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Questions for Startups n Startup Entrepreneurs



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The Indian startup story is getting bigger and bigger. A lot of startups, big or small have already made the cut or are in the process of making the cut. However the growth story has not been all hunky dory. There are a lot of questions which remain unanswered. Leaving them unanswered may prove  dangerous or even fatal. Probably for someone with a hardcore background as entrepreneur the questions may not be significant but they definitely are worth considering. The list though is not exhaustive.
  1. Is is it always necessary to burn cash and offer heavy unrealistic discounts to grow the business? Is this the only way of doing business? Is there not any other way?
  2. Don't businesses that bootstrap do well?
  3. What business sense does it make to spend Rs. 100 and generate revenues of Rs. 10-20? If you feel I am exaggerating please note some cases its even worse.
  4. Why go on recruitment spree only to lay off people later? Some startups that started only two years back shot to a manpower strength of 0-1000 employees only to lay of almost 30-50% of them.
  5. In cases where the employee strength shot up/spiraled in multiples of 100s..do you really have a processes, systems and structures to support such huge numbers and more importantly a business to sustain and grow them?
  6. When expanding do you expand because there is real business or you feel there is a business? If there is real business then why withdraw/shut down services?
  7. Is opening 10 branches one after another/simultaneously far better than opting open only 5 instead? This is debatable as one may feel you may lose out other 5 places where you did not open up - what is better loosing out or shutting down? And if you are good enough you are sure to make up for the lost ground, the same however cannot be said about lost faith/trust.
  8. Many startup entrepreneurs are exiting business within the first 3-4 years by targeting high valuation. Sometimes it may be the right thing to do. But  then on the contrary where is the ability to sustain and grow the business? What's the legacy you are leaving behind? Should it be then considered a business at all or just another opportunity?
  9. A lot of money gets spent on advertising /branding/rebranding (running into a few to even 100+crores) and trying to beat the competition. Why not use these crores to strengthen people, processes and technology? With that kind of money invested rightly chances of living to fight for another day improve drastically and may even help you go the extra mile so as to make the cut.
As I said the questions are not exhaustive but definitely worth considering for a better startup space and more successful ventures.
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