3 Pillars to Initiate startup (Handholding, Funding & Incubation)

Capital, Product and Marketing are the three key pillars through which a startup can become a sustainable company in the long run. Many startups end up focusing only on one or, at most, two of these pillars, which negatively affects them sooner or later.

Self-funded: This is the money you put into the company through your own savings or money borrowed from your friends/family. You should rely on it only to build a small prototype (or MVP) of your idea. Show off your MVP to a few target customers/investors to get their initial feedback. This will help you understand whether it makes sense to continue pursuing the idea or change it completely.

Investor funds: This can range from initial seed funding from an HNI to VC funding during Series A, B or C rounds. This money usually comes in only when your startup has already started earning its revenues from an existing set of customers. In some cases, however, investors will give you money if you have successfully exited startups earlier.

Customers: This is the profit you generate by selling your products or services to your customers. This is the most important source of capital for your startup, and you should spend a good amount of time building up this source. If you have a B2C product, then remember that it will require larger scale to bring in sufficient money initially. So, either continue looking for an investor or tie up with other businesses for bulk deals. You need to be cognisant of the fact that even in the B2B world, the money will flow in only three to six months after the delivery of your work.

A startup incubator is a collaborative program designed to help new startups succeed. Incubators help entrepreneurs solve some of the problems commonly associated with running a startup by providing workspace, seed funding, mentoring, and training (see list below for a a more extensive list of common incubator services). The sole purpose of a startup incubator is to help entrepreneurs grow their business.

Services provided by business incubators:

• Help with business basics
• Networking opportunities
• Marketing assistance
• High-speed Internet access
• Accounting/financial management assistance
• Access to bank loans, loan funds and guarantee programs
• Help with presentation skills
• Connections to higher education resources
• Connections to strategic partners
• Access to angel investors or venture capital
• Comprehensive business training programs
• Advisory boards and mentors
• Management team identification
• Help with business etiquette
• Technology commercialization assistance
• Help with regulatory compliance
• Intellectual property management and legal counsel