TODAY INDIA

Indian Fashion Industry

Colourful fashion trends of India

With the end of the 20th century came the end of all hype which has created a more practical and pragmatic environment and has given a more stable picture of the fashion business.

In the 50s, 60s and 70s, the Indian fashion scenario wasn’t exactly colorless. It was exciting, stylish and very graceful. There were no designers, models, star or fashion design labels that the country could show off. The value of a garment was judged by its style and fabric and not by who made it.

It was regarded as ever so chic and fashionable to approach any unfamiliar tailor, who could make a garment for a few rupees, providing the perfect fit, finish and style. The high society lady, who wore it, was proud for getting a good bargain and for giving her name to the end result.

In 60s, tight ‘kurtas’, ‘churidars’ and high coiffures were a trend among ladies. It was an era full of naughtiness and celebration in arts and music and cinema, manifested by liberation from restriction and acceptance of new types of materials such as plastic film and coated polyester fabric.

The 70s witnessed an increase in the export of traditional materials outside the country as well as within. Hence, international fashion arrived in India much before the MTV culture with the bold colors, flower prints and bell-bottoms. Synthetics turned trendy and the disco culture affected the fashion scenario.

It was in the early 80s when the first fashion store ‘Ravissant’ opened in Mumbai. At that time garments were retailed for a four-figure price tag. The ’80s was the era of self consciousness and American designers like Calvin Klein became popular. In India too, silhouettes became more masculine and the ‘salwar kameez’ was designed with shoulder pads.

With the evolution of designer stores in Mumbai, the elegant fashion design culture was a trend among Indians along with their heavy price tags. No doubt that a garment with a heavy price tag was at the bottom stage of fashion. But clients immediately transformed into the high fashion fold where they were convinced that that the word ‘elegant fashion design culture’ means, it had to have a higher price tag.

Garments were sold at unbelievable prices only because the designers had decided to get themselves noticed by making showy outfits and getting associated with the right shows, celebrities and events.

Later, fashion shows shifted to competitive events each attempting to out-do the other in theme, guest list and media coverage. For any newcomer, the fashion business was the number one professional art that time.

In the 90’s, the last decade of the millennium, a move towards the drastic pairing down returned with ethnic wears (Today, ethnic wear market in India is accounted to Rs. 9000 crore). This led to the decline and the recession, the push to sell at any cost and keep staying in the limelight. With heavy cut throat competition and sound awareness of the client, the inevitable occurred. The price tags, which had once reached at a peak, began their downside journey.

At those times the downturn was not only being experienced in the price tags of the garments, but also in the business of fashion shows. More models, choreographers, make-up men, hairstylists and designers streamed down into their business.

The fun and party time in the Indian fashion scenario had not ended with this, but continued. It was a point, where it reached at a certain steady level and from there, in the beginning of the 21st centaury, with new designers and models and some sensible designing; the fashion hype accelerated its speed.

Indian fashion industry spreads its wings globally

For the global fashion industry, India is a very big exporter of fabrics and accessories. All over the world, Indian ethnic designs and materials are considered as a significant facet for the fashion houses and garment manufacturers. In fabrics, while sourcing for fashion wear, India also plays a vital role as one of the biggest players in the international fashion arena.

India’s strengths not only depend on its tradition, but also on its raw materials. World over, India is the third largest producer of cotton, the second largest producer of silk and the fifth largest producer of man-made fibres.

In the international market, the Indian garment and fabric industries have many fundamental aspects that are compliant, in terms of cost effectiveness to produce, raw material, quick adjustment for selling, and a wide ranges of preference in the designs in the garments like with sequin, beadwork, aari or chikkon embroidery etc, as well as cheaper skilled work force. India provides these fashion garments to the international fashion houses at competitive prices with shorter lead time and an effective monopoly in designs which covers elaborated hand embroidery – accepted world over.

India has always been considered as a default source in the embroidered garment segment, but the changes of rupee against dollar has further decreased the prices, thereby attracting buyers. So the international fashion houses walk away with customized stuff, and in the end crafted works are sold at very cheap rates.

As far as the market of fabrics is concerned, the ranges available in India can attract as well as confuse the buyer. A basic judgmental expectation in the choosing of fabrics is the present trend in the international market. Much of the production tasks take place in parts of the small town of Chapa in the Eastern state of Bihar, a name one would have never even heard of. Here fabric making is a family industry, the ranges and quality of raw silks churned out here belie the crude production methods and equipment used- tussars, matka silks, phaswas, you name it and they can design it. Surat in Gujarat, is the supplier of an amazing set of jacquards, moss crepes and georgette sheers – all fabrics utilized to make dazzling silhouettes demanded world over. Another Indian fabric design that has been specially designed for the fashion history is the “Madras check” originally utilized for the universal “Lungi” a simple lower body wrap worn in Southern India, this product has now traversed its way on to bandannas, blouses, home furnishings and almost any thing one can think of.

Recently many designers have started using traditional Indian fabrics, designs and cuts to enhance their fashion collections. Ethnic Indian designs with batik cravat, tie-and-dye or vegetable block print is ‘in’ not just in India but all across the world.

In India, folk embroidery is always associated with women. It is a way of their self expression, and they make designs that depict their native culture, their religion and their desires. Women embroider clothes for their personal use, and the people linked with the pastoral profession prepare embroidered animal decorations, decorative covers for horns and foreheads and the Rabaris of Kutch in Gujarat do some of the finest embroidery. Embroidered pieces are made during the festivals and marriages, which are appliqué work called ‘Dharaniya’. One of the significant styles of Saurashtra is ‘Heer’ embroidery, which has bold geometric designs, woven on silks. The Mutwa women of the Banni area of Kutch have a fascinating embroidery where they make fine embroidery works with designed motifs and mirrors in the size of pinheads, the Gracia jats use geometric designs on the yoke of long dresses. Moreover, the finest of quilts with appliqué work are also made in Kutch.

Garments embellishment with bead work is another area where it in demand in the international market. Beads are used to prepare garlands and other accessory items like belts and bags and these patterns now available for haute couture evening wear too.

