Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

Entrepreneurship

INTERVIEWING ENTREPRENEUR – Abha Singh

Date Of Submission: 28th December 2018

Submitted to: Prof. Arjun Panchal

SUBMITTED BY:
Amit Ranjan Thakur C-06
Ashish Kumar Singh C-16
Dhirender Singh C-19
Company overview

Datos Market Analytics is a dynamic market research company that provides strategically
analysed syndicated market research reports, competitive analysis, and customized research
services to clients. We deliver quantified B2B and B2C research data that help clients to decode
the market forecast to capitalize on succeeding market opportunities. We encourage and
support new ideas that empower the client’s business and provide them end to end market
research solutions. Client satisfaction is what Datos Market Analytics strive for every day. This
year Datos Market Analytics is focused on providing the value-added data to the clients that
helps in enhancing their revenue by prevailing different market opportunities.
Well trained and experienced fulltime analysts are tracking market growth and forecast the
market trends thoroughly that helps the clients in predicting the market size, market share and
competitive landscape across different geographies and countries.
Datos Market Analytics is a client-centric organization that works on Strategic Customer
Engagement Model (SCE). Special emphasis is given to client consults resulting in deliverables,
which aid customers to understand and analyse the respective market and add value to their
business.

What is your Vision/ Idea/ Concept? What drives you to pursue the same? How did you come
up with this idea?

VISION: - The vision of the company is to provide better market analysis to the customer.

Reason to pursue: - For the development of the industry, fulfilling the customer need, helping
the customer in expanding the existing business, to expand company’s product portfolio.

How I got this Idea: - I have 5 years of experience in this industry. Also there is an increased
demand for market research both for established as well as new players.

Who is your target audience? Why?

Currently we focus on 6 major sectors which are:

 Healthcare
 Food & Beverages
  IT & Telecommunication
 Heavy Industry
 Chemical & Material
 Consumer Goods & Retail
Since these are the booming industries and there is huge demand for market research in these
areas. Most of the companies in these sectors rely on the market research for their R&D, new
product launch and diversification in new sector.

Who are the competitors that worry you the most and why?

These are the following competitions:

 Markets & Markets

 Euro monitor
 BCC RESEARCH
 Transparency Market Research
 Allied Market Research
This industry is very competitive and there is marginal difference in the price of the report. The
industry works mainly on the quality of the report. In my opinion better and more researched
report attract customer.

That one feature/innovation that differentiates you from your competitors?

Low cost reports, customised reports based on customer needs.

Innovation: Covering niche markets like covering very small markets like market of pen or
market of needle across all the geographies.

What would you choose? Brand image with less profits/revenues or more profits/revenues with
low/no branding?

I will choose Brand Image because it gives loyalty with the customer and provides long term
benefit.

What is your revenue model?

There are two sources of revenue:

 INBOUND
 OUTBOUND
Inbound: - In this customer himself approach the company for the report, which is of two types
Syndicate and Customised, through their representatives and our website’s chatbots.

Outbound: - In this company’s business development team (BD Team) approach the customers
through cold calling.

What are the major costs involved? How do you try to minimize?

Costs:-

 SEO: - It is search engine optimisation. It targets the keywords used in the report for
better visibility online for potential clients.
 BD TEAM: - It is business development team which reach out to the customer with the
help of cold calling.
 ANALYSTS: - These are the people who are the backbone of our company who do the
quality research and make reports.

In this we cannot minimise the cost rather we maximise the profit by making quality
reports with the help of deep down approach.

Is your start-up in profits from first day? If not, how much time did it take to reach operational
(monthly, not capital) break-even?

No the start-up was not profitable from first day. It took around 6 months to our company to
reach breakeven.

For expansion, you would like to prefer bank loans (debt) or investments from VC (equity)?
Why?

The difference is the risk exposure on a start-up. Higher the risk, higher the return!
Banks do not "own" the money they lend to businesses. In layman's terms, they are in the
businesses of taking money on loan from people (the banks give you interest for the money
you keep with the bank) and lend that money to business for a higher interest rate.

This is the reason that the banks are constrained on the amount of risk they can take on a
business (while providing loans). Hence, banks (mostly) give out loans to companies with
steady cash flows in the past as well as in the forecast. (An irony. You need to prove to banks
that you don’t need a loan before getting one approved!)

The banks usually assume that all their lessees will be paying their interest regularly and on
time. VCs invest in a business through equity. VCs mostly either invest their own money, or
money raised from investors who know that their money will be invested in businesses that are
potentially risky. VCs do not get returns on every business they invest in. Even if one out of
 five businesses they invest in works out, its considered a good return and will cover for the
other 4 unsuccessful investments.

Thus, the basic difference is the business model of VCs and Banks. A VC is a good friend
even in bad times. If they see good future prospects, they may even invest more in your
business. On the other hand, if a start-up is not doing well (and not servicing interest to the
banks), banks will try to secure the assets to recover their dues.

