This article has been contributed by Ganesh Nair, Director Operations at Mehar.
In today’s world of e-commerce, the increase in online stores is clearly intensifying the relentless pace of growth. Navigating the complex world of shipping and fulfillment is necessary for one’s business success. This comprehensive guide focuses on three key areas that is developing a strategic shipping plan, deciding between outsourcing and in-house fulfillment, and optimizing shipping costs and delivery times. In an era where customer satisfaction is dependent on timely and cost-effective logistics, e-commerce companies should carefully construct their shipping strategy to ensure long-term success. Ganesh Nair, Director Operations at Mehar by Rhysley shares the strategies for lowering shipping costs and delivery times, which are critical for maintaining a competitive edge in the ever-changing e-commerce industry.
E-commerce fulfillment and shipping encompass the entire process initiated when customers place online orders, distinguishing it from traditional brick-and-mortar or catalog-based transactions. This important process applies to both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. The range of delivery methods and associated pricing strategies are pivotal in shaping the overall customer experience.
To deal with the complexities of fulfillment and shipping, online businesses can take strategic steps to streamline their operations. Taking advantage of e-commerce shipping integration is essential as it allows seamless collaboration with reputable carriers that include Blue Dart, DTDC, Delhivery, and India Post. These collaborations allow businesses to offer a variety of shipping options and rates by giving customers options that are specific to their preferences. This empowers customers by granting them the flexibility to select their preferred shipping method and allows businesses to capitalize on competitive carrier rates that generate an additional revenue stream.
One notable improvement to the shipping strategy is the addition of same-day shipping, which addresses the growing demand for quicker order fulfillment. By adding same-day shipping options, businesses can meet the expectations of modern consumers who want quick services. This feature improves the customer experience by making it more convenient and appealing. However, the feasibility of same-day shipping is determined by factors such as product type, geographical location, and operational capability.
The global e-commerce fulfillment services market is witnessing remarkable growth, with projections estimating its value to reach $113.59 billion by 2027. This growth highlights the growing importance of a well-structured shipping strategy in staying competitive in the ever-changing e-commerce landscape. Businesses that embrace innovative shipping solutions, such as same-day shipping, have a greater opportunity to gain market share and meet rising consumer expectations.
Once an e-commerce entrepreneur decides on a shipping strategy, the next crucial decision revolves around fulfillment – the process of preparing and shipping orders to customers. The two primary options that exist are, outsourcing fulfillment to a third-party company or managing it in-house.
Outsourcing fulfillment involves partnering with a third-party logistics (3PL) company and entrusting them with the entire fulfillment process. This option offers scalability, allowing businesses to adjust their operations based on fluctuating order volumes, allowing for flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Additionally, 3PL providers often have established networks, potentially resulting in cost savings and faster delivery times. This is particularly beneficial for businesses experiencing growth or seasonal variations in demand.
On the other hand, in-house fulfillment provides businesses with more control over the entire process. This approach is suitable for companies with consistent order volumes and specific requirements that do not correspond with traditional 3PL services. Complete control over fulfillment operations enables customization and adaptability to specific company requirements. However, the difficulty is scalability, especially during peak seasons when order numbers increase. To manage rising demand efficiently, in-house fulfillment might need large expenditures in infrastructure, technology, and workforce.
The decision between outsourcing and in-house fulfillment depends on various factors such as business size, order volume, and the desire for control over the fulfillment process. Business size is important as smaller organizations may find outsourcing less expensive, but larger businesses may choose in-house fulfillment to maintain control. Order volume is another factor to consider; variable quantities promote outsourcing, whereas constant numbers may benefit in-house management. The entrepreneur’s desire for control over the fulfillment process is essential, as some organizations prioritize customization and hands-on management while others value the ease and expertise provided by 3PL suppliers.
Size of the Global E-commerce Logistics Market from 2020 to 2026
Optimizing Shipping Costs and Delivery Times
In the dynamic realm of e-commerce, optimizing shipping costs and delivery times is important for preserving customer satisfaction and maintaining a competitive edge. Balancing these two factors requires a strategic approach. To optimize shipping costs, businesses should negotiate favorable shipping rates with carriers based on their shipping volume. Additionally, leveraging technology, such as shipping calculators and automation tools, can help minimize errors and reduce operational costs.
Exploring partnerships with fulfillment centers strategically located near target markets can further enhance cost-effectiveness. Reducing delivery times is a multi faceted effort that involves efficient order processing, strategic inventory placement, and choosing the right shipping partners. Employing multiple shipping carriers allows businesses to provide expedited shipping options, catering to customers who prioritize swift delivery. Investing in a real-time tracking system enhances transparency and builds trust with customers by providing visibility into the shipping process. This not only improves the customer experience but also allows businesses to address any potential issues promptly.
Furthermore, businesses can implement order cut-off times and same-day shipping initiatives to meet customer expectations for speedy deliveries. Successful e-commerce shipping and fulfillment strategies are multifaceted by requiring careful consideration of shipping options, fulfillment models, and optimization techniques. With the e-commerce landscape continually evolving, staying attuned to market trends and embracing innovative solutions will position entrepreneurs for sustained success in the competitive world of online retail.
Developing a strong shipping plan for e-commerce requires careful consideration of outsourcing benefits, in-house management, and ongoing optimization of costs and delivery times. By understanding and effectively focusing on these aspects, e-commerce entrepreneurs position themselves to meet customer expectations, stay competitive, and flourish in the world of online retail.
The e-commerce market in India is expected to reach $350 billion by 2030.
On the other hand, mobile e-commerce sales are projected to exceed $710 billion in 2025.
Due to the pandemic, a lot more people have started buying products online.
All these stats show us that if you want your product to reach more hands you need to build your own online store.
Nowadays, it’s very easy to create your website using tools like Shopify, Wix, or WooCommerce.
Although to have a successful business you need to select the correct business model and delivery framework.
You also need to select the right website that matches your business requirements.
All these things can seem quite confusing.
Don’t worry!
In this article, I will explain to you all the popular and most used business models, delivery frameworks, and e-commerce websites with their pros and cons.
I will also give examples so you can understand each concept easily.
Freelancers can list their skills on a website like Upwork and mention what tasks they can accomplish, how much time they will take to do a task and what price they will charge.
Businesses can look for skilled service providers for their tasks on Upwork. They can pay these freelancers for a specific task and get their work done within a few days.
This is how the C2B business model works!
Another example of C2B can be a gamer who shares an affiliate link to a gaming console on his YouTube channel.
Consumers get the freedom to set their own prices and businesses get the opportunity to work with people with different backgrounds and expertise.
Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
Etsy- An Example of C2C Business Model
The rise of the internet and e-commerce gave birth to the C2C business model.
In this model, consumers sell products directly to other consumers using third-party websites like eBay, Etsy, Alibaba, and many more.
These websites make money by charging transaction or listing fees.
The e-commerce marketplaces like the ones mentioned above allow small-scale business owners to sell their products without the hefty upfront cost of setting up an online store.
If you decide to make a website that uses the C2C model you need to take care of quality control, payment handling, delivery, and resolve all the issues between the two parties.
You also need to make sure that both the buyer and seller don’t get cheated and get a good product and a fair price.
You also require advanced technology.
Many other companies have tried to use this business model but failed terribly due to an unstable business strategy.
We are not saying that you shouldn’t use this model.
But, if you want to operate on a C2C model you need to have a smart business strategy that satisfies your customers and generates profit for you.
