As living conditions and standards of healthcare improve, it’s no secret that we’re getting older. The United Nations reports that the proportion of older people is growing in almost every country’s population. Demand for care services is growing as a result – including those delivered in the comfort of people’s own homes.
Care professionals have been thrust in the spotlight this year as the UK continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. If you feel as if you could help out and even launch your own home care agency, there are several important considerations along the way.
Below we outline key points to think about before joining the care industry.
Your business plan
Home care agencies can provide a range of care services to clients in their homes, from nursing to personal care, housekeeping, cooking and social activities. Deciding how you plan to operate is the first step and will determine the staff and qualifications you go after.
Research what care is available in your local area to help you gauge demand and identify gaps and opportunities.
Home care agencies require a qualified registered manager to ensure they comply with regulations. Alongside this, your care staff will need qualifications specific to your care setting, including common inductions standards (CIS) training.
All care services are rightfully scrutinised, so you’ll also need to register with the relevant regulator – the Care Quality Commission oversees providers in England – and prove that you’re capable and professional.
Key costs and requirements
There are a range of start-up costs to factor in with home care agencies, including insurance, equipment, staff salaries and training, and marketing costs. Extra outgoings might include care provider software and the purchase of a minibus for client transport.
You may need to raise external finance if you’re lacking on savings. You could save on office rental costs by managing your agency remotely, however.
Recruitment
It’s often said that a business is only as good as its people – and that’s particularly true for home care agencies.
Think about the type of professionals you’re looking for and where you might attract them. You may want to consider apprentices alongside other local candidates.
All potential staff will need to undergo DBS checks, CIS training and induction training. It may seem like a burden at first – but hiring and training carers properly will be crucial to your long-term success.
With a strong foundation in place, all that’s left is to find some people to care for!
You can do this both privately and through local authorities. Finding work through your council may be simpler at first – but could also pay and scale poorly in the long run.
Attracting private sector clients will require marketing through digital and traditional channels, including leaflet drops in key areas, to get your name out there.
With more knowledge of what’s involved, could starting a home care agency be a good career option for you?
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
Your phone’s storage is turning full? Don’t know where to keep your files? Running out of space? Need a specifically designed host and a proper backup? Want a synchronisation process too? Adding, changing, deleting is no more an issue here.
MediaFire is a file hosting, synchronisation and cloud storage services. Now, it’s easier to upload all files like videos, documents, photos and audios and is super accessible. Customers can access them from anywhere using phones, tablets, etc. It is simple yet an efficient file storage service. It is an online solution. Read the MediaFire success story below.
MediaFire is a cloud storage service that helps consumers to organize, share data and store via the Internet. It offers secure, unlimited and free cloud storage so that customers can share and store data with their friends, family members and colleagues.
A group of entrepreneurs and enthusiasts were having a difficult time with sending large files and emails. Together they all decided to create a site where customers of all ages could feel safe and happily share their large files or emails. They created one and it slowly continued to grow. More and more features got added as well as invented. Ultimately now it is providing unlimited cloud storage and also enabling users to share files with family, friends, etc with branding tools.
MediaFire – Founders And Team
Derek Labian and Tom Langridge are the founders of the company MediaFire.
Derek Labian is a Network, Software Engineer, Architect, Advisor and an Investor. He is currently the co-founder and CEO at 2 companies. One is Fast Technologies, Inc and the other one is MediaFire.com. He was also the Technology Principal at IntoMobile for 7 years. He was the founder and CEO at FileFront.com.
Tom Langridge is also currently the co-founder of 2 companies. Those are Fast Technologies, Inc and MediaFire.com. He was the co-founder at IntoMobile. He began his career as a Lead UI Designer at FileFront.com. He completed his education from The University of California, Davis.
Derek Labian and Tom Langridge (left to right), co-founders, MediaFire
MediaFire – Logo
Logo, MediaFire
Mediafire – Business Model
MediaFire allows its users to store and share various sizes of files. It is available for Android, iPhone, Web and Windows. It is the only storage solution that offers unlimited downloads all for free. MediaFire provides clients software for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Blackberry and Linux. In 2014, it declared public access to its platform. They have a public forum and have released SDKs for JavaScript, Java, etc. Storage starts at 10GB and can be increased up to 40GB. The company’s features include up to 50GB of storage.
MediaFire has got 43 million registered users. Also, the company attracted around 1.3 billion unique visitors to its sphere in 2012. MediaFire has got more than 150 million people using the application every month to store the professional data quickly and safely in the cloud. It has got different plans –
Basic plan – 10GB = Free
Pro plan – 1 TB (1000 GB) = $4.99 a month
Business plan – Up to 100 TB = $49.99 a month
Hence, there are 2 subscriptions levels – Pro and Business plan and the Basic plan is free. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any point of time without any obligations.
Reports say that MediaFire has progressed a lot in terms of growth. It has also become the fastest growing site on the web with 100% yearly growth. As it is allowing unlimited downloads and uploads it is gaining more customers. Every day the group of developers and designers are working to progress and advance the sharing interest to make it best for its customers.
MediaFire – Competitors
The top competitors of the company are Onehub, Tresorit and ArchiverFS.
Onehub is a secured file sharing and storage service built for various businesses. It has a role-based permission structure which means the user can control whoever is accessing his/her content and can also share business files with confidence.
Tresorit is an ultra-secure platform. It has got an end to end encrypted file sync & sharing subscription model. It is accessible to its users anywhere and at any point of time.
ArchiverFS provides file archiving solutions to its customers. It features a tiny footprint on the host system.
MediaFire handles all the file needs. It has made the storage issue easier now. It has got powerful features which can’t be found anywhere else. It simplifies the workflow.
Edmodo is an instructive innovation organization offering a correspondence, cooperation, and training stage to K-12 schools and instructors. The Edmodo network empowers educators to share content, appropriate tests, tasks, and oversee correspondence with understudies, associates, and guardians.
Edmodo was established by Nick Borg, Jeff O’Hara, and Crystal Hutter in 2008. It is sponsored by Index Ventures, Benchmark, Greylock Partners, Learn Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Union Square Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Tenaya Capital, SingTel Innov8, and KDDI. As of July 2019, Edmodo professed to have over 100M clients worldwide. About half of these clients were in the US, with the rest being in 180 nations around the globe. Critical focuses exist in Singapore, Indonesia, Uruguay, and Italy. About 10% of these clients were instructors, a representation of how well known Edmodo is in study halls.
Below we will analyze the business plan that took Edmodo to the peak of success:
Client Segments
Edmodo is focused on educators, empowering them to work together, share assets, track understudy progress, and utilize intuitive showing apparatuses from one spot. The Edmodo stage is utilized by over 300,000 schools around the world. The Company’s essential market is, where it gives the main social training stage among K-12 schools.
