Saturday, December 17, 2016

Migration to Magento 2 — Case Study

Moving a M1 store from to Magento 2 is quite a complicated process that consists of several stages.
Magento offers a special Data Migration Tool to ease the pain of transferring store, customers and orders data.
However, any theme or code customizations (including 3rd party extensions) are non-transferable. They have to be completely redone to fit the new version of the platform.
This is the list of the key aspects one needs to implement during Magento 2 migration:

1. Moving store database.

As said above, this stage is implemented with the help of the official Magento Migration Tool. It includes:

moving websites and stores
transferring config settings for each store
migrating product data (e.g.product attributes, categories, ratings and reviews, manufacturers etc.)
moving customer base and its setup
transferring sales data (orders, payments, invoices, etc.)
CMS content
basic SEO setup (titles, descriptions, meta data, redirects, etc.)
moving tax data
and transferring some other important store data

2. Migrating custom-built functionality

Due to the difference in the platforms architecture, Magento 1 third-party extensions and custom-built features won’t work on Magento 2. It means that they have to be redeveloped from scratch.
3. Migrating store theme.
Since Magento 1 themes are not transferable to the 2d version of the platform, a store owner has to either find a new, ready-to-install theme, or develop a new or similar design from scratch.

The Process

1. Transferring Store Data

First, we installed Magento 2 on the client’s server.
Next, we installed and configured the Magento Data Migration tool. The tool was installed on an empty Magento2 installation with the help of Composer.
Basically, the Tool is designed to transfer data from M1 to M2 database according to the set of rules defined in an xml file. So, in this file, we configured connections setup for the defined source (the client’s Magento 1 installation) and the destination (a Magento 2 website) connections.
At the next step, we migrated:

all settings,
websites and stores,
categories,
products,
customers,
orders
and CMS data.

Additionally, we also moved media files and ACLs.

Challenges Faced

Upon the whole, everything went smooth. However, there were some difficulties we had to overcome in the process.
Due to the facts that M2 and M1 stores were located on the different servers and M1 database was working via a socket, the Data Migration Tool couldn’t access the necessary data.
Since it was impossible to solve this with the client’s hosting provider, we decided to make a copy of the database and move it from the old server to a new one.
Thus, we gained access to the data and migrated it to a new Magento 2 installation.

* * * * *

Also, at a later migration stage, the client discovered that it was impossible to change the delivery date of the migrated products.

We investigated the issue and found a similar case described by other Magento developers on StackOverFlow.
At the moment, Magento 2 doesn’t save the “delivery_date” attribute in the table “catalog_product_entity_text” providing the attribute already exists in the migrated “catalog_product_entity_varchar” table.
However, if a record is added manually to the “catalog_product_entity_text” table, display/save options work fine.
To fix this issue for our client, we created a custom Magento script.

2. Moving Custom-Built Functionality

There were 7 third-party extensions installed on the client’s Magento 1 store. These were:

Tracking Number Import and Order Module Export by Xtento
Data Feed Manager by Wyoming
SEO Suite Ultimate, Search Suite and Advanced Product Options by MageWorx
German Store module by Symmetrics

Almost all of the above-mentioned extensions had more or less functional Magento versions. The only exception was the German Store module by Symmetrics.
Our task was to install those modules on the client’s Magento 2 installation and configure them according to the client’s requirements.

3. Migrating Store Theme

The client decided to purchase a ready-to-use Magento 2 theme by Pronto.
To let the client test the theme effects for a live store, we installed it on a dev site that was a plain Magento site with no data.
While testing the theme, we spotted an issue with the price pop-up — for some reasons, it was displayed incorrectly. The client contacted the theme developer and according to what they said the problem was triggered by the bug of the default Magento Luma theme. The theme developer provided a hot-fix custom solution for this issue.

The Result

Migration to Magento 2 results in:

improved site speed
reduced TTFB (time to first byte) – *the store also changed the former server hosting to a more optimized cloud solution
overall improved website performance for desktop and mobile
better, more advanced backend functionality
improved and faster checkout process

4 Innovative Ideas Transforming Their Industries in 2016

Is it true that you are great at spotting development inside your industry, or would you say you are always playing make up for lost time? Administrators invest a considerable measure of energy discussing advancement and innovativeness in organization pitches, however concentrates on demonstrate that as a general rule, it's all discussion and little finish. Officials and supervisors as often as possible shoot down innovative thoughts that would help an organization develop in another bearing or catch a current commercial center, reports Inc. Making a work environment culture that drives development is precarious.

A valid example: Kodak. In 1989, the organization's specialists manufactured the primary DSLR camera. Officials froze. Conveying the camera to the commercial center would tear apart film deals and undermine business. Officials neglected to understand the significance of first-mover advantage and grab the commercial center first. Obviously, their arrangement to postpone the unavoidable was a come up short. Kodak petitioned for chapter 11 in 2012, that year that deals for the four noteworthy camera producers (Olympus, Sony, Nikon and Canon) topped $31.6 billion, regardless of proceeded with rivalry from cell phones.

Consistently, it appears like another item or administration dispatches with a genuinely "Stunning!" effect. As a solopreneur concentrated on computerized promoting, I watch out for development inside the advanced showcasing space. Be that as it may, once in a while it's decent to step away for the jabber over the most recent online networking system or nearby versatile SEO strategy and monitor what different businesses are doing, as well. These four thoughts are ready to change their particular ventures and merit viewing in 2016:

Industry: eCommerce and saving money

Thought: advanced gold with BitGold

Canadian startup BitGold is propelling the advanced installment upset with a straightforward mission: individuals safely get, store and spend gold. This incorporates offering clients a prepaid card for spending their gold or changing over gold installments into money at any ATM machine. While BitCoin has neglected to take off mostly in light of the fact that buyers don't completely comprehend the item's esteem, BitGold's originators are idealistic their item will locate a more extensive mass-market advance. They have one thing effectively going to support them: as an essential unit of representing the past, present and future, gold is a characteristic unit for online investment funds in the time of worldwide exchange and coin changes.

Industry: innovation

Thought: guardian neighborly cell phone observing with Pumpic App

Today's young people live online: 92% utilize their telephones to go online day by day and, shockingly, more than half of all youngsters report being a casualty of cyberbullying. More terrible, the greater part of cyberbully casualties never advise their folks. Consistent, unlimited access to talk applications is connected with an uptick in everything from high school sexting to cyberbullying. Unfortunate cases like the late demise of a 13-year old Virginia young lady who professedly met her abductor online are an update that guardians must stride up to ensure their high schoolers. Pumpic application is a multi-highlight parental control application that permits guardians to screen instant messages, call history, contacts, messages, and prominent informing applications including Kik, WhatsApp, and Snapchat. A remote control board permits guardians to set limitations and inconspicuously monitor their kids.

Industry: medicinal services

Thought: tyke neighborly thermometers with Fever Scout

VivaLNK's Fever Scout is an adaptable patch that gives ceaseless temperature observing. For youthful youngsters, the delicate patch is scarcely observable. For occupied guardians, it's a lifeline. The patch sends consistent information straightforwardly to a cell phone application that tracks and alarms guardians to an adjustment in the kid's temperature. Adjustable warnings ready guardians when a youngster needs consideration. The adaptable patch will begin shipping in Spring 2016.

Industry: auto

Thought: In-vehicle diagnostics and auto to-auto correspondence with telematics

Telematics - characterized as the mixing of PC and remote media communications advancements - is changing autos into more quick witted, more secure and better-associated vehicles. While the vast majority of us are now acquainted with fundamental telematics highlights like GPS and infotainment, new telematics administrations like in-vehicle diagnostics and vehicle-to-vehicle correspondence are ready to change driving as we probably am aware it. Get prepared for pay-per-use and premium membership benefits that control everything from substance gushing to support diagnostics, reports Robert Prime, the author of Telematics.com.

