Which level do you want to build?

Score it yourself

Each answer is marked with a level. Count how many of your answers fall under each level, 1 to 4. The level with the most answers is your best fit, and the level with the next most is your runner-up. If two levels tie, read about both.

Then find your sub-level inside your best-fit level: it is the one whose signs below match the most of your answers. Sub-levels are a first draft, being refined.

• Level 1
  • 1.1 No-stock seller: stock: “None: I want to sell without keeping goods (the supplier ships to the customer), or to sell a service”; working day: “Hosting people: running classes, meetups or events that people book through an app or platform”; money: “None for now”; borrowing: “I do not want any loans”; risk: “As little as possible: I want to start small and safe”
  • 1.2 Shopkeeper or retail stockist: money: “A small amount: up to about ₹5 lakh”; stock: “Fast-moving goods that I can sell within weeks”; customers: “Long relationships with local customers, including after-sales service”; team: “Just me, or a few helpers”; size: “A steady income for my family”
  • 1.3 Wholesaler or distributor: money: “A significant amount: about ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh”; customers: “Many customers, many small sales, again and again”; borrowing: “Short supplier or bank credit for stock is fine”; learning: “Market prices, stock turnover and credit control”; size: “The leading business of its kind in my town or district”
  • 1.4 Super stockist or C&F agent: money: “A large amount: about ₹50 lakh to ₹5 crore”; size: “A plant supplying customers across several states”; team: “Sales and service staff in a showroom or workshop” or “Workers, supervisors, quality and purchase staff”; risk: “Some risk, if the business is steady and well known” or “A real risk, for a business that keeps growing for years”; borrowing: “I would take a bank term loan for machines or a building”
  • 1.5 Importer, exporter or trading house: money: “More than ₹5 crore, or investors ready to back me”; size: “A product known across India, or abroad”; risk: “A high risk, for the chance of building something much bigger”; borrowing: “I would take large loans or bring in investors for a new product”; time to profit: “Two to three years” or “Several years, if the end result is worth it”
• Level 2
  • 2.1 Sub-dealer: money: “None for now” or “A small amount: up to about ₹5 lakh”; team: “Just me, or a few helpers”; size: “A steady income for my family”; risk: “As little as possible: I want to start small and safe”
  • 2.2 Authorised dealer (sales): money: “A significant amount: about ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh”; making things: “Not interested: I prefer buying and selling”; stock: “A brand's full range of models and spares, as the brand requires”; size: “The leading business of its kind in my town or district”
  • 2.3 3S dealer (sales, service, spares): making things: “Some interest: fitting, repair, installation and service”; team: “Sales and service staff in a showroom or workshop”; customers: “Long relationships with local customers, including after-sales service”; working day: “Serving customers and running a showroom or workshop”
  • 2.4 Multi-outlet dealer group or multi-unit franchisee: money: “A large amount: about ₹50 lakh to ₹5 crore”; size: “A plant supplying customers across several states”; borrowing: “I would take a bank term loan for machines or a building”; risk: “A real risk, for a business that keeps growing for years”
  • 2.5 Master franchisee or regional distributor: money: “More than ₹5 crore, or investors ready to back me”; size: “A product known across India, or abroad”; team: “Engineers, designers and other specialists”; risk: “A high risk, for the chance of building something much bigger”; borrowing: “I would take large loans or bring in investors for a new product”
• Level 3
  • 3.1 Job worker: money: “None for now” or “A small amount: up to about ₹5 lakh”; team: “Just me, or a few helpers”; risk: “As little as possible: I want to start small and safe” or “Some risk, if the business is steady and well known”; size: “A steady income for my family” or “The leading business of its kind in my town or district”
  • 3.2 Contract manufacturer (including ODM and EMS): whose product: “Things I make myself, to a customer's design or as a standard product”; customers: “A few large business customers on long contracts”; money: “A significant amount: about ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh”; independence: “Supplying large companies to their specifications and schedules”
  • 3.3 Component supplier (Tier 2, then Tier 1): technology: “I want to keep improving how things are made: cost, speed, quality”; independence: “Supplying large companies to their specifications and schedules”; customers: “A few large business customers on long contracts”; money: “A large amount: about ₹50 lakh to ₹5 crore”; learning: “Production planning, costing and quality systems”
  • 3.4 Commodity or bulk manufacturer: customers: “Many customers, many small sales, again and again”; size: “A plant supplying customers across several states”; money: “A large amount: about ₹50 lakh to ₹5 crore”; working day: “Solving production problems: output, rejections, cost”; whose product: “Other people's goods: whatever sells”
  • 3.5 Own-brand manufacturer (the OEM): whose product: “My own product, under my own brand”; size: “A product known across India, or abroad”; money: “More than ₹5 crore, or investors ready to back me”; independence: “Setting my own direction, answering to my customers (and investors, if any)”
• Level 4
  • 4.1 Technology licensee: technology: “I want to keep improving how things are made: cost, speed, quality” or “I want to know the products well, not develop them”; money: “A significant amount: about ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh”; time to profit: “Two to three years”; risk: “A real risk, for a business that keeps growing for years”; making things: “Very interested: machines, a factory floor, quality and costs”
  • 4.2 Product startup on licensed or open technology: whose product: “My own product, under my own brand”; making things: “Most interested in designing new products; the making could be done by others”; customers: “Building a market for something customers have not bought before”; borrowing: “I would take large loans or bring in investors for a new product”; time to profit: “Two to three years”
  • 4.3 Own R&D and patents: learning: “Technology, patents and licensing, and raising money”; technology: “I am ready for years of R&D or licensing a technology before it pays”; time to profit: “Several years, if the end result is worth it”; team: “Engineers, designers and other specialists”
  • 4.4 Deep tech or platform company: money: “More than ₹5 crore, or investors ready to back me”; risk: “A high risk, for the chance of building something much bigger”; time to profit: “Several years, if the end result is worth it”; borrowing: “I would take large loans or bring in investors for a new product”; size: “A product known across India, or abroad”