ZurePro adds 16.5K customers in 12 months without any external funding
While the culture of bootstrapping is fading away with easy access to a new set of angels and seed round, some startups still evangelize bootstrapping. One such startup is ZurePro which promises gadget repair in a week’s time with free pick up from and drop at your doorstep.
Launched in November 2013, the company has developed new products and created new channel partners. New products include on-demand repair services (beta phase) and warranty services on refurbished devices. In the past one year ZurePro insured devices of worth Rs.15 Cr. Additionally it entered new cities in the southern region of the country and did gross sales of Rs.1 crore.
Leveraging interns ZurePro added 16.5K customers within 12 months
Almost a year back the company had 3.5K customers and currently it pegs around 20K. “Within a year we have come a long way from 3.5K to 20K customer base. Last year in summers we had led a massive internship programme and we got benefits from it. The internship was one of its first kinds in the startup ecosystem,” says Mausumi Chakravorty, Co-founder & CMO, Zurepro.
By creating a constructive process and a routine timetable for the next 50 days for interns, the company drove tie ups with many retailers in seven shortlisted cities. “Initially it was quite difficult to manage so many students at different locations but by developing processes like roles and responsibility, minutes of meeting, conversion rates, service level agreements etc., we were able to achieve our desired target,” adds Mausumi.
Beginning from August 2014,ZurePro targeted customers with attractive offers like free premium antivirus and insurance with extended warranties for their smart devices. “We had done some mid-level branding using the image of a famous television actress, who was also one of the Big Boss 8 contestants, as the face of the brand. We bought the image for Rs 10,000 from imagesbazaar.com and were able to attract many customers and retailers.
How to gain new customer base swiftly?
To gain new customers ZurePro focused on creating a good product with correct pricing structure which eventually would become a value-for-money deal for the customer. “Moreover, apart from product and pricing our primary aim is to give a hassle-free service to the customers. We constantly develop our customer service and provide them with regular training sessions,” says Mausumi.
Recommended read: With hundreds of interns from IITs, Zurepro offered extended warranty to 3,500 customers within 6 months
Turnover and road ahead
“ZurePro is a bootstrapped company which started with an investment of merely Rs. 20 Lacs and went on to make gross sales of Rs. 1cr. Since it has been a revenue generating company from the very initial days, we operate our company from the profits we incur,” says Mausumi.
In the last fiscal year,ZurePro had booked a total revenue of Rs. 65 Lacs (approx).The Mumbai-based company plans to expand and double its revenue by entering new sectors like on-demand repair and refurbished warranty in the current fiscal.
The company is looking forward to raise funds since it’s entering into on-demand repair services in which it needs to aggregate all the repairing centres and mechanics. “Since it is a heavy cash flow business, we definitely would like to raise funds for it,” adds Mausumi.
Currently with a seven-people team ZurePro aspires to become an aggregator for on demand repairing services from iPod to refrigerators which is still an untappedsector. “At present, we are on a beta phase for it, but soon we will be launching our on demand repair services from the cities where our stores are already present,” concludes Mausumi.
