How to Win an Argument – Dos, Don’ts and Sneaky Tactics

There is not much point in having brilliant ideas if we cannot persuade people of their value. Persuasive debaters can win arguments using the force of their reason and by the skillful deployment of many handy techniques.

So how to win an argument? Here are some general dos and don’ts to help you win arguments together with some sneaky tactics to be aware of.

Do’s

1. Stay calm. Even if you get passionate about your point you must stay cool and in command of your emotions. If you lose your temper – you lose.
2. Use facts as evidence for your position. Facts are hard to refute so gather some pertinent data before the argument starts. Surveys, statistics, quotes from relevant people and results are useful arguments to deploy in support of your case.
3. Ask questions. If you can ask the right questions you can stay in control of the discussion and make your opponent scramble for answers. You can ask questions that challenge his point, ‘What evidence do you have for that claim?’ You can ask hypothetical questions that extrapolate a trend and give your opponent a difficulty, ‘What would happen if every nation did that?’ Another useful type of question is one that calmly provokes your foe, ‘What is about this that makes you so angry?’
4. Use logic. Show how one idea follows another. Build your case and use logic to undermine your opponent.
5. Appeal to higher values. As well as logic you can use a little emotion by appealing to worthy motives that are hard to disagree with, ‘Shouldn’t we all be working to make the world better and safer for our children?’
6. Listen carefully. Many people are so focused on what they are going to say that they ignore their opponent and assume his arguments. It is better to listen carefully. You will observe weaknesses and flaws in his position and sometimes you will hear something new and informative!
7. Be prepared to concede a good point. Don’t argue every point for the sake of it. If your adversary makes a valid point then agree but outweigh it with a different argument. This makes you looked reasonable. ‘I agree with you that prison does not reform prisoners. That is generally true but prison still acts effectively as a deterrent and a punishment.’
8. Study your opponent. Know their strengths, weaknesses, beliefs and values. You can appeal to their higher values. You can exploit their weaknesses by turning their arguments back on them.
9. Look for a win-win. Be open-minded to a compromise position that accommodates your main points and some of your opponent’s. You cannot both win in a boxing match but you can both win in a negotiation.

Don’t

1. Get personal. Direct attacks on your opponent’s lifestyle, integrity or honesty should be avoided. Attack the issue not the person. If the other party attacks you then you can take the high ground e.g.’ I am surprised at you making personal attacks like that. I think it would be better if we stuck to the main issue here rather than maligning people.’
2. Get distracted. Your opponent may try to throw you off the scent by introducing new and extraneous themes. You must be firm. ‘That is an entirely different issue which I am happy to discuss later. For the moment let’s deal with the major issue at hand.’
3. Water down your strong arguments with weak ones. If you have three strong points and two weaker ones then it is probably best to just focus on the strong. Make your points convincingly and ask for agreement. If you carry on and use the weaker arguments then your opponent can rebut them and make your overall case look weaker.

Some Sneaky Ways to Consider

1. Use punchy one-liners. You can sometimes throw your opponent out of his stride by interjecting a confident, concise cliché. Here are some good ones:
   • That begs the question.
   • That is beside the point.
   • You’re being defensive.
   • Don’t compare apples and oranges.
   • What are your parameters?
2. Ridicule and humiliate your opponent. This can be very effective in front of an audience but will never win over the opponent himself.
3. Deliberately provoke your adversary. Find something that makes them angry and keep wheedling away on this point until they lose their temper and so the argument.
4. Distract. Throw in diversions which deflect the other person from their main point.
5. Exaggerate your opponent’s position. Take it way beyond its intended level and then show how ridiculous and unreasonable the exaggerated position is.
6. Contradict confidently. Vigorously denounce each of your opponent’s arguments as fallacious but just select one or two that you can defeat to prove the point. Then assume that you have won.

Vastu Shastra for Sales and Marketing

Marketing and Sales department should be build in the North-West Vastu zone of the office building. Seating in the North-West Vastu zone make the employees spend less time in the office complex and more time in with the prospective clients and customers.

Basements are generally inauspicious for make an office but you can make your sales department in the building as they need to spend a minimum time in the complex and are generally out visiting the clients. Just keep in mind the location of the basement  while constructing the building.

The facing of the team is equally important. North directions is the most auspicious for seating and East is the second Best direction. This helps them focus on the right clients and also helps to keep them motivated.

