We conducted our third round of mojoMeets last week on April 25th, 2019 at Redbricks, Pune. The event saw an audience of new and seasoned entrepreneurs brainstorming and sharing ideas on this month’s theme: Solving small business problems using technology.
mojoMeets is our initiative to give entrepreneurs an opportunity to network, collaborate, share ideas and discuss various topics that focus on scaling startup businesses.
The session began with a keynote interaction from Mr Akash Gehani, our Co-founder, who kicked things off by addressing the need for technology in dealing with business problems.
Contents
Speakers for mojoMeets Pune:
- Akash Gehani – Co-founder, Instamojo
- Amit Rawat – Startup Mentor and Strategic Investor
Panellists for mojoMeets Pune:
- Mohnish – Co-founder, Profit Books
- Dileep – Founder, AS Foundation
- Bhaskar Kode – Founder, Bon
- Piyush – CEO, Sminq
- Yogesh Gupta – Account Manager, Vamaship
- Tushar Apshankar – Founder & CTO, Tudip Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
This #mojoMeets is churning out interesting conversations.#instamojo #networking #ThursdayMotivation #pune #entrepreneurs pic.twitter.com/owOxxRFW9E
— Instamojo (@instamojo) April 25, 2019
Tackling Challenges for new startups – Amit Rawat and Akash Gehani
Akash Gehani opened the session with a short introduction of mojoMeets and Instamojo’s role in helping small businesses solve their online payment problems. Post this, the session was taken over by Amit Rawat, a startup mentor and investor. He interacted with the audience actively and encouraged them to come forward and talk about their business ventures. The audience addressed their business issues and wanted to talk about:
- How can Social media be used to leverage marketing for small businesses?
- How can a small business find the right target audience in a competitive environment?
- What payment gateway solution should a new business invest in?
Amit had the audience hooked with his short story on the success of a venture called ‘Tastykhana’. Tastykhana navigated through their business problems and used technology to come up with a model which lead to the birth of the food giants ‘Swiggy’ and ‘Zomato’.
Panel discussion: Solving business problems with technology.
The session moved onto an interactive panel discussion, moderated by Akash and Abhineet from Instamojo. Centred around the main theme of the event, the panel took the discussion forward to the importance of technology in daily business life.
The interactive session had questions pouring in from the audience. One member asked if it is a good idea to replicate an existing business when creating their own. To this, the panellists said ” First mover advantage is always there while improvising on something which already exists can also be wise.”
#paneldiscussion at #mojomeets #pune.#instamojo #networking #entrepreneurs pic.twitter.com/KJieu9Gabr
— Instamojo (@instamojo) April 25, 2019
Ideas exist, it is time to execute:
During the discussion, the panellists engaged in conversations about the execution of feasible ideas when starting a company. Existing ideas are tried and tested already, so the key to tackling problems head-on, is with tactful execution. If your company has an idea that is new and bold, the risk levels are high, but there is guaranteed ROI in the long run. People invest in good ideas, but they stick around with companies that take that risk and turn it into something profitable.
The audience went on to ask how much resources did the entrepreneurs in the panel discussion utilise before launching. Bhaskar from Bon, a Pune-based Fintech firm that helps taxi drivers, delivery agents and self-employed workers said they received over 50 respondents through Uber rides alone before the launch of their company. What helped them achieve this? Social media outreach.
Never stop your research:
Piyush from Sminq, went on to say that his company, a booking platform for doctors appointments, saw around 250 initial respondents before the launch of the company. Carrying out strategic research was his prime motive. For entrepreneurs and small business owners, research is a continuous process. Entrepreneurs must always keep learning, and the pressure is felt to learn more when there is money involved.
Look who showed up at #mojoMeets.
Aryan, he’s 15 years old, an aspiring #entrepreneur.#instamojo #networking #pune #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship #teenager #ThursdayMotivation pic.twitter.com/FTISZofQ4e— Instamojo (@instamojo) April 25, 2019
Can businesses stand the test of time?
As the mojoMeets came to a close, another question that was asked to the panel was whether businesses can tackle problems in an easier manner over time. To this the panel responded:
- Acutely: With time, there will be new demand and new requirements. small businesses can adopt new technology like free online marketing tools, payment gateways and CRM tools to get strategies executed.
- Articulation of the problem will ensure that you are marching in the right direction. Your fundamentals need not change, but you need to be prepared for a dynamic environment.
- Hire right. One problem which every entrepreneur has faced is recruitment. Many entrepreneurs do not know who to recruit. This is important as a good team can help ease business problems effectively.
From interesting conversations to having one of the most engaging audience-panel sessions, mojoMeets Pune concluded with a bang. The audience spoke about their companies, pitched ideas for hiring new recruits and interacted some more with snacks.
And almost all of them got convinced to pick Instamojo as their payment gateway. If you haven’t, it is never too late. Create your payment link on Instamojo today.
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