'Our Long-term Goal is to Reach 10% of the Overall Lending Industry' - Naveen Kukreja, Paisabazaar.com
Paisabazaar.com is Indian online financial marketplace for loans and Credit Cards. It offers all a complete spectrum of lending and investment products for retail customers. Paisabazaar.com currently partners with more than 60 partners across lending and investment categories with 100+ products on offer. Since its inception in early 2014, the company has marked a staggering growth and now has over 33 million visitors coming to its website each year. Naveen Kukreja, CEO & Co-founder, Paisabazaar.com was named as a contender to the BW Disrupt 40 Under 40 list in 2017.
In an interaction with BW Disrupt, Naveen Kukreja talked about his venture.
Success mantra - Staying agile is one of the biggest reasons behind Paisabazaar becoming the biggest marketplace in India within three years of its inception. Being agile means you are out there in the world, facing real situations and moving and changing things quickly to your advantage, rather than sitting on the fence, contemplating on how to get it perfect and waiting for the ‘right’ time to get going.
The driving force behind your journey - My decision to start Paisabazaar was largely driven by the lack of transparency and customer centricity in the lending market. Just five years ago, a consumer had to largely depend on his bank for a loan and would struggle to compare what is being offered to him with other products in the market. I wanted to change this and create something that’s transparent, provides choice and focuses on consumers’ interests.
Business advice - George Patton once said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” In a tough market, excessive theorising, indecisiveness and delayed action can be detrimental to business.
Tips for budding entrepreneurs - There are three primary reasons why startups fail: mismatch between customer need and proposition; entrepreneurs mistaking great ideas to be big milestones; and lack of funds for projects. My advice to those starting out is to keep these factors in mind and take quick actions whenever necessary.
Government support - India is a big and complex market, where the government and regulators need to look after the best interests of 1.3 billion people. While the penetration of financial products has been extremely low, I strongly believe the current environment is more conducive for financial services than ever before. Initiatives such as Aadhaar, Digital India, PMJDY are now the backbone of India’s financial infrastructure.
The team - We put a lot of emphasis on ‘hiring for aptitude and attitude’. We believe skills can be developed in the right person.
Inspiration - Sports is close to my heart and legends who have influenced me are Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Leander Paes, Rafael Nadal and Virat Kohli.
The next step - We became the no. 1 player in the market early this year. We are now focused on building on this leadership position. Last year, we were the only online marketplace to disburse loans worth Rs 2,500 crore. This year, our disbursal target is Rs 6,000 crore and we are well on our way to achieve that. Our long-term goal is to reach 10 per cent of the overall lending industry.
