Startup Archives

Work Culture — Start-up Vs. Corporate

O4S on September 29, 2021

As per NASSCOM 2018 report, startups in India are growing at a faster rate in 2018 as compared to 2017. The startup industry is believed to touch the mark of 10,500 by the year 2020, which is quite a massive growth from 3,100, recorded in the year 2014. Competing with big brand Multi-National Companies (MNCs), these small-scale startups are able to become a career choice amongst jobseekers with the primary reason being differences in their work cultures.

What is the difference between a Start-up and a Corporate?

A startup can be defined as the efforts of individual founders that try to create a repeatable and scalable business model. Meanwhile, the MNCs or Corporate are defined as organizations that operate in at least one country other than the country of their origin.

Work Culture Differences: Startup vs. Corporate

The liberty to enjoy, the zeal to learn new things and the passion of becoming a leader is what separated startup from Multi-national companies that follow a monotonous life. Both the working environments have their own perks & are quite different from each other. Let’s briefly discuss and understand the difference between the two.

Exciting vs. Tedious Job Roles

In a small-scale startup, you’ll get the opportunity to experiment, innovate, and grow. You’ll be the master of your wish and each day in a startup will bring something new to learn, or to adopt with itself. Your job roles in a startup will tend to change frequently, depending upon the real-time challenges of the organization. On the other hand, in a multi-national company, with a defined job role, you’ll be doing the same set of tasks for years to come. This means no scope for exploring and enhancing. This might limit your knowledge and skillset too.

Being Managed vs. Managing Yourself

In a corporate set-up, there are people holding a place higher than yours in the hierarchy, managing projects and tackling the usual business challenges. There are managers who keep a close watch on their employees, tracking their work details, deploying tasks, setting deadlines, and following a well-defined structure. Meanwhile, in a startup, you are the taskmaster and your own manager. You are responsible for everything that you deliver. Managing tasks, setting deadlines, priority management, etc., which helps you grow as an individual by learning self-management.

Safe Player vs. Challenger

The big brands refrain themselves from taking a leap fearing high risks. Corporates prefer growing ends that are already present rather than rooting in new ideas or exploring new horizons. However, startups are always looking to introduce something new, that might bring a change, and thus, they are always welcoming challenges and risks with open arms. This gives the employees the freedom to innovate and experiment. While helping them to explore their interests while nourishing their skill sets.

Problem Solving Approach

The small-scale startups always prefer the employees to step out of their comfort zone and come with ideas that shall help the organization in growing. Problem-solving is one such segment where if you come with solutions for a department that isn’t yours, but reduces hurdles for the company, you become a star. Corporate belief in a “stay confined” sort of theory. The processes being streamlined, many a time are not encouraging enough for employees to come-up as arising.

Startups like us help you grow as an individual and a professional. On the other hand, corporate may attract you with its stability but offers a monotonous life. Preference for the right work-culture depends on the nature and will of the individual. O4S, an exciting startup that made its debut recently, follows the lines that define an amazing startup. Offering flexibility to work, a loving and understanding work environment, supportive management and the opportunity to become a leader by grabbing various opportunities. O4S is definitely working upon the terms it decided to take up to thrive. To know more about the existing job opportunities, click here.

Tech-Based Anti-Counterfeiting Solutions for Liquor Industry

O4S on February 27, 2020

Liquor or alcohol is considered as a sunrise product with its demand and production rising at substantial rates. It is estimated that the consumption of alcohol has increased by 70% between 1990 to 2017. People across the globe consumed 35,676 million litres of liquor per year in 2017, a number which was only 20,999 million litres per year in 1990. As per a recent study conducted to analyze the trends in alcohol consumption in 189 countries, it is estimated that the consumption of alcohol will continue to rise in the next 5–10 years.

One of the surprising revelations of the study threw light on the fact that consumption of liquor was reducing across Eastern Europe, but has been increasing in middle-income countries such as India, China, and Vietnam, among others. The per capita alcohol consumption reduced in Europe from 11.2 litres to 9.8 litres between 2010 to 2017, while during the same period it grew from 3.5 litres to 4.7 litres across Southeast Asia.

