ItzEazy cuts across red tape, makes procuring government documents easier
Bootstrapped ItzEasy is a one-stop facilitator for all government services-related documentation.
At a Glance
Startup: ItzEasy
Founder: Himanshu and Abhishek Sharma
Year it was founded: 2015
Where it is based: New-Delhi
Sector: Government-related services
The problem it solves: acts a one-stop facilitator for all Government services related documentation
Funding raised: Bootstrapped
How many of us start something wanting to make a difference, and when hardship strikes, end up giving up on it? How many of us also learn from our mistakes, and go that extra mile to achieve what we had set out to do?
Himanshu, the co-founder of ItzEasy, falls into the second category. ItzEazy is a Govtech startup, and is aimed at making government documentation easy, transparent, and more accessible.
Himanshu says, “We are working towards addressing one of the toughest areas, that is, government documentation. We want to provide solutions to hassles and the ordeal faced by citizens for procuring essential government documents. Our business will provide convenient consultancy support to clients for receiving a range of documents from government offices right to their doorstep. Our intervention is to help our clients by making the process easier, which otherwise requires a lot of time and energy.”
How ItzEasy was set up
The idea was initiated in 2013 by three MBA graduates without any external funding and resources, but a lot of enthusiasm. “With almost no experience in this field, modest resources and recurring hiccups, we even thought of shutting down and getting back to regular jobs. I faced the usual issues related to HR, business partners and other management aspects,” says Himanshu.
After temporarily shutting shop in 2014, and his co-founders quitting, Himanshu revived ItzEasy in 2015.
He drew inspiration from the stories of other startups and avoided the common mistakes. Over the years, ItzEazy has survived the odds, and has carved a niche in the sector due to a sustainable model and Himanshu’s perseverance.
What does it do?
ItzEasy offers a range of services as a part of its B2B and B2C services. These include arranging for a birth certificate, marriage registrations, passport, affidavit, visa, among others.
A user looking get a government document can place a request to the team, and ItzEasy works on behalf of the user to procure the documents. Himanshu says, "We are in talks with various state governments to work with them directly, but nothing has been finalised yet. We hope to simplify the process as much as we can."
For its B2B business, the company has partnered with companies like Quikr, One Assist, and Reliance Industries where various service requests are routed through ItzEasy.
A user can simply log into the website, place a request for the service required, and submit all documents. ItzEasy takes care of all other requirements and delivers the final request to the user’s address.
It charges a commission for the services it provides, but the consultancy comes for free.
Within three years of inception, its full-fledged services are available in 12 cities in India, and it has developed a network of partners in 150 other cities.
Building a team
Himanshu has an MBA from MDI Gurgaon and a BTech degree from BIT Sindri. Prior to ItzEasy, he has worked with BSNL, RCOM, and Tata CMC.
“I always wanted to become a change agent and after working in both government and corporate organisations, I realised that entrepreneurship is the only way to realise my dream of creating innovative models for bringing remarkable impact in the lives of people,” says Himanshu.
After learning from the first phase of ItzEazy, Himanshu was able to identify the skills and experience required in the core team.
He says, “Being a technology and ecommerce driven business model, a sound technical person in the core team was essential. I met Abhishek Sharma at an event. In the past, he had founded two startups - Indiamotocorp and Scrolquotes. He was also struggling and looking for collaborations for complementary business and management.”
After a few brainstorming sessions, Abhishek liked the idea of ItzEazy and came on board as a co-founder and CTO. It currently has a team of 17 people working across sales, operations, and client servicing.
ItzEasy claims to have broken even, and has provided paid services to more than 20,000 clients. It has an operational margin of 30 percent, and revenues for the year 2017-18 clocked at around Rs 2 crore.
“We have over 50,000 website visits every month, all organic, and without any kind of marketing initiative. Our free consultancy has been extended to more than 50,000 individuals and we have 8,000 monthly unique website visitors,” says Himanshu.
The differentiator
The rising business formation and interactions with the government have expanded the scope of the services-related industry. What was earlier unorganised is now seeing different players entering the service space. Besides, digital conversion of paper-based records is a growing market for industry operators.
Globally, VFS Global provides similar services as ItzEasy. Talking about what sets it apart, Himanshu says, “We are here for systematic change in the process through the use of technology with a well-knit network of agents from metros to small towns. We provide a range of services under one roof, which the users can rely on for efficiency.”
Currently bootstrapped, it is open to raising funds in the near future. There are a couple of plans lined up for ItzEasy in the future.
“We are in the process of aggregating all government documentation processes on our platform, which will be available in a number of languages, so that maximum people can avail of the benefits,” says Himanshu.
It is also developing a cloud-based platform worldwide. ItzEasy also plans to partner with different governments for efficient delivery of citizen-centric services, and aggregate visa services.
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