#BuiltAroundAdversity

In the last few years, we've faced a number of events which have impacted our lives drastically. Most people suffer as these events force us to change the way we live and approach our regular lives.

On the bright side, these changes become a boon for certain startup sectors, pushing startups into a hyper growth cycle. Be it Demonetization which put Digital Payment providers like Paytm into fifth gear, or be it the current Covid pandemic which has propelled Edtech/Epharmacy/Eretail or other "E" sectors into hyper growth.

This brings us down to a question, should startups look to build around a pain-point which may not be as severe at present, but is likely to escalate down the line. Some examples can be

- increasing crime due to a slowdown and unemployment

- targeting of a particular religious group

- the Govt. cracking down on other personal assets like jewelery, gold

- major cities not having water to sustain

Building with this view, it sounds a bit like a gamble, but who knows!!!

Looking for the Perfect Startup Idea

The best way of finding a startup idea is through experience. Sure, you can read about different Industries and do your research and come up with an idea. However, I feel if you can experience and identify a genuine problem, you feel more confident and passionate about the idea as you are a potential customer yourself. You tend to understand this idea better.

So now that you have identified an idea, should you pursue it? I guess before deciding, you should consider the following:

Passion: Do you feel like you are extremely passionate about the idea and really believe in solving the problem you have identified. Starting a company is a long and tiring process. Passion is what can see an entrepreneur through.

Skill Set: With the passion, a entrepreneur requires skill sets to execute well. If you feel you do not have or cannot put together the skill sets required, you should hold on before deciding to jump in.

When you develop a mindset of finding and exploring new ideas, you will tend to see a lot of gaps you can potentially fill. Be very sure which one to pursue and which ones to leave. Once you jump in with an idea, there should be no looking back.

Working Out The Features

Now that I had the idea, I started writing it on a document. We were basically going to create a buyer’s companion app, i.e. an app where buyers could post their requirements and sellers/service providers could come and connect with the buyers if they were offering what was required.

Features of the Idea were listed as follows:

Posting by Buyers – Halllp is going to be a buyer side classifieds app, an app where buyers would post their requirements. The idea behind this was that today, it is a buyers’ market and sellers need to make the effort of getting a sale. So why not in classifieds as well. Buyers should post their requirement and sellers should come, browse listings, find the ones which are relevant and make contact.

Limited Duration for Posts (72 Hours) – This was something which was partly based on intuition and partly on the interaction I had with 15-20 of my colleagues. A person requiring a service is generally very interested in getting the same within a short period, say around 72 hours (assumption). Most requirements (except certain requirements like finding a house, finding a partner for marriage etc.) are fulfilled within a period of 3 days and hence we decided to limit the duration of any post to 72 hours, after which it does not show on the app. One major advantage of doing this was to also target some major drawbacks of classifieds sites,  clutter and old and outdated postings. Sellers will be aware and assured that if any post is there on Halllp, it must most probably be live and urgent.

Students Only – I decided to make this app for students only. Since I was shifting to Tilburg to do a course, being a student myself, I feel, will make it easier for me to market to other students. Besides students are more active online and would be willing to offer and avail services through the app.

Now that I had the features ready, the next step was to build a prototype.