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Jan, 09 2018

ENCOURAGING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The Entrepreneurship Start Up Summit highlighted major opportunities for the growth of entrepreneurs and start-ups.

ENCOURAGING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Thinking big to promote startups

Risk-takers are winners

Entering into the business of trading coffee, the second largest commodity in the world, N. Sathappan, MD, SLN Coffee, and his brother continued doing business in an amateur way for 8 months without paying taxes. They were let off after sales tax vigilance given they were working without having any prior experience or knowledge. Learning the integreties from various exporters and agents, they thrived and expanded their business pan India and went on to win estate awards internationally. “Anyone can do business provided they are up for taking risks. Without risk there is no business. We have done with 90% of risks” revealed Sathappan who started the business with a meagre amount of 5 lakhs and were later funded 50-60 lakhs by the bank.

Customer is still the king

Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, Chairman, Nalli Silks shared some insights about entrepreneurship and said one should plunge into business to learn its integrities. He further talked about how to treat customer and shared an example by asking if a customer complaints about your salesman what will you do. First see the angry customer with apologetic words. Then call the salesman and scold him. After the customer leaves, call the salesman and tell him you had to shout to please the dissatisfied customer and advice him not to give any room for complaint in future. “Entrepreneurs should take bold decisions but boldness should be more on your ability than on external factors which may vary,” he added.

Give customers the experience they crave

The customer is really impatient and if she wants something you have to give it to her now or she will move to someone else who is able to do it for her. “The new-age customer is making purchases online and offline and both the channels can’t exist separately anymore. You need to deliver a seamless experience across channels,” said Sonali Lalvani, Founder & CEO, Toniq Retail Brands.

The rise of women entrepreneurs

Wellness is no longer a luxury rather it has become a necessity. The spa industry is one of the most booming industries right now with a growth rate of 20-25%. In the wellness sector, the yoga centres, day spas and spiritual retreats are coming up in a big way. So, fitness is one of the industries booming at the fastest rate. “Due to the affordability and low investment, many people are entering this sector especially women. Having a women involved in this industry gives us the kind of professionalism that is required out of this industry,” said Shruti Nair, CEO, Ananta Group of Spas, “We have 39000 customer base and some customers have spent as much as Rs 7 lakhs with us. The only way we are able to do it is through the quality that we are maintaining,” she added. She firmly believes that franchising is the future of the industry and the company has huge plans to expand through this model.

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