5 tools that can be used to obtain a holistic view of a business

Starting up a company is never easy. Many factors can affect the survival of a company – be it those within an entrepreneur’s control or outside of it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of analytical tools that can be used, which help to make informed decisions. Here we present the top five business tools that help you to obtain thorough analysis and make actionable decisions.

SWOT analysis

Knowing the company’s strengths and, even more importantly, weaknesses is the key to creating greater value while mitigating possible losses.

Also Read: Top 3 underused business tools for entrepreneurs that can help improve your business

The SWOT analysis is useful in analysing the company as well as your competitors. With the understanding of internal competencies and weaknesses, you can carve a sustainable niche in their market, uncover opportunities to exploit and eliminate threats.

To gain further insights, entrepreneurs can analyse the strategic choices of the company by using the TOWS Matrix.

This tool helps you to identify strategic alternatives while addressing the following questions:

Strengths and opportunities – How can you leverage the opportunities using your strengths?

Strengths and threats – How can you manage your threats using your strengths?

Weaknesses and opportunities – How can you circumvent your weaknesses by using the opportunities?

Weaknesses and threats: How can you minimise the impacts of your weaknesses and defend against threats?

PESTLED

PESTLED is an acronym that stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental and Demographic factors. It is an analytical tool to analyse the environment that the company works in or wants to enter.

By monitoring the macro-environmental factors, you will be able to see if how these factors will impact your company’s performance.

PESTLED is often used in collaboration with SWOT analysis and Porter’s Five Forces (as shown below) to provide a clear and thorough understanding of the related internal and external environmental factors.

To use this tool, you will have to create a list of existing environmental conditions in each of the seven factors that will impact the environment. The list can be classified into opportunities and threats using SWOT framework (as shown above).

Ansoff’s Product Matrix

Ansoff’s Product Matrix is a tool that provides you with four different strategies that help your company grow. At the same time, you will be able to analyse the risks that are associated with each strategy.

Also Read: 8 reasons to check out this Hong Kong fintech analysis

The safest strategy out of the four would be Market Penetration (lower left quadrant), which targets the existing markets using the existing products and services.

The risk increases diagonally to the riskiest strategy of Diversification that uses a new product and service in a new market.

As an entrepreneur of a new start-up, Market Penetration and Product Development will be more relevant. Once you have obtained success in the first two strategies, you will then shift to Market Development and finally Diversification.

Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s Five Forces is a framework often used to analyse the attractiveness of a particular industry.

This model identifies and analyses the five main competitive forces that shape every industry, helping you to determine the strengths and weaknesses of an industry.

By making use of this framework, you will be able to understand an industry’s structure clearly. As a result, determine the optimal corporate strategy that ensures high profitability.

Porter’s Five Forces allows you to identify threats and determine the level of bargaining power your company have.

The threats of substitute products and new entrants will affect your company’s market shares while the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers helps you to determine the price that you can set for your product.

BCG Model (Growth Market Share Matrix)

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Model can help you make long-term strategic decisions regarding your product portfolio. It allows entrepreneurs to decide if to further invest in, eliminate or further develop a particular product in a portfolio.

Also Read: How analysis paralysis can ruin your productivity and how to stop it

BCG categorises products based on the market share and the potential market growth. The following is how one can interpret the quadrants:

Dogs: Although Dogs hold low market share and have limited market growth, they may be profitable in the long-term or provide synergies to other brands within the company. However, in general, they are not worth investing and usually will be eliminated from the portfolio

Cash Cows: Cash generated from Cash Cows should be invested in Stars for overall growth. Usually, Cash Cows will not be invested to promote further growth, but mainly to maintain their current market shares

Stars : Stars should be the primary units in which the company invests in as they operate in high growth industries and are likely the cash generators. Typically, Stars will become Cash Cows unless they have been outcompeted by new technological advancements, which turn them into a Dog

Question Marks: Question Marks tend to consume a large amount of cash and incur losses. They can become a Star or become a Dog, which makes it harder for you to decide if they are worth investing their money and time

As with all startups, speed is the key factor to determine the success of a company.

With the five business tools, you will be able to obtain a holistic view of your company and take decisive actions that allow your business to stay ahead of your competition.

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Having proven itself as the birthplace of unicorns and even decacorn in e-commerce and ride-hailing verticals, the spotlight is now on Indonesia’s healthtech startups

Back in October 2018, Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Information Rudiantara mentioned that both healthtech and edutech verticals are set to grow the country’s next unicorn.

The statement is not without credence, considering the country has seen the rise of gojek as a decacorn, and Tokopedia, Traveloka, and Bukalapak all steadily grow at an encouraging pace holding the unicorn status.

“In theory, healthtech has a bigger chance than other tech sectors in Indonesia, considering five per cent of our state budget goes into the health sector,” said Rudiantara during the IdeaFest 2018 event, as reported by Bisnis.com.

Rudiantara also noted that the Indonesian government continues to support the country’s startup, especially by inviting more investors to put money into edutech and healthtech startups.

Whether or not the minister’s prediction will come true, these eight healthtech startups are certainly up for the race.

Medigo

Focussing on the growth in the health service ecosystem, Medigo claimed that it leverages digital technology to build a bridge for basic problems encountered in Indonesia.

Medigo is a platform that assists hospitals and clinics to become connected digitally with patients, standardise manual filings, tackle problems in reference management, and create a more efficient way to connect with insurances, including with the government-aided BPJS.

Also Read: Your cheat sheet to the top-funded healthtech startups in Singapore

Medigo was founded in May 2018 by Harya Bimo, to focus on the issue of interoperability in all levels of healthcare facilities from Puskesmas (local health centre), clinics, to hospitals. There is also inefficiency in accessing medical records for both patients and healthcare providers, along with complicated referencing process between healthcare facilities. Not to mention the manual process required for insurance claims.