Behind the US Edmodo’s biggest business sectors are Mexico, Australia, Colombia, and Canada. Notwithstanding serving educators, Edmodo is additionally focused on understudies and guardians. Understudies can partake in web-based learning and intuitive tests, while guardians can screen their youngster’s school exercises, evaluations, and investment in school occasions.
Edmodo is using the web-based learning and intuitive tests to reach more clients
Incentives
Edmodo’s most prominent worth is that it makes the way toward making exercise substance, testing, and understudy observing a more straightforward, additional time productive and more open cycle for instructors and schools. The stage makes the learning cycle more straightforward, with educators ready to find what instructing strategies are best for which understudies and guardians ready to screen the advancement and execution of their youngsters.
The administration is allowed to utilize and accessible through web programs and versatile and tablet applications, permitting instructors, understudies, and guardians to cooperate and partake in the taking in experience from anyplace. The Company likewise furnishes instructors with progressing support, preparing projects and assets.
The Edmodo stage can be gotten to through the Company’s portable and work area sites at www.edmodo.com. The Company additionally has versatile and tablet applications accessible for iOS and Android.
Client Relationships
The Edmodo stage is accessible on a self-administration premise, with instructors, understudies, and guardians ready to enlist through the Edmodo landing page for nothing out of pocket. Understudies require a gathering code, given by their educator, to enlist, while guardians should have an exceptional parent code for their youngster. When enlisted clients can utilize the stage self-rulingly with no cooperation with Edmodo agents.
The stage’s substance is network-driven, with educators, understudies and guardians urged to associate and team up with each other. Edmodo offers backing to its clients through its self-facilitated Help Center, which incorporates client instructional exercises, FAQs, and investigating guides, just as through a Community Support organization and direct connection. The Company likewise cooperates with its client network through its incorporation of a blog, a pamphlet, occasions, and its online media accounts.
Edmodo is an instructive innovation organization that works as an online social learning stage for instructors, understudies, and guardians. The Company expects to make learning a more effective, inventive, and straightforward cycle. Its foundation empowers instructors to all the more effectively work together, share assets, discover exercise thoughts, and collaborate with guardians.
It additionally permits the two educators and guardians to all the more precisely screen the advancement of understudies and recognizes which strategies for instructing are best. Notwithstanding offering an online stage, the Company gives a scope of preparing and expert advancement courses to instructors with the goal that they can all the more successfully use the Edmodo innovation. Edmodo likewise works together with an organization of accomplices to make additional usefulness through local applications.
Edmodo works as an online social learning stage for instructors, understudies, and guardians
Key Partners
Edmodo accomplices with tech organizations, instructive bodies, content distributors, and subsidiary advertisers. The Company has vital associations with Microsoft, acquainting clients with the Office 365 cloud programming, and Cambridge University Press, incorporating new Cambridge University Press content for the improved straight GCSE capabilities.
Edmodo additionally has content associations with Khan Academy, LearnZillion, Oxford University Press, Better Lesson, and Sony Global Education, the principal accomplice to give Japanese substance. In Mexico, Edmodo has cooperated with SINADEP-SNTE, the nation’s biggest instructor’s association to bring together correspondence and joint effort among its individuals.
Edmodo engages expert teachers in one-to-one interactions with the students as well as their guardians
In 2012 Edmodo delivered its API and has since joined forces with a scope of engineers to make outsider applications that upgrade the Edmodo stage’s usefulness. The Company additionally teams up with brand and channel accomplices to grow it’s showcasing go and produce new clients.
Distinct advantages
Edmodo’s distinct advantages are its product stage, its IT framework, its vital and substance associations, its workforce, and its client network. Searches of records held by the US Patent and Trademark Office recognized no patent applications documented in Edmodo’s name.
Edmodo Revenue Model
Edmodo works under a freemium income model, giving free admittance to its social learning stage with the alternative for clients to pay for extra usefulness and administrations. The Company has three head income streams: its application commercial center, its preparation and expert improvement administrations, and its superior Snapshot administration.
Edmodo offers a scope of on the web and in-person preparing arrangements, including one day, in-person Edmodo Workshop and Edmodo Deployment programs valued at $2,500 per gathering of 25 instructors and a multi week online Edmodo in real life course evaluated at $7,500 per gathering of 25 educators. The Company likewise gives a four hour Certified Learner Course that should be haggled with a neighborhood salesman.
Edmodo’s exceptional Snapshot administration, which permits educators to all the more precisely check understudy progress, is purportedly valued at somewhere in the range of $1,275 and $2,000 every year, per school. Furthermore, the Edmodo commercial center proposals around 600 outsider instructive applications, some free and some paid-for. Premium applications, at different value focuses, can be authorized by instructors on a yearly, per homeroom premise
Increasing at a generous rate of 10-15% every year, the Indian e-commerce sector has been upgrading and expanding its consumer base. With the world going digital day by day Indian E-commerce sectors are constantly trying to make shopping and services as smooth as possible. No doubt, this easiness takes countless efforts. However, to be conscious of all the upcoming challenges about your own business one has to understand the challenges overcome by Indian e-commerce businesses!
The Indian e-commerce market is on constant lookout to know about their consumer preferences. Be it clothing, food, home décor etc., e-commerce organizations make sure they’ve got a cutthroat competition among themselves. After the United States, India holds the second-largest position in the e-commerce market globally.
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Considering the diverse and colossal population of India, it is beyond doubt a quality market ready to explore. Alright! So let’s jump into the challenges faced by e-commerce companies and how they are enhancing themselves as the day goes by.
Customers love personalization! Provide them with the things they exactly need and they’ll stay loyal to your company and brand for a long time. However, there are thousands of customers, and personalizing things for each and every customer is a strenuous task which e-commerce companies overcome, flawlessly.
From establishing algorithms to show similar items, to loading the website page in 1 second, are all parts of personalization. By loading the website much faster than others the chances of making more sales increase. Almost 70% consumers agree to the impact of page speed on making purchases, survey from Unbounce. The rest depends upon the quality and reviews of your product. It is quite simple, keep your customers happy!
Knowing your consumer’s buying trend and sending notifications about their favourite items is something customers absolutely adore. Indian e-commerce websites do this by unimpaired optimization of their website. They make sure they stand out from the crowd and bag more deals by personalizing as much a possible.
Website and Search Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Digital Marketing, Social Media, Keyword Analysis, etc are a few skills that are extremely important for any e-commerce sector. Here, search results play a crucial role to convert your audience into customers. Suggesting a product of interest is still an incomplete sale but making it compelling for consumer to not have second thoughts is the deal.
A few e-commerce websites make sure they add fantastic coupons and promo codes that keep their consumers glued to their company. Eg: Uber Eats sold Square Pizzas worth Rs.30 on their website and this became extremely popular among college students for their pockets and love for pizza, it was a major hit.