According to a survey, in recent times Indian women have given up their traditional sari for western wears like t-shirts and shorts, as they feel more comfortable in skirts and trousers instead of saris and salwar kameez. It’s been noted that women spend just $165 million on trousers and skirts against 1.74 billion dollars spent by men on trousers. With more women coming out to work, the (combined) branded trouser and skirts market has been increasing at a whopping 27 per cent in sales terms. Women feel that Western clothing is more suitable, particularly when working or using public transportation. Many corporate offices are also in favor of their employees wearing Western wear.

In India, Western inspiration is increasing due to the influence of TV and films. Besides, shopping malls selling branded clothes have also mushroomed in India and are fascinating the youngsters. Recently, designer wear is being promoted through store chains such as Shopper’s Stop, Pantaloons, Westside, etc. Companies such as Raymond and TCNS have also set up their exclusive stores for designer wear such as Be: and W.

The market of India fashion industry

Recently, a report stated that the Indian fashion industry can increase from its net worth of Rs 200 crore to Rs 1,000 crore in the next five to ten years. Currently, the worldwide designer wear market is amounted at $35 billion, with a 9 per cent growth rate, with the Indian fashion industry creating hardly 0.1 per cent of the international industry’s net worth.

According to approximations, the total apparel market in India is calculated to be about Rs 20,000 crore. The branded apparel market’s size is nearly one fourth of this or Rs 5,000 crore. Designer wear, in turn, covers nearly about 0.2 per cent of the branded apparel market.

At present, the largest sales turnover within the designer wear segment is about Rs25 crore, with other well-known names having less turnovers of Rs10-15 crore. In view of the prospects of the Indian fashion industry for growth, the figures are not very hopeful.

The figure of fashion industry

o The organized market for designer apparel is about Rs 250 crore

o Designer wear calculates to less than 1 per cent of the apparel market

o The global market for designer wear is 5 per cent of total apparel market

o The global market for designer wear industry is largely dependent on the small-scale sector

o Consumers for designer wear have a yearly household income of Rs 10 lakh-plus. There are 3 lakh such households developing at 40-45 per cent

o Designer wear industry is projected to increase to Rs 1,000 crore by 2015.

o More than 81 per cent of the population below 45 years of the age is fashion conscious.

Many fashion designers and management experts foresee an average growth of about 10-12 per cent for the Indian fashion industry in the coming years. Though, the growth rate could be more than 15 per cent, if infrastructural and other logistical bottlenecks and drawbacks are over come.

India needs more effort to overcome

However, despite the benefits available in India there are also some disadvantages. India is not a remarkable player in the global market with reference to brands because of its inability to add value to products. This is observed by the fact that nearly 50 per cent of its exports are apparel and made-ups where value addition is essential. Likewise, 75 per cent of domestic apparel market is commoditized and unbranded and very few Indian brands do survive in the foreign markets. Evidently, the Indian market has not made a strong stand and hence it is difficult to make Indian brands that can compete with global brands in India.

Another reason for the fashion industry’s inadequate growth is the limited experience of the designers and the platform they are offered. The insignificance stalks from the reality that most of the young talent is hired by the bigger names to work in their studios, thus imprinting their work with the label of the big designers.

Though performing individual presentation is not an alternative choice for most of the young talent, because of the limitation of finance, a beginner designer’s name fails to come to the forefront.

Another thing, with regards to the ramp, is what the designers offer is barely appropriate to be worn ordinarily. You’ll see there’s dissimilarity between what is there on the ramp and what the Page Three crowd wears. Some believe at present the fashion is in, but the tendency hasn’t changed much as it is the old ones coming back. We have had short kurtas, long kurtas, flowing skirts, etc. coming back into fashion with only a new variety of designs.

Many management consultants and professionals believe that the Indian fashion industry will be boosted if the new comers are paid proper attention. What they require is more support so that their work gets due recognition. According to the consultants and professionals there should be a panel of people who choose designers for showcasing according to their work and not their name or who they’ve worked for earlier, and hence selection would be purely based on quality. Besides this, the panel of judges should comprise of people from the fashion schools rather than designers.

It has been observed that the media-hype around the big designers and blatant commercialism has hindered business in the Indian fashion industry. No clear cut picture is provided about the feasibility of the products. Basically it is only the famous names that are being talked of. What they offer is not quite daily-wear. The entire focal point of the industry is on commercialism. The discussion is only regarding how much is sold and for what price and nothing about the designs or styles.

Efforts to develop global fashion brands

It needs innovative designers, a seamless supply chain, control over retail and distribution and concentration of quality while dealing with some image. While a few have accomplished something in the west covering Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Zara, Armani, Versace, Ralph Lauren, etc, India has not been capable to track on.

A serious reason for India not being successful has been its isolation in the fashion system. Each stakeholder including designers, exporters, textile players and retail chains need to come together along with the government to make sure that the position of Indian fashion is strong in the coming years.

There are various agencies and industry associations that can support in brand-building practice. Many of these agencies require attractive resources and making a global image of Indian fashion rather than independently trying to promote particular brands or textile segments.

Efforts to create strong global image

Large textiles players require more and more to target on the market facing activities while developing an association with small medium enterprise (SME) clusters. Such kind of networks would be a benefit to that which can focus on demand making and branding as well as for clusters that can focus on quality production.

Efforts to create value networks

After the entry of large retail chains like Wal-Mart, Gap etc in India, Small scale manufacturers in India will find it very difficult to satisfy the demands of these international buyers if they continue to promote their products individually. Therefore, it is very important that value networks are created between large textile and apparel companies in India and small scale manufacturers, so that the marketing muscle of the leading players can be utilized for receiving large orders while the bigger players then assign the orders to the small-medium enterprises according to their past record of quality and service. For this to be put into practice, it will be vital to well-organize the information on small-medium enterprise clusters in a perfect manner so that supplier selection decisions are made according to the information in the long run, only the more efficient small-medium enterprise players survive and develop.

Efforts to concentrate on designers and designs

Designers have a fundamental role to play in the future of Indian fashion scenario. There should hence be an effective process for preparing these designers. This can be done by sponsoring exchange programs with international schools, increasing participations in the fashion capitals of the world, motivating and offering business incubation to new designers and rewarding efforts through proper design awards.

