Startups are catching fire in India, and employees are slowly moving into the entrepreneurial category. Being niche and creative at the same time involves a lot of planning, but if done in the right way can bring you great profits, and a hassle free life. The benefits of a business are far greater than the a day job. If you are a bit confused if a business is the right choice for you, please have a read through on this post ” Do i stick to my job or setup my own business” to get a clear picture and take a stand on what to do.
If you look around on the internet, you will find new startups evolving and getting funded everyday. The fact is that it is the core idea that convinces the angel investors and gets them to fund on a particular startup. The finest example being redbus.in which revolutionized the bus booking and ticketing in India. Every section and genre seems to be explored in the current era, yet there are many areas that an entrepreneur can delve into. Here is a list of great startup ideas.
1. Social/Mobile Gaming: This requires a good level of expertise in mobile/internet technology, but once this tough path is cleared, this niche is one of the highly rewarding business in the current generation. Games like temple run and angry birds have made their inventors millionaires, and billion dollar companies have been built on the very same platform. Effective online marketing skills are essential for this kind of business, but a few years down the line, the efforts are rewarding if the concept is great
2. App development: Be it for the IOS or Android or the Windows platform, apps are a great way to earn money. Again, some coding knowledge is required if you do not plan on outsourcing your ideas to companies. Once the app is released and running, the owner gets to earn through ads (if it’s a free app) or through app purchases through the market
3. Internet Broadcasting/ podcasting : A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio, video, PDF, or ePub files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. The word is a neologism derived from “broadcast” and “pod” from the success of the iPod, as podcasts are often listened to on portable media players.Internet startups seem to drive the startup industry in current times. With social media reducing the cost of advertising and marketing by a great deal, it is ideal for a startup entrepreneur to look at the Internet Broadcasting niche. Few years back, there were very few video portals like Youtube and Metacafe, but now a new portal is being setup everyday. Use them as your source to be a broadcast entrepreneur
4. Gambling/ Porn Industry: This niche is not for everyone. Almost every innovation from these industries trickles down to the rest of the business world. Intrusive advertising, high-end video, micro payments–all these ideas emanated from gambling and porn. If you are brave enough to face the world with this kind of a startup, why not give it a try?Moreover gambling and porn are not homebrewn in India, so you will have a startup edge over it.
5. Corporate Wellness Services : Many companies face the problem of employees complaining for being overworked or stressed. There have been instances of employees filing lawsuits against companies for driving them towards bad health. So these companies are looking at ways to keep their employees happy and seek for professional help in this area. These kind of services increase productivity within the company so the employers welcome it. This industry has a projected growth of about 10 percent and is a great area to look at
6. Delivery services: You can choose to deliver anything from groceries to computers. Large companies are finding it tougher to manage their own deliveries, and are in the lookout for services to do it. Start a delivery service in a particular city and slowly branch out to different cities. You can also look at starting your own website and make users purchase from your inventory
7. Arts and Crafts: Everyone likes arts and crafts. If you are a creative person and have the desire in the handmade niche, then certainly give it a try. Cities like Bangalore are buzzing with the IT crowd who want personalized decors and interiors. These people flood a flea market and search for handmade items, either to wear or decorate. Think about aromatic gel candles, designer lanterns, fancy wall decors or something as simple as creative bookmarks.
8. Housekeeping, the corporate way: How many times has your pipe leaked or your power disrupted, and you haven’t been able to get hold of a plumber or an electrician. How would it be if neatly dressed people take care of the same for you? This niche also concentrates on the corporate segment and very highly rewarding, because companies set up AMC’s with these firms for a large sum, and these firms take care of all of the companies needs
9. Design: The previous decade was all about crappy design. Apple redefined everything by paying maximum attention to design. It’s just not just graphic design, but there are various forms of design like web design, interior design, Fashion design, game design etc. During the next decade all of our careers will move closer to design. The more interaction there is between humans and computers, the more usability humans look for, and the usability in turn is driven by design.More venture capitalists are looking at designer CEO’s to run companies than MBA graduates.
10. Niche Food industry : The food industry has always been and will always be a great industry to setup a business in. Make it niche, and make it tasty. Bring in food from a country no one has heard of, like Andorra or Liechtenstein, and make it available for everyone in your neighbourhood. It is one of the very few industries which boasts of a 200% percent profit margin.
Have we missed out on anything? Please let us know