Often the biggest challenge that small and medium scale businesses in India face is execution of the idea and meeting the operational challenges. A major factor which causes operational issues is lack of business/market data to tweak business plan and strategy. This results in majority of startups folding their operations within months of starting.
Search major Google analyzed this issue in India deeply and has started a business consulting division for small start-ups. The division is a part of Google’s online sales business for now. It considers millions of small and medium business ventures in India as its target market. The modus operandi is simple. Google executives will hear your estimate of topline and bottomline and then provide you with an actionable business plan. Thus you may no longer have to worry about your profit and loss statements, returns over a set period of time, fixed cost, depreciation cost etc.
To access this service, one needs to call the Google call center in India. The calls are answered by business and accounting experts from Google. The service is available in 10 different Indian languages. Google uses its search data related to the specific region, business line etc to understand market and positioning of the business. Based on this data, Google executives perpare an action plan and suggest break even, cost of capital, any additional investments required and various other factors.
So, for example, if you wish to start an e-commerce portal in India, Google will study its search data to see what kind of products are search online, how many people purchase such products online. Based on this data, Google will give you projections about investment required.
Google ran a pilot of such business consultancy in India in 2008 and found the results ‘very effective’. With over 2 million businesses doing some of its business online, there is a huge market for Google to tap into.
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