Even in India, well-known designers are incapable to tap finances from well-organized resources, since a vital part of their assets are brands and design talent which are not measured in terms of money and hence it becomes difficult to judge the value. This has severely inhibited their development and capability to raise retail existence across the country and abroad. Likewise, there is no systematic approach of existence in the fashion capitals of the world like Paris, Milan and New York. Due to this, designers have to depend on their personal contacts and relationships for organizing fashion shows and making retail alliances. The French government as well as the British government helps designers of their particular countries appreciably in these areas as they understand that value creation through design is the only way to carry on in the competitive landscape of the global fashion industry. The Indian government and related agencies should also accept this aspect of textile, apparel and fashion industry sincerely if they need to see India on the global fashion map.

Work in collaboration: designers-corporate efforts

Designers and many organizations can work globally through various models and with many working relationships. The Indian fashion industry has many views but only one such model, wherein a designer creates a retail venture with his/her own brand through organized retail chains. There are many other models according to brand ownership and division of operational activities.

Globally, many models of collaboration between designers and corporates are available. For example Ralph Lauren has made an agreement with Jones Apparel for producing and retailing various Polo brands. Likewise, Armani had an agreement with Zegna for production, even while it was competing with them in the marketplace. There are many cases of designer brands being co-owned by the designers and corporates, Gucci-Alexander McQueen and Gucci-Stella McCartney being some of them.

In the end, many designer businesses have been obtained by corporates where designers play a major role in the design elements of the business, but the brand and the organization is owned completely by the corporate.

The current possession of Calvin Klein by Philips Van Heusen and earlier holdings of Hugo Boss and Valentino by Marzotto are some related examples in this segment. These examples strongly point out that not only designers find such relationships important for development, but also corporates find these attractive for rising their profitability and growth. Likewise deals in India could go a long way in developing the brand values of corporates and designers.

Developing clusters

Making common infrastructure for functioning such as design and sampling, affluent treatment, product testing, etc can help in increasing the capability of the clusters since noteworthy investments could be made by the cluster itself rather than any single player.

Well-managed databases can help in decreasing search costs and through data mining, rating of players can be done so as to make the procurement process easier for buyers. Cooperative marketing programs at different clusters can also support players to grow up in the value chain by mixing their strengths within the cluster.

Cluster based battle in the fashion industry is characterized by the Italian industry. The National Chamber for Italian Fashion for example, supports the development of the fashion clusters at Milan and Florence in a well organized manner. Indian industry can learn a lot from Italy because India has a similar cluster based scattered production base, but has been incapable to link it with design and branding capability.

If the above activities are successfully considered, India could have an extraordinary development in the fashion industry, which could increase from a negligible size to Rs 8,000 crore in the coming decade.

Conclusion

In the 50s, 60s and 70s, the Indian fashion scenario was colorful and stylish, in the end of 20th century it was quite subdued and with the beginning of the 21st century it has geared up and is still experiencing the growth with many spectrums of colours. Though this industry is growing at a very good pace, besides achieving a negligible share in the global market, still it needs to make severe efforts to stand amongst international fashion market in various aspects.

Indian Startup Scenario – India Towards Its True Potential

India ranks among the top five countries in the world in terms of the number of startups founded. India has made tremendous growth towards the creation of innovative startups and has emerged as the 3rd fastest growing hub for technology startups in the world.

Introduction of initiatives like GST and Make In India have given a momentum to the startup economy. Indian Start-ups are moving on the upper line and are expected to increase in size and number in the coming year. It is measured that India houses around 4,200 start-ups, creating more than 85,000 employment opportunities. With over $5 billion worth of investment in 2015 and three to four startups emerging every day, it is projected that the number of startups in India will increase to more than 11,500 by 2020, with job creation from these entrepreneurs reaching 250-300k. The number of Investors has also risen multi-fold in the past few years.

Recent Developments

Indian startups have undergone many developments in the second quarter of 2017. From being selected in the Google’s accelerator program, to raising funds from the Chinese investors, the startup ecosystem has been quite encouraging. Google selected six Indian startups for the accelerator program in July 2017. Startups using latest technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence have been chosen for the same.

Limitations

Despite such promising statistics, only 9% of the Start-Ups have female founders/co-founders. Delhi NCR, Bangalore, and Mumbai, along with Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai account for more than 90% of the Start-Ups in India. The focus is largely limited to information technology-enabled products and services including e-commerce, aggregators, analytics, health-tech and online payments. Amongst all this, the product start-up sector has been largely ignored. A big factor behind India’s growth is software enabled firms such as Flipkart and Ola. Rarely do hardware product companies bring about such success. The reason for this can be attributed to the lack of funds. India’s ecosystem clearly does not have any scarcity in terms of capital. However, only a very small amount of this capital reaches these startups. Additionally, startups in India spend five times the amount of effort to raise funds as compared to US startups.

This is where the Government intervention is required. Through the provision of alternate sources of funding and through a partnership between the Industry and Academia, the government can facilitate and accelerate the growth rate. Alternate debt financing instruments will help Start-Ups and other small enterprises to overcome the problem of lack of adequate collateral, limited cash-flow and the high risk involved. While direct support of start-ups and the right kinds of skills to start & run a business are important, the ease of doing business in the country also matters a great deal. This includes ease of starting a business, obtaining relevant permits, accessing credit, paying taxes, etc. The Labour laws in India are out-dated as well. Thus, appropriate government policies are required to make the Indian Start-Up Ecosystem reach its true potential.

However, Government and international organizations are investing in innovative ideas. Monetary and infrastructure support is accelerated. Start-ups are also making good use of the facilities available and are showing a sign of good times. This can certainly not be dismissed as a passing trend and it’s surely going to change the way the markets are working today in India. Government initiatives are also expected to play a vital role in the startup ecosystem’s bright future. For instance, the commerce and industry department of the Indian Government is planning to organize a south Asia regions’ meet of startups for exchanging new ideas and increasing interaction among them, thereby showing confidence in startups.

Thus, the scenario in the last quarter suggests that the investors’ interest towards funding the India startups remains strong. Next quarter is likely to be more attractive owing to the economic reforms and their implementation. Startups are now focusing on cutting losses, increase their overall valuation and attain operational excellence. These qualities along with the positive sentiments of the investors and support from the government can make the startup ecosystem of India reach new heights in the near future.