100% Successful Sales Tips

Selling is an art which defines the skill of a person who is able to sell the best without bifurcating any category of product or service. It is been observed among sales employees in every different organizations that they fail in their sales job due to several different reasons. To overcome these issues it is highly important to understand few basic tips while you sell.

1. Start Fresh
2. Identify the right opportunity
3. Focus on what you have 
4. Know the difference between success and failure 
5. Know the difference between Substitute and Omitting 
6. Becoming a new personality
7. Love your job.
8. Be Persistent for what you do 
9. Remove all the negative words from your vocabulary 
10. Focus on your goal
11. Ignore rejection and never be offended 
12. Accept the challenges
13. Be the lion not a lamb in your attitude.
14. Self Esteem 
15. Try One More Time

Today is the Best Time to Start a Business in India

India’s startup ecosystem is booming with plenty of interest from private equity investors and the media. Today the top graduates are preferring to start their own business instead of working for large corporate. Investors, customers and employees are also choosing startups over large companies – intrigued by the innovation and ingenuity. In this article, we look at the top reasons why today is the best time to start a new business in India.

Bill Gates Quote

Indian Economy is Booming with Endless Opportunities

The Indian economy is booming and the foreign markets are reviving from the 2008 economic crisis. The Indian economy is the the second fastest growing economy in the world and is slated to overtake China to become the fastest growing economy in  the world. Though the Indian economy continues to boom at a very fast pace, the Indian market or domestic demand is still undeserved. The Indian metros have become well developed over the last decade; however, thousands of tier-II and tier-III cities in India are still under developed.

The increasing penetration of internet enabled smartphones and e-commerce in India is set to transform the second tier or third tier cities – unlocking massive demand for goods and services. It is this aspect of the Indian market potential that has made countless foreign companies invest billions of dollars into India. Know more about top business opportunities in the India.

Easy and Affordable to Start a New Business in India

Start your company in less than a week

Starting a new business in India used to be cumbersome and expensive. India was ranked at 179/189 in terms of “Ease of Starting a Business” by the World Bank just a few years ago. However, ecommerce and a pro-business Government have now made it very easy and affordable to start a new business in India.

Plenty of information is now available through websites likes IndiaFilings.com for Entrepreneurs looking to start a new business. Also, for those starting a new business, the required formalities can be completed from the comfort of their homes at a very affordable cost. To register a Private Limited Company it costs just Rs.16000 and a Limited Liability Partnership can be registered for just Rs.8000 in India through IndiaFilings. Therefore, the internet has helped make starting a new business in India very easy and affordable.

Further, the Government has also introduced various measures to reduce the amount of formalities required to start a business in India. The newly introduced Form INC-29 drastically reduces the number of procedures required for incorporating a company in India, making it possible to incorporate a company quickly.

Its Easy to Manage a Business in India

The Government has also taken various steps to make it easier to manage a business in India by reducing the compliance burden. The Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008 and Companies Act, 2013 have introduced new business entities like LLP, One Person Company and the concept of “small company” making it less cumbersome to manage a business entity.

Further, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is expected to be rolled out in April, 2016, overhauling the existing indirect tax structure in India – making it transparent and less cumbersome. Know more about the advantages of GST implementation in India.

Its Easy to Find Capital

Private equity deals worth nearly USD 2 billion were sealed in April this year, registering a jump of nearly three-fold over the same month last year, largely driven by transactions in e-commerce space, says a recent Grant Thornton report. The booming Indian economy and bustling Indian startups are attracting a lot of investors from foreign countries making today the best time for starting a new business in India.

There are now plenty of well established Private Equity firms operating in India and many more looking to start operations. Further, many High Networth Individuals (HNIs) and Celebrities are also beginning to understand the potential of Indian startups, making it easy to find seed capital for starting a new business. Know more about Private Equity in India.

Entrepreneurship has become Socially Acceptable

Gone are the days when friends and family chastised entrepreneurship and preferred their family members opted for employment over entrepreneurship. The success of many young Entrepreneurs has showcased the opportunities in Entrepreneurship – making it more socially acceptable. Today, family members are willing to support Entrepreneurship with capital and emotional support – increasing the number of Entrepreneurs and their chances of success.

Source: https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/best-time-to-start-a-business-in-india/

There has never been a better time to start a brand in India: Here is why

Over the past two–three years, we have been tracking the rise of Indian consumer brands that have effectively leveraged technology and post-millennial branding to scale quickly. During our stint at ShopClues, we saw savvy merchants create brands with intelligent merchandising and targeted marketing initiatives.

