There are more than a thousand great productivity apps available for smartphones, some Android ones which we have covered previously but this post is going to be of particular interest because we’re going to talk about great Android apps that may be mighty useful for Indian Entrepreneurs. Mind you, the utility of these apps can be extended to other Indian business persons too. The only reason that Indian entrepreneurs would be particularly interested is because they are always on the lookout for cutting costs and finding easier ways to manage their business.

Multi Courier Tracker

Are you running a home office and are breaking your head over tracking multiple couriers? Do you own a factory and have no spare monies to hire someone who could track office parcels and administrative communication in post? Then MCT is your savior. This app allows you to track multiple couriers in India with ease. Currently, they support six popular courier services such as Aramex, Blue Dart, First Flight, Professional, DTDC and TNT. The app makers claim that entrepreneurs and individual sellers who buy and sell a lot over Ebay, Flipkart and other Indian portals will find it very useful. This app awaits more number of downloads and reviews, but the concept is sure worth a shot.

Download Now

India Business Resource

“India Business Resource” is a Free app that consists of several important business tools in one package. It has financial calculators that compute income tax, EMIs on loan amount and property rates, and informative guide about ATM / Bank Branches, MCD circle rates of different Colonies in Delhi and Business News in India. The app also allows designing your custom visiting cards. This recently launched application by MapsofIndia is sort of a Swiss-knife for all your business needs!

Download Now

VAT Calculator

For those Indian entrepreneurs who have just started out in the commodities and services business and don’t have elaborate account departments to produce before and after VAT figures for them, the VAT Calculator can come to heed. Currently, this app works with VAT rates of European countries and India and you can also update your app to 2012 VAT rate figures. The calculated VAT figures will be displayed in rounded and two decimal values. This app sports a high download figure and a good user rating.

Download Now

inStocks BSE/NSE Stock Markets

This app claims to be the most download, comprehensive and highest rated app on the Indian stock market on Android. As an entrepreneur or a business person, even if you are not into trading yourself, keeping a tab on the movements in the domestic and international financial markets becomes imperative. From BSE and NSE Stock Markets Live, business news, stock tips, the Nifty, the Sensex, equity and NSE futures and options, BSE and NSE intraday charts to stock quotes of Indian companies, this app will allow you to stay on top of the bulls and bears.

There’s also a similar app called Moneycontrol Markets on Mobile for Indian stocks, but the user reviews for this app shout out many problems in its interface and loading. On the other hand, inStocks has garnered some great user reviews.

Download Now

City Navigators

If you are a business person whizzing from one metro of India to the other or are doing business with people of other cities, a few useful apps such as the Meru Cab app, the Delhi Metro Navigator app and the Meter Down app that we’ve featured before, will be very useful in terms of handy information and cost cutting. Are you a Mumbaikar attending a meeting in Bangalore? Get all the information including fares, parking fee info and an offline route map through the Bangalore Metro Navigator. Do you have to entertain international guests from the hotel to the airport in Hyderabad? Book a Meru cab for them. Indian entrepreneurs and business people have to make money by saving time too, right?

Let us know if you know of any apps that are mighty useful to Indian Entrepreneurs as well!

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Indian Android Apps!
2. Android Market Paid Apps Enabled for Indian Phones – App buying explained!
3. 5 Indian Banks having their own iPhone/Android Apps!

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when posed with the question

“What is Innovation”?

Some would say that innovation is something new and useful; some would say that something that solves the problem in the most efficient manner is an innovation; some others would say that something that is way ahead of its time is an innovation. Indeed, they are all true. But for an entrepreneur like me, innovation simply means what is shown in the figure.

Innovation is different from invention in the sense that innovation is the commercialization of an invention. Anything that is only useful to you and can’t be used by others is not an innovation. Innovation can be in 5 forms:

• New Product
• New Process
• New Markets
• New Way of Organizing Business
• New Sources of Supply

Here we see the process of innovation in form of six ‘I’s:

Inspiration

Innovation is not merely a lucky flash of inspiration but, surely, behind every innovation lies an inspiration – be it from living or non-living, live or dead, your daily routine or problems facing the world. If you don’t get an inspiration, create one. Ask yourself questions like “Why do we do a certain thing in a certain manner only”, “What if I were the consumer of my own product”, “How can I reduce cost or increase profits”, etc.

