One of the foremost challenges that SMEs face is the collection of payments from clients and partners. Unlike large corporates, SMEs have relatively limited resources to track pending payments and mounting dues can seriously hamper the smooth functioning of a small enterprise. Instamojo is a web-based startup founded in 2012 that offers an easy solution to collect payments online. The founders of Instamojo, Aditya Sengupta, Akash Gehani, Harshad Sharma and Sampad Swain have created an innovative link-based payments platform where anyone can collect online payments by sharing a payment-link through SMS, email, social channels or through simply embedding on websites or blogs.

Co-founder of Instamojo, Akash Gehani (AG), talks to GlobalLinker (GL) about how this unique payment collection solution that is empowering and assisting SMEs.

GL: Tell us about your business and how it came into being.

AG: Instamojo came into being once the founders realised that there is no way for an individual or small business to collect payments online. Instamojo made the process of collecting payments as simple as sharing a message on Facebook or Whatsapp, instead of the complex technical process and paperwork involved earlier. 

The USP of the solution is the simplicity of it, which ensures that everyone can use Instamojo from any device anywhere. This also ensures a great experience for the businesses using our product and their customers. Instamojo has enabled more than 1.25 lakh businesses in the last 3 years, and this has happened without any money spent on marketing. Positive customer referrals, has been a strong testament of the value of the product. 

Instamojo primarily works with small businesses, but there are a few big names as well who are loyal customers, such as BusinessWorld, Neemrana Hotels etc. 

GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

AG: The biggest challenge was convincing banks and traditional players that this could be feasible. The fact that a process which is costly, and takes 1-2 months could be condensed to free and within minutes was a leap of faith. 

GL: What role do you feel GlobalLinker plays in connecting and assisting SMEs?

AG: GlobalLinker helps us connect with many SMEs who are our prime users and who get great value out of Instamojo. 

GL: What is your big business dream?

AG: At Instamojo, we have been privileged to see the positive impact of our solution and how it has assisted in shaping businesses over the years. There have been people who never imagined that they could start a business but did so since Instamojo made it extremely simple for them. And now some of those are employing dozens of others to grow their business. 

Our vision is to power millions of SMEs in India and be the platform of choice that helps them in growing their business. 

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

AG: My message would be to focus on the problem at hand, and be extremely militant about giving the customers a fantastic experience. There is no better way to grow than to have your customers refer others. 

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