MVIKAS' feature in StartupLanes

MVIKAS: India’s First Industrial Goods Marketplace

Over the last two decades, business-to-business e-commerce trade has seen a significant increase across the global market. Despite depressed consumer spending, economic slowdown and uncertainty created due to COVID-19, e-commerce is expecting strong sales growth in 2021.

Founded in 2019, MVIKAS is India’s first marketplace in the industrial goods domain with 3000 businesses hitherto associated with it for their buying & selling needs and over 15 K industrial goods having trusted the credibility of its platform for their purchase. MVIKAS is a well-researched enterprise, aimed at meeting the customer’s expectations by developing well-aimed strategies and concepts to rectify the already-existing loopholes in the entire system and bring to the fore a network sans any ambiguity and inconvenience.

In an exclusive interview with StartupLanes, Abhinav Kumar, Founder of MVIKAS, talks about his journey and experiences as an entrepreneur. Abhinav is a fervid believer of the fact, ‘The moment one conceives an idea, no matter how onerous the path maybe, once you set into action and put in diligent efforts, there is nothing that can restrict your way to success’. Being a Chartered Accountant by profession, he never failed to prove his merit while practicing with the numerous firms he was associated with. During his services with SAIL, he resolved to secure the storage of the goods such as rice, grains, and processed sugar in an organized manner and that is when he acquired a warehouse in the Brijnor district of Uttar Pradesh spread over an area of 42000 sq km.

Abhinav Kumar coined M-Vikas as a Business-to-Business-to-Customer (B2B2C) e-commerce platform, aiming to provide procurement, logistics, and credit-related services across the country, connecting all the ends of trade; namely buyer, seller, and customer. Owing to his industrious and persistent attitude, he aims to take M-Vikas onto the pinnacles of success in no time, thus proving that there is nothing that cannot be achieved through hard work and sheer determination.

Read on to know what he has to say.

Q1. How did you come up with the idea of your startup?

Abhinav: One word to describe the entire idea behind the conception of M-Vikas would be ‘inconvenience’. Working with SAIL, I happened to assist my father one day with his trading business. He was trying to study the dynamics of the various items put up on the e-platform before making a purchase. We sat together for four hours trying to figure out a product that would best suit all our needs but in vain. Whatever information we came across was incomplete and it was highly inconvenient for both of us to go ahead with the entire process. It was then when I resolved that I shall build a platform that will comply with the basic requirements sought after by every customer when they approach the marketplace and make the entire system of purchase effortless.

Q2. What was the most difficult part in the early stages of the company’s growth?

Abhinav: For a voyage to take you to your destination, you need expert sailors; similarly to build an enterprise that would master the existing loopholes in the marketplace, I needed to assemble the most proficient human resources that would help me sail through my journey with ease and perfection. Once I was ready with my army, the next challenge we faced was to make the sellers believe in us and our idea so that we could get an initial 100 sellers. Thereon, ensuing other’s belief in us was not difficult and that is how we take pride in announcing the alliance of 1500+ sellers with us at present.

Q3. What was the gap in the market that you identified?

Abhinav: Going through the different business models, I came across a startling revelation that the sellers, who are the soul of a market, were not given their due recognition. Every business house these days is casting a shadow over the various indigenous and small sellers of the country by taking away their identity and listing the products under their big brand names. We, at M-Vikas aim to provide a platform to all the sellers associated with us to connect with the prospective buyers, and that too, not at the cost of forgoing their own names.

Also, ranging from seller verification to funding, and facilitating a smooth delivery of goods, we take care of it all. Nevertheless, from the perspective of a buyer, we offer them professional assistance through finding a suitable seller and item identification at competitive prices, again a benchmark that has not been achieved by anyone yet.

Q4. Can you explain your business model?

Abhinav: M-Vikas was conceived as a Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce platform, aimed at providing procurement, logistics, and credit-related services across the country; however, we have remodeled it to B2B2C by introducing the customers to the entire framework and enabling them to connect with the different sellers through the medium of an e-store.

Q5. What are the products/services that you offer?

Abhinav: M-Vikas is a service-oriented organization striving to provide a marketplace to the different buyers by offering them a three-tier solution to their procurement, logistics, and credit-related needs. And now, by introducing the customers into our model, we have entitled each end of our business to function in a smooth, convenient, and transparent manner.