Business to Government (B2G)
Senseware- An Example of a B2G Ecommerce Business Model
In the B2G model businesses sell their products or services to federal, state, or local government agencies.
An ammunition manufacturer building guns and missiles for the government is an example of a B2B model.
Let’s understand how this model works.
First, the government will submit a proposal (RFP) according to its project requirements and timeline
As an e-commerce business, you need to bid on these projects.
Since you are working with the government you need to deal with bureaucracies and the pace of the project is usually slow.
As you might have guessed, government agencies don’t use e-commerce sites to place orders.
Although a local government agency can go to an e-commerce site to place an order for a part required to complete a particular project.
In dropshipping you directly buy products from the suppliers and manufacturers who then ship the products directly to your customers.
Let’s say you decide to sell men’s wallets.
You find a supplier who sells you quality wallets for Rs 500 including the shipping costs.
You list all those wallets on your online store for Rs 900 with free shipping.
When someone places an order in your store you then place the order with the supplier at their wholesale price.
The supplier ships the product directly to your customers.
Here, you make a profit of Rs 400.
You are not dealing with the warehousing of the products nor do you have to focus on packaging and shipping and tracking the inventory.
You are only focusing on marketing and positioning the products.
Now, you may ask why don’t the customers directly buy from the supplier.
Good question!
Manufacturers and suppliers typically sell in bulk and they will mostly sell to businesses and not give wholesale prices to regular customers.
Another reason is that people buy products because of marketing, brand value, and customer service.
Since manufacturers don’t focus on the above things people would prefer buying from a drop shipper.
Pros of Dropshipping
Since you are not focusing on warehousing, packaging, and shipping there is a very low capital required.
You can sell and test a wide range of products.
You can set up your business anywhere with an internet connection.
Cons of Dropshipping
Since you are not paying for warehousing and inventory the profit margins are very less.
You have zero control over the supply chain.
If the customers receive damaged or lower quality products your business reputation will get damaged.
Since a very low capital is required there is fierce competition.
You will not build a brand because you are selling products of other companies. In the end, the product that they will purchase will have the logo of the other company.
There is very limited customization.
Subscription Service
In the subscription-based model, you regularly deliver products to your customers and get timely payments from them.
It was traditionally used to deliver newspapers and magazines.
But, now it is used in every other industry.
Instead of using it as a standalone delivery model, I will recommend you to integrate it with other delivery models.
There are 3 most common types of subscription services:
Replenishment subscription service
Here, you are selling essential consumable products like shaving cream and body moisturizer.
Curation subscription service
In this model, you are selling a collection of products based on individual customer needs and wants.
Examples of this can be sending beauty products or dresses based on your customer preferences.
Access subscription service
Customers buy memberships in this model.
Generally, businesses give hefty discounts on their memberships to get more people on board.
Selling organic healthy snacks is an example of this model.
Pros of Subscription Service
Customers repeatedly buy products that generate consistent income for you.
You can easily forecast how many sales and revenue you will generate.
Planning the inventory becomes easy.
You can build strong relationships with your customers.
Cons of Subscription Service
For many people signing up for a subscription is a huge commitment and that is why selling subscriptions is sometimes very hard.
You need to constantly innovate and provide quality products to your customers regularly. Even a small mistake can lead to the cancellation of the contract.
Wholesaling
In wholesaling, you sell products in bulk to other businesses or retailers at discounted prices.
It is mostly used in the B2B space but it can also be integrated with the B2C model.
Pros of Wholesaling
You don’t have to spend your time and money on marketing and advertising your products.
You get a fixed profit margin.
Cons of Wholesaling
You need a lot of capital.
You are responsible for warehousing, managing inventory and products, shipping, and tracking customer orders.
Private Labeling
In private labeling, you hire a third-party manufacturer to create your products.
The product idea is yours but, the making is done by someone else.
Once the products are made you can either tell the manufacturer to ship the products directly to the customer’s house or get the products in your warehouse and manage the supply chain yourself.
Selling cosmetics or personal care products like shampoo is a good example of private labeling.
Pros of Private Labeling
You can create your brand without having to invest in factories and inventory.
You don’t have to spend a lot of time and time on product development and can focus on marketing, branding, and customer service.
It is a great way to test your products in the market.
Cons of Private Labeling
You are entirely dependent on the manufacturer. So, if there is any kind of delay or if the third party creates a low-quality product you have to carry the losses.
Most of the privately labeled manufacturers have the minimum order requirement. This means that you need to purchase more than you need.
White Labeling
In white labeling, you are buying products from a third-party manufacturer and selling them under your own brand name and logo.
So, when customers buy the products they think that it has been manufactured by you.
Pros of White Labeling
Since you are not developing the product from scratch the initial investment cost is low.
White labeling allows you to jump on an ongoing trend.
Cons of White Labeling
Most of the white-labeled products are generic and there is a high chance that other businesses are also selling them. This means there is huge competition.
Since you are not manufacturing the product yourself you have zero control over the quality of the products.
In contrast to the single brand website, you have little control over the website and have to strictly follow the rules and regulations of the website.
If you break any of the policies you wouldn’t be allowed to sell on the site.
Since you are competing with dozens of sellers it would be difficult to rank for a particular product keyword.
If you are new to the e-commerce business you can start with the retail website since you don’t have to build the store from scratch.
You can also use it to test the demand for the product or operate both on a single-brand website and a retail website to get a wider reach.
The marketplace that operates on the C2C model allows consumers to sell their products to other users.
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 Credit Fair.
Credit Fair is a consumer lending fintech startup that provides 0% or low-cost, short-term, unsecured installment loans at the point of sale. The startup’s unique credit assessment process has helped it achieve a quick turnaround time (TAT) of less than a day and a high approval rate, enabling more Indians to avail credit. Apart from that, Credit Fair helps borrowers build a credit ladder, i.e. a credit score to help them access credit from other lenders and at a fairer rate. In just 3 years, Credit Fair managed to onboard over 1,000 merchants including upGrad, Toppr, Asian Paints among many. It has disbursed about $9 million to date with a loan book of $4 million currently.
StartupTalky interviewed Mr. Aditya Damani (Founder of Credit Fair) to get insights on the startup story and roadmap of the organization. In this article you’ll discover how Credit Fair was conceptualized, its business model, growth, funding, future plans, and more.
Credit Fair provides 0% or low-cost, short-term, unsecured installment loans at the point of sale. The short-term vision of the company is to be the preferred lender in sectors of education, healthcare, home décor, and electric vehicles. Its long-term vision is to see every Indian have access to the right amount of credit at the right cost and at the right time.
By 2025, the startup aims to positively impact the financial lives of over 1million Indians. This vision reflects in its efforts to enable low-cost loans for ‘Bharat’ i.e. people who are not served by banks and large NBFCs. Over 70% of Credit Fair’s loans are No Cost EMIs, hence offering better terms than even personal loans from banks.
Credit Fair – Industry Details
According to a report by BCG, the total value of digital lending is expected to be $1 trillion by 2023, driven by increased access to the internet and smartphones and increased digital purchases. As for the number of customers, 550 million people i,e, 46% of the population of India is currently underserved and makes up for the total addressable market.
Credit Fair has estimated the market opportunity in its target sectors – health, education, solar rooftop, and electric vehicles to be over $20 billion of which 25% is funded by EMI taking its immediate addressable market to $5bn. These sectors are fragmented but large and experiencing a high growth rate, making them attractive.
