How This Startup is All Set to Revolutionize the India Auto Market

Big Boy Toyz, a pre-owned luxury car dealer deals with 24 brands, including Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini and as many as 150 models, which start from Rs 50 lakh and go up to Rs 4 crore and are currently clocking a turnover of around Rs 250 crore.

About the founders
Ans: Jatin Ahuja, has been among the 35 distinguished performers of India in the Entrepreneur Magazine for the year 2017 alongside ViratKohli, PV Sindhu, NehaKakkar to name a few, aged below 35 years who possess the skill and acumen to be the renowned game changers of their respective industries.

Being awarded the title of the “Young Retail Professional of India by ET Now, National Gaurav Award 2017, Business World 40 under 40 and a mention in Forbes further reaffirm his credibility as an industry leader.

Being conferred with the Dada SahebPhalke Award was truly a winning moment for the gentlemen. Big Boy Toyz has received a wholehearted recognition for being the most promising super car dealer by CMO Asia, Singapore. His journey began in 2009 when BBT was founded in New Delhi, India. We are publishing an interview with Mr. Jatin Ahuja- Founder Big Boy Toyz:

Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve? Please share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Ans: When I started off with Big Boy Toyz, the used car industry was not organized at all. Further there was no player in the Indian market who was catering to the luxury used car market. I decided to tap this market, as somewhere as a young boy of 10, I had decided I wanted to be a business man but I also wanted to do something that was my passion. Cars were and still are my passion. And thus I decided to study and do my research on the used car industry. This untapped market further highlighted how best it can be used to develop an organized structure to the used car market. Today after a decade, I am glad and proud of the work we have put in within the industry as a team at Big Boy Toyz.

Q.: List all the names of the core Team Members, along with their Designated Roles.
Ans: Sure. They are:

• Mrs. Ritika Jatin Ahuja COO – Merchandise
• Nipun Miglani – Director (Sales)
• THERSIAMMA JOHNY – Accounts ( More 30 year with us )
• Ajay Khirwar-Head- Finance & Loans ( 30 year with us )
• Sardar Singh – Independent Director ( Google)

Q.: How did you get your first customer? Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process.
Ans: Our first customer was Mr Darshan Jeet singh owner of centurion bank of Punjab. It was a reference from a (fellow Patel auto same business trade). BBT has also ventured in housing first hand luxury bikes as well along with first hand luxury cars.

Q.: What is your USP?
Ans: Experiential marketing and quality product is the backbone of our business at Big Boy Toyz. The cars we have at the BBT showroom and inventory for catering to our digital consumers are premium. BBT makes sure that even if the cars are pre owned the quality is not sacrificed at any cost. The primary focus is to fulfill the demands of the customers.

• 100 % people satisfied- since 17 year.
• Buy back policy – at the time of buying the car you already know the insight value of your car

After 5 years the number of used car sold will be higher than new car business in the country.

Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learning that you have? Who in your mind is your ideal customer? Do you have at least one of them signed up?
Ans: I was of the notion, before I started Big Boy Toyz, that new car business is bigger than used car business. However, post venturing into the business of becoming the biggest pre-owned luxury car trader in the country I have come to understand the depth and expanse of the used car market. To give you a sneak peek into our business expanse I would be right to say that half of the Indian cricket team players purchase their vehicles from Big Boy Toyz.

Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur and what did you learn from it??
Ans: Our biggest failure came when we decided to expand at a time when the market collapsed and the economy has been going through turbulent times. It did teach us to read the variations of the market better and how even cost cutting were an important aspect of running a successful business.

Q.: How are you pricing the Product? What is the logic behind it? What is the model you are following – Free / Freemium / Premium etc. ? Explain your thought process.
Ans: Product Pricing is derived from Demand vs Supply , which in turn determines the selling price point of the product. The way Louis Vuitton as a brand do not go on sale same BBT as a company does not endorse or adapt to the concept of sale. However, as a business strategy to keep the engagement of customers we keep on coming up with new attractive deals which are appreciated and taken forward by our loyal consumers of the BBT Family.

Q.: Please tell us about the investors (if any)
Ans: Big Boy Toyz does not have any investor associated with the brand.

Q.: Is there any interesting success story of your startup? If yes, please write about it. ?
Ans: Back in 2003 it started with a college project with buying a Fiat Palio at 70000 rupees. After the successful remodeling of the same I decided to go into serious business after completing my mechanical engineering. I started working in first year of my college and 2007 I graduated and then onwards got serious with my business.

Big Boy Toys came into existence in 2009 starting with merely INR 70,000 and now it has clocked INR 235 Cr and has a target to reach INR 500 Cr this year. We sold a lot of Range Rovers, Land cruisers, the first Porsche Panamera in the country was imported by us and the first BMW X6 was imported by us and this at that time was the origin of our organisation.

Q.: Since inception, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture? Please explain in detail. (e.g., What is the current turnover? From Launching till date total no. of visitors on website/persons registered/enquiries and enrollment etc.)
Ans: We have two successfully running showrooms in Mumbai and Delhi with one coming up in Hyderabad recently. However, for Big Boy Toyz, the digital landscape plays a major role in consumer determination. 40 percent of the cars that BBT sells, the customer don’t come to the showroom. They see the pictures, look at the quality through the pictures, then payment is made and the car is then delivered. We have got customers both in tier I and tier II cities which encompasses markets like Kolhapur, Nasik, Jammu Kashmir and PAN India. Both online and offline is great where online is 40 per cent and also most of the offline customers are converted through online and so getting the right percentage is always hard to analyse. We have about 75 to 80 enquires a day. We see about 20 to 25 people at every location within a day. Our customers are 100% satisfied since the inception of our brand

Q.: What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product/service leading to something bigger? If so, how?
Ans: Big Boy Toyz in next 10 years will control 20% of the car business in the country. Because we are the largest in our domain, we are following a strategy that will help us achieve the same. We market BBT in every way possible. We have been sponsoring a few shows like Splitsvilla in MTv, Big Boy Toys GenX Fashion Show. When it comes to online, on Facebook we have 2.1 million followers and Instagram has just crossed 1 million followers. The BBT family is ever expanding. Our presence as a brand presence is seen across TV commercials, online, newspapers, OOH, in short to define everywhere. We have our own merchandise like perfume, T-shirts and caps and this is because when I was a kid I wanted to buy a Mercedes and I had bought a Mercedes keychain and so a lot of kid enthusiasts who may want to have a very small portion of the cake.

Q.: Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: Mercedes / Audi are our competitors and with time many people are entering into the business of pre-owned luxury car dealing. Our exclusivity lies in that we buy the automobiles in bulk, so our pricing is better than the dealers.

Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months? Any other information you would like to share?
Ans: After 6 months we plan to expand our business and spread our wings towards the south. We plan to come up with a BBT showroom in Hyderabad in the upcoming month.

Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: We believe in the philosophy, that If you can’t keep your customers Happy better not to do that business.

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Thanks Jatin. Best wishes.