Money matters: Basic cost cutting strategies for start ups

In wake of global economic uncertainty as well as financial recession operating a small enterprise may appear to be a daunting task. Under such circumstances, start ups are left to confront with the necessity to watch over costs to remain competitive, maintain profitability, or many a times even survive.

 

While, the market is flooded with innovative and creative concepts and great business models, without efficient cost cutting strategies, many challenges will appear in the long run. Hence, integration of efficient cost cutting measures becomes crucial to handle the drying cash flows.

 

 

 

 

Financial Management:

 

Dwelling on the current economic scenario, managing expenses becomes imperative for sustenance of the enterprise. The added competition in the environment also works like fuel to the fire.

 

 

 

Keeping constant assessment on the items that affect the liquidity of the business, like the level of debtors, stock of raw materials and finished goods can go a long way in managing finances. 

 

 

 

Managing a way to have optimum working capital rather than minimum or maximum working capital can works well for processing the cash flows.

 

 

 

Maintaining a record of financial transactions on a regular basis; at the same time maintaining relevant documents and preparing financial statements from time to time is essential.

 

 

 

 

Analyzing the financial statements:

 

Systematic analysis as well as understanding financial issues will have a far reaching affect for start ups. As it will ensure that the businesses are well informed regarding assimilation of developing trends, early warning signs, also ideas to reach out to wider areas.

 

 

 

 

Cloud computing:

 

Cloud computing holds key to minimising costs as well increasing profits for the small enterprises. It includes movement of localised software and digitized files to a cloud available over the web, it will ensure major savings by removing the need to upgrade the hardware and software frequently.

 

 

 

It is efficient technology which is also available on multiple devices.

 

 

 

 

Credit management:

 

Developing proper credit management is very important tool for the SMEs as it not only shrinks the unnecessary costs and avoidable debts, but can be a very important way of branding for the small business.

 

 

 

While offering credit is an important part of the start ups, it does not associate with the quality of services provided. Hence, it is advisable to work on a low-cost but good quality credit system to maintain business.

 

 

 

 

Future plans:

 

This is very important for any business to nurture and grow. Planning future can actually enable well established system, ensuring cost management in avoidable areas. Drafting out a proper plan will make sure that there are no unnecessary cost escalations, at the same time; it leaves enough room for charting out effective strategies to counter any uncertainties.

 

 

 

 

In the end, every entrepreneur starts with a different idea and business model; but it boils down to how well they are able to manage their business.

Indian women and entrepreneurship

An entrepreneur is anyone who is setting up business or reviving the existing business, these businesses may vary in sizes. In today's world, entrepreneurs work in shaping the economy by creating new jobs and by inventing new products and services, in turn increasing the wealth of the nation.

 

Concept of women entrepreneurship

 

The concept of woman entrepreneurship is relatively new. Women have had to fight battles to step out to work place in the past. Having said that, women who have made their mark outside of their homes are no longer unheard of.  According to Zenith, an International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, the entry of women into business in India is traced out of an extension of their kitchen activities, mainly 3 P's namely, Pickle, Powder and Papad. But with the spread of education and passage of time, women have shifted to 3E's, Energy, Electronics and Engineering. Businesses owned by women are increasing in economies all over the world today.

 

 

 

Overcoming constraints and restrictions

 

 

1.    The gender issue: One of the greatest problems faced by Women Entrepreneurs is the fact that they are Women. Patriarchal societies have a set stereotype and many even at the top level still conform to this medieval social order. So proper awareness programmes need to be designed for both men and women so as to eradicate any kind of prejudices as participation of women will lead to a more successful economy.

 

 

 

2.    Sense of freedom: Entrepreneurship provides a sense of freedom like nothing else does, as this is one’s own business. One can learn and grow and this idea works well for women's independence. Hence, continuous motivation and inspiration is the key.

 

 

 

3.    Educational background: Education is an integral part of life in today's world. Proper training at very basic level should be encouraged in order to develop proper professional competency.

 

 

 

4.    Finance: Access to finance has been termed as one of the biggest obstacles among the entrepreneurs and so, women businesses should be provided with easy access to loans and subsidies and various seminars at national and international levels to encourage entrepreneurship.

 

 

 

5.    Subsidies: Banks and other financial institutions should make provisions for both large and small business start-ups.

 

 

 

 

6.    Strong belief system: Starting a new project is a mind boggling task and it is imperative that women observe strong perseverance and command self confidence in their work.

 

 

 

7.    Provisions: Special provisions should be designed by both government and non-government organisation about various strategies and policies for the overall development of women entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

8.    Groups: Self-help groups play a vital role in helping women entrepreneurs make important business decisions, mobilize resources and pump in money for various small as well big scale projects.

 

 

 

9.    Proper exposure: Exposure to various training programmes, awareness about financial assistance, skill-training programmes in the necessary field of work should also be a part.

 

 

 

 

10. Lack of information: Special awareness programmes and seminars should be held in order to let women entrepreneurs be able explore the options available regarding various technological advances, new government policies, concessions, alternative markets and etc.

 

 

 

 

Women have come a long way in overcoming the shackles that past put them through. And there has been a significant rise in the women entrepreneurs across the country. According to the Women and Entrepreneurship in India survey, the majority of women-owned businesses are micro-enterprises or small/mid-sized businesses. Hence, women play a major part in the SME and MSME sector.

