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The Economic TimesTuesday, 7 June 2016

For any further details about ET Startups, contact shaaz.hasan@timesgroup.com

SparesHub.com, an auto-mobile parts market-place, has expanded its

physical presence in nine major cities across West and South India, these cities being Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, In- dore, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyde-rabad, Nagpur, and Auran-gabad. With their presence in these cit-ies, SparesHub is able to reach out to car service centers, garag-es, and retailers. The market share of these customer seg-ments constitutes more than 85% of the Indian automobile parts market. “This customer segment has a much higher average order value, repeat pur-chase rate, and customer life-time value and it makes busi-ness sense for us to concentrate on this segment”, says Arijit Chakraborty, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at SparesHub.com.

Started in 2013 to solve the problem of unavailability and counterfeit spare car parts, today SparesHub.com is a marketplace offering high-quality car parts for all the car models in India. It procures these parts directly from the car manufacturers (OEMs) or the part manufacturers (aftermarket compa-nies) from India as well as abroad. Customers are able to find a much better variety of parts along with better deals on SparesHub.com than the local car parts market. The company offers parts from 150+ brands and manufacturers online. It helps its customers select the right parts for their car through its call centers, which have trained automobile service engineers with deep technical knowledge about cars and its parts. Up to now, SparesHub has 5000+ happy customers who have ordered car parts online. Its customers are a healthy mix of car owners as well as garage owners who are not able to find the spare parts that they need for their car or found a better deal online. SparesHub is currently a team of 22 professionals who are passionate about automobiles and has 64 sales representa-tives across West and South India. The combined automotive experience of the team is 55+ years. Marquee investors like M&S Partners, Singapore, Hyderabad Angels, and Anthill Ventures back the com-pany.

India has about 25 million cars and the Indian car parts market size is about $38.5 billion, growing at a healthy rate of 11%

year on year. The spare parts industry is currently fragmented, unorganized and has multiple levels of intermediation. “Globally, approximately 5%-7% of the automobile spare parts market has moved from offline to online and the same trend would follow in the Indian market in the coming years”, says Tapas Gupta, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SparesHub.com. Some of the global companies kin-dred to SparesHub.com are usautoparts.net in the USA, eurocarparts.com in the UK and tuhu.cn in China, all having multi-million dollar reve-nues in their respective countries. SparesHub is in discussion with interna-tional auto parts e-commerce companies for a technical and strategic collaboration. It is also looking forward to expanding internationally in similar markets outside India.

Many Indian car companies have also started offering their range of genuine spare parts on SparesHub.com as it increas-es the geographical reach of their parts, offers a new channel for the car owners to buy genuine parts and improve customer

service. The recent Competition Commi-ssion of India’s (CCI) rul-ing has pushed car com-panies to start selling company genuine car parts in the open market. SparesHub also operates an inventory liquidation platform for manufactur-ers and distributors to offload their slow moving inventory of spare parts to retailers or customers across India.

Going forward, Spar-esHub aims to become the industry leader in the automobile parts e-commerce category. It

expects to reach Rs. 100 crores of yearly revenues and 2 million automobile parts within next 3 years. SparesHub is also entering into strategic partnerships with many internet automotive companies to create value for the end customers, i.e. the car owners. With SparesHub, the custom-ers feel the freedom to choose their desired automobile spare parts, without any of the hassle involved along with all the assur-ance of genuineness and quality. There is a tremendous market potential and SparesHub clearly demonstrates a dream run.

SparesHub.com expands operations to 9 cities, grows revenues 12 times YoYThe auTomobile parTs e-commerce markeTplace offers a very large varieTy

of parTs To caTer The needs of car owners and garage owners alike

Travlu.com: Reimagine your journey

H ailing from the Pink City of Jaipur, Amit Agarwal is no stranger to tourism. Although

he graduated with a Bachelor in Technical Management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, his entrepreneur genes caught up with him and he made the leap and started laying groundwork for what would later become, Travlu.

He spent the better part of the next two years travelling all over the US, connecting with hoteliers and rais-ing awareness for web solutions development and internet market-ing. He could foresee how vital inter-net presence was going to be for small and medium hotels.

“I wanted to make digital market-ing easy and accessible for small hotels that didn’t have the exposure, knowledge or funds for it”, Amit says, “It wasn’t just about the money. I really wanted to help them.”

Travlu’s first client was Jay Patel’s

Days Inn I-Drive in Orlando, who has been a loyal customer since 2013. Hotelier Shamir Patel, who has listed all his hotels on Travlu, says - “We’ve definitely seen a significant profit since we started partnering with Travlu.com. In addition, the compa-ny has created an added value for all of our hotels by making the online reservation system seamless and easy to use, thus saving us a great deal of time.”

