Dotcom survivor

Ice People

He's a dotcom survivor. The 32-year-old Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, computer science graduate says that his dotcom venture Mahamaza Ecomm Ltd not only stayed afloat but grew into an Rs 80 crore company in the last three years.

And how did Mahamaza chief executive officer Vishal Anand manage that? He says he survived because his dotcom looked at customers in the smaller towns, not in the metros. Mahamaza's products are delivered to remote towns like Lakhimpur Kheri in UP (UP is his biggest market).

Anand says he didn't spend a paise on advertising either "� something other dotcoms splurged on. And he earned money from the so-called sales agents who registered with the company, initially charging them Rs 3,100 and then Rs 5,100 (he has a 2.5 lakh strong sales force).

Anand started his career as a management trainee at Thomas Cook's foreign exchange division and then moved to LKP Merchant Financing. Five years later, he shifted to Dubai for a couple of years.

On his return, he set up Mahamaza in 2000, investing his entire savings in the venture, along with some money from a friend. Mahamaza married e-commerce with network marketing.

So the company that sells electronic products, apparel, music, shoes, books, toys and grocery online tied up with major companies and brands such as LG, Samsung, IFB, Casio, Titan, Madura Garments and Reebok.

But the products are sold through a chain of network marketing agents (the pattern is similar to that of direct selling companies such as Amway and Tupperware) who own web stores on the Mahamaza site.

It is these web store owners who take orders for products and sell them to customers (for a commission, of course) without spending money on maintaining an actual store or inventories.

Buoyed by his success, Anand's adding a brick and mortar retail chain called MZs to Mahamaza. The first of these "� a 7,000 square feet multi-storied shopping mall "� is coming up at Lucknow's bustling Mahanagar area at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

The next stop will be Dehradun, followed by Pune, Nasik, Kanpur...the list is endless. "We will target the class B and C towns that have given us business. Mumbai and Delhi are not on my radar at all," says Anand.