COVID-19: Story 5 - Startups: Corona Outbreak effects in Startups Enterprises

Ahmedabad, April 2, 2020: India being the third largest emerging country for startups in the world after the United States of America and England. According to the Government startup portal, there are 79,783 startups, 563 mentors and 565 incubators are exits in the country. Startups have poised in the Indian business ecosystem. This national lockdown due to novel coronavirus outbreak has impacted a huge loss to the common man to the established business & flourishing industries. World Economists already have predicted the results of the COVID-19 outbreak and signaled vulnerable situations of an economic slowdown. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) industries and startups which are contributing around 30% of India’s GDP will have to start with a new approach. But, we can see this outbreak as multiple opportunities to many startups, if they are able to grab in a pragmatic manner with the right attitude, they will grow like never before.

First of all, under this global lockdown, all startups can introspect themselves or reinvent themselves. It is the time plan and makes a workable strategy for the startup business. Try to figure out your strengths and prepare your future map to find product, price, place and promotion with right approach. At the same time, you have to re-analyze know your SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threat) and prepare yourself how to overcome. Learn about your competitors, customers, eco-system so that you can be able to beat the best after this pandemic crisis. Glaring the reality that startups need to change – not just change the sake of change, but, in fact, reinventing their core factors. By its nature, the reinvention of business requires courage and daring.

Contributed by: Bharat Thakkar, Business Mentor and Founder of Business Growth Technique Partners Network (BGTPN) and Dr. Shashikant Bhagat, Faculty, National Institute of Mass Communication and Journalism (NIMCJ), Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.