Do you have what it takes to be an Enterprising Entrepreneur?

A successful entrepreneur possesses certain key qualities that separate him from the common man. Skills can be attained with practice, however, there are some attributes that are in-built and developed in an individual over the years. Do you think you have those qualities in you? Take a look at the personality traits of a startup superhero in this infographic.

So, what are you waiting for? Start here to get more visibility and also find your target audience! Share your traits in the comments section below. 

Inspiring Stories of Indian Entrepreneurs!

Indian entrepreneurs are really very inspiring and some of their heroic stories are untold. Being enthused by such success stories, I did a bit of research on various websites and magazines to figure out how one could make it big with simple yet powerful ideas. Based on this little research, following are a few really amazing stories that encourage you to go that extra mile with a humble idea and reach the pinnacle.

Sulekha.com : This is a really inspiring story that I came across when I was reading a magazine in the plane. Mr.Satya Prabhakar and his wife went to America through his work and slowly settled there. However, back then, they did not have any relatives or friends who could help them with small services like a good Indian cook to help them out, a decent Indian salon for their beauty essentials, etc. They decided to start noting down all the help they figured out somehow and developed a blog to spread the word across to their neighbors and fellow Indians in their community. Now, he is the owner of a really big company called Sulekha.com, that has its wings spread not only in India, but in USA, UK and Middle East. What started as a blog is now a big business. Sheer brilliance and dedication. Something this simple really inspires me a lot. Every successful startup caters to some or the other need of the society and Sulekha happens to be the biggest example of that!

Jayaashree Industries: Arunachalam Muruganantham, India’s “Tampon King.” He acquired this title by figuring out how to locally produce low-cost sanitary napkins that have the dual benefit of not only providing women with an affordable, hygienic management method for that time of the month, but also providing employment to many women.

Sandeepha Restaurant: Starting from merely 50 paisa per day, Mrs. Patricia Narayan now earns INR 2 lakh a day. She started her career 31 years ago as an entrepreneur, selling eateries from a mobile cart on the Marina beach a midst all odds. Today, she has overcome the hurdles and owns a chain of restaurants.

ID Idly Dosa batter: Musthafa P.C, a school dropout who went on to study at IIMB, quit his software job to start an enterprise that sold idly-dosa batter. His is a success story that has trickled down to his 600 –odd rural employees too.

Tips to succeed at Job Fairs

Man is a social animal who is constantly on the lookout for change. For a lot of us who are currently employed, job satisfaction is a rarity. And for freshers, who are seeking suitable jobs, it is always tempting to accept an offer that may appear to be great but not in the long run. For you to appropriately make a choice based on your interest and field of expertise, job fairs are conducted where multiple employers come under one roof and give you the choice to appear for a pre-determined number of interviews. However. job fairs tend to attract a lot of crowd which means added competition for you as a job seeker. So here are a few tips that will help you stay on top of others and excel at such career fairs.

Pre-Fair:

1. Shortlist your top companies

Carefully review the list of employers participating in the fair and select the top 7 companies of your choice based on their reputation, your field of interest and domain expertise

2. Research your shortlisted employers

Make sure that you research well on the companies that you have shortlisted as your priority. Browse their websites and other online properties to thoroughly know every single detail about the organization including their team, locations, business objectives, revenue model and other news related to them

3. Customize your resume

Prepare different resumes for the companies that you have selected to sit for. Based on their job description, tweak your profile to suit their requirement 

4. Practice an introductory speech

It is obvious that the first question that every recruiter asks is for you to introduce yourself. Why not prepare a really kickass brief that describes you in the most apt way with crisp and quirky words. First impression is always the best impression. So cash in on this and prepare a really good introduction for yourself

5. Prepare a list of questions for your recruiter

Always be ready with a set of intelligent and wise questions that you could ask your potential employer, such as, what is your strategy to drive sales in the digital space? or how did the inception of the company happen? and other such witty questions.

At the Fair:

1. Be punctual and dress appropriately

It is imperative for you to be on time or even a few minutes before time and dress in business formals to impress your recruiters

2. Plan your time well

Make sure that you schedule high priority companies first and then move to the rest. Such events could press you for time and if you do not manage well, you may not make optimum use of the opportunity in hand

3. Approach with confidence and humility

Firmly shake hands with the interviewer and hand out a clean crisp copy of your customized resume. Extend a warm welcome to them and stay focused and confident while responding to all their questions

4. Thank your recruiter

Request for the recruiters business card so you could send them "Thank you" notes after the fair. Immediately after the interview, politely thank your recruiters for their time. These gestures will definitely earn you brownie points, if not overdone!

Post-Fair:

1. Follow-up

Send out thank you emails to your recruiters and slyly ask for the status of the job position. Remember that you are in need of the job. Shed your ego and discover the developments in the position you are eyeing for

That's about it folks! These are really simple etiquette that you must follow while attending a job fair. Put your best foot forward and crack the deal! All the very best :)  

How to use technology to build your startup?

Startups are totally trending these days but every small business is not a successful one. Did you know that the success rate of startups is just 5%? Well what is it that this 5% of businesses is doing right and the rest aren't? Let us take a look at how technology, without much expenditure, can lead to a good start for entrepreneurs.

1. Time tracking tools must be put to good use to manage your time wisely and allocate appropriate amount of time to tasks with varying priorities. 1Time and Chrometa are a couple of good tools available in the market.

2. Use an efficient project management tool like Basecamp or Asana to maintain a record of all accounts that you are handling. It is ideal for a small team to communicate and share files and other related data.

3. Create a systematic email management system to not miss out on any important message and also to keep every single detail of your team documented in one place. You never know what will actually be of use to you at a later stage.

4. Use a methodical online invoicing system to bill your customers and avoid any kind of hassle with respect to funds. You could make use of Google Checkout or PayPal for this as they are authentic and very user-friendly.

5. Maintain your finances well with a productive online budget planner. You ought to plan your spends wisely when you are starting off with almost nothing or very little. Mint or GNUCash could assist you in this task.

6. Explore the possibility of creating an alternative source of income like selling your products online or getting associated with a complimentary product that would mutually benefit both the businesses.

7. Exploit social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others that are free and at the same time super effective to popularize your business and connect with your targeted audience.

8. Start writing a blog that you can use as a rich source of content marketing. Gather as many readers as you can in your domain and educate them about the need of your product and how they can benefit out of that.

9. Use video marketing to create short yet engaging videos about your product. You can introduce your business, talk about features of your products that stand out in the industry, and create various videos that are worthy of going viral in the digital space.

10. Last but definitely not the least is going mobile. Create an interactive and fully functional app that aligns with your website design and interface. We all know that the world is going mobile and if you are not, then you are losing a lot.

Hope this helps you in elevating your business further and scaling greater heights with simple and cost-effective ideas. In case you have a few more ideas in your kitty, share them with our readers in the comments below.