Startup destinations in India are shifting from the metros to smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Traffic, sky-rocketing real estate prices, and overpopulation have stunted the innovative potential and economic capacity in major metros.
From Lucknow to Indore and Jaipur to Chandigarh, young entrepreneurs are increasingly choosing efficiency and local talent over the hustle and bustle of large cities. A recent report pegs total VC funding for startups in Tier 2 cities at 20% of all VC funding in India. Interestingly, these cities also account for a fifth of all startups in the country.
It is not uncommon for business executives working in larger cities to come back to their hometowns after gaining substantial experience working for larger companies, to start their own ventures. Lower costs and access to skilled talent immediately provide a key competitive advantage for startups in smaller cities.
So, what does it take for building a successful startup in a Tier 2 city?
How CXO Services Help Scale A Startup in a Tier 2 City
Unless you require massive tech talent, tier 2 and tier 3 cities offer a lot in terms of local talent. However, when it comes to leadership, many startups have a tough time. After all, most experienced executives relocated to become entrepreneurs. While founders can keep their organizations afloat for the first two years or so, donning multiple hats from CHRO to CTO and CMO. But once you secure seed funding, all eyes are on you.
To embark on the stage of growth founders must focus their energies to develop and scale their product or solution. Getting involved in day-to-day operations can take precious time away from managing what’s most important product, values, and performance.
That’s exactly what we are trying to solve for making world-class domain experience accessible for startups. Our CXO services are geared towards early-stage startups looking to scale and drive sustainable growth.
We’ve created a proprietary Operational Toolkit to help founders and entrepreneurs focus on business strategy while we get the house in order and set the groundwork for the next phase of growth.
Our process begins with designing a simple organizational chart that defines key roles for mid-level employees, skill mapping for juniors, and entry-level assignment of responsibilities.
Next, we take charge of operations and shared services, freeing up critical bottlenecks in the system.
For end customers, nothing changes. The founder is still the face of the brand. Once these processes are in place, which typically takes about 90-120 days depending on the size of the company, we shift our focus to developing other business functions.
We prep our clients for future fundraising and set financial benchmarks and metrics for the company. Similarly, we set up an HR unit, integrating best practices for talent acquisition, performance management, learning, and development while outsourcing all non-essential functions.
Once all core business functions are set, our CXO partner exits your organization and hands over a smoothly running operating system in place with a sound technological backbone.
We also help you hire our full-time replacement to carry on the baton going forward.