1. Eagles fly alone at a high altitude and not with sparrows or mix with other smaller birds like geese.Birds of a feather flock together.No other bird goes to the height of the eagle. Eagles fly with eagles,never in a flock.Even when Moses (Old Testament Bible) went to commune with God on the mountain, he left the crowd at the foothills.

Principle: Stay away from sparrows and ravens. Eagles fly with eagles.

2. Eagles have strong vision, which focuses up to 5 kilometers from the air. When an eagle sites prey- even a rodent from this distance, he narrows his focus on it and sets out to get it. No matter what obstacles come, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it.

Principle: Have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacle you face and you will succeed.

3. Eagles do not eat dead things. He feeds on fresh prey.Vultures eat dead animals but not eagles. .

Principle: Steer clear of outdated and old information.Do your research well always.

4. The Eagle is the only bird that loves the storm. When clouds gather,the eagles get excited.The eagle uses the wings of the storm to rise and is pushed up higher.Once it finds the wing of the storm, the eagle stops flapping and uses the pressure of the raging storm to soar the clouds and glide. This gives the eagle an opportunity to rest its wings.In the meantime all the other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees.

Principle: We can use the storms of our lives (obstacles, trouble, etc) to rise to greater heights. Achievers relish challenges and use them profitably.

5. The Eagle tests before it trusts.When a female eagle meets a male and they want to mate, she flies down to earth with the male pursing her and she picks a twig. She flies back into the air with the male pursuing her. Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she lets the twig fall to the ground and watches it as it falls. The male chases after the twig. The faster it falls, the faster he chases until hereaches it and has to catch it before it falls to the ground, then bring it back to the female eagle. The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a much higher altitude pursued by the male until she perceives it high enough, and then drops the twig for the male to chase. This goes on for hours, with the height increasing until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of picking the twig which shows commitment,then and only then, will she allow him to mate with her!

Principle: Whether in private life or in business, one should test commitment of people intended for partnership.

6. Eagles prepare for training.When about to lay eggs, the female and male eagle identify a place very high on a cliff where no predators can reach; the male flies to earth and picks thorns and lays them on the crevice of the cliff, then flies to earth again to collect twigs which he lays in the intended nest. He flies back to earth picks thorns and lays them on top of the twigs. He flies back to earth and picks soft grass to cover the thorns, and then flies back to pick rugs to put on the grass. When this first layering is complete the male eagle runs back to earth and picks more thorns, lays them on the nest; runs back to get grass and rugs and lays them on top of the thorns, then plucks his feathers to complete the nest. The thorns on the outside of the nest protect it from possible intruders. Both male and female eagles participate in raising the eagle family. She lays the eggs and protects them; he builds the nest and hunts.During the time of training the young ones to fly, the mother eagle throws the eaglets out of the nest and because they are scared, they jump into the nest again. Next, she throws them out and then takes off the soft layers of the nest, leaving the thorns bare. When the scared eaglets jump into the nest again, they are pricked by thorns.Shrieking and bleeding they jump out again this time wondering why the mother and father who love them so much are torturing them. Next, mother eagle pushes them off the cliff into the air. As they shriek in fear,father eagle flies out and picks them up on his back before they fall, and brings them back to the cliff. This goes on for sometime until they start flapping their wings. They get excited at this newfound knowledge that they can fly and not fall at such a fast rate. The father and mother eagle supports them with their wings.

Principle: The preparation of the nest teaches us to prepare for changes; the preparation for the family teaches us that active participation of both partners leads to success; being pricked by the thorns tells us that sometimes being too comfortable where we are may result in our not experiencing life, not progressing, and not learning at all. The thorns of life come to teach us that we need to grow, get out of the nest, and love on. We may not know it, but the seemingly comfortable and safe haven may have thorns; the people who love us do not let us languish in sloth but push us hard to grow and prosper. Even in their seemingly bad actions they have good intentions for us.

7. When the Eagle grows old, his feathers become weak and cannot take him as fast as he should.When he feels weak and about to die, he retires to a place far away in the rocks. While there, he plucks out every feather on his body until he is completely bare. He stays in this hiding place until he has grown new feathers, then he can come out.

Principle: We occasionally need to shed off old habits, things that burden us, or add no value to our lives.

