Hyderabad: For an entrepreneur, especially those who had a mixed fortune, trying out their luck in other ideas seems like a natural option. Same can be said for the founder of Hyderabad-based Zaggle — a payments firm focusing on employee benefits and corporate expense management.
For founder Phani N. Raj, Zaggle represents a second bite at the cherry, after his previous business, eYantra, a corporate gifting firm, which proved to be a mixed bag in terms of success. eYantra, which is still running, showed initial promise but later on the customer demands spiralled out into the unrealistic category.
He added that the idea of Zaggle, however, did evolve from eYantra as they looked at fine tuning their way to success. However, the company likes to differentiate itself from its rivals — Sodexo and Vantage Circle — with its digital rewards platform for corporates to engage its staff.
Back in 2011, Mr Phani, who had spent some time working in the US before trying his luck with eYantra, decided it was time for the second attempt to introduce the employee engagement industry in India. Thus, Zaggle was born.
Since then, Mr Phani has used his experience to help Zaggle grow at a steady pace. The company has set its eyes for the international markets of Singapore, the United States, UK and the Middle East. “While we have a pan-India presence, the Indian market is yet to mature in this regard despite the presence of rivals such as Vantage Circle and Sodexo. Our other reason behind international expansion would be to test our competence in a more matured market,” he said.
Mr Phani added that international firms, due to their huge cash reserve, go on a spending spree to blow their local competition out of the water once they enter a market such as India. “To be able to counter such a spending spree, the company needs to be competent. Even our local rivals have spent much to spread word about them but our experience has helped stem the tide. Now, we look to take the fight to our international.”
Mr Phani, however, admitted that to take the fight to global players the company will need to opt for an inorganic growth by acquiring firms which would help it reach its ta-rget of being a $1-billion dollar firm in five years.
