SME Special

The biggest challenge is to identify and build a niche category that can help you scale without attracting big dollars from biggies to kill you.

Firstly one need to find a niche segment. Secondly, the startup should invest its resources to create an inventory of articles, FAQs and other relevant content on the chosen segment. Content marketing is something hard to build and consolidate, but it is most efficient and cost effective medium to maintain your brand.

In my view, marketplace model is best suited for India because of the presence of so many small businesses in the country. For one, it does not steal the trade opportunities of small businesses in India. This is crucial for a country like ours. Also, the marketplace model has advantages like better inventory management and larger inventory. Also, the marketplace model is a very lean way of conducting business as the operational costs are much lower than an inventory based model.

Your ability to build a business is largely dependent on your ability to be resourceful. At a the start-up stage you have limited resources and many a times Entrepreneurs tend to justify the lack of growth and momentum due to lack of resources. My advice to you would be to create an enviroment of resourcefulness.

This is a very good move by the government, it will make work and taxation easier for smaller players. Because of simplified tax regime, you will have more time on hand to focus on customers and building your brand.

It`s a very broad question. When we use terms `platform and aggregators` we mean online companies which have provided an online platform for small and medium-sized retailers to use the platform to sell their products and services. Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon are prime examples of a platform. Examples of aggregators are OLA and Uber in India.

One of the top traits is the ability to take risks. Taking risk does not mean that you got to say yes to every opportunity to take risk. Infact your success as an entrepreneur depends on your ability to say no and not as much on your ability to say yes to every opportunity. The second trait of successful entrepreneurs is the ability to anticipate and manage change The third is the ability to articulate and persuade. These traits if not inherent, can be accquired with right associations and increased awareness.

The tax liability for NRI and resident Individual is the same in respect of profits on sale of listed shares on stock exchanges. In case of long term capital gains for shares held for more than 12 months the same are exempt. The short term gains shall be taxed @ the slab rate applicable to you. This is subject to the condition that STT has been paid in respect of sale of such shares.

You never know, Google was the last search engine. India and China are known for springing surprises. Both these companies have set up the market and mindset, someone can now come in and build up on that. Amazon just did that.

On the government front, I don`t belive the Indian government has famous platforms or aggregators apart from IRCTC which is running an e-commerce platform. So, yes, that could be the best government run platform for your small business if you are in the business of selling consumer goods. There is a new platform for startups being developed as a part of the Startup India program for listing recognized facilitators for helping startups. Check this site http://startupindia.gov.in/