The Flipkart-Walmart deal

The Flipkart-Walmart deal, which is the world's biggest e-commerce deal so far, has taken the Indian start-up scene by storm. Flipkart was founded by Sachin and Binny Bansal as a book selling platform in 2007 and it grew up to be worth more than $20 billion company in last 11 years. On Wednesday, US retail giant Walmart took a 77 per cent stake in the company for $16 billion. The success of Flipkart has already been a source of great inspiration to millions of start-ups in the country. It has shown that a start-up can be formed with minimum of resources and still it can be a mega success. What it takes to be successful in the already crowded start-up scenario is faith in one' venture and hard work. With the success of Flipkart, the Bansal-duo have proven their grit and determination as entrepreneurs. In a country like India where nearly 70 per cent of the population is below the age of 35, finding a job is a difficult task. Self-employment and entrepreneurship is the only way to find a gainful employment. But to succeed as an entrepreneur, one needs to identify the right product and services. He needs to find partners who can add value to the product and services bouquet and create an ecosystem on its own. For this, the entrepreneur has to remain open-minded in striking collaborations with investors and others who bring expertise in different domains. Entrepreneurship is not about an individual who starts a business and tries to run it all by himself. In order to succeed in the cut-throat competition, the entrepreneur needs to remain ahead of his competitors by incorporating cutting-edge technology and securing infusion of capital in the business. The coming together of the Bansal duo for their venture and their subsequent chase for capital besides a growth-oriented focus on the business show that Flipkart has been on the right track. More than being on the right track, what matters is the promoters' faith and confidence that they are pursuing a dream, which is just possible. It has been more than a matter of luck, which in fact plays a significant role in the success of a start-up, that Flipkart attracted investments from established angel investors. The Indian e-commerce sector is witnessing a phenomenal growth and for foreign companies like Walmart and Amazon to succeed in the Indian markets, they need established local partners. After 11 years of its successful operations and many hurdles later, Flipkart is both an established business entity and a formidable e-commerce player in the Indian market. Flipkart is being used by millions of customers in the country and the company has to its credit many of the novelties that we see in the e-commerce space. Cash on delivery is one such concept which has been pioneered by Flipkart in order to succeed in the Indian market. In fact, Flipkart has grown together with the growth of e-commerce in the country. It has benefitted from the big market that India offers. It has also benefitted immensely from the fact that it operated in an area where there existed no other established players. There was no competition and the company was required to focus on its product and services. Flipkart did exactly that. It roped in companies to sell their products from the Flipkart platform. It developed an effective product delivery mechanism and thereby, it earned customer satisfaction and loyalty. By doing the routine and mundane things, in the initial phases it grew slowly before the growth took its own wings and Flipkart was both a mega success and a multi-billion dollar business entity.