Buku - During and After the lockdown

Hope, you are well and have created lot of memories during the lockdown. 

Spent the entire lockdown and times thereafter stitching the extended story of BuKu. We received lot of feedback and some of which was repeated numerous times. We sifted thru all of it and created a priority list to attack them one by one.  The list seems to be going on and on but we are enjoying doing what our users wants us to do. After all we are building BuKu not just for me and my wife.

I always envisioned BuKu as an operating system of sorts ( more apt would be to say it as a mobile phone) and on top of which user can install any application as he wishes.  In our case, the core operating system or the nervous system is the accounting and other applications are inventory, AMC, Loan/EMI, CRM, Staff Management etc. And i am happy to see it evolving that way.

Two of the key requirements coming from our users is the multi device support and web version. And that's an interesting ask. Why? For the simple reason that its no longer about features but its about ability to use BuKu from anywhere and anyone whom they want to authorize in their world. 

And this is absolutely a good news for us!! 

So we have buckled up and are sitting around the drawing board to figure out the best way to do it without compromising on the user experience. We want to surprise our users with a super seamless experience.

Meanwhile, created this asset for awareness. 

Kirana Stores - An Off the Scale market in the making

Despite all the technology at their disposal, Amazon's and flipkarts of India are still not profitable as compared to a small kirana store or mom and pop store which are run by a smart phone wielding man with the pedigree of many generation running the same business.

If this is any fact to go by then the hypothesis of digitally equipping such stores for better ROI, profitability, efficient supply chain looses its sheen and looks like just an eyewash.

These kirana stores were there and serving the neighborhood when Amazon's and flipkart's weren't around. These stores have stood the test of time and survived all sort of predatory practices with cashback's, one plus one offer, no questions asked return policy by the online sellers with deep pockets.

So what works for these kirana stores :-

a) by being next door. No eCommerce site can ever be faster than the local kirana store
b) personal repo with the shoppers
c) you don't need money to go and buy from them
d) free home delivery without needing any logistics partner
e) knows the demand and only shelves SKU's that sells

These are some quite obvious advantages of kirana stores but under the hood there is more happening than what is visible to naked eyes.

He is the real influencer who is listened to and can swing brand loyalty of any die hard customer from brand A to brand B2B... He just has to say that i also use it or brand A is in more demand than brand B.

He can easily cross sell/up sell as he has the trust of the neighborhood customer. I think nobody would contest if we say that the conversion rate of potential leads in an area is more for kirana shop owner than all the fancy content pushed by big giants thru Push notification/SMS/Email

But wait, what new wisdom am i sharing here. Isn't this known to everyone and i seem to be grinding the floor in a loop here.

Hmm, the point i am trying to tell myself more than anyone else is that the key objective is to free up the man. The man who is behind the counter. Give him enough digital tools so that he can save substantial time and do more. Just like what pressure cooker and mixie has done in Indian kitchens.

This could be in the form of POS machine, Digital payments, App based Udhaar khata, integrated B2B marketplace with Suppliers for a lean Supply Chain.

As they say all roads lead to Rome, does all this technology led enablement leads to easier and quicker trade finance!!

Overall, it is an exciting time for this segment to show signs of newer business models, ecosystems, more efficient supply chain logistics and much more.

If you get a chance, download our android app 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softdew.buku

(apologies to the apple users, we are coming soon on AppStore)

Its a Udhaar Bahi Khata, Hisaab Kitaab, Expense ledger, Money manager app. Buku is your simplified digital account book to maintain khata and expenses. It is 100% Private and Secure for all types of business ( like retailers/shop keepers /distributors/ stockist/ whole-sellers/ traders/ service providers etc.) as well as personal use.

Udhaar Khata Recipe

I was looking at the dozens of other Udhaar khata app that are available on Playstore
and while some are original approaches ( the pathfinders) and some are shamelessly copied (not that i am saint) and some look more or less same (rightly so as they are solving the same piece of problem) and some have blindly served half cooked food to fish some hungry seekers. But this is not the point.

The point being what is the problem actually. Is the problem related to just bookkeeping of Udhaar khata or there is a bigger problem  which is hidden and not that obvious and doesn't meet the eye in first glance.

As i know or have seen people that they are merrily writing away all the Udhaar in a notebook in their own font and size and never heard anyone complaining about it. So what is this rush about Udhaar khata apps??

Lets put the problem under the microscope. It kind of reveals that the actual problem most likely is to remind people to pay up. The problem is not the Udhaar given or the intent of people by and large but the problem is to remind people that this small money which they owe to me. This small money is important to me and may not be that critical for them (as its just some small amount especially in the context of this mass adoption which is daily life purchases and not a car or a wedding suit purchase).

Reminding people anyway is not considered good and people hesitate and sometimes get offended too. It doesn't come very obvious that this small money from 10 different customers is the actual working capital of the shopkeeper. And if all or most of them delays or forgets then what will this poor guy do.