To address the problem, Medigo introduces an out-patient management platform for hospitals to manage their polyclinics operations such as registrations, queue, patient slots, and doctors’ schedules through API connection.

For clinics, Medigo provides an integrated clinic management application called Medigo Qlinik, which is aimed towards clinic owners or management to digitise their operations.

It received seed funding from Venturra Discovery, which is the new investment arm of Venturra Capital in April 2019.

Pasienia

Here is another facet of healthtech that is easily overlooked: a social connection. Pasienia, founded by Fadil Wilihandarwo, an alumnus of Gajah Mada University, offers the Android-based app to find and connect with friends who are also going through the same thing.

If the notion seems too much of a melancholy, Google Business Group (GBG) Stories sure did not think so. It was chosen as the champion, beating 468 apps back in April 2017, and given chance to visit Google HQ in Mountainview, Calfornia. The competition itself is an annual entrepreneurs-targeted occasion to encourage business owners to go digital.

Pasienia allows access to two timelines: One for patients to be connected to each other, and one for doctors to consult symptoms directly with doctors online.

Using the app, patients can get information about healthcare and programmes to support the recovery journey. The connection to fellow patients can also help them improve their quality of life.

The company’s currency is undoubtedly the sense of community and companionship and the sharing of information on the basis of solidarity. Something that is refreshingly needed by digital adopters, who easily grow inept to social connection.

PesanLab

PesanLab dubs itself as “the first platform for lab test and medical check-up in Indonesia that gives the customer the ability to make a better decision for their health”.

In 2014, PesanLab began with LabConX, a platform that gathers and analyses data from medical check-up result around Indonesia and processes it into actionable information.

LabConX then added lab testing and medical check-up booking platform in 2015, that came in with a partnership with several local, reputable clinical laboratory to give autonomy to customers to decide the kind of service they want to get. It then changed its name into PesanLab in 2016.

Also Read: A sneak peek into healthtech startups operating in Vietnam

Using the platform, PesanLab customers can book a wide range of services, from a blood test that can be done with home service, to an x-ray test. They can also access the results online. From the other end, medical staff can access a dashboard that enables them to access patients’ data, requested services, and track the payment process.

PesanLab is CEO-ed by Dimas Prasetyo and is a sister company of HaloDoc, gojek’s health collaborator along with medicine delivery startup ApotikAntar. The startup shared with e27 back in August 2016 that it has raised its seed round of funding from undisclosed angel investors.

Homecare24

Homecare24 was established in 2017. It focusses on providing a variety of homecare services, on-demand booking with qualified and certified nurses to ensure the ability to perform emergency medical action if needed. The tech-enabled platform highlighted that its main mission is to “provide healthcare access for all while maintaining nurses’ wellbeing with a dependable career”.

Homecare24 was founded by Theresia Lumban Gaol who is a graduate of the University of Indonesia’s nursing faculty, with co-founders Monica Lumban Gaol and Alexander Horison.

She discovered that the poor quality of healthcare services in Indonesia is related to the meagre wages that nurses are receiving, which may go as low as IDR500,000 (US$37.5) per month in rural areas, Lumban Gaol told e27 in an exclusive interview.

Right now, Homecare24 is available as an Android- and iOS-based mobile app and offers one-hour and eight-hour services, as well as live-in services for the duration of up to one month.

HaloDoc

Among all healthtech startups being mentioned in this article, HaloDoc would be the one with the most development in the past year.

Operating a mobile platform for patients to access doctors consultation, pharmacy delivery as well as home lab services, in March the startup raised US$65 million funding from UOB Ventures. In July, it received another investment from Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

In the past, HaloDoc made waves after President Joko Widodo mentioned its name as one of the four startups that shape the country’s “digital energy”. In 2017, gojek integrated its Go-Med option with HaloDoc platform, which runs until today.

In total, the startup has raised US$100 million so far.

TeleCTG

TeleCTG described itself as “a simplified CTG device consists of developed hardware and software that is cost- effective, portable, and can directly send the result.” The device aims to provide a more affordable Tele-CTG device that it can fulfil the needs of CTG as a diagnostic device by four to 10 times.

With an affordable device, the company said it has contributed in succeeding the achievement of one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is lowering the mortality rate of mothers and babies. Such a device can help with accurate and timely diagnosis, as well as better governance to take place.

TanyaDok

TanyaDok allows users to access health information and consultation online with the vision “better health access for all”. It provides health access for the family of Indonesia, in the form of the health community, online doctor Q&A, health articles, healthy living solutions, and referral to suitable health care.

Also Read: In Thailand, these healthtech startups are tackling a wide variety of challenges

Having been around since 2006, TanyaDok has been in operation significantly longer than the other healthtech startups. The company claims that it has over 200 doctors joining its community and has been building awareness about health through its platform, email, and social media.

TanyaDok was started by medical doctor Gregorius Bimantoro, and it was the representative for Indonesia at Echelon 2013, winning the Indonesia Satellite.

AloDokter

AloDokter boasts 18 million monthly active users since it was established in 2014. The startup bases its service on providing understandable and accessible health information in Indonesian.

AloDokter provides integrated medical service from updated content, chat with doctors, online booking platform for consultation, and hospital searches on both web and mobile app.

The company was established in 2014 by Nathanael Faibis after a four-year stint at Lazada and Sanisphere in Vietnam and Jakarta. Faibis sat down with e27 in 2017 shortly after raising its Series B funding by Softbank and Golden Gate Ventures explaining about its fast growth.