Got a Big Idea? Instructions to Evaluate Your Innovation for Success

While we can't see into the future (yet), we can utilize an arrangement of measurements to assess which thoughts are prone to be distinct advantages and which will simply fail away into the universe of 8-track tapes, CueCats (recollect those?) and Segways. Take a page from the late Ohio State University Professor Everett Rodgers (who begat the expression "early adopter") and consider these inquiries:

•    What is the item's relative favorable position contrasted and the commercial center? On the off chance that your thought has an unmistakable constructive preferred standpoint over the current commercial center, individuals will attempt it.

•    How perfect is the item with the norm? Being too relatively revolutionary or current framework will impede commercial center selection.

•    How complex is the real trick? On the off chance that a layman can't comprehend its quality or handle another worldview, you may battle to accomplish mass appropriation.

•    How simple is it to test your item? In the event that you can't try out your thought on a little scale without the assets of Elon Musk or Apple, it's more averse to be embraced on a bigger scale.

•    How noticeable are the item's advantages? On the off chance that your item is anything but difficult to use with a prompt personal satisfaction advantage, your development will probably be reasonable.

Main concern:

Try not to get stuck inside the container. Watch out for rising innovation and industry inclines so your business will be set up to develop and stake out first mover advantage in the commercial center.

An Unforeseen Approach to Prevent Individuals from Stopping

At my organization, after quite a long time we score high in our representative fulfillment studies. However, in spite of these outcomes, despite everything we see a sizeable piece of yearly staff turnover.

This has constantly troubled me. In the event that individuals adore the organization, why are they taking off?

To some extent, it's just a typical issue. Millennials change occupations all the more much of the time: a normal of once at regular intervals amid the primary decade out of school. That is twofold the rate of their Gen X antecedents.

Be that as it may, I needed to better comprehend the genuine reasons why this happens. So over the previous year, we addressed a scope of workers with an end goal to discover. In doing as such, I understood it wasn't about remuneration (or, in any event, pretty much pay). Nor was it issues with managers or associates. Numerous individuals were leaving since they needed to have a go at something new. They needed to be tested with an alternate part and diverse arrangement of duties.

We were losing A players, as such, on the grounds that they were exhausted. Self-improvement is significantly more than only a trendy expression to Millennials. Actually, 65% of Millennials say that self-awareness is the most essential variable at work, as per an UNC Kenan-Flagler Business college study. What's more, this doesn't mean simply step up a current ability set. It means having the capacity to investigate and disguise diverse aptitudes completely: to gain some new useful knowledge.

I can relate. As a vocation business person, I know the charm of moving starting with one wander then onto the next, increasing new information with every turn. Be that as it may, that same element doesn't generally work inside an organization, where individuals are contracted for discrete parts and anticipated that would exceed expectations inside clear limits. In the event that one of our engineers chooses he or she is exhausted with coding and needs to seek after an affection for blogging as a profession rather, for instance, that individual presumably needs to locate another work environment.

On the other hand perhaps not.

A lesson from Google's bungee program

The more I contemplated this, the more I understood a truly general procuring truth. Awesome workers are incredible representatives. It's not the specific expertise set that separates them, as much as their inborn disposition, center and commitment. And these things can exchange promptly from part to part. So why not allow these excellent workers to experiment with new positions inside the organization, as opposed to hazard losing them through and through?

Fortunately, I had Google to swing to for some motivation. For quite a while, Google has worked an exceptional "bungee program," which enables representatives to dive into a completely distinctive office for a brief period. Subsequent to finding out about the project from my HR group, I thought about whether we could substance out a more vigorous variant of this—with clear standards and rules—in our own particular organization.

The objective was direct: to stay with great representatives in the. The mechanics demonstrated somewhat precarious, however. Which workers would be qualified? Shouldn't something be said about the gap left when they leave their present parts? How would we guarantee that genuine learning is going on and this isn't only a misuse of everybody's chance?

We at last settled on some standard procedures for a "stretch project" of our own. In the first place, members should perform at or above desires officially, in view of execution audits—accomplishment in one part is an intense indicator of achievement somewhere else, all things considered—and to have been with the organization for no less than a year. Assignments to different divisions are topped at three months, surrendering members to a full quarter to try things out.

To stay away from interruption, "stretch" workers spend around one day a week on their received group amid this 90-day duration and the rest of the time in their official part. Their current director needs to approve the move and approve of the decrease in occupation obligations. Also, imperatively, members are required to draft "learning arranges" ahead of time and get endorsement from both their present and rotational supervisor.

At the finish of the trial, if the new part is really working for everybody—and if the new chief has a need and the assets to bring on another staff member—then that representative can make the hop full-time, once his or her old part has been refilled. In the event that things don't work out, no damage done—they're allowed to return full-time to the first part or attempt on another task.

How we're beta-trying our new "extend program"

Here at Hootsuite, this project is still in pilot stage. We kicked it off before this late spring with approximately about six members, yet we're as of now seeing some positive results.

A main sales representative initially centered around extensive, venture level organizations has extended over to a task in our item administration bunch. He's presently working nearby our VP of operations to concoct methods for institutionalizing the life cycle for our items. He spends around 10 hours a week in this part and will wrap up his turn toward the end of September.

An online networking showcasing expert with experience utilizing Facebook and Twitter as limited time devices has bounced over to our corporate improvement group. He's taking that strategic, hands-on learning of online networking and is presently assessing how to join recently gained items into our bigger business methodology. He devotes around 15 hours a week to this pivot, which closes in September.

Whether these people wind up transitioning full-time to their new parts or choosing to come back to their home groups, the system still speaks to a win-win in numerous regards. Representatives who take part get an opportunity to experiment with another calling, while never leaving the organization (which is a ton less demanding than chasing down another occupation … just to discover it wasn't what you were searching for). They construct an expert system that stretches out past their group and add another aptitude to their toolbox. In the most ideal situation, they really discover a fresh out of the box new vocation.

The advantages stream the other, too. Hootsuite gets the opportunity to hold brilliant, enthusiastic representatives who need to develop and advance. Corporate storehouses are separated and representatives pick up knowledge—and compassion—into different regions of the business. On the off chance that you've never worked in deals, for case, you may rise with freshly discovered thankfulness for the tricksters who keep income coming in the entryway.

What's more, it's vital to note that losing top representatives isn't only a hit to working environment society and confidence. For business, there are major budgetary ramifications to consistent representative turnover. For expert parts, it can cost as much as $5,000 to procure another representative. What's more, this doesn't consider profitability misfortunes while the position is holding up to be filled or the time and cost it takes to increase another representative.

At last, the craving to learn and develop isn't only a Millennial uprightness—it's really widespread. Allowing workers to really develop—without pulling up stakes and leave the organization—is a sound judgment strategy to draw in and keep incredible ability.

How do shoppers in India pick between requesting from Amazon and requesting from Flipkart?

How do shoppers in India pick between requesting from Amazon and requesting from Flipkart?

I have been utilizing Flipkart for over 5 years now. When it began, it likewise emerged conversely with its greatest opponent Snapdeal regarding administration and reaction. Till date, I have requested 2 portable PCs, 3 unique telephones, different frill, and a mess of books.

Be that as it may, subsequent to the landing of Amazon on the Indian e-business scene, Flipkart has been pushed to hold its shopper base and contend with the greatest commercial center on the web. The Huge Billion Day deal, expected to impersonate the accomplishment of comparable methodologies, essentially by the Alibaba bunch in China, was an enormous debacle. For quite a while, Flipkart has been over-promising and under-conveying.

Amazon, then again, has been striking all the right harmonies. I have made numerous buys from that point as well, and I have no protests yet. Their client administration and responsiveness is frequently refered to as case of extraordinary client consideration and grievance redressal.

That being said, the essential choice variable Indian clients consider while choosing the stage to buy from are:

#1: Value: It's continually going to be the situation. All e-trade new companies in India contend principally on cost. This has been the essential technique for most with regards to client procurement and maintenance. Indians are more disposed than their western partners to give up comfort and administration for lower cost. On the off chance that the value contrast on Amazon and Flipkart is generous, not very many would disregard it.

Amazon and Flipkart both know it extremely well, apparent from the way that they are both bringing about colossal misfortunes at present in trusted of recovering them later on.

