A very good day to each one of you Rodins in the Hood
I pose this question/dilemma to all the newtrepreneurs and oletrepreneurs, alike.
About 12 months ago, I started the journey for Tatvam Tech Systems, with an aim to develop a Payment Platform and came up with ‘BillBharo’. BillBharo would deal with all payments that are recurring in nature and not be restricted with any specific vertical. So the aim was a platform that would have all the choices and would concentrate on all kinds of payments and not just utilities.
Today all the tieups with the Banks, Credit Card providers and RBI have all been completed. I, in the meantime, started on this amazing journey called ‘Business Development’. It mostly consisted of going upto the big boys and knocking on each ones door to let us in. 6 Months later, we were allowed in and we are in various stages of terms and commercials exercice, and subsequently the Final Go-Ahead. So while I have been able to get into the circle, BillBharo has still not been able to kickstart its journey.
Not to disheartened (and thats an understatement), we put our hand up and realised it was the not the best first path(in terms of Time Consuming Decision making, and even the Margins and Competition) to be going down. So we shifted tact and started targeting the Small-Medium Businesses. We devised competitive pricing points and mechanisms, and with a few more freebies thrown in. The response has been better, no doubt. The greatest advantage is being able to directly speak to the Decision Maker. However, its been slow going and again there was a sort of a wall which is being encountered. “We will not be the First Customer on BillBharo” syndrome. This is understandable and completely at that. Why should I Punt is something which would go on in a business’/service provider’ mind. We needed the FIRST to get on board and then could go back to these customers who fall in this category.
The dilemma being face is how to get ONE customer to try and test this with(a pilot). Once that is complete, we can then concentrate on bulking up our Customer List, and truly expanding our verticals.
Its been draining too. Even though there has been ample support from the family, the fact that there is Zero Cashflow, so far has been the draining bit, financially and emotionally.
I could not think of a better forum to turn to, to give me pointers as to how and what to do.
I can think of a few and pleae feel free to add to this list.
1. In terms of Customer Acquiring
a. Continue the Business Development/Customer Acquisition mode till the first one clicks
b. Look out for friends/network who could help in ‘piloting’ BillBharo
2. In terms of Cashflow Generation
a. Lookout for consulting opportunities to keep the register ringing
b. Look at another entrepreneurial opportunity to start generating cashflows
c. Go back to Workforce and work on this side-by-side till it picks up
All suggestions are welcome and appreciated.
Once again thank you very much for your time.
Regards,
Aditya Babbar
adityababbar@tatvamtech.com