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These startup schemes have been introduced over a period of time and many of these were introduced before the launch of Startup India plan. But most of the startups are either not aware of these different schemes or do not have a clear idea on how to avail them. Keeping this in mind, we have tried to curate an exhaustive list with the details of these 50+ startup schemes floated by the Indian government to date to support the Indian startups, SMEs, MSMEs, Businesses, Research Institutes, Incubators, Accelerators, etc. Indian. Sectors that these government schemes for startups operate under range from tech-specific verticals to agritech, e-commerce, greentech, science and academic innovation and more. The Startup Schemes By Indian Government Here is a list of startup schemes launched by the Indian government and run under different ministries and are further headed by different departments.   Indian Government Startup Schemes   Name Of The Scheme Headed By Industry Applicable Fiscal Incentive (*T&C applied) Support for International Patent Protection in Electronics & Information Technology (SIP-EIT) Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) IT Services, analytics, enterprise software, technology hardware, Internet of Things, AI Up to INR 15 Lakhs per invention or 50% of the total expenses incurred in filing and processing of the patent application upto grant, whichever is lesser.   Multiplier Grants Scheme (MGS) Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) IT Services, analytics, enterprise software, technology hardware, Internet of Things, AI Limited to a maximum of INR 2 Cr per project and the duration of each project should, preferably, be less than two years. For industry consortiums these figures would be INR 4 Cr and three years.   Software Technology Park (STP) Scheme Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) IT services, fintech, enterprise software, analytics, AI Sales in the DTA up to 50% of the FOB value of exports is permissible and depreciation on computers at accelerated rates up to 100% over 5 years is permissible.   Electronic Development Fund (EDF) Policy Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) IT Services, analytics, enterprise software, technology hardware, Internet of Things, AI, nanotechnology Companies will get risk capital from "Daughter Funds" set up by Electronic Development Fund (EDF).   Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) Technology hardware, Internet of Things, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, automotive, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology,and nanotechnology Majorly provides capital subsidy of 20% in SEZ (25% in non-SEZ) for units engaged in electronics manufacturing.   Scheme to Support IPR Awareness Seminars/Workshops in E&IT Sector Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) IT services, analytics, enterprise software, technology hardware, Internet of Things, AI Organisations are provided with a grant between INR 2 Lakhs to INR 5 Lakhs.   NewGen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (NewGen IEDC) NewGen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (NewGen IEDC) Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & Beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   Provide a limited, one-time, non-recurring financial assistance, up to a maximum of INR 25 Lakhs. The Venture Capital Assistance Scheme Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) Agriculture The quantum of SFAC Venture Capital Assistance will depend on the project cost, location and the promoter's status.   Credit Guarantee Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) Sector-Agnostic Both term loans and/or working capital facility up to INR 100 Lakhs per borrowing unit are being provided.   Performance & Credit Rating Scheme National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Sector-agnostic The incentives are proportional to the turnover of the MSMEs.   Raw Material Assistance National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Sector-agnostic MSMEs will be helped to avail economics of purchases like bulk purchase, cash discount, etc. Also, all the procedures, documentation and issue of letter of credit in case of imports will be taken care of.   Revamped Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Khadi and Village Industries Commission Sector-agnostic Funds limited to a maximum of INR 8 Cr to support soft, hard and thematic interventions are provided.   Single Point Registration Scheme (SPRS) National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Sector-agnostic Micro and small enterprises will get exemption from payment of Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and will be issued tender sets free of cost. Aspire - Scheme for promotion of innovation, entrepreneurship and agro-industry   Steering Committee, Ministry of MSME Agriculture, pets & animals, social impact, healthcare & life sciences Based on nature of existence of the incubator Infrastructure Development Scheme National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Sector-agnostic For a deposit of six months refundable rent, an office space of 467 sq.ft. to 8,657 sq.ft. is provided.   