GraffersID Profile

Describe your product or service: 

“GraffersID is a multi-award-winning web and mobile application development company that delivers market fit and user-centric products. With the use of emerging technologies, the high-quality and usable products are developed and serviced to the clients. As well, we provide SEO and maintenance services to fit the clients growing needs.”

Describe your company values and mission: 

“The mission behind starting an IT company was to increase the startup’s success rate and hike it to 90% from 10%. Many startups fail due to the lack of guidance or knowledge about the new technical solutions. 

Once one of my friends in MNCs told me the problem he is facing with his product due to the use of the same technology which forced me to make a decision of starting a company which can help startups in [achieving] success. We build friendly working relations with our clients and provide them with value-based services.”

How are you funded? I.e. venture capital, angel investors, etc. 

“As an entrepreneur, I started my journey in 2017. At that time, I had a clear vision to solely start a company named GraffersID. So I did not approach [anyone] for funding. 

GraffersID is not a funded startup and is not willing to accept funding in upcoming years.”

How big is your team? Tell us a little about them (I.e. co-founders, freelancers, etc.) 

“GraffersID was founded by Mr. Sidharth Jain, and the team grew to 100+ employees within a few years. We have highly skilled and brilliant developers and creative designers who transform business ideas into real life. They brainstorm the loopholes and find alternative solutions for the application flow. We mainly focus on practical knowledge rather than paper work. Our hiring team plans a detailed interview with the employees and based on their skills we hire them.”

How did you come up with and validate your startup idea? Tell us the story! 

“I am a keen learner of new technologies, and my passion for coding took me here. I used to work in MNC, and one day one of my colleagues told me that there is no traction even after launching a product, and it's been six months, [and] the product is still not working in the market. 

I found that many startups fail because of the inadequate technical consultancy. Companies were lacking in technological support.

So. from there I came up with the startup idea GraffersID where we [help entrepreneurs find] the right technology and provide proper guidance to businesses to grow in accordance to their needs and requirements. 

I am glad that 9 out of 10 startups who worked with us are successful.”

How did you come up with your startup's name? Did you have other names you considered? 

“GraffersID brings all the passionate and creative developers and designers to one place. The idea behind keeping this name was to locate all the technical geeks and creative designers at a place where they can bring their innovative ideas into use.”

Did you always want to start your own business? What made you want to become an entrepreneur? 

“No. I never wanted to start my own business but then my love for the IT domain and curiosity for learning new technologies and helping young entrepreneurs with the innovative technical solutions built me as an entrepreneur.”

Did you encounter any roadblocks when launching your startup? If so, what were they and what did you do to solve them?

“Launching a startup and keeping it growing is a tough task. You have to be patient enough to advance your startup. In the beginning years of my career, maximum tasks were managed by myself but gradually my team expanded to 100+ employees within a few years.

Our first project was for one of my previous clients, who was once forced to close his startup because of the late delivery of the project but later on gave me the project at GraffersID name because of my dedication and hard work towards work.

We have to provide value-based services to our clients and gain their trust for a long-term working relationship.”

Who is your target market? How did you establish the right market for your startup? 

“We majorly focus on young entrepreneurs and startups who come up with amazing and unique business ideas. We offer them IT solutions such as web and mobile app designing and development services. Our services are customized for startups committed to their goal.”

What's your marketing strategy? 

“On a professional basis, we have a marketing team that focuses on making our business reach to other digital platforms. We have a team of search engine optimizer specialists and digital marketers who look at our company page engagement on all the social media platforms. 

Also, we planned a brainstorming routine where all the team members are required to deliberate their ideas.

Let me share an incident that worked well for us:

During the previous lockdown, one of our team members came up with the idea of promoting GraffersID on gaming platforms. His idea was to play games with the same user name of @graffersID. So, on weekdays, the team members used to play multiple games online. Gradually, we found that people seemed very curious, and GraffersID came up in the Google Search. Everyone including gamers and professionals started searching GraffersID, and this led to many leads, clients, and high levels of traffic.”

How did you acquire your first 100 customers? 

“The very first client of GraffersID who offered us the project was one of my previous clients. He saw dedication and passion in my work earlier and hence offered me the project. 

Our team delivered him the high-quality product on time, and this is how we gained credibility. Later on, he referred GraffersID to his family and friends and this is how we started acquiring our first 100 customers.”

What are the key customer metrics / unit economics / KPIs you pay attention to to monitor the health of your business? 

“GraffersID aims its attention towards providing its customers with a value-based, high-quality, and timely delivery of product. We make sure that our customers do not get disappointed by our service — hence, we listen to their ideas, understand their requirements, and get word-of-mouth [recommendations] for exceptional services. 

We keep track of their websites or product safety and security. We never leave our customers after the product is launched, also provide SEO and Maintenance services to make their product-market fit if they need it.

For us, customer success is our success.”

What's your favorite startup book and podcast? 

“My favorite book is ‘The 1-Page Marketing Plan.’ This book is about how to proceed with your business in the long term through marketing. Through marketing, we bring numerous clients who later refer us to their network.”

Is there a tool, app, or resource that you swear by the help run your startup? 

“There are many project management tools, but we mainly use Trello. It is easy to understand and tasks can be easily managed. We also use Skype for calls and meetings. This way, it becomes easy for the team and clients to communicate with each other.”

What is something that surprised you about entrepreneurship? 

“To establish a business, a person often puts all their efforts, time, and money. They leave behind their personal and social life which makes them a risk-taker. They prepare themselves for the upcoming challenges in life and face them accordingly.”

How do you achieve work/life balance as a founder? 

“The desire to learn and achieve more helps in achieving my work/life balance. I set my priorities beforehand. I know what I have to do, how it can be done, and when is the right time to do it. Thus, it becomes easy for me to manage my work-life balance.”

What is a strategy you use to stay productive and focused? 

“I don’t follow any strategy. My focus is to chase the purpose and give the best possible solutions to someone. Creativity makes you more productive, thus, think creatively and put your efforts in until you get it.”

Did you have to develop any habits that helped lead you to success? If so, what are they? 

“Success comes with people. I have a habit of connecting to new people every day, especially those who provide value to my business. My intention is to enlarge the network so that we can have happy clients with us. Thus, I mainly connect with funders and investors.”

What was your first job and what did it teach you? 

“I worked in Accenture, a well-known IT company at that time. I actively learned many trending technologies, and within six months, my team got impressed, and I was invited to contribute to the Accenture Knowledge library.

Shortly, everyone in the company started acknowledging me and my work. I helped people with the technologies from outside the company as well.”

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