There are plenty of entrepreneurs coming up in the country today and a very common question asked by them would be the steps to start a business in India. Most of us are not aware of the procedures that should be followed to start a business until we decide to start our business.

A detailed procedure of how to start a business in India would be useful to a lot of start-ups and new business people who want to set up a business in the country.

The following are the steps you have to follow when you want to start a business in Cochin, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and most of the other cities in India.

Step 1: You have to first get a Director Identification Number (DIN), which is available online from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal (National). It would take you only one day to complete this process. The provisional DIN is immediately issued. You have to take a print out of the aopplication form, sign it and send it for approval to the ministry by courier. After this the concerned authority verifies the documents and upon approval issues you a permanent DIN. It will take around 4 weeks to get this. Don’t forget to include identity and address proof, which can be any of the following.

a. Identity proof (any of the following): Permanent Account Number card, driver’s license, passport, or voter card;

b. Residence proof (any of the following): driver’s license, passport, voter card, telephone bill, ration card, electricity bill, bank statement;

Step 2: After this, you have to obtain a digital signature certificate online from one of the six private agencies authorized by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (National).

Step 3: Next, you have to see if your company name is available and if yes, reserve the company name online with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) (National). After the name is approved, it will appear on the website. Applicants have to keep checking the website to check if their submitted name was approved.

Step 4: After this, you have to stamp the company documents at the State Treasury (State) or an authorized bank (Private). This can get completed in a day.

Step 5: After you have completed the previous step, you have to get the Certificate of Incorporation from the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs (National). In most of the cases, this process takes around 5 days time.

Step 6: Next you have to make a seal for your company. The cost can range from INR 300 to INR 500.
Step 7: Now you have to get a Permanent Account Number (PAN) from an authorized franchise or agent appointed by the National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) or the Unit Trust of India (UTI) Investors Services Ltd., as designated by the Income Tax Department (National). It would take around a week’s time to get your PAN.

Step 8: After getting the PAN, you have to attain a Tax Account Number (TAN) that has to be used for income tax purposes from the Assessing Office in the Mumbai Income Tax Department. This will also take at least a week’s time.

Step 9: Now you have to register your company with the Office of Inspector, Shops, and Establishment Act (State/Municipal).

Step 10: You have to also register your company for Value-Added Tax (VAT) at the Commercial Tax Office (State).

Step 11: Next register your company for Profession Tax at the Profession Tax Office (State).

Step 12: You have reached almost the finals steps. You also have to register your company with the Register with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (National).

Step 13: Finally, make sure you register for medical insurance at the regional office of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (National)

Even after you have an excellent idea for your business, a well laid out plan and the passion and skill to execute it, the expenses involved in getting an office space in Cochin could bring down your business plans.

Projecting your home address as your office address also does not give a good first impression to your customers. Most of the customers want to spend their hard-earned money only with well-established businesses. So, even if you are beginner, it is important to project that you are established in your business area.

Virtual offices are the answer to all new entrepreneurs and small businesses that are planning to begin their business in Cochin in a professional manner.

Rita had a wonderful business idea and she laid out an excellent business plan and worked out the costs to set up her first office in Cochin. If it were not for virtual office solutions, she would have found it impossible to rent an office space to impress her customers.

Her virtual office solutions included a business address in a prestigious location in Cochin. She could use this on her business cards and her site. A local virtual number gave her customer more reason to believe that she was a well-established person in her business field. By redirecting the calls received to her virtual phone number to her mobile number, she was able to attend her customers anytime and anywhere. It greatly improved the flexibility of her business and also helped her in multi tasking her jobs. With the help of such virtual office solutions, Rita was able to bring her business to a high success level.

Any entrepreneur wishing to start their business in Cochin must look at the virtual office solutions offered by a company like Spacelance. Without even spending half of the money you would have to spend on renting an office, you will be able to enjoy all the benefits of having a real physical office space in Cochin. The best thing is that you can save a lot of money on the traditional office costs.

