Commercial Director of LLP “Naimi.kz” Magzhan Madiev told abctv.kz how the project swiftly becomes profitable

- How did you come to the idea of ​​an existing project? Were there at that time similar services in Kazakhstan?

There were two companies in our group: digital-agency and cleaning company. Business has developed rapidly, but we thought about more options for accelerated growth. Then came the idea to unite the efforts of the two companies and create a platform for individuals. There were no quality projects with a similar idea in Kazakhstan, even abroad digitalization of this market was a new phenomenon. Service Naimi.kz was established in January 2015. At the start of the project the database of the service had 3000 registered specialists, and the number of received applications through the website was not more than 10 a day. In February 2016 the service has become available for mobile devices in the form of two applications. One - for customers, and the second one - for workers. Currently, more than 10 thousand specialists are registered at Naimi.kz and the applications received through the mobile app are more than 200 a day. The total number of mobile app users - more than 42 thousand people, and the number of processed applications during the entire period is more than 24 thousand in the total amount of 200 million tenge.

- That is Naimi.kz earned 200 million tenge?

- Not certainly in that way. Not naimi.kz has earned 200 million tenge, but private individuals, who receive orders through our service. They pay from 50 to 225 tenge for access to each order. Payment model is called pay per leads (PPL).

- How much was the initial investment in the project? How many investors are involved in the project, and who it was - you or someone else? If there was someone else, were they promised some share of profit / interest in the project?

- We have invested about 70 thousand dollars at the first stage.Then shut down the pre-seed round of investment in the amount of 185.5 million tenge from the Fund Ordabasy Ventures.

- How quickly did the project develop at the first phase? What challenges did it face?

- Naimi.kz quickly grews, but the main challenge is to ensure that clients’ applications are matched with quality offerings of private specialists. The growth of orders greatly outpaces the specialists base. 200 applications are received every day, of which 36% are left without the attention of specialists.

- Can we say that Naimi.kz has become profitable? If so, in what period did it manage to reach break-even and to become profitable? If not, how much more investment does the project need?

- Naimi.kz plans to enter the operating return after 3 months. Then profits will begin.

- Is the service represented in the regions? Can you talk about the prevalence of clients, for example, among residents of Almaty and Astana? What is the vision for the development of the project in the future? Is it possible to access to neighboring markets?

- Service is actively represented in Astana and Almaty. We are actively preparing for the launch in all cities of Kazakhstan.

- With regard to the improvement of the service – how does it happen?

- Service depends on two main things: from the model of application processing, which takes place through mobile apps, as well as on the quality of private providers of services. We carry out work in both areas.

- Have there been suggestions to sell the business? Do you exclude the possibility of withdrawing from the project in case of receipt of an attractive offer?

- Proposals to invest in a project often come, but no one wants to by the whole business, as no one but the founders know and can do the project success. We often get suggestions to launch the service in other cities and countries. We plan to expand the project to the national scale this year, and international scale next year. We do not plan to sell the business. On the contrary, we plan to repurchase the neighboring companies. In the first place, we plan expansion to neighboring markets, then the non-CIS markets

- Did you buy or think of about buying some developments that could improve the project? Is it expensive in terms of money / time - to develop everything yourself and not give it to outsource?

- Business model of Naimi.kz is unique, so unfortunately, there are no ready technological solutions on the market yet. We have to develop everything ourselves. With effective management, in-house development is more profitable than outsourcing. In-house design of the product makes the output product more qualitative.

- Are you interested in other sectors? How difficult is it in Kazakhstan to earn money for the development of mobile services? How big is the tax burden and are there any opportunities to minimize costs?

- We are interested in international expansion as the market of Kazakhstan is very small. For the same reason it is difficult to make technological projects in our country, as the market does not justify a large investment in technology. But zooming into other markets is possible and not too expensive.

- What did a recent participation in the global summit of entrepreneurs in the United States give you? How do you feel about the PIT "Alatau" in Almaty? There is a believe that innovations actively develop in the US and the EU not only because there is a science, but because many developments are commercialized, being in demand at the large market. Is it enough for Kazakhstan to create a conditional Silicon Valley or we are talking about something else? It's no wonder the American Valley attracts professionals, including those from Kazakhstan and Russia. What is their trick, in your opinion?

- I saw the start-up ecosystem of Silicon Valley inside. I talked and adopted experience of top US IT-entrepreneurs. First of all, it gave me a new understanding of global trends in technology, as well as the difficulties on the way of startups that are identical everywhere. Valley entrepreneurs are people just like us, but their ecosystem gives them much greater opportunities. Accordingly, our country requires an ecosystem development, which we plan to do.

PIT "Alatau" offers good conditions, but this is not enough. The biggest need of Kazakhstani ecosystem, above all, is human resources. For the market to have qualified IT-specialists, it needs a lot of work in the field of education. The second problem of the market is an online culture of the population, as well as venture culture of investors. It is necessary to carry out extensive work to instill the culture in the minds of our people.

Source: abctv.kz