Tag: Drop Shipping

According to research by the Small Business Administration, only half of the new businesses have survived during the first five years and only a third of new businesses can survive for 10 years.

On the contrary, it is reassuring, as we can conclude that if only 50 per cent of new businesses are left during the first five years, the other 50 per cent will fail in the first five years. We can also conclude that about 65 per cent of new companies do not reach the ten-year mark.

Forbes reports a single Blecker statistic based on Bloomberg‘s research, which shows that eight out of every 10 businesses fail within the first 18 months.

What are the reasons that companies do not prosper, they are given 50/50 chance of survival and given any product or service for which there is demand? Let us analyse six reasons why companies fail and some ways in which business failure can be avoided.

Six reasons why companies fail:

Leadership failure

If your management demonstrates poor management skills, your business may fail, which may be evident in many ways. You will fight as a leader if you do not have enough experience to make administrative decisions, staff supervision or lead your organisation.

Your leadership team may not agree on how the business should be managed. You and your leaders can discuss each other publicly or refute each other’s instructions. When there are problems that require strong leadership, you may be reluctant to take over and when your business is constantly moving towards failure.

• How to avoid leadership failure: Useless leadership in your business will filter and affect all aspects of your operations, from financial management to employee morale, and once productivity is interrupted. Learn the horizon, study, find a mentor, enrol in training, do so personally.
• Research: what you can do to improve your leadership skills and industry knowledge. Test other best business practices and see which ones you can apply to your business.

Also Read: Indonesian edutech startup Ruangguru confirms US$150M Series C funding round

Lack of exclusivity and value

You may have an excellent product or service for which there is a strong demand, but your business is still failing. It may have a mediocre outlook or lacks a strong value proposition. If there is a strong demand, it probably has many competitors and does not stand out from the crowd.

How to avoid the failure of a value proposition: What distinguishes your company from competitors? How to do business in a completely unique way? What are your competitors doing better than you? Develop a personalised approach or package of services that no one else in your industry is using, so you can present it as a solid value proposition that attracts attention and interest.

This is how a brand is built. Your brand is the image that your customers recognise and associate with your business. Your value proposition should support your brand identity, including your logo, motto, colours, and all the aesthetics and visible business philosophies that represent your company.

You have to separate it from the package and present your personal perspective to your customers. Do your best to present that unique value proposition to your market so that you can capture a market share and start building your conversion rates.

To advertise your brand and differentiate yourself, you will need to speed up your marketing plan and use more and more places to present your brand to the public. You can be a lot better than your rivals, but it doesn’t matter if your prospects don’t even know you’re in the game.

Also Read: Planning for 2020: Leveraging technology to alleviate basic business woes

Use social networks, word of mouth, cold call, direct mail and other tried and true marketing techniques. Make sure you have a well-optimised online presence, develop lead generation technology and capture contact information, such as high-quality content on your site, a newsletter and gift of information for customers.

It is out of touch with customer needs

If you don’t keep in touch with your customers and they understand what they need and the comments they give, your business will fail. Your customers may like your product or service, but they may like it if they change this function or modify that process.

What are they telling you? Are you listening Or is there a market decline? Are you still selling what you are selling? These are all important questions to ask and answer.

Unprofitable business model

Similar to leadership failure is to build a business on a model that is not solid, works without a business plan and seeks a business for which there is no proven revenue stream. The idea of the business may be good, but if there are no established strategic guidelines, the implementation of the idea may fail.

Develop a complete business plan that includes financial forecasts based on projected revenue, strategic marketing, and challenge management solutions to overcome potential obstacles and competitive activities.

Create a milestone chart with specific tasks and objectives specified over time so that you can measure success, solve problems as they occur, and stay on track. A solid business model that incorporates best practices can help your company avoid failure.

Also Read: 7 ways to build a successful digital business

Poor financial management

You should know, until the last penny, where does the money in your business come from and where is it going to make your business successful. Your business may also fail if it lacks a contingency financing plan, a store of money that you can turn into in the event of a financial crisis.

Sometimes, people start businesses with dreams of making money but do not have the ability or interest to manage cash flow, taxes, expenses, and other financial problems. Bad accounting practice puts a business on a direct path to failure.

If 50 per cent of new businesses fail, 50 per cent of new companies can succeed. Starting a business is an exciting endeavor that requires a clearly defined product or service and strong market demand.

Whether you want to start a new business or are already doing it, you should understand that success depends on careful strategic planning and sound fiscal management that starts before it starts and continues throughout the life of the business is.

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas by submitting a post.

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

Image Credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

The post Reasons your small startup may fail (and how to avoid it) appeared first on e27.

There are many reasons why a piece of funding news can rock a startup ecosystem. It could be the amount that the startup raised (Unicorn! Decacorn! Hippogriff!) or the investor behind it (Somebody famous, such as a boxer or an actor).