Different types of people make contrasting choices depending upon various factors like age, gender, experiences, interests, etc. Some of them are impulsive buyers waiting for the trigger. A business has to be aware of what the customer demands might be in the near future and prepare accordingly.
Simply put, to convert leads into sales, e-commerce businesses have to be aware and prepare for upcoming demands. To execute this flawlessly, collected data plays an important role. It’s imperative for businesses to catch certain keywords by the customers as well so that they know what a potential customer might wish to buy in the near future.
Through artificial intelligence, e-commerce businesses keep an eye on everything. One might say that companies sell data to make suggestions that pop up on your social media. The advancement in technology is bringing up closer and helping people live up to their business dreams.
Efficient Return Methods
Since customers are unable to hand touch the products they buy they often resort to considering reviews. However, at times customers are still unsatisfied with certain products and wish to return them. In such cases, having a simple and efficient exchanging method helps to reduce customer’s anxiety and irritation.
E-commerce businesses have to make sure that they have an easy return policy. When the return policies are too tedious, customers tend to keep the product and resort to negative word of mouth publicity or a bad review. This holistically affects the website’s reputation. Therefore companies make sure, that they are absolutely secure on this end by helping the customer.
This is a major challenge for small e-commerce businesses as they have to pay extra logistics fee for singular items. Established businesses can pull this off, but sometimes they don’t and this leads to a downfall in their reputation.
Easy Multiple Payment Options
We’re going digital. We hardly use our physical wallets anymore. G-pay, PayPal etc are our wallets today and e-commerce business have to make sure that they are available on all channels whether national or international. Though the COD (Cash On Delivery) option is still used, most often resort to prepaying through credit and debit cards.
Since the lockdown, most money transactions are taking place online therefore it is imperative for all kinds of businesses, small or big to have multiple payment options for a smooth-running business.
Failing to do so, especially in online shopping, if the customer finds any sort of restriction on any product they absolutely wish to buy they will visit competitor site and convert them into sales. This is horrific for a business. Therefore, most e-commerce businesses create deals and options to have their buyers hooked onto them.
Supply Network
A transaction is not entirely complete unless the product reaches the customer’s hand. There are times when deliveries are not up to mark. Problems like late deliveries or damaged products are unactable by the customers. E-commerce businesses have to make sure their products are properly sealed and delivered to their customer’s addresses.
Quality research is important for hassle-free and timely deliveries. E-commerce platforms partner up with reputed logistics companies to make sure the products are safe and sound and satisfy the customers. When talking about Indian e-commerce businesses, one has to take special care of unavailability and difficult access to areas.
Indian E-commerce businesses have to overcome major challenges, every day. They beat all odds and make sure their business shine and are talked about all over the internet. With amazing advertising and marketing, Indian e-commerce platforms are soaring to new heights.
FAQs
What is cart abandonment?
Customers generally add products to the cart and leave the website without making any purchase.
If we have to point out some of the worst fights online, the fight between 99acres Vs. MagicBricks will be one of them. The two have been in real estate for years, but their fight has made more headlines than their achievements in the real estate business. The 99acres Vs. MagicBricks conflict surely has a deep impact on the customers. Even I was confused if I want to do something with my property or look for one which one should I choose? 99acres or MagicBricks? Both claim they are the best. But why? Through this article, we have listed out the points from both sides in the 99acres Vs. MagicBricks conflict for you to choose the winner in the end-
Performance of 99acres
Home purchasing feeling improved as open area banks and private players sliced home credit loan costs to a 15-year low. Below the list shows how 99acres have performed this year.
Pre-COVID Times
2020 took the inquiries up by 80% of the pre-COVID times.
Engineers detailed a 50 percent recuperation in the number of exchanges.
The resale portion stayed under tension with bargains shutting at a 2-5 percent limited rate overall.
With an expansion of more than 31,000 units in metro urban communities, new dispatches went up by 4.5 times.
Post the COVID-19 episode, 99acres saw a drop with around 33,000 units in Jul-Sep 2020
2.5 occasions of the deals detailed in Apr-Jun 2020, for example, 9,700 units. Mumbai and Delhi drove other metro urban communities regarding the deal volume and comprised around 29 percent and 22 percent of the absolute exchanges, separately.
The provided property cost estimates stayed unaltered across urban communities. Notwithstanding, with offers, limits, and dealings on the table, exchanges shut at an adjusted cost of around 2-5 percent on a normal.
The most noticeably terrible influenced were Chennai and Delhi NCR, which endured the worst part of a high divergence popular and flexibility.
Bangalore and Hyderabad were the main business sectors that supported costs amid the pandemic and the resultant financial plunge because of the strength of end-clients and a positive interest flexibly condition.
99acres
New dispatches went up by 4.5 occasions with the expansion of around 31,000 units this quarter, as against 5,500 units in the past quarter.
The unsold stock plunged by a small one percent, YoY, and remained at 4.4 lakh units toward the finish of September 2020.
With the business sectors opening up around mid-June, a couple of engineers dispatched new undertakings, while the greater part centered around finishing and selling their continuous tasks. Homebuyers, be that as it may, stayed mindful of under-development tasks to limit the danger in their ventures. Prepared or close prepared units collected most extreme footing.
Performance of MagicBricks
With the Covid-19 pandemic having on a very basic level modified everyday connections for most, India’s land area has needed to zero in on highlights, for example, video walkthroughs and online rental installments, and even cashbacks and prizes to squeeze out development. Since the Covid-19 effect on the area has been grave, land tech new businesses would likewise have to have strong establishments to defeat the emergency.
magicbricks
One such organization is Times Internet-claimed land posting commercial center MagicBricks. As the organization plans for the post-COVID-world, it could cheer up from its to some degree improved monetary execution in the financial year finishing March 31, 2020, or FY20. Below the list shows how MagicBricks have performed this year.
As indicated by MagicBricks’ financials, and verified by Inc42, the organization recorded an income of INR 246.28 Cr in FY20, a 16% expansion from its income of INR 213.24 Cr in FY19.
The organization’s costs became 9%, from INR 221.13 Cr to INR 241.81 Cr.
While a year ago, the organization recorded a deficiency of INR 7.89 Cr. this year, it has figured out how to turn a thin benefit of INR 4.47 Cr.
Furthermore, with the conceded charge recorded down as a resource and added to the EBITDA, the organization has announced a general benefit of INR 49.63 Cr.
The expense of materials devoured, worker benefits cost, account expenses and devaluation, exhaustion and amortization cost saw an expansion.
Costs regarding upkeep, power, travel and other various costs, declined by 9%, from INR 117.92 Cr to INR 107.49 Cr.