MSME Market Development Assistance Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME) Sector-agnostic Provides air fare reimbursements based on category entrepreneur lies in (General, women, SC/ST/PwD). The total subsidy on air fare & space rental charges will be restricted to INR 1.25 Lakhs per unit.   National Awards (Individual MSEs) Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME) Sector-agnostic The Selected National awardee is facilitated with a cash prize of INR 1 Lakh, INR 75K, INR 50K in order of ranking.   Coir Udyami Yojana Coir Board Agriculture The amount of bank credit will be 55% of the total project cost after deducting 40% margin money (subsidy) and owner’s contribution of 5% from beneficiaries.   International Cooperation (IC) Scheme Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME) Travel & tourism, human resources, events, advertising The incentives vary as per the organisation category.   Credit Linked Capital Subsidy for Technology Upgradation Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME) Sector-agnostic Ceiling on loans under the scheme has been raised from INR 40 Lakhs to INR 1 Cr while the rate of subsidy has been enhanced from 12% to 15%.   Bank Credit Facilitation Scheme National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Sector-agnostic N/A Atal Incubation Centres (AIC) Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   AIM will provide a grant-in-aid of INR 10 Cr to each AIC for a maximum of five years Atal Tinkering Laboratories Atal Innovation Mission Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & Beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel. Eligibility: Schools (Grade VI – XII) managed by the Government, local body or private trusts/society can apply to set up an ATL.   AIM will provide grant-in-aid that includes a one-time establishment cost of INR 10 Lakhs and operational expenses of INR 10 Lakhs for a maximum period of five years to each ATL. Scale-up Support to Establishing Incubation Centres NITI Aayog Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & Beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   Grant-in-aid support of INR 10 Cr will be provided in two annual instalments of INR 5 Cr each. Udaan Training Programme For Unemployed Youth Of J&K National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) Education, human resources INR 750 Cr has been earmarked for the implementation of the scheme over a period of five years Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, automotive, construction, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & beverages, textiles & apparel.   One time grant up to 25% of the cost of the technology acquisition of each technology. Maximum amount given shall not exceed INR 10 Cr National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) Refinance Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Renewable energy, clean energy, green energy plants. REDA would provide funds received from NCEF by way of refinance to scheduled commercial banks and financial institutions (including IREDA). Maximum refinance amount INR 15 Cr per project.   IREDA Scheme For Discounting Energy Bills Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Renewable energy, clean energy, green energy Upto 75% of the invoice value pending for maximum six months from the date of application subject to a maximum bill discounting facility of INR 20 Cr. The minimum amount of transaction covering a set of bills shall not be less than INR 1 Cr.   Bridge Loan Against MNRE Capital Subsidy Bridge Loan Against MNRE Capital Subsidy Renewable energy, clean energy, green energy The projects will get up to 80% of the existing pending eligible capital subsidy claim, as verified by the IREDA with a minimum loan assistance of INR 20 Lakhs.   Bridge Loan Against Generation-Based Incentive (GBI) Claims Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)   Renewable energy, clean energy, green energy A minimum loan assistance of INR 20 Lakhs is provided under this scheme. Loan for Rooftop Solar PV Power Projects Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Renewable energy, clean energy, green energy The quantum of loan from the IREDA shall be 70% of the project cost with minimum promoter’s contribution of 30%. IREDA may extend the loan upto 75% of the project cost.   Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Renewable energy, clean energy, green energy Provide credit enhancement by way of unconditional and irrevocable partial credit guarantee to enhance the credit rating of the proposed bond.   Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Agriculture, pets & animals, social impact, food & beverages. The incentives differ with respect to the cost of the required equipment or establishment of the facilities   4E (End to End Energy Efficiency) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Sector-agnostic Up to 90% of the project cost with minimum loan amount of INR 10 Lakhs and maximum loan amount not to exceed INR 150 Lakhs per eligible borrower can be granted. The MSME unit has to pay only INR 30,000 and applicable taxes and the balance fee will be paid by SIDBI to auditors.   Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Sector-agnostic MUDRA offers incentives through these interventions: >Shishu: covering loans upto INR 50,000/- > Kishor: covering loans above INR 50,000/- and upto INR 5 Lakhs > Tarun: covering loans above INR 5 Lakhs and upto INR 10 Lakhs   Stand Up India Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Sector-agnostic Composite loan between INR 10 Lakhs and INR 1 Cr to cover 75% of the project cost can be taken up, inclusive of term loan and working capital.   Sustainable Finance Scheme Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Green Energy, Non-renewable Energy, Technology Hardware, Renewable Energy Suitable assistance by way of term loan / working capital to ESCOs implementing EE / CP / Renewable Energy project provided.   SIDBI Make in India Soft Loan Fund for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (SMILE) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Sector-agnostic The loan amount granted is based on category entrepreneur lies in. (General, women, SC/ST/PwD)   Startup assistance Scheme Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Sector-agnostic The financial assistance provided is need-based, subject to a maximum of INR 200 Lakhs and equity kicker   Growth Capital and Equity Assistance Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Sector-agnostic MSMEs are helped to leverage equity / sub debt assistance from SIDBI for raising higher debt funds.   Assistance to Professional Bodies & Seminars/Symposia Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Events, chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   The incentives include nominal support for pre-operative expenses Ayurvedic Biology Program Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Chemicals, healthcare & life sciences, nanotechnology, social impact. Support is primarily given to encourage participation of young scientists and research professionals in such events along with nominal support for pre-operative expenses.   Industry Relevant R&D Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Sector-agnostic The industry share should not be less than 50% of the total budget. Overhead is provided to the academic partner. The SERB share shall not exceed INR 50 Lakhs for a project.   High Risk-High Reward Research Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   The research grant covers equipment, consumables, contingency and travel apart from overhead grants. No budget limit is prescribed for these projects. Technology Development Programme (TDP) Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   Provided support for project staff salaries, equipment, supplies and consumables, contingency expenditure, patent filing charges, outsourcing charges, etc. National Science & Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS) Department of Science and Technology (DST) Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   Grant-in-aid are provided for projects. Also, overheads on projects are provided at the rate of 10% of the total project cost for educational institutions and NGOs and 8% for laboratories & institutions under Central Government departments/agencies. Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP) Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) Healthcare & life sciences Support is provided for high-risk, accelerated technology development especially in futuristic technologies.   Industry Innovation Programme on Medical Electronics (IIPME) Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)   Healthcare & life sciences The loan and grant are provided according to the startup stage. Extra Mural Research Funding Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Chemicals, technology hardware, healthcare & lifesciences, aeronautics/aerospace & defence, agriculture, AI, AR/VR (augmented + virtual reality), automotive, telecommunication & networking, computer vision, construction, design, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, green technology, fintech, Internet of Things, nanotechnology, social impact, food & beverages, pets & animals, textiles & apparel.   The research grant covers equipment, consumables, contingency and travel apart from overhead grants. No budget limit is prescribed. SPARSH (Social Innovation programme for Products: Affordable & Relevant to Societal Health)   Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) Healthcare & life sciences The loan and grant are provided according to the startup stage. Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Startups and MSMEs (PRISM) Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Sector-agnostic Support grant is provided under categories such as PRISM Phase I, PRISM Phase II and PRISM-R&D Proposals.   Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation (SATYAM) Department of Science and Technology (DST)   Healthcare & life sciences Not specified. Rapid Grant for Young Investigator (RGYI) Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Healthcare & Life sciences RGYI provides startup grants to young investigators across the country working in different settings such as central government funded institutions, state government-funded university departments, scientists at DSIR-approved private institutions etc.   Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) Healthcare & life sciences Up to INR 50 Lakhs for research projects with a commercialisation potential with duration of up to 18 months are provided.     Data source: Nuelces42. ..

