Startups that improvise, not compromise, during pandemic

• Follow

‘Where there is a will, there is a way’- this adage has been widely used to motivate people when the chips are down. Entrepreneurs in India are now banking on it to overcome the coronavirus-induced challenges.

Chandan, 27, started his startup journey before Covid-19 disrupted the world, with ‘Bookmyspace’ in Pune. A student centric startup, to cater to the needs of the students, and provide them with basic facilities of living and studying like, decent libraries and hostels. His idea was to create a community where he can provide solutions to the problems identified by the students. From building on the idea, to actually establishing a physical space for his office in Pune, he did achieve the goals, he had set for his business. But before he could go ahead with his plan and could take the start-up to the next level, the pandemic disrupted the market, and the whole country was under lockdown. The students had to go back to their hometowns and the revenue dropped drastically due to the lockdown effect.

This did not deter his entrepreneurial mindset and he started exploring opportunities that aligned with his vision. In a matter of few months, he along with his college batchmate, Siddhida founded ‘The Grannys Secrets’, a business registered as an MSME with an aim to bring ancient ayurvedic formulation in the daily life consciousness of today’s youth.

They set-up the company with their personal savings while also handling the company’s operations and marketing. For it, they even took a course in digital marketing to develop a skill-set which would make them capable enough to promote their products on various digital platforms. But, in order to scale up sooner and streamline marketing and logistics, they still have many financial and operational challenges, given the all pervading pandemic.

Combining resourcefulness with passion

Another small business owner, Prerika Arya, founder of ‘PurEsencia’ from Gurgaon, turned her passion of making organic soaps into a business idea. During the lockdown, she realised that she can explore this idea and give it a shot. She set up her work area, in a room vacated by the tenants, who had left for their home, given the Covid-related bottlenecks.

As she says, “I procured all the raw material and ingredients to make soaps from my savings only, my parents did want to support my business financially but I could manage it from savings. I just started this in February, and initially all the money was going from my pocket until a base of customers was established. Even though I have not made substantial profit, but have been able to gain the trust of my customers which is the key to success in the long run. I am actually satisfied with the initial traction my business has received through Instagram and acquaintances, as I managed to sell around 120 soaps in this period. I do hope that with time it will grow. The challenge is that right now I am manufacturing as well as packaging the soap, thus bearing the production, packaging as well as the distribution cost.”

Prerika is not the only one from her family who pursued her dream to be an entrepreneur. Her brother Akshyesh Arya, also started a company Medhaksh Health & Care in the December of 2020. The company provides surgical items, N-95 masks, Zig-Zag cottons and other health-care products to its client companies. In a short span of time, it did manage to become a super stockist of another healthcare company- Mohini Health and Hygiene Ltd. He realised the demand of such healthcare essentials is high in current crisis and turned into an opportunity.

Financial challenges

Covid-19 has upended the business models of many entrepreneurs in India, who now have to find a way around the various challenges brought by the pandemic At a time, when the economy is already in a bad shape, these entrepreneurs are skating on thin ice, as they spend their savings and set up their own business in hope of making light in the dark.

Renu Maheshwari, co-founder, Finscholarz Wealth and a financial advisor, says that small entrepreneurs who bank on their savings to establish their own business during these times, should be very resourceful, when arranging raw materials or managing operations and logistics of their businesses. Effective and smart management is the key to sustain your business.

“Money will always be tight, whether it is a good time or a bad time, one has to find a way to channelise the savings to yield maximum output. As these small businesses do not require a big capital outlet to kickstart, they can also look for government funded small schemes or loans for SMEs or MSMEs. It is also advisable that you take help from your own friends, family, relatives or neighbours in the initial period to help your business grow, it can be either in in operational activities, or building a community of customers etc,” she said.