Ratan Tata said quoting the world’s cheapest car, Nano, at a symposium at Cornell University, “What really motivated me, and sparked a desire to produce such a vehicle, was constantly seeing Indian families riding on scooters, four or five on a scooter, maybe the child sandwiched between the mother and father, riding to wherever they were going, often on slippery roads in the dark." This concern kept him going and the result has won him many accolades.

Ideation

Inspiration leads to ideation and brainstorming. Ideation is the creative process of generating and developing new ideas so as to convert your inspiration into innovation. Brainstorming with wise people is probably the best tool to check whether an idea is worthy. And sometimes, the idea may face criticism or turn out to be a source of laughter.

When Steve Jobs thought of making a phone with only one button, his engineers kept telling him that it was impossible for a phone to have only one button. You could not turn it on and off, control the volume, switch between functions and go on the Internet, if you had only a single control button. Steve Jobs was deaf to their complaints and would only say “Figure it out”. The result we all know – iPhone!!!

Initiation

It requires a great deal of courage to initiate. Many a times, people start working on a good idea but leave it in between because of initial failures. Only passion and dedication to the original inspiration can keep one hooked on to the idea. In the course, one might need to change the strategy and sometimes the idea itself.

Myspace, hi5 and Orkut came before Facebook was launched. Today, even the combined user base of all these three networking sites is way less than Facebook’s more than 800 million users. Facebook came with simpler features and constantly kept updating features. It allowed support for third-party applications, video calling in collaboration with Skype, the recent Timeline feature, etc. We don’t find all these together in other sites. It’s easier to find old-friends on Facebook than on other sites.

Invention

Finally the idea that came out because of the inspiration sees the day of the light. This invention might undergo many revisions before it is made available to the public. It may either get appreciation or admonition. Marketing efforts would be involved to make people know about this invention and hence commercialization of the invention is still a step away.

Windshield wipers were invented by real estate developer and rancher Mary Anderson. She lived in New York and noticed that the trolley car which she rode had an open front windshield. Although the open window was necessary to allow the driver to see the road under falling rain or snow but it was a pain for the passengers freezing inside. She invented windshield wiper featuring a rubber blade connected to a spring-loaded arm that could move across the windshield to clear snow, ice and rain. She patented it and attempted to sell the rights. However, her potential buyer didn’t feel the idea would ever amount to anything and declined. Today it’s difficult to find any four-wheeler without windshield wipers!!

Income Generation

Not all ideas that are turned into inventions make money. Some may fail disastrously and some may pave way for newer inventions. Some inventions make money by targeting a niche while others make by targeting the common masses.

We all credit Thomas Edison with the invention of electric light bulb (in 1879). But little do we know that the first electric light was invented by English scientist Humphry Davy in 1800 but it couldn’t be commercialized. After many people tried during these eight decades, Thomas Edison tried thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and last long. He once said, “I have not failed. I have found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. In his first successful test, he was able to invent a bulb that could last for 13.5 hours and eventually developed a bulb that could last for over 1200 hours. On commercialisation he said,

“Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.”

Improvement

An organization that constantly strives to be innovative finds that, in time, what was once an innovation is obsolete now. The organisation may seek to bring continuous improvements to this product / service or completely abandon the same and move on to doing something new. The process of innovation in the form of six ‘I’s is repeated.

For millions of poor Indians, cataract meant blindness until Aravind eye care hospital came into being. Cataract operation in the US costs around $2500 to $3000 and even in an Indian hospital the cost comes to around $300. For a country like India where most people, especially in rural areas, live on less than $2 a day such a price is not affordable. This led Aravind eye care to devise an operation to treat patients for an average of $25, while treating almost 60% patients for free. Today, it’s the largest and the most productive eye care facility in the world. They gradually shifted from being just hospitals to eye care systems by having a dedicated factory for producing lenses, a training centre to provide key skills, specialist ophthalmic research centres, and an international eye bank.

If you just take time to think how things can be changed, innovations can happen.