This year, we have seen several funding announcements that are significant not only to the parties involved but also to the ecosystem where they are based. Unlike our routine monthly funding rounds listicle, this time we decided to group the funding announcement into categories based on verticals or markets. Because, after a while, you just see a pattern emerging.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 funding news that rocked the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem this year:

The edutech sector graduates to the next level

2019 was an exciting year for Indonesian edutech sector as three of the leading startups in the market —Ruangguru, Zenius, and HarukaEdu— announced their later stage funding rounds. Even better: Ruangguru raised up to US$150 million, a number which is said to be the highest ever raised by an edutech startup in the market. Beyond Indonesia, we also saw investment flowing to the Philippines, with a funding round for Edukasyon.

Fintech continues to shine

As a sector, fintech remains popular among investors in the Southeast Asian region. Notable funding announcements include investment into startups such as Kredivo, MyCash, iSTOX, PayMongo, or Crowde. As the market becomes more open and receptive towards fintech innovation, investors are also becoming more confident in Southeast Asia’s ability to turn into a fintech hub.

Also Read: Indonesian legal tech startup Legalku raises seed funding from UMG Idealab

Property tech finds a home in Southeast Asia

The most interesting part about property tech investment in 2019 was the variety of it. There are investments directed towards emerging markets such as ShweProperty in Myanmar, the more mature markets such as Travelio in Indonesia, hotel and hospitality sector such as RedDoorz, and property marketplaces such as 99co.

Automotive e-commerce platforms are making moves

Automotive e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia are also gaining popularity among investors. Interestingly, startups such as Carsome are mentioning “profitability” as part of their goal for the next year. This part of the great wave of change that was triggered by coworking space giant WeWork’s failure to get listed.

Investors are getting their dose of caffeine

What are you going to be without your morning cup of coffee? Apparently even rapper Jay-Z knows how much you love your daily dose of caffeine. Since last 2018, VC firms in Southeast Asia started to invest in non-tech companies such as Alpha JWC Ventures’s investment in Kopi Kenangan, East Ventures’s investment in Fore Coffee, and Intudo Ventures’s investments in Artotel and R Fitness. The trend reached a new height in 2019 with Kopi Kenangan raising an extended Series A funding round from US celebrities and athletes such as Jay-Z and Serena Williams.

Emerging market is where the actions are happening

2019 is the year of emerging markets with Vietnam and Myanmar as the centre of all these activities. Investors are getting increasingly interested in the market as they invested in Vietnamese startups such as Propzy or Rever and Burmese startups such as Kone Si or ShweProperty.

Investing for the environment

When you are investing in a startup, you are investing in innovation. This is especially important in the context of environmental protection, and luckily, investors are growing more interested in investing in companies with a strong social impact. Think CricketOne or Bambooloo. In fact, Big Idea Ventures launched a fund that focusses on investing in the development of meat alternatives.

Also Read: Vietnamese bus booking platform VeXeRe raises funding to accelerate products development

Giving birth to new unicorns

Despite heightening scrutiny against tech startups and their valuations, investors continue on investing in companies that would later become a unicorn. Singapore saw the birth of its latest unicorn when Trax announced its Series D funding round, while Indonesia saw its fifth unicorn in OVO.

Healthtech, medtech investments are looking healthy

Another sector that is gaining popularity in Southeast Asia is healthtech and medtech. One of the latest was an investment in Zenyum, a dentistry startup, and an investment into AWAK, a wearable dialysis device.

Securing new funds

Startups are not the only ones raising funding this year. Many VC and CVC firms were also announcing their new funds in 2019. The latest that we saw was EV Growth’s fund, announced at the final week of the year. What was interesting about 2019 was also the variety of funds that are being launched. While most funds remain sector-agnostic, some funds chose to focus on a particular vertical, such as New Protein or women entrepreneurs.

—

Image Credit: rupixen.com on Unsplash

The post From coffee to dentistry: The top 10 funding news that rocked the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem in 2019 appeared first on e27.

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) is perhaps the best contender in becoming Asia’s version of both Silicon Valley and Wall Street. The region is already one of the global tech hubs, and it is home to major advancements in fintech. Since the announcement of the initiative in February this year, it has been well-received in the technology and finance industries across the region.

With a combined GDP of over US$1.6 trillion, and a population of nearly 70 million, it makes sense to closely integrate the region’s cities — namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen Zhaoqing, and the two special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macao — for efficiency in trade and transactions.

Also Read: AI-powered adtech platform ADBRO closes financing round with 500 Startups, eyeing APAC expansion

Investments in technology will greatly facilitate growth in the region and will be a testbed for how effective these technologies will be in the bigger picture. The so-called “Web 3.0” or the “internet of value” focuses on decentralized technologies, artificial intelligence, and smart and connected devices. With a diverse population, culture, and economic systems, these innovations will be the glue that brings together the GBA’s 11 cities within tight integration.

