Services, platforms, SMEs: Test your business creativity with Edition 184 of our weekly quiz!

Lateral Sparks, the weekly quiz from YourStory, tests your domain knowledge, business acumen, and lateral thinking skills (see the previous edition here). In this 184th edition of the quiz, we present issues tackled by real-life entrepreneurs in their startup journeys.

What would you do if you were in their shoes? At the end of the quiz, you will find out what the entrepreneurs and innovators themselves actually did. Would you do things differently?

Check out YourStory’s Book Review section as well, with takeaways from over 355 titles on creativity and entrepreneurship, and our weekend PhotoSparks section on creativity in the arts.

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Q1: International trade

Trade regulations are complex and constantly changing, and many businesses lose momentum just trying to keep up. How can this challenge be tackled?

Q2: Enterprise data

Many enterprises today struggle with siloed data and rigid database solutions that lack completeness, performance, resilience, governance, and flexibility. How can these issues be effectively addressed?

Q3: SME growth

SMEs are the backbone of the economy, but often lack resources and capital to grow and compete on a larger scale. How can this gap be filled?

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Q4: Luxury vehicles

Many corporates, event managers, and celebrities face challenges in renting luxury cars of the right calibre and in a convenient manner. Where is the entrepreneurial opportunity here?

Q5: Home services

Many busy professionals have no time to fix a leaky tap or deep-clean the couch. How can the demand for such home services be met in a win-win manner for consumers and providers?

Answers!

Congratulations on having come this far! But there’s more to come – answers to these five questions (below), as well as links to articles with more details on the entrepreneurs’ solutions. Happy reading, happy learning – and happy creating!

A1: International trade

Founded by Saurabh Goyal, Madan Mohan, Jaikaar Singh, and Saptarshi Datta, Xindus simplifies international trade through an integrated platform. The full-stack cross-border logistics startup helps businesses sell, ship, store, return, and get paid internationally, thus enabling their scale journey.

It claims to have reduced trade complexity and costs by 20%, with a 98.4% on-time delivery performance. Read more here about how it has closed $10 million in a pre-Series A round led by 3one4 Capital.

A2: Enterprise data

Founded by Bakul Banthia and Kamal Khanuja, Tessell has created a seamless AI-driven platform that supports both operational and analytical workloads for enterprises. It tackles the enterprise cloud adoption problems of data fragmentation and inefficiency.

It helps simplify how companies manage databases in the cloud, through solutions like AI and Conversational Data Management (CoDaM). Read more about here about how these solutions allow enterprises to manage and interact with their data more easily.

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A3: SME growth

Founded by Madhu Lunawat, asset management firm Wealth Company enables SMEs from smaller cities to achieve faster growth through a multi-pronged approach. It invests and assists them by assessing parameters like growth potential, management bandwidth, and audit tools.

“We provide them with end-to-end service and handhold them through this journey,” she explains. Read more here about its support in professionalising the management team and clearing the path for an IPO, and how it already has assets under management of around Rs 10,000 crore, with 25 companies under its portfolio.

A4: Luxury vehicles

Founded by Rahul Nain and Aaditya Mishra, Luxorides provides luxury cars on rent for travel, airport transfers, film shoots, weddings, and other occasions. In addition to celebrities and individual clients, the company serves corporates such as Microsoft, Netflix, Samsung, Amrutanjan, and Pfizer.

Luxorides has a fleet of around 1,000 vehicles—some cars are owned by the company, while the rest are leased through partnerships. Read more here about its pricing options and international plans, and how it is riding the trend of online platforms and increasing demand from millennials and Gen Z.

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A5: Home services

The ‘Uberisation’ of the home services market has made on-demand services the next big boom. Founded by Anu Meelu, the MeeHelp platform offers a range of services from cleaning and cooking to babysitting and elderly care.

It addresses key pain points faced by both consumers and service providers. Read more here about how it uses AI and training programmes to rank and promote service providers, and its operations in more than 60 cities in India.

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).