Indian Medical Device Start Ups

Indian medical device industry is fragmented, price-sensitive and bogged down by infrastructure constraints like erratic power supply, low doctor-patient ratio and shortage of trained personnel to handle complex processes. These are pain points that Indian start-ups are trying to tide over to achieve market acceptance, stated Vishnu Bhat, managing director, BlueNeem Medical Devices.

Nevertheless, Indian companies are developing products for the domestic markets. When combined with enhanced service quality and after-sales support, it is seen to go a long way in positioning Indian start-ups against competition from multinational companies, he added.

The government has created a favourable eco-system through the ‘Make in India’ and the Medical Devices Rules 2017, which came into effect from January 1, 2018. While the former gives an impetus to produce quality products cost effectively, the latter prevents import dependence, Bhat told Pharmabiz in an email.

As Indian companies are predominantly in the services sector, accessing niche product development talent for specialized medical devices manufacturing has been a challenge. A lot of product development skills and hardware talent moved to services sector for better remuneration. Apart from a shortage of product designers, India poses several challenges for med-tech design and manufacturing, he noted.

Currently, though the Indian medical devices industry is on a growth trajectory and is viewed as a sunrise sector, venture capitalists and private equity firms do not see much of business potential in these companies. The sector is largely ignored, with shorter investment cycles for PE or VC firms who look to exit quickly for quick ROI (return on investment) and for the fact that Indian companies do not offer a varied product portfolio to scale-up and the segment being highly capital intensive with long gestation periods. The large R& D budgets of international companies are major deterrent for small domestic players to succeed. Moreover, VCs and PEs traditionally invest in mid-sized companies on the growth trajectory and have been reluctant to in investing in early stage medical device companies. However the outlook is quite positive, because Indian companies are aggressively pursuing innovation and we expect significant investments in the future, said Bhat.

Import dependent medical devices sector is expected to spur manufacturing through the 3 medical devices parks at Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Additionally, local consumption coupled with strong exports demand will drive domestic demand.

Going by the import dependency and existing manufacturing capabilities, it is the diagnostic imaging in-vitro diagnostics, orthopedic prosthetics and consumables that indicate promising growth prospects. Quoting a recent report, he said India’s medical-device industry is growing at 15%, which is more than double of the global growth rate of 4-6%, and is expected to become a $25-30 billion industry in India by 2025. Currently, the imports account for over 75% of the estimated US$ 5.2 billion med-tech sector.

The new medical device rules raises the credibility of Indian companies on a global platform. The industry will take centre stage, as start-ups and small medium enterprises market specialty surgical devices like stents, catheters and high-end devices used in interventional radiology, said Bhat who added that even Blue Neem is moving towards disruptive innovation from incremental innovation

Top 3 Things You Should Do Before Choosing Your Private Label Olive Oil Supplier

There are many reasons why people are ecstatic about creating their own product line of olive oil.

One reason is its growing market. As people become more aware of the benefits brought by it, the demand is steadily increasing. The fact that you can find olive oil as an ingredient in almost any healthy product, any entrepreneur would really be tempted to join the industry.

Another reason is passion. Health gurus and beauty bloggers are just a few of the people who love olive oil, and incorporating their passion into their business is never a bad idea, right?

So before you start choosing and calling your private label olive oil supplier, here are the top three most important things you should do first:

Study the Market

Regardless if you already own a business or are just starting up, you should study first your target marketplace.

Who would possibly buy it? Can your market afford to purchase extra virgin olive oil? The best customers are those who won’t mind paying a high price as long as the product is worth it. But this is not the only factor you should consider.

Price Competition

Knowing the current prices on the market will serve as your guideline in choosing the right supplier in terms of the pricing of bulk orders.

You can also determine how much profit you can gain, and how competitive you can be in the market. More importantly, since you are creating a privately labeled line, make sure that your price can compete with the branded ones.

Qualify the Suppliers

Truth is, the olive oil industry is quite a small niche, so you will want your product to stand out.

Basically, you can really stand out if you choose the right packaging. Packaging includes the style of the bottle, how much of it you want in a single bottle, and also, the creativeness of the whole packaging concept.

But the question is, can the manufacturer achieve this kind of packaging?

There are a lot of suppliers, but if you think that you can just pick the right one up easily, think again. The right supplier should, above all, catch up on your vision for your products.

For example, the best private label olive oil supplier are those who have sample packages ready but also welcomes their clients’ ideas and desired characteristics. There are even companies that will send a virtual sample for their clients to see how their order will look like. This kind of flexibility gives ultimate freedom for the clients to own their product.

Everybody loves the idea of venturing into the business world, and olive oil is a great product because it is sellable, marketable, and is hot in the market.

However, the roadmap to any venture is not that easy. No matter the how high the hype is, it will still take a lot of research, study, budget planning, and most importantly, the right partner.

Garnet Minerals – The Many Colors of Garnets

Spessartine is an uncommon garnet. Spessartite or spessartine is manganese aluminum garnet, Mn3Al2(SiO4)3. Madagascar’s spessartine garnet is a recently discovered variety with a beautiful raspberry body color, and spectacular salmon-pink fire. Spessartine is an orange-red or plain orange stone, also called “Mandarin garnet. Mandarin Garnets were recently discovered in East Africa and are a variety of Spessartine Garnets. They were found in the German Spessart Mountains, hence their name Spessartine.

Rhodolite garnet is a combination of almandine and pyrope, and is sometimes referred to as pyrope-almandine garnet. Rhodolite is a purplish red variety of garnets that has been used since ancient times. Rhodolite garnet, like all garnet is a fairly hardy gem. Rhodolite Garnet boasts a vibrant cranberry color, and its name is derived from the rhododendron flower that shares a similar hue. The color ranges from pink to purplish red in color and is mined in Africa, India, and Sri Lanka. Rhodolite Garnet is used as affordable substitutes for the Ruby. Pyrope garnet is also called anthill garnet in Arizona because ants bring the gem to the surface while building their homes. The term “American ruby” is actually a pyrope garnet (and not a ruby at all).

Hessonite (also called “cinnamon stone”) is a cinnamon-brown to orange gemstone variety of grossular garnet. Hessonite Garnet is a special Garnet used in Vedic gemology to increase creativity and imagination. The oranges and browns of Hessonite hail from Namibia and Sri Lanka.