Got a small business? Are you looking to step into the world of digital marketing and SEO in particular? If yes is your answer, then you’ll be glad to know that you’re on the right path. However, you should be aware that small business SEO is not as straightforward as it sounds — it could even turn out to be the most difficult form of promoting your business online. But the good news is, the right SEO can give your small business a better chance of getting strong organic search visibility, and that’s huge. As you may know, organic listings help build trust with website visitors, and that’s one of the most important things you need for the long-term success of your business. What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of increasing the quantity of quality traffic to your site via organic search engine results. In a nutshell, SEO increases your website’s chance of ranking high in Search Engine Ranking Positions (SERPs) of search engines like Google or Bing. How Does SEO Work? The entire process of SEO begins with your website, and Google is the big player in the picture. For the most part, Google sends out crawlers, or “spiders”, to discover and scan every accessible page on just about every website on the web. What do they do? The robots follow links and gather information on each webpage and eventually send it to Google servers across the world. When this happens, web surfers can freely search for terms related to your site and get answers to their questions. Essentially, when a user enters a relevant search term, the Google algorithm starts processing all the information that has been previously gathered from your website and similar sites. At this point, Google sifts through the sites and picks the ones that are most relevant to the search query, placing the best options at the top and least relevant at the bottom. Still a bit confused? Well, just picture the internet as your local library: Your website is the newest book on the shelf and the Google robot is the librarian. The librarian looks through your book and figures out the most reasonable section to place it in — this will make it easier for visitors to find your book and that’s important. Remember, visitors will have to explore through several different titles to find what they’re looking for, and if things go well and the librarian has placed your book in the right section, your book might turn to be exactly what the visitor was looking for! What More Do You Need to Know About SEO? Well, among other things, you should be aware that SEO is constantly evolving and site owners have been trying to figure out how to make their websites rank in top search engines — it has been this way since the 1990s. As time went on, a deceptive type of optimization was developed by some SEO practitioners — it was meant to trick the Google algorithm into thinking their site was more relevant than it actually was. This is called “Blackhat SEO” and it has since been frowned upon by search engine algorithms primarily because of the terrible user experience it created for web users. Look: Blackhat SEO techniques are becoming less effective by the day and SEO is in a constant state of evolution. That said, you should know that what worked a few years ago may be totally useless or blacklisted right now. For the most part, Google would waste no time to penalize your site if it finds that you’ve been using Blackhat SEO techniques — it could be shot down to the last page of SERPs! So how can you avoid this? Well, it’s pretty simple — always provide visitors with relevant and original information, and stick to improving their experience. When you do this, you can be 100% sure that your website is search engine friendly. Alright, let’s move on! MAIN SEO AREAS TO CONSIDER AS A SMALL BUSINESS Website First things first: You need a professionally designed website to get started. It’s also crucial for it to be fast and mobile-friendly. To find the right ecommerce platform for you, check out this roundup of the best ecommerce platform. Content Always stick to high-quality content and be sure to emphasize why a customer should choose you over the competition. Try to craft informational blog content at all times — doing this can boost awareness and place you at the forefront of a bigger audience. On-Page SEO It’s also an excellent idea to work with basic optimization, so you should be looking at page titles and meta descriptions.. Local SEO Your small business will also want to promote its product and services to local customers at the time they need it the most. Sticking to Local SEO best practices is crucial. Credibility Want your clients to see your business as the real deal? If yes, look into case studies, reviews, portfolios, testimonials, and reviews — all these can help you seal the deal in no time. Authority Building When your business becomes an authority, you’ll find that many other websites will be linking to you. The good thing is, these high-quality links can help your business’ website rank highly in Google’s SERPs, and that’s huge.   More information on SEO and related topics will be published soon. Stay tuned.   ..