Land tech organizations are focusing on highlights to fill the dispersion hole, especially for home viewings and documentation. The filings express that MagicBricks is hoping to add more highlights in its differentiated portfolio and that during FY20, the organization put resources into “land supplies of huge designers across India for capital appreciation.”
It is important that before this month, the Times Internet-possessed organization augmented its bundle of administrations to incorporate a scope of rental arrangements, for example, tenant contracts, inhabitant confirmation, and pay lease, as it broadens its property administrations commercial center.
Administrations for occupant confirmation and tenant contract can be profited at costs beginning INR 499. Inhabitants can likewise utilize MagicBricks’ Pay Rent stage to move leases up to INR 45,000 to their landowners by utilizing Mastercard and procure reward focuses, the organization said in a delivery.
A Brief Overview of Traffic in 99acres Vs. MagicBricks
Monthly visitors: MagicBricks wins
Average Daily visitors: MagicBricks wins
Clicks per visitor: MagicBricks wins
Total Minutes spent on the site by the visitors: 99Acres wins
Unique visitors: 99acres wins
Now several other aspects can be kept in mind like site accessibility, a total number of customers handled, successful and failed projects, etc. to conclude. In a nutshell, we keep it on the readers which one they prefer in their real estate related matters. As of this current month-
MagicBricks successfully has more than 1 Mln dynamic property postings, of which, 58% are available to be purchased and 42% for lease
2.1 lakh selective postings posted uniquely on its foundation by singular landowners from across 700 towns and urban communities.
In this case, MagicBricks wins, but as we already said, it’s up to an individual which one he/she prefers as in the conflict of 99acres Vs. MagicBricks, both have a lot to offer.
Microfinance – also called microcredit- is a way to provide small business owners and entrepreneurs access to capital. Small and individual businesses don’t have access to traditional financial resources from major institutions. It is harder to access loans, insurance, and investments that will grow their businesses. This sector has been instrumental in creating opportunities for low-income households by providing credit access to 64 million unique live borrowers who were previously beyond the reach of traditional financial services. Additionally, the microfinance sector has its own set of challenges, ranging from lack of formal credit history, absence of collateral, laborious customer acquisition process, and low digital and financial literacy. There are various microfinance models in India many of these models are indeed ‘formalized‘ versions of informal financial systems.
Some of the significant features of microfinance are as follows:
The borrowers are generally from low-income backgrounds
Loans availed under microfinance are usually of a small amount, i.e., microloans
The loan tenure is short
Microfinance loans do not require any collateral
These loans are usually repaid at higher frequencies
The purpose of most microfinance loans is income generation
Market share of financial institutions in outstanding portfolio
Government initiatives play a significant role in channeling the credit flow to underserved sectors through priority sector lending, Micro Units Development, and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Yojana, loan co-origination, and private sector investments. In the last couple of years, the microfinance sector has seen promising growth on the back of the rapidly growing Indian economy.
Microfinance in India
Small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), thereby increasing the contribution of these segments to India’s overall GDP. In FY19, the microfinance sector displayed 40 % growth in terms of the loan portfolio. INR 10 billion funds have been released by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to boost the microfinance sector. SIDBI has tied up with non-profit organizations and social ventures to channel funds at below-market rates to facilitate affordable borrowing.
In recent years, the microfinance sector has faced new challenges such as:
Limited access to low-cost funding for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
Low financial and digital literacy among targeted Borrowers
Over-borrowing
The demand for more innovative
Customer-centric products
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has played a significant role in enabling the microfinance sector to reach out to new geographies. Recently, the Government of India has also increased the microlending limit of borrowers to INR 1.25 lakh to expand the reach of the microfinance sector.
The target community forms an ‘association’ through which various microfinance (and other) activities are initiated. Such activities may include savings. These associations or groups can form of a youth, women. It is also formed around political/religious/cultural issues. It can create support for microenterprises and other work-based issues.
According to NABARD, SHG-BLP is the world’s largest microfinance program in the world.
Bank Guarantees Model
A Bank guarantee is used to obtain a loan from a commercial bank. This guarantee may be arranged externally ( through donor/donation, government agency, etc. ) or internally (using member savings). The loans obtained may be given to an individual or they may be given to the self-formed group. It is a form of capital guarantee scheme. Guaranteed funds may be used for various purposes, including loan recovery and insurance claims. The guaranteed funds can be used for various purposes such as loan recovery or insurance claims.
Bellwether Microfinance Funds (India) is one such example.
Community Banking Model
In India, community banking looks very different. Self Help Groups (SHG) are often instituted in which members of the local community join together and pool capital resources for lending to members. They value transparency in their practices and utilizing their savings for their purposes of lending.
A successful example is the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Foundation India, which has various microfinancing programs to help the poorest communities across India.
Challenges in accessing credit from the formal sector
Cooperatives Model
A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-owned enterprise. The members are the shareholders and have their share in equity capital. They also share the profit.
Co-operative Development Forum Hyderabad is a successful example of this model. It has built a network of women’s thrift groups and men’s thrift groups.
Credit Unions Model
This model is based on a member-driven credit union, a self-help financial institution. A union of members is formed. These members form the common community. They agree to save together and give loans to each other at a nominal rate of interest. A credit union’s membership is open to all who belong to the group, regardless of race, religion, color, or creed.
It promotes credit as a human right and is based on the premise that the skills of the poor are underutilized. The Grameen Bank (GB) is based on the voluntary formation of slight groups of five people to provide mutual, morally necessary group guarantees instead of the collateral required by conventional banks.
The whole center is jointly responsible for the repayment. Grameen model is being followed by Sarv Seva Abhiyan (ASSEFA), Activities for Social Alternatives.
Intermediary Model
This model positions a third party between the lending institutions and the borrowers. The intermediary plays a critical role in generating credit awareness and education among the borrowers. Intermediaries could be individual lenders, NGOs, microenterprise/microcredit programs, and commercial banks (for government-financed programs). The intermediaries are incentivized in monetary and non-monetary forms.
Individual Banking Model
This is a straight forward credit lending model where microloans are given directly to the borrower. The individual banking model is a shift from the group-based model. The MFI gives loans to an individual based on his or her creditworthiness. It also assists in skill development and outreach programs. Co-operative banks, Commercial banks, and Regional Rural Banks mostly adopt this model to give loans to the farming and non-farming unorganized sector.
Self-employment women’s association in India s one such example to have adopted this model. The members own and govern the group.
NGO Model
NGOs are one of the key players in the field of micro-financing. They help the cause of micro-financing by playing the intermediary in multiple dimensions. Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) played a vital role in rural reconstruction, agricultural development, and rural development even during a pre-independent era in our country. NGOs became a supplementary agency for the developmental activities of the government and in some cases, they become alternatives to the government.