According to an investigation done on trak.in, they are losing near Rs 2 for each rupee of income.

#2: Time requirements: 2 years back, My friend was wanting to purchase a DSLR. He at long last chose to request one only a few days before an excursion He was going on. Obviously, He needed the request to touch base before the following day. He put in 2 requests - the camera from Amazon, and an outside SD card from Flipkart (choice construct exclusively with respect to cost). While the camera was gotten appropriately on time, the SD card wasn't (regardless of being a Flipkart First client, a paid administration that ensured "24 hour" conveyance).

Next time, while purchasing a period touchy item, I will go for Amazon.

#3: Restrictiveness: Flipkart as of late joined forces with Motorola and Xiaomi to have the select dispatch rights for their new telephones being propelled. For this situation, customers have no choice than to purchase from them. The same is material to the selective dispatch of OnePlus on Amazon.

#4: Geographic infiltration: e-Trade is still not huge in the provincial regions of India. Any individual who has perused CK Prahalad's article "The Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid", will realize that however the business sector may appear to be less engaging at first (because of the lower obtaining influence of its members, the aggregate potential is high, and up 'til now undiscovered.

Amazon now conveys to more than 20,000 of the 40,000 pincodes in India. Thus, fundamentally they have half of the business sector secured (entirely than half as the pincodes they convey to incorporate all metros, and level 1, 2, and 3 urban communities, which by the very way of their definitions will house significantly more than proportionate offer of the populace). Like #3, both of the vender, conveying to an area the other is not, will probably catch that business sector first.

#5: Nonsensicalness: many individuals still favor Flipkart over Amazon for a reason that has nothing to do with a goal, near investigation of their advantages and disadvantages. They consider Flipkart to be an Indian organization, and supporter utilizing it over an outside firm like Amazon.

It's kind of a turned adaptation of Gandhi's Swadeshi development (which in addition to other things, called for blacklist of all merchandise outside and advancement of indigenous items with an end goal to put more weight on the English realm), individuals think purchasing from Flipkart would advantage the Indian economy, finishing disregarding the way that it is lawfully based out of Singapore.

#6: A tiny bit of "individual touch": Indians are more passionate than balanced. We decline to relinquish wistfulness and spot awesome accentuation on connections. Brands like Cadbury, Maggi, Amul and so forth have established their picture among the Indian mind by routinely thinking of ads with just he right touch of apnapan (a sentiment closeness and family relationship). In this way, neither Amazon, nor Flipkart have figured out how to succeed here.

One of my go-to sustenance conveyance benefit these days is the hot startup Holachef. They routinely amaze you with little endowments and signals. I have gotten a truly hip napkin, a pack of cards, and a chai (tea) tumblr. They more often than not send you little cards and letters that make you grin.

#7: Client administration, responsiveness, and trust: Indians are warier than normal with regards to cash. At the point when online business was in its incipient stages, the most concerning issue was to get the Indian clients to pay by means of charge/Mastercards and web managing an account. Indeed, even now, Money down (COD) represents 50-80% of the online exchange volume.

So it is basic that the retailer that has a superior post buy client consideration will be more alluring. The absolute most imperative parts of it would be:

Specialized backing

Establishment and repairs

Simple returns (30 day return arrangements)

EMI installment choices

In fact, a client review done by Yourstory found that accommodation, trust, COD, returns, and low costs were the essential helpers for purchasers to purchase on the web.

#8: Inconspicuous contrasts regarding offerings and discernment: Amazon, in view of Arouse, is firmly connected to books. In spite of the fact that Flipkart was likewise begun as an online book shop, it is more partnered to garments and attire as a result of its procurement of Myntra.

Latest Design Trends for eCommerce Websites

eMarketer predicts that the overall B2C eCommerce deals will increment by 20.1% this year to reach $1.500 trillion. While in 2012 the U.S. retail e-trade deals added up to USD 225.5 billion, they are anticipated to develop to USD 434.2 billion in the year 2017.

There is an extraordinary development in the eCommerce business and it is clearly likewise experiencing a considerable measure of changes – because of online networking, changing purchaser propensities, new advancements, expanding web infiltration, and new gadgets like mobiles and tablets.

There are sure outline patterns we have been taking after, which are particularly pertinent for eCommerce industry -

#1: Level Outline

Level outlines are not new, but rather more eCommerce sites have as of late begun fusing these. Oversimplified outlines make the items the legend of the site – as opposed to mistaking clients for extravagant catches and different choices, the emphasis is on the photographs of the items.

#2: Responsive Outline

Do I have to say more here? A responsive site is quick, lively, acclimates to the client's screen, stacks quick, requires negligible looking over, it is clean and simple to explore – everything an eCommerce site requires. With expanding buyer exercises on cell phones, eCommerce sites should be obligatorily responsive. For littler retailers, who can't manage the cost of select versatile applications, responsive sites give the most possible choice. With the right utilization of typography, substantial pictures and recordings, responsive site can be made exceptionally appealing and can help in boosting deals.

#3: One Page Content

Because of shorter capacities to focus and part of diversions all around, purchasers today are investing almost no energy in one site. They don't have time or persistence for moderate stacking pages. They would prefer not to "pursuit" for substance which is spread over numerous pages. Add to that the simplicity of looking on touch gadgets. Every one of these components have made the pattern of having parcel of data on single page exceptionally famous. Continue demonstrating the items as the client looks down and the guest is unrealistic to drop from the site.

#4: Recordings and Huge photographs

Video is the following enormous thing – particularly in eCommerce. As per ComScore, customers are 64% more inclined to buy an item in the event that they see a video of it on your eCommerce site. It just about makes an ordeal of a business partner disclosing the item to the purchaser. Recordings can likewise be effectively utilized as instructive devices for giving master counsel, tips.

An A/B test keep running on the site MALL.CZ, the Czech Republic's second biggest ecommerce retailer, found that utilization of bigger pictures expanded the deals by 9.46%! No big surprise eCommerce destinations are giving awesome significance to huge and clear pictures with extra choices for zoom-in so that the client can get a complete thought regarding the item plan, composition and so on.

#5: Attempt Items and Personalization

In the time of personalization, shoppers are searching for selectiveness. Numerous eCommerce destinations are attempting to go that additional mile to permit clients to customize their items by offering the adaptability to plan the item according to particular prerequisites.

Buyers may whine about not getting the genuine feel of the item or stress over how it might look on them. There are new applications which are getting the pattern which permit clients to have entry to "Virtual Mirror". Clients can just switch on the camera and perceive how the item will look all alone picture!

Have you watched any such patterns? Do share your perceptions

Great Leadership Formula

We’ve all heard the saying “living the good life”. Why would we want to live the good life when we can create the great life? I recently read the book “Good to Great, Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t” by Jim Collins. One of the powerful concepts that he discusses is Level 5 Leadership. We are constantly inundated with images of power leaders and celebrities whom society views as living the great life and having everything that they want in life. Is this true?

Are they really living the great life or is it an illusion created by the media? I think much of it is illusion however; there are many people who are living the great life and are Level 5 Leaders. These life leaders are not generally the subject of media headlines. These are the true leaders.

What can we do to create the great life, leading our lives and our businesses to success?
We can be the Level 5 Leaders of our own lives, creating the great life and success that we desire. Level 5 Leaders, who are the leaders of their company’s transition from good to great, have some distinctive qualities, one of which is that they are not celebrity leaders with big egos.

• Level 5 Leaders embody a mix of personal humility and professional will. They do not flaunt their success; they are humble, sharing their learning with others. When we look at this from both a professional and personal standpoint, in order to transition your life from good to great, you need to embody these characteristics. When we are humble in our lives, we are able to honor that we are co-creators of our lives. No matter what we achieve in life, we never do it alone. We co-create with God and the Universe, with our friends, with our family, our team and with a number of supporting people in our lives. We are actually leading our personal team that assists us in creating a great life.

• Level 5 Leaders always come from a place of personal will. Personal will is an inner power to lead our own lives rather than controlling others so that we can get what we want. As we operate from a place of personal will we act congruently with our personal and professional values.

