Start-Up India – STARTUPS – Heads-up for mid-sized or small enterprises with stagnant or no growth??

Ever wondered a new idea culminating into a business, successful implementation of the idea and finally a company doing a business of Rupees 200-300 million in a short span of 2 years? Yes this is happening all around and all across India now with not only young but also experienced professionals venturing into Start Ups. We hear the success stories of Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Housing.com and more recently about OYO rooms, Hiree.com. These are only very few of the success stories which people know and are aware of but there are hundreds and thousands others who are doing their job successfully and quietly and not only once but twice or thrice have been successful with Startups. Their modus operandi is very simple, come up with a brilliant idea, start that business with great zeal and passion, establish the business in 2-3 years, make it a 100 million, 200 million or 500 million entity and sell it to the big player.

There are hundreds and thousands of other Start-up players running their business successfully and side-lining so many old mid-sized and small companies who are not able to match with today’s pace.

I am very surprised and wonder that how could they do it. When these people have nothing in terms of finances and could establish an empire of millions in 2-3 years why most of the old companies who have a financial backup can’t do the same. Why a company which is 20, 30 or 40 years old still not been able to touch the magic figure of Rupees 1 Billion. Leave apart 1 billion many such companies are still complacent and happy with revenue of rupees 100- 300 million.

What can be the reason that they are not able to make it big in this huge market which has an enormous potential and scope?

Is this due to the market they are in to or is it due to lack of ideas?

Is it due to lack of clear vision of management or is it due to lack of motivation within the employees?

Is it due to the same old management thought and processes or is it due to non-availability of right staff within the organization?

Is it due to lack of passion and enthusiasm of management or is it due to lack of productivity within the employees?

Is it due to reluctance in accepting new challenges or lack of clear directions of management or is it due to lack of skilled employees?

Is it due to lack of organized structure or is it due to lack of effective internal control of management?

There may be N number of reasons but yes these companies now need to wake up and need to match with the pace in order to survive. Future of the employees of these companies is also associated with their growth and future. The new mantra of Start-up India, Stand-up India by the present government has boosted the morale of many IDEAPREUNEURS and with the assistance from the government we will see more and more success stories in the coming months and years.

It is not very far when it will be very difficult for these midsized and small companies, in this market for so many decades to match the pace of this new India. This is the final Heads-up for these organizations and now if they don’t take corrective measures the game will be over for most of them leaving them red-faced and hundreds and thousands of their employees unemployed

Is it necessary that you need to be an IIT or IIM for making it big in the Start Up business?

In my opinion such companies which have not grown beyond certain revenue and still struggling to make rupees 100-200 million which they were making 5-10 years ago need to seriously think about their business plans. Why can’t they have the passion and enthusiasm of a Start-Up Entrepreneur and come up with a different idea? The good part is that unlike the Start-Up Entrepreneur who has taken a risk and invested his entire savings on his business, these companies have a financial backup and a setup which can be used to their advantage. The need of the hour is to revisit and rethink the strategies and they should do away with the outdated structure and policies forthwith.

Moreover these companies also need to identify the talent within the organization, employees who are passionate, ideapreneurs and who can think out of the box to assist the organization. Make them a shareholder of the company; give them more responsibilities and accountability. The important question here is how you will identify such talent. Take suggestions from everyone no matter which role he is in. An employee at the senior position may or may not have an idea or that calibre in this day and age, but a junior employee who is full of passion may come up with an excellent idea. Don’t rely only on the top posts. It is a very common practice in such companies which I am talking about. The management need to come out of this hierarchical culture so prevalent in many companies who have not make it big even after in the business for over 20, 30, 40 years. The culture must change now as you cannot survive with a standard basic phone in today’s age of smart phones.

According to NASSCOM India will have a large number of super successful small companies (Start-ups), as against the global trend of having a small number of mega successful companies that command high valuations.

This is a Food for thought for such companies, have a SWOT analysis and get into the act right now otherwise it will be too late

Contributed by Rajesh Rana in Linkedin