Due to the Corona Virus disease outbreak, it is said that many of the Indian businesses are struggling with blind uncertainty about their future.

Ninad Karpe, Partner, 100X. VC shares some very important tips for the survival of the Indian startup ecosystem with Medicircle.

According to a recent industry survey, jointly carried out by FICCI & tax consultancy Dhruva advisors, it has been studied to have a deep impact on the Indian businesses in the coming months as company profits are on stake due to COVID-19 & therefore the companies would be looking at a further reduction in manpower.

The findings of the survey were as below;

- Around 61% of the companies who were a part of the survey expect to postpone their expansion plans for a period of 6 – 12 months while 33% expect to postpone it by more than 12 months.

- Around 60% have postponed their fundraising plans for the next 6 to 12 months & another 25% have decided on doing the same.

- Around 43% have reported that they do not predict any impact on exports while 34% predict that exports would take a hit by more than 10%.

So we as a news portal, find it our primary duty to keep the morale high of our Indian start-ups & entrepreneurs by reporting on how some people are working round the clock so our health and jobs are secured.

In this initiative, we catch up with top investors and entrepreneurs of India on how to adopt the survival strategies for businesses during COVID 19 lockdown, the survival of the Indian startup ecosystem & manage resources to stay afloat.

We hope our series will help the entrepreneurs struggling during lockdown and SME's who are trying to beat the pandemic and do best for their business. So read on to spot the opportunities, mistakes, and overall how to correct your course so that the business heads in the right direction.

How to manage resources better.

Ninad Karpe, Partner at 100x VC suggests a basic move to the entrepreneurs on how they can manage their resources better during this COVID – 19 situation, “All companies need to realign to the new realities and pivot their business models if they are unable to cope with the changes in work and lifestyle of consumers,” says Ninad.

 Entrepreneurs should now be resilient.

It is well known that an entrepreneur's journey is always considered as a roller coaster ride so in such a scenario where the country has been under lockdown since 25th March 2020, what measures or controls can be taken by the entrepreneurs while struggling with this uncertainty, to which Ninad opines, “The biggest trait an entrepreneur should now have is to be resilient", he motivates them by saying that, “Once you have the destination in your mind, just don't give up!”          

 Startups should follow these 3 C’s.

With the economic slowdown due to the lockdown, Ninad puts his viewpoints forward & suggests how every startup can try to stay afloat if they follow these 3 C’s they are:

                      C: Conserve Cash

                      C: Cut cost

                      C: Collect receivables

Working from home.

With the lockdown due to COVID – 19, many of the companies have been forced to work from home which was never an option for a lot of corporates. Now that most of them are forced to, the companies have observed that the efficiency of every individual has gone up since no time is lost in conveyance. For Ninad the one thing that was impossible during his professional life but which now has become a reality and also improved his quality of life is, “Work from home, it had always been a distant dream.”

Thoughts on Action COVID19 Team (ACT)

The first-of-its-kind initiative taken by Top VCs and entrepreneurs with an INR 100 CR grant, Action COVID19 Team (ACT), was launched to provide resources and guidance to startup founders and employees, “As a country, India needs as many initiatives as possible to promote startups.” Ninad strongly believes that this is a great time to invest in startups right now as the market has fallen down with this financial tsunami of ‘COVID19’ which offers the best buying opportunity for investors.

(Edited By Rabia Mistry)