• Level 5 Leaders are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter how big or hard the decisions. When we desire to create a great life we need to look at what is mediocre in our lives and businesses and make decisions to change those aspects. Sometimes this involves big, hard and unpopular decisions.

• Level 5 leaders set their successors up for success. As we create a great life, we empower others to do the same and serve as role models for our children, grandchildren, family and friends as well as for our team.

• “Level 5 leaders look out the window to attribute their success to factors other than themselves.” When things go poorly, they are willing to look in the mirror and take full responsibility for their creation. This is the understanding that you are a co-creator of your life. You do not create it all by yourself. The Universe, however, responds in the co-creative process based on the vibration or energy that we put out and the thoughts that we think. Therefore, when things don’t work out the way we want, we need to look at ourselves, our thoughts and our beliefs and respond accordingly, changing them based on our current results. We cannot change what is outside of ourselves; we can only change our response to it. (Watch the movie “The Secret”).

I invite you to examine these characteristics and build them into your own life and successful business. A great life is waiting for you as long as you are willing to do what it takes to create it.

“Good is the enemy of great. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.

How to Get Google Adsense Approval With A New Blog

Google Adsense is one of the best ad networks to monetize a website or a blog. It is 90% better than any other CPC advertising programs. It offers the publishers the highest CTR for every web page. The publishers could make lots of revenue daily from Google Adsense. Every new webmaster has a dream to monetize his website with this ad network. But unfortunately, many of them fail. Adsense has introduced some strict rules and requirements. It seems hard to get Adsense approval for our own blog. But, we know impossible is nothing.

The good news is “Getting Approval of Google Adsense with a New Blog is Now Really Easy”, if you follow some basic rules from the starting of your blog. When I first tried, I failed to get approval. But, following these rules, now I have an approved AdSense account. Thinking about this topic, I made a decision to share the basic rules of AdSense.

First Ready Your Blog Before Applying for Adsense:

Adsense moderators always approve those blogs whose have met up the requirements. First of all, you should make your blog ready for this process. Check first if your blog considers these requirements. Now, there are some initial basic requirements announced by AdSense team, and there are some known hacks and tricks that work. For example, on this official page it’s mentioned that for countries like China & India, publishers need to own the site for minimum 6 months, which is not a thumb-rule. Many Indian bloggers have got approval with one-month-old domain. The only thing which really matter here is “Quality”. Let’s look at factors which will make your blog AdSense ready.

Write High-Quality Contents:

A writing proverb “Content is King” helps you understand this requirement. A high-quality blog is identified with the high-quality contents. Great contents mean unique, decorated, stated and clear concerted content. Some black hat webmasters say, copy paste content only between 100-200 words is enough. But, I may assure him that his journey to Adsense will be certainly finished. I think, how a blog post or content could be only between 100-200 words? In my judgment, it is not possible to completely describe a topic within 100-200 words. And if copy paste content is enough, anybody can declare him as a blogger. Please keep in mind, Google AdSense doesn’t approve blogs with copy pasted copyright content. A well-optimized blog post should be 100% unique and above 500-600 words. So, always write blog post above this limit and it must be unique which clearly determinate the post topic.

Optimize Blog Post with Meta Tags and Make It Search Engine Friendly:

Optimize your unique blog post with Meta Title and Description Tag. The meta tags describe what the content is about to the crawler bots. It is not possible for AdSense editorial board to check every single website that has applied to get AdSsense approval. So, positively they will use their crawler bots. The bots will check for every footprint on your blog. That’s why you should make sure; you have specified these tags with appropriate information.

Please keep in mind that your Meta Title should be between 69 characters (including spaces), and Meta Description should be between 156 characters (including spaces). If you are using platform like WordPress or Blogger, here are two guides which will cover all basic SEO requirements:

Have Sufficient Contents or Posts:

You must lead sufficient contents or posts on every page and category. In total, you should have 15-30 blog posts on your whole blog. This is not an official declaration. But, I recommend everybody to at least have it. So, you should have at least 3-4 posts in every category, tag and page. Google Adsense told that we must have sufficient contents in every single web page. So, we should add contents in all pages and categories. There shouldn’t be any blank page without any content. And these posts have to pass the minimum length of 500-600 words as it is the best blog post length. The more you increase the length, the more you go towards to get Google Adsense approval.

Blog Domain Must Old At least 6 Months:

As I mentioned above, in certain countries like India and China, there is a requirement for 6 months for the domain to apply for AdSense. Here is official statement from AdSense team:

In some locations, including China and India, we require publishers to have owned their sites for 6 months. We’ve taken this step to ensure the quality of our advertising network and protect the interests of our advertisers and existing publishers.

Some blog domain could get approved having less old than six months. Even, I got my Adsense account with just two-month-old domain. Can you imagine? But, the average domain age for certain geo-location should be six months.

Apply Using Root Domain:

You should always apply using the root domain like yourdomain.com. Not blog.yourdomain.com.

Be Serious to Choose Content Images:

Google Adsense doesn’t approve blogs if they lead to copyrighted contents. Copyrighted means the things that have been copied from others directory without their permission. And we make fault every time when choosing an image. Some people just go to an image directory, take their suitable images and upload these on their blogs. Did they ever check if they have permission to use these? The really sad news is that, most of the webmasters who fail to get Adsense because of this copyrighted law. And this is really caused by copyrighted images. Here are guides which will help you to find images for free:

Lead a Nice design and Blog Structure:

Blog structure is the basic structure of your blog. So, make sure that you have a nice looking header, content area, sidebar, footer, etc. Always think if the visitors will like the structure. If people like it, Adsense would definitely like it. The first impression of any blog comes with blog design, and you can take advantage of any professional looking templates (free or paid), and use it on your blog.

Check if Your Blog is Not Blocked by Google:

Be sure that, your blog is not blocked by Google. Because Adsense will check your blog statistics on their search engine. Don’t know how to check it? Just search for “site:yourdomain.com” on Google. If you find out search results, your blog is not blocked. But, if you not, it is blocked.

Don’t Have Adsense Prohibited Content:

Adsense has directly told that, sites with adult contents, copyrighted contents, drug alcohol-related contents, hacking cracking contents, violent contents, weapons related contents and other illegal contents will not be approved.

Visitors Are Not a Factor for Approval Yet:

For getting Adsense approved, visitors are not a factor. Because you will get approved depending on your blog quality. It is sure that the Adsense moderator will never check for visitor count. So, don’t worry about visitors. But, for generating revenues, you must have enough visitors.

Here is one video where Harsh talked about getting AdSense approval:
Applying for Google Adsense:

If you follow all the above mentioned tips, you are most likely to get your AdSense application approval at first go. But, before you apply for the same, here are two articles that you should definitely refer to:

Why Constant Learners All Embrace the 5-Hour Rule

At the age of 10, Benjamin Franklin left formal schooling to become an apprentice to his father. As a teenager, he showed no particular talent or aptitude aside from his love of books.

When he died a little over half a century later, he was America's most respected statesman, its most famous inventor, a prolific author, and a successful entrepreneur.

What happened between these two points to cause such a meteoric rise?

Underlying the answer to this question is a success strategy for life that we can all use, and increasingly must use.

The five-hour rule

Throughout Ben Franklin's adult life, he consistently invested roughly an hour a day in deliberate learning. I call this Franklin's five-hour rule: one hour a day on every weekday.

Franklin's learning time consisted of:

Waking up early to read and write
Setting personal-growth goals (i.e., virtues list) and tracking the results
Creating a club for "like-minded aspiring artisans and tradesmen who hoped to improve themselves while they improved their community"
Turning his ideas into experiments
Having morning and evening reflection questions

Every time that Franklin took time out of his busy day to follow his five-hour rule and spend at least an hour learning, he accomplished less on that day. However, in the long run, it was arguably the best investment of his time he could have made.

Franklin's five-hour rule reflects the very simple idea that, over time, the smartest and most successful people are the ones who are constant and deliberate learners.