AloDokter first raised seed funding in 2015, and steadily fundraised over the next couple of years, with US$2.5 million in Series A funding led by Golden Gate Ventures in 2016 and US$9 million in Series B funding back in 2017.

These eight healthtech players are occupying a hot seat that launches directly into the market needs, given its digital readiness, answering and sorting out problems in Indonesia’s healthcare issues. Whether or not they can emerge as the next unicorn as predicted remains to be answered.

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The e27 Startup Database connects the community to the hottest internet companies in Asia. We encourage startups to visit their profile and regularly update their information.

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A thorough insurance plan is the only protection against unexpected accidents for your startup

A startup needs to be handled with care. While in the middle of the opening, or even working on current concepts, one small mistake can lead to a total meltdown.

Accidents occur, and preventing them is essential, but there is no way to stop some occurrences. You must cover the business property and even go beyond when it comes to liability for your customers.

Also Read: What role does big data play in the insurance industry?

Most startups that fall because of an unsatisfactory insurance policy are surprised when the moment arrives that there is a sum they have to cover themselves.

Do not be that startup.

Every business has certain risks

Startups in any field will have risks which need covering. Depending on the type of business, large machinery will need covered, or protecting customers from accidents on the business’ property. It is entirely dependent on the startup.

Be sure to know the risks in your business, no matter how unlikely they are to occur. Know what is working for one business may not help with the needs of your company.

Anyone who steps on the property, especially visiting clients have the potential to suffer an injury, and the company will be held accountable.

The responsibility a business has to its employees is also essential when it comes to what aspects need to be covered if the company has them.

Your company becomes liable for the employees as soon as they are hired. So, be sure to have your policy in place before adding employees, since the premiums will change drastically.

Liability does not only extend to bodily harm but breaching private data is a risk in most businesses. When you hold client information, their data is protected under the law, so the startup is liable for any web hacks.

Also Read: Implications and solutions for Big Data in insurance

This was not such a big issue in the past, but now since most businesses have an online presence, it is becoming an insurable aspect of a business.

There is more than one type of insurance

Having thorough coverage of the startup reflects your knowledge of the different types of small business insurance. Specific insurances will only cover certain circumstances, and the number of people or vehicles are variant, as well.

There is a general liability and professional liability. These two insurances are not interchangeable.

General liability will cover losses from theft, damage, and be a broad coverage amount for bodily injury. Professional liability is the company’s protection against being sued or servicing people because of errors and omissions.

It is always smart to protect the business you run, even if you do not think of the option of ever being sued.

Policy and claims loopholes are everywhere

Claim amounts do not always align with what is covered in your policy. Always look for the small details, so no price gap will come from the pockets of the startup.

There is gap insurance, which is an extra precaution covering any amount after your liability coverage.

Some insurances have specific items they cover. Even if you think something is covered, always double-check within the policy.

Also Read: Can your data actually be anonymous?

This is true for every aspect of happenstance that could occur. For example, if the company’s area has large amounts of hurricanes, water damage needs special insurance care.

Any coverage dispute is a hassle

Even if you have a good case, and you are sure your startup will win the dispute with the insurance process, it is still long and tedious.

Avoid even getting to this point by having a perfect amount of insurance for your scaling business. The dispute will take a lot of time to be settled and will be an added hassle for running a business.

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Analysing the leading e-commerce shopping apps and websites in Singapore as of Q2 2019

The end of H1 2019 marks an important milestone for e-commerce in Singapore as we draw closer to Google & Temasek’s SG$27 billion predictions on the size of the country’s internet economy by the year 2025.

In the same report, Google stated that e-commerce is the most ‘dynamic sector’ in the internet economy, with an expected 18 per cent CAGR growth in less than seven years.

This study was conducted to keep track of the latest developments of the internet economy’s most ‘dynamic sector’ in Singapore and across Southeast Asia’s largest digital markets.

The rapid growing e-commerce companies such as Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, and Taobao have been deploying strategies to build stronger improvements to provide reliable services for Singapore value-driven shoppers.

Also Read: How analysis paralysis can ruin your productivity and how to stop it

Together with AppAnnie, we have updated our quarterly study Map of E-commerce to picture the most significant developments in e-commerce shopping app via the average of Monthly Active Users (MAU) and downloads.

In addition to this, we also analysed the total average visits (desktop & mobile web) garnered by the top e-commerce platforms in Singapore utilising data by SimilarWeb in Q2 2019.

 

Lazada recorded the highest MAU (mobile app) and the highest total visits (desktop and mobile web) on its website in Q2 2019

According to App Annie Intelligence, Lazada is the most actively used mobile app in Singapore, Q2 2019.

To date, the Alibaba-backed e-commerce company is also the most actively used app in H1 2019 as Lazada ranked 1^st in MAU in the previous quarter as well.

Among the many initiatives, the company implemented that perhaps attributed to its growth was through its “shoppertainment” initiative.

The campaign was launched in conjunction with the company’s rebranding campaign which aimed to uplift the shopper’s experience & empower its sellers in areas such as branding, marketing & sales.

This also benefited Lazada from its website standpoint as it rose to 1^st place as the most visited e-commerce platform in Singapore, garnering an average of 7.5 million visitors in Q2 2019.

From the regional point of view, Lazada’s mobile app is the second-highest most actively used shopping app & is the 2^nd most downloaded e-commerce shopping app in Q2 2019.

While in terms of total visits, Lazada is the second-highest most visited e-commerce website, garnering an average of 174 million visitors (desktop & mobile web) in the same period.

Shopee was the most downloaded mobile e-commerce shopping app in Singapore and garnered more than 2.8 million average visitors

The SEA-backed e-commerce platform was probably the most successful in acquiring new consumers as Shopee was the most downloaded mobile e-commerce shopping application in Singapore in Q2 2019.