The story in India has not been any different with 8.9% annual increase in the consumption of liquor in the last six years. India is the third-largest liquor market with an estimated worth of 1.46 Trillion Rupees. The growth in social drinking and expanding middle class are a few of the top reason for the increase in consumption of liquor in India. However, with the rise of liquor consumption, there has been a significant increase in the production and sale of counterfeit liquor.

Counterfeiting in the liquor industry

The fraud in the liquor industry can vary vastly in the severity ranging from dilution of premium gin, vodka, or tequila with water to substituting the original product with cheaper alternatives including dangerous substitutes such as methanol or rubbing alcohol. The liquor industry’s problems with counterfeiting do not stop at a financial or brand-equity loss but can result in severe repercussion leading to loss of lives.

Some of the major fake liquor tragedies of recent times were loss of 32 lives in 2015, 40 in 2013, and hundreds of victims in 2011 in West Bengal. The loss of life can lead to a massive impact on the brands too, as was seen in 2018. Vat 69 and Smirnoff were banned from selling in the National Capital for two years due to the company’s alleged usage of duplicate barcodes which could be misused.

The existing liquor taxes and ‘sin taxes’ imposed on liquor lead to a rise in price and are considered motivation for counterfeiting. High prices are also considered motivation for the buyers to purchase cheaper substitutes knowing that it could be dangerous for their health. However, against the common belief, most buyers are not aware that they are purchasing counterfeit alcohol.

A Global Phenomenon

Counterfeiting in the liquor industry is not just an Indian problem, but a global catastrophe. As per a study published by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, 28% of total liquor in Brazil, 34% in Mexico, and 66% in Mozambique was counterfeit. In 2013, Russia sold 9.9 million more bottles of Whiskey than officially imported. It is also estimated that 30%-50% of total alcohol sales in Russia is that of illicit vodka.

Fake bottles have also been found to be manufactured and used in many parts of the world, indicating that counterfeiters may even have industrial-scale capabilities. The problem of fake wine has been rampant in China, with estimates hinting that close to 2 million fake bottles were being manufactured annually in China. In the UK, 50 million litres of counterfeit alcohol have been seized in a single year by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Financial losses in the UK are estimated at around £218 million a year due to the sale of fake liquors.

Counterfeiting of liquor has also claimed many lives on a global scale. A simple search of ‘death from counterfeit alcohol’ throws up several reports with an alarming number of fatalities. Fake alcohol has claimed 140 lives in Indonesia, 72 in Siberia, 100 in Libya, 60 in Iran, and across most countries in the world. With such a massive problem, stakeholders across the world are working on and trying to find a solution to combating this menace.

Next-Gen Solutions

With counterfeiters becoming tech-savvy and even setting up manufacturing plants as we saw in the case of Russia, it is time for organisations to look towards upcoming technologies to solve one of the oldest and dreaded problems of the liquor industry. Tech-based solutions certainly have the potential to become the saviour the industry needs!

The first step should be to secure the supply chain by serializing every liquor bottle that leave the factory. This can be done by simply embedding a QR code containing multiple sets of information on the product packaging which can then be used to track the product during its entire journey in the supply chain. This QR codes can then also be utilised by the end consumers to authenticate their purchase.

The QR code allows your organization to closely track the inventory. Thus, enabling you to optimize it to maintain optimum stocks across distributors and retailers. This information will also empower your organization to garner a greater understanding of its distribution network. Using these QR codes is simple and scalable with minimal addition to costs. The costs are negligible compared to the revenue losses due to the sale of counterfeits.

The same solutions that are used for preventing the sale of counterfeit liquor and securing your organization’s supply chain can also be used to create an ecosystem beyond the bottles. These can be used by the marketing function of your organization to turn your products into platforms and interact with your customers like never before. This opens new opportunities for customer engagement and delivering a better consumer experience.

Conclusion

The problem of counterfeiting in the liquor industry is equally alarming as in any industry. Repercussions being beyond just usual loss in revenues. Fake liquor reaching the end-user will not only put the consumers’ lives in jeopardy but will also have an irreparable impact on the brand. The solution lies in a 360-degree approach with all the stakeholders including the government and the consumers working together to fight counterfeiting. Using next-gen technological solutions and ensuring consumer awareness are the fundamental steps that can address the grave issue of counterfeiting in the liquor industry.