Travlu offers unparalleled service to its clients. It’s a one-stop shop for marketing their brand globally, reduc-ing their reservation cost & enhanc-ing their online presence. Travlu.com provides its clients with a dedicated online booking platform custom-designed for each of their hotel cli-ents for desktops, tablets, and smart phones with content management system & 24/7 customer support.

Travlu.com also provides each of its clients with a dedicated marketing

team to improve the hotel’s online presence and increase traffic and direct bookings.

Amit knew that the market oppor-tunity for Travlu.com was enormous. True to his vision, in the last three quarters, Travlu.com has grown 50% per quarter in sales revenue generat-ed for hotels and Travlu.com.

Travlu.com has also launched its mobile app to tap into the 100 million tourist per year market in Orlando with an estimated over 40% of hotel bookings occurring on mobile devices.

Travlu was at 2016 Annual AAHOA Convention & Trade Show at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville. They had huge success with a fully-interactive exhibition booth which drew in 370 new partner hotels.

The next big step for Travlu is building global partnerships and bring the same excellence in service and hospitality to hotels and travel-ers across the globe.

Amit Agarwal

8 out of 10 car owners surveyed said they find buying car parts online easier and more trustworthy than from local shots

Spare Parts Market Shares

SPARESHUB INDUSTRY FIGURES

3 Wheelers 2%Commercial vehicles 23%

2 Wheelers 50%

Passenger cars 25%

$38.5 Billion Indian Automobiles Component Industry Size

23.8 million Number of passenger cars in India (Gol data)

Car Manufacturers Market Shares

Maruti SuzukiHyundaiMahindra & MahindraHonda ToyotaTataFordChevrolet

Why are people buying car parts online?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Trust that they would receive original parts

Convenience of online purchase

Lower price of parts than local market

Better variety of parts available online

* Source: ACMA Annual Report 14-15

FROM SPARK PLUGSTO TURBOCHARGERS

n Globally about 5%-7% of the market has shifted online

n Works with a large num-ber of car and part manu-facturers

n Has a mix of B2B and B2C customers

n It is backed by Marquee international & Indian investors

Path breakers exploring potentials of renewable energy

sourcesThe JMJ Group is a diver-

sified business house with interests in a range

of businesses including Power, Infrastructure, Textile, Logistic Parks, Industrial Parks, Resid-ential & Commercial Projects & heavy Substations. JMJ has Promoted or has a equity investments in RSPL Spinning’s, Shantivan Projects Limited, Crystal Indus & Logistics Park, Ahemdabad.

In recent years, promoters through group companies have increasingly focused on the Power & Infrastructure Sector. Mayurdhvajsinh Jadeja, Chairman and M.D of JMJ Group is a first generation young entrepreneur who established the business in just a short span of 6 years. He wishes to set an example for young India. His talent to identify an opportuni-ty and to make the most out of it, is commendable. He has an impeccable skill set and insight to meet the global standards and manage a conglomerate so effortlessly. The group has gained immense loyal patrons and huge trust of investors. JMJ Power Corporation, which has extensively planned its investments with the aim of harnessing solar energy, will be installing a 25 MW power plant by this November (both ground mounted and rooftop). They are leaving no stone unturned and have hired the best EPCS in India to install

the project and for its operation and maintenance.

Talking about his vision, Mayurdhvajsinh Jadeja, Managing Director of JMJ Power Corporation, says, “In keeping with global trends, India needs to move towards harnessing renewable sources of energy as much as possible instead of conventional sourc-es of power. We are making a humble effort towards that and the power thus generated will be sold to heavy industry users, malls and multiplexes. Most importantly, we aim to the sup-

ply to defence wings of the BSF and the

Indian Navy too. Since there are a number of issues related to evacua-tion and connec-tivity in the bor-

der areas, har-nessing solar ener-

gy will be the best possible and easy-to-

use option for the defense sectors.” Adding further he said,“We are dedicated to pro-viding solar generated power supply round the year to Gujarat.”

JMJ Power Corporation aims to provide the country some smart solar energy solu-tions, which would be cost-effi-cient and reliable. At present, JMJ Power Corporation has tie-ups with well-known com-panies like Cipla, Jyoti CNC and Crystal Indus & Logistic Park. The company has plans to expand its capacity to 300 MW by 2019.

Mayurdhvajsinh Jadeja

Gujarat has once again produced a young and dynamic entrepreneur, Viral Sudhir Desai, CEO, Zenitex, Surat, who has many awards and

recognitions to his credit including “National Energy Conservation Award” across all industrial categories, three years in a row.