What makes the greater Bay Area attractive?

The GBA’s economic growth and large market size make the region a land of opportunities for businesses in various sectors including finance, real estate, infrastructure and many others, according to a comprehensive report by KPMG. In particular, strong manufacturing industry and tourism will contribute to growth, according to a report by PWC China.

The different cities involved present a region of diverse industries and skills that together make for a strong comparative advantage in manufacturing, IT, technology, global tourism, trade, asset management, and finance.

Compared with the rest of the world, the GBA has already made strong headway in finance, technology, insurance, property and blockchain technology. Some of these industries even outpace their global counterparts. 

Specific technologies that will drive integration and growth

For the Greater Bay Area goals to be achieved, there needs to be adequate integration among the 11 cities. Investments in innovation and technology in these areas will help enhance competitive advantage and promote better integration across the region.

Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies

One such area for investment is in decentralized technology. The nature of blockchain may be the right infrastructure to pursue, considering the 11 cities that make up the GBA. “Blockchain today is like how the internet was discovered over 20 years ago. I am convinced that blockchain will become the infrastructure of the future,” says Shirley Hsu, Chief Finance Officer, Tus Pine Peak Group. She adds that data will be a driver of growth and profit. “It’s a matter of how we can take advantage of this data.”

Integrated digital identity

One reason to rally behind blockchain tech is the opportunity for a user-centric model for decentralized digital identities. With no single city maintaining control over the know-your-customer (KYC) and identification system, businesses and governments across the region can achieve a standardized identification system that ensures the privacy of data and almost entirely mitigates control by centralized platforms. 

KYC procedures currently take up to several days or weeks before completion. A decentralized and standard digital identity system makes it possible for businesses to onboard clients in a faster and more effective manner, ensuring seamless service delivery and huge cost savings in terms of personnel, time and money. 

A number of experts in the field hold similar beliefs in the transformational capacities of decentralized digital identity framework. “We can’t reach the age of 3.0, i.e., web decentralization, unless we create a platform for decentralized digital identities and assets,” says Hans Lombardo, Co-Founder, Blockpass, a platform that decentralizes KYC and identity management. 

“The internet at present is centralized, and data is controlled by specific companies like Facebook, JP Morgan Chase, Google, and other companies in the United States. It is really very important that we have a decentralized digital identity,” he adds.

A decentralized standard for identity management will allow for an easier flow of transactions and remove barriers in resource exchange. This will make it easier for travellers across different cities to transact and travel easily without going through different ID verification protocols.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is another field with transformational capacities to help facilitate growth. Presently, Hong Kong holds a strong position in providing educational resources on AI, as home to two of the world’s top 10 universities for AI research. 

Investing in AI will help attract talent and provide quality AI research, which is crucial to innovation and technological advancement. With adequate advancements in AI, the GBA can provide substantial technical support to various sectors including finance and telecommunications.

“AI is still at an early stage in terms of applications, but as soon as the technology matures, we will see AI-driven taxi, trucks, customer service reps at banks and shops, as well as AI-controlled robots acting as police and security guard joining humans,” shares Aaron Tsai, Founder and Chief Capitalist at MASEx, a global security token exchange.

“Machine learning can simplify and simplify processes, and apply the lessons learned to other areas,” says Pradip Madhanagopal, Risk Audit Partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

A testbed for innovation

The year 2035 has been set as the milestone date for the GBA initiative to reach its maturity. With accelerated investments in infrastructure and technology, there is optimism that the economic potential of the region may be more quickly realized, given its market size, diverse resources, talent, and institutions.

–

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.

Image Credit: Unsplash

The post How China’s Greater Bay Area initiative will create a testbed for AI and decentralised tech industry appeared first on e27.

Entrepreneurs enjoy the privilege of being their own bosses, but they have to carry a lot of weight on their backs and find ways to help businesses grow single-handedly. Reports suggest that there are over 580 million entrepreneurs in the world today and each one is constantly looking for new solutions to improve products or services.

It’s not an easy job in the ever-changing business environment, so you’ll need to be very diligent and agile in order to keep the company alive and kicking in the long run. There is no magic formula to help you grow the organisation easily, but we can identify a few techniques that proved to work well for the majority of successful companies.

In this article, we will focus on those techniques and show you seven features that will make an entrepreneur’s life more powerful in 2020 and beyond. Let’s take a look!

Build your brand

Are you aware of the concept of personal branding? By definition, self-branding (also known as personal branding) is a form of marketing that an individual uses to create a uniform public image that demonstrates his or her values and overall reputation.

Although it may seem irrelevant, personal branding is actually a major business contributor because customers will judge the business based on the entrepreneur who represents the company.

Also Read: Apple successfully changed customer behaviour. Here’s what entrepreneurs can learn from it

According to the report, reputation damage is the number one risk concern for business executives around the world – 88 per cent of them say they are explicitly focusing on reputation risk as a key business challenge.