In the beginning of a business, it is very important to save as much money as you can. However, saving money by compromising on the quality of your product is big no-no.

One necessary expense that will be a part of your budget is renting your own office. You can use a virtual office setup to save money and get a prime address, local phone number and professional receptionist for your business.

Take the example from Rita, a young home based business woman in Cochin and rent your virtual office in Cochin today.

Excellent and helpful customer service is one the major steps in the success ladder of your business. It will help to maintain your customer base as well as build new ones. It is important to give top priority to customer service in your business. Here are few tips that can help you.

Be available at all times:

It is important for customer service to be available 24/7. You have to be present and accessible at any time. This does not essentially mean that you need a 24/7 call center, but you must at least have an email service which will be answered within 24 hours.

Respect each customer specially:

Even if you hear the same complaint over and over again, each customer should be treated special. How each customer feels about a problem will vary and so do not always respond with automated answers.

Follow up with your customers:

Make sure that you don’t simply make promises and forget about them. It is easy to make a customer happy by giving them promises, but if you fail to deliver them, they will lose their trust in you.

Be ready to learn from your customers:

If you are able to treat each complaint as an advice and learn from it, your business will be able to succeed in the long run. If your customers feel that you have made changes because of their suggestions, they will trust you more.

Be understanding:

No customer wants to deal with an unenthusiastic employee. So make sure your employees are understanding to the needs of the customers and help them well.

Do not keep passing them:

Never keep passing customers from one pillar to another. This is the most irritating factor for a customer.

Make things simple:

Don’t confuse your customers with jargons. Keep everything simple and remember that your customer does not know those terms as well as you do.

Keep your staff trained:

Your staff has to be trained well on the aspects of your business and they must know how to respond to each customer. If your customer service executive is confused about your business, your customer is confused and may decide to leave.

Most of the small business owners would agree that their greatest challenge is to create credibility amongst their customers. Most of the customers like to buy products from a company that they can trust in. However, getting a clean track record is not an easy task, because you need customers to prove that you are good.

The company’s web presence is a very important aspect. People tend to believe in companies that have a proper business website with proper contact details. Internet is often the first place where customers are going to research you. A professional website will create a great impression and a badly designed one can do right the opposite. For those who have no website at all, wave goodbye to your customers.

You are the best person to promote your brand. You must be able to confidently speak for your business. When you are confident, your customers will be confident too. Don’t be afraid to act as though you are already established. Never tell your customers that you are small. Talk big and act big.

Another important point is to present your company well. When you organize a meeting with a client, plan and organize well. If you don’t have the money for a permanent office space yet, you must go for virtual office solutions by providers like Spacelance. They are so much cheaper and will give your customers the impression of being a well-organized and successful business. Most of the clients shop with their eyes and so you have to make a neat presence to impress them.

You must always act like a successful player within your industry. Take part in networking events and get to know your competitors in the sector. Attending conferences and meetings like these can help you make good business links which are important for the growth of your business.

You have to remember that establishing yourself as a credible company begins right from the early stages and it is very important to appear credible, connected and knowledgeable if you want to succeed.

When you begin a business, most of the new businessmen will tend to choose the least expensive way to run the business. What you must remember is that along with the firm name, logo, company website, banking relations and publicity, a professional business address is also very important for your business.

It is not sensible to use your home address for the office address for a large number of reasons. With the virtual office solutions that are available now, it is possible to now choose a proper office address four your business.

Some of the advantages of having a virtual address for your business are as follows.

Having a real business address adds credibility to your business. Your customers will trust you more when you have a real office address on your site and business cards.

When you have a virtual address, there is always someone available to greet your customers when they may want to visit your office.

The visitors or clients will be walking into a furnished office space that gives even a small business owner, a good professional look and feel.
You have someone present at this address to collect your official mail and packages even when you are traveling.

Most often, there is also a common meeting place for such virtual office solutions. It is much more professional than holding your official meetings in a café.