[This guest post is written by Ashish Chowdhary. An entrepreneur himself, he has deep interest in cutting-edge Technology, Entrepreneurship, Mobile Apps & Innovation]

Related posts:

1. Innovation on a Shoestring
2. 3 Types of Innovation-Structured [Apple], Unstructured [Amazon] & Open [Google]
3. Honeybee Network: Kindling the innovation light of the Rural India

After last week’s article on ‘Why some starts up survive while most fail’, some of you had written to me to elaborate on point number 5, i.e:- Innovative promotional strategies used.

Well it is difficult to capture all this in an article as this topic would require an entire book, but still it got me thinking and I have made a list of three such instances that I feel really stood out.

Using College girls as demand generators - Karsan Bhai Patel is a tough competitor. Not only did he launch an Indian brand, Nirma to take on the likes of Hindustan Uni Lever (HUL) but he briefly overtook them. So much that HUL started a project called STING (Strategy to inhibit Nirma growth). Now in the early days the demand for Nirma was good but the retailers were wary to stock them which was partly because of the pressure applied by HUL sales mechanism.

Karsan Bhai started this novel scheme of asking college going girls to walk into retailers and ask for Nirma. If Nirma was not there they simplify left the shop without buying anything. If Nirma was present they bought it and then were refunded for their effort. This dramatically changed the situation with retailers as they started stocking Nirma due to the demand. Soon Nirma was a national brand and pushing HUL and Procter & Gamble into a three way fight.

Non Animal testing and the environment- Bodyshop may be a premium brand today, but when it started Anita Roddick the founder was really pushed all the way by mainstream cosmetic chains in the UK. She then decided to come up with a very daring promotional scheme where she openly declared that none of her products were tested on animals. To push it further she also gave a 30 % discount to all those who brought back empty bottles of BodyShop products in order to get a refill. Now this was long before the environment became a very hot topic and Al Gore became the first carbon billionaire. But the strategy worked and soon she had a set of loyal customers who became evangelists. The rest is history. Though BodyShop today is part of L’oreal they still continue to promote non animal testing and environment friendly practices.

You meet the nicest people on a Honda- Honda motors was an established name in Japan but hardly anyone knew them in the US. The Japanese ministry for Manufacturing had advised Honda to look at Indonesia but they had ambitions in the US. Knowing that GM and Ford would shut them down in they entered the US with cars, Honda entered the country with a moped called the ‘Super Cub’. It was supposed to be sports moped, which people could take to a golf course or to tennis club. The launch state was California, which normally has good weather throughout the year. The tag line was that ‘you would meet the nicest people on a Honda’.

The moped was sold through sports shops like SEARS. Honda gifted a Moped to all its employees and they were encouraged to drive to work in their mopeds. This soon created a buzz with many of the younger more sporty Californians wanting to buy one for themselves. The strategy worked and Honda soon became a familiar brand on the Californian roads. This paved the way in the 1980’s for the Honda invasion through their cars. Though Honda was not a start-up they used the start up mentality to get better of bigger rivals like Ford.

But again this is no way an exhaustive list there have been so many other innovative ideas for promotion. I would like to hear your views on the same.

If you have started a company and used very innovative strategies or have heard of someone doing so, please do leave a comment and that would really enhance the discussion.

Related posts:

1. Cost cutting : Different companies different methods
2. Where do Indian Start-ups stand in high flying 50 Tech Start-ups of the world?
3. Top Innovative Companies List [World & India]

For Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who wish to create a niche for themselves in today’s competitive market, it is imperative to keep a track of their day-to-day transactions and financial events. Businesses where the accounts section is always at the backdrop & does not receive enough managerial efforts frequently face financial crunches.

If you are a start-up company and planning to make your entry into the corporate world, without enough knowledge about the technicalities of accounting, then the best way to get a hands-on experience & increase your familiarity with the same is “Accounting Outsourcing”.

Accounting Outsourcing not just helps you understand the intricacies & power of co-ordination of various financial segments, but also teaches you the tricks of managing financial records effectively, a task most companies tend to overlook.

Studies indicate that for companies to have a fully functional & powerful accounting section, nearly 40% of total cost is required, which accounts to a magnificent financial as well as human resource. This is where accounting outsourcing can be used as a powerful alternative tool, since it helps businesses in cutting these overhead costs by providing them with accounting solutions that are not just cost effective but also time effective. For companies to have an ascending accounts graph, it is important to establish proper control over the company’s financial events & cash flow.

