V.S.S Mani: From 50,000 Rs to 100 –Justdial.com

V.S.S Mani: From 50,000 Rs to 100 –Justdial.com
In a developing country like India, the common citizen is faced with a plethora of choices in many issues; from planning a tour to buying an article. This problem of choice which perplexes the common man needs a solution and that solution is the right information. That too with just a phone call! This is the concept which gripped Mr. Mani. He wanted to provide all kinds of information help through a call. Aptly, his company is named “JustDial”.

V.S.S Mani was born in Jamshedpur and grew up in Kolkata. He completed his C.A there itself. “Yellow Pages” started making a name for itself with a similar concept. The thing is that it works for just a part of the day. In 1987, while he was working, he thought of a new firm which would operate all through the day at any time. So, he started a small company in New Delhi. In those days, to get the telephone connection, it took nearly 1 to 2 years. So, the atmosphere was not exactly encouraging at the time for his startup. So he closed it. With a cash of 50,000 RS he went to Mumbai. Due to lack of funds, he struggled a lot to bring his abstract idea to life. He started a Matrimonial Magazine which became a hit.

It was after this that he started “Just Dial“, in 1994. He increased the quality of service by categorizing the information and also serving the customers in less time. JustDial serves the customers through 3 means. They are:

Phone Calls
Internet
SMS
Monetizing the Venture:



Whenever a customer asks for a particular information, they will make him stay on the line for a while. In the interim an advertisement is played. This way money is made. This kind of a unique service model attracted many people. Thats why a small investment of 50,000 is now worth around 100 Crores!

The company started with just 100 employees. Right now, it boasts of having around 2,600. It extended its’ services in 45 cities and has branches in 13 cities.

Because of its’ exponential growth, “SAIF Partners” from Hong Kong invested 50 crores and “TIGER GLOBAL” organization from America has invested in 77 crores.

Recently, Mr. Mani started www.JustDial.com to serve their customers through internet also. Just Dial receives nearly 100,000 phone calls per day from our country.