Koramangala.com

Nine years and counting.!

Remember the dotcom crash at the turn of the millennium? It gave birth to several Internet sites who vanished overnight out of sight! There were also a few genuine survivors. Like, Koramangala.com, which can quite legitimately lay claim, nine years later, to be one of the most popular websites on Bangalore.

The promoters Balbir Singh and wife Amrit Sethi, started small, backing their gut feeling, and pooling their own money. They didn’t have the benefit of any venture capital funding or angel investors. Risky? You bet your last rupee it was.

The couple was not big on Internet experience. While Balbir had studied English Literature and had three decades of experience in printing and packaging, wife Amrit Sethi had a degree in Economics and used to promote Unicef greeting cards for 17 years.

Not exactly, a promising CV. But we didn’t mention one thing: The couple somehow sensed they were onto the idea of their life, and pursued it with missionary zeal, and a sense of desperation. If it didn’t click, their lifetime earnings was on the line. But if did…

On Saturday, Dec 22, the duo will be the toast of Koramangalans at their ninth anniversary bash at the Koramangala Club. From its baby steps in Dec 1998, Koramangala.com has come a long way indeed. Being featured on CBS, is easily its biggest moment. New value-added features like the Map, Go!Kora, and the launch of Bangalore’s first online shopping – KORASHOPPE, to mark the couple’s silver jubilee wedding anniversary, have been other moments to savour.

“You could say we had absolutely no credentials whatsoever, but we were not willing to give up on the idea, which we put to seed with the help of our friends and web designers, Rage Communications,” recalls Balbir.
Balbir Singh explains how the popularity of Koramangala.com came about. “I knew there were thousands of Bangaloreans working in the US and other countries and I had this gut feeling that they’d be our customers. And that’s precisely what happened. We gave personalized, timely and honest service, which others couldn’t offer. Others sold products like flowers, cakes, gifts, etc. We did errands, including sell some of these products. That probably made the difference. People could ask us to perform any service and we’d do it. Organising birthday parties, getting their property papers examined by an advocate, 4 kg cakes, five thousand rupees flower arrangement and so on. Which website offered such services? None that I know of,” he signs off.

But thanks to Bangalore’s infrastructure problems and traffic jams, the website has been forced to withdraw some of these services, though as Amrit Sethi points out, “email enquiries continue to pour in asking them to re-start these services, forcing a rethink on our part.” The Singhs plan to start flower delivery services from Valentine’s Day in Feb 2008.

On the revenue front Koramangala.com seems to be doing rather well, acknowledges Balbir, boosted by supplementary income from bookings done for hotels in Yelagiri.

What they say…
“Koramangala.com has been able to provide its global and local visitors with a rich and high-quality content and services. It is a remarkable story of how a small team could learn and satisfy the information needs of a wide segment of tech savvy users.” - Ashok Soota, Chairman, MindTree Consulting and former President of Wipro.

Koramangala.com is built on the strong foundation of services to the Koramangala community and even broadly, to the IT community. The website is a testimony to what a small team of focused and committed entrepreneurs can achieve.” – Srini Rajam, Chairman and CEO, ITTIAM Systems and former Managing Director of Texas Instruments.

Koramangala.com combines information, news and entertainment in the most interesting and useful manner. This site is a great way for a large number of people to stay connected to their neighbourhood and community.” - Som Mittal, President & CEO, HP GlobalSoft.

“Just wanted to let you know that it is awesome to find a site about Koramangala. I am also from Koramangala, 1st Block but am currently staying in Boston. Great Job!!!” - Vidya

“I heard about your URL on TV here in Europe. So I have decided to come and visit. I know Koramangala very well. I lived in Bangalore for almost five years. The happiest days in my life!” - Fatima Kempf, Switzerland

“The approach of starting small has helped Koramangala.com survive, while others have folded in the dotcom debacle.”- Doug Nairne, South China Morning Post

“The strivers keep on striving. You have stiff competition, yet keep increasing traffic all the time!” - Brad Wetzler, Wired Magazine

“Your whole operation is so fascinating it was like finding a diamond in the rough...”- David Turecamo, Freelance Journalist for CBS News and ABC News, New York.

“Hard work and dedication, not geographical location, are the principal reasons for you success.” - Bart Sullivan, Senior Reporter, GoMemphis.com, Memphis (USA).

“We were privileged to watch the Koramangala.com segment here on CBS …and it was wonderful. Keep up the good work and you have made India proud.” – Arun Darwar, Yale University