A recently done survey of start-up businesses looking for dependable accounting outsourcing service providers indicated that, the best person to identify these providers for the company is the financial coordinator of the company. This is because the financial coordinator is the key person to actually help business owners in understanding the terminologies of accounting. So, no matter whether you are familiar or not with the aspects of accounting, you can always trust your reliable & cost-effective accounting outsourcing service provider for looking after the finances of your organization.

In order to maintain an uncomplicated accounting system in your company, it is essential that you keep the terms & procedures simple & easy. The professionals of accounting outsourcing firms are trained to categorize all sections of accounting, to make them as simple as possible. The financial reports generated by these professionals with the help of new accounting strategies & modifications of existing ones are so accurate, that you can easily rely on them for important business decisions.

While every company has an accounting section, not all of them have the ability to utilize them well enough to generate desired results. Accounting outsourcing is a great option for all such companies, because it not just helps simplify the accounting tasks but also leverages unique accounting capabilities overseen by field experts, thereby bringing a stability to the finances of the company.

[The above concept is shared with us by Pooja Kumar of SME JOINUP. To get assistance in accounting outsourcing, email on contact@smejoinup.com]

No related posts.

In the 1950’s 8 employees of the famed Shockley Semiconductor got into dispute with William Shockley. The employees left and formed Fairchild Semi-conductors. The process repeated many time over with these former employees forming more than 65 companies in less than 20 years. This phenomenon was referred to as the ‘Silicon Startups’ and the location for these companies the Stanford Industrial Park remains the hot bed of the startups in the world.

A similar phenomenon was born in Bangalore when Narayana Murthy started Infosys and thus was born the Indian technology story.

But startups have a very low success rate. For the Information technology sector for example the success rate is close to 38% (Some opine it is less than 10%). This data is from 2005 and appears in the monthly labor review for the US. Globally, this percentage is even lower.

So how does one avoid failure while starting a company? Or why do some startups survive while others fail. Based on my experience of starting a business and running it successfully I have come across five point formula that I feel can help in avoiding common traps for failure.

1. Select the right Industry

Most entrepreneurs make the fundamental mistake of venturing into industries that they are not familiar with. It is very important when you start a business that you are aware of the industry life cycles and business processes. Also the industry selection should depend on the growth stage of the economy of the geography where the business is present.

A good example of this was Infosys that was started just at the start of the technology outsourcing boom. The founders had experience in the industry earlier. The result was phenomenal. I remember this medical colleague of mine who out of enthusiasm opened a fashion boutique. It closed in exactly 6 months.

2. Focus on the financial model

Again another big area of confusion is the finances. Most people would like to start a business with their own savings. Though the thought is noble, often savings disappear soon and one has to start looking for other sources for funding. I think the model should be one where the cash flows start almost immediately and the break-even happens within 12 months. The longer the time for break even the more chances that the business would fail. Also it is best to avoid very heavy investment upfront. Using a rented accommodation or using a home office is a better alternative. Also if the equipment can be leased than bought, it might help reduce the up-front investment burden as well.

3. Be Flexible

Often the business model you had in mind is not the one that presents the most opportunity. So once you realize that there is a better model it’s time to move to it. A good case in point is Naukri. A meeting with Sanjeev Bikchandani revealed that he started Naukri.com as off shoot of his initial venture, which was to create a HR database for recruiters to shortlist relevant candidates. As the launch of his new venture coincided with the growth of the internet, he soon changed the business model to become one of the largest job portals in the country.

4. Add Business value

Often value added services are more profitable than the original product or service. Staying with Naukri.com, once they realized that there was a market for creating resumes and candidates often found it challenging to create compelling resumes, He immediate started value added services which provides resume writing and covering letter among other services.

5. Innovative Promotion

A start up needs very innovative ways to promote itself. Often a startup falls into the traditional promotion trap spending vital money on routes like online advertising or print medium. To beat the clutter a good start up thinks out of the box. The best example of this is Google, which never spent much on promotion except using word of mouth. It is best to remember that the search engine market of that time was dominated by players like Alta Vista, Excite and Ask Jeeves. What differentiated Google were the loyal core followers they had who spread the name by references.

These are some of the parameters that a good start up should look at. But by no means is this a comprehensive list.