The founder got the inspiration of starting a lending business in India while working at new to credit-focused lender, Oakam, and while advising private equity funds on setting up lending businesses. He saw people face issues rejections or delays in getting credit from financial institutions during critical life moments such as medical emergencies leading to reliance on informal channels that charge usurious interest of 10% per month and getting trapped in a debt cycle. This led to the idea of launching Credit Fair.
Credit Fair – Product/Service and USP
About 550 million Indians are underserved by traditional lenders because they are new to credit (NTC) or do not have a prime credit score
Availability of credit at the point of sale is currently enabled through credit cards, penetration of which is less than 4%
Borrowers in remote areas are also underserved by traditional banks due to the high costs associated with their onboarding, management, and recovery.
Hence, there is a huge demand for formal credit that can be availed through simple processes.
On the other hand, merchants, who are majorly SMEs, struggle with providing a point of sale financing options to their customers resulting in loss of potential sales. Second, their operations are mostly based on cash transactions, leading to process inefficiencies and high transaction costs.
Credit Fair provides 0% or low-cost, short-term, unsecured installment loans at the point of sale. Itsticket size ranges from USD150-25,000 and tenure from 3 months to 3 years.
The startup’s unique credit assessment process has helped it achieve a quick turnaround time (TAT) of less than a day and a high approval rate, enabling more Indians to avail credit. Second, by providing 0% or easy EMI, it is increasing access to low-cost credit hence, securing the financing health of the borrowers. Third, Credit Fair also helps borrowers build a credit ladder, i.e. a credit score to help them access credit from other lenders and at a fairer rate.
Credit Fair – Consumer App
As for merchants, Credit Fair’s products and high TAT and approval rate help improve conversions and ensure stable cash flows for the partners, hence, overcoming the issues of low sales and lack of working capital. Second, digitizing cash flows will help merchants manage their cash flows better leading to efficiencies in operations. Finally, it will further the startup’s mission of financial inclusion as SMEs will be able to access credit and working capital loans, based on cash flows generated as a result of partnering with Credit Fair.
Credit Fair – Founders and Team
The founder, Aditya Damani, has a unique mix of fintech and institutional lending experience, having received a Banking Tech award while at new to credit-focused lender Oakam and TransferWise previously. He has also worked at PIMCO and advised private equity funds on setting up lending businesses.
Credit Fair – Founding Team
The team comprises over 50 members covering technology, credit, collections, sales, finance, and marketing functions. The team is young and shares a passion for the mission of the company as demonstrated through the values of ownership, curiosity, and obsession with customer satisfaction.
Credit Fair – Business Model & Revenue Model
Credit Fair follows a B2B2C business model. It is offering a win-win proposition to both merchants and customers by providing 0% or low-cost, short term, unsecured installment loans at the point of sale. The interest costs of these loans are borne by the merchants to attract new customers while the borrowers seek installment facilities to manage their finances. In addition, the borrowers bear a nominal processing fee and in some cases insurance fee as well.
Credit Fair – Startup Launch
It started with acquiring partners in the home décor sector through forming connections over LinkedIn and through cold calling. Because this sector was not actively served by big players such as Bajaj, the founders recognized an opportunity to develop expertise within the sector and provide products and processes suitable for customers within the home décor segment. That helped Credit Fair become the preferred lending partner in the home décor segment. Soon after they targeted the elective healthcare sector that also was vastly underserved by existing players.
The team focused on serving their partner merchants better than the competitors by providing better approval rates, faster turnaround time, and competitive pricing. That has been a key factor in retaining partners and capturing a bigger share of their wallets as well as getting recommendations from existing partners to form new partnerships.
Credit Fair – Challenges Faced
One major challenge that Aditya faced is – Aligning the different teams within the company to focus on the company goals while managing risk. He often observed that the different teams such as credit, operations, collections, etc. would have their team goals which often wouldn’t add to the company’s growth or would be contradictory to the goals of other departments.
One tool, that has been very effective to achieve team-company alignment is setting OKRs. The founders set company OKRs (Objectives & key Results) and based on it, each team lead has developed team OKRs. This has helped them identify key metrics for individual teams that together contribute to the company’s growth. The OKRs are reviewed quarterly and have been effective to give direction to all team members.
Credit Fair – Funding and Investors
Credit Fair has raised a total funding of $15mn, details are as follows –
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
June 2021
Seed
$15 Mn (Debt + Equity)
Equity – Anand Ladsariya and Alok Agarwal; Debt – Undisclosed
Credit Fair – Advisors/Mentors
Credit Fair’s board of advisors comprises of C-Suite from companies such as HDFC, IFC, PayU, and IBM.
Among large lenders, Bajaj Finance is its primary competitor. Among fintech lenders, Credit Fair’s competitors include companies such as Liquiloans, EarlySalary, ZestMoney, and Eduvanz.
Credit Fair – Tools used to run startup
The startup uses Slack for team communications, OKRs for goal setting and tracking, Jira for sprint planning in addition to using third-party services for managing certain business operations.
Credit Fair – Current Growth & Future Plans
Credit has onboarded over 1,000 merchants including upGrad, Toppr, Indira IVF, Pristyn Care, Toothsi, Asian Paints, and Ampere.
It has disbursed about $9 million to date with a loan book of $4 million currently.
The startup’s month-on-month growth rate is 15%.
Credit Fair was selected to be part of Village Capital’s Finance Forward: India 2020 cohort.
In the next two years, Credit Fair aims to establish partnerships with 5,000 merchants, reaching $15 million monthly disbursements. It is building its products to reach a $15M monthly disbursement rate and $75M Assets under management in 2 years. The funds will be used towards providing loss guarantee, expanding team, and marketing. It also plans to launch a P2P lending platform to further lower its cost of funding, hence keeping costs low for its customers.
Credit Fair – FAQs
What is Credit Fair?
Credit Fair is a fintech startup that provides 0% or low-cost, short-term, unsecured installment loans at the point of sale.
What is Credit Fair’s Business Model?
Credit Fair follows a B2B2C business model. It is offering a win-win proposition to both merchants and customers by providing 0% or low-cost, short-term, unsecured installment loans at the point of sale.
How much funding has Credit Fair raised?
Credit Fair has raised total funding of $15mn (Equity + debt) from Anand Ladsariya and Alok Agarwal.
Is Credit Fair an Indian Company?
Yes. Credit Fair is an Indian company headquartered in Mumbai.
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 Generic Aadhaar.
As per statistics, about 60% of Indians cannot afford to buy their daily medicines. The reason behind this inability is the high cost of medicines which are absolutely unnecessary in the Indian pharmaceutical market. About 85-90% of the medicines in the market are generic variants which ideally should be available at pocket-friendly prices. However, people end up paying enormous amounts for these drugs as the manufacturer has made it a wholesale business. The irony of the matter is that generic medicines are supposed to be dirt cheap.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Generic Aadhaar has embarked on a mission to make generic medicines available to all Indians at an affordable price. It has disrupted the conventional pharma industry and is determined to empower single-store owners and pass on the benefit to the end customers.
The venture provides high-quality generic medicines from pharmaceutical manufacturers at cheap prices and increases the accessibility to these medicines all over India. Generic Aadhaar follows a unique pharmacy-aggregator, profit-sharing business model to source generic drugs directly from the manufacturers. The items are then given to the retail pharmacies, thereby eliminating the 16-20 percent wholesaler margin along with other layers of margins such as C&F agents in the trade.
