How this Bootstrapped Company Drove to Become the Leader of the Industry - The Success Story of Keka HR

With frustration due to the inefficiency of the existing HR automation software that sucked, Vijay and Sashi founded Keka, a people’s platform. It was built to relieve HRs of their repetitive, mundane tasks for helping them focus on the core assets of their company- the employees. Being in the same shoes once upon a time as their current customers, Keka understood the pain points when it came to HR and hence, believed the Indian HR ecosystem deserved a much better and productive software.

However, seldom do you come across people and firms that flourish in their field without any backing, reference or funding, and those who do, make it big, big enough for the world to acknowledge their mighty presence. This aligns with the story of Keka. With no external shareholders, funding, investments or sponsors, Keka rose to become the leader of the Indian HR market.

While quenching their thirst for distinctly efficient and productive software, Keka entered the sector with no monetary support from investors and thrived on its founder’s savings. The company blossomed into the most recognized, trusted and productive software service provider by functioning through the revenue it generated.

Born in the city of pearls, Keka is a Hyderabadi product with a completely native name too that has a pretty interesting back story. Its founders wanted to call it a simple yet powerful label that screams the scale of its capability. Keka refers to “Awesome” in the Telugu language and according to its customers and employees, the company translates to the adjective in every aspect.

The vacuum that existed before Keka disrupted the market was replaced by the value it brings today to the table. It empowered the HR technology of the country to look eye to eye with globally acclaimed entities. And Keka celebrates this fact. It believes in fostering the HR ecosystem to elevate the value of the market and has set a benchmark in the process for others to follow.

Keka was created with an employee-first mindset. The company is on a mission to create digital workplaces where employees can flourish to do their best. This ideology has allowed them to create doors where there was no scope of even a window.

With its expertise and vast knowledge regarding the HR sphere, Keka dumped traditional clunky interfaces to create an efficient modern-day one-of-its-kind software. The momentum and trust gained in the 4 and half years of its existence has instilled a determination to polish the product further and not just sit back to drench in the new found success.

When Keka first stepped into the field in 2016, it was welcomed warmly as it helped the HR experts and their employees to adopt the software better due to its simplicity.

Keka is a name that redefined the universe of HR by transforming the otherwise complex and cumbersome arena to a simple and easily manageable form of work.

The 3000+ customers figure was not an easy one to obtain but could be possible through the undying work of the awesome employees of the cohesive organization. With features powered to tune in with an array of HR processes, Keka remains a client-favorite with less than a 3.5% churn rate.

With one of the lowest attrition rates, Keka is loved by all its workers. Every employee here has a sense of extreme ownership. They believe in leveraging their skills for the company while taking responsibility for the work they do. The company instilled this philosophy in their product too as it aims to produce self-accountability and transparency for its customers’ employees through its use.

Keka understands the nuances that come with products and the industry in general and holds a level of sharpness and skill to tackle it in depth. It left an unparalleled impact on the sectors of IT & IT services, pharmaceutical manufacturing, professional service organizations, consultancies, accounting business houses, taxations and several others, propelling companies to leverage themselves.

The array of features it offers today, including performance management system, leave and attendance track sheet, goal management system and more, aid companies in leveraging the potential of their employees, thereby creating a substantial amount of growth for the organization.

Their core appeals to simplicity and they aim to achieve this ease of use and understanding for every customer who is sailing in the same boat as others when it comes to HR and its challenges.

With an impressive set of values and deep-seated knowledge of the HR arena, Keka aspires to take its ideologies to practice. They are looking to create a work environment where people feel safe, share a common goal, and go home fulfilled- content with the work they are doing and the results their efforts are translating to.

How Non-Funded Startups Can Expand Themselves In Current Scenario of Start-up Ecosystem

A Startup is an entrepreneurial endeavor which necessarily implies recently rising and quickly developing business. It is an organization that is intended to develop quickly. New ventures can come in all structures and sizes. The plan of action of an organization, the thought process and the viability of that idea makes it unique and renders supports of individuals put resources into it. Venture funding is an important aspect of entrepreneurship. Smaller endeavors require small scale funding, which mainly originates from family, companions and personal bank loans. For greater endeavors, private financial specialists utilize their cash-flow to back a start-up. Ventures which are not financed or supported, by any investor are known as non-funded ventures, non-funded companies or bootstrapped companies. The business visionary here needs to do a self-financing for his venture.