Coming back to the finance rule: The banks do not want very high returns, and hence will avoid
taking risks. VCs on the other hand are ok with taking higher risks, since they want higher
(very higher) returns. And as a start-up founder, you are better off with a risk taking friend as
against a risk averse one.

Any advice to up-coming entrepreneurs?

 If you want to start a business and become successful with it, you need to solve meaningful
problems. Execution is everything in business.
 Don’t just start a blog (or any type of business) unless you’ll be doing something you truly love
and are good at, or unless you can dedicate yourself to becoming that expert over the coming
years.
 Becoming successful in business is more about your mentality, psychology and
determination than it is about finding little tips, tricks, hacks and exploitations in the
marketplace.
 The only true way to learn is by doing and you can’t afford to sit around waiting for funding,
hoping someone else will come along to help your idea or complain that you don’t have the
time. Making excuses won’t help you start a business and it sure as hell won’t help you create
the lifestyle you want for yourself.
 If you wait until your product or service feels perfect, someone else will already be doing a
better job of helping your customers solve their problems. Validate your business idea by
launching fast, bringing on a small group of paying customers and adapting to make your
solution great for them over time. You’ll learn how to validate ideas quickly & cheaply in my
course, 30 Days to Validate.
 How you choose to manage your time and decide which opportunities to pursue will greatly
impact your success when starting a business. Outsource everything you can, so that you
can focus on doing what only you can do in your business.
 Do everything in your power to avoid spending money when you start a business. Build a lean
solution that provides value to your customers and only spend money on the absolute essentials
at the moment you need them.
 Never stop building meaningful relationships with customers and other people in your industry.
Choosing to instead view competitors as potential partners and collaborators can positively
impact your business in a big way.
 Focus on setting & achieving small incremental goals rather than trying to start a business and
instantly build your vision of what the company should be in the years to come. Setting realistic
goals and milestones is a major component
 If you get a prototype out and you get enough people using it, you never have to write a business
plan, do a forecast or do anything like that. A prototype is where you separate the BS from the
reality.
 Don't waste time or spend money on non-core issues when starting a business. In fact, don't
spend any money until you make some.
 One of the most painful and common mistakes I see first-time entrepreneurs make is that they
fall in love with their own business idea

 Beating the competition

As part of any market research, looking into what

LEARNINGS
Market research is one of the most
useful tools that a business can use to
further develop the way it understands
customers and maximise the potential
for profit and growth. It’s essential for
businesses of all sizes and benefits
everyone from small start-ups through
to multinationals, paving the way for
data-led success. So why exactly should
you do market research? Surely, if you
have a product that you know is in
great demand that should be enough?
The truth is that having a fantastic
product or service is not a guarantee of
success without first knowing why you
offer this product, and who you are
offering it to. To help break things
down for you, here are some examples
as to how market research can help
your business grow:
your competitors are doing is often a good place to
start. By checking those out you can spot potential
opportunities or gaps in your own service that you
can fill – for example they may be offering certain
promotions or sales that you hadn’t considered, or
have a better online presence. Competitor analysis
also works the other way – if you are offering
something they are not, it may be an opportunity to
develop this offering further and really amplify
your unique offering through some simple
marketing.
 Knowing your consumer
Market research gives you a great chance to know
your most important stakeholder all the better –
your customer. Having a great product is not
enough in an age of information and digital
capability as competitors will always find ways to
steal your market share. Focus on really getting to
know your consumers – what they want, when they
want it and how they want it. This can be achieved
through asking your existing customers a series of
questions about your product and how happy they
are with its delivery and performance.
 Market research can be carried out at various stages of a business life cycle, from pre-launch
and beyond. Having a greater understanding of your marketplace from the very start will enable
you to create a sound business strategy to establish and grow your brand into one that’s better
than the competition.

Primary market research covers Secondary market research covers

 Monitoring the effectiveness of

 Published company reports data
sales
 Existing surveys and studies
 Ascertaining the quality of services
 Newspaper reports
provided by competitors
 Government data
 Understanding the channels of
communication used by
competitors
 Assess the active competition
within the market

Another important learning from this is that

there are four important steps to any successful market research study:

 Investigate whether similar research has previously been carried out

 If so, analyse the existing relevant data that meets your objectives – providing it meets
your budget
 How will the existing data be used and by whom?
 Do you need to conduct your own primary market research too? If so, with whom?

The scope of the market research you’ll undertake is influenced by your overall objectives
– what do you want to learn about your market and the external factors influencing it? The
objectives will also determine the types of market research that you need to undertake in
order to be successful.

Suggestions

 Identifying areas where your business is performing well so you can

duplicate success
 Identifying areas where your business is underperforming
 Providing evidence to inform your decision making.
 Brand awareness: Are customers aware and familiar with your brand?
 Competitive comparisons: How do customers view your company
compared to the competitor?
 Personification: What characteristics and traits do customers associate
with your brand?