Everyone loves a good discount or deal, whether it's on clothes or food. That is why most of us are always on the lookout for coupons to help reduce our bill total when we order on Swiggy or book a ride on Uber. Now, for us discount lovers in Hyderabad, GrabOn, a coupons and deals start-up, has been doing a pretty good job curating deals and discounts. And it's been doing so for five years. It was back in September 2013, when the US-return Ashok Reddy started GrabOn, realising that there are not many players in the space of coupons and deals in India. "At the same time, I was reading a lot about the space and came across an article by Ernst & Young which said that India is going to cross US transaction numbers by 2019. We have the potential to become the number one players in the market. So, from that point on, we were determined to create a brand for ourselves," says Reddy.
They earned a revenue of `22 crore in the last financial year and they have come so far just on the strength of bootstrapping alone, believe it or not! But what comes as a bigger surprise is that in this world of annoying pop-ups and other kinds of ads, through which most others are competing for our attention, GrabOn spent nothing on Google, Facebook or even newspaper ads or hoardings. "We have always had multiple creative growth hacks in place," says Reddy. And we know better than to ask what they are.
But what we do ask about is their super cool office, which has featured in several lists of cool places to work at. It was in 2016 when they moved into this office spread over 12,000 square feet in Madhapur. Ping-pong table, gym, Japanese-style sleeping pods, office walls that you can doodle on — you name it, they have it. All this to make sure that employees enjoy their time spent at work and are as productive as possible. "When you are struggling with a problem, just step away, hit the gym or catch some sleep, come back and the problem will seem much easier," advises Reddy from personal experience, adding that, "It gives people a sense of ownership."
When we tell him about the conversation we had with Ramesh Loganathan, former Chief Innovation Officer of Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC), about Hyderabad needing a model start-up, Reddy confidently says, "We are going to be the one." They certainly have their eyes on the prize as they are foraying into the gift cards space, targeting to win over 40% of the space by 2020. And now, they are ready for the next big thing as well, funding. If they have come so far without any funds, imagine where they can go with some support!
For more on them, click on https://www.grabon.in/