Warren Buffett spends five to six hours per day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day, according to his brother. Oprah Winfrey credits books with much of her success: "Books were my pass to personal freedom." Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours day. Dan Gilbert, self-made billionaire and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reads one to two hours a day.

So what would it look like to make the five-hour rule part of our lifestyle?

The core concept of the five-hour rule: empty space

To find out, we need look no further than chess grandmaster and world-champion martial artist Josh Waitzkin. Instead of squeezing his days for the maximum productivity, he's actually done the opposite. Waitzkin, who also authored The Art of Learning, purposely creates slack in his day so he has "empty space" for learning, creativity, and doing things at a higher quality. Here's his explanation of this approach from a recent Tim Ferriss podcast episode:

"I have built a life around having empty space for the development of my ideas for the creative process. And for the cultivation of a physiological state which is receptive enough to tune in very, very deeply to people I work with ... In the creative process, it's so easy to drive for efficiency and take for granted the really subtle internal work that it takes to play on that razor's edge."

Adding slack to our day allows us to:

1. Plan out the learning. This allows us to think carefully about what we want to learn. We shouldn't just have goals for what we want to accomplish. We should also have goals for what we want to learn.

2. Deliberately practice. Rather than doing things automatically and not improving, we can apply the proven principles of deliberate practice so we keep improving. This means doing things like taking time to get honest feedback on our work and practicing specific skills we want to improve.

3. Ruminate. This helps us get more perspective on our lessons learned and assimilate new ideas. It can also help us develop slow hunches in order to have creative breakthroughs. Walking is a great way to process these insights, as shown by many greats who were or are walking fanatics, from Beethoven and Charles Darwin to Steve Jobs and Jack Dorsey. Another powerful way is through conversation partners.

4. Set aside time just for learning. This includes activities like reading, having conversations, participating in a mastermind, taking classes, observing others, etc.

5. Solve problems as they arise. When most people experience problems during the day, they sweep them under the rug so that they can continue their to-do list. Having slack creates the space to address small problems before they turn into big problems.

6. Do small experiments with big potential payoffs. Whether or not an experiment works, it's an opportunity to learn and test your ideas.

The difference the five-hour rule makes

For many people, their professional day is measured by how much they get done. As a result, they speed through the day and slow down their improvement rate.

The five-hour rule flips the equation by focusing on learning first.

To see the implication of this, let's look at a sales call (note: replace "sales call" with any activity you do repeatedly).

Most professionals do a little research before the call, have the call, and then save their notes and move on.

Somebody with a learning focus would think through which skill to practice on the call, practice it on the call, and then reflect on the lessons learned. If that person really wanted an extra level of learning, he or she would invite a colleague on the call and have the colleague provide honest feedback afterward.

Embracing a learning lifestyle means that every time we make a sales call, we get better at doing sales calls. Focusing on learning un-automates our behaviors so we can keep improving them rather than plateauing. Every event is an opportunity to improve.

By focusing on learning as a lifestyle, we get so much more done over the long term.

So, are you ready to embrace the five-hour rule?

How about reading a book a week to get started? Even though he's the richest man in the world and could afford to hire an army of teachers and consultants, Bill Gates still reads a book a week. In a 2016 New York Times interview, he said, "Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding."

Want to read the most-recommended books by top leaders like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Elon Musk?

Krishi Kalyan Cess - the Pandora's Box

Krishi Kalyan Cess (KKC) becomes applicable from June 1, 2016. A levy to collect funds for development of agriculture, but the legislative amendment will now open a Pandora's Box full of litigation. It would be wise and in the interest of businesses and 'make in India' campaign that Government clarifies the stand immediately. The issues are two fold:
1. The amendment to Point of Taxation Rules now cover any new levy of tax or cess. KKC comes under this. The amended rules now provide that the new levy will be applicable unless the payment has been received prior to June 1, 2016 and the invoice also raised, or if the payment is received prior to June 1, 2016 and invoice raised within 14 days of the new levy, viz. June 14, 2016. The amendment to the POT Rules is applicable from May 14, 2016, though KKC is applicable from June 1, 2016.
Now the complexity arises with respect to invoices raised and outstanding either as at May 14, 2016 or as at May 31, 2016. Will KKC apply on these ? The plain reading of the amendments would mean that KKC will apply on all outstanding invoices as at May 31, 2016. A deeper analysis would reveal that KKC will only apply on invoices raised for services rendered from May 14, 2016 and outstanding as on May 31, 2016. So, when the payment is received against such invoices, 0.5% of KKC will have to be borne by the service provider from its own pocket. And we call it a destination based tax ? Is this in line with established principles of jurisprudence and various court judgements that a new levy cannot be retrospective ?
And to top the confusion, this interpretation is applicable only to forward charge and not to reverse charge mechanism. Confusion compounded, one would say.
2. The second issue is that the credit of KKC will only be applicable for liability of KKC. But, wait, this is not the end. The credit will only be available to service providers. Manufacturing companies not rendering any service will have to take KKC as a cost on their production line. Gross injustice and contradiction to 'make in India'.
Will someone wake up and bring in clarification/amendment ASAP ???

Social Entrepreneurship: Understanding India

Based on a conversation with Rahul Dev, Managing Trustee, Samyak Foundation, Former Editor, Jansatta(Indian Express Group), Aaj Tak, ZEE News & a well known face on the Indian TV Channels as a special invitee on major national issues.

The Social Entrepreneurs need a differentiated model for India. “An economically and socially sustainable social enterprise for India would need a deep understanding of India from a social & cultural perspective” said Rahul Dev. When the Indian markets opened in the nineties, several MNCs had failed with their global branding models. Michael Jackson had to be replaced by Juhi Chawla in the Pepsi ads, and the Pepsi team soon realized that the southern part of India had its own film icons. The common factor, however, was cricket in Pepsi Ads later on, which is like a national religion uniting the entire nation. The global players soon understood that India was different from the rest of the world due to its complex cultural and social diversity. Social Entrepreneurs too have a lot to learn from these experiences.

According to Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. With so many recognized languages, India is indeed a highly fragmented market. A Social Enterprise even if it is for profit would need to have societal support to succeed. Operation Flood launched by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) succeeded in transforming India from a milk deficient country to a milk surplus country due to its connectivity and understanding of socio-economic linkages and relationships apart from local culture at the grass roots level. This understanding has created such strong brand equity for Amul that even the MNCs have failed to dislodge it from its No 1 position in spite of investing huge resources at their command. To understand India in the context of social enterprise we need to go back in time for a better understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats. Only then, we can look forward to creating sustainable models for the road ahead from where India stands today.

Till about 200 years ago the Indian model of entrepreneurship was based on an age old system of castes and communities. Communities and sub-communities often specialized in specific businesses, trades and sectors, having learnt and honed up their practices and skills with great success over hundreds of years. These communities, while competing in the market place with their competitors, supported and nurtured their young members in setting out as entrepreneurs by way of contributions in cash and kind. Kinships were prized and rewarded. Many of these communities not only did business within India but they also traded with the rest of the world which had given them a global vision for their businesses. Successive rulers till the time of the Mughals protected and nurtured these communities and they too supported the rulers with huge amounts of wealth. The State was there to support enterprise and not to curb it through too many regulations and interventions.

This system was shaken up with the arrival of the East India Company whose main objective was to take over and control the Indian business system in a way that they would be the sole gainers. Old systems were systematically decimated through political domination and legal regulation which in certain parts of India went to the extent of replacing food crops with commercial cultivation which could help the British Empire in producing more clothes and help in dominating the global markets. English became the language of the elite and the masses were discriminated on the basis of language, caste & class. They were treated with contempt by the elite classes. The damage was so deep that India is still struggling to recover and restructure to meet the challenges of our times. With this background in mind let’s look at some of the key points a Social Entrepreneur should include in his or her strategic planning for India:

1.Community Engagement Model
Community platforms provide a very cost effective as well as powerful means of connecting with India at the grass root level. One has only do a little bit of research to find out the various caste, religion, geography and profession based communities. These platforms will provide connectivity, knowledge, skills and opportunities to recruit volunteers for social causes. These platforms can also provide an excellent opportunity for low cost communication models.