So, what can you do to build an authoritative self-brand?

The goal is simple – promote yourself through quality online content. You can write LinkedIn posts, website blogs, and contribute to relevant niche magazines. Such activities will prove that you are a trustworthy and knowledgeable professional.

Of course, you shouldn’t over-promote yourself. Focus on content quality instead and let your in-depth insights and analyses speak for you.

Work with your team

The second recommendation is to take care of your team – no matter how big or small it may be. Employee engagement greatly depends on the way you treat them, so do your best to provide subordinates with a comfortable work environment. You can do it in many different ways, but here are some of our favourite tricks:

• Organise team building events to strengthen relationships among employees.

• Invest in joint social activities.

• Invest in fitness and healthcare programs because fitter employees are more productive.

• Let your team members work remotely whenever needed.

• Increase the number of free days and encourage work-life balance in your company.

• Reward employees for successful projects.

• Listen to their business proposals and put their ideas into practice.

All these tactics are fairly simple, but they can do miracles for the overall productivity of your team.

Also Read: 5 financial tips from established to new entrepreneurs that will help you generate a better cash flow

Focus on customer experience

Customer experience is getting increasingly important. As a matter of fact, studies show that customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator by 2020. How come?

Well, the only way a business can distinguish itself from the crowd of more or less the same offers is by promoting a more comfortable consumer journey. You should do your best to personalise offers and tailor products so as to fit the needs of each buyer in particular.

No one wants “one-size-fits-all” solutions anymore. On the contrary, personalisation is the only way to improve customer experience, so you better embrace the new trend and focus on every consumer separately.

Create a value system

Another thing you should to do become a better entrepreneur in 2020 is to promote a specific set of values. It will help you to win over new customers and boost employee morale at the same time. It’s not just our opinion, but rather a well-known fact:

• Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of surveyed global consumers prefer to purchase products and services from companies that stand for a purpose that reflects their own values and beliefs.

• Almost 80 per cent of American workers say company culture is an important factor in job satisfaction.

Also Read: Self-success begins with self-confidence

People on both sides of the business spectrum want something they can relate to easily, so you have to pick the desired direction and promote values through the business. It will make you a much more successful entrepreneur and also a much more desirable employer.

Tools for professional development

Digital apps and programmes should not be a novelty among entrepreneurs anymore, but we have to mention this feature just in case you failed to deploy new technologies by now. You can find hundreds of useful tools online, so the choice essentially depends on the nature of your business. However, we can recommend you a few platforms that we enjoy the most:

• Moosend: It’s a powerful marketing platform that you can use to control all promo activities effortlessly.

• Essay writing service: This is one of the best content creation agencies that specialise in all sorts of digital content.

• Grammarly: If you don’t like proofreading, Grammarly will get the job done on your behalf quickly.

• MOZ: It is a highly comprehensive search engine optimisation program.

• Zoho Books: Many entrepreneurs rely on this tool to manage accounting and invoicing procedures.

Best of both worlds

We just mentioned some of the best online tools and apps that you can use to improve business operations, but you should not forget to dedicate some time to offline activities as well. In the world where businesses spend 99 per cent of their time on digital projects, customers would be very excited to see some good old human touch from your side.

First of all, make sure to build stronger relationships with buyers in physical stores. Teach your staff to behave politely and personalise interaction as much as possible.

Also Read: 10 mistakes that new entrepreneurs tend to make and should avoid in 2020

Secondly, you should organise live events from time to time to give a chance to your clients and customers to meet you in person. It is a major business content that can drastically improve your entrepreneurship status. After all, this is why most businesses (31 per cent) believe that event marketing is the single-most effective marketing channel.

Learn from niche leaders

This tactic is far from being a new one, but it will remain fundamental in 2020 and beyond. Namely, every entrepreneur must keep an eye on niche leaders in order to learn new business methods and identify fresh industry trends.

The idea is not to copy/paste the same campaigns, but rather to keep in touch with the novelties and avoid lagging behind your closest rivals. It’s a precious piece of advice that just have to make use of in 2020.

Solo entrepreneurship is never an easy job, especially if you are managing a small team and have to do many different things simultaneously.

Do you think these tips can help you to build a more profitable company? Do you have other interesting business ideas to share with your fellow entrepreneurs? Feel free to write a comment – we would be glad to see your opinion about this important topic.

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas by submitting a post.

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

Image credit: Andre Hunter on Unsplash

The post Entrepreneurs in 2020: How to become more powerful appeared first on e27.

Early April this year, leadership consultancy firm Zenger Folkman did a study on feedback practices. They discovered that, in fact, a great majority of leaders were “twice as likely” to give positive feedback (at times, sugarcoated feedback that can seem positive), instead of corrective or negative ones.