Q6. Who are your target customers?

Abhinav: Our target customers comprise retailers, distributors, wholesalers, traders, and manufacturers. To be precise, there are over 10 million businesses in this domain and each one of them is our target customer. We aim to broaden our horizon and strengthen our chain by eventually reaching out to the maximum customer base.

Q7. Why do your customers choose your products/services? Why do they order again?

Abhinav: M-Vikas has already taken a leap by being India’s first B2B2C marketplace in industrial goods, connecting buyers with the sellers and thereby the customers and it is owing to this ‘First Mover Advantage’ that we have been able to umbrella 3000+ customers already. We also understand how irksome ‘Item discovery’ can be and thus our expertly carved platform and the feature of ‘Product Discovery’ can actually enable a customer to opt for the specification that they are looking for and get a customized product easily delivered to them. Talking about delivery, we provide end-to-end services to our customers, from procurement to logistics, and that too at a minimal cost.

Q8. What are the three unique things about you that make you better than your competitors?

Abhinav: Seller Recognition, Item Discovery, and Item Execution. There is no other business domain that can offer all the aforementioned services under one roof and at our offered price. At M-Vikas, we give due diligence to ensuring that every seller connected with us is given their due recognition in the marketplace so as to establish themselves. We also handhold all our buyers through the difficult process of discovering the kind of product they are looking for as per their needs, at the best prices, and also executing the smooth delivery of their goods.

Q9. Why should a job applicant work with you?

Abhinav: When recruiting people to be a part of my dream project, I look forward to a candidate who has the zeal and enthusiasm to work, positive outlook to see the organization growing by leaps and bounds, and be a team player because I vehemently believe in the power of togetherness in comparison to working alone. Additionally, he/she should possess a strong work ethic, be a good communicator, and be a smart facilitator.

Q10. If it wasn’t for your company, what would you be doing right now?

Abhinav: If not M-Vikas, I guess I would have continued to honor my job at SAIL which, after all, was an outcome of my sweated blood together with years of diligence and focus.

Q11. Are you looking for any vendors to help you simplify any part of your business?

Abhinav: As per our current requirement, we are already trying to incorporate ‘Artificial Intelligence’ in calls to empower us with a mechanism to have fewer people deployed as callers. Other than that, my highly proficient team is dealing very well with all the challenges coming our way. But yes, in proportion to our growth, we would certainly need the expertise to help us reach the pinnacles of success.

Q12. What are the recent and long-term plans of your startup?

Abhinav: Going by the pace at which we are heading, by the year-end, we would be able to assemble 10,000+ business associates, list over 1 lakh products, and get a Gross Merchandise Value(GMV) of 100 crores. Furthermore, in the next three years, we would not only capture 5% of the entire market but also carve a niche for ourselves in the global market by empowering our indigenous manufacturers to cast their foot on the international soils. Also, moving from online to offline mode with an aim to provide a physical platform to our buyers is our forte that we aim to accomplish soon.

Q13. Are you raising external funds? Or willing to raise in near future?

Abhinav: Presently, the only way we are monetizing is by charging a nominal fee on per user basis and soon we shall start to levy the transaction fee as well. Apart from that, there are several mainstream investors who wish to connect with us but as of now, we are still in the process of streamlining and evaluating their proposals before reaching a decision.

Q14. What is your feedback on StartupLanes?

Abhinav: I highly appreciate StartupLanes for acknowledging business houses like ours that have the potential of giving an onus to both ends of the business, i.e. purchase and sale. Moreover, I believe that StartupLanes is one of its kind platform that facilitates learning, growth, and fundraising for startups like ours. Moreover, the entire idea of raising the funds for the startups from Angel investors is not only laudable but also constructive for the budding entrepreneurs.

Q15. Is there anyone you would like to thank for supporting you in your entrepreneurial journey?

Abhinav: Indeed yes! I am highly grateful to my father for letting me help him with his trading business that fine day when the complex system and the inconvenience caused to us pushed me to think of a model myself that would surpass all the difficulties faced by so many like us. Following that, it was his guidance and motivation that took me a step closer to my endeavor. Furthermore, it is imperative to thank my family, friends, and all the people who believed in me and my idea and offered me every kind of help I would need to embark on my journey to the organization called M-Vikas.