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The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) modified and renamed an erstwhile Small Industries Cluster Development Programme (SICDP) and introduced the Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP) in October 2007, aimed at:

-> Addressing common issues of MSEs such as tech-upgrade, access to markets, capital, etc.
-> Building Capacity of MSEs through creation of consortia, self help groups, associations, etc.
-> Creating or upgrading infrastructural facilities in the clusters.
-> Establising common facility centres such as testing labs, training centres, raw material depots, effluent treatment plants, etc.

Apart from MSE-CDP, the Lean Manufacturing Programme and Promotion of Information and Communicaton Technology are cluster-based programmes. The former trains clusters in eliminating manufacturing waste and streamlining systems, while the latter assists clusters in adopting IT application in their entire chain of business.

How to avail benefits under the MSE-CDP initiative?

-> Send proposals to the office of Development Commissioner (MSME) through concerned State Governments or institutes of Ministry of MSME.
-> An MSE-CDP Steering Committee will approve these proposals.
-> Mentoring activities and funding patterns of MSE-CDP can be accessed from:-

http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/schemes/ModifiedGuidelinesofMSE.pdf

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Why do companies go for an IPO? What are its benefits?
Companies float an IPO to raise capital. Listed companies get access to cheaper capital. Since they are more compliant and transparent, and are subjected to scrutiny by various authorities, they can get access to lower interest rates when they issue debt. A listed company can issue more stock and raise fresh capital faster than an unlisted company. They can also offer their own stock to buy out a company. Hence, mergers and acquisitions are easier for listed companies since they can issue stock as part of the deal. A listed company can offer ESOPs to employees, which is an attractive retention tool. There is also a considerable amount of prestige that follows a successful listing.

How can an IPO be structured?
An IPO can be done either through a fresh issue of shares or through an offer for sale of existing shares to investors. If fresh shares are issued, the company’s fresh capital is injected into the business and its equity base increases. The stake of existing investors in the company decreases, to that extent. When existing shareholders of the company sell equity shares that they own, then it is called an offer for sale. In this case, there is no infusion of money in the company. The existing shareholders, sell their stake usually for a profit.
How long does it take for a company to list post-IPO?
In a recent directive, Sebi has ordered companies to get their issue listed within 12 days, from the date of closure of the IPO. Earlier, it took companies 22 days to list the IPO.

How is an IPO priced?
IPOs are priced by companies in conjunction with merchant bankers. Essentially, there are two ways of pricing an IPO — the fixed-price route and the bookbuilding option. In a fixed-price mechanism, the price at which the shares are issued to the public is disclosed, before the issue opens for subscription. In the book-building process, the company announces a price band within which investors have to bid for the shares. The lower end of the price range is called the floor and the upper end is called the cap. After the bidding process is complete, the cut-off price is arrived at based on the demand of securities. Retail investors have the option of bidding at a cut-off price.

Source: Economic Times

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So here are 7 key points for brainstorming startup ideas that offer a great deal of help:

Use Cases
To simplify the complexities of a startup, it is important to ask yourself certain questions pertaining to the product or service you wish to offer. For instance, questions like “How will the product be used by the customer?” Or “Which are the different categories of people involved in the process of distribution & consumption (e.g. customers, vendors, advertisers, etc.)?” This question- raising session gets you thinking in a clear & specified manner and thus, eases the rough patches with regard to the usability of the product/ service.

Risk and Failure Points
Assumption is generally the ‘silent culprit’ that is responsible for many illogical decisions & thus, failed ventures. To clear the air of assumptions, you need to assess the risk & failure points which enable you to get to the underlying assumptions being made. Normally, it so happens that an entrepreneur doesn’t even realize when he makes assumptions. However, he generally is vigilant about the failure points. This makes it easy once you have asked yourself those critical questions (as explained in point 1) because you now have clearer, step-by-step processes in relation to the product use. So, if an entrepreneur responds, “Well, if no one puts any content into the system, it won’t work”, it becomes vivid that the entrepreneur, here, is making an illogical assumption that people will put content into the system. The next logical question is “Why??”

Incentives and Motivation
Incentives & motivation are a significant component of every activity. Humans are driven by rewards which give them a purpose to put their best foot forward. This basic need has to be acknowledged in order that everything else falls in place. Always remember, the clearer the incentives, the better! It is now time that we give a thought to the question “Why would someone do something that you want them to do?” So, the sooner you realize this, the better. Besides, brainstorming around incentives and motivations is fun.

