[ObsessedByFIAT]

This is awesome! It takes a lot to stand up and get going!

There are so many examples you have set! Along with the excellent community service by delivering essential items, you created a new job opportunity for the ones who needed it the most during this unfortunate time. Kudos to you and your cousin! Great work!

I would not suggest, but request you to keep this going for as long as you are able to sustain it profitably. However small that margin might be. Requesting this because not everything is done for generating revenue alone. There are some things which you give some intangible returns which are valued for a lifetime!

Great work! Congratulations and all the best!

[PatienceWins]

Congrats Abbas. Thanks for sharing. It is good to see that you are able to make a difference and provide employment in this crisis. All the Best.

[Abbas]

Originally Posted by Zinda

Congratulations Abbas and your Team. What an energy and motivation! Did you use open source technologies to implement your case?

Yes, Mostly.

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Congratulations on the venture! Thanks for sharing.

Could you please go into the technical/software related details, the technologies used, etc. Thanks!

Well, there are multiple service providers in the market who can provide you with solutions. No going much into the technical bit, but there are vendors who are taking care of the App, then there is a service provider who is taking care of Seller management, then again there is a service provider who is taking care of inventory management. Another one taking care of shipping. Finally, Billing and settlements are taken care by another vendor. So all work in unison to make this happen. Basically the orchestra needs to be played by you.

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

This is awesome! It takes a lot to stand up and get going!

There are so many examples you have set! Along with the excellent community service by delivering essential items, you created a new job opportunity for the ones who needed it the most during this unfortunate time. Kudos to you and your cousin! Great work!

I would not suggest, but request you to keep this going for as long as you are able to sustain it profitably. However small that margin might be. Requesting this because not everything is done for generating revenue alone. There are some things which you give some intangible returns which are valued for a lifetime!

Great work! Congratulations and all the best!

Yes, trying our best to stay afloat for as long as possible. Initially our growth graph was tremendous, then it hit rock bottom when things got normalise a bit. but now, since we moved to marketplace model we, somehow managed to turn the tide around. Traction seems to be getting steady now. Hopefully the upward growth continues.

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

Congrats Abbas. Thanks for sharing. It is good to see that you are able to make a difference and provide employment in this crisis. All the Best.

Thanks a ton!

[nitinkbhaskar]

Originally Posted by Abbas

I don't know where this is going to lead us once normalcy returns and we get back to our professional lives. Because we can't compete with them on scale and ours is a self funded initiative.

Mighty congratulations Abbas for your venture.
I am pretty sure with time you would get more clarity on how to proceed with your venture but I would just say one thing - "If you have firm belief in your venture then don't let it go".

On handing out the equities - Try to stay lean initially. Its best to share equity with people who deserve it. So if someone is keen to join in, let them know how they can add value to the organization. Once they attain that goal, they should be eligible for / granted the equities.

All the very best !!

[mohansrides]

Originally Posted by Abbas

Update...couple of our friends have shown interest in taking up equity in our venture. Lets see how it goes.

What do our Tbhp members think about selling equity at this stage? Industry and Domain experts here, please do post your views..

First, big congratulations on turning tough times into a business opportunity. Absolutely brilliant to read about your start-up.

Now to answer your question; if you don’t need the money, don’t give away equity. That goes for any stage of the operation. Remember that giving away equity means giving away some portion of control, thereby diluting decision-making capabilities. So, only give away equity if:

a.) You have concrete ideas for expansion needing big capital infusions that the current partners are unable to provide; but that others are willing to.

and / or

b.) You see concrete value in the new business partner/s towards sustenance, or expansion, of the business. The value could be in their background, or network, or just in their sheer experience and knowledge in running, or contributing to, similar or allied businesses.

Whatever you do, I hope that you never have to borrow money to run your business. I am fully aware that businesses all over the world run on credit. But, in today’s environment, it is simply not worth it to have loans hanging over your head.

Finally, I do have one suggestion. Smaller operations are more efficient and more effective. But, bigger operations impact a larger number of lives. So, if you don’t need the earnings from this business to run your family, then it may be a good thing to incorporate a community angle into your founding vision statement. Leverage the revenues to make small changes to your business model that enables you to rope in the community around you to move this business forward. That way, you increase the surface area of the business operation to create jobs and get more people invested in your success.

Cheers

[swarnava.ch]

Originally Posted by Abbas

Update

What do our Tbhp members think about selling equity at this stage? Industry and Domain experts here, please do post your views.

Dear Abbas, firstly congratulations on this great endeavour. All the very best and pray for your success.
Coming to your question whether to sell equity early on or not ?
My personal feedback here is do you really need funds at this stage to grow business at this stage ? If not then you can hold on for some time and focus on growth. If you need capital to expand then you can draw up an approximate valuation and go for equity sale accordingly.