Most tech startup successes have humble beginnings. We have all heard stories of the brilliant founder who starts his company at his home garage or basement, makes something great, finds a partner and goes on to conquer the world. In the very early stages of your startup, working from home or a garage can be fine. However, at a certain point, you will need to change. You cannot always keep meeting clients at restaurants or coffee shops. Moreover, working from home can see your productivity wane with distractions like kids, family, dog and TV. You can avoid the problems of working from home by moving to a coworking space. Coworking spaces have become very popular and are springing all over the country. While the spaces are not new, what they provide tech startups for the price keeps improving. Co-Working Space Environment Co-working spaces are not just vast areas with desks and chairs offering tech entrepreneurs high-speed internet connection. The areas are made to be exciting places to work that can improve your productivity. In a typical coworking space environment, you will find jeans-clad entrepreneurs working quietly with their laptops. Coffee and pastries are usually well stocked and you can order lunch through a concierge. If you need a change of scenery and want to improve your productivity, consider moving from a private office or home basement to a coworking space. As a startup, you need to access to various resources fast and affordably. Apart from this, you need encouragement from other peers when the going gets tough. This is why you need coworking space. Below are four benefits of working in a coworking space: 1. Build Relationships You can build relationships that can help you and your startup at a coworking space. As you are building your company, you probably don’t have enough cash to hire more people to your team. Thus, you will be relying on freelancers to do most of the work you cannot do on your own. At coworking spaces, you will typically find freelancers that can help you with your web design, graphic design, accounting matters, online marketing and so on. In fact, you have a full team that is within easy reach to build your company. Moreover, since the professionals are in the same office you are in, it is easy to discuss your needs with them and see their implementation. Some of these freelancers can become lifelong friends and who knows, you can even find a co-founder in them. 2. Make Clients Happy Before the orders start coming in, clients will want to meet you face to face to discuss business. Meeting with clients in a conference rooms is more professional than at a coffee shop. Moreover, you can always go to clients wherever they are if there is a co-working space in the area. With coworking space, you do not have to miss a customer because you don’t have a place to meet or show them what you have. Coworking spaces provide entrepreneurs with full office services including conference rooms. 3. Find Clients and Business Ideas You can find your next client and business idea from a coworking space. If you are building a small business solution, some of the coworking workers can be your first clients. You can use their feedback to improve your product before finally putting it out to the world. On the same note, you can find your next business idea through the problems that fellow coworkers face. If there is one person with a problem, you can bet there are many others just like him around the country with the same problem. 4. Affordable for the Service Coworking spaces are affordable for startups and provide the right environment to flourish. The spaces are dedicated to improving productivity and provide a host of business solutions at a very small fee. Moreover, most spaces have flexible membership options. You can have space for a day or even a few months depending on what you want. Co-working spaces are great alternatives for tech entrepreneurs building their business. ..

What is SaaS? Software as a service (SaaS) is transforming information technology today. Gartner defines SaaS as “software that is owned, delivered and managed remotely by one or more providers. The provider delivers software based on one set of common code and data definitions that is consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers at any time on a pay-for-use basis or as a subscription based on use metrics.” In effect, SaaS is a leased software maintained by its creator and not hosted on your premises. SaaS apps run in the cloud. Who uses SaaS? Industry analyst Forrester Research notes that SaaS adoption has so far been concentrated mostly in human resource management (HRM), customer relationship management (CRM), collaboration software (e.g., email), and procurement solutions, but is poised to widen. Today it’s possible to have your own ecommerce store on cloud that you can access with business intelligence software running as a service and connect to your cloud-based ERP like NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics. The dollar savings can run into the millions. And SaaS installations are often installed and working in a fraction of the time of on-premises deployments—some can be ready in hours. Young E-commerce startups are familiar with Thinkbix , the leading E-commerce SaaS platform, with thousands of users across more than 100,000 customers. GSTB is going SaaS too, with apps available to support GST based paperless billing, stock management, sms and email based invoicing, works on multiple platforms like Desktop/Laptops/Tablets and even on smartphones. Why SaaS? Thinking of moving towards a SaaS solution for your sales process?   