Just a few years back, I had used this model to launch the Rockland Hospital in Dwarka, Delhi, by organizing a Bhandara (community lunch after religious prayers), for the Rickshaw Pullers who were served by the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) members, local village heads, chemists and doctors. Rickshaw pullers were chosen as in Dwarka they were found to be the best source for locating a place, specially in an emergency. In India, the food suppliers as well as the tent & chair suppliers give a huge discount as a part of their contribution for Bhandara.

The results surprised everyone as against a marketing & communication budget of Rs 75 Lakhs; the cost came to a mere Rs 68,500. Message reached maximum numbers through just one event. What was even more significant that the community volunteers came out in large numbers to ensure that it was a success which could have beaten any experiential marketing technique.

2.Hyper Local Leadership For Diversity Management
The example above clearly illustrates the value of having local leaders who understand the community’s psychology and behaviour. Copy pasting an idea would have cost Rockland Hospital a huge amount and that too without any bonding with the local community. There is an old saying in India that the language and the taste of water changes every few miles in India (कोस-कोस पर बदले पानी, चार कोस पर वाणी). This saying is for explaining the diversity of India. It will be too costly to employ people to cover such a vast country; therefore getting connected with the local opinion leaders is the right way forward. There is no dearth of volunteer ship and the tendency to help others by sharing knowledge and donating time for a cause are very much present in our social system. All that is needed is to understand the value of connecting at the ground level and giving the local opinion leaders the respect they deserve.

3.Value of Patience
India is a democracy so everything is debated; often fiercely. But once people agree on something the world is surprised at the results. In the sixties food shortages were so extreme that our leaders had to go with a begging bowl to the developed nations for food. India was a country with huge milk and egg shortages. For many; the India story was over. It was called a dark era. But India rose as one nation and rewrote a completely new story in the seventies by becoming the world’s largest producer of milk, became self-sufficient in food, liberated Bangla Desh in spite of threats from a super power and exploded a nuclear bomb to assert its rightful place in the new world order.

We were again written off in the eighties due to terrorism and collapse of the economic order resulting in India using its gold reserves to save its face on loan default to the IMF. With the assassination of a mighty leader like Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India it appeared as the nation was leaderless. But India rose again with a roar as an IT Super Power and opened up its markets to teach the world news lessons in managing businesses by managing diversity. When 1.2 billion people make up their minds, India leaps forward like no other nation. India has a decade trap so those wanting to create a successful enterprise in India need lots of patience to be able to survive and sustain for a period that can range between 5 to 10 years. This has happened in several sector like Auto, Telecom, Information Technology and so on so patience is a necessary input for getting the desired output in India.

This is India’s Time

The whole world is looking at India as the land of opportunities. This is certainly a good time for India and all trends are turning green in its favour. For the first time, after a long gap of 30 years, Indians have elected a single party government with full majority after experimenting with several coalition governments. This is a significant change in the political thinking of the nation. With 356 million 10-24 year-olds, India has the world's largest youth population which does not even know that there was a time we did not have internet. This makes India a great source for talent and also makes it a huge market for products and services.

The Oxford dictionary defines occupational hazard as 'a risk accepted as a consequence of a particular occupation'.

Think of the occupational hazard associated with construction work, or mining industry, or, for that matter, night-time driving. The hazard could actually range from sleeplessness to losing life. Still there were people who have sacrificed almost everything to produce some of the most remarkable structures around and jaw-dropping sites. The recently commissioned Gotthard Base Tunnel is a case in point. That surely did involve occupational hazard, in spite of all the advancements made by science.
Now contrast this with the IT Services industry, which is sized at around $140 billion and employing over ten million people in India alone. Impressive figures, indeed. Another figure worth noting is the attrition rate- double digit, often touching 25 per cent.
Let's talk about some of the working conditions in such firms. Centralized air conditioning, no uniforms mandated, enormous flexibility on working hours and work timings, very handsome salaries, all amenities on campus, food courts, playgrounds, libraries, gyms, comfortable and ergonomic workplace, and frequent outings and workplace fun activities, just to name a few. Most of these avenues must be shocking for government employees or even for those working in the private sector manufacturing setup. For a change, let's talk to someone operating a blast furnace at Tata Steel in Jamshedpur during summers.
With all these and many more amenities, what could still justify such massive employee turnovers?
I reckon, there has to be something fundamentally amiss to continue to make people miserable in these otherwise wonderful settings. It seems that none of the external inducements, including some vulgar salary figures, manage to motivate people to stay back and 'work'.
Is it that employees are increasingly losing 'a sense of purpose'. Is it that they don't seem to understand 'why they are doing what they are doing'? My close interactions with folks in the IT services industry offers some ratification to this hunch, and I am not entirely wrong looking at the sorry state of the industry. And the phenomena may not be limited to this industry.
If talent is so mobile, how can anyone create something enduring? Stability is required at times. It's not just good for employee, but also for the industry at large, for, as in nature, creation calls for gestation.
So, I urge you to re-look at the 'occupation hazard' in the context of your workplace, and see if you have left the question of purposelessness unanswered for far too long!

Why Urban communities Need Computerized Modern Organizations

Mechanical organizations are not the same as innovation organizations. What's more, I don't simply imply that they have stepping stools. When you give the establishment to the way the world's frameworks work each day, you think in an unexpected way. Water frameworks, vitality frameworks, transportation frameworks, lighting frameworks all work for quite a while and require extremely mindful arranging about support, appointing, serviceability, and physical security that unadulterated innovation organizations don't need to consider. Mechanical organizations likewise assemble shared foundation that is interested in anybody affirmed by the city. That goes for both people and associations.

In my last post, I discussed the new sort of base required for computerized urban communities. Expansive arrangements of sensors attached to streetlights that were intended to be shared under the heading of city authority can enable another period of urban advancement. We can move from improving City Lobby work to unleashing the greater part of a city's subjects to help each other live, work and play better. Shared base makes value in open door for everybody from secondary school understudies to expansive organizations, in neighborhoods of different types. To really unravel for this present, it will take the work of computerized mechanical organizations.

Why? Above all else, mechanical organizations are experienced at putting genuine hardware in this present reality. When in doubt, we have significantly more stepping stools, instrument belts, can loaders and other hardware than most innovation organizations do. Furthermore, what we don't have in house, we have expansive arrangements of accomplices with those particular devices that have worked with us on mechanical activities for quite a long time. I know those sorts of "innovations" don't produce a ton of features, however like it or not, they are vital to making advanced urban communities. Also, the comprehension and eagerness to go into the road and keep up genuine physical hardware is fundamental to digitizing urban communities.

Innovation organizations don't introduce and oversee hardware like this as a feature of their DNA. Of course, every one of them can let you know how they assemble a custom arrangement and put sensors on sewer vent spreads to check for water stream levels (I was a piece of those groups as well!), yet it's a totally diverse creature when you are overseeing tens or a huge number of streetlights or securing power frameworks against interruption. This is the thing that mechanical organizations do each day.

Second, in light of the fact that mechanical organizations work in this present reality with genuine gear, they plan cloud innovation that is reason worked for getting information from these gadgets to the cloud secury. The GE motor controlling the plane I am on (one of the main spots I can discover time to sort these posts!) will create a normal of half of a terabyte of information for each flight. Gracious, and it moves from air terminal to air terminal, so recovering that information to the cloud for investigation isn't the most straightforward thing to do.

Innovation organizations exceed expectations at getting information starting with one framework then onto the next. In the event that you have to prepare a considerable measure of keeping money exchanges and break down patterns, you needn't bother with a modern organization. Be that as it may, in the event that you are a city pioneer that is going to convey physical sensors all over your city to engage the following urban innovation development, you certainly need the experience of a mechanical organization.

Third, mechanical organizations are upbeat to make open foundation that is shared. It's our main event. We are cheerful to have heaps of use sellers fabricate arrangements on our computerized base, as pervasive, open Drove installations.

