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What Entrepreneurs Should Follow When Setting Up an On-demand Startup? Don't try to create a demand for yourself, you will fail miserably

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At present, there are very few areas untouched by technology. Soon these areas will be covered by the tech revolution. Last 10 years have seen a spurt of new startups globally. Most of these startups come under the on-demand app-based business model. Uber, Lyft, and Didi Chuxing are some of the unicorn startups that have inspired many other startups.

Embracing innovation is the reason for their success. Uber and Lyft are taxi booking companies. You may ask that taxi company were already there but why Uber and Lyft are more successful. They are not just another taxi firms, they disrupted the taxi industry by bringing innovation to every part of the existing taxi business. In simple words, traditional businesses when subjected to innovation will give birth to a new on-demand startup.

There are many existing services which can be disrupted and entrepreneurs are finding new ways to do that. Newbie entrepreneurs should follow some tips in order to ace in their startup journey.

Balancing Supply and Demand

The demand for startups and new innovations are bright. Still, only 10per cent of the startups are successful. One of the important reason for failure is they think their startup solve a big problem but, in reality, such a problem don't even exist.

Demand and supply should not go out of balance. Don't try to create a demand for yourself, you will fail miserably. In the case of the taxi industry, people were in dire need of a user-friendly service and then Uber came.

Do a market and trend analysis on a macro and micro level. To make the business more smooth, many of them are following the Uber model called Uber for X.

Start Small

Start small and assiduously build your startup. Many startups take the huge risk but, only a few take a calculated risk.

Not all on-demand business services can be brought within a budget bracket. Aggregator services like food delivery, handyman services, etc operate on a minimum ownership model i.e. their overall capital and running expenses are small. Wisely choose the on-demand service if you are bootstrapping the startup.

Modular startup

This is the first time you are coming across the word modular startup. Till some years back, technology changed every 5 years but the situation now is that it changes in months. Institutions that are not adapted to new technology changes are rejected.

Your startup should be part of the exponentially growing on-demand market so, build a smart, flexible, and high valued startup.

Having said that, your startup backend should be layered so that the technology updation is seamless. Be ready to accommodate new and relieve redundant stuff. On-demand firms like Lyft, Postmates, Ola, and many more don't hesitate to use ML, AI, Big Data for their operation.

Top Notch App Development

Whether your on-demand startup is a Uber for X or any other, app development is common. When you decide to develop the app from scratch make sure you have enough resources like developers, testers, project managers, designers, etc. Also, developing from scratch involves a lot of money in the range of $20,000 to 40,000.

Those who are bootstrapping their startup, it is better to prefer app clone scripts. App clones are a replica of the original app. They are available in the market for less than $5000.

Don't Fall Into The Trap

External funding from VCs, angel investors can act as a big trap. Seeing the funding got by big giants in the on-demand market, many startup founders jeopardize their operation and follow an unsustainable model just to get funding.

Such big funding along with unsustainable model also hampers the exit since. India based PepperTap entered and exited the on-demand market in no time after getting huge funding.

Always be in line with your startup operation and improve the value instead of increasing market capitalization. Accept external funding only if it indispensable.

Conclusion

Above five factors are important among many that influences a startup. These steps have been made keeping in eye the present on-demand market where we can see a deluge of startups.

Follow the above steps and work on that to make your app-based startup to be one among the 10per cent successful startups.

Rajarathinam Ganasekarapandian

CEO & President, Uplogic Technologies Pvt Ltd

Rajarathinam Ganasekarapandian is the CEO of Uplogic Technologies and President of SpotnRides & SpotnEats Mobile App Based Products.

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