The telecom industry of India has seen a significant growth over thirteen years. India has world’s second-largest telecom market, and this market is still expected to grow exponentially in the current digital era.
The involvement of technology in the telecom industry has paved a way towards digitalising the entire industry. The companies in the telecom industry are working to meet the expectations of the clients by providing broadband, internet, OTT, DTH, and other solutions and incorporating digitalisation in their businesses. There was no company in the entire industry, which provided all these solutions under one roof.
To overcome this challenge, Selectra, a one stop solution provider in the telecom industry was established. The company’s focus is to develop the digital India and satisfy its clients by building a trustworthy relationship with them.
In the following interview with Insights Success, the team of Selectra will share with us about the company’s journey and future goals. The team will also brief us about how they overcame the challenges encountered during the establishment of the company and how the pandemic has affected their operations.
Following are the highlights of the interview:
Describe about your start-up in detail.
Selectra is fast becoming the best telecom comparison as well as a subscription service provider in India. Our aim is to help our clients make smart telecom decisions in an industry that has a plethora of mobile and internet service providers.
We help them save their utility bills by guiding them through all the available plans and sharing the best deals on various telecom contracts such as business solutions, prepaid, post-paid, and broadband. We also offer them solid advice on all they need to know about OTT and DTH platforms. Coupled with reliable guidance, our clients also get a fair idea of the entertainment world, which takes off the stress from their daily lives.
We cater to the requirements of both residential as well as SME clients looking for cost savings and optimum deals in telecom contracts. Within a quarter of a significant start in the country, Selectra has gained 40-50 thousand visitors on a monthly basis, coming up to a total of more than 100 million clients visiting the website.
Our main focus is exceeding client expectations and maintaining a reliable, trustworthy long-term relationship with the Indian telecom market while doing our best to provide solid information and remaining committed to them.
Brief us about the featured person and shed some light on his/her professional tenure.
Arvind Patil is a thorough professional and SEO Entrepreneur, who is currently the Business Head of Selectra. He is a person of extraordinary vision and long-term strategic planning and makes a remarkable difference in all his undertakings. A unique thinker, he is up for any challenges on the way to success.
After doing his master’s in international business in the UK, he entered a new phase in his digital marketing career and gained adequate experience by working with several digital agencies. This enabled him to grasp the intricacies of the field and acquire proficiency in technical skill development and operations of the business.
His success mantra of constant learning has helped him overcome several obstacles and co-found TechCognate, a digital agency serving many reputed clients. Later on, in 2020, he went on to nurture a new venture called TheOrtus, aimed at providing quality services to clients well within their affordable budgets.
It was during the period that he met Aurian de Maupeou and Xavier Pinon, the Founders of Global Selectra. Together they discussed the wide possibilities of upgrading the life of clients by helping them save bills and still get awesome deals. From that time, Arvind has worked to bring the concept of digital India alive through Selectra and has attained tremendous progress.
Aurian and Xavier have paved a great foundation to the start of Selectra and now the group has emerged as a global leader. They are visionaries, who have enlightened the path for many upcoming business leaders across the Selectra Family. With their leadership capabilities and critical thinking skills, Selectra has been able to make the right decisions and make the best of strategic opportunities.
What inspired you to enter the industry you are catering to? Was your start-up bootstrapped or did you outsource funds for it?
The concept of serving society to the best ability while meeting customer requirements sounded quite appealing. When Aurian described the kind of services, Selectra was offering in other countries in the gas and electricity industry, it matched Arvind’s aspirations and desire to contribute to the betterment of society. The possibility of opening up various options to clients in the telecom industry was an inspiring thought that we have, by hard work and consistency, turned it into a reality.
Aurian and Xavier are truly dedicated towards their work and have been Arvind’s back support for all financial requirements. Without their motivational presence and financial backup, Selectra would not have reached the promising level it enjoys today.
What kind of services do you provide to your clients?
Selectra provides customers with a comprehensive guide on all the mobile, internet plans available in the market. We offer reliable comparisons to help customers decide on the best deal that suits their requirements. We also give them several options to consider and our suggestions, which would cater to their needs most appropriately.
Along with mobile and internet providers, we also offer complete information on OTT platforms and DTH providers. The clients can count on us for being their committed partners in all their telecom decisions. We provide the solutions to their queries and offer cost-saving recommendations, which give them a winning edge of knowing the best when they make their final call.