We know we aren't specialists at taking care of numerous city issues, so we don't attempt to do it. We don't have ulterior thought processes of gathering individual information on people so we can publicize to them later. Our outline point is to make framework that enables a group. At GE, we've done it for more than 130 years.

Some innovation organizations need to offer you answers for each issue that you have. They need to be your one-stop-look for everything. While there are numerous solid innovation organizations, my conviction is that in the event that you unleash the inventiveness of your city, you will discover a lot of incredible arrangements and you will make employments and drive monetary development in the meantime. That takes open framework.

There are various new businesses that have extremely cool arrangements. I trust that large portions of these new businesses can figure out how to influence the modern advanced base to take care of fascinating issues.

I ought to bring up that as much as I solidly trust we require computerized modern organizations to send and secure base, I'm sure that enormous innovation organizations will keep on playing a noteworthy part in taking care of urban issues. Truth be told, I wager that their answers will improve and their capacity to help city pioneers will scale much quicker AFTER a computerized modern organization gives them the privilege physical base.

I adore innovation and will dependably be fascinated by the arrangements that bleeding edge innovation can empower. However, for city pioneers who are centered around unleashing the financial development open doors that urban tech holds, the main decision is a computerized modern organization with resilience that can give the open, secure, versatile base that urban areas require.

5 real reasons why startups fail!

The immediate reaction once you know that you are in the phase of failing is to jump ship and head towards the first exit and disappear for a few years. This may arise due to the amount of money put into the startup that could have been used for lets say, having a fantastic time with family and friends, buying more property or simply relax till the end. What the heck is the end anyway?
From my point of view, we are not that breed. We come from a different lineage. We cannot stop when it's not hot. We need to move and make it happen. It maybe an addiction, but it is you see. It is the core of what we were put on earth for.

To make a difference, no matter what. If anyone reads this and says that they failed, I say that it isn't true. Why? Because, this is how it is supposed to be. Everything, the earth, stars, planets, rocks, the old man and the sea and your blooming business, is supposed to be in this state at this given point of time.

Your life is like a rubix cube. You will not understand it halfway, but because of natural algorithms, it was already set in play millions of years ago and again, you must understand it all comes right in the end. The following line maybe difficult to understand, but you will, when it is time - "Walk the path, don't think it, it will guide you. Once you start thinking then resistance emerges and you will go astray".

Now that we have digressed, we need to reel back to the 5 real points of why startups fail:

No market - You need to understand that there has to be a whole lot of research that goes into finding out how and why you will succeed in the market. (Read Lean Startup)
Lack of ownership - You cannot have a full fledged business and start a start up. That is just totally insane. You need to jump into a start up and stay there until you succeed or fail. No safety nets please, except for a money cushion.
No cash - Do not get an office if you don't need one. Get an office and the works through the income that you earn from the business. Even then if you don't need one, don't get it. Overheads are like, you trying to kill yourself and acting stupid about it.
Hire the wrong team - Don't hire a team if you don't need one right away. Once you hire, then you must hire a resource who takes over that particular responsibility completely, and they should do it much better than you can. You should not be there to guide them except in the beginning.
Do it all yourself - Remember you cannot do it all yourself. It is a good thing that you know how to, but that's not the way to go. I remember that I tried to work all departments even though I hired resources. It just isn't right because you really need to learn the art of delegating work and responsibility. The question arises that if something is delegated then what if the person doesn't really do the job? This was something I battled the first time, but like I mentioned before, it all comes right in the end. Few bumps ahead initially and the road becomes smooth.

Is "free shipping" in Indian e-commerce dying?

I remember, in early days of e-commerce, everyone used to talk about how e-commerce is far more efficient than physical retail because one doesn’t have the cost burden of physical stores. And therefore, e-commerce players can offer great discounts and free shipping by “passing on” these benefits to consumers. I guess everyone wanted to emulate Amazon, whose legendary head, Jeff Bezos, has repeatedly said that their only goal is to keep bringing down costs and pass on these benefits as reduced prices to consumers.
Now, as the pressure to improve P&L mounts, one is beginning to see some crucial changes in the way e-commerce business is conducted in India. We have seen Jabong shrink in size. Jabong’s Net Revenues, as reported by Rocket Internet in their 14th April 2016 filings, for Q4 of CY2015 were at Rs 218cr, down 19% YoY (yes, you read it right) versus Rs 271cr in Q4 CY2014. Total transactions in the same quarter for Jabong shrunk even more – 1.9 million v/s 3 million, which is shrinkage by 37%.
One of the headlines in recent news reports was Myntra’s categorical statement about systematic reduction of discounts – “1 percentage point every month”. This would, obviously, directly help reduce cash burn. Assuming Myntra has a monthly GMV of, say, USD 50 million, every 1% discount reduction would mean $6 million less funding requirement in one year. 5 percentage points reduction means $30 million less funding for the year, and that's a lot of capital saved.

That’s not the whole story though. Another important chapter of the story is the slow death of “free shipping”. A couple of years ago, everyone had Free Shipping as the norm - with no minimum purchase requirements. Then came the minimum purchase requirement, which varies across portals, for availing Free Shipping.

And in recent times, players have upped the charges for delivery. Myntra is one of the examples. In fashion e-commerce, typically, customers have a basket size of about Rs 1500. In this context, Myntra’s minimum order value requirement of Rs 999/- is significant. Also, the charges for order value below Rs 999 are now at Rs 149. Yes, you read it right, it is Rs 149/-. A player like YepMe, which serves more value-conscious consumers with merchandise that’s at the lower-end of pricing as compared to Myntra’s assortment, is now charging Rs 99/- for each order. No free shipping at all, no matter what’s your order value.

Now, this is a crucial development. It obviously helps players reduce their cash burn and helps them progress on the path to profitability. But for a consumer, this is quite a departure from the norm of “free shipping”. Most players continue to talk about free shipping with usual T&C applied, but looks like more and more shipments are now with delivery charges.
So how does the cash outlay for consumers change – I looked at a UCB t-shirt, which was available at 40% discount. But the math turns out as follows:

MRP – Rs 1299/-
Discount – Rs 520/- (@40% of MRP)
Sub Total – Rs 779/- (@60% of MRP – so far so good)
VAT/CST collected – Rs 39/- (@5% of the discounted price)
Delivery Charges – Rs 149/- (whoa!!! That’s nearly 20% of the discounted price)
Total payable – Rs 967/- (Hmm…..in effect, my discount is only Rs 366, i.e., 25% and not 40%)

So what started off as a 40% discount lure for a consumer, ends up at only 25% discount, unless the consumer decided to add something else to the cart to make it Rs 1000 or more in value terms.
An alternative approach would be to directly reduce the discount itself, instead of using the Delivery charge route, to improve order economics. I guess that’s more in-the-face of the consumer and has the risk of putting her/him off. And therefore, it seems that players have chosen to use the somewhat indirect route of delivery charge.

As for the big-three horizontal players (Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon), the range of shipment charges varies basis the seller or fulfillment option. Independent sellers on these marketplaces can, by-and-large, define their own delivery charge and indeed do so in many cases. For instance, a male t-shirt with net sale price of Rs 599-799 may have a delivery charge of Rs 30-70 by the seller. Similarly, women dresses with a sale price of below Rs 500 are being offered at delivery charges of Rs 30-75. These sellers mostly have fixed delivery charges basis each product and they don’t offer free delivery even with an increase in basket size/order value. So, 2 dresses of Rs 500 each would entail an Rs 100-150 delivery charge from such a seller! Adding a not-so-small 10-15% to the customer’s outlay.

One would have to wait and see how consumers react to this. But one thing is clear, the notion of Free Shipping is getting substantially redefined, if not dying entirely.