Product Digitization with O4S

O4S on December 23, 2019

The average consumer is more informed now than ever in the past and with increasing technological advancement, things are about to change further. It would be redundant to say that digitization is here or your organization should focus on digital to remain competitive in the market. We are past that! Today, the focus has shifted towards taking digitalization to products or services which were once considered outside the digital purview. Irrespective of whether a company sells physical or digital products, it requires to make a digital connection with the consumers.

With multiple options available to customers, creating an experience will be the key to ensuring brand loyalty. As per a Salesforce report, 95 percent of customers said that they were more likely to be loyal to a company they trust, and 80 percent mentioned that experience provided by the company was as important as the product or the service. So, what can companies do to create a unique digital experience and increase the trust-factor?

Product Digitization

For companies producing physical products, digital has at best been used for marketing activities. However, with the arrival of Next-Gen technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Robotics, etc. the usage of the digital platform can go far beyond. When thinking about the application of these technologies, both companies and consumers imagine smart devices, driverless cars, and perhaps, even a flying jet pack. What if these technologies could be applied to the most basic products? A bottle of cold drink or a packet of biscuits?

Product digitization is a process of adding smart tags to the products which will enable the end-users to interact digitally with the products. It can open new avenues to increase customer loyalty and create personalized communication with the consumer at the point of sale. Product digitization can be achieved by adding scannable QR codes on the products. The end-user has to simply point their camera, and get all the product details right on their mobile phones.

Brands have absolute control over what information is displayed to the customer once they scan the code with their phones. Besides ensuring the fact that the product is original, customers can get a wide range of information about the product life-cycle. You can share product development videos, pictures of the manufacturing plant, or details of the upcoming products. Product digitization with O4S is easy to implement without making any significant changes to the existing technology.

Product digitization will have a positive impact across departments from supply chain to marketing. For organizations dealing in physical goods, a supply chain is the core of the business. The transparency obtained due to product digitization can help organizations create a robust supply chain. Besides, as per a study conducted by PwC, 33 percent of respondents said their companies have already digitized the supply chain while another 72% added that their companies would do it within the next five years.

Advantages of Product Digitization

Product digitization will have both immediate and long-term benefits for an organization. From impacting customer loyalty to optimizing the supply chain, it has immense benefits. Let us look at some of the top benefits offered by product digitization.

1. Enhanced Security

Product digitization helps the brand in ensuring better security of their products. The products are protected against counterfeiting as every stakeholder will have the option to scan the product and ascertain its authenticity. It also allows you to improve the supply chain visibility of products. An organization will be able to track the product during its entire supply chain. The increased visibility will help in improving the efficiency of the supply chain. Cumulatively, this will help in optimizing the supply chain.

2. Build Customer Trust

With product digitization features offered by O4S, customers will have more reasons to trust the brand. With the point and scan feature, customers can determine the authenticity of the product with their mobile phones. The customer can get all the information about the product from manufacturing all the way to the delivery. Product digitization adds an extra layer of trust so that customers can purchase products without any doubt in their minds.

3. Increased Engagement

Product digitization can be used to interact with customers in real-time. This information can be used by brands to arrive at crucial business decisions for improving engagement as well as sales. Dynamic content can be shared with the end-users to increase brand loyalty and introduce new products. With product digitization, brands can effectively use data to implement marketing automation. Based on real-time locations, content in regional languages can also be shared with the users.

4. End-to-End Customer Experience

Customer experience is a major factor that impacts loyalty and repeat purchases. Today, customers want a seamless and integrated digital experience. Product digitization creates an opportunity for the brand to not only offer a comprehensive customer experience but also pave the way for future innovations. A brand can keep the customers both intrigued and satisfied by delivering engaging digital content.

5. Process Optimization

While product digitization will have a wide range of benefits pertaining to customers, it will also have positive effects on the end-to-end process. Based on the abundant data that will be generated at each stakeholder, every team from procurement to marketing will be in a better position to make informed decisions. As a result, the demand and supply gap at every stage will be as less as possible.

Product digitization gives a digital identity to your physical products. Your organization can get better control over the products, ensure increased connectivity, and offer a better context to your customers. O4S product digitization technology enables you to digitize your existing products without the need to reinvent or substantially alter them. If done correctly, product digitization can offer immense competitor advantages. Get in touch with us to know how product digitization can help your organization. Feel free to reach out to us, we are just an email/ call away.

