Proto.in Article1 : The Art of Building Internet Business

A lot of businesses start with a small scale-operation and then gradually gain momentum and volume. For first generation entrepreneurs taking a call to pursue a business is even more difficult. The situation was no different for Murugavel Janakiraman - Founder of Bharatmatrimony.com. He started his venture from his bedroom way back in 1997. At that point of time, internet was just picking up and few people were using internet as a medium for discussion and information sharing. During initial stage he developed a forum for discussion and information dissemination.

After sometime he noticed that a lot of people were using such platforms for matrimony purposes. After some thought, he decided to focus on this area and founded Bharatmatrimony.com. During initial stage a lot of people were skeptical to put their photographs and information over the net. Also a lot of people were just hitting the website and not taking any action. In the initial stage they charged Rs. 300 once the marriage is finalized. After some time Bharatmatrimony was made paid service which charged for establishing contact. Slowly the business started picking up and they got several million registered users in no time. In 2006 they raised money to scale up their operations. Currently they have more than 1000 employees and 700+ Bharatmatrimony centers.

The key learning's from the session: -
1. For 1st generation entrepreneurs, everything starts small and then grows gradually based on dedication and business decisions.
2. One should be flexible enough to do mid-way correction. If one strategy is not going well, be ready to try out new things.
3. Be passionate about what you are doing.
4. Be transparent to all stakeholders i.e. employees, partners, customers
5. Don't change your attitude with time as you grow bigger and achieve financial success.
6. Share your wealth with people who shared your dreams and joined you during initial stage of your venture
7. Be ready to take and enjoy risk. You past experience and family background doesn't matter a lot, if you have passion to realize your dreams.