Time to enter e-commerce .. even investment bankers are into it now!

There was a time when investment banking was considered the life-is-set field. A foothold in the industry meant fat pay checks and financial security, although it came at the cost of never ending work hours and almost zero social life.

With the onset and rising popularity of e-commerce in India, even investment bankers are shifting from their comfortable and high profile jobs in reputed financial companies to enter e-commerce as entrepreneurs.

Reasons for investment bankers entering the e-commerce space

• High potential for growth– E-commerce in India has already witnessed a 150% growth in the past three years and 63% e-commerce ventures in 2012 were started by first-time entrepreneurs.

• Can understand dynamics of market and consumers– Investment bankers have the expertise and skill to understand consumers and markets, analyse pros and cons and operate accordingly.

• Can manage money and finance well

• Well-versed with technology

• Helps to raise funds– Investment banking background helps in understand and managing finances, thus ideas can be presented to potential investors in a better and reassuring way to get their approval and trust.

Interesting!

E-commerce ventures by investment banker-turned-first time entrepreneurs are self-funded, unlike major e-commerce portals like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Myntra etc. They believe that the first step is building business and once it is transformed into a sustainable business model funds will flow in.

Examples of investment bankers turned e-commerce owners

• Falguni Nayar, MD and chief executive of nykaa.com, beauty and wellness entailing site- previously worked with Kotak Mahindra Capital. nykaa.com is one of the leading beauty and wellness portals in India today.

• Rahul Garg, founder of ArtisanGilt.com– previously worked as investment adviser with top names like Lehman brothers, Nomura International and HSBC Securities.

• Ajay Shetty, owner of Myra vineyards- previously crunched numbers with Merrill Lynch, Hong Kong.

• Rajan Mehta,  owner of My Healthcare Solutions (healthcare service provides which uses technology like cloud computing)- previously founded Benchmark Mutual Fund.

Aspiring Indian Online Sellers- go for it!

If you were in two minds about entering the e-commerce space, forget your doubts and start forming your business plan. If investment bankers can leave their comfortable jobs, it means there is future in the business provided it is executed in the right way. Concentrate on formulating the right business plan according to your target audience and sustain it to ensure success.