Much has been said and witnessed about Reliance Jio. And as it enters its third year, it will be apt to describe it as the messiah of the Indian internet space. A brainchild of industry pioneer – Reliance Industries – the Jio project in itself is a miracle of sorts.
Taking the fight to the traditional telcos, Jio appealed to the lower pyramid of the population, thereby allowing the internet to seep into the bottom strata.
This has not only worked wonders for the company but also has created a widescale internet revolution in India.
By making internet data available, free of cost initially and later on setting up a pricing model that is at the bottom of the spectrum, Jio has revolutionized how the internet is viewed in India.
The Jio initiative provides a lot of learning for startup founders that have the zest of solving problems and taking risks to realize their dreams. In fact, the Jio project is a case study that they must comprehend in totality.
From its meticulously orchestrated R&D to marketing, from design to implementation, the innovative project certainly offers numerous insights about business strategy.
This article is sort of introspection and attempts to describe what startup founders can learn from the Jio Revolution. So let’s venture.
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Learning No. 1: Think Big before You Start Executing
So, you want to earn money or disrupt a marketplace or better, create your own marketplace, well, to achieve all of that, you need to think big irrespective of what your motivation is.
It doesn’t matter if you are new to the market, as long as your idea is big, it can make a difference. Consider the Jio project, Mukesh Ambani wanted to capture the entire telecom market in India.
Admittedly, it was a steep job with so many players already flooding the space. However, he did not budge from his idea.
He thought big and implemented it with fervor, which was followed by success. For any business (startup) to succeed, it is imperative to think big before executing.
Learning No. 2: Preparing the Framework
Jio wasn’t built overnight. Six years of thorough R&D has produced this attractive service that has sent shockwaves across the telecom industry.
Reliance acquired a company in 2010 that worked on pan India 4G airwaves. Furthermore, investment on strengthening tower to fiber technology was key to building a robust infrastructure. With the strategic ‘free voice call’ feature, the focus for Jio was funneled into making the internet data cheap.
This is one of the most important lessons for startup founders. Before even thinking about launching the product, they must prepare the necessary framework and enhance it as time progresses. And by doing that, the startup will be showered with success while leaving its competitors nonplussed.
Learning No. 3: Understand your Target Audience
One of the key takeaways from the Jio project is its overall understanding of the target audience. Jio never intended to offer its services to the ultra-rich that can afford to roll out thousands of Rupees for data packs. Instead, it was meant for those who couldn’t afford one.
This basic understanding allowed Jio to funnel down its services in a way that it percolates to the bottom of the consumer pyramid. Thanks to Jio, close to 35 percent of the Indian population now have been wired by the internet.
This massive market has not only showered Jio with revenue but also with a loyal user base. The Mukesh Ambani-led project penetrated a market that back then was unexplored.
This is what startup founders have to constantly look for – find out a niche that hasn’t been explored and understand the target audience and its behavior.
Those who want to make it big in the startup world must learn from the Reliance Jio project. The aforementioned pointers are just a glimpse of what Jio had done and is still doing.
Startup founders asides working hard should analyze such projects in order to actualize their dreams.