Disrupting Your Startup, The Indian Way

Exciting are the times, when new models are tried and tested. Recently we ordered a laptop on Amazon, and were promptly notified of the impending delivery. On the day of the delivery, we received an SMS saying so and so person is on his way to deliver the product.  As I was smirking away at the Indianization of the worlds biggest e-commerce giant, I realized how rewarding and engaging product experiences have been, since I relocated to India.

Indian startups have embraced cheap labour, customer insensitivity to spam, shallow banking integrations, customer distrust and are chugging away at building beautiful products and apps. Even if your product bears similarity with something else in the Silicon Valley, don’t be disheartened. We have enough differentiators to set us apart. Models that haven’t been successful outside are finding new grounds here.

Here’s list of things you should consider as part of the IT Product Roadmap, if you are building the next big startup.

Mobile First

As a rule of thumb, build a website, only if a transaction cannot be done using a mobile app.  Mobile apps have a better engagement, since the user is connected all the time. Only other time, you should consider building a web app, would be if your content needs a more comprehensive engagement model.

SMS

Spamming the user is not a concern any more. Banks tell you about every withdrawal, every failed transaction, status of your account and what not. Direct To Home services tell you about every step of their way, keeping customer constantly engaged. Notifications and alerts are the de-facto engagement tools of the product arsenal. Consider OTP when your offering/audience is sensitive.

Wallet

If your product offering is a daily service commodity, you should consider creating a wallet and reward the customer for doing the same. Wallet provides an easy way to engage customer on a longer term basis, while making things easy for customers to transact.

Direct To Home

Looking at the swarm of Swiggy branded food delivery guys, every day, we are convinced, Direct To Home as the single most defining model of the Indian Startup Revolution that is setting us apart. If there is a way to directly deliver the product or a part of the service directly to home, do it. Even if your product / service offering is new, ask yourself if there is a part of the service, that can be delivered directly to the customer. If there is a value added service that can be provided directly, do that as well.

Cash On Delivery

While we build trust, with the customer who is sensitive to online fraud, Cash On Delivery as an offering is a must to any of the direct to home deliveries.

No Signup Required

User signing up for an account should not be a deterrent for transactions. If you can book a flight ticket, without having to create an account, I don’t see why somebody should create an account to order groceries.

About The Author

Srinivas Aki in his current role as the CEO & Founder of The Egghead Creative, works with entrepreneurs and startups advising them on technology, products and strategy. As an Indian born and US bred technologist, he brings a formidable outlook to software driven endeavors. If you are an early stage startup looking for advise, reach out to the author at srini@eggheadcreative.com

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