Which made sense: in another one of their studies, they found that employees actually want negative feedback despite it being undesirable. Negative feedback can highlight blind spots and show employees the way to improve.

The problem comes for the inverse.

Leaders are struggling to give feedback to their employees— but when the situation is reversed, the struggle is even bigger.

And that is understandable: for one, not many think of giving feedback to our managers and leaders. These people are our ‘superiors’ and for the most part, our jobs partly depend on their appraisals.

Two, it is difficult to approach the topic. For instance, if your leader implemented something that actually caused more trouble than good, it can be hard for many to tell him that straight in the face. Three, most of us avoid confrontation.

Also Read: 6 strategies to give valuable feedback that sticks

Why create an opportunity for conflict, when you can simply adapt?

However, there are always things we want to change. There are times where we want to speak up but we do not want to risk offending someone. It is a tricky situation to navigate but it should not be avoided. With emotional intelligence and tact, we can deliver our insight in the most constructive way possible.

Reputation matters

What bothers you may not bother another person— even if both of you are bothered by it, it might be less significant for them than for you. As you scan your workplace, you will most likely categorise people in two ways: those who complain constantly and those who rarely do.

Despite not complaining, these people are observant. They know what bothers them: they simply don’t talk about it.

While those who complain constantly, often go out of their way to make people aware of what bugged them. But typically, it only stays within their own circle, without having insofar a chance for their higher-ups to hear about it.

Problem is, the higher-ups know who are those people that complain constantly, even if they are not aware of the details.

Those who complain the least are always the most effective in giving upward feedback. These are the people that only talk about the bigger issues before going into the smaller annoyances and thus, their words carry more weight.

Also Read: RateIt raises US$5M to expand its real-time customer feedback solutions in SEA

It also the reason why there are loads of write-ups about how those who speak less are generally smarter.

Here’s what to do for both situations:

1. If you’re a stoic and you rarely complain, your words already carry weight. What you need is an appropriate time and place to raise your concerns, with respect to your superior.
2. If you’re a habitual complainer, you will have to be wary of your reputation. Talk about your problems less and write them down: that way, you can categorise which are the ones that deserve more priority. You can also think about possible solutions before going to your leader, which can help direct the conversation and reach a conclusion faster.

Ask for a separate meeting to raise issues

Managers are there for a specific reason: strategy. Unless their job scope covers running the ground, they are less likely to hear all the different complaints.

Few people take their complaints upwards as they want to make a positive impression on their superiors—things only change when there is visibility on new issues.

However, giving upward feedback should be dealt with tact.

Not every leader takes feedback well. Hence, your feedback delivery method depends on your knowledge of your manager. For instance, some managers don’t take criticism well and thus earn a reputation for being ‘prickly’. These are the nuances you need to take care of.

Apart from that, you should:

1. Be mindful of priorities. Are your issues deserving of being in a team meeting agenda? Are they critical to the team or just to a select few? Raise your issues at the appropriate time. Can your manager afford the time during busy periods?
2. Be empathetic. Just like how managers do not know everything about the employees, the reverse is also the same.
3. Schedule separate meetings. One-on-ones work best here. If there are more stakeholders involved, bring the stakeholders into the meeting with the leader as well. Such meetings emphasise only on select issues—rather than waiting till the end of a meeting to share feedback, you can easily go through every necessary detail that could have been omitted if you were to be delayed.

Also Read: This IoT device sends instant feedback of a player’s performance to the coach when he is in action

Focus on your perspective and facts

Frame your feedback in the form of your perceptions rather think of what you would do if you were in your leader’s position. For a leader that is disconnected from the other employees, your perspective can be invaluable.

By doubling down on your perspective you are also realising the limitations of your standpoint. By being empathetic, you can avoid presuming what your leader is faced with.

Like all feedback, it should be honest and data-driven. Be as specific as possible: what is the problem that you want to change and what are the things that went wrong? Emphasise on how it affects you and other stakeholders but avoid speculating:

1. Don’t state why you think this problem exists unless required. It is most likely that you have partial knowledge. Always seek to understand the whole picture rather than going straight in on one part. However, if your leader asks for a suggestion, be tactful about it.
2. Remove assumptions. Rather than ascribe a motive to someone else and get them to be defensive, stick to the facts of the situation.

Also Read: This IoT device sends instant feedback of a player’s performance to the coach when he is in action

When your boss rejects you

It is difficult to predict how someone will react no matter how careful or thoughtful you are with delivering it. Sometimes, you might get bitten as your leader gets upset or defensive about it.

Rather than clamming up after a negative reaction, take this opportunity to dissect the situation. What are the things that went wrong and what can you learn from it? Going forward, you can improve on the way you deliver your feedback specifically to this manager. You can also understand what are the topics beyond his/her boundaries.