The One Feature
One important to-do is to look out for the one feature inside the ‘use cases’ and driving the incentives and motivation. It is a general practice to throw features into the products that would make the product stand out. Although the drawback, here, is entrepreneurs tend to assume that one more feature will seal the deal for them, which by the way, is false. It’s just not about a bulk of features, rather it is more about one feature- the one that is the driving force. Brainstorming around this can be very fascinating as it enables the division of a big chunk into manageable pieces. When you go by one piece at a time, it allows you to direct a lot of focus on one small piece of the master plan and test it methodically with the customers before the ‘go-ahead’. Brainstorming, taking one feature at a time really gets to the core of ideas quickly and ensures better concentration.

Target Market
Most of the time, entrepreneurs know what market they’re going after. But, it might not be the right one always. When you look at something from the outside in, it’s much easier to think of other applications and target markets for a startup idea. Brainstorming around this often leads to interesting ideas on product features, but more importantly on go-to-market strategy and whether the customer (that’s in the entrepreneur’s head) is really the right one. For example, there are fairly simple and interesting ways of taking a B2C web application and targeting it at businesses. The reverse is true as well; take a B2B application and steer it towards a B2C adoption model.

Monetization
It’s interesting to brainstorm ideas on monetization, as well as acknowledge its importance at an early stage for startups. However, it depends on the nature of the idea as in some cases; it makes sense to monetize right away while at other times, it’s better to wait. There are no set rules for every startup. Monetization definitely carries weight, but there are other aspects related to the idea which are as important and help to evaluate the overall idea thoroughly. The point is, a single idea cannot be the focal point, however, all startups start with the idea.

References and Referrals
Last, but not the least, looking out for references & referrals for help do make a difference. A reference might be as simple as an article that you can share. A referral might be a potential customer, business partner, or a fellow entrepreneur with familiarity on the turf. If the idea is promising and the entrepreneur is capable, and well, the timing is right, then extending support is a good thought. It is generally advisable to help provided the associations you’re making are meaningful and it doesn’t waste anyone’s time.

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The best team has always been talked about. Also, the value- addition through A- players who are considered more viable and productive, as compared to B-players or even C- players is stressed upon too often. However, keep room for the support staff- accountants, bookkeepers, janitorial staff, etc. This section of the staff is capable of bringing about a massive variation to the way your business operates, and one should also remember that they prove their worth at the time of startup milestones like financings and acquisitions.

Give your comfort zone a miss:
One of the most important lessons of startup entrepreneurs is leaving the comfort space and treading a new path. Rather than doing what one is good at, entrepreneurship advocates doing something that has not been done by the entrepreneur before. Break free from the cosy comfort levels of the mind and try doing the untried! Even, more important, make it a habit !!

Decide on your values & beliefs
Determining the basic values and ideological framework at the very start is an essential step so as to strike a fine balance amongst the viewpoints amongst the co- founders. A startup culture requires conditioning and maintenance.

Do your homework:
One can never really figure out what it is like starting a company till he attempts to do so. However, one can never afford to miss doing the groundwork that offers safety and security for a whole lot of obvious reasons. And the good news is there are a wide variety of resources available which include books, blogs, advisors, other successful entrepreneurs. And then again, the homework about the industry, market, competitors, etc. forms the other half of the homework. The key is to get out ‘there’ and interact with the to-be customers even before you actually develop an offering. Do your homework please or else you land up being an example of a failed start-up.

Iterate quickly and pivot nearly as fast:
One of the very critical aspects of working on a startup is to accept the case when what you have been working on tirelessly doesn’t really seem to be working. You have to gather the courage to keep it all aside and begin afresh when you know something just isn’t worth the effort. And, if you still continue with it, it is as good as banging your head against the wall and the evident show of immaturity to accept and change.

Understand metrics and how to optimize them:
The key metrics are a critical tool to assess success or failure for your startup. It could a little thing or even a combination of small & big things, depending on the startup. It might be repeat visitors. It might be some form of engagement. It might be lifetime value of the customer. It might be all of those things. In any case, you need to know them specifically to measure them constantly and work on optimizing them. You would be in for a surprise to see how small things can influence the impact of your overall offering & brand image!