Self-financing for a bootstrapped organization is extremely difficult as it needs lots of struggle, time and money. In the early years, the entrepreneur needs to make seed investments. Seed investment demands good investment funds from part of the entrepreneur. Positively striving towards the development of the venture is an essential part of development in a non-funded company. It can take months and years to get desired results. The organization needs to fundamentally spare cash for subsidizing of costs. Spending less for oneself and curbing other expenses are regular practices identified with such new businesses. Non-funded companies go into debt after borrowing from family, friends, and partners to arrange for seed investments. For the individuals who fail once or lose focus on their ideas suffer socially too. The effects can also prove devastating to one because it causes mental pressure and depression too. A non-funded entrepreneur has to find resources that will make his life easier and that are cheaper too, so that he doesn’t have to compromise his venture capital.

There are a few issues for a business person to start-up in a developing country. In a country where innovation is less appreciated and less compensated because of existing business models, starting up is a major risk. There are exceedingly inefficient lawful procedures required, which are lengthy, and corruption adds miseries to it. To expand the entrepreneur in a non-funded company needs to apply his knowledge to his project. Spending less cash or no cash ought to be the main priority. He has to initially find ways to build things internally that are small according to his skill. One never knows what product he can create out of it. That is how things are invented, and project costs are cut.

Being regular to work is another intelligent thought to keep up the spirit in a start-up venture. It helps in concentrating on its effectiveness. Knowing the business sector for the start-up endeavor is critical. The market does not involve one buyer. Expanding one's group of contacts facilitates better opportunities.Better connection and good communication skills can easily attract customers for the business. Having a check on the competitors is also needed.Trusted individuals should be inducted in the start-up group for the best outcome.The product one is selling or the services one is giving to the customer must not be questionable and unsatisfactory because if the product is sub-standard, good customer response and demand should not be expected from seller's part. So knowing the value of what you are offering to market and thinking from a customer's perspective is crucial.

Keeping a decent office culture for colleagues is also a must. The better the working environment, the more result they provide to the company. So the entrepreneur should be nice with his start-up team. The enthusiasm for one's thought assumes a unique part in the development of its business. Risk joins a start-up. Most of the failing entrepreneurs give up in the beginning as they start suffering losses and no profits in the early stages of the venture.The passionate ones do not give up.They stick to their plans and work on them with their heart, body, and soul. The new generation wants to accomplish everything early, so they consider start-up to be their best alternative rather than having a great job in a decent organization.

In a nation like India, where the population is high, demand is also high. So, on the off chance that one makes something good, he can get a decent market. Building trust for an entrepreneur is valuable as it aids in maintaining the business sector, he has obtained for his business. The current situation demonstrates that India is genuinely a start-up nation. In the Indian market, new businesses are developing with a gigantic rat. The e-commerce, advertising, and online portal start-ups are also growing and creating an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs. The growth of start-up ecosystem in India is inspired by the Prime minister's speech and the "Start-up India, Stand Up India campaign”.

Finding a perfect spot, making the ability to scale and income are the significant challenges for an innovator. India positions third in the worldwide start-up ecosystem which implies development rate of new companies is at a quick pace. For the development of start-up environment, a non-budgetary backing is also required. Start-ups require administration advice, improvement in business plans, networking, capacity building and legal advice. It reduces the risk of financial support.Incubation plays a significant role in a non-funded startup. It helps to develop entrepreneurial skills such as building a venture around an idea, creating and testing a prototype and understanding the market.

Accelerators help to grow a business model by providing shorter and intense programs. To build good entrepreneurial, education plays a noteworthy role. Universities and colleges offer entrepreneurship courses and provide incubation services and start-up labs for young entrepreneurs.
To make a quickly developing start-up ecosystem, more start-up centered arrangements should be established. Support from public, private and non-profit areas is a must. Government related services, approvals for accelerating start-ups, direct, support, providing skilling and preparing for the enterprise can empower new companies in India to make an enhanced business environment.