Non-governmental Organizations are committed to the upliftment of poor, marginalized, underprivileged, impoverished, and downtrodden and they are close and accessible to their target groups.
Various NGOs are helping the cause of micro-financing. For example, MYRADA in Karnataka, SHARE in Andhra Pradesh, RDO (Rural Development Organization) in Manipur, RUDSOVAT (Rural Development Society for Vocational Training) in Rajasthan, and ADITHI in Bihar.
ROSCA Model Or Chit Funds
Rotating Savings and Credit Associations or ROSCAs, are essentially a group of individuals who come together and make regular cyclical contributions to a common fund, which is then given as a lump sum to one member in each cycle. At the end of a cycle, the total fund collected goes to any one member. Rotating Savings and Credit Associations are a means to save and borrow simultaneously. There are lakhs of ROSCA functioning in India today.
It is closely related to the community banking and the Group model, this is the community-based saving and credit model. A group of 25-50 people gets together to enhance their income through self-employment activities. They get their first loan from the implementing agency, which helps them form the community credit enterprise.
Small Business Model
This model places a big responsibility on small and medium enterprises. This has been changing, as more and more importance is placed on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – for generating employment, for increasing income, and providing services that are lacking.
Future of Microfinance in India
Affordable borrowing for one and all: Easy access to microcredit
Reaching the doorstep of every unbanked customer
The road ahead for a digital microfinance
Leveraging women empowerment and mobilizing the entrepreneurial landscape
India aims to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025 and the microfinance industry will play a leading role in uplifting the lives of millions of low-income households and enabling them to contribute to the country’s economic growth.
John Bissell is an American businessman who founded FabIndia in 1960. He ran the handloomed textile export business in India for more than 30 years. He had a life span of 66 years as he died on 2 March, 1998 due to cerebral hamorrhage. He used to live in New Delhi, India where his venture FabIndia is headquartered and the company has marked glorious 60 years. He also worked for the Ford Foundation, New Delhi. As a Philanthropist, he has introduced The FabIndia School in 1992, which is dedicated to the welfare and education of children in India. As of 2008, the net revenue of FabIndia counts to $ 65 million.
John was born in Hartford, USA. His father used to tell him stories of his time in India during World War II. This engrossed a love for India within him, since his childhood.
He was married to Bimla Nanda, who worked as a social secretary for Chester A. Bowles and John Kenneth Galbraith when they were United States Ambassadors to India. The couple bear a son named William Bissell and daughter Monsoon Bissell. He lived with his family in New Delhi, India.
John Bissell- Education
John completed his formal education from the Brooks School in North Andover, Mass., and at Yale.
John Bissell- Professional Life
After completing his studies at college, John worked as a buyer at Macy’s, New York and started liking the look and feel of hand-woven fabrics. Both interests collated in 1958, when he was given a two-year grant from the Ford Foundation to instruct Indian villages in making goods for export.
The grant was expired soon and he then decided to include hand woven fabrics through his own venture. He soon launched a business, FabIndia Limited that purchased locally produced items like dhurrie rugs and further exported them.
John started the textile export business in 1960 that eventually became FabIndia. His son, William Bissell took over the responsibility as the Chairman of FabIndia when his father fell ill.
John Bissell- Founder of FabIndia
FabIndia Logo
John Bissell is the Founder of FabIndia Overseas Private Limited, the Indian chain store retailing garments, furnishings, fabrics and ethnic products handmade by local people of rural India. The company was established in 1960.
FabIndia initially exported home furnishings before entering domestic retail in 1976. The current Chairman of the company is John’s son, William Bissell. The company had a revenue of $ 65 million with a 30 % increase from the previous year.
FabIndia does not advertise and largely works through word-of-mouth publicity. It currently operates 327 stores across India and 14 international stores.
No one from his family was a businessman. It was coincidental how his initial textile business went on to become FabIndia. Moreover, his uncle Richard M. Bissell Jr., was a famous spy at the legendary Central Intelligence Agency.
The products of FabIndia are primarily sourced from villages aiding to provide and sustain rural employment in India. Currently 60,000 artisans and craftspeople across India serve for the company. Good craftsmanship is also encouraged through such hand-crafted products.
John’s business flourished even though he did not had a suitable background as a businessman. After John, his son William is handling operations at FabIndia.
John Bissell- Success story
FabIndia went through several transformations with the passing time. The company went through several amount of problems that gradually grew into a bigger opportunity in the hands of the Founder, John Bissell.
During the peak of the Emergency Period enforced by thePrime Minister Indira Gandhi 1975-76, new rules were declared by the government. The guidelines included the banishment of the commercial industries that ran their business at residential properties.
Due to the reason mentioned above, FabIndia was forced to move out from their second premises of Mathura Road. But this rather turned out to be a boon for John as he decided to use this problem as an opportunity. He opened his first FabIndia retail store to sell their products in New Delhi, which also became its register office.
After this move, they started offering their services to urban India. FabIndia decided to adapt their own fabrics and designs according to the urban taste. This move made them stand against all the government owned and subsidized competitors in hand loom fabrics and apparel sector.
John Bissell established The FabIndia School in 1992 in Bali, Rajasthan. Today it has become a co-educational, senior secondary school with 600 students including 40 % girls. The school subsidized tuition fees of the girl students and offers scholarships and partnered with The John Bissell Scholars Fund, which was established in 2000.
John Bissell- Honors & Awards
FabIndia was awarded Best Retail Brand by The Economic Times in 2004
Featured as a part of CNBC special TV report on India
Became a Harvard Business Schoolcase study in 2007
FabIndia marked 50 years in 2010 and released the book The Fabric of Our Lives: The Story of FabIndia by Radhika Singh.
Bestowed with TIE Retail Innovation Award for Excellence in Supply Chain Management (2010)
John received Outstanding Achievement in Promotion of Cotton by a Brand by Cotton Council of India (2011)
Rated among India’s Best Companies to Work for by Economic Times and Great Places to Work (2011)
Recognized as the Best Retail Brand by The Economic Times (2004)
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The Indian aviation sector witnessed the growth of air passengers by 18.6% between January and December 2018, which carried almost 138.9 million passengers as compared to 117.1 million in the year 2017. Evidently, the growth in air passengers would motivate the growth of aircraft, and that eventually bring new innovations and new challenges. While the number of air passengers are increasing, there is still a large segment of air travelers who are not fully aware of the Air Passenger Rights. The Air Passenger Rights were laid down by DGCA (Directorate-General of Civil Aviation) to benefit the travelers but, people are failing take advantage of these rights because of the lack of awareness and technical jargon incorporated in policies as well as the airline manuals.
refundme.in, India’s first-ever flight compensation provider makes people aware of their passenger rights and help them get the compensation they are entitled to get in case of flight disruptions. Akanksha Anshu founded refundme.in in 2016.
refundme.in offers a platform to the travelers where they can easily claim compensation in case of any unfavorable circumstances such as – flight delay, flight cancellation, overbooking, denied boarding, and so on. The platform is user-friendly to bring air passengers closer to their rights with minimal or no hurdles.
