At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to share some of the meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. This week, we spoke to another seasoned entrepreneur Amit Singal to know more about his exciting journey.
Amit Singal is Co-founder & CEO of Startup Buddy with a demonstrated history of working in the accounting industry. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant with 15+ years of work experience across varied industries. He has extensive experience in funds administration, accounting, investor reporting, strategic planning, and budgeting, forecasting, treasury, implementation of business systems, processes and controls.
He is very active as a seed-stage investor in the Indian startup ecosystem, till now he has invested in a good number of startups like InnerChef, Kiva Life, Infeedo, Advantage Club, MyAdvo, Chqbook, TBS Planet Comics, Oro Wealth, Original4Sure, Elize, PeeSafe etc.
He started his career with a CA Firm in the year 2006 after 2 years of employment at another firm. He is working with Startups since 2007 and started Startup Buddy in the year 2015. He is also in a process to set up the Micro VC fund which will invest in Startups.
Excerpts from our exclusive Interview with Amit:
Where did the idea of Startup Buddy come from? Tell us a little bit about it pls;
I find that many startups fail because they do not make discipline in finance or compliance. In fact, they do not have budgets to set up the finance division in the organization so we started Startup Buddy to overcome this problem. We work as Virtual CFO for the Startups and they do not need to set up any finance department. Over the period Startup Buddy has become one stop solution to help startups in all support function through our partners.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
Job Giver is always better than Job Seekers. As a mentor/ Investor, I have helped 250+ startups so that lots of employment can be created in India.
How should one assess which startup idea is good?
In order to identify proper Startup Idea, it is important for you to do proper study and understand the market dynamics well. Another significant aspect is to look for monetisation method for the idea by making a proper business plan.
How do you find the industry/niche that you’re in?
This is consultancy business with a very low margin so not much of a player yet. It is also very difficult to have lots of professionals under one roof. So I don’t feel there is much competition.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
Every business has risks but how you deal with it makes the real difference. It’s a roller coster ride. As long as you are prepared to face it head on, it is fine. We have a strong core niche team with pre-determined KPIs who makes it easier to execute and overcome all the challenges & obstacles.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
It is not easy to run a startup because you have to survive with very limited resources. Funding of the startup is not equal to success and this is a common misconception. Real Success comes from creating a really profitable business, and then funding will automatically follow.
Secondly, sometimes we enter into business in which we are not experts which is absolutely ok. It is always good to have an advisor/ Mentor onboard who is an expert in that sector to avoid falling into common pitfalls related to that sector.
Remember, every idea is a great idea, your ability to execute it well makes the real difference.
Here is my favourite quote for all the aspiring entrepreneur –
“Starting your own business is like riding a roller coaster. There are highs and lows and every turn you take is another twist. The lows are really low, but the highs can be really high. You have to be strong, keep your stomach tight, and ride along with the roller coaster that you started.”–Lindsay Manseau, photographer and entrepreneur
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, Stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
