Anar — why we are doing what we are doing?
First, some context
Ever wondered how large organizations like Reliance, Tata, Alibaba, and so on are able to establish, upscale, and succeed in most businesses they step into? What is that something which these Business giants have and the small business entrepreneurs don’t?
Network! A large business network!
Imagine a small businessman in Mumbai who sells T-shirts. He knows that Jalandhar houses India’s best T-shirts suppliers. But the issue is — How to connect with them? Who to connect with?
There is a massive white space in the way these small businesses create and grow their network. Having the right contacts and connections can by far solve any kind of business requirement in every dimension, be it supply, demand, financing, or staff.
Anar is a business networking platform for 70 million small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India where they can form and grow their business network. However, some of you might not be aware our long-term plan is to build a platform that helps all stakeholders in the business to grow to their full potential with the help of technology. This is the overarching business purpose for which Anar exists. We believe that small businesses in India have been marginalized on a continuous basis by large offline players and online stores. Anar is here to change that. We will build many use cases which will open up business opportunities for all SMBs in ways never possible earlier.
🎯 Problem Statement
Small businesses constantly need to network — to find new suppliers, vendors, and customers. New partners mean access to newer products to sell to their customers, new terms of credit, better margins, and a better life. So the instinct of small businesses is to constantly lookout for opportunities.
However, 85% of the SMBs in India have small & fragmented networks. A typical small business would have 20-100 buyers/suppliers in his/her ecosystem, some in his/her area or community, and some faraway connected by WhatsApp. This leads to lower avenues of generating business for these SMBs as:
- There are fewer suppliers to source from (for buyers)
- There are fewer buyers to sell to (limited discovery for sellers)
- Knowledge of the latest trends remains limited
- Engagement between the parties remains limited
Current online networks are unable to solve this challenge:
- Current social networks: For personal use and no filters for specific industries/products hence no way to discover buyers/sellers in an organized fashion
- Current messaging apps: For 1–1 chat with no discovery
- Current B2B platforms: Complicated listings, commissions, listing fees, entry barriers with a UI that does not enable discovery or enable social interactions
Imagine a jewellery shop owner in Ghatkopar Mumbai. He may be procuring his goods that are to be sold in the shop from a fixed set of vendors — some his relatives, some that people have recommended, and some that came and pitched to him. He may not have ever seen the kind of designs and products that a supplier from Mysore can offer, or the credit terms that another supplier from Surat can offer. This is where Anar comes in with a life-changing proposition for him, by putting him on a platform where he can easily browse products and build new business relationships.
The Product
Anar is a LinkedIn + Alibaba for SMBs. Starting from India, all businesses in the world will have a profile on Anar, where they share their products, see other people’s products, share updates and do all their business communications through the platform.
Anar will be the digital record of everything that the business is… If people want to know anything about a business, they will visit its Anar profile and find all the needed details.
Key features of the product include-
- Businesses create their Business Profile + Website
- Feed: Latest updates from their connections (products, requirements, news, etc)
- Discover new suppliers & buyers and know the new trends in the market
- Easy content generation
Product Demo:
🏃 Current Traction
Anar has already gained considerable traction since its launch in March 2020. Our progress has been tremendous between January 2021 and Oct 2021
- Businesses — 98K to 230K (2.5x)
- Products — 559K to 2.8M (5x)
- Business connections — 770K to 4M (5x)
The best part — products on Anar have received a staggering 160 million views to date!
Success story
🤼 Team
The team consists of experienced entrepreneurs who are domain experts. Our in-depth understanding of how small businesses work coupled with the hands-on product management and engineering skills makes for a great team.
- Nishank Jain — Co-founder & CEO; previously: Entrepreneur, Amazon, IIM Lucknow.
I come from a business family in Mumbai where over a period of five years, I have run four jewellery stores, managed a leading gemstone ring brand, and founded and scaled a wholesale jewellery company to 100+ jewellers in eight cities across India. I have a personal network of 500+ SMBs including my friends, relatives, and all business associates I have worked with over the years.
Sanjay Bhat — Co-founder & CTO; previously: PayTM, Dell; BITS, IIM Lucknow
You might also want to check out this short investment note by Elevation Capital which states why Anar from an investor’s perspective — https://elevationcapital.com/summit/insights/investing-in-anar
