How Indian tech companies need to plan a way for sustaining and growing business in 2021

By Dhananjay Arora

It is a positive time for Indian tech companies, and for that matter tech-companies worldwide. While this pandemic has been a tough and gloomy reality for the world economy, it has emphasised more than ever, to all companies across verticals, size, and sectors, how critical and important is the role of technology in today’s day and age. As tech companies, how we need to keep our eye on the ball and understand that this is a golden age, and we need to do our best to retain and grow our business. So how can we achieve that?

Firstly, focus on the existing client base. An existing client base is where trust and comfort has already been established. We must partner and grow with our existing clients, understand their business in greater depth and follow four steps of consulting, suggesting, planning and executing. And then we need to find ways to implement technology to their business to make them automated, error free and future ready to sustain for a longer run.

New age technology can be used in multiple ways –

• To automate business processes, so the day-to-day workings are streamlined
• To build websites and e-Commerce portals for B2B or B2C audiences, to automate sales
• To develop mobile apps for constant communication and engagement with internal (employees, investors, and other internal stakeholders) as well as external (clients, customers, media, etc.) stakeholders
• In marketing automation and best practices by using search (organic and paid) and social media (organic and paid) to reach out to the target market and audience
• Augmented and Virtual Reality solutions to bring to life experiences that could not be recreated earlier and take people to places they currently cannot (due to geographic and travel limitations)
• Including IoT or “Internet Of Things” to start tracking and maximising outputs for personal and business performance
• Data Science to collate and analyse data to effectively predict and deduce business decisions

Technology-driven businesses need to apply all the above solutions to their existing as well as new clients to build a stronger digital eco-system within their companies. This will bring in a cutting edge, which in turn will enable them to be their IT / Tech / Digital partners for a long term.

Given the current landscape, there are a few sectors that need to apply IT and Tech solutions even more than others. To give a few examples –

Education – Distance and remote learning has never been more relevant and of utmost importance. Institutes and Universities across the globe will need to adapt to online distribution of course content to students.

Exhibitions – Virtual and 3D based exhibitions, with the use of various tech tools like websites, e-commerce, augmented reality/virtual reality, video conferencing and mobile apps – all combined together create virtual exhibition platforms which can be a part of the new-normal ways to meet people and conduct business.

Entertainment and Films – from YouTube to Netflix to the unlimited number of OTT platforms including LIVE streaming on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc. have ramped up the distribution of entertainment content.

Retail – Shopping has seen a rise like never before. Online shopping is no more limited to necessities and electronics but has also moved to high-end and high-priced luxury items like furniture, jewellery, etc. This will require businesses to offer virtual trials and experiences, using new technology.

Travel – Similarly, local travel (taxis), local services (basic home and office maintenance) and even B2B businesses, all need to integrate technology within their operations to make them more accessible to their clients, making it more relevant and profitable.

Tech companies need to focus not only on the above sectors but also across the board to understand client challenges (especially faced post-Covid19) and offer solutions to help adapt, evolve, and grow their businesses.

If able to do it, it will help us as well as our clients grow together and build a strong ecosystem for Indian start-ups.

The author is founder and CEO, Kwebmaker Digital Agency

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