Career Path Via Start-Ups

O4S on September 12, 2019

In this age of advancing technology, the traditional career paths are no longer the only way to kickstart your career. As competition becomes fierce and the number of jobs dwindles, young professionals must prove their mettle to get hired. With the freelance economy booming along with the rise of online career development courses, the job market is more competitive than it has been ever before. Young professionals need to develop skills and acquire the right work experience to create a successful career for themselves. But, how does someone who has little or no experience compete with people who have spent years in the corporate world?

Taking up a job in a start-up can help you in exponentially growing your career by acquiring skills and experiences that you will not get in a traditional corporate job. Just like any other career path, start-ups have a downside too. But if you join the right start-up and put in the required efforts, chances of your succeeding go up manifolds. To protect your career, before joining any start-up you must do a thorough background search of the company and ensure that it has some proven product or service that has the potential to grow and succeed. Alternatively, joining a small business that has been operating for a few years will be equally rewarding. (Just so that you know, O4S has been around for a few years and we are hiring.)

So, what are the top benefits of joining a start-up?

Building a Unique Work-Experience

In a corporate job, all your job responsibilities are clearly defined, and you are assigned a particular task or set of functions which you are expected to perform on a daily basis. While it may seem like a learning process for the first few months, it soon becomes a monotonous routine that you do to get a salary on the first of every month. On the contrary, there are endless learning opportunities in working with start-ups. The communication lines are shorter, and things change daily in small businesses. You may have to evolve with changing requirements and learn things beyond your defined job responsibilities.

Learning Opportunities

There is no denying the fact that start-ups are a goldmine of learning opportunities. As an employee of a start-up or small business, you have access to every facet of the company. Either you are the part of the key decision-making process, or you witness it first-hand. You may have to wear different hats from marketing to operations to HR as per changing requirements. Even though you may be a sales professional, there could be circumstances when you are recruiting someone and defining your company culture. Working with start-ups will make you a quick learner and flexible professional. You will learn to adapt to the changing situation and take on new challenges.

Entrepreneurial Mindset

Entrepreneurship is something that is no longer restricted to start-ups, even well-established organizations now motivate intrapreneurs. This is mainly because an entrepreneurial mindset can be an asset to any organization. You develop a mindset to see opportunities that no one else can which benefits the organization. Your start-up experience will be a mini-MBA for you which will teach you aspects of the business that you may not even learn in B-schools. This learning experience and the entrepreneurial mindset will help you get ahead in your career and help you achieve greater things in life.

Financially Rewarding

Besides all the learning that you get, working for start-ups and small businesses can be financially rewarding too. Start-ups are always looking for talent that is willing to take a calculated risk and help them turn their vision into a reality. If you fit the requirement, start-ups could offer packages and other perks that are way better than the traditional corporate set-ups. Depending on the start-up you join, you may even be offered some equity which can worth millions if the start-up were to make it big.

An Impressive Job Title

As you gain some experience and grow in your career, you will realize that a job title is the last thing you should be bothered about. Yet, a fancy job title can boost your confidence early in your career and make you feel happy about what you are doing. In start-ups, promotions are not based on a set trajectory and job titles are not giving based on the number of years of service. Working with start-ups will enable you to spice up your resume with some fancy job titles and may even help you in getting into the corporate world at higher positions. You will also add more bullet points to your resume than you could ever while working with a traditional company.

It is essential to evaluate the benefits and limitations of a career path based on your personal as well as professional goals. If you prefer working in a low-stress environment (who doesn’t), start-ups are perfect for you. Unlike the corporate set-ups which are known for rigid atmosphere and fix set of rules, start-ups are all about growing together and nurturing the company. Since you are surrounded by people with a mindset similar to that of yours, you are more likely to share a positive professional relationship with them. These enable you to freely express yourself and explore without the fear of making mistakes.

As we have seen, there are pros and cons of working with start-ups and shaping your career path via start-ups. However, it depends on what you wish to achieve in your career from a short-term and long-term perspective. Small businesses and start-ups are more open to people with non-traditional CVs and those seeking more from their careers. It is certainly the road less traveled, but with the right choices and by joining the right organization, you can set yourself for a fulfilling as well as a rewarding career. Just to add, we are hiring and you can get in touch with us via workplay@o4s.io.