The above is an authored article by Chiranjiv Patel, Regional Director - Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO), South Asia. EO is the only global network exclusively for entrepreneurs. It helps leading entrepreneurs learn and grow through peer-to-peer learning, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and connections to experts.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

iSpirt launched 'BootUpINDIA', to recognise bootstrapped entrepreneurs & startups

This Independence Day finally gave something to Entrepreneurs to cheer about. BootUpIndia was launched on 15^th August 2014 on the eve of India’s 68^th Independence Day. It is an initiative by iSPIRT which is looking out to help bootstrapped entrepreneurs and startups.

iSPIRT strongly believes that company building can take place both through Venture Funding and Bootstrapping. Though, in India the scene is a little different. The Venture Funding path is being overplayed by the incubators and media and due to this bootstrapped companies end up bearing the repercussions, but not anymore, because BootUpINDIA is here to redress this bias.

Now and then, it has been repeatedly proved that even Bootstrapped companies can also turn into successful companies. Some of the companies which have been able to turn it around are HappyFox, FusionCharts, Cosmic Circuits, Kayako, RateGain and BrowerStack. In fact, bootstrapped companies can also transform into Billion dollar companies, for example Zoho.

Venture Funding provides a startup with media validation which most of the times transforms into customer traction.  A good VC also ends up getting access and mentoring to expert entrepreneurs in the portfolio of the VC.  BootUpIndia is here to provide almost the same benefits to some selected bootstrapped companies. Their goal is to help these companies scale their game and become more successful.

The companies are selected through an awards process and the companies who make the cut are then provided with media coverage through Customer Impact stories, group mentoring from expert entrepreneurs and access to certified performance warrants for deeper customer relations, among other things.

BootUpIndia has a strong belief that their package can have a dramatic impact on the enterprise value of the selected bootstrapped companies, which in turn would help the software product industry to grow faster even with a limited availability of early stage capital.

The applications for the BootUpINDIA award are open till 15^th September 2014 and the Award Day is scheduled to be held on 2^nd October 2014. The BootUpINDIA awardees will get five things-Industry validations, structured group mentoring, media visibility, certified performance warrants and a lot of perks.  The perks would include a privileged access to all other iSPIRT programs. In addition to that, the awardees will get access to co-working spaces and discounts from partners including Zoho CRM, Amazon Web Services and FreshDesk.

iSpirt launched 'BootUpINDIA', to recognise bootstrapped entrepreneurs & startups

This Independence Day finally gave something to Entrepreneurs to cheer about. BootUpIndia was launched on 15^th August 2014 on the eve of India’s 68^th Independence Day. It is an initiative by iSPIRT which is looking out to help bootstrapped entrepreneurs and startups.

iSPIRT strongly believes that company building can take place both through Venture Funding and Bootstrapping. Though, in India the scene is a little different. The Venture Funding path is being overplayed by the incubators and media and due to this bootstrapped companies end up bearing the repercussions, but not anymore, because BootUpINDIA is here to redress this bias.

Now and then, it has been repeatedly proved that even Bootstrapped companies can also turn into successful companies. Some of the companies which have been able to turn it around are HappyFox, FusionCharts, Cosmic Circuits, Kayako, RateGain and BrowerStack. In fact, bootstrapped companies can also transform into Billion dollar companies, for example Zoho.

Venture Funding provides a startup with media validation which most of the times transforms into customer traction.  A good VC also ends up getting access and mentoring to expert entrepreneurs in the portfolio of the VC.  BootUpIndia is here to provide almost the same benefits to some selected bootstrapped companies. Their goal is to help these companies scale their game and become more successful.

The companies are selected through an awards process and the companies who make the cut are then provided with media coverage through Customer Impact stories, group mentoring from expert entrepreneurs and access to certified performance warrants for deeper customer relations, among other things.

BootUpIndia has a strong belief that their package can have a dramatic impact on the enterprise value of the selected bootstrapped companies, which in turn would help the software product industry to grow faster even with a limited availability of early stage capital.

The applications for the BootUpINDIA award are open till 15^th September 2014 and the Award Day is scheduled to be held on 2^nd October 2014. The BootUpINDIA awardees will get five things-Industry validations, structured group mentoring, media visibility, certified performance warrants and a lot of perks.  The perks would include a privileged access to all other iSPIRT programs. In addition to that, the awardees will get access to co-working spaces and discounts from partners including Zoho CRM, Amazon Web Services and FreshDesk.