So, I would like to hear from you, what are the other critical factors that help a startup survive? How can a new company differentiate. All comments & suggestions are welcome.

Related posts:

1. Startup ecosystem and the fate of non-IT startups
2. Indian Startups: Easier said than done!
3. Startups are like “2012″!

Arun’s Note: I got this email in my inbox today from an entrepreneur detailing out his frustrations regarding the how ecommerce startups are at mercy of Indian Payment Gateway providers – This is not the first time I have heard and more or less most early stage startups are experiencing this kind of frustration! I am reproducing his mail verbatim which gives a detail account of his experiences!

Internet Payment Gateways in India have been a complete let down (from my experience) who are now working akin to governmental agencies! And I am not the first one. Even today’s biggest successes like flipkart.com had to face them in their early start-up stage.

While internet start-ups are mushrooming by the day, there is a dearth in the supply of internet payment gateways in India who are now dictating their own terms. It’s also ironic to note that getting a VC or angel investor is easy now in India! But the basics like internet payment gateway is a hell-ride experience!

And here is what I learnt from my experience:

My site launched last year, still in its start-up stage, was doing 6 digit business per month via online sales. Our refund ratio was <1%, and charge-backs 0%, which, by industry standards is pretty good. While we are also ethical in running our business and comply to all statutory requirements sets by payment gateways.

However, trouble began when our existing payment gateway provider (India’s 2^nd largest Internet payment gateway provider) ‘suddenly’ discovered that we do not fit in their accepted business models and disconnected the gateway to our site without prior notice. 

Beaten and bruised, we approached other payment gateways and here is what we got from them:

Now, do let me know if I missed out contacting any Indian payment gateway!

So I have a few questions here which doubt the basic intention of these ‘private players’ or ‘aggregators’?

• Are they too busy to respond to potential customers?
• Do they intentionally do not respond because we are start-ups or because their coffers are filled?
• When banks are directly approving payment gateways, why are private players shying away? Are they worried about their image? Or want to please their loyal customers by not accepting competitors?
• When banks have outsourced the job of payment gateway processing to private players, why are they acting monopolistic?

These circumstances leave a very wide gap of questions unanswered:

• What is the future for start-ups if they are meted out such treatment?
• Why is it so difficult to convince these private players to accept your business model who have no time to listen to you?
• Where will start-ups go if they are meted our such treatment?
• What can a start-up do when they face such a situation? When their only source to accept payments is denied without valid reason?
• Are not these start-ups being nipped in the bud by such egoistic private players?

I am sure I am just one of those untold stories of start-ups who had such experience with Indian payment gateways.

———————-

Prima-Facie, this person is not the only one from whom I have heard these travails in regards with Indian payment gateways. There are many out there facing similar issues

Note:  I did little research on the person who sent me this mail, and looks like his startup is one of the recent start-ups who are into online match-making / dating sites. I browsed through it and it looks clean. I am not sure why any payment gateway would find them risky!

Related posts:

1. desiwiki:The wiki for Indian Startups
2. Hottest Indian Startups Review: Vakow
3. What I watch for in Indian Web2.0 Startups

For the uninitiated, bootstrapping a startup basically means commencing your business with whatever you have in your pocket (which generally is very little) – no venture capital, no angel investing, no bank loans or external financial aid. [Wikipedia meaning here]

A successfully bootstrapped business would mean surviving purely on profits out of sales, a steady cash flow or already existing internal monetary resources. Most successful bootstrapping ideas of famous entrepreneurs come out in the public domain when they publish their how-to success books.

Most of these ideas can range from smart to whacky to unthinkable – to say the least. Here are some tips that may help you in successfully bootstrapping your startup.

Avoid long term fixed costs

If you’re thinking of starting out with a rented office in a commercial complex, you’re probably not born to be an entrepreneur. Even if it is an office space that you receive for free, you will eventually start running up unseen recurring expenses on it very soon.

Depending on the service or product your company offers, work with the most limited resources you can. Scrap those snacks and coffees, use public transport instead of taxis, work out of home, buy professional software with joint funds from a friend, be your own Man Friday and finish the job of 5 people yourself, do another part time/ freelancing job to fund your core startup and so on.

