Everyone is posting about successful startups, their work culture and all but the failed ones are totally ignored here.
I want to know which ones failed and what was the reason behind their failure?
I am asking this question so that I can learn from it and beware of all that which can fail my startup.
In the e-commerce market dominated by the Bansals in India, not many would recognize the man in the picture, who is widely considered as the - 'Father of E-Commerce in India'. And he was the first person to do what the Bansals are doing today. Sell products... online !!
And this man is K Vaitheeswaran, an engineering graduate from Tamil Nadu.
In many ways, Vaitheeswaran had a dream which offered hopeful glimpses of turning into a reality but eventually left unfulfilled.
And he started in 1999. In comparison, Flipkart started only 8 years later.
This is the story of - IndiaPlaza.com
Pic: It has had different domain names, including - .in, .com, fabmall etc.
IndiaPlaza had a few things in favor, which in hindsight doesn't seem so, however.
1. The Dot Com Boom:
They started in 1999. And had a breeze for the first six month. They were in the front pages of business magazines in India. But then the bubble burst. Not only in India, but worldwide. But to their credit, IndiaPlaza survived till 2013.
2. First Mover Advantage:
I often wonder if it really is an advantage. Many people would know that Niel Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. Not many would be able to recall the second person. But does that apply in the business world as well? In some cases, yes. But not always. Sadly for IndiaPlaza, it definitely didn't work for them.
What didn't work for them?
1. They were too early
Even though, it is just a personal opinion, but I strongly feel they came into the picture when the market was not mature enough and wasn't ready for them.
When I first heard about them, it was probably in 2002-03 and I said to myself - "Who buys online?" Close to a decade later (that is a long time), I made my first online purchase. A portable hard disk. And since then, have always preferred buying things online.
Starting off in 1999, however, was early. Way too early.
But they survived long enough to see the market mature. It wasn't like they went out of business within a few years.
They survived for 14 years.
The company closed only in 2013. So, they definitely did other things incorrectly as well. And it is not hard to see why, at least from a visual aesthetics point of view.
2. Not a great looking website.
And this is how their website looked in 2012. Not impressive if you ask me.
I wonder what cooking utensils and lunch boxes are doing in a section which reads, "Appliances, TVs & Home Entertainment".
In case if you are wondering, whether this image is really from 2012. Yes, it is. Notice, the JK Rowling book? It is the cover of "The Casual Vacancy", which was published only in late 2012.
3. And it piled on...
IndiaPlaza never really had the need to raise a lot of money. They were profitable for a long time in their own niche. But competition came around starting from 2007 and started bleeding into their profits. They could no longer stay niche as the customers were going away. And when they realized that they needed money, they were getting desperate for it. They got a $5 million funding in 2011, which steadied the ship for a while.
But by then, the engine was already old & rusty, the ship was sinking and the storm outside only made it worse.
I want to know which ones failed and what was the reason behind their failure?
I am asking this question so that I can learn from it and beware of all that which can fail my startup.
In the e-commerce market dominated by the Bansals in India, not many would recognize the man in the picture, who is widely considered as the - 'Father of E-Commerce in India'. And he was the first person to do what the Bansals are doing today. Sell products... online !!
And this man is K Vaitheeswaran, an engineering graduate from Tamil Nadu.
In many ways, Vaitheeswaran had a dream which offered hopeful glimpses of turning into a reality but eventually left unfulfilled.
And he started in 1999. In comparison, Flipkart started only 8 years later.
This is the story of - IndiaPlaza.com
Pic: It has had different domain names, including - .in, .com, fabmall etc.
IndiaPlaza had a few things in favor, which in hindsight doesn't seem so, however.
1. The Dot Com Boom:
They started in 1999. And had a breeze for the first six month. They were in the front pages of business magazines in India. But then the bubble burst. Not only in India, but worldwide. But to their credit, IndiaPlaza survived till 2013.
2. First Mover Advantage:
I often wonder if it really is an advantage. Many people would know that Niel Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. Not many would be able to recall the second person. But does that apply in the business world as well? In some cases, yes. But not always. Sadly for IndiaPlaza, it definitely didn't work for them.
What didn't work for them?
1. They were too early
Even though, it is just a personal opinion, but I strongly feel they came into the picture when the market was not mature enough and wasn't ready for them.
When I first heard about them, it was probably in 2002-03 and I said to myself - "Who buys online?" Close to a decade later (that is a long time), I made my first online purchase. A portable hard disk. And since then, have always preferred buying things online.
Starting off in 1999, however, was early. Way too early.
But they survived long enough to see the market mature. It wasn't like they went out of business within a few years.
They survived for 14 years.
The company closed only in 2013. So, they definitely did other things incorrectly as well. And it is not hard to see why, at least from a visual aesthetics point of view.
2. Not a great looking website.
And this is how their website looked in 2012. Not impressive if you ask me.
I wonder what cooking utensils and lunch boxes are doing in a section which reads, "Appliances, TVs & Home Entertainment".
In case if you are wondering, whether this image is really from 2012. Yes, it is. Notice, the JK Rowling book? It is the cover of "The Casual Vacancy", which was published only in late 2012.
3. And it piled on...
IndiaPlaza never really had the need to raise a lot of money. They were profitable for a long time in their own niche. But competition came around starting from 2007 and started bleeding into their profits. They could no longer stay niche as the customers were going away. And when they realized that they needed money, they were getting desperate for it. They got a $5 million funding in 2011, which steadied the ship for a while.
But by then, the engine was already old & rusty, the ship was sinking and the storm outside only made it worse.
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