The most important differentiator in the case of Generic Aadhaar is the fact that the inventory-carrying cost is very low when compared to stores that stock branded drugs. Since the stores are minimally designed, the overall cost of maintaining the business for franchises is also low. In addition, Generic Aadhaar helps small pharmacies earn double the profits and allows them to stay relevant in the market through the affordable medicines it provides.
An Interview with Arjun Deshpande | Founder of Generic Aadhaar
Generic Aadhaar ensures that the franchise is taken by an FDA licensed retailer. The retailer should be a pharmacist; if not, he or she should appoint one before the franchisee is taken. The Generic Aadhaar team helps with branding and provides IT support and medicines to the outlet.
Started with a sole mission of making medicines available to every Indian, a 16-year-old set his eyes on the pharma industry in 2018. At this novel age, Mr. Arjun Deshpande, one of India’s youngest and most dynamic entrepreneurs founded this innovative venture, Generic Aadhaar.
Generic Aadhaar – How It All Started?
Arjun’s mother work in the pharma space. When he was around 14 years old, he had visited various pharmaceuticals companies and plants along with his mother and that’s when he understood that generic medicines are sold in the market at the same price as the branded ones. He noticed that the various countries he visited, import generic medicines from India and make them available to the masses at affordable rates. He wondered, “Why is this not the case in India when we are the manufacturing hub for pharmaceuticals?”
It stroked him and gave rise to the vision of creating a brand identity through ‘Generic Aadhaar’ outlets. He found that the extra cost for generic medicines could be reduced. What does he do then? He tied up with WHO and GMP-certified pharmaceuticals and directly started providing his franchise’s pharmacist with the medicines that are produced in WHO GMP-certified pharmaceuticals companies. This helped to reduce the cost of medicines by nearly 80%. Arjun, inspired by Ratan Tata, wanted to serve the nation through his generic medicines initiative.
Generic Aadhaar, the name says it all; it will give aadhaar to the customers on their medical bills on every purchase of Generic medicines. As a pharmaceutical company, Generic Aadhaar went for a white and green color combination. This combination is symbolic of the healthcare segment.
Generic Aadhaar Logo
The tagline of Generic Aadhaar is “Dawaiyan Kifaiti Daarome Lejayiye Aapne Gharome” which means that their companyrevolves around access to affordable medicines.
Generic Aadhaar – Vision and Mission
Vision: Generic Aadhaar is a pharmaceutical company with an aim to bring all small medical stores under one roof and help them to earn huge profit margins. It will support you to compete with big retail medical outlets giants and online pharmacies and help the citizens to avail good discounts on all medicines through generic aadhaar stores.
Generic Aadhaar holds a long-term vision of assisting the underprivileged sections for the betterment of India.
Mission: To serve customers by giving affordable quality healthcare medicines. To pull out all the stops to ensure no Indian is barred from the availability of generic medicines. The company is determined to empower single-store owners and pass on the benefit to the end customer.
India is a massive hub for medicinal drug intake and consumption. To cater to the underprivileged people who cannot afford high branded medicines, the Mumbai- based Generic Aadhaar is planning to expand its pan-India reach by opening more than 800 plus retail outlets across India. The company is currently operating 45 outlets in cities like Mumbai and Pune.
The pharmaceutical entity wants to touch every corner of India in the next five to seven years. It is getting calls from all parts of India for extending its franchise outlets. Generic Aadhaar is also working on an initiative called “Entrepreneurs Under One Umbrella.” Under the Generic Aadhaar umbrella, they provide quality medicines from reputed pharma companies by offering up to 80% lesser prices. It provides the biggest portfolio of Generic medicines from government-approved quality manufacturing facilities.
Generic Aadhaar provides affordable generic medicines (particularly for the underprivileged class of India) through its outlets that are present across the nation. The medicines sold by the company cover all types of ailments like minor diseases or life-threatening illnesses. The USP of the company is the pharmacy-aggregator business model wherein it sources generic drugs directly from the manufacturer and hands them over to the drug retailer who delivers medicines to the masses at cheap rates.
Generic Aadhar supports single-retail drug stores all over India. It provides medication directly from the WHO-GMP pharmaceuticals and has tied up with drug retailers from Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Odisha in a profit-sharing model.
Generic Aadhaar – Business and Revenue Model
Generic Aadhaar follows a B2B2C model. It is appointing franchisees across India by aggregating single medical stores that are in bad shape due to the intense competition in the pharmaceutical segment. The company is passing on various benefits to the franchise owners.
Generic Aadhaar has introduced a business model that can support multi-disciplinary medications. The stores are equipped to sell all types of allopathy medicines. The company is actually complementing the Indian government’s effort of making affordable medicines available to everyone.
Generic Aadhaar | General Chemist
Generic Aadhaar’s franchising model helps in generating employment for the youth in India and also promotes entrepreneurship. While taking stock of the customer’s advantage, Generic Aadhaar ensures that small chemists and retailers earn the benefits of the business too. The medicines are given to the pharmacies at their manufacturing cost which is then sold to customers, thereby reducing the retail price up to 80 percent. The organization also collaborates with the manufacturers by increasing their supply as demand increases, thus manufacturing facilities, in turn, double their profits. Generic Aadhaar protects the interests of customers, retailers, and manufacturers alike.
Generic Aadhaar started this venture for helping and benefiting the people of India. Earlier there were very few targeted people but now, by word of mouth they are able to expand Generic Aadhaar outlets across India. Due to affordable medicines, they are growing and getting demands for their brand “Generic Aadhaar” as an identity in India.
They are not only aiming in their business growth but also, to be the best in providing Generic Medicines to every Indian through their venture. Most of the senior citizens who purchase generic medicines have cut their medical bills up to 50% with the same effect of Branded Medicines.
The biggest challenge for Arjun Deshpande, the founder of Generic Aadhaar, was to make people aware of generic medicines and build their trust in such medicines. Buyers were more inclined towards branded medicines that were quite expensive when compared to their generic counterparts.
Arjun Deshpande, the brain behind Generic Aadhaar, has several recognitions bestowed upon him.
At Asia’s Biggest Entrepreneurship Awards 2020, Arjun Deshpande was awarded “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by Mrs. Madhuri Dixit Nene.
Young Achievers Award 2020 by Indian Achievers Forum India (IAFI).
Dynamic Entrepreneur of the Year 2020.
Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association felicitated him in the presence of the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2019.
Being a young entrepreneur doesn’t mean he lacks experience; Arjun has always demonstrated his presence and abilities by sharing his journey infamous talk shows as a key-note speaker.
Generic Vs. Branded Medicine | Arjun Deshpande | TEDxDSCE
Generic Aadhaar is rapidly expanding the presence of its franchise outlets in India. The company wants to reach every corner and every Indian in the future coming years. Today they have extended to 130+cities across India, but later they are planning to reach every corner it may be not only tier-1 cities but also tier-3 cities and rural towns of India, where there is more requirement. They want to be the only brand that never fails to provide Medicines of Different segments in India.
Generic Aadhaar – FAQs
What are Generic Medicines?
A generic drug is a non-branded medicine that is cheaper as compared to the original branded drug. It has the same active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) but it costs 30-80% less compared to the original ones. It is a pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by patents. Generic drugs are allowed for sale after the patents on the original drugs expire.
Who is Arjun Deshpande?
