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Startup Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

By Abhik Prasad on 15 Comments / 6466 views

 

Are you an aspiring entrepreneur who is looking to startup but not sure what to do ?

Here is a list of ideas which I have bounced off with folks, over the last 3 years and have done varying degrees of research on these. 

  1. Prizewatch

    • Idea: A company which keeps track of all competitions happening at various places (both online and offline). At the end of the contest, it updates it with the list of winners so that folks know the company which is conducting the competition is legit.

    • It can also provide a platform for all companies wishing to conduct competitions with an online platform on a SAAS basis

  2. Offline

    • A day spa where you can go for a quick dry massage (say you are tired and stressed in office. You go down to offline and get a quick back rub in 15 mins and are back at your desk, refreshed to tackle the work)

    • This can also be on a membership basis where members don’t have to pay every time they use the service but whenever they want to.

  3. Deeah

    • A subscription service which delivers sanitary napkins to women on a regular basis along with assorted goodies which make it easier to deal with life during those difficult times.

    • Women get a private product in the convenience of their homes, the brands they prefer and without the stress of ever ‘running out’

  4. GreenCover

    • This is aimed at gifting ornamental potted plants instead of fresh flowers to someone – the logic being, flowers die in a day or two but a potted plant will remind folks of you every time they see the plant.

  5. Sampler

    • Again, a subscription service which sends you samples of new products you maybe interested in trying according to various categories. E.g. If you like eating cereal / muesli for breakfast, Sampler could send you samples from different brands and after you have tried them, you could add some variety to your daily routine.

  6. Healthy Fillers

    • A service which delivers small single serving packets of healthy snacks (think 100 – 150 calories per serving) which you can keep in your office desk or car or laptop bag. Whenever you are in between meals and hunger strikes, you pop a filler instead of reaching for a samosa or cookies.

These maybe small business ideas but I believe they have the potential to grow significantly.

Why am I not doing any of the above at the moment ?

Well, because I have come to the painful reality that ‘serial multitasking’ and starting and growing multiple companies simultaneously at the same time requires  special skills (like probably those of Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Square Fame), and which I don’t think I possess. Atleast not yet 🙂

Please feel free to share your thoughts, and if you have any ideas of your own, please share them in the comments I will update them here so that everyone may benefit.

And incase you are worried that someone might steal your idea, here is a thought – “An idea is nothing. Execution is everything”

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15 Comments

  1. i think this is an awesome idea abhik. 

    thanks for always always sharing all of your ideas and never keeping them close to your chest!

  2. Thanks Asha 🙂

  3. Like #4. Would be great if someone can deliver it a specified location/time.

  4. abhik – my favs are #3, #4, #6

    i even remember the initial Deeah surveys you guys had done.

    GreenCover would be a wonderful initiative – in the 80s/90s my aunt would gift everyone who visited her, a potted plant (chinese chilly). that inspired me to gift people a potted plant when i visited someone’s house! in fact i suggested anamika to do something like this over diwali/office anniv since she has a green initiative.

    #6 is awesome. i’m always in the kitchen when not in front of my lappy :() 

  5. Prizewatch WAS Contests2win.com circa 1998 🙂

  6. HI Abhik,

    amazing post, i would bet on 3,4,5,6

    i have this idea running in my mind since 6 months, but not enough time to do it alone, can partner with somebody if interested.

    india is so diverse in nature, we have amazing speciality foods in every region. 
    there are so many people who have left their states and settled somewhere else and long for their speciality food items
    the plan is to have a website / mobile app for people to order speciality food and get it delivered like flipkart, myntra, etc..

    eg. malgapudi from chennai (ambika), bhakarwadi from gujrat, mysore pak from bangalore, Biryani from paradise hotel, hyderabad, peda from jedpur (gujrat), and the list goes on.  my cousins in delhi and US will pay anything to get Vidyarthi bhavan dosa delivered to them from bangalore.

  7. oh…didn’t realise that Alok. I thought it hosted customised contests for specific companies.

    with prize watch, the idea was to track all contests / competitions that companies are running either offline or online…e.g. Limca is currently running a Pyaasport offer where everyday somebody can win a trip to Malaysia…After the contest ends, no one will know who were the winners (if there were any at all !!)

  8. Thanks Vivek. Someone from RH has already started on No 6.

    Its an interesting idea that you bring up…though am not sure of the logistics of delivering perishable stuff…e.g. how would one deliver dosa from Bangalore to Delhi.

  10. Thanks Asha for the links, the first one is very interesting, but looks like they have closed or taking a break.. 🙁

  11. My Idea – A sound-proof room where people pay to enter to scream at the top of their lungs for a short period of time. The experience is pretty liberating when you’re stressed.

    Maybe richer people can smash things for a higher price.

  12. koap bhawan?! niiiice!!

    actually little kids need a tantrum bhawan too!

  13. Very well said “An idea is nothing. Execution is everything”.

  14. Idea no. 6 is very doable and can be executed very well after tying up with offices .

    Thanks Asha for giving the link .

    Good ideas Abhik.

  15. Deeah (3) is a surely very useful service if it can reach women in small towns, and rural areas. I had read of someone who makes quality sanitary napkins at Rs 10/- or even less. If someone can link both ideas, we have a big win-win solution. 

    Sampler (5) is sure going to be cherished by FMCGs, and also non-durables (food, primarily) sector folks. I guess many big companies have their own sampling wing. But, many SMEs in these fields can benefit by such a service.

    I am a bit skeptical of the spa during day time, primarily because, one can’t reach it in 15 min and be back in an hour! However, if one can build mobile spas in luxury vehicles, and they are available on call, or set up in IT / BT campuses they could have some market.

     

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