Startups and their significance ..

Imagine you are carrying out the following activities, How does it differ from a startup ?

1. Opening a MacDonamld's franchise in Ejipura area in Bangalore.
2. Opening a medical store in near NGV on Bangalore ..

3. Open a small tea shop selling snacks near Sony World, Bangalore.

4. Open a photostat shop near Canara Bank stop in Koramangala, Bangalore.

5. Setting up a small CAD/CAM design and machining centre in Koramangala

Do any of these qualify to be called a startup ? No, Why not ?

ALL processes have infinite potential for improvement

There is nothing new in the idea, people have been doing these businesses for ages and the business does not have any great scope of being scaled up. The scope of providing great value to customers is very limited.

Clock here for a Forbes article on What is a startup ?

What qualifies an initiative to be termed as a start-up ?

First of all we have to understand that it is not looking at a great, new, invention as the output. It can be as simple as a pencil that lasts longer(because of a reinforced pencil lead that does not break..) or a new fuel injector that causes the right mixing of fuel and air in the fuel injection resulting in reduced use of fuel and hence great mileage for the vehicle.

Click here for an Investopaedia article on what is a startup ..

Customers only look for VALUE ..

The first main difference between an ordinary business and a start-up is INNOVATION. Innovation in inputs like new material, innovation in the process/technology or innovation in the output .. Innovation can also be in finding a new use for the same product

The other great difference between an ordinary business and a start-up is the scope of scaling up and growth. Start-ups can be scaled up fast with minimum of inputs and resources while an ordinary business cannot scale up so fast because of limitations of demand, capacity etc..

Try new ideas, fail fast, learn and move ..

Start-ups can be setup with minimum of infrastructure and resources, since it has great scope for growth and scaling up, it will need more resources very soon.

Start-up is all about IDEAS nobody has ever thought of !!

Start-up is about generating more value for the customer ..

Start-up is about fast pace of growth.

Start-up is also about EXECUTION - hardwork and perseverence ..

Google mantra - give more value to your customer ..

With the new mega trend of sustainability picking up and soon set to be a trillion dollar business, the new wave of innovations will be looking at

1. how solid and wet wastes can be effectively reduced, treated and disposed

2. traffic management - reducing accidents and commuting time

3. effective methods for conservation of water

4. low cost, high capacity industrial desalination plants 

5. reducing the carbon footprint of industrial, residential, transportation and domestic activities

6. reducing e-wastes generation and safe disposal

7. generation of energy from renewable non-polluting sources like solar, wind, tidal etc..

8. energy conservation through innovative design and usage of products 

we only wish humanity would come up with novel and innovative ideas to handle man's greatest and pressing problem in the coming centuries, ensuring environmental sustainability ..

george..