The first thing that strikes when you meet this young entrepreneur is the passion with which he talks about his product, cafegadgets.in. We're talking about Hitesh Dhingra, business head of Axaan Systems, the parent company of cafegadgets.in.
Albeit being the first entrepreneur in his family, Dhingra was always sure of his success. "I'm a self-motivated person with a positive attitude, and never doubted my decision."
He always was confident about cafegadgets.in success, as he was aware of the overwhelming demand of digital and technology products in the online market.
Armed with an MBA degree from Punjab University Business School, Dhingra had his stint with the world of online medium when he worked with Quasar, an online advertising agency. So, how did the idea behind cafegadgets.in conceive? He narrates, "Working with Quasar provided me an insight of immense opportunities vested in online platform, which ultimately resulted in the foundation of the site."
However, all wasn't rosy for Dhingra. Everyone, obviously, has their unique set of challenges. He recalls, "The biggest challenge I faced as a starter was to recruit skilled manpower in the company. Most professionals were apprehensive about joining a new company. Moreover, even convincing vendors to associate with us was a challenge. So, we had to work initially at thin margins."
But despite all odds, this 28-year-old pulled it off and marched ahead with his plans. Having overcome the initial hurdles, today he sees a good future for the site. "We're working closely with around 70 brands. Also, cafegadgets.in registered its 100,000th customer in May this year," says a proud Dhingra.
At this point, Dhingra is quick to give a lot of credit to his friends who stood by him in thick and thin.
So, what gives the site a competitive edge over other competitors? He shares, "Through our site, vendors can directly reach their respective customers. Also, it provides them with a channel to reach to large customer base - spread across the length and breadth of the country."
Dhingra believes e-commerce is a huge market and an online platform like cafegadgets.in saves costs involved with inventory management or manpower.
Cafegadgets powers e-commerce for most brands that it showcases. "We've an extremely strong affiliate network of 65 websites, which drive sales for us," informs Dhingra.
But, he adds another reason behind the company success. He explains, "Innovation has played a vital role in establishing the site. We recently had a joint promotion with Deccan for a month as per which Deccan passengers were given Rs. 250 purchase coupons to be redeemed on cafegadgets.in."
This promotional offer proved fruitful for the company, as it helped the site to generate significant data base.
But, innovation wasn't confined to just business processes only. He has adopted them in technological front also. The company recently came with mobile search based on WAP Pull technology.
He explains, "Mobile search is the need of the hour. Imagine a situation where you stand confused in a mobile retail store and don't know whether you're being charged the right price for your favorite brand or model. Well, with CafeGadgets Mobile Search, it's much easier to find if you can get the same model for a better price."
"All you need to do is send us an SMS, and we're just a call away," he quips.
When asked about his success mantra, he retorts, "To be a successful entrepreneur, one need to have defined vision and good networking skills. I've spent last one year in building relationships with the vendors, working on the processes and technology, and most importantly building up a technically strong and dedicated team." Point noted...
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