Zenitex has also won “Best Industry of Gujarat Award (Quality & Environmental Protection)” for three years in a row. Desai has previously won President’s“National Award for Outstanding Entr-epreneurship “and has entered Limca Book of Records for having Maximum Number of National and State Awards to his name.

In 2015, he won “Mahatma Gandhi Award” at House of Lords, London, UK in which he was selected amongst 20 Indian personalities globally. Also, for the first time a Business Icon of Gujarat walked the ramp as a Celebrity Show Stopper for designer Shilpa Chaurasia in B. D.Somani’s ‘Silhouttes 2016: Internationally Desi’ fashion show, in Mumbai.

With issues such as global warming, acute water shortage, growing population and fading energy resources, a slow transformation has begun in India too," says Viral Desai who is making a notable contribu-tion in the sphere of energy conservation, environmen-tal protection and Social Responsibility/Com-munity Welfare activities like Cancer Check-up and awareness camps in various places, Rehabilitation of Jobless Diamond Workers and others through Hearts@work foundation which is SR/CW initiative of Zenitex.

By doing the above, Viral Desai is indirectly contrib-uting to “Make in India” program to attract foreign investments in India. This will not only portray India as a green and sustainable destination to the world, but will also inspire the new generation of entrepreneurs to implement energy conservation, environmental protec-tion and Social Responsibility / Community welfare initiatives in their business model.

Desai will soon be launching a designer garments line named "Zenitex Fashions – A Clothing Line with a Purpose” which will be completely based on the 360-degree sustainability approach. This new venture has pledged to contribute a certain percentage of its profits to Hearts@work.

Viral Desai receiving an award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Surat’s Entrepreneur Shines in India

and Abroad

Employment of staff to business is still done in a vast majority of cases in good faith. The underly-

ing belief is that employees so hired are capable of doing their jobs, are trustworthy, and shall not commit any fraudulent acts. However, often, this is not the case in reality. Cases of employ-ees being directly or indirectly involved in fraudulent activities are more com-mon than you think.

More importantly, your employees represent your company’s values and give it an identity. Their ethics and behavior are a big part of your reputa-tion. Unfortunately, a few employees choose to abuse the trust so vested in them, taking advantage of you, exploit-ing you and/or your customers in inge-nious ways.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) 2016 Global Fraud Study revealed some astonishing insights related to internal frauds. The CFEs estimated a typical organization losing 5% of annual revenues as a result of fraud. The total loss across 2,410 occupational fraud cases ana-lyzed by the study was more than $6.3 billion. In 40.7% of cases, the victim organizations decided not to refer their fraud cases to law enforcement, with ‘fear of bad publicity’ being the most-cited reason, for not doing so.

To stop your business being attacked from the inside, you need to make sure you really know your employees, and the threats they can bring. Employee

background checks are one of the fore-most yet simplest things you can do, to reduce the chances of internal fraud, ensuring you ‘know’ who you are employing in the first place. Be thor-ough and get as detailed a background check report as feasible, done, at the time of hiring, and at least once every year thereafter.

One of the names that rise up in mind when we talk about employee background verifications is that of cFIRST Background Checks. It is one of the few background check service providers in India to have carved a niche for itself within a short span of time. Over 500 large, medium and small Indian & global organizations have partnered with cFIRST over the past decade to make the right hiring decisions. Many continue to do so even today.

Being one of the fastest growing companies in its category, cFIRST is fast shaping up into a global back-ground check company of choice, with strong focus on regulatory compliance and information security. Huge invest-ments made in people, processes and technology in recent past have enabled cFIRST deliver unpar-alleled services to a host of companies across different ver-ticals including IT, IT-Enabled Services, Healthcare, BFSI, Manufac-turing, Retail etc.

Even while helping achieve enhanced quality of hires,

cFIRST has enabled several companies reduce their overall hiring costs. Effective risk mitigation of employee-involved frauds, regulatory & stan-dards compliance, and protection against negligent hiring liability law-suits are other key benefits most cFIRST customers will vouch for, as key takeaways.

cFIRST offers a range of back-ground check services flexibly-pack-aged to suit the needs of any enter-prise, irrespective of their hiring requirements. They provide services globally which means they can serve you no matter where your office loca-tions are, or where your employees come from.

Owned by Vora Ventures and found-ed by Viral Vora, Bangalore-based cFIRST offers the best ‘Character-Commitment-Competence’ value prop-osition amongst all the employee back-ground verification service providers in India as on date.

Talking about their robust services, Viral says, “We are the crackerjack of employee background verification industry. Most clients find us immense-

ly easy to do business with, because we are technology-driven, providing all-impor-tant human touch on top, through dedicated 24x7 cli-ent service teams that keep them continuously updated, and ready to assist, in times of need.”

Do you really KNOW your employees? It’s high time you did