Know what milestones you need to hit:
Focus is an inseparable aspect of a startup. You just need it anywhere & everywhere. And while being focused, you need everyone in your team to be as focused as they need to be. This is needed as milestones are ‘gates’, if you put it simply. You either go through these gates because of your accomplishments or gates that are just closed to you. If they are closed, you give it another shot or stop. This warrants an entirely separate post…

Build a personal brand:
In many varied situations, having one’s own strong personal brand works wonders! The point- in- question is it provides future social leverage in your life, irrespective of the success or failure of your startup. Not only this, but it can also help drive your existing startup in many ways.

Get your ass out of X:
This world today has become a global village. The era of globalization has brought up the concept of knowing the real customer and thus giving a personal touch to the services on offer and also make sure that you reach them effectively. The message is: Get out of there & discover the world! It is you who needs to expand your markets and to ensure effective reach to the customers spread far and wide.

Don’t raise money … until you’re ready:
Raising money requires an unsaid understanding about the ‘ends’ and also lowering the risk enough to the point that you’ll be able to raise more money at a better valuation. The longer it takes to raise funds as you’re making progress on your offering and acquiring customers, etc. the better.

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The most recent study conducted on more than 200 managers on the very topic suggests that a whopping 67%of managers are put off by terms such as “blue-skies thinking” and “blame storming”.

The more interesting aspect to this eye-opener is the reason cited by the managers for the disgust for the infamous trend. They specified that it not only caused confusion but people used them only as a show-off tactic and to appear more interesting and the ‘all-knowing individual’, which they were not. The common conclusion that most agreed upon was that it was only tolerable when not overdone and when everyone around had a reasonable idea about the same.

Although business jargon didn’t generally have the favour of the masses, roughly half the sample said they came across them on a day-to-day basis, whereas for a quarter, it was on weekly basis. Only an odd 1% revealed that they never came across business jargon at work.

For those of you who support the trend, the good news is there is still time before the jargonis shown the back door! With a massive 77% of the top brass forecasting a jump in the usage of jargon in the next five years.

The survey further threw light on the common usage in certain departments and among specific hierarchies. The worst culprits were those in sales department narrowly followed by those in marketing department – who together polled over 70% of the vote of likely jargon users.

IT came in third position ahead of HR and Finance. And it is the senior and middle-level managers who are the most probable users of the jargon during conversations.

However, the ranks of managing directors and partners together with lower level, junior and trainee managers generally give it a miss.

Top Ten Most Creative Business Jargon Sayings as provided by British managers surveyed :

1. Seagull managing = Managers who fly in, dump on you and disappear before you notice.

2. Having a colonic = Dumping out all your ideas.

3. Put that idea in the car park with the engine running = we’ll talk about it later.

4. Blame storming = Getting together to decide who to blame when it all goes wrong.

5. Get our ducks in a row = getting ready and organised. But beware of the “Duck Shuffler” – the person who moves in at the last minute to mess it all up.

6. Feed that one to the monkeys = not your best idea.

7. Can it wash its own face? = is it financially viable?

8. Stretching the envelope = pushing the boundaries.

9. Get the moose on the table = time to discuss the really tricky issue.

10. Sweat the assets = make sure you get the most out of anything we’ve had to pay for.

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The most important learning for any business person is “Never Trust your Dad”.

A mother of a successful business man went to her husband and said “Our son is now 10 years and growing older day by day. I want you to start teaching business lessons right from now so that he would be a seasoned business man in future”

Dad said “alright. Call him”

Son came with a little hesitation because of his dad’s unusual assertiveness.

Dad carried him and placed him on the top of a cupboard.

“Common son, jump from there”

“Dad, its too high and I may get myself injured if I jump from here”

“Don’t worry son, I am here to catch you. Common, jump”

Son jumped. Dad didn’t catch him. He fell flat in the floor. It was painful.

Dad said “ first lesson in business. Do not trust anyone, even if it’s your dad”

Source: http://clickbharathi.blogspot.com

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Entrepreneurs think their ideas will get ‘stolen’ so don’t share: This stops great ideas from coming through.

I should not give away a ‘large stake’ in my business: Owning 30% of a Rs 100 crores company is more valuable than owning 100% of a Rs 30 lakh company.

The company should always be profitable: Today companies are valued for metrics beyond profitability.