[Abbas]

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

On handing out the equities - Try to stay lean initially. Its best to share equity with people who deserve it. So if someone is keen to join in, let them know how they can add value to the organization. Once they attain that goal, they should be eligible for / granted the equities.

All the very best !!

Thanks. Yes, trying to stay bootstrapped at the moment. Infact we bought back equity from one of the Co-founders since no value addition was taking place since he had gone back to his professional life.

Originally Posted by mohansrides

First, big congratulations on turning tough times into a business opportunity. Absolutely brilliant to read about your start-up.

Now to answer your question; if you don’t need the money, don’t give away equity. That goes for any stage of the operation. Remember that giving away equity means giving away some portion of control, thereby diluting decision-making capabilities. So, only give away equity if:

a.) You have concrete ideas for expansion needing big capital infusions that the current partners are unable to provide; but that others are willing to.

and / or

b.) You see concrete value in the new business partner/s towards sustenance, or expansion, of the business. The value could be in their background, or network, or just in their sheer experience and knowledge in running, or contributing to, similar or allied businesses.

Whatever you do, I hope that you never have to borrow money to run your business. I am fully aware that businesses all over the world run on credit. But, in today’s environment, it is simply not worth it to have loans hanging over your head.

Finally, I do have one suggestion. Smaller operations are more efficient and more effective. But, bigger operations impact a larger number of lives. So, if you don’t need the earnings from this business to run your family, then it may be a good thing to incorporate a community angle into your founding vision statement. Leverage the revenues to make small changes to your business model that enables you to rope in the community around you to move this business forward. That way, you increase the surface area of the business operation to create jobs and get more people invested in your success.

Cheers

Thank you for your valuable inputs. Needed it. With your response i remember what my father use to say about raising capital. Selling equity is the most expensive way of raising capital and the cheapest way is to get a loan.

We are managing pretty well at the moment and don't feel a need for capital raising unless the offer is too mouth watering. We will hold off temptation for now.

Originally Posted by swarnava.ch

If you need capital to expand then you can draw up an approximate valuation and go for equity sale accordingly.

How do we valuate a business? Tangible asset is easy to valuate, but how do we evaluate intangible assets and the intelligence value?

Can experts guide how do i valuate our business?

[swarnava.ch]

Originally Posted by Abbas

How do we valuate a business? Tangible asset is easy to valuate, but how do we evaluate intangible assets and the intelligence value?

I am no expert but let me give you a concrete example for your question.
Suppose you get x number of net new customers per month,
and your current number or consumers are y,
Average revenue per existing customer is z,
Average profit margin per customer is a.

No just extrapolate all of the above to the next one year which becomes the size of your addressable market giving a glimpse of what will be the average size / valuation of your company at the end of next year. Keep some buffer and then you can decide how much say 5% of the business should be valuated as this rate.

Why not do something – there are a lot of support forums for Startups – these guys are fellow Startup members and share experience or help and guide fellow start-ups. You should join any such group and get more targeted / valuable feedback.
Just do a quick search on the net. Meanwhile I will ask one of my friend who has a startup and share any other info if I can get it.

Best Regards
Swarnava

[amit162]

Congratulations Abbas for your venture . Your help to the needy, whether it be those who needed ration or those who were jobless is very inspiring and moving. My prayers and best wishes to you and your team for continuing with this great initiative.

[chennai-indian]

Wow Wow!! You guys rock!!! Imagine what a learning experience this is even if you do not scale up !! Best of luck guys!!

[Stribog]

Loved the spirit, and the execution, I strongly think you should start on Social Media (if you are not there already) and get some magazine or portal to cover you if possible, that will push up your visibility even more.

Best of luck.

[vishwasvr]

Congrats you guys!

Marketplace is a tried and tested model. Just keep at it. There are similar websites such as Qtrove, which might interest you. You've experienced the magic of adaptability first hand.

For all you know, this can eclipse everything else!

Keep it going!

Good luck!

[Amsdoc]

What a brilliant story! Kudos, Abbas and super well done. As Winston Churchill (absolute git from our point of view, but orator of splendid speeches) once said "Never let a good crisis go to waste", you have really stepped up in this one.
May I suggest that you keep updating the original post as it become difficult to scroll through pages for updates.

[AZT]

Great work, you guys source from the Kirana shops so that's even better. Wish you and team the best Abbas.

[alikidwhy]

Originally Posted by Abbas

Update

We have tied up with a shipping partner who is serving all pincodes.

Congratulations on your venture first of all Abbas.

Noob question but would you mind telling me how you ship packages? I mean the delivery packaging and Label?

I have started an e-commerce business as well and am figuring out the labelling process.