Arjun Deshpande, a teenager and a founder of “Generic Aadhaar – the fastest growing pharma company”, managed to convince Ratan Tata to invest in his startup. He is the youngest entrepreneur of India in the pharmaceutical sector.
Why you should buy from Generic Aadhaar outlets?
The team at Generic Aadhaar works aggressively towards making the largest portfolio of quality generic and branded medicines available at its outlets, at prices up to 80% lower than their branded counterparts in Generic Medicines.
Why are Generic medicines cheap?
Generic medicines are cheaper because it doesn’t have to face the brand name and manufacturing cost. The drugmaker doesn’t have to undergo the invention or marketing cost as the chemical formula.
Are the medicines prescribed by doctors are Generic medicines?
In India, 80-85% of prescribed medicines are Generics. However, due to immense marketing by the pharma companies, the price benefit does not reach the patients and even the generic medicines are costing much higher.
Who introduced generic medicines in India?
The Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana in 2008, under which it would provide good-quality generic drugs at affordable prices. So far, it has opened 7,290 distribution centers around the country; there should be more.
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 Doctor Insta.
We are often left in awe as to how digitization has changed the way we live and carry out our daily work. We no longer have to wait in lines to watch a movie, thanks to online ticket booking applications. We don’t have to call a hundred service providers like carpenters and painters to avail their services. That all is available now at just one click, thanks to the online portals.
Similarly, now we have online doctor consultation available 24×7 accessible anytime anywhere. To step up the game and make it available to more and more people in the country, Amit Manjul launched Doctor Insta in 2015.
Read on to know more about the Doctor Insta Company Profile, Founders, Business Model, Funding, Investors and Growth.
Doctor Insta is a “Video-Medicine” platform that provides online consultation in general medicine, pediatrics, psychology, and nutrition. This venture aims to bridge the consultation gap between doctors and patients, by putting a digital channel in place. Through the videos on the portal, the audience is able to audio-visually be connected to the doctors and specialists and avail treatment advice from the specialists within just 15-30 minutes.
This platform provides instant access to the healthcare professionals 24×7 via voice and video calls and also the chatfeature that it has on its application. Besides consultation, it also provides home delivery of medicines and laboratory and diagnostic test reports, which are shared over email.
Doctor Insta Logo
Doctor Insta as of today has more than 100 doctors on its platform, with business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) vertical. With this vertical, the employers pay fixed monthly retainership fees for their employees to access all the services on the Doctor Insta application. This B2B2C vertical covers more than 2,00,000 employees and their families.
Doctor Insta – Founder and Team
Amit Munjal is the founder and CEO of Doctor Insta.
Amit Munjal – Founder and CEO of Doctor Insta
He is a Harvard graduate and a CFA. Amit has worked with quite a few renowned companies like Deloitte, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi bank, and is also the founder and CEO at Brahmax Ventures.
Doctor Insta – How did it start?
In case you’re wondering how an innovative concept like this originally germinated? This is how Doctor Insta started. There was this one time when Amit sprained his ankle and was forced to use a telemedicine app in the States. And surprisingly, he was quite impressed by the experience.
“It helped me access a doctor from the convenience of my residence—saving time and money,” said Amit Munjal, CEO of Doctor Insta.
This very incident inspired this smart, spectacular and very talented young man to start something very similar in India too. Telemedicine has been a very popular concept in the West for a very long time. And the surging and exponential growth in India’s digital economy offered a promising opportunity for on-demand preventive and curative healthcare at one’s doorstep.
Also, India has a poor availability of doctors, so essentially addressing health concerns remotely has been a massive need in the country for a very long time. Besides, there’s also the daunting low doctor-to-people ratio in India, because most qualified and skilled doctors are usually available only in the tier-I cities. For people residing in tier- II and tier- III cities, access to quality healthcare is still a distant dream.
This social need and the budding business opportunity with it inspired the founder Amit Munjal to launch Doctor Insta in 2015.
Doctor Insta Story
Doctor Insta – Business Model and Revenue Model
The Doctor Insta business model has unique B2C and B2B2C Models for Patients and Employers with Gross Margin as high as 70%. It provides access to quality healthcare professionals 24×7. This service is provided through voice and video calls and with the chat feature in its application.
The consultation on this application can be availed of on a pay-as-you-go basis, for which the charge is INR 440 per consultation, or the user also has the choice of taking an annual subscription for which the charge is INR 2,500. The subscription package at Doctor Insta comes with a free 30-day trial period. Also, the user can add up to three dependents in the plan at zilch cost on this application.
“Though major illnesses need to be addressed physically, certain health issues—medicines, gynecology, diet, and nutrition-related issues, among others— can be easily addressed remotely,” said Amit Munjal, founder of Doctor Insta.
Doctor Insta – Competitors
As discussed in the beginning, digitization is upscaling the market big time, and due to that, a lot of other healthcare platforms have come to offer application-based healthcare to the masses.
Top competitors of Doctor Insta are Practo, Medikoe, Cure, DocPlexus, Pluss, MeraDoctor, Portea amongst many more players in the segment. With the reports of soaring opportunities in this segment, Doctor Insta and other startups in the space will be exposed to a plethora of opportunities ahead.
Doctor Insta has raised a total of $7 Million in funding over 3 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Oct 4, 2017 from a Series B round.
Here is a list of all the funding rounds of Doctor Insta:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
December 2015
Seed Round
$500K
BrahmaX Ventures
August 2016
Series A
$2.5 million
BrahmaX Ventures, RoundGlass Partners
October 2017
Series B
$4 million
BrahmaX Ventures
Doctor Insta – Growth and Revenue
Doctor Insta had around INR 6 crorerevenue in 2017-18
Doctor Insta conducts more than 4,000 consultations a day
Currently running its services at a pan-India level
Collaborated with more than 150 companies such as American Express, SRF, Channel Play, Videocon, Muthoot Finance, etc.
The company today has over 500K application installations
More than 1 million users are using Doctor Insta
Doctor Insta – Future Plans
“There are about one million allopathic doctors in India conducting about 50 million consultations every day. In two years, we want to acquire 2% of this market—one million consultations a day by 2020. The growth prospects are huge,” says Amit Munjal, founder and CEO of Doctor Insta.
Doctor Insta is a “Video-Medicine” platform that provides online consultation in general medicine, pediatrics, psychology, and nutrition. This venture aims to bridge the consultation gap between doctors and patients, by putting a digital channel in place
How does Doctor Insta make money?
It has B2C and B2B2C Models for Patients and Employers with Gross Margin as high as 70%. The consultation on this app can be availed of on a pay-as-you-go basis, for which the charge is INR 440 per consultation, or the user also has the choice of taking an annual subscription for which the charge is INR 2,500.
Who is the Founder of Doctor Insta?
Amit Munjal is the founder and CEO of Doctor Insta.
How much Funding has Doctor Insta raised?
Doctor Insta has raised a total of $7Million in funding over 3 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Oct 4, 2017 from a Series B round for $4 Million led by BrahmaX Ventures.
Who are the competitors of Doctor Insta?
Practo, Medikoe, Cure, DocPlexus, Pluss, MeraDoctor, Portea amongst many more players in the segment.
How much is the revenue of Doctor Insta?
Doctor Insta had around INR 6 crorerevenue in 2017-18.
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 Get My Parking.
