Interviews

What does Apnapaisa.com do? Tell us something about your business and its offerings?

A price and feature comparison service provider, Apnapaisa helps consumers take informed decisions by giving them a comprehensive report on the various products or services, predominantly financial, which are available in the market. From insurance, car loans, cards, investment products to even mobile plans, we equip people with the information they would look for when they're contemplating which product or service provider to pick.

Why did you start a comparison portal? Are you pioneers in the domain?

Set-up in 2007 Apnapaisa was started with the goal to facilitate informed decisions. Not really pioneers in this comparison concept, we opened shop because there are not many in this space in India. Yes, we are the only ones to allow comparisons almost across the board, now there are other players in the market who allow comparisons for investment and loan products, but none that cover everything like we do.

Do you think consumers have warmed up to the idea of a price and features comparison portal?

With half a million unique visitors coming to our website every month, we definitely can say we've gained reasonable traction now. This shows that people are becoming more inclined towards understanding needs and product offerings before making a choice.

Any hiring or expansion plans?

We're currently based in Mumbai and have about 70 employees. Yes, we do have plans to expand geographically but it's still in the nascent stage of discussions, so I can't really share much light on that as of now. However, in the employee front we've been hiring a lot of people lately in the mid and senior management positions. At the junior level hiring happens quite frequently.

Do you hire people with a background in financial planning or services?

Not necessarily. Though a relative percentage comes from the financial sector, we predominantly prefer to hire people and train them on the job. Case in point is the number of interns who are part of the system. Most of them are hired and they come back soon after they finish college.

Do you think it benefits your organisation?

Oh yes, they add more than a dash of inventiveness to the system. Internship programmes definitely allow greater knowledge sharing and helps add a new perspective to what's old and conventional. Not particularly used to the primary norms in any particular segment they aid in the infusion of fresh ideas that helps add a new dimension to what already exists. Moreover they also help us adapt to the changing audience and even change a few of our practices now and then. It's a good intrusion and we encourage that. And being a young company, with most of our employees falling in the early and mid twenties age group we feel that everyone gels well together.

What according to you is the unique factor that makes it worthwhile for an employee to be part of your organisation?

Well, we're like any small firm wanting to become big. Having been in business for 3 years now we can't really be termed a start-up, as we're slowly getting out of that phase, but the start-up bent of mind still remains. The excitement, changes, constant innovation and the other trappings of a budding company makes Apnapaisa quite the place to be. There is the expected constructive chaos to add zing to the atmosphere. But more than all that, everybody here knows that they have a voice and have a say in whatever happens, now that we're certain cannot happen everywhere.

Is there anything that Apnapaisa does to boost employee morale? And does the company invest in training programmes?

Visibility and control are great boosters for anyone. At Apnapaisa employees are given loads of that. They know what's happening and are kept informed at all times. The place is always buzzing with activities. Moreover we've given our employees complete freedom to pursue their ideas, which has translated to each individual taking onus. The teams have their own informal knowledge sharing sessions that we count as a positive step, because there is no need to be monitored. 50% of our employees are women and even they have set-up their own forum that helps them address various issues. Handled by their own elected heads, the forum was started as a sound-off session and has now evolved into a platform that helps find solutions and generate insights. At regular intervals guest speakers come in to educate members on various subjects and undertakings, be it work-life balance or choosing the right investment product. We also have a masseuse come in, which benefits both sides. The masseuses are blind who have taken up this vocation for a living and by helping them we also help our employees, though it's predominantly a feel-good factor after a long hard day's work. Other than all this we also do have training programmes, but they are usually domain-centric and are generally for the technology team.

A note on the way you started off...

I'm a fundamentally a Chartered Accountant, so I started in the hardcore taxation space. After two years of that I moved to ICICI. My stint with ICICI was 8 years long, which was interspersed with my own entrepreneurial ventures. The last time I decided to go back to ICICI was because of the lack of challenges in my last venture. But in 2007 I started Apanapaisa and there has been no looking back.

Do you think your stint with ICICI helped you in any way?

Of course it did and there can be no doubts about that. When I first joined ICICI it was to take care of their retail lending division. A small, boutique investment firm we managed to create great value and some really profitable tie-ups. In fact I orchestrated few huge deals that were a great learning experience, especially for the teething mistakes that happened and the consecutive rectifications, but overall there was quite a lot of knowledge that I assimilated from the organisation.

From retail, corporate banker to a successful entrepreneur, your journey has been significantly knowledge driven. But what according to you has been the driving force behind your success?

Well that would be my innate need to make a difference. I feel positively energised and acutely focused when I know that what I do can bring about a positive change in someone's life. So whatever I do I make sure I achieve that and work towards that and that has helped me shape my future paths, which I'm glad has paid rich dividends.