Here are 7 reasons you should.   1. Lower cost of entry With SaaS, you pay for what you need, without having to buy hardware to host your new applications. Instead of provisioning internal resources to install the software, the vendor provides APIs and performs much of the work to get their software working for you. The time to a working solution can drop from months in the traditional model to weeks, days or hours with the SaaS model. In some businesses, IT wants nothing to do with installing and running a sales app. In the case of funding software and its implementation, this can be a make-or-break issue for the sales and marketing budget, so the lower cost really makes the difference. 2. Reduced time to benefit/rapid prototyping In the SaaS model, the software application is already installed and configured. Users can provision the server for the cloud and quickly have the application ready for use. This cuts the time to benefit and allows for rapid demonstrations and prototyping. With many SaaS companies offering free trials, this means a painless proof of concept and discovery phase to prove the benefit to the organization. Whether in demo mode or actually going live, intuitive interfaces for order writing and rapid uploading of electronic catalogs and customer lists give sales people immediate benefits without long wait times or steep learning curves. 3. Pay as you go SaaS software gives you the benefit of predictable costs both for the subscription and to some extent, the administration. Even as you scale, you can have a clear idea of what your costs will be. This allows for much more accurate budgeting, especially as compared to the costs of internal IT to manage upgrades and address issues for an owned instance. 4. The SaaS vendor is responsible for upgrades, uptime and security Under the SaaS model, since the software is hosted by the vendor, they take on the responsibility for maintaining the software and upgrading it, ensuring that it is reliable and meeting agreed-upon service level agreements, and keeping the application and its data secure. SaaS has been building its case for rapid user acceptance and training for years. In 2014, an author at IT World Canada quotes the 2009 report “The ROI of Software-As-A-Service,” where Forrester noted that: “SaaS solutions typically offer seamless, automatic, frequent upgrades as part of the ongoing subscription charge. Because these upgrades happen more frequently and therefore incrementally than on-premises solutions, they typically have significantly reduced testing and end user acceptance and training costs.” While some IT people worry about security outside of the enterprise walls, the likely truth is that the vendor has a much higher level of security than the enterprise itself would provide. Many will have redundant instances in very secure data centers in multiple geographies.  Also, the data is being automatically backed up by the vendor, providing additional security and peace of mind. Because of the data center hosting, you’re getting the added benefit of at least some disaster recovery. Lastly, the vendor manages these issues as part of their core competencies—let them. Save your IT staff time for work on the systems they know best. 5. Higher adoption rates According to Salesforce.com, because the software is accessible via familiar web browsers, SaaS apps tend to have lower learning curves and higher adoption rates. This can be especially significant given the high cost of on-premises software development and implementation, vs. the low cost of entry for SaaS. No one want to invest a lot of money in custom developed software or off-the-shelf software that users don’t care to adopt. With sales, it’s vital to have an intuitive order writing application that users are comfortable with. Sales people want to be in the field selling—not in training.   6. Integration and scalability Most SaaS apps are designed to support some amount of customization for the way you do business. SaaS vendors create APIs to allow connections not only to internal applications like ERPs or CRMs but also to other SaaS providers. One of the terrific aspects of integration is that orders written in the field can be automatically sent to the ERP. Now a salesperson in the field can check inventory through the catalog, write the order in front of the customer for approval, send it and receive confirmation, all in minutes. And as you scale with a SaaS vendor, there’s no need to invest in server capacity and software licenses. Simply adjust the subscription.   7. Work anywhere Since the software is hosted in the cloud and accessible over the internet, users can access it via mobile devices wherever they are connected. This includes checking customer order histories prior to a sales call, as well as having access to real time data and real time order taking with the customer. For road warriors, the ability to access the software and data when they need it can change the nature of a sale. ..