Google: Keep Redirects Indefinitely But One Can Remove Them After Google Indexes

Last September we reported that Google says it is best to keep redirects live for a year or so and even better, keep the redirects live for as long as you possible can.
Gary Illyes from Google said this morning on Twitter that you can remove the redirects "if the new page is already indexed." He did add after that "best practice is to keep the redirects indefinitely, but that's not always feasible." So in the case where that is not feasible, "removing the redirects after signals were passed (i.e. new page indexed and serves for old url) is fine," Gary added. Once the redirect is gone, Gary said "you will not get credited for any new links if the old page is nonexistent / doesn't redirect."
In summary, Google will pass the signals of the links pointing to the redirects when they index it. Once they index it, you should be good. But any new links that Google discovers after the redirect is removed, those won't get any credit.

Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal recently made it to Time magazine’s “100 most influential” list. The timing of this recognition could not have been more ironic, though.

Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce major founded in 2007 by the two friends, is going through what may be its roughest patch yet.

In the last few months, Flipkart has been in the news for the wrong reasons: top-level exits, funding crunch, and devaluation by investors.

The company has chosen to stay quiet about most of these issues. But entrepreneurs and investors have begun debating if the online retailer is still the ideal Indian startup—or if it is fast becoming the perfect lesson in what not to do.

In an April 24 post on Founding Fuel, media group Network18’s founding CEO Haresh Chawla—now a partner at a private equity firm—listed his reasons for considering Flipkart’s strategies flawed. “Flipkart is in the middle of a storm of its own making,” Chawla said. “The ignominy of squandering its first mover advantage to Amazon will only heighten the crisis brewing inside.”

There is little doubt that Flipkart has been the most successful Indian technology startup on several parameters, including fund-raising, valuation, and employment generation. However, it’s hard to look away from its troubles.

From bumper to bumpy

For Flipkart, 2014 was historic. It raised a whopping $1.9 billion in three tranches, including a $1-billion Series G round in July—the world’s largest e-commerce deal that year. The investor list—Tiger Global, T Rowe Price, DST Global, and GIC, among others—could shame many Silicon Valley startups.

In May 2014, Flipkart acquired online fashion retailer Myntra for $300 million, marking the biggest consolidation in Indian e-commerce history. At the time, Flipkart was valued at $2 billion. By December that year, Flipkart’s valuation had soared to $11 billion.

Flush with funds, it sought to double its gross merchandise value (GMV)—total value of goods sold through a marketplace—from $4 billion in February 2015 to $8 billion by December 2015. In September that year, Flipkart raised its target for March 2016 to an ambitious $10 billion.

But none of that happened, perhaps because the targets were not grounded in reality.

By February 2016, Flipkart’s GMV was still around $5 billion, according to a report in the Mint newspaper. Analysts’ estimates match that figure.

2016 so far…

Several things have not gone Flipkart’s way since the beginning of this year.

Instability in top management: Churn seems to be the theme for 2016. On Jan. 11, the company announced its decision to appoint Binny Bansal the new CEO, replacing Sachin Bansal, who is now the executive chairman. Sachin had been the CEO since Flipkart’s inception while Binny served as the chief operating officer.

A month later, Flipkart announced the exit of two of its top executives—Mukesh Bansal, head of the commerce platform and Myntra co-founder, and chief business officer Ankit Nagori. Widely considered Flipkart’s CEO-in-waiting, Mukesh’s exit surprised many.

Flipkart’s star hire from the Silicon Valley was the next in line. A former top Google executive, Punit Soni joined Flipkart in March 2015. His appointment was much celebrated in the Indian startup community, and Mukesh Bansal even called it “the next stage of Flipkart.”

Earlier this month, Flipkart confirmed that Soni had quit. Although there has been speculation over why Soni decided to leave within a year of coming on board, Anindya Ghose, director of New York University’s Center for Business Analytics, reckons it could be due to a cultural mismatch.

Often the “top talent who come from the Valley find it difficult to adjust to the culture in India, where things can be less structured and more chaotic,” Ghose said.

Devaluation and possibility of down round: Flipkart has been devalued twice in 2016. In March, investor Morgan Stanley trimmed Flipkart’s valuation by 27% to $11 billion. Earlier this month, another investor, T Rowe Price, cut the value of its holding in Flipkart by 15%. This means if Flipkart has to raise funds anytime soon, it may be forced to go for a down round, where investors purchase stocks at a valuation lower than during the earlier round.

Besides, several media reports have suggested that the company is desperately trying to raise funds but can’t find buyers at its preferred valuation. Discussions with over 15 investors have been unsuccessful, the Mint reported.

Government regulations: In March, the Indian government inadvertently added to Flipkart’s pain through its new e-commerce policy.

Now, online marketplaces—technology companies that act as facilitators between buyers and sellers—are not permitted to have more than 25% of their sales coming from one vendor. The largest seller on Flipkart is WS Retail, a Flipkart subsidiary. While the company does not disclose WS Retail’s share in sales, analysts told Quartz it would easily be above the new 25% threshold.

The government also said that e-commerce marketplaces will not be allowed to influence the selling price of goods and services listed on their platforms. This potentially means companies like Flipkart would be punished for offering heavy discounts—a major driver of e-commerce’s massive growth in India.

No breakeven in sight yet: Flipkart is nine years old but has not publicly shared any roadmap to reaching break-even. Even though it is the largest e-commerce player by GMV—a statistic that is also not shared by Flipkart but reported in the media through sources—some believe that it may not be the best of parameters.

“It’s never a good idea to rely on any one metric as a golden metric,” said Kartik Hosanagar, a professor technology and digital business at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “To gauge the health of a company, one needs to slice and dice the data in multiple ways to get a complete picture. For example, it is important to ask what is the customer lifetime value relative to acquisition costs. It is important to ask about customer retention and frequency of purchase.”

Moreover, Flipkart has been heavily dependent on discounts so far. While that was a justified strategy in the initial years, it may not be sustainable over a longer period.

Given India’s price-sensitive buyers, there are high chances of online retailers losing customers once discounts are discontinued. “If they do not offer deep discounts, Indian consumers will switch back to offline retailers, which seem to be always on sale,” Ghose of New York University said. “I do not think this cultural behavior of the average Indian consumer will change even with a substantial increase in the average disposable income in India.”

Catching up

The biggest threat to Flipkart comes from Seattle. American e-commerce major Amazon launched its India website in June 2013, more than five years after Flipkart’s inception. In less than three years, Jeff Bezos’s firm has become Flipkart’s primary competitor.

Amazon does not break down most of its metrics by geography. However, the top three e-commerce players in India share the number of items listed on their platforms. By that measure, Amazon has nearly caught up:

Several independent data analytics firms have said that Flipkart is ahead by market share. For instance, in December 2015, Flipkart’s app had a 47% marketshare among e-commerce apps in India, according to data mining firm SimilarWeb; Amazon had 15.86% in December 2015, followed by Snapdeal at 13.84%. In February this year, Flipkart became the first Indian mobile app to cross 50 million installs on Android Play Store, a company press release said.

However, some data trends suggest Flipkart might be losing out. In recent months, the number of monthly active users on Flipkart has been “significantly declining,” according to New York-based data analytics firm 7Parks Research.

Over the last two years, Flipkart has toyed with the idea of focussing solely on mobilephones. In fact, in May 2014, Myntra shut its website for more than a year and was available only through its mobile app. Flipkart also discontinued access to its website from smartphones for a few months in 2015. The move backfired.

During the time when Flipkart was planning to pursue a mobile-only strategy, Amazon’s active user-base roughly doubled, according to Byrne Hobart, lead internet analyst at 7Park Data. “Although Flipkart still maintains a lead (21% of mobile users in India use its app at least once a week, compared to 13% for Amazon), their lead is rapidly shrinking,” Hobart added.

Flipkart and Amazon are also neck-to-neck in terms of the average minutes spent by users on their apps each week.

As Quartz wrote earlier, Flipkart isn’t the only homegrown e-commerce player in the middle of a crisis. Snapdeal has also been lurching from one problem to another—inability to meet ambitious targets to employee protests. But these problems cannot be swept under the rug anymore because finally, after years of pouring in money, investors have begun asking tough questions of e-commerce companies.

Industry leader Flipkart needs to rethink its strategy if it wants to go down in history as the star of India’s online startups.

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