Are you wondering how to begin a startup in India? With the developing technology and advanced revolution, numerous start-ups are being formed. In the past twenty years, the Indian startup landscape has grown quickly. As of January 2024, India had surpassed 117,000 recognized startups, a noteworthy jump from around 400 startups in 2016.
The Indian startup ecosystem is in third place worldwide, also positioning third in terms of the number of unicorns. To boost the entrepreneurial spirit inside the country and improve the Indian economy, the Indian government has also executed several initiatives and defined strategies to support businesses.
Having a creative idea will permit you to launch your own startup. This blog provides detailed information about how to start a startup in India.
Things to Consider Before Starting Up Your Own Startup
- Market Research: Understand your target market, client needs, competition, and industry patterns. This helps in recognising gaps and validating your trade idea.
- Business Plan: Develop a clear business plan that would incorporate your objectives, targets, income stream, marketing strategy, and budget.
- Funding Requirements: Acknowledge the amount of cash for the initial investment and the continuous working capital needs. Discuss different funding options including bootstrapping, venture capital funding, and angel funding.
- Legal Structure: Select a proper legal system (for example, sole trader, partners, LLP, etc.) and guarantee that all registration requests are met.
- Team and Skills: Construct a diverse team that has the right mix of people with different skills. It has been established that the success of your startup relies greatly on talent.
- Technology and Infrastructure: Make a distinction between the tools, instruments, platforms, and systems needed to create and expand your offering.
- Risk Management: Identify known threats in terms of market risks, financial risks, operational risks, and plan out a course of action to address them.
- Networking: Leverage relationships within the industry, tutors, and startup communities for advice and access to networking and growth.
- Adaptability: Be prepared to change course and adjust according to criticism from the market, new chances, or obstacles that emerge.
- Time Commitment: Understand the time, effort, and personal sacrifice involved in running a startup. Be ready to commit completely.
Steps to Start a Startup in India
1. Check the Feasibility of your Idea
So, you have an idea that can address a market gap. Interesting, but how feasible is that going to be? Is it really going to solve a problem that is big enough for your target audience? And how much revenue are you expecting out of it in the beginning?
You and your team should be clear on all these, and you should have a plan ready to go forward. To check the feasibility of your idea, you can rely on things like;
- Market surveys
- Expert advice
- Previous market research on a similar idea
2. Have your Business Plan Ready
Before you commence your operations, you should have your business plan ready. It should importantly contain the following things.
- Company Description
- Opportunity and Market Description
- Strategy
- Business Model
- Management & Organisation
- Marketing Plan
- Operational Plan
- Financial Plan
Having a business plan will enable you to look holistically at how your whole business process is going to work. It will also help you when you need to present a business idea in front of someone else.
This will also give you a broad idea about how to start and progress in your business operations.
3. Choose the Right Business Structure
The proper business structure can be chosen depending on how you need to scale your business. It can be a proprietorship, association, or a private limited company. A person can run a proprietorship firm without any partners. But if you’re going for a private limited company or a partnership, you need to discover good partners as well.
If you’re starting small and only have constrained resources, you’ll go for a proprietorship or a partnership. However, opting for a private limited company entails a slightly more intricate setup process. A benefit of a private limited company is that it will be seen as an independent entity, so any debts linked to your business will not impact your personal belongings.
To urge things right, you can avail help from a Business Expert or a Chartered Accountant.
4. Look for Funds
When you start off, you will essentially need funds to sustain as a startup. There are multiple ways to look for funding. Below are some of the important ones you can try out.
Bank Loans: Bank loans are a common method of getting funds for your business. As the governments have now introduced many startup-friendly schemes, it is comparatively easy to get loans if you have an innovative startup.
You’ll rely on bank loans from the very beginning, and once your company is set up and running, you’ll look for other ways of intermediate funding.
Angel Investors: Angel investors are people who are prepared to contribute to your startup in exchange for a share or equity in your trade. Numerous of these angel investors are individuals with industry experience, and they will also be able to supply you with important business advice.
However, you would often need to prove before these investors that your startup has an innovative idea and it is worth investing in.
Venture Capital: Venture Capitalists invest in startups that are of high potential. In return for the investment, they get equity in the business. Venture Capitalists also make money when the business goes public or gets acquired by another company.
5. Get Company Registration
Another step is to induce your company to be enlisted as per the business structures we examined. You’ll be able to do this with the help of a chartered accountant in India. They will assist you with the vital steps and processes that you just need to go through.
A proprietorship or partnership is comparatively simple to set up and includes less paperwork. But enlisting a private limited company takes more time and you will need to go through a lot of forms before you’ll be able to start your operations.
6. Make Sure You’re Following All the Legal Steps
From designing your product to setting up your workplace, opening your dream startup can be a lot of fun. But before you officially enter the market, you’ll want to take the right legal steps to give you the best chance at success, including:
- Applying for a business license
- Registering your business name
- Getting a federal tax ID number
- Filing for a trademark
- Creating a separate bank account
- Familiarising yourself with industry regulations
- Building contracts for clients and others you plan to work with
7. Build a Good Digital Presence
You cannot miss out on building a solid digital presence in this century. Brands are built and nurtured on digital platforms these days.
Importantly, you need to have an attractive website that reflects your brand. It should also have pages that describe what you do and how it is helping your customers. Make the best use of channels like social media, search engines, email, written content, video, etc.
Depending on the nature of your business, you can choose relevant marketing channels. If you are in the B2C sector, social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will be effective. But at the same time, if you are in the B2B sector, channels like email marketing are found to be more effective.
8. Register in the Startup India Program
You’ll enlist your startup on the Startup India website and take advantage of many programs run by the Indian government. From the year 2017, the government of India has changed the definition of a startup and the overall age limitation of new businesses has been raised from five years to seven years.
Being a part of the Startup India program, it’ll help you in securing funds effortlessly and will also get you some tax benefits for your startup.
9. Set up the Infrastructure
An office space is something crucial for any business. If you are just starting out, a home office might work depending on the nature of your business.
But when you scale up, you can get a proper workspace by moving into a coworking space or a business centre. Make sure the office space that you get has all the essential amenities and is located in a good business area. Though this might not be an immediate concern when you start out, getting an attractive office location can be beneficial for your business in many ways.
Especially when you have clients who make a visit to your office, an impressive office located in a popular business district is going to be really helpful.
Final Thoughts
By now you must have learned how to start a successful startup in India. Before beginning your business, you ought to keep in mind how your product or service tackles an existing problem. The Indian market is exceptionally diverse, and consumers alter their preferences exceptionally easily, so you have to form a monopoly and maintain it. Also, you must have backup and alternative plans and strategies to stay afloat in the market. No startup gets success easily. Only your hard work, dedication and self-discipline will make your startup successful in the long run.
FAQs
Do I require a unique business idea to begin a startup in India?
While a unique business idea can be advantageous, it’s not always imperative. Most successful start-ups originate from an initial idea that they are not the first to possess but the way they implement the idea, distinguish themselves from their competitors, and the way they meet a particular market demand exceptionally are unique.
What are the key legal and regulatory requirements for beginning a startup in India?
Legal and regulatory requirements assert the need to register the company, acquire necessary licences and permits, meet tax requirements, protect intellectual property, and respect labour laws and policies.
What financing alternatives are accessible for new companies in India?
New companies in India can investigate different financing choices, including bootstrapping (self-funding), blessed messenger speculators, wander capital, crowdfunding, bank credits, and government plans such as Startup India and Atal Development Mission.
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