The e-commerce company also saw improvements on its website as Shopee saw an increase in traffic by 11 per cent when compared to the previous quarter, garnering more than 2.8 million average visitors in Q2 2019 in Singapore alone.

Also Read: Hong Kong e-commerce analysis shows Alibaba is king of the hill

Among the many initiatives that most likely led to a high number of downloads was the introduction of various entertainment and engagement features in its recent sales event which recently saw an increase in sales up to 75 per cent in its Shopee LIVE initiative.

Shopee’s high number of total downloads was probably driven by marketing initiatives to promote its 7.7 Orange Madness sale which took place on July 2019.

Other incremental updated that possibly assisted in the high number of downloads was the introduction of additional features on its app such as a live streaming feature called “Shopee Live” that enabled sellers to engage with customers in an interactive and attractive manner.

In SEA, the Singapore-based e-commerce company is ranked 1^st as the most actively used mobile e-commerce app & garnered the highest number of total downloads.

In terms of the number of total visits, Shopee is also the most visited e-commerce platform, recorded an average of 200 million visitors on its website.

Qoo10 remained the best Singapore-focused e-commerce platform, recording the second-highest in MAU and is the third most downloaded app in the country

The Singapore-focused e-commerce company remains a strong competitor as one of the top three most actively used app.

The company recorded the second-highest monthly active users, although it only ranked the third most downloaded app – combined iOS and Google Play.

Qoo10 performed consistently against the industry’s unicorns since Q1 2019 and remains as the 2^nd most actively used app in Singapore for H1 2019. The e-commerce company obtained more than 7.1 million average visitors

Additionally, Qoo10 was in a further push of its growth by deepening its localisation strategy to improve consumer’s affinity towards the e-commerce platform.

Commenting on the localisation strategy of Qoo10 Sarah Cheah, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Business School said “They (Qoo10) started off as a local player, they had a certain advantage in familiarity with local consumers and preferences”

Taobao is the most actively used mobile e-commerce shopping app that isn’t tailored for the Singaporean market

Contrasting the localisation strategy of players such as Qoo10, Lazada & Shopee, international mobile e-commerce shopping apps such as Taobao, AliExpress & Amazon were actively used in the Lion City as well.

Currently, the Chinese & American apps rank at 4^th, 7^th & 8^th place respectively.

Apps by Alibaba such as Taobao & AliExpress remained prominent among Singaporean consumers, probably due to the increased popularity of Chinese products and Chinese language proficiency in the country.

A similar story can be seen in the American e-commerce giant, Amazon. The data by App Annie Intelligence suggests that Singaporeans are more engaged on Amazon’s platform as compared to the localised Amazon Prime Now.

Also Read: An industry insiders analysis of Indonesias adtech industry in 2019

This suggests that consumers remained highly interested in products from the United States as compared to products available on its Singapore-localised Amazon Prime Now app.

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These vital business tools can serve as guides to improve the processes of starting your business

The business ecosystem has been bustling with new life as more people are increasingly empowered to start their businesses.

With mentoring and funding initiatives rolled out by various institutions, fuelled together by strong global government support, many new start-ups have entered the market in recent years.

However, as any experienced entrepreneur knows, the market is a brutal place that requires strategic thinking and tactical actions for survival.

While many entrepreneurs rely on supportive parties as lifelines for advice and funding, it is simply not sufficient in the long run. Being equipped with the right business tools gives businesses a weapon that can be used to gain clarity and direction for proper decision-making.

There are three business tools, underused by businesses today, that can serve as methods to improve business ideas and to enhance decision-making models.

Project Portfolio Matrix (PPM)

The PPM aims to classify different projects based on their contribution to strategic goals. Various factors are used to compare plans to one another for prioritisation, allowing for capacity management and more efficient resource allocation.

Some common PPM factors include Importance vs Feasibility, Value vs Cost, Net Present Value vs Technical Success.

By classifying projects based on two important factors, businesses can make better decisions on which projects they should take up, together with the required resources to be allocated.

A meaningful PPM is constructed through intentional steps of planning, organising, leading and controlling.

Also Read: 10 must have online tools for small business owners

Using PPM effectively can help a business in three ways:

Capacity Management: Prioritising important projects to achieve strategic goals

Resource Waste: Preventing excessive resource allocation to projects

Project Cannibalisation: Removing projects that do not align with strategic goals

This increases the effectiveness and efficiency of operations in achieving organisational goals.

Morphological box

The Morphological Box is a tool for generating creative solutions to existing products or problems. It breaks down a problem into different attributes, creating multiple options for each attribute to derive a large number of whole solutions for evaluation.

Understanding the different options for each attribute allows for more opportunities for solutions, making brainstorming more effective. It is instrumental when tackling complex problems that are too big for typical brainstorming tools.

Despite its simplicity, this is a tedious process meant to expand the number of solutions available for selection. Cross-functional teams with specialised expertise should be included in the process to give their expert opinions on relevant attributes to ensure the feasibility of the final solution.

However, it can be rewarding with alternative solutions being generated simultaneously to save resources in the future. When brainstorming for product solutions, it may also provide options for new products and variants.

Scamper

In this increasingly competitive economy, where intellectual property (IP) rights are being challenged every day and new solutions are created to supersede the old. Businesses must constantly reinvent to even maintain their market share.

Scamper tackles seven aspects of a product or service to challenge the usefulness of existing characteristics. Regularly questioning existing solutions pushes businesses to keep their solutions relevant to target customers, preventing competitors from swooping away customers.

Entrepreneurs seeking to keep their products competitive in the market must look and rethink how their solution can be continuously improved and built upon.