Why brands?

The Indian consumer brand landscape has been abuzz with the appearance of new brands across categories. We deep dived into the emerging consumer brand story and came up with some key observations and insights.

Food and beverages

F&B opened up with multiple successful brand stories emerging recently, most notable ones being Paper Boat (traditional Indian drinks with nostalgic brand appeal), Bira 91 (bottled craft beers with quirky brand appeal) and Raw Pressery (cold pressed juices with ‘all good, no bad’ brand appeal) among others.

They identified a niche offering for the post-millennial consumer and built the brand using amazing storytelling on social media

The Bira monkey embodies the brand’s quirky appeal. (Photo: Dev Kabir Malik).

FMCG

Brands like Ustraa (men’s grooming, quirky brand appeal), Sugar (cosmetics, edgy and sassy brand appeal) and Mama Earth (baby and mother care, friendly brand appeal) have been created from scratch in the last 5 years.

They piggybacked on e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart-Myntra-Jabong to build their brand presence while maintaining a unique brand identity through their own marketing and branding efforts.

Home and furnishings

This space has seen successful brands like Urban Ladder and Pepperfry emerge as market disruptors by successfully using online commerce as the primary channel.

They built their own online presence and gave the shopper a great furniture shopping experience.

Electronics

OnePlus (smartphone, ‘young and restless’ brand appeal) has established market leadership in the affordable premium segment. boAt (audio accessories, lifestyle brand appeal) has made its brand presence felt in a hyper-crowded category.

They created a community of fierce brand loyalists and fostered repeat purchases.

Fashion and apparel

The fashion and apparel category has seen an explosion of brands that have been created on marketplaces, such as Wrogn (men’s fashion, breakaway youth brand appeal); and on their own sites, such as FabAlley (women’s fashion, bold and individualistic brand appeal).

They leveraged celebrity icons and influencers successfully to accelerate brand awareness and adoption.

Virat Kohli’s association with Wrogn has catapulted the brand’s growth. (Photo: Storypedia)

Why now?

The brand story in India is just beginning to take shape, and we are poised for an exciting decade ahead.

Demand for brands is taking off

India has crossed $2000 per capita income, which experts say, is the inflection point for brands. Discretionary spending in the high income and upper middle income segments will drive adoption of brands that have an emotional positioning, beyond the functional (value for money) aspect alone.

These customers are online shoppers, follow trends on social media and make an effort to cultivate their personality.

There are stories to be told, emotions to be tapped and profits to be made.

The necessary working parts are in place

Reach: Customers can now be reached online through targeted digital marketing and branding on social media. New brands can reach customers across the country from Day 1 with clear visibility on RoI and conversion metrics. This kind of reach was only possible earlier through ‘spray and pray’ TV and newspaper advertising, where costs were high and conversions were not trackable.

Merchandising: Online channels enable brands to keep inventory lean while maintaining a large catalog, as opposed to physical stores where inventory was locked up. Customer analytics allow quick iterations where brands can fail quickly and get their product fit right without incurring a large loss.

Supply chain: The logistics pipeline has been simplified greatly by the emergence of companies like Delhivery and Ecom Express, who specialise in helping e-commerce brands with warehousing, order processing and cross country logistics. Further, GST has significantly reduced paperwork and shipping time. Brands are now able to serve customers across the country faster and at manageable costs.

Target customers can now be reached online and served effectively.

The unit economics make sense

As mentioned above, the cost of merchandising, reaching and serving customers is now lower. And customers are willing to pay more for brands that they aspire for and connect with. So the unit economics of building a brand are now in the range to create a sustainable business.

Most VCs we speak to agree that Rs 100–200 crore brands can be built in any category you pick.

The smart ones can scale further to create $100 million (Rs 700 crore) revenue brands in the next decade. The growth trajectory will be determined by the speed of the team and the money available to spend on brand building. And the best part — there is space for multiple brands to co-exist in the same category. It is not a winner-take-all game like the tech startup stories.

There has never been a better time to start a brand in India. What are you doing today?

Ganesh Balakrishnan is an entrepreneur currently building a consumer brand in the footwear space. He founded two startups earlier – Momoe (mobile payments) and Windsleeve (retail tech).

Read Ganesh Balakrishnan's columns here 

Startup Stories is a series of accounts by startup entrepreneurs on how they built their businesses and found success. Read them here.

Source: https://www.cnbctv18.com/startup/there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-start-a-brand-in-india-here-is-why-3520291.htm