Moving your business online

About four months ago we heard of a mysterious virus that was causing pneumonia like symptoms and today, much of the world as we know it has come to a standstill. More than 4 billion people around the world are in some form of lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown will be over one day and time will come to rejoin our work, but given the nature of the pandemic, everything is about to change.

The coronavirus pandemic is reshaping how the government is interacting with businesses and its citizens.

With the pandemic-related disruptions upending processes that need physical inspections and lengthy paper trails, the government is shedding its rigid ways to adopt new systems, including digitisation, to eliminate hurdles for businesses.

For instance, when finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman met businesses in mid-February when the outbreak was raging in China, the biggest fear conveyed by executives was a shortage of raw materials from India’s northern neighbour, with supplies barely lasting two to three weeks.

"Manufacturing businesses, in the long run, are expected to shi out of China to India and other countries. The government should plan to capitalize on this opportunity by keeping ready the platform, policies and practices to promote and incentivize possible foreign investments in the state.
In this connection, the idle assets of defunct/ stroked/ closed industrial units in the state may be surveyed to examine setting up of new industries through FDI or on PPP mode thus integrating with the larger UN Sustainable Development Goal 17," the panel suggested as one of the measures to boost industries.

 

Online Small Business Training Courses

Global Advanced Training and Educational Trust has a series of self-paced, easy-to-use courses that cover a variety of business basics. 

Institute of Solar Technology is providing PV Solar Product and Project development training. They have trained many startups in India. 

Academy of EV Technology is the training academy for electric vehicle and EV equipment development and sells service business training provider in India. 

Here is an outline of the course offerings:

  • Starting a Business: Starting an online business, business plans, franchises, and adopting technology for business benefits.
  • Managing a Business: Taking your business global, using technology, preparing a business plan, entering into a franchise, planning for disasters and preventing crime.
  • Financing a Business: Introduction to accounting and an overview of how to prepare a loan package.
  • Contracting: Tips for working with government agencies.

Taking your business online

At Vmaxo, we want to make it easier for businesses across India to get back to up after the COVID-19 slowdown. That’s why we have launched an accelerated e-commerce bundle to offer brands and SMBs exclusive offers from industry leading partner solutions, free growth consultation service and on-demand learning sessions from ecommerce experts

Need guidance while setting up an online store-front? To get started, access this free on-demand workshop.

Set up your online store to avail the offer

Offer: Save up to 9000 INR by enabling this offer. New users of Shiprocket will receive additional shipping credits worth INR 3000 every month when you recharge your account for 3000 INR for up to three months.

How to avail the offer: Once you have signed up with Shopify, create an account with Shiprocket using this link.

Remember these things when availing the offer:

Once you are through with creating your account, contact Shiprocket’s support team so they can verify the offer and process the cashback once you recharge for 3000 INR or above.
A maximum cashback of ₹3000 will be given in the user’s Shiprocket wallet once per month on a minimum recharge of ₹3000 or above each month for three consecutive months.
To integrate your Shiprocket account with your Shopify store, install their extension from our app store.

2. Delhivery - Courier pickup, delivery and online shipping
Delhivery is India’s trusted eCommerce logistics company. Offering you access to 18000+ pin codes, the logistics company is known for its timely delivery.

Delhivery is now servicing Shopify merchants to help you manage your deliveries and simplify your store logistics. The Delhivery app allows you to integrate your Shopify storefront with your Delhivery dashboard. This means that all your logistics and shipping tasks can be managed in one place.

Set up your online store to avail the offer

Offer: Save up to 6000 INR by enabling the offer. Delhivery is providing wallet credits worth INR 1000 every month for up to three months. Stores shipping more than 100 orders per month will receive an additional wallet credit worth Rs.1000 each month.

The wallet credit will only apply for stores with at least 1 shipment per month. The credits will be sent to your wallet on the 10th of the following month. Credits will be issued in Delhivery Miles Wallet and can be used for shipping only. Promotional credits cannot be redeemed for actual money.

How to avail the offer: Once you have signed up with Shopify, create an account with Delhivery using this link. Here are a few details you need to specify during sign-up to be eligible for the offer:

When choosing your shipping options, select ‘Business’ to be eligible for the offer.
When selecting types of service, choose ‘Domestic Parcel Standard’ or ‘Domestic Parcel Express’.
If you’ve signed up for this offer before the 15th of a specific month, that month will be considered the first month of the offer. Meanwhile, if you’ve signed up after the 15th of the month, the following month will be the first month of the offer.

To integrate your Delhivery account with your Shopify store, install their extension from our app store.

3. Vamaship - eCommerce logistics and shipping
Vamaship is one of the largest logistics aggregators in India. They work with leading courier partners to provide you with affordable shipping and logistics partners.

Vamaship’s integration with Shopify allows you to manage your order shipment and fulfilment within your store’s dashboard.

Set up your online store to avail the offer

Offer: New Vamaship users will be eligible for a flat 7% discount on shipping charges for the first 3 months.

How to avail the offer: After signing up on Shopify, use this link to create an account with Vamaship. The discount will be automatically applied for the next 3 months. To link Vamaship with your Shopify store, install their extension.

Your first online store
Building an online store from scratch is a major project. We would, candidly, likely advise most businesses against that project even in the best of times. Luckily, technology companies have created extremely good options over the last few years. These e-commerce platforms are inexpensive, easy to get up and running with, require no engineering effort from you, and provide your customers with high-quality experiences similar to the ones they get at the largest online-first retailers. They are, by far, the best, quickest, most reliable way to boot up an online presence capable of transacting with the largest number of customers.