministry (c) welfare & social development ministry in the government.

8. Conclusion

With relevant education, work experience, improving economic conditions and financial opportunities, more women around the world are creating and sustaining successful business ventures. This will not only have an impact on the economies of the countries in which women own their businesses but also will change the status of women in those societies. It is likely that, as we begin this millennium, this will be the century of the entrepreneur in general and of the women entrepreneur in particular.

Profound Capital Markets for Renewable Energy – Eco-Plant Corporation

Investing in Renewable and Efficiency Energy is on the verge across the world. Individuals are becoming more sensible towards their environment, which resulted in more businesses adopting environmentally friendly business practices and becoming a sustainable green business. Converting into green business has been a wakeup call for many companies and for some companies it was already a mentioned market trend which was recognized by them quite early.

Following the global financial crisis, a more varied funding market is emerging in many countries. Established investors are assisting in filling the funding gap missed by the shrinkage in bank lending in the rouse of the crisis, particularly in long-term financing for infrastructure projects, and sitting alongside banks to offer a wider pool of capital to developers.

The economic climate overcoming the financial crisis of increased regulatory supervision and persistently low rate of interest led to pension funds and insurance companies in seeking an alternative source for a long-term stable investment.

Abundant number of pieces of evidence shows that renewable energy and energy efficiency are booming sectors for business. According to a report, 190 of the fortune 500 companies together saved around 3.7 billion dollars through their energy efficiency initiatives and collective renewable energy.

With the growing streak of this trend around the world, there is an increase in debt finance in the market from established investors mostly for an infrastructure project and more conventional renewable energy assets including solar PV, onshore wind and Bioenergy. Established investors that are on a quest to match long-term investments, index-linked liabilities and higher secure returns as compared to currently available bonds, are attracted by stable, long-term and index-linked type of assets.

A considerable amount of investment has been made in operating assets through which increasing capacity of risk has been taken by the investors. However, similar to banks, there seems to be a very little appetite for development risk factors. Established investors are moving faster towards banking counterparts in being able to provide reimbursement profiles and staged drawdown facilities that are suitable for this kind of financial markets.

Investments from non-bank institutions have often been through the purchase of participation in the secondary debt trading market or bond markets. However, a market of debt facilitates private placement (PP) which is a small group of sophisticated investors has been slowly developing.

Private placement market will entirely substitute other forms of finances for renewable projects. There are already long-established private placement market groups in many countries for corporate debt. Since the financial crisis, smaller national markets have also developed. To help encourage the development of private placement market, loan market association published a suite of standardizing the documentation for private placements across many countries for providing a proper framework. It is hoped that these suit will help to raise confidence in the market and will encourage investment by reducing the time and costs often associated with current private placements in certain countries.

Certain efforts are taken to simplify and make the process more transparent by turning towards more private placements. Governments across various countries have announced a tax exemption for private placements, this will help in encouraging both borrowers and institutional investors to invest in the capital market.

Many countries now support the growth of renewable energy sector and help in encouraging to further invest in energy infrastructure, renewable power and fossil fuels. Attracting cross-border investment and minimizing dependency on traditional bank debt, will further encourage institutional investment for key sector helping to stimulate growth and aid resilience in various economies.

Banks are also returning to the market which showed a substantial increase in long-term debt facilities offered by banks for renewable energy projects. In addition, many banking facilities are likely to preserve a significant role together with established investors by providing them ancillary facilities and deposit services. This includes catering to letters from credit facilities and working capital which non-banking investors are not able to provide the investors with. Likewise, the role of the bank is to provide trustee and agency with services in case the funds are ill-equipped.

Predictable sustained growth in Institutional Investment, alongside returning bank debt and other innovative funding structures, is creating a deeper impact on the capital market for renewable energy projects. Investors looking to invest in green business are coming across greater opportunities from future perspectives which is just a matter of time. Clean energy is just the tip of the iceberg. A recent study shows that companies could earn around 12 trillion dollars by 2030 in business revenue and saving by adopting sustainable, low-carbon business models. Investors all over the world are taking a note, as green bonds are increasingly seen as smart investments.