The health of any organisation, team or relationship is dependent on identifying and discussing problems. Healthy teams talk about problems freely. They speak up about issues and resolve in tandem with one another.

In contrast, unhealthy teams leave issues unspoken about, which leaves a host of performance problems and potential errors. Eventually, results and relationships will be eroded.

Feedback is never a one-way thing. Between managers and employees, there must always be feedback going back and forth to help everyone improve together. It is understandably tough: we are much more comfortable venting to one another than to give our feedback to our managers—why risk our livelihoods?

Holding our tongue is the reason for accountability gaps. For the gap to start closing, the best way we can do is to start with ourselves.

–

First seen on Human+Business.

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas by submitting a post.

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

Image credit: Joshua Ness on Unsplash

The post ‘Tis the time to reflect: How to give feedback to superiors at work appeared first on e27.

Enterprise Singapore and the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (STCSM) have launched the first joint call for innovation projects between the two cities, according to a press statement.

The organisations invited Singapore- and Shanghai-based companies to submit their joint project proposals on the development of innovative products or services with strong commercial potential.

Dubbed The Singapore-Shanghai Joint Innovation Call, this initiative aims to facilitate deeper cross-border collaboration between enterprises in the two cities. It will open up new opportunities for exchange market knowledge and technology interests, and co-innovate solutions together for the global market.

Enterprise Singapore and STCSM will provide funding support for jointly supported projects. The project consortium must have at least one company from each participating country to qualify for funding.

Also Read: Blockchain payment network Terra expands to Singapore with former Uber exec in leadership

The organisations will officially be calling for proposals in February 2020.

The programme is open for companies working in all technological and application areas, with a focus on sectors such as biopharmaceuticals and life science, urban solutions and smart cities development.

According to a spokesperson for Enterprise Singapore, the products, process, or services submitted to the programme “must be innovative, and should have an obvious benefit and added value resulting from the technological cooperation between the participants from the different countries, such as increased knowledge base, commercial leads, and access to R&D infrastructure.”

The Singapore-Shanghai Joint Innovation Call was one of the five MOUs signed at the inaugural Singapore-Shanghai Comprehensive Cooperation Council (SSCCC) meeting in Shanghai in May.

The event discussed the enhancement of collaborations and connectivity between the two cities, in specific areas such as ease of doing business and financial cooperation.

—

Image Credit: Adi Constantin on Unsplash

The post Singapore, Shanghai call for joint innovation projects proposal submission appeared first on e27.

“Entrepreneurship is a trap.”

That’s the best piece of advice I’ve given to anyone wanting to “try their hand” at entrepreneurship in Singapore. In the last few years, I’ve worked in both the corporate and startup world. 

These are my findings.

School and tuition classes dominated my childhood, vying closely as my first and second homes, academic excellence was the foundation to set me for a traditional path of success. A hyper-competitive mindset and being results-oriented were the two cornerstones that never failed me. Until entrepreneurship came into my life.

Dabbling with entrepreneurship, working in the comfort

Someone once told me that if I was willing to work so hard for someone, why not do it for myself? That tipping point drove me to “try my hand” with entrepreneurship. We eagerly started two businesses while I was still studying in university.

They were fun experiences, but we did not go far with them. There were no consequences if we failed and we were comfortable with that. 

Also Read: NUS expands its Block71 initiative to Vietnam; aims to promote innovation and entrepreneurship development

Make it personal, have skin in the game

During a night out, my friend Ryan (now my partner-in-crime) and I were engaging in Singapore’s national past time – complaining. As we worked through our usual topics with work, and relationships, the haze became a big sticking point.

We both had respiratory problems. We hated it and surely, there were many others suffering too. It was motivating enough for us to develop a prototype of a paint that could purify the air and eliminate VOCs affordably.

We put our skin in the game and became our own guinea pigs, testing the paint in our own homes first. They worked, and we breathed easier, in more ways than one. The third time was indeed the charm.

Committing to entrepreneurship, working through discomfort

The thing about the corporate ladder is no matter how hard certain parts of the climb are, you can see the rungs clearly. My first two half-hearted attempts at entrepreneurship had humbled me to the effort that was required, I went in half-committed, and didn’t get half the results. I got nothing.

I was on a good career path and had to give it up. Everyday, I had to resist the siren’s call with the easy way back to my corporate nest when things got hard, having a choice to quit turned out to be one of my biggest hurdles. 

Also Read: How to know if entrepreneurship is right for you

However, we were making some progress. Our friends and neighbours that have used the paint gave us great reviews. This time we could go far, and we didn’t want to fail. That was my true tipping point as an entrepreneur, being uncomfortable and knowing that I couldn’t take the easy way out. I embraced the entrepreneurship life and it revealed to me the good, the bad, and the realities of the situation.