Using data gathered from customers and employees through feedback channels can serve as valuable input into the scamper model to create a product that satisfies customers. Scamper can also be used by new businesses looking to enter a market to relook at their Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy.

Also Read: From top trends to new tools, here are five articles to help improve your product

Conclusion

Entrepreneurs and management teams are often focused on bringing their product to the market, without focusing sufficiently on how.

The fundamental objectives of business operations are to maximise efficiency and effectiveness when bringing solutions to the market.

These can serve as guides to improve processes and products to reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction and promote organisational creativity. 

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It is essential that companies adopt new performance appraisal strategies to meet their business requirements in the current scenario

Employee performance appraisals are very integral to organisations to increase employee productivity and business results.

Although employee performance appraisals are very crucial, they are rarely done the right way. It is essential that companies adopt new performance appraisal strategies to meet their business requirements in the current scenario.

At times, performance appraisals do not give the strategic outcome of the business. 

This is because they are often very past-oriented and do the minimal towards improving employee competencies. In addition to that, performance appraisals are confined to a standard procedure to evaluate employee competencies.

Let us begin by defining performance appraisals. Performance appraisals are usually an annual process that mostly seeks to evaluate an employee’s performance against a set of objectives.  

Also Read: How to be an effective manager in 2019

Performance appraisals help in evaluating an employee’s skills and competencies and determine salary revisions and promotions.

However, conventional methods of conducting appraisals have limitations in terms of following an operational framework evaluating an employee’s performance in the past rather than discussing what is needed in the future. In this article, let us discuss some of the ways in which we can improve the way performance appraisals are conducted: 

Set clear goals and objectives 

One of the reasons why performance appraisals don’t work sometimes is because they are contingent upon goals that are not set.

When you are conducting performance appraisals, including SMART goals can do wonders because they serve as guidelines for employees so that they know what is expected out of them. Employees will be able to prioritise their tasks accordingly and can make their own decisions based on the requirements. 

Moreover, setting SMART goals ensures the smooth flow of performance appraisals. This is because clear goals set the groundwork for managers and employees, and they will be able to work based on mutual understanding and review performance objectively.

Lastly, it is always beneficial when you tie your employee goals with business objectives because then employees will have something to strive for. The focus here is not just performance reviews but achieving the strategic outcome of the business. 

Continuous feedback 

Feedback is vital to every business. Feedback needs to be continuous and ongoing because that way, managers will be able to handle the team properly.

Constant feedback is pivotal because it motivates the employee to do his best to achieve the strategic outcomes of the business. Constant feedback is essential because it helps the employee understanding if he is proceeding on the right track. With continuous feedback, it is easier for managers to give constructive feedback. 

In addition to that, employees will be able to analyse their strengths and weaknesses and enhance themselves to suit the needs of the business.

Also Read: How technology can make the HR department more productive

But this will work only if the organisation has a positive culture where continuous feedback is given significant weight. It is always better to train your employees on how to give and receive feedback so that it eliminates the biases and fears that accompany performance appraisals.  

Not only that, including continuous feedback in performance appraisals will minimise the gaps and inaccuracies in employee performance. 

Automated performance reviews 

Isn’t it tiresome when your employees have worked tirelessly, and at the end of the year, they feel like they have not been evaluated properly? Moreover, performance appraisals that are conducted once a year tend to create anxiety among employees because they are not prepared for it.

Therefore, to eliminate that fear and anxiety, it is only better if performance reviews are conducted in a periodic fashion, let’s say on a monthly or a quarterly basis. Well then at least, your employees can view their progress and prepare themselves for the next appraisal cycle. 

This is only possible if you partner your performance appraisals with technology that can automate the process for you. Companies can invest in performance management software, that will help automate performance appraisals for them.

This is a good option because then companies will be able to nurture the performance of the employees with continuous development. Not only that, it saves a lot of time and money and minimises the administrative burdens of HR. So, no more excel sheets…YAYY… 

Employee self-development 

Performance appraisals are meaningful only when there is scope for employees to develop themselves and grow. There was a time when managers would go over the past performance records of the employees and send out appraisal letters.

But little do they realise that performance appraisals are not just meant to look at the performance of the employee objectively, but is tied to the strategic intention of the business. To fulfil this strategic outcome, it is essential that employees are improving themselves continually. 

We must realise that employee development is tied to the growth of the organisation. Your employee performance appraisals are meaningful only when you incorporate employee developmental plans.

This results in better employee productivity. What you could do is in terms of understanding the needs of the employee after the appraisal cycle. Managers can create developmental plans according to the specific professional requirements of the employees. 

Rewards and recognition 

Appraisals need to provide the opportunity for managers to recognise the employees for the work that they do. Managers must ensure that employees feel valued for their contributions.

Also Read: How OKR training for managers can create a more realistic approach to learning

After an appraisal, managers can offer rewards in terms of bonuses and salary hikes to the employees who have performed well. Managers can always show their recognition of employee’s work by sending them notes of appreciation and expressing gratitude.  

Now, this form of appreciation does not have to be necessarily financial, but if managers give their sincere acknowledgement of an employee’s work, then it becomes a huge step towards maintaining employee engagement.  

Conclusion 

When it comes to performance appraisals, obviously there is no one size that fits all, but you can use some of the above-mentioned strategies to effectively conduct performance appraisals and actively engage your employees.

The key here is to build that trust and transparency with your employees. So, what kind of strategies do you have in mind? 

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Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

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Up until last week, these fintech startups have made some of the biggest funding rounds in 2019

Within the Southeast Asian region, Singapore has always been seen as the hotbed of fintech innovation due to the opportunities it has and the support that is given by its government. For example, the government has recently announced a Sandbox Express initiative that supports faster market testing for financial firms’ products and services.

