We are publishing an interview of Mr. Rakesh Varma, Chief Operating Officer, UnclePi.
About the founders:
- Rakesh Varma – Chief Operating Officer. Efficient and dedicated young entrepreneur with good inter personal skills and also strategic thinker.
- Venky – Business specialist. Very dedicated and logical entrepreneur. Embedded with good convincing capabilities and ambition towards his goals.
- Akhila – Marketing Specialist. Social marketing expert. Expertise in Viral Marketing.
- M Vamshi Krishna, CEO & Mentor. Graduated from IIT Kanpur. Strategic thinker, Technology Expert.
What is the problem you are trying to solve? Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
About 70% of the automobile servicing industry in India falls under the unorganized segment. In a period where the traditional market has moved onto a digital platform, the entire automobile service experience in India is still primitive and full of gaping holes. The cost & quality associated with vehicle service are a pain point and most of the times a mystery for the vehicle owners. Lack of trust & transparency, compromised quality of service and disparity in pricing are the major issues faced by the consumer and eventually, consumers end up compromising on their vehicle’s service. Also, for residents of traffic ridden and highly migrated cities, finding the best car service center is really cumbersome. The authorized service centers are very expensive whereas multi brand workshops do not follow standard procedures.
The automobile industry in India is considered the largest in the world, with an annual production of 23.37 million vehicles in FY 2016-17 and the automotive aftermarket servicing business in India is estimated at about $2 billion in 2017 according to IBEF.
What is the uniqueness about your Startup?
Mission is to ensure that everybody has a healthy and hygienic car. “We want to be the GOOGLE for automobile service industry”. UnclePi vision is to bring all the automobile service providers (ASP) in one platform where anybody can easily find the best service center nearby and book the service online.
UnclePi is an aggregator of all Automobile Service Providers. User can find best car wash, Car service & Wheel alignment and balancing centers in the city. Currently specializing in the category of four wheeler servicing, wheel alignment and car spa in Hyderabad, UnclePi will soon spread its operations in multiple cities with its simple and user friendly technology centric platform, unclepi.in
What is the revenue model? Explain your thought process.
Revenue would be generated in multiple ways. When customer books a service for any service center, service center would give us commission for our service. Commission rates would vary from 10-25%. Also We would generate money from advertisement, Online car accessories selling and tie up with oil and solution companies.
Who are the consumers that you are targeting? How is this going to affect them?
Car owners in city are our customers. “Everybody wants a healthy car” , quote promises our business in market to be successful.
What is the big picture of your startup? Will it lead to something bigger? If so, how?
UnclePi claims to have grabbed more than 100 customers so far in two months for its online booking services and more than 700 customers over the listing model. It has signed up with 150+ service providers in and around Hyderabad and this number growing. We will sooner expand to other cities.
What is the success story of your startup in your own words?
The automobile industry in India is considered the largest in the world, with an annual production of 23.37 million vehicles in FY 2016-17 and the automotive aftermarket servicing business in India is estimated at about $2 billion in 2017 according to IBEF.
Given the size of the market and unavailability of any such model, there is tremendous gap between the demand and supply and this itself is big potential for this segment. We claim to have grabbed more than 100 customers so far in two months for its online booking services and more than 700 customers over the listing model. It has signed up with 150+ service providers in and around Hyderabad and this number growing. We will sooner expand to other cities.
The major difficulty is to educate service center owners to understand the system and collaborate with us. Once we have gathered information from service centers, then our process started smoothly and would able to move in the market by generating the traction.
With this progress, we can surely say that, we would grab the Hyderabad market in next 6 months, later we would like to expand to other cities.
Any other information about your startup that you would like to share with us.
Visit www.unclepi.in to know more about us.
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Thanks Rakesh. Best wishes.