The good

At my last corporate job, there was a hierarchy in place, and that meant limited access to different levels of people. The latitude shifted up and down; the levels of conversations I had were dependent on the rank and role of both myself and the people I wanted to get in touch with. Being a startup founder, I found myself being able to speak on an even playing field, even if  I was on a lower playing field as a growing startup.

Flexibility and autonomy opened up a world of possibilities. It was a refreshing change of pace where the red tape and long decision-making processes were cut short. We could make decisions as quickly as market forces changed, taking that ownership every day is an exhilarating feeling. Even that is an understatement.

The satisfaction of building something with our own hands. From the beginning when we saw what we had as a concept get developed, seeing the initial wave of validation, to opening our doors commercially.

Best of all was knowing that we could turn our complaints into a legitimate business idea. My advice to all future Singaporean entrepreneurs is not to just complain but monetise your complaints.

The bad

Many of the benefits of the structures and hierarchies in our old life had to be either relearned or self-taught to fit the challenges and needs of our company. What was the growth structure of our company going to be like?

Could we be releasing our product too early, or too late? Are we expanding too fast? Are these the right partners that can bring us to the next level? This process never ends, and we had to be like the Timex watch that “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”.

I kissed work-life balance or integration goodbye and said hello to constantly having work on my mind. Granted, I’m slightly OCD, so that does work to my advantage.

Unfortunately, I find this approach necessary to stay on top of things. Ironically, the red tape that we found liberating could be the safety net preventing us from over-extending ourselves.

Also read: Why you shouldn’t become an entrepreneur

The circle of friends that I used to have has shrunk considerably. Though I know that is an inevitable part of life as we get older, I have lost more friends than I would have liked to, as a result of my choice to be an entrepreneur.

Mealtimes and time spent after hours with people become mostly work- and business-driven. It is a lonely path, and though I have to accept it, I don’t think I’ll ever get truly used to it.

The realities

The amount of work you put in compared to the gains you get can be discouraging. Some days, sometimes it feels like nothing works until it does. I have learned to quietly celebrate every little victory, and to take every loss as part of the process. 

In Singaporean society, there still is the stigma of entrepreneurs who fail, leaving many sceptical. Yet the romantic lure of entrepreneurship has turned it into a trend, and the statistics show that we are being overcrowded with pointless startups.

Don’t get into this journey because it is trendy; it is paramount to know the difference you can make.

To the aspiring entrepreneur fresh out of school with a head full of dreams, and the disillusioned corporate worker who thinks that the grass is greener on the other side -it isn’t.

Entrepreneurship will almost never work for you if you choose to dabble. Fail often, fail fast. If this is the path for you, it’ll be one of the best decisions you’ve made. If you’re just in it for the view, there is no shame in being a speed climber on the corporate ladder.

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas by submitting a post.

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

Image credit: Quino Al on Unsplash

The post The sweet trap of entrepreneurship appeared first on e27.

Updates: Ruangguru has reached out to e27 with a more complete list of their investors in this funding round.

Indonesian edutech startup Ruangguru today confirmed a US$150 million Series C funding round led by growth equity company Global Atlantic and venture capital firm GGV Capital.

EV Growth, UOB Venture Management, and a number of new investors also participated in the round.

The funding round has been reported by various media since weeks ago, but the startup has declined to comment until today.

With the investment, Ruangguru is also set to appoint General Atlantic Indonesia Managing Director Ashish Saboo as its commissioner.

The funding round itself is meant to support the company’s expansion effort to Vietnam, where it has launched under the brand Kien Guru.

“We are committed to building a comprehensive curriculum and implementing artificial intelligence in developing fun and easy to understand learning experience. Today, 80 per cent of our users are based outside of Jakarta. This shows that our products are widely accepted and evenly distributed,” said Iman Usman, Founder and Director of Products and Partnership at Ruangguru.

Also Read: Indonesian edutech startup Ruangguru receives grant from MIT SOLVE programme

Prior to this funding round, the startup announced a Series B led by UOB Venture Management.

Ruangguru recently made headlines when co-founder Adamas Belva Devara Syah was appointed as a presidential special staff by President Joko Widodo. In addition to Devara, the president also named Amartha founder Andi Taufan Garuda Putra as a presidential special staff.

The year 2019 was a big year for edutech investment in Indonesia as we see fellow edutech startups such as HarukaEdu and Zenius announcing their funding rounds this year.

HarukaEdu raises its Series C funding round in November, which was meant to support its expansion to B2B services.

Zenius also announced their funding round in October and had launched a free-to-access content offering since.

—

Image Credit: Ruangguru

The post [Updated] Indonesian edutech startup Ruangguru confirms US$150M Series C funding round appeared first on e27.

In the present era, artificial intelligence (AI) is taking place in adtech. Earlier advertising was only through newspaper, TV, and magazines but now the dimensions of advertising have increased with the new technology. Companies have started using AI to market their products.