They make it easy for customers to understand the complex and ambiguous technicalities and laws related to flight compensation; thereby empowering the air passengers. The company takes care of all the air passengers and make sure that they receive accurate compensation that they are entitled to.
More than a company, it is a movement to wipe out the flying difficulties once and for all. refundme.in team is ambitiously helping air passengers across the world by making them aware of their rights and empowering them to get the compensation that they are entitled to. Moreover, refundme.in fights back in court, through official enforcement bodies, to prevent airlines from making unfair gains and provide justice to the air passengers.
Mr Boie Mascot
Recently, the company has launched a product – “Mr Boie – Your Travel Assistant,” an online application to make travelers’ life easy. Mr Boie is a travel assistant application who’ll assist the user throughout their travel with his intelligence and omnipresence. He’ll be there every moment through the users’ travel.
Mr Boie is a perfect combination of uplifted technology and solution-centered actions. Simply, Mr Boie can do so many things at one go. With this application, one can –
Upload travel documents – so that you don’t misplace any important document.
Checklist & Reminder – so that you don’t leave anything behind
Expense Tracker – To never slip out of budget
Delay Prediction – it can foresee the likelihood of your flight delay
Airport Details – You will get all the details of itineraries at the airport
Airline Details – you will get all the details of your terminal, aircraft, gate, baggage belt, and everything
Cab Booking – You don’t have to flip between different apps. You can even book your cab through Mr Boie.
Aviation Industry Details
India is the fastest-growing aviation market and is expected to cater to 520 million passengers by 2037 and aims to become the third-largest aviation market globally by 2024. India has the fastest-growing domestic air market in the world.
The Indian aviation sector witnessed the growth of air passengers by 18.6 percent between January and December 2018, which carried almost 138.9 million passengers as compared to 117.1 million in the year 2017. As per the DGCA report, IndiGo topped the list with 54.79 lakh passengers.
India has 464 airports and airstrips, of which 125 airports are owned by the Airport Authority of India (AAI). These 125 AAI airports manage close to 78% of domestic passenger traffic and 22% of international passenger traffic.
Passenger traffic in India stood at 316.51 million during April 2018 – Feb 2019. Out of which domestic passenger traffic stood at 252.92 million while international traffic stood at 63.59 million.
refundme.in – Founders and Team
Akanksha Anshu is the founder of refundme.in.
Akanksha Anshu – founder of refundme.in.
Akanksha Anshu is a tech-savvy, a visionary, entrepreneur, and founder of 3 successful ventures. She comes from an enterprise technology background, holds an Engineering degree, and has managed various roles so far from IT services to Business Development for the International market.
Through refundme.in she has given suggestions to the government, and the idea and efforts have helped the government to revise the Air Passenger Charter Act. She has been featured by many media platforms such as ETWealth, BW Disrupt, Business Insider, and more for her contribution to the Aviation Industry.
She has expertise in Technology, Marketing, and Automation. She has been mentoring various startups for their IT infrastructure and strategic planning. Besides consultancy, she is a traveler, story-teller, and a motivational speaker. So far, she has been a speaker at various events where she has presented her ideas on distinct topics, from technology to entrepreneur, IT automation, motivation, and web security.
How was refundme.in Started
Akanksha was once traveling from Delhi To Bengaluru for an important meeting, but few hours before the boarding, she received a message saying, “your flight has been canceled.” Within the limited time, Akanksha could not find any alternate flights; because of a lack of proactiveness and concern for passenger rights from the airline’s side, Akanksha could not attend the meeting. This situation has bothered Akanksha for all the right reasons and has eventually led her to establish refundme.in.
Akanksha has spent a good time abroad and was aware of Air Passenger Rights in countries like the US and UK. She researched to check if any such rights existed in India and found that India did have such rights. To her surprise, Akanksha found that only less than 1% actually receive their flight compensation, and almost more than 1 billion Indian currency was unpaid. Her experience supported by the statistics she came across in her research, she realized that there is a huge gap in the aviation industry concerning public awareness of Air Passenger Rights. With refundme.in she took on the lead to improve awareness among Indians about their Air Passenger Rights.
refundme.in operates on a B2B and B2c business model. For the services it provides, refundme.in charges individual customers on a case on case basis while for corporates, they have a a range of packages starting from Rs. 3000/month to 22000/ yearly for the clients to choose from.
refundme.in
refundme.in – Funding
refundme.in is a bootstrapped company and doesn’t have any funding till date (December 2020)
refundme.in – Startup Challenges
As refundme.in works closely with the dynamic and huge aviation industry, there have been numerous challenges in the way of refundme.in. The challenges faced are,
Decoding Indian RegulationIn the whole process, decoding DGCA air passenger regulation was one of the most challenging parts for the refundme.in. Akanksha took help from legal authorities in understanding the technical jargon associated with the DGCA regulation and evaluating the benefits that the air passenger rights offer.
Lack of AwarenessAfter decoding, making people aware of was another. refundme.in conducted a survey in India and abroad to get comprehensive data about the awareness of air passenger rights. The findings were shockingly disappointing, which suggested that there is a long way to go to make this world fully aware of their rights. 70 percent of the flyers were not aware of their rights, 17 percent did not think they were eligible for compensation, and 13 percent did not know how to file a claim. Hardly 1% of the total population knows about it, and this number is like a grain of dust in front of the country having the world’s second-largest population. In addition, the DGCA rule ambiguous and complex for an ordinary person to understand.
refundme.in – Achievements
One of the biggest achievements for the refundme.in team is that they have been successful in positively influencing the DGCA rule and bringing in more accountability and making the Air Passenger Charter Act more accommodative for the passengers.
Earlier, the compensation to air passengers under the DGCA rule was limited to the flight delay, cancellation, overbooking, or denied boarding. In 2018, refundme.in took the initiative and made an appeal to include compensation for baggage delay and baggage lost to the Indian Government. The government has accepted the request and revised Air Passenger Charter Act early this year (2019), and the revised act will be regulated soon.
refundme.in stands out in the Indian market because of its services that empathize with the problems of air travelers. The company targets not only the Indian market but also the European market and help passengers get their compensation. Since the idea resonates with the daily life struggles of people who travel via air, the company acquired 100 + users within the first year of establishment and growing amazingly to date. The company is working towards making more and more air passengers aware of their rights.
We envision that in the coming years, each traveler would be aware of his/her passenger rights; airlines get more responsible towards their passengers, and together they would make each other grow.