Create win-win barter situations with human resources

When you were in school, how did you get your homework done the illegit style from friends? "Hey, why don’t you finish my science assignment while I make sure I get you a date with that girl you have a crush on?"

The same applies to successfully bootstrap a business. With paucity of funds, you’re not going to be able to hire professionals or experts. So, you might as well start striking relationships from your existing contact base. Get your website built from that long lost friend who used to learn computer graphics or get an ex-factory employee to advice you on how to repair a piece of machinery in your value chain in return for a cup of coffee. Think simple and find creative & cost effective ways of getting work done!

Increase your Plowback ratio

No, we’re not going to discuss the formulae of plowback ratios as used in accounting. All we’re talking about is not taking away any money OUT of your business, whether it is in the form of salary, frills and expenses or variable costs.

Pumping your profits or a steady cash flow back into your business might keep you from earning a single penny for yourself for a few months, but it will be worth the wait. As backup you must plan an exit strategy, how much money you’d have to pay to various vendors and how much funds you may need to stay afloat for the next 6 months. One of the most important tips to successfully bootstrapping your startup is to not get your savings account into negative balance!

Freebies and free marketing

Why do big multinationals make young teenage marketers spend an entire day in the middle of a mall and hand out freebies of their products like noodle packs or face cream sachets?

That’s because nothing works like physical word of mouth, viral campaigns or creating a buzz on social media. We understand that as a startup trying to bootstrap successfully, you can’t set aside budgets to give out a million freebies at the mall. But planning a small marketing stint at your neighborhood would be a great start. Think of friends wearing bright coloured tee shirts shouting your product or emailing your community about a free first time trial of your service.

Make extended friends and family guinea pigs

Testing the waters, observing the markets or getting first hand product reviews – call it what you will. Getting uninterrupted, honest reviews of your product or service from friends and family is the best way for bootstrapping business to avoid heavy costs on product failure on market release.

Why do restaurants have soft launches for their promoters’ friends? Why do Hollywood movies have private screenings before release? The same concept applies. Be ready to face some brash truth about how much your friends would pay for your product or service, what changes they suggest, any features they would like to tweak and so on. You will find these tips highly valuable in hindsight when your product / service offering becomes successful.

These are just some of basic tips for bootstrapping your startup. However, there are 100s of more creative ways that you can employ. The most important factor that you should remember is that every penny you spend from your pocket should give you maximum mileage and should be spent on making your startup successful and nothing else!

Related posts:

1. 11 Fundamental principles for successfully bootstrapping your startup!
2. Event: Kickstart.in Startup Saturday
3. Focus- how it effects any startup?

An online presence – What was once considered to be amusing, has now become a necessity for all businesses and entrepreneurial setups. Even many individuals are setting up their own niche websites showcasing their talents, hobbies etc.

However, most of them are not aware how easy it is to create a good looking website. Infact, there are many easy to use free online website builders that can do a perfect job for you instead of spending your hard earned money on hiring website designers and web developers. You don’t need to be a computer genius to use these because they allow you to build your website through simple interfaces that even dummies can master.

Here are 5 free Website Builders that you should look at:

Wix

Wix is an online website builder that was released in 2008. One of the strong points of Wix that stands out is the ability to create cool flash websites in a matter of minutes. You don’t need to have a design degree to come up with cool design ideas because Wix will provide you readymade templates that can be edited and tailored to your requirements.

Add to this, the ability to create a mobile website, a Facebook page and a range of ecommerce functions, Wix definitely has earned its spot in our list of top 5 online website builders. Wix also offers hosting services and other premium plans that you can check out at Wix.com

Weebly

Weebly is definitely a player to reckon when it comes to building websites online. Weebly was ranked 4^th in Time Magazine’s list of 50 best websites in 2007. That was a long time back and Weebly has evolved further into a comprehensive website builder offering drag and drop features, preset themes and templates, an easy user interface and hosting services.

And for all you tech savvy users out there, Weebly also allows you to edit CSS and HTML of a site. Signing up is free and similar to other service providers, Weebly has premium plans that you can check out at Weebly.com

Webs

Little needs to be said about Webs because it has been functioning and evolving as a hosting service and now as a website building service since 2001. Webs offers the usual array of hosting and website building services plus some great apps, statistical data and analytics, mobile sites, themes and templates to suit virtually all segments of blogging, design portfolios and businesses.