Parking is an issue for everyone, from drivers to merchants to city governments. Unorganized parking creates a problem on multiple fronts. As per IBM Global Parking Index 2011, an average urban motorist spends 20 minutes more on road due to parking problems. This is not only a waste of time but also a loss of productivity. Thus, Get My Parking (GMP) was founded in 2015 by Chirag Jain and Rasik Pansare with a vision to make every parking transaction a sub-conscious experience.
Get My Parking is the provider of an Interoperable Smart Parking Platform that connects all parking and mobility stakeholders on a common platform who were until now operating in silos.
StartupTalky interviewed Rasik Pansare and Chirag Jain (Founders of Get My Parking) to know the Success Story of Get My Parking (GMP) along with getting a glance on GMP founders, Get My Parking Business Model, Funding, Revenue, Growth, How GMP works and more….
Get My Parking is the provider of Interoperable Smart Parking Platform that connects all parking and mobility stakeholders on a common platform who were until now operating in silos. It comprises a team of doers with a clear mission to digitize the parking industry globally.
Get My Parking (GMP) was founded in 2015 by Chirag Jain and Rasik Pansare with a vision to make every parking transaction a sub-conscious experience. With a strong foundation of team, technology and partnerships, it is creating a future proof platform to connect the parking industry internally as well with urban mobility players.
Get My Parking offers end to end digitization of parking business in following three steps:
Parking Connect: GMP IOT suite integrates all parking locations to the cloud, agnostic to hardware at an aggregate level as well as all equipment inside the individual parking lots with each other. This allows full control of parking operations to the real estate operators over the internet. (B2B model)
Consumer Connect: The GMP platform helps operators to launch customised mobile apps enabling digital discovery and transaction for their consumers. Get My Parking (GMP) have helped launch 7 unique parking apps around the world in multiple languages. (B2B2C model)
Mobility Connect: GMP Platform connects parking systems and data to multiple 3rd party mobility companies, transforming dumb real estate into intelligent mobility hubs. This enables seamless use of parking for pick up and drops of shared mobility, storage and deliveries for e-commerce, EV charging, and on the fly automotive services. (Marketplace model)
Get My Parking – Market/Industry Details
The global parking industry market size is valued at USD 100 billion and is expected to witness significant growth over the next few years with the advent of connected vehicles and new modes of mobility and gig economy. Increased usage of vehicles for all forms of mobility and logistics, especially in urban centers, is driving the demand for a tech parking platform.
Rasik Pansare(CMO) and Chirag Jain (CEO) are the founders of Get My Parking (GMP)
Get My Parking was founded in 2015. The CEO and Co-founder Chirag Jain had worked in the automobile industry and came up with this innovative concept. He then met with Rasik Pansare and started working on this as an experiment. By July 2015, they were convinced with the early results to plunge into this business full time and started Get My Parking officially.
Rasik Pansare(CMO) and Chirag Jain (CEO) – Founders of GMP
Chirag Jain (CEO & Co-Founder, GMP)
Chirag Jain is the CEO and co-founder of Get My Parking, a venture he started in 2015 (based out of New Delhi, India). Chirag graduated from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in 2013 and worked in the Automotive Industry for 2 yrs before starting his entrepreneurial journey. He received the Young Entrepreneur Award from IIT Madras and also featured in business World- ’40 under 40′ Achievers. Chirag has keen interest in urban planning and was also awarded best delegate award at New York Global Young Leaders Summit under United Nations Development Program. He has spent over 6 months in South Korea, 3 months in Malaysia and other S-E Asian countries, and has sound knowledge of the overall ecosystem.
Rasik Pansare ( Co-Founder & CMO, GMP)
Entrepreneurial by attitude, Rasik is the co-founder and CMO of Get My Parking, an award winning startup that provides smart parking for smart cities. He graduated from FMS Delhi and was the President of the entrepreneurship cell there. He is an engineer and MBA by education but always aspired to be a change-maker. An engaging story teller, he has been a TEDx speaker, guest lecturer and speaker at several Smart City and Mobility summits in the past. He was awarded the Business Excellence and Innovative Best Practices Academia Award-2019′ by Hon’ble Dr Manmohan Singh, Former PM of India at NDIM-Delhi. He likes to create, connect and share. An ardent foodie, he believes in the philosophy of “Live Life, not Exist” and encourages pursuit of passion.
Get My Parking – Team and Work Culture
Get My Parking (GMP) has been fortunate to have a very strong core team. Since the very beginning, founders have been very particular about the people they bring into the core team. It is a very close knit family with complementary skills. The core team comes from stellar backgrounds and has been critical in the formation of the organisation. GMP has 80+ young people with an average age of 28. It consists of highly motivated and passionate individuals who have been instrumental in driving the organization’s success.
Get My Parking Team
“We let our employees be a part of our culture definition process. We create polls, surveys, 360 feedback processes, etc. We have a talk with the employees, even during the pandemic we organized Virtual Peer Lunch, Fun Baithak, Annual Treat etc. We let our employees tell us how they want certain aspects of office culture to shape up” – Says GMP founders.
Get My Parking – Hiring Funda
The key to recruiting and retaining is mainly about meeting the needs on the top and thinking ahead, rather than waiting for a crisis to ensue.
“A talent pipeline should be developed to identify potential candidates, who can be continuously nurtured and approached when vacancies arise. We always look for people who are independent workers with a strong work ethic” Says Chirag Jain (Founder & CEO, Get My Parking)
As observed by Chirag and Rasik, billions of dollars have been invested in the mobility industry to make vehicles connected and ‘smart’ – but not in parking. It has remained an ignored and unorganized industry.
The traditional parking equipment still operates in silos. This is what led Chirag to come with a concept that could integrate parking and mobility. Chirag also had worked in the automobile industry that was also a vital factor. He then met with Rasik Pansare and started working on this as an experiment.
By July 2015, they were convinced enough with the early results to plunge into this business full time and started Get My Parking (GMP) officially.
When parking businesses use technology, the traditional equipment operates in silos; at best, it will work together with other products from the same manufacturer. In today’s new era of mobility, one needs an ecosystem of integrated hardware and software components regardless of which version or vendor they all come from.
The GMP Platform delivers such an interoperable ecosystem. Get My Parking’s solution can retrofit existing equipment in a parking lot, and upgrade the entire facility to a digitized one. There are multiple things that make GMP’s concept stand out. The platform makes any parking equipment interoperable through IoT and retrofitting, it upgrades old parking infrastructure to a new future-proof ecosystem, thus transforming dumb parking real estate into intelligent mobility hubs. Also, it’s easily customizable and scalable solution for any parking requirement on the planet.
The name was decided by Chirag (Founder & CEO of Get My Parking). The mindset of Chirag was to keep it easy to understand just as Book My show. The initial logo was designed by Chirag himself and later they got a professional designer to make it.
GMP Logo
The original tagline was B2C focused but we changed it later to suit our pivoted business strategy to B2B2C mode – Says the GMP Founders.
Thus, the Tagline of Get My Parking is ‘Where Mobility Begins’.
Get My Parking – Business Model and Revenue Model
GMP’s business model is pivoted towards B2B2C business strategy. Get My Parking (GMP) licenses its SaaS platform to the customers who are mostly big parking operators, smart city projects, and commercial landlords. It also charges for any additional customization (if required). And also, GMP licenses its parking data to automobile OEMs and mobility companies.
