I remember a television commercial featuring Hindi Cinema's legendary poet-scriptwriter Javed Akhtar. The commercial was for a pen and the makers wanted to project it as a weapon for winners. And Javed Akhtar was projected as someone who has emerged as a winner after going through a lot of struggle. So the commercial takes you through various levels of struggle, failure, despondency and finally, victory.
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| Faisal Farooqui |
Every story has its own path of challenges failure and success in varying degrees and this is what makes life so exciting.
For me the very idea of starting my own thing was a challenge, considering the fact that I was engaged in a comfortable job. And the fact that I wanted to begin my venture gave heebie-jeebies to my family members. But I knew I could prove their apprehension wrong. So one evening, when everyone was expecting me home for dinner I boarded a plane to India.
That was the beginning.
I had a germ of an idea but that was it - nothing more, nothing less. I knew the idea was workable and it was the conviction in my idea that saw me through. But there were many things working against me at that point. The Internet industry was going through a crisis. Dotcoms had gone bust and the idea of MouthShut.com was unusual. "A platform for writing reviews on products and services? Indians do not write reviews," I was told.
Given the times, the idea seemed far-fetched and everyone was like, who the hell is going to talk honestly about the products they have used. Those days, there was no name, no logo, no office infrastructure, nothing, just an idea of a platform where consumers would be able to provide feedback to various products. And then my biggest challenge: I had to hire employee number one—I did not have a proper office. How was I going to hire him? I told him about my vision hoping he would buy it. He did and ten years down the line he is still with me. That first employee believed in everything I said and was able to see through the concept I painted for him.
Finally, few months later, after putting a great team together, I managed to kickstart MouthShut.com.
Startups around us were crashing like nine pins and we knew what the problem was—most of them had gone on a marketing binge. Huge marketing and advertising promotions hit the market but since the market was at an all time low these strategies hit these companies very badly and most of them folded up in no time. Slow and steady was our motto. We lay low and concentrated on building a team of great professionals who in turn built a great product. We cut corners and thus survived.
What started off as a small-platform for product feedback is now amongst the biggest Internet destinations and when someone says MOUTHSHUT, you know brands have started listening to consumers. This by itself is a great achievement. Before we took off, there was not a single platform for consumers to voice their honest opinions. Positive and negative opinions flood our site on hourly basis and brands take note of what is written about them. The basic idea was to build communities around brands.
| Snapshot |
| Name: Faisal Farooqui Age: 34 Education: Bachelors Degree in MIS and Finance, State University of New York Experience in business: 10+ years as entrepreneur, having started two businesses post college Experience in business: 10+ years as entrepreneur Leadership style: Process driven Big learning: Your people and employees are your biggest asset |
| Factsheet |
| Name of the enterprise: MouthShut.com Domain: Internet and IT domain Turnover: Confidential Set up in: 2000 Employees: 70 people in various departments and functions Headquarters: Mumbai Website: www.mouthshut.com |
| Business Model |
| Ad-based revenue model. Subscription model for corporations, customized model for emerging social media |
MouthShut.com provides consumers a platform to voice their opinions on thousands of products and services that are manufactured and sold to consumers the world over. Thousands of consumers gather online everyday and speak their mind on their real-life experiences with products and services.
Over the years MouthShut.com has diversified its product offerings and encompasses a range of Social Media features though the focus remains the same—consumer empowerment. MouthShut.com's biggest achievement is that it started a debate by consumers on brands and the fact that the feedback mechanism has been accepted by consumers and brands alike. It is the first choice of consumers looking to voice their opinions on products and services. The reviews written by the end-users are taken into serious account by brand managers who scout the web site for honest opinion and feedback.
It has not been an easy journey. I have had my shares of ups and downs. All I can say is that it has been possible only because of my unflinching devotion to the belief that I carried with me and passed it on to the great team of people around me. This is in fact is not just my story. It is the story of every entrepreneur who decides to miss his family dinner and board a flight that takes him to his dream.
Being an entrepreneur involves belief in the self. The journey is never easy. It requires great strength
of will. 'What will people think?' should never be the main worry 'What are the current trends?' is a thought that should never deter an entrepreneur. Have a solid vision and back it. That is the only mantra. I never had an immediate team to back the vision. That happened over the course of time. My vision fuelled me and then the team that has stood with me steadfastly over the past many years. All this is extremely gratifying. So when I remember that television commercial of Javed Akhtar, I always feel it was designed for entrepreneurs and for the bunch of guys who shared a dream called MouthShut.com!
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