New Delhi (India), May 10: Through its flagship brand, myBillBook, FloBiz, a technology-driven firm founded in 2019 by Rahul Raj, Aditya Naik, and Rakesh Yadav, intends to empower small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) in India. Some detailed insights from Rahul Raj, Co-founder and CEO of FloBiz:
- How has the journey been for FloBiz since its inception?
FloBiz was founded in 2019 by Rahul Raj, Aditya Naik, and Rakesh Yadav with the vision to use technology to fuel the growth of small and medium-sized businesses. We launched myBillBook as the flagship brand under the FloBiz umbrella, which is a Software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform providing features like digital invoicing, inventory management, payment reminders, bookkeeping, accounting, reports, and many other features for customer marketing and business growth. myBillBook is present across Android, iOS, web, and offline desktop applications and supports multiple languages to cater to a diverse user base. It has been trusted by more than 65 lakh users and has been consistently ranked as the top business software. Our users are generating a monthly trade worth INR 12,500 crores on the platform.
We commenced our journey with extensive research, which involved engaging with more than a thousand business owners, several financial institutions, and tax experts and analyzing multiple industry reports. This exercise allowed us to identify the whitespaces and pain points in the market, and the empathy developed during this phase remains the cornerstone of our business. In January 2020, we launched myBillBook and since then, the team size has grown from a mere 35 to over 600+ members presently. We have matured into various business functions like sales, marketing, growth, HR, finance, engineering, product, admin, retention, customer success, and the founder's office, with experienced leaders at the helm.
FloBiz comprises a team of passionate first-principle thinkers with a product-driven and fintech approach. Our team is a healthy mix of individuals from start-ups as well as established companies, providing us with the best of both worlds and enabling us to meet our customer's needs and demands effectively.
We have a strong focus on scaling up our business efficiently and ensuring optimal utilization of our resources. Our culture emphasizes strategically planned and positive ROI-driven growth, with a robust framework of experiments, measurements, and processes supporting every action at FloBiz.
- Building for Bharat has been close to your heart. What, in your opinion, are the challenges present-day businessmen from a Tier-2 and Tier-3 city face?
India has over 63 million MSMEs, of which 80% still use traditional methods like pen and paper for billing, accounting, and bookkeeping due to the lack of digitization and unreliable network connectivity. FloBiz addresses this need through myBillBook, a complete business management solution that enables SMBs to create invoices, manage inventory, engage customers, and generate business reports.
The biggest challenge faced by SMBs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns is the lack of digitization, despite inflation, supply chain management, procurement, and demand challenges. There is low awareness and adoption of digital techniques to manage business operations due to fear of data privacy, technology complexity, overwhelm, and resistance towards changing traditional methods.
FloBiz has adopted various product, communication, and operational strategies to cater to a diverse customer base. The myBillBook app is user-friendly, with easy-to-use features and 24x7 support available in multiple languages. We also provide demo and feature videos on YouTube to educate users on using myBillBook efficiently and engage with them through a telegram community and other social media channels.
- What are the offerings and USPs of myBillBook?
myBillBook is a complete business management solution. It offers:
- Invoicing: GST/Non-GST invoicing, e-Way billing, e-Invoicing, delivery challan, POS billing
- Accounting: GST reports, GSTR-1 in JSON, Balance Sheet, Export to Tally, Data recovery, Automated Bills, CA dashboard
- Reports: 25+ reports like sale summary, profit & loss statement, party-wise statements
- Inventory management: batching, serialisation, stock summary, low stock reminders, custom libraries for item upload
- Online store: option to create an online store without an app or website for transactions
- Marketing: WhatsApp & SMS marketing, business cards, greetings, CRM, loyalty program
- Other features to ease out business management like payment reminders, staff attendance & payroll, thermal printing, and many more
myBillBook is available on iOS, Android, web, and desktop, with different subscription plans based on industry and business use cases. The company provides 24x7 customer support in multiple languages through calls, chat, and WhatsApp.f
What new product features is FloBiz planning to integrate into myBillBook?
myBillBook is currently working on a slew of developments for the future to simplify the lives of our SMB partners further. To name some – building industry-specific product modules and features on the product that can add value to SMB owners, features to manage the entire business activities spectrum including marketing and customer relationship etc. Our other work-in-progress projects will delight our valued SMB partners in the coming months.
What would FloBiz's business approach be in the next 2-3 years to tap unexplored markets in India?
We will continue to invest in user research to identify more use cases for different industries and demographics, and we aim to build on top of existing modules and add features that delight customers. FloBiz has started a YouTube channel called "All About Business" to educate SMBs about MSME policies, best business practices and inspire them with case studies where we continue to advertise through digital channels, evolve the product, and provide excellent post-sale service to attract more customers and gain positive word of mouth.
How is the FinTech space going to change in the future?
The FinTech space is poised for significant changes in the future as technological advancements continue to transform the financial industry. Below are trends and changes that we can expect to see in the FinTech space:
Open banking allows third-party providers to access bank data and offer innovative financial products and services, giving FinTech firms additional opportunities to compete with established banks.
Mobile payments and digital wallets such as WhatsApp Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet are gaining traction, with more businesses and consumers embracing these technologies.
Digital lending platforms enable customers to apply for loans online and receive cash rapidly, with traditional lenders following suit.
Many nations are exploring and implementing Central Bank Digital money (CBDC) as a means of transitioning to digital money, with potential benefits for the economy, financial infrastructure, and stability.
Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are boosting fraud detection, risk assessment, and customer service and are expected to play an important role in the FinTech business.
ATMs revolutionized cash withdrawals in the past, and the internet catapulted the financial industry to new heights. A significant change was also brought about by electronic payment structures, web-based business practices, portable banking, and bank digitization. The FinTech sector will continue to develop and be disrupted as new technology and innovations drive change and create possibilities for both startups and existing organizations.