Commonly called Tsavorite Garnet, this green grossular are very rare. Tsavorite is among the most coveted members of the garnet family. We adore Tsavorite Garnet because it offers the color and hue of an emerald and yet, it’s more rare, and much more vibrant. The name for Tsavorite Garnet comes from the Tsavo National Park in Kenya, which is the only region where Tsavorite Garnet is mined. Tsavorite can be considered a “new” gemstone since it was unknown before its discovery in Kenya in the 1960s. Tsavorite has a beautiful vivid green color, is bright and lively with a high refractive index, and has a garnet’s durability and high clarity. Even though Tsavorite Garnet is rare, the lack of demand keeps the prices well below that of the more plentiful Emerald.

Grossular is a pale green, pink, brown, or black garnet, Ca3Al2(SiO4)3, occurring alone or as a constituent of the common garnet. Tsavorite is a variety of green grossular garnets discovered in 1967. The name Grossular comes from the Latin Grossulara (the name of gooseberry fruit) which is the same color as the greenish variety of garnet. Some grossular garnets can have round and elliptical inclusions. Massive white grossular has been found with jade in Myanmar and has been carved by the Chinese. A variety of Grossular Garnets, Hessonite comes in two colors, golden and cinnamon (this variety is commonly known as the Cinnamon Stone.

The demantoid belongs to the large gemstone family of the garnets, and is actually a variety of the garnet mineral andradite. One of the rarest and most sought after colored gemstones have always been demantoid garnet. The name Demantoid means diamond-like, because it has a very high adamantine luster, and color dispersion higher than diamond. As seen with the demantoid garnet, inclusions can sometimes be a benefit to garnets rather than a liability. Demantoid garnet was used lavishly by the Tsars of Russia. Originally discovered in Russia, the Demantoid garnet was favored by Russia’s leading court jeweler, Carl Faberge’. Demantoid garnets are softer than other garnets and should be protected. Demantoid has been called the “emerald of the Urals” from its occurrence there, and is one of the most prized of garnet varieties. “Horse-tail” inclusions in demantoid garnet make it more valuable because they prove it came from Russia. It can be more expensive than ruby and sapphire.

Andradite garnet can be yellow-green, green, greenish brown, orange yellow, brown, grayish black or black. Andradite is a calcium-iron garnet, Ca3Fe2(SiO4)3, is of variable composition, and may be red, yellow, brown, green, or black. Andradite garnet is usually black and of no interest to the gem trade, but one variety called “Demantoid” is a lively green. A new green Andradite Garnet has been coming out of Namibia, but some experts say they lack much of Demantoid’s character and luster. Andradite can be found in calcareous metamorphic rocks, especially marbles and skarns.

Uvarovite, an emerald-green variety from Russia and Finland, is rarely suitable for gem use. Uvarovite garnet is found only in tiny sizes. Uvarovite is a calcium chromium garnet with the formula Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3. The uvarovite garnet has been synthesized (mineralized with borax to facilitate diffusion of precursors) by several sols-“gel methods. Uvarovite is quite brittle; this makes it difficult to cut for jewelry. Uvarovite, like other garnets, forms rounded crystals with 12 rhombic or 24 trapezoidal faces or combinations of these and some other forms. The Uvarovite Garnet is found In Russia and is a bright green cluster of crystals sometimes also called drusy. Uvarovite develops in a metamorphic environment in serpentines with chromite and in metamorphosed limestone.

Mandarin Garnet is a bright orange garnet. Mandarin Garnet is a trade name for bright orange spessartine from Namibia. Recently, there was a new discovery of Mandarin Garnet in Nigeria with an unbelievable neon orange color. Mandarin Garnets are the intensely bright orange red varieties of the rare orange Spessartite Garnet, also known as Spessartine.

The Merelani Mint is a green grossular garnet. Merelani Mint Garnet is rapidly emerging as a collector’s stone and it is becoming quite prominent due to its beauty and rarity. Merelani Mint is the name given to a bright mint green variety of grossular garnet that has been recently discovered in the Merelani Hills of Tanzania.

Role of Customer Service – Why It’s Important to Your Business

Plan to get the financial Data:

Blockchain technology usually attends the financial sector, but they could transform the number of industries and range from the Internet of Things (IoT) which support to healthcare and from the supply chain to arts and entertainment.

Blockchain expert explains the technologies has broad reach comes from its employment to secure and efficient way. To ensure data integrity, transparency, immutability and fairness, across different types of transactions.

Existing business functions Ideas:

We are the proprietor and managing director of cryptoappfactory.com, and also Blockchain. We can improve an existing business system using pursuing the idea to create a competitive advantage through more efficient accounting processes and solving potential customers’ challenges.

We are ready to prove the second point where P2P energy-trading platform, eliminates the middleman from renewable energy sales. And another Blockchain startup provides a platform that seamlessly shares data along supply chains. Investors seem to like the startups’ solutions to everyday problems, awarding more than million to Origin Trail and over million to Power Ledger.

Capital fundraising:

Ideas to create a new service model and products to launch on your business, we support the capital work concept for better choose blockchain services and support for business.

We use Cryptocurrency to get the alternate solution to the traditional funding project. The Cryptocurrency has startups using work capital amount on the direct investment tag using token generation events. The fellows have some policies to maintain and support the project as per legal services.

Attain New Customer Services:

Blockchain technology has cryptocurrencies model that they could transmit the data into an extended field on market. The Cryptocurrency have private and public investment to verify the transaction on recognizing companies to attract the Bitcoin and other online currency also. It helps to support and translate into sales.

According to blockchain tool, we have large media data to highlighted and transmitted on the forum through small family business. The PIVX has storage devices to get a new client and customer in to get the Bitcoin easier and faster on payment modes.

Cyber Security Empower:

We use half of the Bitcoin to share on private data breaches and half of the data to share on public data breaches. In each company they have some qualify experienced support for learning the business into the next level of approaches. Blockchain technology can be used to reduce your risk of a data breach.

Blockchain has enhanced cybersecurity efforts which we have infrastructure, transparency, event tracking, cryptography and other security data sharing information systems.

Ensure Bitcoin Privacy:

Privacy policies have several complementary tasks on cybersecurity systems. It is an important consideration to follow the particular consumers to purchase the Bitcoin to safeguard your information through online.