It’s very important to present your company well to the clients. If you are having a meeting with your clients in a totally unprofessional place, you will look really unorganized as a business. When you cannot afford a permanent office address, you can go for virtual office address by companies like Spacelance as they are so much cheaper and even more professional.

A working office address is very important, no matter how small your business is. The overall success of the business often depends on such small things and you must not ignore the significance of a credible office address for the growth of your business.

The ever-changing economic conditions make it necessary for almost every new business to change its way of operation. The traditional office setup with a few employees is not the only way to begin a business today. With the increase of home based and mobile businesses, there has been a unprecedented demand for flexible workspace solutions. This is where the importance of Virtual office has come up.

Virtual offices in Cochin are providing businesses an option to set up their office in the city with minimal costs. It is very important for businesses to save money in their beginning stages. Renting a real office in Kochi can cost anywhere between Rs. 5000 to 10,000. You can begin virtual offices for as less as Rs. 500 in the city now.

Having a business address and a local landline number in Cochin is very important for giving your business a professional touch. Without having to worry about the day-to-day running costs of an office, you can set up your address in Cochin at low costs with virtual office solutions.

Virtual office solutions includes everything that a business would require to run such as a business address, local phone number, local fax number, receptionist services and local mail handling services.
Having a prestigious Cochin address on your business card will build the repute of your business immensely. By using the virtual office setup, you are actually sharing the costs of day to day running of an office.

For startups and entrepreneurs, the overhead of setting up an office can become really expensive and tiresome. Simply buy a virtual office plan that suits best for your business and work from anywhere you want.

With a virtual office address, you can be at several places at once. While you are meeting one client, your receptionist at the virtual office would be handling another client’s calls.
Whether it is a local business you’re running or you are looking to expand your business nationally or even internationally, your business will need a local address, local phone number, local support team and a professional presence, be it any market.

A virtual office is the right answer to all these needs. It helps to maintain the professional image of a traditional, high cost office, while avoiding the daily running costs. Renting a virtual office in Cochin is the most economical way to begin your business.

Customer communication is the key to success in business. Only if you keep up a strong communication with your customers, will your business prosper. The communication between employees is also very important.

Most of the new businesses make the mistake of thinking that customer communication is required only once in a while. Sending out a newsletter every month is not enough if you want to stay in business. Only if you keep constant contact with them would you be able to keep your customers loyal. Remember, brand loyalty is now a thing of the past.

The latest generation of customers are not going to stay attentive to you unless you communicate with them more efficiently than your competitors. Even the best businesses are failing today because they tend to focus less on customer communication.

The modes of customer communication used today vary from TV, radio and newspaper to online communication by social networking sites. Creating a blog for your customers will also help you to keep in constant contact with them. It definitely pays to build an online relationship with your customers nowadays. Using an open platform like a social networking site to communicate with your customers will give them a chance to respond publicly which will often be for the good of your business.

For all businesses that are still alien to online customer communication, it is high time you started making changes. For your business associates, you can choose more personal ways like video conferencing to build relationships.

Proper communication between your employees and customers is also important. You can maintain the quality of conversation between your employees and your customers by giving your employees more responsibility and making them feel that the company’s development is important for them as well. Make them know how important they are for your business and this will help them focus better.

Tailor your training strategy in such a way that employees are taught the importance of customer communication right from the beginning.

For those young entrepreneurs with a clear visual and with the right approach, there is hope for success even in times of economic crisis. Here are a few tips that could help you plan your business well.

Have a vision: You must have a short term and long term vision for your business. Set realistic goals right from the beginning and make sure that you achieve them in the time frame you have decided.

Do thorough research: It is always important to have a clear-cut idea of the market you are venturing into. Research on the competition for your business in the region and use this to frame your business strategy.

Plan your budget well: though this sounds easy, it is one of the toughest task faced by most new businessmen. You have to make sure that your spending falls in line with the budget you planned. Most businesses run out of money very soon. Make sure this does not happen to you. For this, all you need is expert planning.

