Vishal Kashyap & Vinay Lade, Founders, ApnaAdvisor.com
Sunday August 23, 2009 , 4 min Read
Nowadays, everyone seeks security in life and it is this search for absolute security that makes the hunt for an insurance company or an advisor a long drawn affair. Add to this the ever growing number of insurance products and options and one finds himself soon scratching his head in utter confusion. Well, there is finally some good news around the corner for those who seek their 'best insurance cover' or a 'trusted advisor'.
ApnaAdvisor.com, is a unique common platform for buyers and sellers of insurance. It gives the buyers the option to select their own advisor after going through the list of advisors from the search result. Insurance sellers and advisors can register on ApnaAdvisor.com to display their profile which can be seen by any buyer. Buyers can see the complete profile of the advisor making them better informed before making their choice.
The company is the resultant of years of exeperience and research in the insurance sector. The man at the helm - Vishal Kashyap (founder - ApnaAdvisor) has years of accumulated experience in various insurance companies having worked at the ground level and sales roles during his professional tenure. Explaining how his experience in dirrefent insurance sales channels helped him understand the customer needs and develop a suitable product, Vishal says, “After working with ICICI Bank Ltd, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co Ltd, Tata AIG Life Insurance Co Ltd and Dawnay Day AV India Advisors Pvt Ltd, I founded the company with a different and newer approach which can change the approach in the insurance sector. The idea was to do something new and different. This website will be a boon and it will change the way life insurance is sold by providing a new option for sellers as well as buyers."
Within less than a month of its launch, the website is flooded with visitors and enquiries. Having tested the market in Ahmedabad, and tasting sucees, Vishal is currently extending the presence across India."It has huge scope as all those people who sell or buy insurance of any type will surely benefit from this site," says Vishal.
Explaining his business differentiator, Vishal says that ApnaAdvisor.com is the only site of its kind. "It is the only website which displays the profile of people who are selling insurance, so that buyer can easily select their own advisor while buying products." And as for the business model - “Right now, we are just charging for registration from the sellers of insurance for displaying their profile. Buyers can use our service freely,” said Vishal.
YourStory asked Vishal on his motivation for starting this website and the many challenges he faced in realizing his dream to which Vishal comments, "I started the company to provide a unique platform for the insurance sector and now plan to cover more locations in the coming months. I don’t have the money to promote my website but I am trying to overcome it. In addition to that I was very excited and confident that people who are selling insurance will register very quickly, but the rate initially was very slow."
Vishal feels that though the website is just a few months old, the response in the recent month has been very encouraging. Visibly excited about future growth Vishal says, "We now have 3 employees and one branch. Traffic rate and registrations more than tripled in the last month. My goal is to register more than 10,000 advisors in the next one year."
ApnaAdvisor has touched more than 87 cities in the last 50 days and have seen 16,600 visitors in the same time. More than 333 Managers and Advisors from different insurance companies have registered without any promotion or advertisement, as they have liked this concept and firmly believe that ApnaAdvisor will change the way insurance is sold or bought in India.
Sharing a word of advice with fellow young entrepreneurs, Vishal partakes some worldly wisdom, "Don't dream, if you don't chase the dream and if you have a dream, then never give up."
YourStory wishes Vishal and his team all the success in the coming future.