No cash to startup? A barter company from Kolkata could help you get going without funding!
Their positioning is simple and straight - "Beyond Money". Kolkata-headquartered one-year-old CashlessBazar is a barter trade exchange company in India, which is basically a membership platform that empowers one to trade one’s products and services with other members without shelling out any cash. The company, which at present has its offices and operations in Kolkata and Delhi, is in the process of putting in place its operations across class-I cities in the country. CashlessBazar is eyeing at least 50,000 members by 2018 and Rs 100 crore valuation by 2020, says Piyush Agarwal, founder and CEO, CashlessBazar. At present, it has nearly 3500 members. Read On ..
The platform acts as the mediator between buyers and sellers using its own exchange CBTP (Cashless Bazar Trade Points).The exchange is not restricted to the traditional barter trade model and incorporates a hybrid system which is exchange of both goods and services coupled with new technology and an Online B2B platform. From clients’ perspective, using this platform increases sales, increases cash flow/reduces cash expenses, reduces excess inventory and increases production efficiency, helps in finding new customers, helps in growing one’s business.
"As we carry out this expansion plan and grow, we need to build our brand. And as our tagline says, we promote business beyond money. Many a time, businesses, particularly start-ups fail to take off, thanks to paucity of funds or cash. That's where we step in. Our whole idea is to help them look and think beyond money and still grow their businesses. A number of start-ups and small companies waste valuable energy, time and money too, by running after money. That's where CashlessBazar comes in--promoting barter trade," says Agarwal.
Categories on offer for barter trade on CashlessBazar includes accounting and legal, advertising and marketing, arts and décor, automotive, beauty and personal care, business products and services, cleaning services, clothing and accessories, computer and tech, contractors and construction, entertainment, sports and recreation, event planning and rentals, food services, furniture, gifts, health and fitness, personal and consumer services, printing services, real estate, restaurants, bars and nightclubs, telephone and communications.
"Our goal is to make sure that everyone using our platform has the best barter trade experience they could imagine. So we built an innovative e-commerce platform and coupled it with our awesome services. This opens up plenty of new trade opportunities because now traders are not restricted to the traditional barter trade model where both the buyer and seller must want what the other party is selling," says Agarwal.
Interestingly, on every sale, one earns what the company bills as "Trade credit". This is simply the value of goods or services sold. All goods and services are valued at MRP. Based on the amount of trade credits that one owns, one can make purchases on the website. One-to-one mapping of INR to trade credits and pricing of goods at MRP simplifies the platform for both the parties and always sets clear expectations.
In case you are in a big cash-crunch and don't have anything to barter at a particular point of time, the platform can lend you some trade-credits to get you started with your bartering. You would then be able to barter products and services without cash, zero interest, no EMI and no collateral required, says Agarwal.
The company, which had got seed funding from a select group of PE funds (although Agarwal refused to divulge the names and the exact amount), is looking for fresh inflow to extend the B2B model to B2C. The beauty of this model is that it is a case of an entrepreneur developing an entrepreneurship development model for other aspiring entrepreneurs, who are not able to start off for paucity of funds and other resources, says Agarwal.
- Debhota Mukherjee (TradeBriefs Bureau) -
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