{"id":14553,"date":"2020-09-22T13:37:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T13:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wfglobal.org\/?post_type=press&p=14553"},"modified":"2020-09-22T13:37:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T13:37:30","slug":"zooming-out-of-zoom-calls","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/press\/zooming-out-of-zoom-calls\/","title":{"rendered":"Memperkecil Panggilan Zoom"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the current environment, startups must step back, re-prioritize, and stabilize their operations before thinking of scaling-up<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Oleh Ajay Batra<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The current pandemic has turned our lives upside-down, shaken our work inside-out, and hung huge question marks on jobs and venture survival. As the reality sank in early-April, many early and growth-stage startups found themselves staring at an uncertain future. The heady growth of the past, often funded by venture capital, was replaced with the shock of shrinking revenues and depleting cash reserves.<\/div>\n
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Anecdotal data from my angel investment and startup mentoring circles showed that about 90 percent of startups in their first three years of operations were in ICU mode in the early days of the outbreak\/lockdowns. Entrepreneurs had no choice but to go past denials and work hard to save their ventures from total collapse.<\/p>\n

Fast-forwarding to September: from my initial set of startups, about 20 percent have found themselves to be in a good spot, or have pivoted to make the most of the situation. They have used the tailwinds of online-everything to take their business to newer heights, some seeing up to three times jump in revenues in the last six months. Invariably these startups are operating in ed-tech, health-tech, and e-shopping spaces, as is borne out by the recent successes of big names such as Byju\u2019s, Whitehat Jr, Medlife, 1mg, and BigBasket.<\/p>\n

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What about the other 80 percent of the startups? Well, the going has not been so smooth for them. From the total, about 20 percent of startups continue to be in ICU mode\u2014even after juggling their product portfolios, laying-off some team members, and implementing austerity measures. They are severely short of their cash runaways, with little or no hope for recovery. Sadly, the prognosis for them is not too good.<\/p>\n

The remaining 60 percent of startups are probably more representative of the current landscape. Most have pivoted their business models, learned to live with reduced revenues and lower costs, and re-oriented their offerings to meet the changing needs of digital customers. They have also accepted that the \u2018new normal\u2019 is here to stay. For now, these startups are out of the existential crisis zone\u2014their struggle is more about relevance with a general sense of urgency to get one’s house in order. For such startups, we have been recommending a three-pronged approach to stabilize and scale-up.<\/p>\n

Continue to work\u00a0<\/b>\u2018on\u2019 your startup<\/b><\/p>\n

While hundreds of\u00a0priorities, a tsunami of\u00a0issues,\u00a0and incessant zoom calls\u00a0are screaming for your attention, as an entrepreneur, you must learn\u00a0to \u2018zoom out\u2019.\u00a0Keep abreast of\u00a0the macro environment, government\u00a0policies,\u00a0and evolving customer segments\/needs\u00a0in your industry.\u00a0This will require more frequent\u00a0discussions among\u00a0the founding\u00a0team around: Are we in the right business?\u00a0How to tap new revenue streams?\u00a0How to keep the team motivated? Planning, re-planning,\u00a0and\u00a0continuous adjustments are the new mantra for\u00a0all\u00a0organizations.<\/p>\n

Optimize your operations<\/b><\/p>\n

You will need to make continuous\u00a0changes in your operating processes to deliver and capture the newly-defined\u00a0value. Keep a hawk-like\u00a0eye on collections and\u00a0spends; and\u00a0a\u00a0keener eye on customer delight.\u00a0While investing in new digital solutions\u00a0to manage\u00a0operations will be tempting, set the ground by getting the most of manual activities of marketing sales, customer service\u00a0and performance management.\u00a0Figure what you will\u00a0begin doing (for example, have more one-on-one conversations with customers), do\u00a0better\u00a0(collections),\u00a0and\u00a0stop doing at all (developing more bells-and-whistles for\u00a0your product).\u00a0As\u00a0Marshall Goldsmith\u00a0said,\u00a0\u201cWe spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do. We don\u2019t spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prep<\/b>are\u00a0to scale<\/b><\/p>\n

As the\u00a0startup\u00a0acquires some level of strategic clarity, operational\u00a0control, and financial predictability, it will be time to plan\u00a0the next stage of growth. As the\u00a0meltdown has taught\u2014growth this time around\u00a0will be built on the foundation of\u00a0a\u00a0steady, revenue\/profit-positive and\u00a0optimized business. In fact, with\u00a0demonstrated ability to go past the downturn\u00a0startups\u00a0will be more attractive\u00a0to investors who themselves have been\u00a0shaken, and\u00a0have become\u00a0more selective\u00a0about their investments.<\/p>\n

A renewed focus on building fundamentally-robust businesses is back\u00a0in\u00a0vogue. Going beyond the scars of the pandemic, entrepreneurs must develop a long-term\u00a0mindset\u00a0of building\u00a0viable and\u00a0enduring organizations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sumber: Pengusaha<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the current environment, startups must step back, re-prioritize, and stabilize their operations before thinking of scaling-up By Ajay Batra The current pandemic has turned our lives upside-down, shaken our work inside-out, and hung huge question marks on jobs and venture survival. As the reality sank in early-April, many early and growth-stage startups found themselves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":14363,"template":"","tags":[7],"press-category":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-14553","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-authored-articles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/14553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/14553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14553"},{"taxonomy":"press-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-category?post=14553"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wadhwanifoundation.org\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}