5 Guidelines To Survive Tough Times From Cult.fit's Mukesh Bansal Having built many companies and worked with startups for more than 25 years, he thinks that ups and downs are inevitable in any startup journey

Covid-19 brought down the sales revenue of fitness startup CureFit by 67.4% in the financial year ending March 2021. Though the loss was extremely upsetting, it did not shake the confidence of Mukesh Bansal, founder of Cult.fit.

Having built many unicorn companies including Myntra and Cult.fit and lived the startup life, both as a founder and employee, for more than 25 years, he was well aware that ups and downs, caused by macro conditions, are inevitable in any startup journey.

"I have worked for startups and I have launched three startups so far. The first one did not work out. Then Myntra, now CureFit. One thing I have realized in my journey so far is that startups are deeply interlinked with macro business cycles. Anyone starting out as an entrepreneur should be cognizant of that," he said while delivering a keynote address at the recently concluded conference, SummitUp, by NSRCEL, the incubation center of IIM Bangalore.

He also added that entrepreneurship is the strongest engine for trying out new ideas. "A lot of people take personal risks. It is still very questionable when you leave a job and start an entrepreneurial venture. But there is larger ecosystem support constituting academic institutions like NSRCEL, VC firms, NGOs, government policies, and so on and so forth. The ecosystem plays a very big role in making it easier for people to take that risk, get enough support."

He also shared with the audience at the SummitUp conference by NSRCEL that macroeconomic situations will lead to many business cycles and startups have to be ready to face it.

These cycles mostly last anywhere between four to eight years, but sometimes it could be shorter or longer

Bansal also shared 5 guidelines for startups across stages to sail through tough times.

1. Companies that start during such time are very sure that this is what they want to do. So, if you are starting now, it means you know what and why you are doing what you are doing. You are not driven by the hype. You are not driven by all the valuation or unicorn stories, but you have a calling and you want to really build something. So, keep going. In addition to that ere's a calling you really, really want to build something
2. You will also be asked the right question by investors. Instead of being asked about week or month or month growth rates, you will be asked what the value proposition is, what the differentiation is, and how you plan to achieve product market fit.
3. If you are a company that has raised capital on a higher valuation, you may try to justify that valuation before raising the next round. You will think twice before spending that money. You will spend for the right reasons.
4. If you are a late-stage company like us, you would know where your foot is. You need to use this time to really figure out and prove the business model before you go out and raise money from potential investors. So, you need to be a financially solid company with some defensible moats.
5. Stay determined. Be more persistent. If let's say you've come to the investors, instead of looking for the yes or no answer, look for whatever they say, what questions they're asking. Take notes. Go back and work on that. Go back to the same investor three months down the line. Go back again, six months down the line. Be persistent.

Overall, Cult.fit founder is also of the opinion that such macroeconomic barriers lead to some good things as well, as listed below.

• Companies starting up during this period will be more thoughtful about product market fit
• Companies that have already raised a lot of money will pay more attention to their business models and paths to profitability
• Bad startups that do not focus on the right metrics or do not have a purpose will die
• Many startups will start focusing on the real value and creating customer stickiness
• Many startups will reinvent themselves or pivot at the right time.

It's only a matter of time, maybe one year, two years, three years and companies that are determined that 'whatever happens we will not die', will surely survive.

A cleanup is inevitable, but personally, it changes nothing in terms of my approach to entrepreneurship and my excitement about various possibilities, he concluded.