What makes India a startup nation?

The government of India’s #StartupIndia event happening on January 16 is already creating ripples in the industry. Everyone - from startup owners to investors and incubators & consultants are looking forward to the policies and new regulations that may be laid out. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be at the meet and some startups will pitch their ideas in front of him.

The objective of the meet is to foster innovation, conduct a needs-assessment of startups and most importantly, focus on using the digital space for financial inclusion. DQindia>

This meet is definitely going to make India one of the most desirable destinations to experiment with a startup, which is going to be advantageous not only for the economy of the country, but will also expose our population with a whole lot of diverse ideas from across the globe. We are currently at number 3 in the world in terms of number of startups, and the aim is to climb to the first spot.

There will be focus on barriers and challenges that entrepreneurs, especially women have to face. that exist due to our highly regressive cultural norms. Sairee Chahal of Sheroes opines, “This is the best time to be a startup. Sometimes you go for an idea and the other times, the idea finds you.”

THE VALUE OF AN IDEA

An idea is the soul of a business. If the soul is right, all else starts falling in place, even a failure doesn’t hold you back. It is important to SWOT analyze your idea in order to translate it into a vision.

But many a times, it so happens that a great idea, that is also high on utility doesn’t make it to the market space, while more often than not, an average idea (sometimes consumerist) makes it big on the bucks. While the digital space in changing that, popular narratives still perpetuate the old consumerist ideas which restrain the growth of utilitarian innovation. Priya Sachdeva of RocknShop says, “The bridge between a startup and an established business is about a great deal of hard work, a deep-seated vision, a few years and impeccable timing”. Read her top 5 tips on starting up here.

Anu Acharya of MapmyGenome aptly places an analogy with the culture of books, how an average book often earns the big bucks and some great literature often goes unnoticed. Read some fascinating entrepreneurial advice by the lady who raised funding of USD 1.1 million recently.

Rajan Anandan, CEO Google South Asia speaks about reaching out and engaging with target audiences specific to your idea. Collaborations with the right stakeholders and incubators can go a long way in helping the idea grow.

STARTING UP WITH DIGITAL

With rising trend of new businesses starting out through the internet without much capital investment, the role of digital media is going to be critical. Funding may also come via banks which are keen to foster innovation. Government of India plans to shell out collateral free loans for the 2.5 Lakh women entrepreneurs in the country, said DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant ahead of #StartUpIndia.

With the constant expansion of service offerings through the web space, it is the ‘it thing’ to engage in. In an interview with ShethePeople, Swati Bhargava, founder of CashKaro remarked, “The opportunities that today’s world offers in terms of the embracing of the digital media has never existed before and time like this may never come in future as well. Because we are at that brink where anything you think of, you actually can do it as you are digitally empowered”. Watch her full interview here.