There are various separate digital marketing agencies also that give marketing assignment help to companies that have also opened which involve AI to market the company’s product. AI will not just display ads but it will also create ads according to the customer behaviour on a particular website.

You must have seen the ads which pop-up when you operate any websites. And if you have noticed these ads are related to the website you have visited previously. This is how AI has been used which understands human behaviour on the company website and decides whether it can be converted into a potential customer or not and take action according to that.

In this article, we will discuss how AI can boost adtech.

Help in optimisation

AI will enhance the performance of digital marketing by studying the various algorithms of how ads created and how they perform on various platforms. AI gives recommendations and suggestions on how these performances can be improved.

Give instant feedback to the company which helps in improving the efficiency of the marketing strategy of the company. In some cases, AI will automatically take the action which you would have taken for the best results. This automation will save you time. Such technology will increase business life by improving business activities.

Also Read: How China’s Greater Bay Area initiative will create a testbed for AI and decentralised tech industry

Creating ads 

It also creates ads sometimes partially and sometimes fully depending on what will best results. This way AI will contribute to advertisement technology. AI saves time which earlier spent on creating attractive ads.

In spite of attractive ads, the conversion rate was low. But with the AI being used in digital advertising it has increased conversion rate as it only shows the relevant content to the customers and removes the irrelevant part.

In various cases, there are certain artificial intelligence tools that automatically take the decision on how a company can reach to the customers in the best way through advertising. It automatically manages and modifies performance and actions required.

Targeting the audience

Targeting the right audience is necessary. Targeting the right audience means showing the ads to the customers who have earlier visited that website and have seen a particular product. Just flooding the websites and applications with random advertisements will give no result. Through AI, it has become possible to target the right audience according to the pattern and visits of the customer on the company website.

AI has played a major role in the advertising sector. Through AI, the company is able to target the right customer and create a potential customer though there are still certain improvements and possibilities that could be generated in the advertising sector.

—

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas by submitting a post.

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

Image credit: Ani Kolleshi on Unsplash

The post How AI can boost adtech appeared first on e27.

In the last couple of years, blockchain technology has been thrust into the global limelight, which it is worthy of. Around the world, from small startups to big MNCs, many have embraced and integrated this technology in various capacities, in their businesses.

In the Asian sub-continent, Indonesia was quick to emerge as a forerunner in the race for blockchain adoption. In fact, Bank Indonesia (BI) was one of the first institutions in the country to announce the launch of its own digital currency, backed by blockchain technology.

Since then, the country has come a long way and displayed great vigour in the acceptance of blockchain. An Indonesia Blockchain Association was established back in 2018 and it has been a key player in the formation of a strong, local blockchain community.

Pioneers in Indonesia

A lot of the credit for the contemporary burgeoning blockchain community in the country goes to startups such as Blockchain Zoo, the first company to offer blockchain consultancy services in the country and Blockchain Space Asia, both of which are founders of the blockchain association in Indonesia

The year 2019 has seen the rise of some phenomenal new startups in the Indonesian market, all of which have been experimenting with blockchain technology. The year has also seen the establishment of several new cryptocurrency exchange platforms such as KoinX and DCX, all of which are backed by blockchain technology.

Constantin Papadimitriou, president of Pundi X had said in an earlier interview: “There are many small and medium businesses in Indonesia not able to deploy digital payment mechanisms, as credit card organisations have created walled gardens with a high price of entry”. 

Also Read: Rise of blockchain in Indonesia brings the promise of greater financial inclusion

Blockchain has in practice been able to break down this archaic system and facilitate an alternative credit rating and payment system for small businesses.

A notable startup in Indonesia that has been dedicatedly working in this particular aspect and that is Tokoin. Co-founders Reiner Rahardja and Eddy Christian Ng combined their individual expertise in business expansion and management and risk assessment and credit profiling skills, respectively, to create Tokoin.

The platform aims to help MSMEs create their business profile and oversee their identity management, which could be used for credit scoring towards financial inclusion. 

The growth of MSMEs and the government’s pro-blockchain stance has benefited the country’s local economic boom. As more and more local businesses warm up to the potential advantages of using blockchain, one can notice the definitive digitisation of these businesses, which is profitable for them in the long run.

Also Read: Why should universities teach blockchain to students?

Reiner Rahardja, CEO of Tokoin said, “I started by establishing a small business by selling cireng (a local fried snack in Indonesia) that I gradually popularised. Over the next nine months, I was able to open up around 40 branches, a bento styled restaurant with four branches and eventually took to selling imported wood parquets.” 

There are many such success stories all across Indonesia, of those who started small but made it big, and along the way realised the importance of new innovations in technology. Here’s wishing that this boom in the business of MSMEs continues to break down barriers and grow beyond the possible. 

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas by submitting a post.

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

Image credit: Fikri Rasyid on Unsplash

The post Rise of blockchain in Indonesia and the men who made it happen appeared first on e27.