What challenges have you faced while establishing your start-up and how did you transform the challenges into opportunities?
Challenges were many during our initial stages as we were unsure about whether a service of this kind would be accepted by the consumer market in India. We made it a point not to have unrealistic expectations and decided to put in efforts to win the trust of Indian subscribers.
Not being sure if the concept would work out was also due to the fact that there were no past records of such a service provider to fall back on. Selectra is the first kind of its own and there is absolutely no previous data, which we could rely on or improvise on.
Being the sole player in the telecom industry, who provides comparison and information on telecom contracts was not the original idea. Initially, the plan was to follow our parent company and establish a name in the energy market in India. However, the scenario was quite different here. In India, the energy market is a nationalized public sector, where privatization is yet to catch up. Not to turn back on a challenge, we decided to venture out into the telecom industry. Proper, in-depth research and trial-based experimentation were our key tools during the implementation stages.
How was your start-up affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and what measures did you take to shorten the damages, while helping your clients and maintaining the safety of your employees?
Selectra saw its beginnings amidst the pandemic. Prior to the lockdowns, though we had the concept in mind, discussions were ongoing, and the decision was made to begin functioning online.
The main issue we faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic was the absence of a physical location to set our office. Without the physical environment to work, the query that if the remote working would meet our business criteria and help achieve our set targets was predominant.
Another major setback caused due to the restrictions in movement was the inability to conduct business travels, which is the most effective way to establish a strong business connection with stakeholders. Not getting a chance to interact directly with partners to discuss business outcomes and strategies hindered our progress to a small degree.
Hiring employees proved to be one of our major challenges as this was fully a virtual experience. There was no chance of direct interviews and we had to rely on virtual meetings. This was solved to a large extent with frequent meetings to understand the abilities of our team members and align their talents to meet the company profile.
Yet one more hold up that hampered our business plans to quite some extent, was the global time synchronisation. Our headquarters being in Spain and the team in India, the entire office was spread out in different time zones. It was initially difficult to organise team meetings and get the entire team together for strategic decision making. This again has been resolved with constant efforts and proper planning including the time differences in each zone.
What would you like to advise the young generation of entrepreneurs and enthusiasts who want to make a mark in the industry you are catering to?
Every day there is something new in the digital world. To expand your horizons, move out of your comfort zones, learn, and keep learning. Have the courage to make mistakes. That’s how you learn. Understand what went wrong and keep those lessons in mind. But always move forward, however, slow the progress.
Set your mind on the target goal and study all the possible ways you can travel to reach your destination. Take guidance from people who have proven their track. Have a mentor. Expand your research, know your competitors. Beware of shortcuts to success because there is no such thing. Hard work, perseverance, and consistent efforts will get you to your goal.
Where do you see your start-up in the future? Kindly tell us about your strategies for scaling your start-up.
Selectra is determined to move ahead with its planned growth strategy. With the pandemic and lockdowns in place, we are functioning online currently. However, we have plans in the pipeline to set up a physical office with world-class infrastructure.
Our main priority is to introduce an approachable and friendly customer service department where we can have a real-life interaction with our audience. Our intention is to encourage our customers to approach us directly with their queries. This enhances customer empowerment, and we can resolve their problems while providing personalized options regarding telecom contracts.
Another initiative in our future plan is to partner up with the top service operators in India. With their partnership, we can effectively move into providing solutions, including cloud- based to small businesses and other industrial enterprises.
We plan on continually evolving and innovative business strategies with the help of our talented employees who are well aware of the company’s mission and value propositions.
What is the current scenario of the industry you are catering to?
The current scenario of the Indian telecom industry looks favourable and highly challenging at the same time. While the pandemic has created a conducive atmosphere for telecom service providers, the presence of so many service providers has impacted the quality of service. Competition is tough and innovative ideas are the need of the hour.
Selectra has made the right choice of entering into this field as there is an exponential growth in the telecom market. India enjoys second place globally with 1.17 billion loyal customers. The number of active internet users is expected to cross 900 million in the next five years, with more than 410 million smartphone subscribers contributing to a large digital economy of $ 1 trillion. Exciting times lie ahead and Selectra is all geared up to play a significant role in developing digital India.
