India is a country where every parent dreams of their children having a reputable job. It is of utmost importance in our society for a person to get a secure job with a handsome salary which may reflect a good social stature. Hence, ditching that prospect and taking a plunge into the unknown world of entrepreneurship where nothing is guaranteed and everything is a challenge might raise a few eyebrows. Having a brilliant idea is only about 20% of the job, the rest 80% depends on the execution and strategy- something that is lacking in the youth of today.

The reason why most of the startups fail in India can be summed up as lack of motivation, lack of experience, lack of flexibility and backup plan, poor team building skills, lack of proper funding schemes.

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Lack of motivation-

As already stated the popularity of a corporate job always undermines the enthusiasm of a startup venture. After completing formal education, students who profess to venture out as entrepreneurs are often mocked, not supported from families, their talent is questioned upon and their motive is hardly ever respected.

Lack of flexibility and backup plan-

It is common for entrepreneurs to become obsessed with their own idea of the product so much so that they would block out any criticism or suggestions for their product. In that case it becomes difficult for the product to do well. Sometimes even that product might not work at all and the startup begins to falter. In such cases one should have a backup plan as how to overcome the initial set back.

Lack of experience-

Mostly startups are founded by young people who lack in proper knowledge about how to run an organization and keep it afloat. There are several challenges or sudden crisis that may need strict confrontations or radical methods to be ironed out. For newcomers it is always advisable to have a partner or a mentor who is slightly more experienced than them.

Poor team building skills-

Initial success might lead to a myopic condition where the founder may think that all the success happened because of his idea alone. This generates unsatisfaction among other team members who might have had some contributions in this. Also another factor is lack of interpersonal skills among the founder and team members. Talent and skill is important but so is interpersonal skill which builds integrity and bonding within an organization and can help in bringing out the best among people. In some cases startups hire and fire very fast. They let go off people at the first instance of incompetence. This makes it more difficult to find and retain persistent staff members. It is equally hard to find people who are hungry for success and their penchant for innovation must match wavelengths with the founder’s.

Lack of proper funding schemes-

In India, getting funding for a startup is perhaps the most difficult step. Applying for loans in various schemes not only takes a lot of time but also has elaborate formalities. Moreover once approved the money may take time to trickle down. Private fundraising system is hard to come by hence reliance on the government schemes is more common.

Startups may be hindered by a lot of challenges however proper planning and courage to execute them with a fall back plan can eradicate most of the handicappers. Moreover, a certain amount of negotiation skills and acceptance also helps to keep the venture flexible to cope with bad times.