A start-up or startup is a particular company or enterprise which is started by a founder i.e entrepreneur to explore, cultivate and substantiate business model. Most of the startups don’t run successfully and have chances of failures. But some of them turn out to be extremely successful.
Founders and entrepreneurs are the brains of a company. To be a successful entrepreneur running an inspiring enterprise in this pandemic one must have some outstanding qualities in him/her. One of the most important aspects is self-confidence. Every startup needs some level of confidence to be launched. A founder’s confidence or self-efficacy level can play a vital role in how a company copes up with the pandemic, face challenges and continue meeting goals. Startups are already a bucket full of stress. There’s the pressure of meeting deadlines, meeting customer expectations and being successful at the end of the day. In this situation, most of the founders may face emotional disturbance and the most common tendency is to close the startup. Then there’s the problem of hiring employees. Besides that what to sell in the market arises as one of the biggest question marks in the COVID-19 World. Not everyone can open a farm to make sanitisers and masks. Last but not the least funding and capital pose a big threat to startups in 2020. Most of the Indian startups are funded by foreign countries and standing in the present situation it’s quite difficult to judge the future of this funding procedure. But if there’s a problem there’s a solution too.
Let’s have a look at some of the well-established startups of India who are doing pretty well amidst the impact of COVID-19.
Wow!Momo – Well if you are hungry and you can see a Wow! Momo stalls just go and grab your favourite Tibetan food. It is a food startup operating in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and other cities of India. You can get a variety of food like Burger, ice-creams and more than 40 varieties of momo. The initiative started back in 2008 and has a funding of $470. It has nearly 3500 employees working all over India.
To cope up with the competitive market in 2020 the founder has already collaborated with Cafe Coffee Day(another startup) and he said that to exist this year he is open for any such collaboration. Wow! Momo incurred a loss of 7 crore in April due to the all India lockdown. But still, it stands strong and is functioning quite effectively due to its safety measures and quick decision-making capabilities of the founders.
Paytm – Well this name doesn’t need any introduction. We all have this or any similar app installed in our smartphones to enable payments. Payment is one of the most user-friendly apps to receive or do payments at just one click. The app now controls all over India. It was founded in 2010. Paytm has basically five services i.e Payment systems, digital wallets, mobile payment, banking and online shopping. These services are delivered through Paytm Mall, Paytm Payments Bank, Paytm Money, Gamepinda and Paytm Smart Retail. The startup recently has revenue of 3,579 crores and is one of the most used apps in India with nearly 350 million users around the world. Online methods won’t have to face any drawback effects in a World threatened by the virus. Thus Paytm still remains one of the leading Indian Startups operating in Covid-19.
Swiggy – Swiggy started with an e-commerce website. The website name was “Bundl” which provided courier services within India. But it remained usable to only a few thousand and turned out to be a failure. So they moved and caught up with an idea of the food delivery sector. Swiggy started in 2014 and at the end of one year, it started getting foreign investors. From ordering lip-smacking pizza to delivering your parcels any time Swiggy is the most trusted and reliable platform. With its foundation city in Bangalore, it operates in 300+ Indian cities. This privately owned business has adopted special measures to cope up with the pandemic. Temperature check of the employees, delivering sanitised parcels, ensuring a safe work environment and regular cleansing and sanitisation is their magic wand to cope up with the current scenario.
If we discuss the present situation nearly 75% of the startups are struggling to make both ends meet. Establishing themselves financially is the hardest job in the Corona Virus outbreak. The income of 50% of Indian startups has ceased. Companies are unable to pay their employees and laying out employees is not an obsolete term now. This challenging situation, however, can be a boon to native startups. More and more stress is given to local startups. Local startups are turning out to be an important part of the country’s digital economy. It’s really wise to encourage local startups to ensure smooth flow of the economy.
The Current Covid-19 scenario had brought about a 360-degree turn to the pattern of startups. 2019 was the most profitable years of some of the best startups in India. Major startups like OYO rooms, Paytm and Swiggy grabbed international investments. But fear of investing is now deeply tucked in the minds of investors. People are turning extremely careful about investing in something new. But startups are still adapting with the challenging new environment. They are adopting safety measures to help their employees return back to the normal work environment. It’s a challenge and the safety of the employees is the highest concern. Here’s a list of some safe workplace tech which can be adopted to ensure workplace safety in COVID-19.
Table of Contents
10 Workplace safety measures During Covid-19
- Make sure your office is fully clean.
- Disinfectants should be sprayed regularly.
- Create a plan to discuss the workflow to ensure smooth functioning.
- The employees will come back to work after being in stress during lockdown so plan for a counselling cell.
- Create DIY posters and templates and paste them all around the office to remind people to wash hands.
- Doors, staircase, railings, tables and chairs should be wiped with sanitizers.
- Staff suffering from the flu should be given leave.
- Work from home should be encouraged as much as possible.
- If anyone in the office is suspected to have symptoms of Covid-19, he/she must be isolated and the whole office should be sanitized.
- Proper thermal scanning and wearing a mask is a must.
Which startups to open in COVID-19?
Online Learning Startups
Schools and colleges have shut their doors and are unable to operate until any further government instruction. But the learning procedure can’t stop. In 2019 this was the sector which didn’t see any such expectation of achieving brilliance and earning a reputation among the top-performing startups. But as said earlier 2020 is a boon to some startups. With the closure of educational institutions, Online Learning is the new tech. Online learning platforms are achieving the highest possible profits in this lockdown. These platforms are coming up with all the requirements of a classroom environment and recreating a classroom in your own drawing-room. Because of the increase in the use of online learning apps, the digital economy of India has increased tremendously. Some studies say that e-learning apps were used by some 100 million users and in the month of April, i.e in lockdown, it crossed 120 million users.
Online Doctor Consultation and Pharmacy
In these situations, no household can run without seeking medical advice. The common flu is also a matter of concern now. Online pharmacy and doctor consultancy startups are one of the most profitable startups to open in this pandemic. More and more people are buying medicines online as they fear stepping out of their homes. They also prefer to seek medical advice via online methods to keep themselves safe.
E-grocery and Food delivery startups
Everyone needs basic rations regularly to survive. But in this situation, people are less likely to step outside. E-grocery apps are a trend now. It’s cheaper than your local market and important items are delivered to doorsteps in some hours. Lockdown has changed the habits of Indian people and no one is likely to go to a restaurant and eat with people around. Everyone fears getting contaminated with Corona Virus. Food delivery startups are the most profitable startups in this lockdown. Lockdown can take away people from restaurants and fast food shops but can’t take food away from them. With proper hygiene and safety measures, people are buying and ordering food online which is delivered to them without minutes.
Starting a start-up may seem tough but if anyone is wise to understand the present market scenario and know how to invest in a start-up which will show light in COVID-19, 2020 is seriously gonna be the lucky year for entrepreneurs. You just need to be smart, having decision-making capabilities to change the marketing strategy anytime and having the stability of mind to cope up with anything and everything. With these ideas and safety measures, it’s now easy to launch a startup and reach brilliance. Have patience and work hard.
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