Life at O4S

O4S on September 5, 2019

Your first job or even first few jobs will have a significant impact on your career. Fresh out of college or with just a few years of experience, the task of selecting the right career path and determining the right company can be a daunting task. However, one needs to understand that being employed at a place you enjoy working and doing the kind of work that you always wished are the most crucial aspects of your work. If you get both these aspects in any job, you will grow professionally and advance your career while loving every moment of it.

At O4S, we have the unique freedom to experiment, be creative, and have a sense of ownership of our work. Here failure is welcomed, provided you are ready to learn from it and put more effort the next time. Peers are encouraged to be caring towards, both interpersonal relationships and their craft. We understand that the term startup has become synonymous with flexibility, above anything else. Therefore, all employees are provided adequate options to choose their schedule for maximizing productivity.

You will get to work with a bunch of go-getters who are a group of self-driven individuals from various walks of life. Some of the very cool people you work in close contact will be devoted techies, inventive programmers, creative designers, sales and marketing mavericks, content specialists, and other domain experts. Working with these amazing people will provide you with tremendous scope for individual learning, advancement, and growth.

No matter where you work now or where you wish to work in the future, you must always look for a job where you have fun. For you, the idea of fun could be absolutely anything, whether you think fun is programming for hours on end, solving crazy math problems, getting together for after-office drinks, or simply chatting with co-workers.

Having fun at work does not make you unprofessional or unfit, rather it eases your mind, builds a sense of connection, security, and motivates you to do better. Even if earnings are restricted, flexible work hours and a relaxed work environment make up for all shortcomings and ensure a positive company culture.

We encourage you to mingle with the community through meetups and conferences on any topics under the sun. We believe in exchanging views and helping each other grow professionally. So, occasionally, the team goes for the weekly bonding meet to startup events. This has proved to be an unbelievable learning experience.

O4S Premises

We also offer unique office infrastructure which motivates employees to do better and promotes a culture of interaction. At O4S, we have an open-seating arrangement, so you can sit wherever you wish in the entire office. Want some me-time? Work from the remote corner of the office. Want to see the sunset while you work? Or Working on a project that needs continuous team interaction? Sit as per your wish, no need to see the same old desk daily.

We do not believe that what you wear defines you or even the company. Look at Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos or hundreds of other successful entrepreneurs, formal office setups and attires hold little meaning when you have employees that love their work. Getting paid to do something that you truly love is the best feeling ever along with having ample room for growth, learning, and scope for earning.

Easy access to conference rooms and unlimited premium coffee and snacks are some other perks of life at O4S. A breakout area where you can unwind and relax. You can play music of your choice via Alexa, participate in games like Jenga, watch the show you missed using our smart TV, or just take a pause and allow your mind to reenergize itself.

Unique advantages like creating your personal hours of work, an option to occasionally work from home, or take travel leave come with your job at O4S. We also encourage brainstorming sessions and extended discussions, which in turn improves the overall productivity. At O4S, you can pick-up real-world skills such as managing expectations, finance, and communication. Diversified responsibilities will help you master numerous transferable skills across roles and industries.

In a growing company like O4S, you will be required to think on your feet and adapt to changing conditions. You will get the opportunity to learn from your colleagues and become better at what you do. You are also encouraged to build friendships and make a lot of memories with your work buddies. Reveling in personal milestones and achievements, participating in celebrations, and office festivities are encouraged across all departments.

Continued pursuance of knowledge in a challenging environment will ensure that you push yourself towards excellence. Appreciation and recognition for contributions are among the main reasons why individuals prefer certain roles and organizations over others. O4S is a workplace that will recognize your valuable contributions and reward you adequately as and when the time comes.

The idea is not to let the current status or perception of a company bother you. You should have the vision and the tenacity to foresee where it is headed and what it could become. In a matter of a few years, O4S has gone from being a nobody to a funded company that is changing the supply chain industry. We take pride in the fact that we have developed robust solutions that have been appreciated by top companies in the industry.

Recent Offsite to Corbett National Park

We believe that as an organization, we are not just about work and like to think that O4S is a place where one can enjoy working. Weekly outings, excursions, and other fun activities to promote employee engagement, individual personality development, and team bonding, access to conference rooms, casual workwear, etc. are some of the other benefits employees at O4S enjoy.

So, if you are seeking a fun work culture with immense learning opportunities, check our current openings and apply for the most relevant role.

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