 

 

 

Government as well as other non-government organisations are taking measures to ensure that women entrepreneurs too are equally and adequately represented in the economy. At present, the Government of India has over 27 schemes for women operated by different departments and ministries. Some of them are as follows:

 

 

 

- Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)

 

- Khadi And Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

 

- Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM)

 

- Women‘s Development Corporations (WDCs)

 

- Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD)

 

- Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programmes (MSE-CDP).

 

- Mahila Vikas Nidhi

 

- SBI‘s Stree Shakti Scheme

 

- NGO‘s Credit Schemes

 

- Working Women‘s Forum

 

- Indira Mahila Yojana

 

- Mahila Samiti Yojana

 

- Micro Credit Schemes

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

 

Women occupy nearly 45 per cent of the Indian population and the role of women entrepreneurs has finally been recognized. Highly educated and professionally qualified women are taking over the world today in almost every social stratum. Whether it is about starting a small backyard enterprise like Mrs. Bector’s Cremica, which started as an SME but today it is one of the most celebrated food brands which does sales of over Rs.400 crore or it is about Pepsico CEO Indira Nooyi, women are making their mark felt everywhere. It is high time that women come forward and explore various opportunities available today.

Incubation: A cutting-edge tool for self employment

Increasing number of entrepreneurs in a country outshines the nation in the global arena and growing importance and visible impact of entrepreneurship in employment-generation in developing economies gives birth to an idea of business incubation. An entrepreneur not only charts on his/her own course but also pursues growth while generating wealth, employment and social good.
Entrepreneurs hold potential to transform a city, region and a country as entrepreneurship increases opportunities for employment, introduces and disseminates new methods and technology and also drives overall economy.


What is Business Incubation?
Incubation is a novel concept primarily gestated to help budding entrepreneurs to launch and develop their business with an intellectual assistance of experienced players. Business incubation is a contributive environment created to foster the sustainable growth potential and development of an enterprise. An incubation center offers various forms of assistance to entrepreneurs, including technical knowledge, market studies, access to loans and training programmes. Some also provide office space, meeting rooms and printing, photocopying, fax and Internet infrastructure.
In brief, a business incubation centre is a supportive environment being provided to the budding entrepreneurs aimed to foster their entrepreneurial ideas before they step into venture capital. In this age of globalisation, incubation centres are highly required as they fulfill an entrepreneur's dream of building his/her own company. These centres provides a helping hand to entrepreneurs via assisting in early capital, infrastructure and expert counselling which turn ideas into tangible business models. Besides supporting an entrepreneur, an incubation centre also drives nation's economy by generating new job opportunities.


Objective of Incubation Centre:
An incubation centre is not only aimed to create self-employment but also to convert a person, having a innovative business idea but less resources, into an entrepreneur by way of providing all support services. These incubation centres are playing a vital role in emerging a country as an economic powerhouse as they create high value jobs through fostering newbie and high potential firms.


Globally, the incubation centres have been classified into Tecnology Incubators and Business Incubators. The array of business support resources and services, developed and engineered by incubator management extend support to the successful development of entrepreneurial companies.


Advantages of Incubation:
Incubators are a boon for entrepreneurs. These centres come in all forms, like innovation centres, technopoles and science parks. Although this practice is widely accepted in industrialised countries, but now-a-days such activities are gaining momentum in developing countries as well. Some major advantages are :


Promoting newbie ventures of young entrepreneurs
During initial gestation period, offering a broad range of entrepreneurship development initiatives such as training, nursery incubator space
Central common machining facilities
Systems and networking support
Catalogue library
Extending financial aid
The facilities such as workshops, computer networks with Internet facilities etc. have proven to be a blessing for upcoming enterprises. Some entrepreneurial incubation centers also provide the availability of online consultancy in the form of management professionals' team. After analysing various business propositions, this team helps to develop best-suited business plans thereby providing greater impetus to newbie entrepreneurs.


Why India needs to promote Incubation programmes?
Gone are the days when a decent well paying and 9-5 desk job was all that one aspired for. Economic growth, globalisation are some of the factors spurting the need of having more and more entrepreneurs in the country. Incubations promote entrepreneurship spirit which not only creates successful businesses but also increases employment rate of a country.
Knowledge acts as a catalyst for change and the initial step to promote incubation programmes is to disseminate information with regard to business brooding. Further, the private sector involvement in this regard is also important. It has been found that financial lenders are often disinclined to provide loans and support research and technology innovation and modernisation in such programmes. But the encouragement to applied research can lure banks. Moreover, the business environment should be encouraged in order to stimulate young budding graduates to start up their own business.


Incubation centers in India
National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), a miniratna company facilitating the growth of small enterprises since 1955, has created a Rapid Incubation Programme. The programme offers integrated support through rapid incubation of unemployed people in its technical and incubation centres. NSIC's Rapid Incubation Programme prepares unemployed persons for entrepreneurship and capacity building. It provides all needful facilities for potential entrepreneurs to learn product manufacturing and all its processes.
Besides NSIC's Rapid Incubation Programme, there are various incubation centres in India, such as -
Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM-Ahmedabad
SIDBI Innovation & Incubation Centre (SIIC), IIT-Kharagpur
Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, IIT- Bombay
National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), Wadhwani Foundation
Technology Business Incubator (TBI), BITS Pilani
National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai


Conclusion

Although, an incubator does not guarantee success, but it can act as a nursery which will supervise and mentor the early mistakes of a new startup so that an entrepreneur could not end up causing financial or motivational loss in business.