It is not surprising to see many fintech startups thriving in the country. In fact, the e27 startup database revealed that there are at least 400 companies listed that are working in the finance sector.

Many of these startups have also raised more than US$10 million early- and growth-stage funding. We have gone through more than half of the year and discovered four of the most notable funding rounds in fintech in Singapore.

The following is a list of those funding rounds:

Bambu
Funding: US$10M Series B (July 2019)
Investor(s): Franklin Templ​eton, PEAK6 Strategic Capital

Bambu, a Singapore-based startup providing digital wealth technology for B2B businesses across the globe, plans to use the new funding to reach a wider B2B audience.

StashAway
Funding: US$12M Series B (July 2019)
Investor(s): Eight Roads Ventures, Asia Capital & Advisors

StashAway, a robo-advisor for both retail and accredited investors, wants to use the new funding to support product development and Asia Pacific expansion plan.

Also Read: All women-led fintech startup VESL wins She Loves Tech Philippines 2019

YouTrip
Funding: US$25.5M Pre-Series A (May 2019)
Investor(s): “major Asian family offices”, Insignia Venture Partners

Singapore’s first multi-currency mobile wallet YouTrip will use the funding to drive the development of YouTrip’s technical payment infrastructure, to launch of new product features, and proceed with its regional expansion plans in Southeast Asia.

Credit Culture
Funding: US$29.5 million
Investor(s): RCE Capital Berhad

Credit Culture is a Singapore-based fintech startup that is among the six entities selected for a pilot by the Ministry of Law. This funding is meant to build its operational capability.

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The e27 Startup Database connects the community to the hottest internet companies in Asia. We encourage startups to visit their profile and regularly update their information.

Image Credit: Tyler Franta on Unsplash

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The fintech firm is also expanding into the Philippines and currently in the process of obtaining a lending licence from the country’s regulators

Indonesia’s online P2P lending startup UangTeman today announced that it has closed the first tranche of its Series B round of financing led by Draper Associates, the VC firm owned by well-known American investor Tim Draper.

New and existing investors, including KDDI Open Innovation Fund (corporate VC arm of telco KDDI) and Japan’s Global Brain, also participated.

The company plans to make the final close of the Series B round at US$10 million, with the second and last tranche targetted for the end of October 2019. This part will be anchored by Spiral Ventures.

According to a press release, UangTeman is also concurrently raising debt capital financing.

Also Read: 10 keys to a startup surviving the first five years

The startup recently obtained its permanent online lending licence from the Indonesian Financial Service Authority, OJK.

“We will begin the Series B2 round as a fintech company that has officially obtained the permanent licence from OJK. This effectively removes any regulatory risk involved in investing in this sector as we are now one of the key forerunners of a socially responsible online lending in Indonesia,” said Co-founder and CEO Aidil Zulkifli.

The firm plans to double down on growth within Indonesia. It will be diversifying its lending book into productive micro-business lending through an acquisition of an existing registered P2P lending platform whose core business is in invoice financing and payroll lending. That acquisition transaction is set to close in September 2019.

The company has also set its eyes on geographic expansion into the Philippines and is currently in the process of obtaining a lending licence from the country’s financial services regulators.

The fintech firm also intends to commence its Series C financing round in mid-2020 in order to fuel its further growth across Southeast Asia.

Operated by PT Digital Alpha Indonesia, a subsidiary of Digital Alpha Group, UangTeman uses Machine Learning credit algorithms to provide short-term microloans for consumers and MSMEs.

“UangTeman is transforming credit in Indonesia. We were ready to fund their Series B before they were granted the permanent license from OJK. This approval only solidified our thesis that UangTeman is poised to dominate the online lending industry in Indonesia, and eventually, globally,”  Tim Draper, Founder of Draper Associates.

“In Indonesia, the online loan industry is definitely becoming a social infrastructure, but by following the growth of UangTeman, we hope to learn more deeply and contribute to the social infrastructure that is really necessary for small business owners in Indonesia,” Yuji Horiguchi, CEO of Spiral Ventures.

In 2017, UangTeman had raised US$12 million Series A funding round in debt and equity, led by K2 Venture Capital.

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Understanding the demand of the market is key for innovation hubs to attract talents and cultivate successful companies

The model that was proven – Silicon Valley

The success of Silicon Valley in San Francisco is famous globally. With tech giants like Google and Facebook carrying its banner, Silicon Valley continues to prove its strength, building 32 new unicorns in 2018.

Ranking 1^st in the 2019 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking by Startup Genome, Silicon Valley boasts excellent scores in almost every area that matters – performance, funding, research, connectedness, talent, knowledge, experience.

It is clearly a giant in this field with an ecosystem value of USD 312 billion, nearly 5x of USD 64 billion for New York City to secure its place as a second.

Looking at its success, every other major city around the world has started to compete in this race to establish its tech hub.

Also Read: The benefits of coworking based on business size

As such, it can attract talents, foreign investments, technological (human and machine) growths, completed with a global reputation that creates a cycle to cause exponential growth in all three areas.

For governments, it reeks of development opportunities for the economy and its people.

The struggle of Silicon Valley

Despite this image of a self-sustaining growth model, the Valley has started to face some headwinds in continuing its pace.

While the local share of Venture Capital (VC) flowing into Silicon Valley continues to rise, albeit arguably losing the global share, its share in the number of VC deals has dropped. VCs are starting to source for other investment opportunities.

Pressure points

Costs

The cost of living in San Francisco has skyrocketed, likely due to the success of tech companies, with the overall cost of living nearly three times the average U.S. cost of living. The cost of housing is almost thrice that of the national median and twice that of New York.