Friends and family are the best sources of funds: Sometimes they are the worst. They get emotional about returns, interfere in ops and can get difficult to eject.

Professionals from big companies don’t suit startups: They can help create a structure,‘corporatise’ the setup.

Employees like cash, not shares: Well, they like both!

Business should be a family concern, not sold: Many businesses need a larger partner after a certain scale.

I am the best CEO for the business: Really smart entrepreneurs hire people more clever than themselves.

This business is best for India: The world has shrunk and most businesses can be global.

I cannot fail: You can. 90% of all new business ventures do.

Source: Economic Times – 25th December 2009

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Is a competition good or Bad? For any business to grow should there be a competition or without it one can do a better expansion?

Reply to this post

Reply by Dhawal Shah
Competition is good, it keeps us at our toes, competition is the reason why we see such good products and services being made available. Without competition, from Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Indica, Maruti would never innovate.

Several other interesting examples. We would not have added so many unique articles and built a social community, had there not been any competition.

Competition is also good for consumers and the corporations. Hence, I would say: Competition = Progress

Reply by Sajid Ali
Thank you Dhawal, your comment are absolutely perfect. In context to the business owner yes it helps you carve your product better and better but does it really help business owner in increase the business volumes or competition eats up each others share. Does it help in creating an awareness in the market and hence increasing the overall business, so that the share which comes to you in turn is more than what it would have been without the competition?

Reply by me (Samir Lalani)
I certainly agree with Dhawal. To me competition means a way to succeed and innovate. If there is no competition we would not try to bring innovation in our products & services.

Such development in technological products as well as many other products is a result of competition in that particular industry. Without competition there is no way to progress. Competition is not only good for consumers but also for companies.

Answer to Mr. Sajid’s question in my way:
Well I think that competition does eats up your share in market but at the end of the day if you have better product & better service to consumers compared to your competitor’s you can still enjoy major market share. Of course you should have right strategy to communicate your products & benefits to consumers efficiently and correctly.

Reply by Nahid
Healthy competition is always good,for any business to grow and expand competition is not required…it is the thirst of a company to grow to a certain level…to what level it depends on every individual…Strong planing and execution would be required for any business to be successful.

Reply by Dhawal Shah
Competition may in the short term eat into one another’s market share, however, in the long run, it helps enlarge the market.

Reply by Madhusudan N
Competition is something which you may never be able to stop. Competition is a check for the consumersto get the best deal. Competition emerges to expand the market, it never restricts the market at all. A few examples which may make it more clearer :

1. Air Deccan can and expanded the market in the airlines. 6 years before when there were only few air carriers, today the total air carriers have doubled, the total number of aircrafts have gone 3 times, the airports have become better, the services have become much better and overall it has expanded the market wider. Now you have a choice of different airlines operating in different segments.
2. Dhawal was right with Maruti’s example, though when Maruti was operating as a lone leader with ambassador and fiat as competition, it used to sell 3 lac cars in an year with a 60% market share. Today they sell 1 million cars with around the 55% of market share. They may have come down on the overall share but they have grown 3 times more in terms of the volumes.
3. Telecom is another example. With so many number of competition that we never had, today has expanded the market beyond limits …no wonder why the world is running towards India to capitalise.
4. Look at retail…is it the same anymore. With so many multi formats, multi brands …the game is wide enough and enough players can still come in and compete.

What does competition generally do ?

1. Competition historically has changed the positioning eg. Maruti’s tagline was “Building Trust. Worldwide”…changed to “count on us” (A total change in the attitude)

2. Competition creates new benchmark – “One Paisa per second”. Everyone jumps into fray.

3. Competition generally makes the company look into its own operation and strart strengthening their strength rather than loose more money in price wars or could be debated in many ways.

4. Yes makes you Innovative – the segment wherein Santro was the only model, Maruti brought in 4 more models to fight in that segment which meant expansion of the same segment and overall th beneficiary being Maruti.

5. competition makes you becoming more slimmer to ensure that wherever they could cut costs, they would and are ready to face the push that the competition gives.

6. Competition also ensures that incase if you are not good and the vision of the products are not in tune with the trend, you may be wiped out very soon. eg. Television markets – Where are Weston, Beltek, Keltron brands ? Have they gone into history books

Good Replies by all. Whats your take on this? Do Comment!

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