This is my last post on VW till I return from my US trip in July .
We are approaching tax season in India. For a number of years in the US I have used the Quicken family of products including Turbo Tax. There are other interesting personal finance sites like Bank Rate, Lending Tree, Value Line, Motley Fool etc. to name a few. I am interested in getting involved in a play along the following lines in India.
What is the play?
A destination site to help individuals invest in various asset classes in India. Individuals could be resident in India or overseas.
Can critical mass be achieved?
Yes it should be possible to get over a million users.
Can critical mass be monetized?
Yes getting an average ARPU of Rs 1000 ($25) per year should not be hard.
Lots of people have tried and not got much traction. Why will this play succeed?
Good question which I would like anyone who sends me a pitch to answer. I obviously believe that the play will succeed which is why I am interested.
Can a startup do this? Will it get killed by deep pockets of existing media / financial services players?
Good question which I would like anyone who sends me a pitch to answer. I obviously believe that the play will succeed which is why I am interested.
The Bottom Line
I am looking for entrepreneurs who are passionate and capable of executing this play. If you think you have what it takes I will be delighted to interact with you.
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RYK/Krish,
You both make good points. For this play to succeed it needs to attack needs that a lot of people have and in my opinion not be online only. For instance lot of people like fixed deposits. Many banks market fixed fixed deposits. Connecting a few banks/NBFC and maybe companies who issue commercial paper directly with depositors could be a good way to go.
I think the array of investment choices for consumers is increasing and the concept of a “honest DSA ( broker)” is a bit of an oxymoron in India. Is that an opportunity ?
When one thinks of the million it does not have to be just Indian residents, NRI, PIO but it also could be foreigners who just want to make a return.
Now with Tax Return Preparers (flat charge Rs.250/-) even CA’s business is threatened. So you can either renegotiate fee (downwards from Rs.250/-) with your CA to bring it down further since you’ve been an existing client or else give him a cool miss. These TRPs are well trained and do pretty much the same job are also regulated under the Income Tax act with duties, obligations, code of conduct etc.
Check this out.
http://ia.rediff.com/money/2007/may/23tax2.htm
I don’t think this will succeed in India yet. We do not yet have 1 million people who are competent enough to do their own taxes. They just want to give it to their CA so they can rest easy. India is not yet there for sophisticated self service projects.
How are the bill pay services doing?
Sanjay,
I have been thinking on similar lines. Do you have an email address where I could correspond with you?
Regards,
Gautam
Hi,
I think Valueresearchonline.com is one site which has got traction and similar to what you are talking about.