SmartStateIndia
Interview

We offer a no-code, end-to-end business process platform built keeping the specific needs and challenges of SMEs in mind

Effitrac-Solutions-Logesh-Velusamy

The ongoing pandemic followed by recurring lockdown has affected businesses and companies like never before. While an established corporate would have managed to survive the adverse effects of the pandemic on the economy, startups and SMBs had to struggle a lot. Most of the SMBs need help with adapting to technology-based solutions as its still a very new concept and they need system integrators at the ground level. Effitrac has managed to bring their client base from 0 to 400 in just a span of 15 months.

Mr. Logesh Velusamy of Effitrac, comes from a humble background of one such SMB. He belongs to a family that used to run businesses in various sectors such as Electrical Wholesale Trading, Poultry, Feed Manufacturing, and Apparel Manufacturing. Later, Logesh worked in senior technology roles at IBS Software and Accenture in the U.S. His prior experience in this field and passion to implement technology led to the establishment of Effitrac in 2012, that continues to simplify and ease the operations of SMBs across a wide variety of industries, from manufacturing to retail. We caught up with him to know more.

Rroadmap and how you prepared yourself and the team from a tier-2 market.

Coimbatore is a great centre for a tech startup, especially it’s the one focused on SMEs. First, Coimbatore has over 70 engineering colleges, so we have access to good tech talent. Coimbatore, along with the surrounding areas, is a hub for SMEs. So Effitrac has easy access to our target market. In fact, today large corporates like Milacron and Transguard are also using Effitrac among others, along with startups like PayAgri. I believe if you have a good product, have a good product-market fit, and are solving the real challenges of your customer base, your location will not be a limitation.

Having said that, we did work very hard to launch and scale up Effitrac to where it is today. As I have a technology background and my family runs small businesses across various industries, I knew the issues businesses faced and the solution that we could create and offer them. I still had detailed interactions with over 100 SME owners to understand their pain points before building the end-to-end no-code SaaS business process platform that Effitrac offers today.
 
What were some of the challenges/struggles his family business faced before deciding to adapt to technology.

I belong to a family that has experience in running multiple MSME businesses. I had a strong inclination towards technology and that motivated me to work in the field of technology and IT for over a decade. During my short stints at Accenture, Bestbuy, and IBS, I gained knowledge on enabling the customer with new-age solutions and in helping them leverage technology, that acts as a catalyst to drive growth. Later, I had to move back to Namakkal to take over my family’s business that was spread across different verticals like Electrical Wholesale Trading, Poultry, Feed Manufacturing, Textile Retail, Sago, Apparel Manufacturing. Like most MSMEs during the time, the businesses were stuck and some of the major challenges I faced were –

  • Identifying cash flow requirements between different legal entities and to arrive on the net gap. It required a skilled accountant with advanced knowledge of Excel Sheet to figure this.
  • Understanding the revenue leakage at the granular level by linking the expenses made with the revenue at the transaction level. 
  • Adopting a new technology stack in the MSME businesses was a daunting task as the users have limited knowledge in operating the software.
  • Accessing information from anywhere for decision making required custom development, which increased OPEX & CAPEX.

Why it is important for Indian SMB’s to setup their own digital storefront?

Even in non-metro cities, consumers have significantly adopted to online shopping methods. Consumers find online shopping as trustworthy and are ready to rely on them. Moreover, during the lockdowns, online or digital supported shopping was almost the only way for consumers to buy goods.

For retail businesses and even for B2B businesses, the reality of low-physical contact meant connecting with customers will increasingly happen online. Digital storefront is no longer just an option, it has become a must-have. Effitrac offers SMB clients tools and solutions to easily and painlessly add on e-commerce sales channel and integrate their backend and inventory across multiple channels. The benefits gained by companies who quickly moved online during the first wave has been tremendous. We have seen increased interest from others after the second wave as well. Those who adapted to digital have not only survived but have even thrived businesses. 

How Effitrac is planning to reach one million customers in the next three years?

Our product is our greatest asset. We offer a no-code, end-to-end business process platform built keeping the specific needs and challenges of SMEs in mind. It is quick and easy to implement and small businesses can operate the software even with limited tech knowledge.

We have crossed 500 clients in just 15 months and support over 30,000 users. We are proud to call ourselves the technology growth partner of small businesses and we have been launching products and features that help businesses. Recent features include e-commerce integration, integration with Tally, and invoice automation. While Effitrac is a self signup platform, which makes it easy for companies to come on board quickly, we also work closely with partners who each work with hundreds of SMEs. A lot of our future growth will be driven through such partners. 

More information on Effitrac’s products & their USP’s (finance, products, operational and manufacturing tools).

MSMEs have traditionally struggled to find technology tools that are designed for their needs. They had to go with simple tools that solve only part of their business challenges or invest in CAPEX and OPEX intensive Enterprise solutions (like those offered by SAP) that have long installation time and need a certain amount of technology expertise. Effitrac’s solution solves both these issues. It is an end-to-end solution so MSMEs do not have to find and invest in different tech tools from different providers. It is also a low OPEX and no CAPEX solution, so it is cost effective for MSMEs and they do not have to worry about installation time or tech knowledge.

Also, if a company is small in size (under Rs 2 crore turnover), they can choose the entry level package and as they scale they can activate new features that are already ready-to-go on the Effitrac platform. So Effitrac’s technology scales up along with the MSME. It is, in short, a technology growth partner of MSMEs.

Some of the salient features of Effitrac’s solution that sets it apart from competition:  
  • Tailor made packages that start from Rs 160 per month, billed annually. Zero CAPEX and minimal OPEX requirements
  • Intelligent tools that cover all aspects of business, from Books to CRM to ERP.
  • Industry Specific Packages – Pre packaged solutions that you can choose depending on the size of your operations and your requirements.
  • Covers every aspect of business from invoicing and inventory management to payroll and taxation.
  • Lay person can do all data entry and the solution automatically captures it in the necessary business and regulatory format. For instance, a person who does not know whether a specific financial data goes under ‘Credit’ or ‘Debit’ heads can enter the data and the solution captures it under the right head. Users can customise the application on their own without any technical knowledge as the platform is Rule Engine driven
  • Control revenue leakage with the platform
  • Accessible through mobile app anywhere anytime
  • Tailor Made Dashboards offer complete and real time view of every aspect of the business  
  • Inbuilt Analytical Engine – gives businesses insights on BusinessUnits 
  • Automation and cross functional validation 
  • Statutory Compliance at a button click 
  • Pay as you use

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