Question

(1)Three things you have learned so far regarding your business.

(2)Share your biggest frustration and how you plan to resolve it in the coming week.

(3)Lastly, share three changes you plan to make in your own business which you will be starting in the following week. (Could be related to advertising, training, location, employees, vendors, time management, inventory, etc…).

Answer 1

Managing a entrepreneurship firm or a business involves tremendous amount of effort, dedication and care. Right from purchasing the smallest of items like a bell pin to the purchase of massive equipments, it becomes utmost important to dedicate the required amount of time and effort in taking the business decisions.

We are part of a startup where we provide two wheelers on rent. Any prospective customer who wants to commute from Point A to Point B can download a mobile application, locate a hub that is close to him/her and book the ride for him/her to start riding. The following are few of the important things that i learnt in my business :-

1.) Things that i have learned :-

a.) Co-ordination of resources:-

Right from developing an application, to buying motorcycles , to performing the legal formalities like the registration of the company, filing of GST, etc , there was a massive need to multi task. Talking to different authorities, getting to know about the process - how its done, managing the regulatory deadlines, etc, it was a good learning experience to manage multiple things. Also, since i have met people from different walks of life through this process, it was a good learning curve for me to understand the requirements, the responsiveness of people from different walks of life, mindset of people, etc.

b.) Perform a preliminary survey :-

While we were unsure about the adapatability of the public in using these self rental two wheelers over other modes of transport like autos, buses, metros, etc, we were skeptical about the scope about this model. We ran out a survey among people from all age groups and from different walks of life asking whether they would have really used a two wheeler rental service when given a choice. As such, the responses we received were very welcome and supportive of the model of the business and it gave us more confidence on the viability of the model.

c.) Match the competitors :-

For predominantly most of the businesses , there is bound to be competiton among the different business houses. A competition is always healthy as you strive to provide better features and better prices to survive in the market. But it is always important to note that while trying to match the competitors with your products, it should lead you to the risk of losses. Also, a competitors analysis will have to be done carefully in order to analyse your USP. The USP would be your defining criteria when you try to obtain the trust of the public.

2.) Share your biggest frustration :-

MANAGING THE RESOURCES:-

While engaging in a business may be rewarding, it involves a challenging exercise to manage your own resources. By resources here, we refer to the employees. Every person who works for the organization would come from different walks of life and would have an individual background. I found it very difficult to manage the team as many of them would not co-ordinate and work per the plans, would take unplanned leaves, would not show interest in the work, etc. Employee confidence and interest in performing the tasks are a must in ensuring any business is successful and is scaling upto greater heights.

Ini the coming weeks, we have decided to focus more on gaining the employee interest towards our job. By providing incentives, having an employee hotline, to having an open door policy, we would be working out ways to ensure that the employee satisfaction and trust is given utmost importance to .

3.) The following are changes i am planning to make in business :-

a.) Act swiftly on public feedbacks/demands :-

Customers are the sole reason for the functioning of the business. In the ever evolving world of modern technology and user friendly services, it becomes utmost important for us to stay updated. We are planning on introducing a Customer relationship team where the team would reach out to customers on their recommendations, suggestions, feedback, etc and try to implement them in our strategies and business models going forward. This way, we will be able to gauge the demands and needs of the public and act accordingly.

b.) Increased focus on marketing/advertising :-

Over the time that we have been engaged in the business, we have got to know some innovate tools that help us in tracking the advertising journey. Tools like Search engine optimization, Search engine marketing, Google Analytics, Google Keyword planner , etc are free tools that are available online for helping us in planning our advertisement needs and to track about the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. We are planning on including an in house advertisement team whose main areas would be to focus on the new arenas of advertising, maintaining social media pages, responding to customer requirements, etc. This way , we will be able to streamline the process.

c.) Employee Trainings :-

The employees of the company will be trained for a variety of skills like product skills, communication skills, etc . This way, it will help them to stay updated with the requirements of the modern market. Latest updates, legal regulations, etc will be included as part of the training so that all the team members would be technically sound . This will also act as a platform to obtain suggestions from the team members in order to achieve business success and scale up.