Bitcoin privacy is very important because even implementing your regulation of your Bitcoin the data protection has many features which we have more strength privacy laws. Blockchain can solve the element by creating and protecting the consumer data attention to build transparency and trust between consumer and brands. We offer a sample of data to share on live idea market using the big platform. The blockchain developers have big user ability to share and store the information on different entities.

Global Challenges using Cryptocurrency:

At last, we have entrepreneurs who like to capitalize on the employing blockchain technology to build the other places to devastate by natural disasters.

We have stated with Forbes who can share the capitalist done on the market using Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and blockchain. We residents have a panel to interact and reconnect to get the power grid, and also we sell Bitcoin wallet for either local private or public ventures.

This blockchain is the easiest way to help the Cryptocurrency platform in the easiest way of response. We offer Bitcoin and other currencies in the market which is empowering your business in an easy manner.

An Insight Into Big Data Analytics Using Hadoop

The large heap of data generated everyday is giving rise to the Big Data and a proper analysis of this data is getting the necessity for every organization. Hadoop, serves as a savior for Big Data Analytics and assists the organizations to manage the data effectively.

Big Data Analytics

The process of gathering, regulating and analyzing the huge amount of data is called the Big Data Analytics. Under this process, different patterns and other helpful information is derived that helps the enterprises in identifying the factors that boost up the profits.

What is it required?

For analyzing the large heap of data, this process turns very helpful, as it makes use of the specialized software tools. The application also helps in giving the predictive analysis, data optimization, and text mining details. Hence, it needs some high-performance analytics.

The processes consist of functions that are highly integrated and provides the analytics that promise high-performance. When an enterprise uses the tools and the software, it gets an idea about making the apt decisions for the businesses. The relevant data is analyzed and studied to know the market trends.

What Challenges Does it Face?

Numerous organizations get through various challenges; the reason behind is the large number of data saved in various formats, namely structured and unstructured forms. Also the sources differ, as the data is gathered from different sections of the organization.

Therefore, breaking down the data that is stored in different places or at different systems, is one of the challenging tasks. Another challenge is to sort the unstructured data in the way that it becomes as easily available as the accessibility of structured data.

How is it used in Recent Days?

The breaking down of data into small chunks helps the business to a high extent and helps in the transformation and achieving growth. The analysis also helps the researchers to analyze the human behavior and the trend of responses toward particular activity, decoding innumerable human DNA combinations, predict the terrorists plan for any attack by studying the previous trends, and studying the different genes that are responsible for specific diseases.

Benefits of Big Data Analytics:

There are three classifications under which the benefits can be divided:

Cost Savings: The software helps the business in storing the massive amount of data and getting rid of spending the amount on the traditional database. The data is usually stored in the clusters and further transferred to the traditional database for further analysis as and when required.

Competitive advantage: The analytics help the organizations to access previously unavailable data or that data that was difficult in accessing. Hence, this increase in data access help to understand the product and work on it accordingly like planning the business strategies; hence, facing the competitive challenges.

New business offers: It helps in exploring the trending business opportunities. Many enterprises use the collected for knowing the customer trends and launching the new product ranges.

Hence, this analytics software is helping the organizations, to grow their business by boosting the sales, revenues turnovers, the marketing end results, reducing risks or improvising customer handling experience. An efficient analyst is of great importance to the organizations and learning all about its concepts can be done through a formal training of Hadoop, which is a widely chosen software, around the globe.

5 Reasons Why People Are Afraid Of SEO

Why are people afraid of SEO?

In case you’re an entrepreneur or a small business owner you have likely heard from everyone that you should learn SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and prepare an online strategy for your business. After all, most people frequently search for products or services on the internet.

You are well aware of the fact that you require a website, and that it requires a little work for it to appear on the web search engines. Thus you invest some time and energy – possibly outsource the job – and built a website for your business. Possibly you utilize a pre-designed theme to get the site up and running.

Incidentally, in spite of your earnest attempts, the site isn’t sufficiently improved.

You comprehend that; however, you would not like to manage all that “SEO stuff.” From all that you heard, search engine optimization takes a lot to time and the techniques are too technical for you. You thought it (SEO) doesn’t ensure critical outcomes. So why bother with it?

A ton of business owner feels along these lines. They find out about how vital SEO is, yet at the same time delay to begin SEO themselves or hire an organization.

Here are some facts that make people scared of SEO-

1. There is no magic formula-

If you believe that SEO is some magic elixir for quick online profit and success, you’ll be sorely frustrated and disappointed. Search engine optimization is significant to your business’ productivity, yet it will require some serious time and energy before you’ll see an ROI (Return on Investment).

In business, each system and crusade must yield some profit i.e. some ROI. If there is something that won’t help in developing your business, you won’t do it. Since the ROI from SEO is slow in arriving, numerous people feel that SEO doesn’t have any importance and in this way, they stack it to lower priorities.

Those new to SEO will put a considerable amount of time and money into it and are regularly frustrated by the absence of results. This makes many business owners hesitant to start a SEO campaign and to stick it out for the long haul.

One should understand that the results will come in the long run if the strategy is planned and executed well. They just won’t come immediately. Search engine optimization is an important technique for one’s business and ought not to be overlooked. Be patient and search for logical strategies and processes, not magic.

2. It Takes Too Much Time

Those new to SEO imagine that this sort of online marketing strategy is a quite complex and the process includes many steps and parts. While there are a ton of components to consider while enhancing your site, they shouldn’t be altogether done at the same time.

Like points #1 above, those new to SEO are frequently hesitant to begin an expensive and tedious SEO strategy when it creates the impression that all the work and time invested is in vain. Once more, be patience.

There are several alternatives for busy business owners in handling SEO. The primary choice is to hand over all the SEO assignments and obligations to a digital marketing agency. When you essentially don’t have sufficient time to do it without anyone else’s help, obviously, you can appoint the whole procedure to a SEO organization. Along these lines, you can invest your time and energy into maintaining your business while the organization runs the online campaigns.

The other choice is to handle the SEO yourself. Try not to begin off by trying to do everything, except do it step by step. You’ll save money and learn more about SEO; however, you’ll have to invest a great deal of time all the while.

3. Search engine optimization is Too Technical.

Numerous business owners new to SEO have this thought SEO is a technical, complicated process that is done by a web designer or a “brilliant computer geek.” They feel under qualified to execute SEO or even endeavor to learn it.