A used car dealership business in India means that selling used cars to customers who are looking to own a vehicle but their savings money does not allow them to buy from ex-showroom price and earn profits. The COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease) pandemic has placed the automotive industry at great disruption. Starting a user car dealership business in India will be profitable, where cars have to be brought from their owners at a lower price than you will sell later. IBISWorld reports the used car dealership industry has had a net decline over the past five years, due to coronavirus, at an average annual rate of -1.6%. In the upcoming years, this industry’s 129,553 businesses are forecast to see $ 99.1 billion in collective revenue. Nowadays people need more cars due to their daily transportation. The globally used car market size was valued at USD 1,332.2 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% from 2020 to 2027.
As there is the rise in the cost of new cars in the market also the increasing rate of interest on car loans has resulted in a shift in consumer preferences from purchasing brand new cars to buying used cars. In this article, we will discuss in brief how you will begin this car dealership business.
Used Car Market Size, by Vehicle Type
Key Segments of Used Car Dealership Industry
The inability of customers to buy new cars became one of the reasons for the growing sales of used car volume.
These dealership networks helped market participants to brand and make used car options.
The added quality and reliability of used cars changed the consumer attitude and increased the sales of the used passenger cars.
Investing in used car management has become one of the market’s requirements characterized by slimming margin, relentless competition, and demanding consumers.
High disposable income
Rising demand for luxury cars
The shorter period of car ownership
Increasing preference of the owner of a two-wheeler to upgrade to a compact car
External Factors Affect the Used Car Dealership Industry
Several factors affect the performance of the used car dealership industry:
Per capita disposable income – When customers have more money to spend, they become more willing to spend on expensive discretionary items, such as used cars.
Price of new cars – Buying a used car is a more affordable alternative to purchasing a new car.
Aggressive age of vehicle fleet – As the average age of vehicle fleets increases, it represents greater demand for vehicles.
World price of crude oil – High gasoline prices tend to decrease new and used vehicle sales.
Used Car Dealership Business Plan
A business plan is a blueprint that is necessary for running any business successfully. When you have a well-defined business plan the scope for trial and error in the actual business scenario. The primary objective of a used car dealership business is 100% customer satisfaction. After that, the business will aim to achieve and exceed the average profit margin within the first two years of business. The main mission must be to provide a hassle-free car buying experience with the main focus on customer satisfaction. After you select your location where you intend to start your business then you have to do work with the facts, indices, and other figures in the industry.
The dealership also provides job satisfaction to its employees by rewarding their efforts with bonuses and incentives. One important thing is to fulfill the buyer’s need for safe and quality transportation by providing them used cars that match or exceed their expectations.
After doing all the necessary objectives you need to bring together a proactive team of professionals who have some experience in the field. The network of suppliers that can help in buying and selling cars of optimum quality at attractive prices.
The start-up costs of a used car dealership will be financed through short-term loans, owners’ investment, and long term loans. The costs depend upon the following factors:
Stationary and office supplies
Accounting consultation fees
Office or plot rent
Legal fees for a business establishment such as ownership and no sell agreement
Office or plot rent
Marketing or advertisement fees
Web presence and online advertising expenses
Equipment such as desks, computers, telephone, fax/copier, and office furniture
Licensing
Surety bond
Global used car market share, by sales channel 2019(%)
Economic Analysis of Used Car Dealership
This new wave of digital retailing represents more than technology alone because it focuses on the importance of the customer experience in the used-car buying process.
Highlights of used car dealership business:
Complete end to end purchasing capabilities( 59% of buyers)
Extensive vehicle data and photos along with effective search tools ( 64% of buyers)
Your business goal will decide the legal entity, you must choose for your used car dealership business. When you are starting with a moderate amount of capital, you can choose to be the sole proprietor of your entity.
Some of the legal documents you will need to run a used car dealership business are :
Business and liability insurance
Certificate of incorporation
Tax Payer’s ID
Fire certificate
Used Car Dealership License
Business Plan
Non-disclosure Agreement
Employee’s Handbook(optional)
Facility permit/ license
Franchise or Trademark License
Insurance Policy
Choosing Location for Used Car Dealership
A car dealership requires a parking lot where you can park the cars and display them, as well as an indoor office space where all the administration is done. Before you search for a location you will consider the following points:
Demographics
Number of existing used car dealerships in the location
Accessibility
Local laws of the region or state
Security, safety, parking space
The purchasing power of the people residing there
Awareness of Used Car Dealership Business
None of the business is running without promotion and the same goes with the used car dealership business. Uniform promotion efforts are important to get noticed. The way you show yourself people perceive you in that way. Nowadays social media has emerged as the greatest platform for brand promotion and is very effective.
Some ways of brand promotion are as follows:
Sponsor community programs that are relevant to you
Give advertisements in newspaper, magazines, radio, and TV stations
Place hoardings in a target location that will get your business noticed
Distribute pamphlets
Some introductory letters in your location introducing people to know about your business
Take reviews from your initial customers and promote them because this way you will make trust
Looking for Distribution Network for Used Car Dealership Business
Being a member of a good network of used car dealers, you will be able to establish ready links with people who are looking to sell used cars. The Internet is a fantastic platform for advertisement and you must put your best foot forward in gaining leverage from it.
Key Companies & Market Share Insights
The impact of GST on Used Car Dealership Business
GST or Goods and Services Tax is usually charged on the transaction value of goods. Indian Automobile industry mostly benefited after the implementation of the new tax regime. As per the Goods and Services (GST) Act, a registered dealer buying from an unregistered dealer will be entitled to pay tax under RCM, which simply means the registered dealer would subtract all taxes from the payment made to be the provider.
If you are dealing in the market for a used car and are sifting through used car dealerships, you must have observed that the tax increased to 28 % from 5 % after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax Regime. Previously, the used car dealers had to pay only 5 % tax value-added tax on the vehicles which are resold. Dealers generally keep their margin in the range of 10% to 20 %. It depends on the several factors of cars such as car type, age, and demand.
GST Impact on Selling a Used Car
If you are thinking to sell a used car, try searching for an organized car dealer nearby you who is offering second-hand vehicles at lower prices as compared to what you would expect for it. Generally, the dealers try to eliminate the tax burden either through the buyer and seller side or both.
Conclusion
The organized sectors and semi-organized sectors which cover approximately 21% of the market account are going to be benefited from the reforms and expected to grow by 36% and 12 % respectively against 17% unorganized sectors. Like dining, shopping, and entertainment, the car buying experience that people prefer is changing. The future of car dealerships is changing. The global used car market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% from 2020 to 2027 to reach USD 2,150.6 billion by 2027. The Asia Pacific dominated the used car market with a share of 35.6% in 2019, in terms of shipment. This is attributable to emerging economies, including India, which is dominated by unorganized players.