With such high costs, companies would face much higher operating expenses for office spaces and employee compensations.

Keeping low costs is a goal of almost every startup, be it funded or not. Investors will rather spend on costs that can increase returns such as research and development, assets and inventory.

It is no wonder that both founders and VCs are looking at other cities where funds can be put to more productive use than high rental fees and inflated employee salaries.

Talents

One of the biggest draws from Silicon Valley used to be its pool of talents – tech talents in specific.

With its connections with top institutions such as Stamford and a global reputation, it has been wildly successful in attracting talents.

However, times are changing, and the definition of talent is shifting away from pure academics to other factors, reducing the attractiveness of Silicon Valley.

The rising costs in San Francisco have not been helpful in the situation as equivalent salaries are worth much more in other cities, pushing talents further out of reach. One of the fastest-growing towns in Seattle, USA.

It has an average software engineer salary of USD 180,000 after adjusting for cost of living. This is 34.3 per cent higher than the fixed salary of USD 134,000 in San Francisco. A LinkedIn report even shows that San Francisco contributed the most significant number of workers moving to Seattle in 2017 at a rate of 9.71 per 10,000 members.

Culture

Another constraint on talents is one of the hottest topics regarding employment today – culture. 86 per cent of millennials (aged 22-37) who dominate the younger workforce, and technology talent pool will instead work at a company with goals and values they can identify with than of higher pay.

The infamously low retention rates of these tech giants are evident. The median employee tenure at Apple was 2.0, which seemed high compared to the 1.1 at Google, with millennial median employee ages of 31 and 29, respectively.

Data privacy and security

As the home for the giant unicorns, many are successful from artificial intelligence (AI) and data – Google and Facebook.

The idea of monetising data has seeped into the DNA of Silicon Valley. The ethics regarding the use of data is being challenged daily, with consumers becoming increasingly aware of how much personal data these companies have.

A tweet by Netflix backfired and creeped many netizens out as the company tried to flex its data capabilities.

Also Read: 5 ways coworking can give your business a much-needed boost

The famous, or infamous Facebook has also been under strong political fire as U.S. lawmakers question them heavily on how data is collected and used. Even Google is unable to shy away from the ongoing pressure.

Such culture and reputation of mistreating and monetising user data as much as possible is likely to be disconcerting and may drive talents away to new startups that are coming up with solutions to help users protect more data instead.

Workforce diversity

Another highly voiced issue is the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley, be it educational, racial or gender diversity. Diversity is a widely propagated concept today, and it is necessary to provide equal opportunities to everyone.

It is essential for companies to prevent overlooking talents and to attract talents that value the incorporation in a company.

Silicon Valley has built an influential culture among itself, but not necessarily that is attractive to the current generation of the workforce. That can be its weakest link.

Will Silicon Valley be superseded?

Just as Apple is positioning itself as a high-end tech brand and Indian Creek Island Road is known for its expensive houses. Silicon Valley has established its brand as a high-end innovation hub.

The current problems do not signal the end for Silicon Valley, but a niche market of companies and investors it can attract.

Companies are continually looking for large funding rounds and of course, investors with deep pockets. They may even shift from alluring startups to attracting small, medium enterprises (SMEs) who have gone through several rounds of funding and are looking to scale up rather than exit through acquisitions.

However, its biggest threat is competition for talents. Money and fame are no longer the recipes for the best employees. There will have to be changed to the culture in Silicon Valley as to how companies are groomed to treat consumers and employees well, or it may spell disaster.

Global innovation scene

North America is losing its shareholding in the VC industry quickly, even though it remains strong. Capital is diversifying itself geographically in a globalised economy.

The factors previously mentioned are all contributors to the growing success of tech hubs around the world. China, for example, is performing well with two cities in the top 10 within 5 years.

Globalisation effect:

• Education: Increasingly available with talents blooming in every other city.
• Infrastructure & Policy Development: Funding and supports are extending its global reach rapidly.
• Purchasing Power: As developing countries grow their middle-income population, untapped populations like those in Southeast Asia are gaining attractiveness.

Silicon Valley and by extension, USA, is no longer the best option for founders to build their businesses nor the sole birthplace for unicorns.

Will this be the same inevitably?

Following the model of Silicon Valley may result in similar problems in the future. Rising costs are already a real concern with ballooned housing prices and talent costs.

Like any other business, these hubs need to have an intended brand and messages to attract VCs and startups. It is not a matter of which is right, but which to choose.

Also Read: Silicon Valley evolution: Sand Hill Road is the new Wall Street

If strong attractiveness is the focus, ensure that it is incorporated in the culture. Make decisions based on long-term social impact, rather than short-term economic gains.

This may include limiting employee sizes of a certain number to prevent overcrowding and inflated real estate prices. It can also mean diversifying the size of startups to attract VCs with smaller funds.

Ultimately, the rules of demand and supply continue to shape the markets – labour, economic and financial. Silicon Valley answered the call for a more connected, more efficient way of handling technology, attributing to its great success today.

A culture to adapt rather than to defend must be present to continue creating feasible solutions, especially in a space where the competition is growing aggressively.

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Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

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She had her mind set on becoming an astronaut, but eventually pivoted to become an innovator in the manufacturing field

(Editor’s note: Here is an article from our archives which we think is still relevant)

As a child, she dreamt to become an astronaut. As she grew up, the intensity of her ambition also grew. So after finished schooling, she went on to attend a graduation programme in Aerospace Engineering at IIT Bombay, one of the prestigious higher education institutes in India.

However, this programme changed her mind — and perhaps her life itself.