Many components of SEO can be performed by anybody. You needn’t to have a computer diploma to perform SEO activities. A person with basic computer knowledge can easily perform some of these activities. Basic SEO is anything but difficult to learn and just takes a couple hours of learning. At the point when your organization is young and you’re new to SEO, it is best to just focus on executing a few basic key SEO components and strategies.

There are numerous technical parts to it, as well and many small businesses are concerned that digital marketing agencies will attempt to overwhelm them with a huge amount of digital terms and odd claims. Try not to let that stress you, simply clarify your concerns and ask plenty of queries, and a good agency will walk you through all aspects of the procedure.

4. Not getting enough customers online.

One of the broadly discussed parts of SEO is keywords. Keyword research and target audience is a very common strategy that is promptly started when you start up any campaign. In case you’re doing this all by yourself, you may immediately run into the tremendous number of relevant keywords and feel a bit overwhelmed with the potential outcomes. But how will you decide which keyword to focus on?

Finding out about keyword research can enable you to get an idea which words your site is as of now positioning for and which ones searchers are using to discover your site. You can also find keywords based on relevance, level of competition and volume of search.

The more that you analyze your website and discover patterns keywords, the easier and quicker it will be to identify keywords that will target the right audience that is looking to buy your product or services and thus converted from traffic to your clients.

5. The complexity of SEO.

You will be a little bit surprised if someone tells you that there are more than 200 factors that the Google analyze when ranking a website. How one can tackle all these factors?

This complexity of SEO is enough to frighten off business owners who would prefer not to waste the time and energy to manage everything. Or on the other hand, they may go the other way and start to focus on a single ranking factor. Some entrepreneurs or business owners are content with finding out about SEO and implementing a couple of fundamental SEO activities for their sites. This is a start; however, the full power and capability of SEO will never be completely realized.

Search engine optimization takes time, money and sincere efforts. The scares that SEO is excessively technical, complex, and gimmicky are common delusions among people new to SEO. The more you learn about SEO yourself, you’ll more comfortable and confident to do your own SEO or work closely with any digital marketing agency.

How to Procure the Most Suitable GPS Service Provider

In the current age of competitive business, companies and entrepreneurs are facing several cost and efficiency related challenges. It is becoming more and more difficult to sustain the competitive advantage or retain your customers due to the emergence of new and innovative entrants in the marketplace.

Contrary to common belief, big businesses are also affected by these phenomenon as much as small and medium sized businesses. This makes it necessary for an entrepreneur to constantly come up with new ideas in order to ensure customer retention as well as growth for his business.

For people in the commercial fleet and transportation business, GPS tracking devices can prove to a value-added advantage that will give them an edge over competitors.

When you try to find a GPS tracker, you will come to know that there are certain factors that should be kept in mind before pinning one down for dealing. Below, you can find a few useful tips that will help you locate the best option for locating the best service provider in this regard.

Ascertaining your Return on Investment

As a general rule, no one wants to invest in something that will not provide him with higher returns on his investment. This makes it imperative for you to ascertain, beyond reasonable doubt, that the GPS tracking system will be good for your company – both operationally and financially.

Do some background research on the GPS tracking devices and service provider

There are several service providers in the market who specialize in GPS tracking. You cannot just go out and simply pick one of them. You should first make a list of all your requirements and then find out whether the provider is dispensing all those services. You should also make sure that the service provider has the capability to fulfill your future needs with the growth of your business. The service provider should have the ability of initially deploying the system at your premises.

Assess the service provider’s capabilities

Technology is the key. In order to get ahead of your competitors, you must procure and employ advanced technological solutions. Ask your GPS tracker service provider about the technological infrastructure that they will be able to provide. There are certain aspects of technology in this regard: security of the system and data, and user-friendly operation.

Final Evaluation

Any driver can encounter any problem anywhere. In such a case, he will call the provider’s customer service. You should check whether the customer service staff is friendly and supportive. You should make a final cost-benefit analysis to finally reach a conclusion whether you can, in the long run, afford the GPS tracking devices. If so, then you should go for it!

Startup Law 101 Series – Ten Essential Legal Tips For Startups at Formation

Here are ten essential legal tips for startup founders.

1. Set up your legal structure early and use cheap stock to avoid tax problems.

No small venture wants to invest too heavily in legal infrastructure at an early stage. If you are a solo founder working out of the garage, save your dollars and focus on development.

If you are a team of founders, though, setting up a legal structure early is important.

First, if members of your team are developing IP, the lack of a structure means that every participant will have individual rights to the IP he develops. A key founder can guard against this by getting everyone to sign “work-for-hire” agreements assigning such rights to that founder, who in turn will assign them over to the corporation once formed. How many founding teams do this. Almost none. Get the entity in place to capture the IP for the company as it is being developed.

Second, how do you get a founding team together without a structure? You can, of course, but it is awkward and you wind up with having to make promises that must be taken on faith about what will or will not be given to members of the team. On the flip side, many a startup has been sued by a founder who claimed that he was promised much more than was granted to him when the company was finally formed. As a team, don’t set yourselves up for this kind of lawsuit. Set the structure early and get things in writing.

If you wait too long to set your structure up, you run into tax traps. Founders normally work for sweat equity and sweat equity is a taxable commodity. If you wait until your first funding event before setting up the structure, you give the IRS a measure by which to put a comparatively large number on the value of your sweat equity and you subject the founders to needless tax risks. Avoid this by setting up early and using cheap stock to position things for the founding team.

Finally, get a competent startup business lawyer to help with or at least review your proposed setup. Do this early on to help flush out problems before they become serious. For example, many founders will moonlight while holding on to full-time jobs through the early startup phase. This often poses no special problems. Sometimes it does, however, and especially if the IP being developed overlaps with IP held by an employer of the moonlighting founder. Use a lawyer to identify and address such problems early on. It is much more costly to sort them out later.

2. Normally, go with a corporation instead of an LLC.

The LLC is a magnificent modern legal invention with a wild popularity that stems from its having become, for sole-member entities (including husband-wife), the modern equivalent of the sole proprietorship with a limited liability cap on it.

When you move beyond sole member LLCs, however, you essentially have a partnership-style structure with a limited liability cap on it.

