#inspiringstories@Awfis is an initiative by Awfis Editorial Team to showcase the brilliant business ideas and the journey of our startup member community
One of the biggest struggles as an entrepreneur is getting a professional to develop your platform for you. Whether it is a website or an app, developers are now a pre-requisite to start any company. Freelancers and interns are good options but many times it is not enough.
Kapil Mehta faced the same struggle while starting his own e-commerce company aimed at a niche segment. He was unable to work with the developer of his choice and had to work with one he did not know well enough. He had to constantly go through hierarchies to get in touch with the developer. Developing companies would demand different pricings, contractual service and extra charge for small changes. They would even abstain from giving guidance. As a new business, there was a time crunch, cost concerns and many more considerations that needed to be taken into account.
This is when the concept of DeveloperOnRent.com struck Kapil Mehta. If anyone could rent a developer who would work out of their office, blend into the team culture and provide excellent results, it would solve one of the biggest challenges for any start-up! If a transparent, open and well-integrated process was added, it would become an even more efficient solution for customers.
The hard work to develop this platform started as an unaccompanied journey at home. Slowly but steadily fired by the need to solve this problem, Kapil developed the models, processes and platforms that were needed to give DeveloperOnRent.com a kick start. His target market were customers across B2B, Start-ups, Mid-Size companies and Corporates.
He soon got Jitesh Jain, a technocrat and former employee of Infosys on board at a Director’s position to help him out and since then, they have grown into a wildly successful business.
As an army of two, it was vital that Kapil and Jitesh form a larger team. However the recruitment journey was an uphill battle.
“It was not an easy task for us to build a team, find business and understand the what, how, when and few other questions about the ecosystem. Last but not the least a bootstrap situation as well. So every move was taken cautiously. We failed miserably at times but the passion and faith in the model kept us going,” says Kapil.
After surviving the complexities of recruitment, they got developers on board and their start-up, Developer On Rent was ready for the next step. DeveloperOnRent.com was started as a platform under JJ Bytes Private Limited.
“Jitesh started leading the tech team with handful of developers and delivering state-of-the-art solutions with latest tech trends, ease-of-use, User Interfaces and meeting all business processes on the customer side,” adds Kapil.
The first three months were spent training the employees to deal with various situations and projects that a customer might throw their way. There was no business for these three months. There would be delay in distribution of salaries but the team never gave up.
“As a Founder it was never easy to bring all on the same page with passion to grow, innovate, build processes and trust in the platform and most importantly to create a mind set to achieve,” commented Kapil.
The business model of Developer On Rent is quite unique. The renting model, the flexibility, accountability and ownership and the no fixed pricing strategy is unlike any other business model in the industry.
There is constant motivation derived from passion, ideas, innovation and the dream to become big by earning a good name for the company so that even in challenging situations, both Kapil and his team remains motivated to fight through it.
“The hunger to deliver every day, grow the business and yet ensure that our relationship with each customer, employee and partner shines through, is the key!” says Kapil with a lot of passion.
For his team, it is more about the learning experience. Various technologies, different customers, different behaviors, different business models, different technology stacks, keep the team motivated.
When asked about Developer On Rent’s vision, Kapil Mehta will give you the following answer:
“Focus, attention to detail, doubling the revenue, increase client base and ensuring that we remain hungry and focused on innovation as a technology platform. Also, we aim to take this platform to a global level by setting up in other locations.”
We at Awfis are extremely proud to see the hard work, passion and determination propelling Developer On Rent! We find their story inspiring and are delighted to see them achieve great success while working at our centre.
This story is based on the interview of Mr. Kapil Mehta, Founder – Developer On Rent by Awfis Editorial Team
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