As part of our Daily Sparkz interview series today we have Swati Bhargava from cashkaro.com, She will talk about her career, how she became an entrepreneur and how she turned her ideas into reality. She had a long journey from UK to India and after much effort she finally found cashkaro.com, India’s leading cashback and coupon website.
So let’s start the interview with Swati.
Please tell us about yourself and your educational background?
I am the CEO and co-founder of Swati Bhargava. Cashkaro.com. I had completed my high school diploma National Junior College, GCSE graduated from high school in 2001, with main subjects such as mathematics, economics and physics.
I later completed my BS in Mathematics and Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2005.
Where do you share your blog posts?
I share blog posts and articles that interest me Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is more of a personal area for me, so I share selected articles there, otherwise Twitter is my go-to place.
What drew you to Cashkaro.com?
Rohan and I always wanted to do something of our own. While working for Goldman Sachs in Great Britainwhere I worked in the CEO’s office for a good five years, Rohan and I began exploring our own business ideas. We’ve seen cashback making a big splash in the UK and thought it might be an interesting venture to start with.
We quit our jobs and delved deeper into the subject Cashback market and have carried out our research well. Since we both come from finance backgrounds, we spent our first few months learning about the cashback industry.
In 2011 we launched our first website in the UK called Pouring Pounds, followed by four more websites of this type. In 2013 I saw the success of PouringPounds We decided to introduce the cashback concept in India and launched it under the name Cashkaro.com.
Have you already faced challenges? Please describe it.
Challenges are part of growth in every area. So there were many challenges, but below are some key areas where we faced issues:
– Hire good talent. It’s a challenge, especially in the early stages – both finding good talent and retaining it when you’re just starting out and sales will take some time to come.
– Working with third-party vendors and developers who all over-promised and under-delivered.
– Encourage retailers to pay commissions on time and act fairly and fairly so our customers are paid on time. Since we do a lot of sales now, it was easier to set some terms and conditions.
– Lack of seed funding in India – Investors don’t want to invest money until you start making money, but then you might not even need it! We raised money in the UK so we were able to solve this problem to some extent.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs? In India parents think entrepreneurship is not good. They want their children to work. What do you think about that? ?
My greetings to aspiring entrepreneurs would be, first and foremost, to completely believe in yourself and your product/service. Don’t have any doubts about your plan and take plenty of time to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages. While I’m sure you’ve read philosophies that encourage self-confidence, if you yourself don’t believe in what you’re doing, you may not be doing your best.
Because if you are looking for your own team and believe that something will really work, that attitude will also affect your team.
In India, parents often encourage their children to take the safer route and therefore many parents are not very opposed to the idea of entrepreneurship, but I think if someone really believes in something, they should do it. That’s how I am where I am and I also have Indian parents.
What are some examples of how you’ve worked to sell your ideas in collaborative environments?
We work with bloggers and conduct some blogger engagement activities such as blog contests, video contests and review campaigns. These activities not only create buzz and help raise awareness about Cashkaro, but are also fun, engaging and exciting. I’m active on Quora and Twitter and love connecting with people.
There is a lot of competition for marketers, especially established quality marketers. How do you survive in this tough competition?
There is no doubt that there is quite a lot of competition. So, get around it and outdo ourselves. We make sure that we focus on each and every industry and develop them well. We invest a lot of time, money and effort on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.) and work to attract different audiences from each industry.
Our Facebook page is very engaging and informative and we also run competitions from time to time to keep our audience interested. Our Facebook audience helped us conduct a Cashkaro Tax survey. The results can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/1pskl0e. We also have an engaging Twitter account @Cashkarocom and also build on our Slideshare profile.
Given the current craze for IPL, we have built on social media campaigns that revolve around it and target the audience based on their interests.
How can I convert price-sensitive buyers into customers?
E-commerce in India offers a variety of products and discounts. Price-conscious people are always looking for the best deals and can score extra savings every day! Coupon sites give them agreed discounts, but cashback sites also have coupons and cashback! The biggest challenge for Cashkaro is actually getting the word out about its services. Once they’re out in the open, I’m sure people will be excited CashKaro!
How can I grow my home business?
First, start with social media and make your product/brand go viral. Facebook, Twitter, G+ and Pinterest are great platforms to have a presence on and are really helpful in reaching the world.
Second, think of engaging content to grab attention.
A marketing mantra at Cashkaro is to try out different ideas, closely monitor their performance, and then decide where to invest more money. Trying out, testing and investing is the best way! This way you know which idea will give you the best ROI.
How can I pitch my product to large companies?
A few things to keep in mind would be:
-When approaching large companies, first identify and visualize your project so that it fits well with the larger company. Find the most relevant person there and start the conversation with them. If you reach out to just anyone, there may be a gap in communication and you may never reach the right person.
In the age of social media, finding a person is not a piece of cake. You can contact almost anyone you want. LinkedIn and Facebook are two great examples!
– Always act professionally when dealing with a larger company. Even if you’re little, you don’t always have to act like that.
– If you go to a meeting or presentation, do not go to the pitch alone, always take someone else with you. This shows that there is a team behind your idea. Larger companies are not always interested in working with small businesses because they have doubts about partnering with small businesses and their reputation is also at stake.
What good business books should you read?
Rohan and I highly recommend the book “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t” by James C. Collins. It gives great insights to aspiring entrepreneurs! Although it is not a business book, I fully live by the title “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrnes because I believe that having the right attitude and mindset is equally important for every single business.
How can I finance a new business idea without crowdfunding?
I believe that it is always best to start with your own savings, build on your idea and show that it is a proven model. Once you reach this stage, you can watch it Angel and seed investors. All you have to do is show traction and get started!
How should we divide the equity among the co-founders?
The breakdown actually varies from case to case. It also depends on which co-founder invests how much time and commitment. There are many such factors that influence what the stock allocation should ideally be.
In my opinion, “passion” is very important for the company to work and every founder should feel equally motivated and motivated to work. In this sense, a fifty-fifty split is absolutely harmless!
What about my blog? Any suggestions you would like to make.
Honestly, I think your blog is great! I enjoy reading it and in fact all of us here at Cashkaro love reading it.
All the best and keep blogging!
My tip to you would be that you can try building a forum or community to get more involved and grow your audience.
What is the message to my readers?
When I see your blog, I assume that most of your readers are bloggers themselves. The message communicates to the blogger that they need to continue blogging. Blogging is not easy, it is time consuming, tiring on the brain and very tedious to maintain regularly if you don’t blog all the time, but I want to say that blogging is a great hobby and a great thing to do in addition to what you do in life.
It gives a feeling of satisfaction and appreciation of others and helps you to delve deeper into topics and develop yourself further.
I would love if all bloggers would actually try Cashkaro.com and rate it too! If bloggers are reading, please contact me at (email protected) and I would like to sponsor some of your purchases so you can try and experience Cashkaro and earn cashback!
If you have any questions or doubts, please ask in the comments below!
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