Get My Parking – Startup Launch and Customer Acquisition Strategies
Get My Parking’s startup launch was different. Instead of targeting a bunch of customers with a made product, it first went to a potential big customer i.e., a large parking operator in Delhi and pitched the idea of digitized parking. Once the operator was convinced and gave GMP a pre-order, Get My Parking was launched and team made the product.
Within a few weeks of launching, we had pre-orders for 45 parking lots. So what worked for us the best was traditional face to face sales for B2B onboarding – Says Chirag (Co-founder & CEO, Get My Parking)
The next phase, to grow from over 100 parking lots to 1000, Get My Parking had to adopt a multi pronged strategy. The GMP team used trade exhibitions to do brand awareness and product demos, and industry events and competitions for establishing thought leadership.
There was extensive role of digital marketing for targeted promotions. For international growth, GMP tied up with industry consultants who represented the company in those markets and strategic partners who could cross sell Get My Parking’s offerings along with their products. Overall, it took a lot of perseverance and resilience to get to 1000 and eventually 2500+ parking lots globally
Get My Parking – Startup Challenges Faced
Being a fast growing company, our team is our strength – Says Rasik (Co-founder & CMO, GMP)
Hence the biggest challenge that GMP faces is hiring the right people, training, upskilling current team members, and maintaining the right culture.
Other operational challenges that Get My Parking faced involves resistance from certain industry segments having traditional mindset. Being the market creator and pioneer, it took a lot of convincing to influence the entire industry from scratch. Get My Parking also faced funding issues several times at an early stage with minimal revenue, but the GMP team have mastered the financial equation over the last couple of years with good inflow of revenues.
The smart parking platform is designed for every stakeholder in the parking and mobility ecosystem. Get My Parking has been able to deliver business growth and diversified value growth to its customers, who include some of the leading parking operators globally with multi-billion dollar turnover.
Globally, GMP has over 2200 active smart parking deployments with active work orders in 17 countries.
The smart parking platform has launched 7 different white label parking apps around the world in different languages and markets.
The Get My Parking platform has processed over 50 million parking transactions till February 2021 (and counting).
In India, in terms of active deployments, Get My Parking is present in 11 cities including Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.
In terms of static parking data, GMP is the largest aggregator and distributor of parking information, with comprehensive data of over 9000 parking lots of 50 cities in India.
It has also done multiple government and smart city projects.
One of the Get My Parking’s major clients is APCOA Parking, which is Europe’s largest parking operator.
Get My Parking also powered the world’s largest event parking, Maha Kumbh Mela in Ujjain and IPL tournament previously.
Get My Parking – Revenue
In 2020, Get My Parking clocked in revenue of over INR 14 crore. GMP is projecting double the revenue for the upcoming month (March 2021)
Get My Parking – Funding and Investors
Get My Parking’s total funding till date is INR 29.05 Crores ($4.476 Million) in 3 rounds of funding. GMP’s most recent funding was led by IAN Fund, BEENEXT and Indian Angel Network for $3 Million in September 2017.
Get My Parking’s Funding details are as follows-
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
Jan 2016
Angel Funding
$376k (INR 2.5 cr)
The Chennai Angels (TCA)
Feb 2017
Pre Series A
$1.1 Mn (INR 7.35 cr)
IAN, BEENEXT, The Chennai Angels, Hero Corporate Services
Sep 2017
Series A
$3 Mn (INR 19.2 cr)
IAN Fund, BEENEXT, Indian Angel Network
“Funding is an extremely significant aspect in line with meeting the vision of a business. These funding have helped us in acquisition, hiring, for expanding globally and to grow & sustain our business” Says GMP founders.
Get My Parking acquired Bangalore-based Constapark in 2018.
Constapark had managed 30,000 parking spots on its platform and parks 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis across Bangalore. It was also chosen as one of the Top 5 Startups by CNN IBN & Ericson. This acquisition helped Get My Parking strengthen leadership in the domestic market.
Get My Parking – Competitors
The top competitors of Get My Parking include Flash Parking (US), Passport (US) and Smart Parking Ltd (Australia).
Tools used by Get My Parking to run Business
The right set of tools lets one organize the to do its best work. It lets to plan tasks and track who’s doing what to make sure that the company is working in the most efficient way possible.
One of the tools that Get My Parking used for internal communication is Slack. For task tracking/ reminder it uses Asana. Some other tools that we use are G-Suite, Final Cut Pro, Zoom, Mailchimp, Canva, Active Campaign, etc.,
Get My Parking got over 50 Million Parking Transactions processed by our platform in 17 countries. GMP also powered the world’s largest event parking, Maha Kumbh Mela in Ujjain in the first year.
2017- Get My Parking got AWS Mobility Awards for the Travel App of the year in Emerging category
2017- The company got the UK-India Tech Summit – Tech Rocketship Award for Top 10 Indian Startups
2019- Get My Parking was awarded the NASSCOM Emerge 50 for the product – Smart Parking Platform
2019- Get My Parking won the Geospatial Excellence Award at the GeoSmart India 2019 summit.
Get My Parking have performed extensive deployments in Europe and Asia for some of the largest parking operators that operate across thousands of locations. Now, It’s expanding its footprints with focus on the American market with the help of our partnership with ParkTrans (an American smart city solution provider). Get My Parking also has promising leads in Middle East Asia & Asia Pacific. It is also creating a global sales network with freelance consultants as well as sales enterprise partners.
Get My Parking – FAQs
Who are the founders of Get My Parking?
Rasik Pansare(CMO) and Chirag Jain (CEO) are the founders of Get My Parking (GMP)
How much is Get My Parking funding?
Get My Parking’s total funding till date is INR 29.05 Crores ($4.476 Million) in 3 rounds of funding. GMP’s most recent funding was led by IAN Fund, BEENEXT and Indian Angel Network for $3 Million in September 2017.
What is Get My Parking?
Get My Parking is the provider of Interoperable Smart Parking Platform that connects all parking and mobility stakeholders on a common platform who were until now operating in silos.
Who are the competitors of Get My Parking?
The top competitors of Get My Parking are Flash Parking (US), Passport (US) and Smart Parking Ltd (Australia).
Handicraft has been a widely enamored and respected art form since time immemorial. It is said that the people who have crafting in their blood are the masters of this art. India is world-renowned for its art and craft. A plethora of artistry and artisans can be found in the various states and provinces of this country.
Founded by Mr. Palash Agrawal, Vedas Exports is one of the renowned exporters of handicrafts. Providing the most exquisite quality handcrafted goods from traditional to modern abstracts, this company aspires to be a paramount dealer of this art in the international market.
Vedas Exports is one of the renowned exporters of handicrafts. Providing the most exquisite quality handcrafted goods from traditional to modern abstracts, this company aspires to be a paramount dealer of this art in the international market. Vedas Exports believe that beauty is a combination of both the internal and external qualities of daintiness and authenticity. Therefore, all the artifacts are created with a steep approach towards quality management.
Handmade bags, paintings, woodcraft, t-lights, and artifacts made of bell metal and wrought iron are the masterpieces that the company is proficient in supplying. Its focus is to bring excellence in the work and feel privileged to offer a wide range of aesthetic handicrafts and home decor to valuable customers in any corner of the world. Designs, values and ethics – these are the three priorities, Vedas vouches for in the market.
Vedas products – Arindam Tree and Wall art
“Our vision is to reach every single town and each seller dealing in décor. We wish to make every house, restaurant, hotel, etc. display at least one piece of décor from Vedas, in our aim to make India self-reliant and not import handicrafts or décor items from abroad”, says Palash Agrawal, founder of Vedas Exports.