“During the graduation programme, I made electric race cars for Formula Student UK, and also worked in the Formula Student team of the college as Project Manager,” Sonam Motwani narrates her story to e27.” This was my first encounter with designing and building a serious hardware product ground up. The experience of building four life-size vehicles with a team of 20 sowed the seeds of passion for hardware inside me.”

Soon after completing graduation in 2013, she joined the consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble in its technology division and developed solutions to speed up packing lines for haircare products, before moving to manufacturing sanitary napkins.

“It was sometime during the later half of 2015 when I seriously began considering starting my own business,” she adds. “When I decided to leave my job and start up in the manufacturing industry, my parents were a little apprehensive. But largely they have been supportive of all my career and life decisions. They tried their best to equip me with the right tools for sound decision making and prefer trusting the decisions I make thereafter.”

P&G was a learning experience for Motwani. She learnt how large companies approach product development, sourcing and deployment. Working closely with vendors in China and India gave her insights into challenges in the manufacturing ecosystem.

Also Read: Being a remote-working tech-writer and father has taught me these things

“With deeper analysis, it became more evident that the world of design and manufacturing was pretty much the same as it was a decade ago; the issues such as difficulty in accessing resources, lack of cost transparency and idle unutilised capacity at manufacturers still exist,” she notes.

“I began to see an opportunity in this unaddressed gap, and spent my weekends meeting hardware startups, design firms and manufacturing suppliers in Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune,” she says.

With a mission to address this gap, sometime in 2016, she put together a framework for an online platform that would simplify manufacturing. “I promised myself that if — during this period — I could establish a handful of businesses/innovators and suppliers who find value in my proposition, I would quit the job and commit full time to doing this. Fortunately, I achieved my goal, held myself to the promise, and put in the papers to kick start Rolling Cube in April 2016.”

Rolling Cube was meant to be a custom manufacturing startup that would enable anyone to build customised personalised products at the ease of their desktop.

Disrupting the manufacturing process

“Manufacturing is an industry where there’s quite a big market for B2C, but the supply chain is poorly understood or appreciated by the average customer. This makes pricing a difficult balance to strike. So more than a year ago, we introduced the concept of pooling, wherein we put orders in waitlist until sufficient volume was achieved for optimum material usage, hence optimising the customer’s price point. As it turned out, patience isn’t the customer’s greatest strength either,” she goes on.

Amidst all this, the bulk of Rolling Cube’s business was coming from its B2B services. The startup got into taking clients through the entire process of new product development — engineering their product design, prototyping various iterations and taking the products into mass production.

“A big challenge though was to scale our approach, where we took on any and every manufacturing project like consultants and then tried to source vendors for them. Moreover, our website looked like a very B2C e-commerce platform. The best way ahead for our team of four at this point seemed to be to completely split the B2C and B2B components. So that’s exactly what we did,” Motwani adds.

In July 2018, Rolling Cube revamped the business, and the team behind the project started Karkhana.io.

Also Read: How the son of a humble watch repairer became the owner of a multi-million dollar realty tech startup

Karkhana is an online manufacturing platform, which interacts with your design, provides manufacturing feedback and pricing based on its inbuilt algorithm. “We have a large network of skilled suppliers. By identifying machines best suited for each job and intelligently routing orders, we offer a far shorter turnaround time than that of traditional manufacturers,” Motwani shares.

How Karkhana.io works

Step 1 – Submit your design inputs (Upload your design file in the supported format. Select the material and manufacturing process of your choice)

Step 2 – Get design consultation (Review manufacturing recommendations and upload revisions directly on your account. Schedule a call or visit by our engineer for design-related help)

Step 3- Receive quotation and timelines (Get a fair estimate of cost and turnaround time through Karkhana.io’s pricing algorithm which accounts for manufacturing complexity and material utilisation)

Step 4- Place order for any quantity (Make one or many, it will make sure each of your product meets the quality requirements)

Step 5 – Track your order (Track exactly where your project is in the production process from your account).

The company provides manufacturing in over 20 materials, including steel alloys, aluminium alloys, copper alloys and plastics. The manufacturing services include CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, 3D printing, Injection moulding and vacuum casting.

Challenges of building a hardware startup

According to Motwani, India does not have many women working in the manufacturing industry. And most workshops and industrial units are located in far off, not-so-convenient areas.

“When I started out, I’d visit the suppliers quite often and there were times when certain suppliers didn’t seem comfortable interacting with me. Probably, because it was an exception for them talking to a woman about manufacturing. But with time, as I stayed persistent, it became easier to get new suppliers onboard,” she reveals.

Having worked with a number of customers, including some popular household names in India, and developed a wide variety of hardware products, the company is now looking to achieve scalability.

“The next big milestone we are striving towards for achieving scalability is the automation of our pricing engine and online design for manufacturing feedback on our platform,” she says.

“We believe this will be a game changer in the way manufacturing interactions have been happening and accelerate the hardware development cycles for engineering teams. Our bigger ambition is to digitise the manufacturing ecosystem, which will democratise the process and make it accessible to everybody, just like software.”

Motwani is one of the 30 women entrepreneurs selected for Zone Startups India’s third edition of startup accelerator programme, empoWer.

Talking about the Indian startup ecosystem, she says that a lot of startups in the country aren’t able to reach their key milestones for success due to delay in establishing the product market fit. There might be multiple reasons for this: inability to reach critical mass for validation, lack of a network for feedback and learning, delay in acquiring resources for product development, insufficient funds.

Also Read: How a lazy student who caught and sold spiders transformed himself into a successful founder

“In general, the challenge in India seems to be about finding the right resources at the right time, maybe because the startup ecosystem is still young and developing as compared to the more successful examples that we look up to, such as Silicon Valley or Singapore,” she concludes.

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