The partnership-style structure does not lend itself well to common features of a startup. It is a clumsy vehicle for restricted stock and for preferred stock. It does not support the use of incentive stock options. It cannot be used as an investment vehicle for VCs. There are special cases where an LLC makes sense for a startup but these are comparatively few in number (e.g., where special tax allocations make sense, where a profits-only interest is important, where tax pass-through adds value). Work with a lawyer to see if special case applies. If not, go with a corporation.

3. Be cautious about Delaware.

Delaware offers few, if any advantages, for an early-stage startup. The many praises sung for Delaware by business lawyers are justified for large, public companies. For startups, Delaware offers mostly administrative inconvenience.

Some Delaware advantages from the standpoint of an insider group: (1) you can have a sole director constitute the entire board of directors no matter how large and complex the corporate setup, giving a dominant founder a vehicle for keeping everything close the vest (if this is deemed desirable); (2) you can dispense with cumulative voting, giving leverage to insiders who want to keep minority shareholders from having board representation; (3) you can stagger the election of directors if desired.

Delaware also is an efficient state for doing corporate filings, as anyone who has been frustrated by the delays and screw-ups of certain other state agencies can attest.

On the down side — and this is major — Delaware permits preferred shareholders who control the majority of the company’s voting stock to sell or merge the company without requiring the consent of the common stock holders. This can easily lead to downstream founder “wipe outs” via liquidation preferences held by such controlling shareholders.

Also on the down side, early-stage startups incur administrative hassles and extra costs with a Delaware setup. They still have to pay taxes on income derived from their home states. They have to qualify their Delaware corporation as a “foreign corporation” in their home states and pay the extra franchise fees associated with that process. They get franchise tax bills in the tens of thousands of dollars and have to apply for relief under Delaware’s alternative valuation method. None of these items constitutes a crushing problem. Every one is an administrative hassle.

My advice from years of experience working with founders: keep it simple and skip Delaware unless there is some compelling reason to choose it; if there is a good reason, go with Delaware but don’t fool yourself into believing that you have gotten yourself special prize for your early-stage startup.

4. Use restricted stock for founders in most cases.

If a founder gets stock without strings on it, and then walks away from the company, that founder will get a windfall equity grant. There are special exceptions, but the rule for most founders should be to grant them restricted stock, i.e., stock that can be repurchased by the company at cost in the event the founder leaves the company. Restricted stock lies at the heart of the concept of sweat equity for founders. Use it to make sure founders earn their keep.

5. Make timely 83(b) elections.

When restricted stock grants are made, they should almost always be accompanied by 83(b) elections to prevent potentially horrific tax problems from arising downstream for the founders. This special tax election applies to cases where stock is owned but can be forfeited. It must be made within 30 days of the date of grant, signed by the stock recipient and spouse, and filed with the recipient’s tax return for that year.

6. Get technology assignments from everyone who helped develop IP.

When the startup is formed, stock grants should not be made just for cash contributions from founders but also for technology assignments, as applicable to any founder who worked on IP-related matters prior to formation. Don’t leave these hangning loose or allow stock to be issued to founders without capturing all IP rights for the company.

Founders sometimes think they can keep IP in their own hands and license it to the startup. This does not work. At least the company will not normally be fundable in such cases. Exceptions to this are rare.

The IP roundup should include not only founders but all consultants who worked on IP-related matters prior to company formation. Modern startups will sometimes use development companies in places like India to help speed product development prior to company formation. If such companies were paid for this work, and if they did it under work-for-hire contracts, then whoever had the contract with them can assign to the startup the rights already captured under the work-for-hire contracts. If no work-for-hire arrangements were in place, a stock, stock option, or warrant grant should be made, or other legal consideration paid, to the outside company in exchange for the IP rights it holds.

The same is true for every contractor or friend who helped with development locally. Small option grants will ensure that IP rights are rounded up from all relevant parties. These grants should be vested in whole or in part to ensure that proper consideration exists for the IP assignment made by the consultants.

7. Protect the IP going forward.

When the startup is formed, all employees and contractors who continue to work for it should sign confidentiality and invention assignment agreements or work-for-hire contracts as appropriate to ensure that all IP remains with the company.

Such persons should also be paid valid consideration for their efforts. If this is in the form of equity compensation, it should be accompanied by some form of cash compensation as well to avoid tax problems arising from the IRS placing a high value on the stock by using the reasonable value of services as a measure of its value. If cash is a problem, salaries may be deferred as appropriate until first funding.

8. Consider provisional patent filings.

Many startups have IP whose value will largely be lost or compromised once it is disclosed to the others. In such cases, see a good patent lawyer to determine a patent strategy for protecting such IP. If appropriate, file provisional patents. Do this before making key disclosures to investors, etc.

If early disclosures must be made, do this incrementally and only under the terms of non-disclosure agreements. In cases where investors refuse to sign an nda (e.g., with VC firms), don’t reveal your core confidential items until you have the provisional patents on file.

9. Set up equity incentives.

With any true startup, equity incentives are the fuel that keeps a team going. At formation, adopt an equity incentive plan. These plans will give the board of directors a range of incentives, unsually including restricted stock, incentive stock options (ISOs), and non-qualified options (NQOs).

Restricted stock is usually used for founders and very key people. ISOs are used for employees only. NQOs can be used with any employee, consultant, board member, advisory director, or other key person. Each of these tools has differing tax treatment. Use a good professional to advise you on this.

Of course, with all forms of stock and options, federal and state securities laws must be satisfied. Use a good lawyer to do this.

10. Fund the company incrementally.

Resourceful startups will use funding strategies by which they don’t necessarily go for large VC funding right out the gate. Of course, some of the very best startups have needed major VC funding at inception and have achieved tremendous success. Most, however, will get into trouble if they need massive capital infusions right up front and thereby find themselves with few options if such funding is not available or if it is available only on oppressive terms.

The best results for founders come when they have built significant value in the startup before needing to seek major funding. The dilutive hit is much less and they often get much better general terms for their funding.

Conclusion

These tips suggest important legal elements that founders should factor into their broader strategic planning.

As a founder, you should work closely with a good startup business lawyer to implement the steps correctly. Self-help has its place in small companies, but it almost invariably falls short when it comes to the complex setup issues associated with a startup. In this area, get a good startup business lawyer and do it right.