Currently the company operates in the B2B module, by supplying to the offline branded stores and currently due to the current situation also selling their stuff online through various modules like social media and online e-commerce platforms. But its mission is to create 60 offline stores by next year, in both franchise and own store modules.
So far, Vedas Exports is present in 700+ stores across India and 500+ stores abroad. While its market share is currently in the range of 7-9% across India, the company’s target is to reach 40% within the next 2 years. With the current pandemic-led lockdown making people stay and spend more time within the confines of home, we expect a growth in demand for décor and a bigger market in times to come.
How was Vedas Exports Started?
Having spent 8 years in boarding school and the United Kingdom for his undergraduate and postgraduate studies, Palash has been away for quite a long time. Yet, belonging to business family meant business was in his genes, while he always aspired to do something very different and contribute to society.
“My father has been my inspiration in my idea of exploring the world of décor, to start my own brand Vedas Exports and etching a strong foothold in the market. Initial days were tough though, and we used to hit and try many products from different states in India. But traveling across the globe made me realize that we can transform ancient décor in a blend of modernity and market the same. I remember selling just one piece in the first month of starting my factory. Today, we are selling above 10000 pcs per month and run a complete unit, based in Jodhpur”, recalls Palash when talking about how Vedas Exports was started.
As the team was aiming to relate ancient décor to its modern versions, Vedas was a perfect choice. The name that stands for the Vedic era rightly reflects the aura of the ancient traditions and richness of heritage. They also wished to add a modern and corporate flavor to it. Thus, the logo bears a blending of old and new and is vibrant in color choices.
Vedas Exports – Product/Services
Vedas Exports is mainly into décor, and have Wall Décor, Wall Shelves, Mirror, Table Décor, Showpieces, Hooks, Vases, office décor, Wall Jali, etc in its platter. While the company offers readymade choices of items, it also customizes products according to customer needs and preferences. You think of a product and the company will create it for you.
Vedas Products – Atha Mirror and Marsh Tin Wall Decor
The use of lead-free paints, powder-coated, and rust-free products are the features that make this brand stand out in the crowd. The team doesn’t believe in replicating the already available styles and designs and launch new products every two months. All the products are handmade and crafted to perfection.
“We aim to make our products for the masses and thus prefer keeping the price point intact always. We develop our products according to market trends and follow trending colors. Our team has a very good R&D wing, that travels across the globe seeking fresh designs, trend, and pricing opportunities”, says Palash Agrawal.
Mr. Palash Agrawal is founder of Vedas Exports. Vedas Exports is a family-run company. Palash has his dad (Mr. Pawan Kr Agrawal) as a co-founder and he has always been the mentor and source of inspiration for the company. The company now has around 110 people working with it, which induces artisans and office employees.
Mr. Palash Agrawal – Founder of Vedas Exports
The team is a combination of fresh start-up persons and some experienced people on the job. The team has designers from NIFD and NIFT who plan and enhance the products. They also have freshers on their marketing and e-commerce business. The reason why they hire freshers is that they are ready to face new challenges and output is very much high. The team also has a brand manager who is very much experienced and good knowledge of the planning is provided by him.
“We ensure and endorse a very strong work culture in our office in terms of ethics, teamwork, freedom of functioning, and no interference. So, we have a happy set of people working with us, who consider the office as their second home and work together as one big family”, says Palash about the work culture of the company.
Moreover, Vedas Exports follow international standards of health and safety norms across the office and in its factories. Till now, 98% of the team was right there with the company from the start of the journey. The startup believes in the experiences and efforts it puts into raising an employee. This is important as if once the person leaves the organization, the company goes back at least 6 months in terms of experience, to teach his work to a new employee.
Vedas Exports – Business Model and Revenue Model
Vedas Exports operate in four different business models –
B2B (Business to Business) – Supply to many stores directly and they sell Vedas’s products.
B2C (Business to Customer) – Directly interact and sell products through the website and social media pages.
Via E-commerce platforms – Products are available on e-commerce platforms and portals like Pepperfry, Amazon, Flipkart, etc.
Through customization – Customize and create products according to the clients’ style, needs, and preferences.
For the export of goods, the company works through direct stores, importers, and buying agencies. Vedas Exports’ revenue is generated from the sale of products through the various channels it operates in. The startup is bootstrapped and has no borrowing from anyone so far.
“Getting the first 50 customers was the biggest hurdle. We had our products but our journey was initiated in the online portal only. At that time, our marketing skills were not very strong and hence our efforts weren’t paying much. So, we started organizing small exhibitions across the country to build the customer base. It took us around 6 months to reach that point and get our first 50 customers”, recalls Palash Agrawal about launching Vedas Exports.
Vedas Exports – Growth
Considering the last six months’ journey, the company’s functioning has taken various paths. Being a new brand in the market, it’s not an easy task to have a strong footprint, especially when the decor industry is not very organized in terms of branding and sales. The products are completely handmade, and hence settling is an issue. Sometimes the startup face a lot of issues regarding its pricing, shipping costs, etc.
Vedas Products – Basket Cycle and Bayon
But the exhibitions the company already organized and the client meetings the team have attended have made them realize the demand for their products and the praise for its quality. Thus, the team readily understood that it can survive in the market if its back end is strong enough. So, the company focused on making distribution and dealer channels wide and strong, so that on-ground sales pressure is less and it can concentrate more on designs and packaging of the products.
Currently, the company has visibility in more than 300 cities across India and 15 countries across the globe. Every year, it supply to more than 20,000 end customers from its warehouses. Riding on the success rate of the past three years, it is now present in India’s top superstores including Hometown, Evok, Shopperstop, Royaloaks, Starmarks, Pepperfry studios, etc. It has reached the profit center as well, after the third year of operations.
The main challenge was building up the trust and making a big customer base. The second biggest challenge was keeping the set of artisans intact. The company was in the initial stage of business back then and orders were few, thus forcing it to assign basic work for them every day and get the work going. It also used to participate in many shows abroad with a very low success rate at that time. Hence, the team relied mostly on reverse engineering to stay afloat and improvise its products.
Vedas Exports – Funding and Investors
So far, Vedas Exports has not raised any funding and its 100% stakes is owned by the founding team.
Vedas Exports – Competitors
Talking of competitors, there are many based in Jodhpur and Moradabad. But they have always been a great source of motivation and energy for the company, to work harder and spend more time on product building. The team believes competition should be healthy and wise.
Vedas Exports plan to build on the franchise module and come up with company-owned stores across India, UAE, Nepal, UK. It is now coming up with furniture, as a new segment.
Vedas Exports – Founder’s Advice
Our startup journey was like a roller coaster ride. It’s fun to feel that you are the boss of the organization, where you work. But at the same time, it’s you, who end up doing all the jobs too. My suggestion would be to never give up on your belief and dreams. I was thinking to close my startup after two years of operations. But my dad and brother prevented and motivated me to put the best of my efforts and sheer hard work to climb up the ladder of success. And see where we are today- all around the world with our creations.
Vedas Exports – Technology Stack
From day 1 of its journey, the team has been very organized in terms of software, ERP, and tools it uses. It has customized its own ERP system for inventory management and billing.
Vedas Exports – Recognition and Achievements
The company has given diploma on handicrafts from Russian authority on 2015, after the first year of the business.
Souvik Dey