Another aspect of the same problem is that this shopkeeper also takes credit from his suppliers and has a kind of tacit credit cycle between him and his supplier.

So supplier - shopkeeper transaction is in a way analogous to shopkeeper - customer transaction.
But both as an entity take credit and give credit. Likewise, take payment and give payment.

So if a shopkeeper needs a reminder system to track his udhaar given then why not track the payments received also which otherwise may lead to other situations of dispute. And while i am writing my Udhaar and Payments in the mobile app then how about maintaining my expenses as well.

One thing leads to other and it appears to gather mass and sort of snowball into an app based substantial Accounting + Analytics + Reminder + CRM + communication tool riding on whatsapp/sms/deeplinking with payment providers etc for shopkeepers, distributors, service providers and to individuals for that matter. But But who is paying for all this app based service!! Leaving it for some other day as i have sit under some tree in some complex yogic mudra to understand the economics of it 😀

I hope i have not given away anyone's secret sauce here. If so, let be it. We are on air anyway like others !!

If you get a chance, download our android app 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softdew.buku

(apologies to the apple users, we are coming soon on AppStore)

Its a Udhaar Bahi Khata, Hisaab Kitaab, Expense ledger, Money manager app. Buku is your simplified digital account book to maintain khata and expenses. It is 100% Private and Secure for all types of business ( like retailers/shop keepers /distributors/ stockist/ whole-sellers/ traders/ service providers etc.) as well as personal use.

Retailers Digital Pain Killer - BUKU

We all have seen success and efficacy of digital payment wallets and their adoption by Indian retailers. The latest blockbuster is the app based Udhaar bahi khata to maintain daily len-den. 

Offline retail has lapped up basic accounting apps to manage udhaar khata. There are various free generic  apps in market for this purpose which are quite widely used as evident. This took everyone by surprise (atleast I am !! ) 

And our app Buku is our attempt to provide a digital business ledger to maintain udhaar khata in its own simplified manner.

Infact, I would say that this was a great idea lying around unexploited right under the nose until someone learnt app development and developed the app for his father. Absolutely incredible and kudos to the guy!! 

To me, this also has a very important human cognitive psychology angle. And which is the sheer power of a small sms/whatsapp reminder which when sent actually may trigger the recipient to take mental note and bring this pending and otherwise forgotten task in foreground by their brain’s task scheduling algorithm. For the customer, it may just be 50 Rs but for the shopkeeper it is phew!! 50 Rs for 50 people. So the shopkeeper has every reason to be gung-ho for the app if he is able to collect 50 Rs from say 25 people just in time by sending a reminder from these apps. 

We all know that there are still many thick skinned people around and may need many more reminders!! 

Even when we casually discussed this idea internally much earlier (even before GST and Demonitzation era) and approached few neighborhood shopkeepers, we almost always returned with the message that they don’t need it and have this unwavering belief that a meager 10 Rs sale would reach IT department almost instantly.  

So what has changed between then and now. Is it that they are more  

1. in line with tax compliance's 
2. they genuinely want to be more organized and optimize time 
3. the general level of trust with mobile apps is increasing on day to day basis
4. they are also selling thru more digital channels like online market places etc and are more educated and also their business have scaled up 

Whatever it is, I think it’s good for everyone in the ecosystem. The abundant supply and growing traction/experimentation of various kind of apps from O2O to location based discovery to rewards/loyalty systems to QR code/mobile based digital payments is a testament to the fact that vast Indian retail is embracing tech based solutions with both hands wide open. 

And well yes, this is just the beginning. The pandora’s box just got opened. 

Paytm has just thrown its hat in the ring. The other day there was this news of Reliance gobbling NowFloats is another indicator that even the biggies have sit up and taken note of this large unorganized lifeline of this country (and probably not just this country) and have gone to the drawing board making strategies and plans to get the lion’s share of this hitherto untapped unexplored target market in the making. 

The game is going to get more serious in the time to come. 

In my own weird ways, quite often i try to think of analogies for the use cases being brainstormed. I found this way to be very effective in explaining my point of view or to make my team understand where I am coming from. Not to mention that sometimes it extracts a loud laughter also. Anyways in this case, I was trying to figure out if the udhaar khata is like the tributary river or the main river.  If it's not the main river then what that might be given that the tributary river has emerged first. Just a food for thought!! 

Ok guys, my time is up on this one where I just tried to scratch the surface without doing any deep diving. Would love to receive your feedback. Thanks for staying till ‘The End’ and hope to see you again. 

If you get a chance, download our android app 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.softdew.buku

(apologies to the apple users, we are coming soon on AppStore)

Its a Udhaar Bahi Khata, Hisaab Kitaab, Expense ledger, Money manager app. Buku is your simplified digital account book to maintain khata and expenses. It is 100% Private and Secure for all types of business ( like retailers/shop keepers /distributors/ stockist/ whole-sellers/ traders/ service providers etc.) as well as personal use.