Research your customer base: Your business would be a complete failure without your customers. You must have a clear idea of who your customers are even before you start planning your business strategy. Put quality time and effort into learning about what your customers need.

Make your plans realistic: You have to plan everything realistically. Dont go overboard and plan big things right from the beginning. This way you will find it easier to achieve your goals.

Even you can go wrong: Don’t think that you are always correct. If you believe that you know better than anyone else, then you are going to make a lot of mistakes while planning your business strategy.

Know the best way to sell: You have to what your best selling point is. The plan and strategy has to revolve around that. This is what will make you achieve success fast.

Make sure you test your plan: You have to be sensible enough to know that plans don’t always work they way you think it should. Test it out and if you feel that it is not working the way you expected, make a change.

Celebrate your achievements and don’t lose your passion: Planning is a really tough job. So make sure you celebrate when you start achieving your targets. Rewarding yourself and those around you will make sure that motivation to work hard continues.

The concept of virtual office in Cochin is picking up fast. Several advantages contribute to this, which are mainly, convenience and financial benefits.

The commercial real estate sector in Kochi has seen a comedown because of the slowdown in economy. This is why virtual offices are becoming more and more popular now. A virtual office in Cochin is going to cost you only as little as Rs. 500 per month, which is so much lesser when compared to renting an office space for the most minimal rate of Rs. 7000/month.

A virtual office offers you all the conveniences of a real office without having to pay as much. Such virtual offices are most convenient for start up businesses and freelancers who want to increase their customer reach.

The growing demand for virtual office space in Cochin is mainly because of the convenience it offers and the money it can save you. It offers you the flexibility to work from anywhere you want at a much cheaper price than renting an office. A good business address is very important for the success of any business and virtual offices is the perfect answer to your needs.

The concept of virtual office is still new to Kochi and people are still getting to know about it. However, the idea is very popular in all other major cities of India like Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune.

For most of the small businesses, it is not viable to have a fully functional office. The owner of such a business would constantly be on the go for needs such as marketing and sales. It is difficult for such an office to have someone available in office all the time even though it is important that they must have someone to handle their customer calls.

A virtual office setup can help you achieve this by giving your business a professional presence in the city, even if you are working from home or any other place. Virtual office solutions offer all the facilities that is needed to run a small time business without the overhead costs of renting an office. Several packages are offered and you can choose the one that suits your needs best.

It is becoming increasingly important to have a professional address for your business in Kochi. A virtual office plan would be the best answer to your needs.

Losing customers in a shrinking economy is one of the biggest challenges faced by business owners today. The economy keeps fluctuating and it is very important to maintain your customer base when you are going through a down stage. Very few customers go after brand loyalty these days. As the competition rises, preserving your customer base is becoming as tough as finding new ones.

It is important for business owners to find ways to keep their customer base without competing only with prices. Here are a few tips, which can help to maintain your customer base:

Offer the best customer service you can:

Though this point is pretty obvious, it is very hard to ensure that you are offering your customers the best. You must remember that this is an ongoing task and conducting regular service level checks is very important to ensure that your customers are happy.

Train your staff constantly:

Performance evaluation of your staff is important and so are meetings with your employees to find out if there are any issues that needs sorting out. Regular seminars to help your employees with customer service tips can also help to improve your staff efficiency.

Offer customer loyalty rewards:

You have to provide a reason for your customers to come back. Offer loyalty rewards and special discounts to the most loyal customers.

Offer premium service:

Many long-term customers and a few new ones too, would want extra attention. You must offer a premium service option to give these customers special attention and exclusive discounts.

Keep in touch with your customers:

Send them emails about your latest offers and make personal phone calls to the customers that you cannot afford to lose.

Take surveys and exit polls:

You can get to know your customers through feedback forms and polls. The data that is collected through such media can provide you good ideas to improve your service and also to identify new opportunities for growing your business.