Like most other website builders, a free subscription will mean that Webs will place their own ads or banners on your website. To check out the premium plans and other features on offer, visit Webs.com.

Moonfruit

The very moment you visit Moonfruit, you are greeted by a banner that says "Pick a design. Launch your site" This is extremely comforting for non technical users who want to get a website up and going without too much hassle. Moonfruit partners with the biggies of the online industry like Getty Images, iStockphoto, PayPal and many more to give users a power packed website building experience.

Based in London, Moonfruit also claims to be the number one hosting site in UK and a stunning figure of more than 4 million websites have been made on their platform. A simple user interface, great design options and tools, ability to publish for computer and mobile platforms, blogging and other top tools bring Moonfruit to our list of top 5 website builders. Check out what’s on offer and subscription details on Moonfruit.com.

Webnode

Webnode was launched in 2008 in a Czech and Slovakian version. By 2010, Webnode was functioning on 12 different language platforms and reportedly, had more than 2 million users. The layout of this online website builder is simple and clearly laid out. With themes that support personal websites, business websites and ecommerce portals, Webnode allows a classic drag and drop usability function and an array of gadgets and widgets.

Labeled as a "quick and dirty way to build a Website or blog, relatively painlessly" by a popular blogging portal, Webnode definitely scores when it comes to ease of use. To find out more about how you can make payment gateways, business statistics, innovative designs, professional outlook and much more simply a click away, check out Webnode.com.

So there you have it – 5 sites that will help you create a great online presence at nearly no cost. Website creation is not a tough job after all!

Related posts:

1. Wow! Google offers Free Website with .in domains – Grab Now!
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3. Do you want a 100% free website with Domain Name ? You got it now !

Whether you are in India or anywhere on the globe, raising entrepreneurial finance is quite a challenge since you have to make individuals or institutions believe in your idea, project, business and vision.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind while raising entrepreneurial finance.

Tap your trade creditors

One of the costs in any entrepreneurial finance is the cost of inputs which can be in the form of services, supplies, raw materials or even finished products. These costs can represent a large portion of the initial finance.

Have you thought of negotiating good credit terms with your trade creditors? Traders are generally happy to give even start-ups credit in lieu of repeat business. So tap your trade creditors and ask for longer credit periods to cut down your entrepreneurial finance requirements.

Prepare a fool proof funding proposal

It doesn’t matter whether you are looking to raise entrepreneurial finance from your bank, financial institution, private investor or a Venture Capitalist, you will need a strong funding proposal.

Your funding proposal outlines the details of your business plan, the vital numbers and forecasts of performance and financial viability. Remember folks, your financiers are looking to invest in a solid business plan so don’t leave any stone unturned when you draft your funding proposal. If you are unable to answer any queries during your presentation to your prospective financiers, you can kiss your dream of raising entrepreneurial finance goodbye.

Be careful of the terms with an Angel Investor

In the day and age of technology, Angel Investors have gained popularity as rich sources of raising entrepreneurial finance. However, what you, as an entrepreneur need to be careful about are the terms of credit with an Angel Investor because this line of credit comes in the form of debt or equity. Debt is costly in the short term, while equity will reduce your share of revenue in the future. Depending on your forecasts and needs, make sure that you manage these terms prior to signing your life away.

Have a clean credit history

Your credit history is going to play a big role when you are looking to raise entrepreneurial finance, especially from the banking sector. So if you’ve been defaulting on your credit card or loan repayments, chances of you being able to raise entrepreneurial finance from your bank are slim. There are many ways to better your credit history and your past dealings with the bank and we suggest you start putting them into practice if you are looking to raise entrepreneurial finance in the near future.

Look for personal collaterals

Before you read on, be warned that using personal collateral is usually every entrepreneur’s last resort when it comes to raising entrepreneurial finance. If you have exhausted all possible sources for capital required to get your start-up business off the ground but still fall short by a tiny bit, personal collaterals might be your saviour. Although using personal collaterals are not your best option, it is always handy to keep the paperwork of your assets up to date, should the need arise to use them as collateral security for your entrepreneurial finance.

If you are you ready with a fabulous business idea and with the know-how to implement it, bank on your business plan and keep the above tips in mind on your journey to raise entrepreneurial finance.

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