Growing A B2B Enterprise SaaS To 120+ Clients
This is a follow up story for Inquizity Metanoia. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published almost 6 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hi! I am Ramesh Krishnamurthy and I am the Founder of Inquizity.
I have done my Engineering (E&C) from NIT Surathkal and then did my MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.
We started our Inquizity journey about 10 years ago in a fairly unglamorous area of B2B Enterprise Software Solutions; specifically, focused on Supply Chain Planning and Automation Solutions. Our earlier avatar was called Indus Momentus.
We started by selling and implementing a single module of Production Planning tools but then dedicated our past years to building an entire suite of Supply Chain solutions. A lot of our solutions have been created by working closely with our high-profile high-quality companies with complex operations. Our End to End Supply Chain Planning solutions now includes:
- Demand Planning
- Dispatch and Replenishment Planning
- Supply Network Allocation Planning
- Production Planning and Scheduling
- Available to Promise
- Rough Cut Capacity Planning
- Network Design
- Custom Math / Statistical / Heuristic Models
We also developed our Low Code PWA based Automation / Digitalisation platform called dataSAVI. While this was primarily to be used to complement/supplement and augment our Planning solutions, we now use it for a host of different Use Cases which are not just focused on the Supply Chain but all spheres of Operations and not just focused on Manufacturing but also on the Service industry.
Our Solutions now compete with the best solutions in the industry and are being used by more than 120+ clients, across a wide array of industries, the complexity of projects, large as well as medium scale, manufacturing, and services.
Our Solutions have been recognized by the industry and we are proud to have been awarded the CIO Choice Awards 2019 for dataSAVI, our Digitalisation / Automation Platform that enables digital transformation in companies.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
Much of our marketing has been through referrals, word-of-mouth, and a few outbound activities like cold emails. We are active on social media, and post fresh content on IoT, Industry 4.0, Business Digitalization, Supply chain planning solutions, and more, but this is an area that we can do much better.
Most of what has worked for us is word of mouth. The B2B business in India is a reference driven and our strong relationships with our customers have allowed us to be considered as a reliable partner.
The other key set of Influencers / Affiliate Marketers is Consulting / Software Solutions companies who find our solutions complementary to their offering. We work with individual Affiliate Marketers / Consultants as well as with companies like KPMG, AT Kearney, IBM, etc.
The innovation, Planning as a Service, that we described above, is unique, and very few product companies offer it. Given the various benefits from the Service Model, this model has helped open doors and we have been able to acquire customers faster.
The addition of Automation using our dataSAVI platform has helped create several Low Priced Subscription driven operational applications such as
- Warehouse / Production Track and Trace Solutions
- Machine Data Acquisition (using IIOT)
- Field Service Data Collection
- Custom Customer / Supplier / Sales / Dealer Portals
- OCR Based Data Acquisition
- Dashboards
- Control Towers etc.
Customers now consider us for both Supply Chain Planning and Automation solutions. We are thus able to Upsell and Cross sell our solutions.
We are essentially telling them to not look for other solutions as whatever is needed is there on dataSAVI and if not, then can be connected through dataSAVI. dataSAVI becomes a singular intelligent repository. This helps in retaining customers.
But lastly and perhaps most importantly, we are a very hard-working and diligent service provider. We do what it takes to ensure that the solution is working in the client site, very often, even at the expense of our profitability.
The longer you stay invested in your business, the greater your chances to succeed.
We give fair advice to our customers, we even tell them not to buy certain solutions if it is not needed. We truly behave like their extended arm. And this is recognized by our customers. Quite a few of our customers are long-standing, they have been with us for many years.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
- Microsoft Official Partners: We’ll be getting onto the Microsoft Partners’ ecosystem, which will be huge getting validation from a company like Microsoft that our solutions are truly beneficial to customers across the globe
- Geographical Expansion: We’ll also be expanding our projects and solutions to customers in different countries. As I write this, we’re already talking to a few independent consultants, partners, etc. within the USA, Turkey to get a deeper understanding of the market
- Analytics: One of the key areas where we’ll put our mark is into the supply chain analytics arena. Given the capability of our solutions which are now proven for 100+ client installations across various industries, the next logical step is to be present in this space and offer our solutions within the analytics
Have you read any good books in the last year?
Sapiens, Hooked, Checklist Manifesto.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
I think there are a few key things needed to start and grow any business:
- Tenacity -- to learn, understand, remain calm, and solve problems as they come.
- Longevity -- the longer you stay invested in your business, the greater your chances to succeed.
- Cash-flows -- Cash is king. Having the capability to maintain healthy cash-flows at all times ensures you have a robust business.
- Area of interest -- if you don’t enjoy something, you will eventually give up. Same with business. If it’s not something that is bringing you fulfillment, eventually you will drain out.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We always are on the lookout for enthusiastic people, problem-solvers, who love to come up with new ideas, initiatives, and solve challenges.
We have a strong team comprising Analysts, Math Modelers, Program Managers, Project Leads, Business Development Managers, Developers, UI/UX Designers, etc.
We are strong participants and advocates of the gig economy. A significant number of our developers are talented young mothers who have taken a break but can give some of their invaluable time. We offer a flexible learning space for them.
We leverage the use of the gig economy to other roles such as Program Managers for our large projects and Affiliate Marketers to become partners in selling our products/services.
You can reach out to us, and if we find a good fit, we’ll be more than happy to offer you an exciting role.
Where can we go to learn more?
You can learn more about our products and solutions on our website and LinkedIn page. If you want to schedule a quick online demo, email us.
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