What is SaaS? Software as a service (SaaS) is transforming information technology today. Gartner defines SaaS as “software that is owned, delivered and managed remotely by one or more providers. The provider delivers software based on one set of common code and data definitions that is consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers at any time on a pay-for-use basis or as a subscription based on use metrics.” In effect, SaaS is a leased software maintained by its creator and not hosted on your premises. SaaS apps run in the cloud. Who uses SaaS? Industry analyst Forrester Research notes that SaaS adoption has so far been concentrated mostly in human resource management (HRM), customer relationship management (CRM), collaboration software (e.g., email), and procurement solutions, but is poised to widen. Today it’s possible to have your own ecommerce store on cloud that you can access with business intelligence software running as a service and connect to your cloud-based ERP like NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics. The dollar savings can run into the millions. And SaaS installations are often installed and working in a fraction of the time of on-premises deployments—some can be ready in hours. Young E-commerce startups are familiar with Thinkbix , the leading E-commerce SaaS platform, with thousands of users across more than 100,000 customers. GSTB is going SaaS too, with apps available to support GST based paperless billing, stock management, sms and email based invoicing, works on multiple platforms like Desktop/Laptops/Tablets and even on smartphones. Why SaaS? Thinking of moving towards a SaaS solution for your sales process?   Here are 7 reasons you should.   1. Lower cost of entry With SaaS, you pay for what you need, without having to buy hardware to host your new applications. Instead of provisioning internal resources to install the software, the vendor provides APIs and performs much of the work to get their software working for you. The time to a working solution can drop from months in the traditional model to weeks, days or hours with the SaaS model. In some businesses, IT wants nothing to do with installing and running a sales app. In the case of funding software and its implementation, this can be a make-or-break issue for the sales and marketing budget, so the lower cost really makes the difference. 2. Reduced time to benefit/rapid prototyping In the SaaS model, the software application is already installed and configured. Users can provision the server for the cloud and quickly have the application ready for use. This cuts the time to benefit and allows for rapid demonstrations and prototyping. With many SaaS companies offering free trials, this means a painless proof of concept and discovery phase to prove the benefit to the organization. Whether in demo mode or actually going live, intuitive interfaces for order writing and rapid uploading of electronic catalogs and customer lists give sales people immediate benefits without long wait times or steep learning curves. 3. Pay as you go SaaS software gives you the benefit of predictable costs both for the subscription and to some extent, the administration. Even as you scale, you can have a clear idea of what your costs will be. This allows for much more accurate budgeting, especially as compared to the costs of internal IT to manage upgrades and address issues for an owned instance. 4. The SaaS vendor is responsible for upgrades, uptime and security Under the SaaS model, since the software is hosted by the vendor, they take on the responsibility for maintaining the software and upgrading it, ensuring that it is reliable and meeting agreed-upon service level agreements, and keeping the application and its data secure. SaaS has been building its case for rapid user acceptance and training for years. In 2014, an author at IT World Canada quotes the 2009 report “The ROI of Software-As-A-Service,” where Forrester noted that: “SaaS solutions typically offer seamless, automatic, frequent upgrades as part of the ongoing subscription charge. Because these upgrades happen more frequently and therefore incrementally than on-premises solutions, they typically have significantly reduced testing and end user acceptance and training costs.” While some IT people worry about security outside of the enterprise walls, the likely truth is that the vendor has a much higher level of security than the enterprise itself would provide. Many will have redundant instances in very secure data centers in multiple geographies.  Also, the data is being automatically backed up by the vendor, providing additional security and peace of mind. Because of the data center hosting, you’re getting the added benefit of at least some disaster recovery. Lastly, the vendor manages these issues as part of their core competencies—let them. Save your IT staff time for work on the systems they know best. 5. Higher adoption rates According to Salesforce.com, because the software is accessible via familiar web browsers, SaaS apps tend to have lower learning curves and higher adoption rates. This can be especially significant given the high cost of on-premises software development and implementation, vs. the low cost of entry for SaaS. No one want to invest a lot of money in custom developed software or off-the-shelf software that users don’t care to adopt. With sales, it’s vital to have an intuitive order writing application that users are comfortable with. Sales people want to be in the field selling—not in training.   6. Integration and scalability Most SaaS apps are designed to support some amount of customization for the way you do business. SaaS vendors create APIs to allow connections not only to internal applications like ERPs or CRMs but also to other SaaS providers. One of the terrific aspects of integration is that orders written in the field can be automatically sent to the ERP. Now a salesperson in the field can check inventory through the catalog, write the order in front of the customer for approval, send it and receive confirmation, all in minutes. And as you scale with a SaaS vendor, there’s no need to invest in server capacity and software licenses. Simply adjust the subscription.   7. Work anywhere Since the software is hosted in the cloud and accessible over the internet, users can access it via mobile devices wherever they are connected. This includes checking customer order histories prior to a sales call, as well as having access to real time data and real time order taking with the customer. For road warriors, the ability to access the software and data when they need it can change the nature of a sale. ..