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Gone are the days when one had to rely on word of mouth to find a good doctor, or when one had to stand in queues to book an appointment with the doctor. Thanks to the online appointment booking platforms, finding the best doctors is now easier than never before. Through these platforms, one can find doctors specific to one’s health problem and book appointment in clicks.
One such platform that is simplifying the process of booking an appointment with the doctor and diagnostic centers isDocttocare. Moving a step forward this Bangalore based startup even arranges for transportation of the patient to the clinic if required, thus making good quality health care services more accessible.
StartupTalky interviewed Docttocare founder Sugandha to learn further about this startup.
Docttocare is an online healthcare service provider. Docttocare provides its users information about the best doctors, clinics, hospitals and diagnostic centers. The platform also offers virtual walkthroughs of the ambiance to showcase hospitality and their facilities. It makes booking appointments super easy and assures the confirmation of online appointment through call, SMS or email. Docttocare launched its services in 2018 at NASSCOM Bangalore.
Docttocare is one of the leading healthcare online portals that enable users from non-metro cities to access and book an appointment with doctors and hospitals located in major cities. Docttocare app handholds the users through the entire process of identifying the right doctors/hospitals and scheduling appointments on the desired date. Docttocare covers everything from dentist, gynecologist, dermatologist, ENT, ayurvedic and homeopathy.
Docttocare is making lives easy for doctors too. Docttocare helps the doctors increase the visibility of the services provided by them, and also provides facilities such as seamless integration with online payment. It also lets the doctors view patient records from anywhere, remind the patients about the appointment and manage the clinic through Docttocare dashboard.
Global Appointment Scheduling Software Market
The global appointment scheduling market was valued at 160 million USD in 2017 and is expected to surpass 360 million USD by the end of 2023. Again, the doctor’s appointment booking software market alone is expected to grow at a rate of 16.56% for the next five years, i.e. till 2023.
Sugandha Agarwal is the founder and CEO of Docttocare
Founder & CEO of Docttocare
Docttocare is a single female founder company. Sugandha Agarwal is the founder and CEO of Docttocare. An electrical, electronics & communication engineer by qualification, Sugandha worked with reputed organizations like Infosys, Oracle and Google Maps before starting Docttocare.
I do everything except writing codes. Jokes apart, driving partnerships with hospital brands, building end-user acquisition strategies, spending time with product positioning, etc are key responsibilities, says Sugandha Agarwal.
Docttocare has 15 members of team right now and looking for expanding in a couple of months.
Docttocare – Name and Logo
The name Docttocare has been derived from ‘Doctor to care’.
Instant online ambulance booking – This feature allows the users to book an ambulance online instantly. Once booked, the user can track the live status of the fleet, the arrival time of the ambulance the expected time it will take to travel.
Blood Bank Facility – Lets users track the availability of bold groups with the hospital.
Manages health reports – Docttocare lets the users search, compare, evaluate and also share health record and prescription with doctors, thus making the platform user-friendly.
Simplifies the process of shortlisting a doctor or medical center – Docttocare allows the users to choose the best of doctors and clinics or hospitals based on ratings and helps the users in making an informed decision. It also provides a virtual 3D panoramic tour of the hospital thus making the users get a fair idea of the hospital or clinic even before visiting the place.
Docttocare also offers free cancellation and re-scheduling of appointments.
Docttocare has a simple commission – based revenue model. While the services are free for the patients, it charges a 10% commission from the hospitals.
Docttocare – Funding and Investors
Docttocare raised seed funding worth INR 4 Crore in May 2019.
Funding Date
Funding Stage
Funding Amount
Investor
May 2019
Seed
INR 4 Crore
Krishna Kumar Devnally
Docttocare – User Acquisition
Getting the initial set of customers required great effort. The Docttocare team roamed around Bangalore and enrolled the small clinics.
“We used to visit at least 20 clinics per day. After some time when we started getting revenue from appointments then we realized Tier 2 cities people are more keen to get treated by reputed doctors, and they need transport as well, which we tried to solve”, recalls Sugandha.
Currently, Docttocare is focusing on tier 2 and tier 3 cities to provide access to prime hospitals and connecting them with ambulance service and proving stay also.
Docttocare – Startup Challenges
Docttocare | Team Hustle
“Startup journeys are full of challenges, which to be honest, I didn’t realize before taking the plunge. Thanks to the media, who always show the shiny side of it. Keeping professional and personal life separate & fulfilling is one of the biggest challenges and I had to let one of them go for a few years.” said Sugandha.
Building the team, acquiring an initial set of customers/partners, honing her selling skills were part of the early days’ challenges for Sugandha. Besides, though she had a brief coding background and was able to keep up with the engineering/product team but being in sync with them fully took her some time.
Challenges like customer acquisition, revenue were there since day one, but Docttocare now has a qualified team to take care of these aspects. Another major problem was raising funds.
“Raising funds was the other (good) problem we solved. While starting up, I did not realize that I’d have the inherent disadvantage of being a solo female founder. I got my reality check, when one of the prominent angel investors with a massive following on social media, mentioned this fact bluntly to me. They didn’t even delve into business and rejected the deal outright. But being a female founder gives you additional strength (in terms of team management and creativity), which not many investors realize. Incidentally, I met with our investor/mentor a year ago and he decided to support us” narrates Sugandha.
Along with being the investor of Docttocare, Krishnakumar also plays the role of a mentor for the company. He is the Director of M-Power Solutions.
Docttocare – Growth
Through its excellent services, Docttocare has been successful to slowly gain trust from doctors and patients alike.
The company has enrolled all the major hospitals like Apollo, Manipal, Medanta and many more.
Docttocare is now getting around 300 + appointments per day.
4000+ medical tests have been done through Docttocare.
500+ clinics, 100+ hospitals and 2000+ doctors are registered with it.
Docttocare – Future Plans
Docttocare is planning to bring many positive changes in the healthcare scenario of India.
Emphasizing on Docttocare’s future plans, Sugandha said “I want to take healthcare in India to a much higher level. We have a dearth of doctors in this country and the patient count is undoubtedly increasing. People often ignore their minor health-issues, either due to lack of healthcare service or because of effort/cost that may go into addressing it.”
Awareness of health issues would be their next goal. How can they help you to be healthy without investing much? Something as simple as cutting refined sugar & unhealthy fat from the diet, eating your dinner early in the day, etc can go a long way in improving the fitness standard.
Making quality healthcare accessible to masses has been the company’s dream and they are very early in solving it. Currently, they have to move people to let them enjoy the benefits of high-quality services, but the eventual goal would be to send services wherever they are. Training local people on healthcare services, equipping them with the right tools and making them work under the supervision of qualified practitioners is the way forward.
Yash Gupta
