What are business set up options for start ups in India

If you’ve got a unique product, service, or business idea that’s validated by market research and is capable of solving a particular problem of your target audience, you can think of setting up your startup. You can get your business registered as a startup by creating a profile on the Startup India website and completing the relevant procedures, such as getting your DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) Recognition, uploading documents for registration, getting your startup’s recognition number, etc. However, before you begin the process of setting up your startup, you need to know the available options. Since funding, type of business, and registered office are key elements of setting a startup, let’s evaluate the options you’ll have for each of these elements.

Startup funding options

You can take your pick from the following:

The ‘Startup India’ initiative

This is an initiative by the Indian government to empower startups of India, for which a Fund of Funds with a corpus of ₹10,000 crores has been set up. You could visit here and select your state to find the available funding options.

Bank loans

You can raise funds for your startup via working capital loans, term loans, or asset-backed loans. However, since banks often adopt a conservative outlook, convincing them with your startup model and other details could be tough.

Business incubators and accelerators

Startups in their early stages could benefit from this option. However, it’s important to know the difference between accelerators that help speed up the growth of an existing business, and incubators where you can “incubate” unique business ideas with the hope of creating a viable business model and company.

Venture Capitalists

Early-stage or small startups with high growth potential can benefit from Venture Capital (VC), which is a type of private equity financing.

Getting funds from angel investors, crowdfunding, or self-funding your startup are some other options worth considering.

Type of business

You could select from:

1. Sole Proprietorship
2. Private Limited Company
3. General Partnership
4. Limited Liability Partnership
5. One Person Company

Since each of these has specific requirements and features, you’ll need to evaluate which suits your startup the best before taking your pick. You can know more about these here. 

Registered office

Your startup must have at least one registered office in India from the date of its incorporation, which should be publicly accessible for correspondence of notices and documents.You’ll be lucky to have your own property that can act as your registered office. But not everyone will have this privilege.

Since renting a traditional office would be a costly proposition, you can consider the option of coworking spaces in India instead. Apart from flexible, cost-effective, plug-and-play spaces to act as your registered office, Indian coworking spaces also offer added benefits like access to mentors, workshops, peer support, and networking, all of which could help your startup’s growth. You may even search for office spaces offered by some incubators and accelerators where your growing startup would thrive.