FlexC- an innovative and unique talent Marketplace that provides diverse sets of hiring experiences for enterprises. It is an AI-enabled platform with Integrated Data Science and Machine Learning Engine for Data-Driven insights that help companies find a perfect match every time. Mr.Girish kukreja Founder and CEO of FlexC interacts with Interview Times and shares his views.
1)What is the mission of FlexC?
Our vision and mission are straightforward, In India, while the gig economy has kicked off well in blue-collar jobs, white-collar work is predominately providing full-time employment. COVID-19 has changed the behavior where Work-from-Home is becoming the new Normal, the trust of organizations to get work done remotely has improved and hence the ratio of organizations employing Freelancers and Contractors will increase. FlexC coming from Flex Consulting will be the AI-based talent marketplace platform to hire and manage Organisations Hybrid workforce across full-time, Freelancers, and Contractors.
2) What inspired you to start a company and revolutionize the marketplace?
Starting something on his own was always on the bucket list, I quit my job last year when a pandemic halted our lives but I would say COVID-19 in a way gave me the opportunity to create something different that is in demand. FlexC aims to reimagine the hiring space, by being a talent marketplace to hire and manage the hybrid workforce. Like all developed countries the ratio of Contracting and Freelancing in new-age businesses will increase to 20-30% of overall employees. We want to be the No.1 marketplace to help transition this journey.
3) What do you think that is still huge unemployment though the resources are many and graduates are ample?
Indian education curriculum and what industry wants is a big mismatch. I think a lot has been done to fill this gap through autonomous universities, a lot of internship programs, and industry tie-up with colleges to prepare students for industry. The current challenge in the industry is upskilling and the rising cost of resources. The whole industry and HR have to spend time and energy to skill the current workforce and do this on a continuous basis to address this. People need to be agile to adopt new Digital skills to be employed or soon they will face the brunt of being outdated.
4)Is an MBA must be required for starting a company?
I think to start any business all you need is passion and belief to pursue your idea, hard work to see the execution success of the idea. What MBA gives is the knowledge and frameworks to do things in a structured manner. Also to scale things as well MBA gives you the mindset on how to scale it better. So, I don’t believe MBA is a must but a good value add to scale your business.
5) What is your advice for budding start-ups and students aspiring to launch a start-up?
Job gives you cash flow in the immediate term and Start-up generates value in the long term. I think for Students getting launching their own start-up, my only suggestion is to be prepared to fail, learn and keep trying. You will be compared to your batchmates who will enjoy the benefits of cash flow but once you are successful in generating value, it will be much more than your batchmate’s salary earnings. You have to be hardworking, patient, and persevere to succeed, the key is survival and focuses on business.
6) What is the extension plan for FlexC?
We have invested a lot of time in understanding the market and then creating the platform. We have a good network of 15K+ Consultants, 200+ Agencies, and 500+ organizations. We would like to expand on our HR agency network pan- India so we can cover local resourcing in all tier 2 and 3 cities Though, we have covered our platform for SME and start-up organizations, we have a model in place to approach large organizations. After achieving the above two, we want to foray into global markets and take this to developed countries.
7)Is funding easy to get any suggestions from you please?? How Did u get your first funding?
Funding is easy for people who have pedigree(IIT/IIM), excellent network connections, or have a proven history of start-up success/exits/fundraise before. For first-time entrepreneurs, it has to be a passion for your idea, the right domain, and sheer hard work. I would say funding is easier than before but still not accessible to all. With Covid19, the risk levels of VCs have gone cautious and the money is going towards existing start-ups to get bigger than new start-ups. We raised our pre-seed fund through friends and are planning to go for our next round soon.
8)Hiring culture has completely transformed due to the pandemic of how FlexC is taking the advantage of the trend?
COVID-19 gave me this opportunity to start something of my own, which I always desired. Our key premise was Work from home has instilled confidence in organizations about execution remotely. With that, people would prefer the convenience of going back to offices and hence freelance and contracting which is the norm in developed countries like US, UK, Europe has to increase in India especially in white-collar jobs like IT , Finance, Consulting, etc. How this space can be digitized through the marketplace model is something we are attempting here and I believe we are on the right path to make a difference in this space.
9) What made you quit your job? you have versatile experience of 20 years. what kind of challenges did you face?
In my 20 years’ experience, I have worked for three-quarters of the technology business – Product company, IT Services, and BPO Services. I wanted to ensure I experienced the start-up side to complete my last quarter and see full 360 degrees. I am Sindhi and the business runs in the blood. I always desire to start something of my own which I would say is more planned than a sudden decision to quit. In terms of challenges, for experienced people like me, what is more, important is the financial planning to play an infinite game of running the business rather than trial for a year or so. The key challenge is always the good team, convincing people to join you and believe in your passion is the biggest challenge. Second is funding which has to be bootstrapped before raising funds which is expected from markets as you are senior and should have skin in the game.
10)What is your revenue model?
We are a talent marketplace and our revenue model is similar to other digital platforms to earn platform fees from Consultants who provide services to organizations. We have a plan to incorporate a lot of other services for organizations and consultants like assessments etc which will be a value add charged.
11)What is your ‘Success Mantra’?
Agility and Perseverance are the two skills that I believe define me. In terms of execution, agility means:-
1- Reduce the Batch size
2- Reduce cycle time. In everything, we do these are the guiding principles to keep our light-footed.
Perseverance is the infinite game in the business, it’s important that the longer you can survive in the same, you will have opportunities to keep growing and scaling.
