The Success Story of eSewa │ 7 Strategic Framework From eSewa │ eSewa Case Study

10 min read

eSewa is the first online platform of Nepal that was founded in 2009 to make digital payment successful in our country. It carries 200K transactions every day at present.

In 2018, the total valuation of eSewa was $40 million. And for the present time (2020), it must be more than $100 million approx.

 

 

eSewa - Nepal's First Online Payment Gateway

 

 

In this lesson, you are going to learn about the complete history of eSewa, and the seven best strategies from eSewa.

You are going to learn the practical business frameworks for your success too. Stay with us!

 

A Brief History of eSewa

Just like any of the excellent problem-solving products, eSewa was also a beautiful creation of the visionary entrepreneur of our Nepal, Biswas Dhakal.

 

A small thought can change the whole direction of life if you invest your valuable time for its demand.

 

Likewise, our Biswas Dhakal was also passionate about his childhood interest. He used to play with electrical devices in his childhood. He also made his music system on his own and a toy car that gets controlled by the wiring system. But later on, he confirmed that he was more passionate about computer engineering.

And after he grew up towards his adulthood, he used to save money by cutting off from the purchase of daily items. And this habit shows, he already knew about the importance of money that can cost for his profession.

 

 

eSewa - Nepal's First Online Payment Gateway - Biswas Dhakal

 

 

He completed his intermediate education from Chennai (Madras) – the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. And for the bachelor course in Computer Engineering, he joined Kantipur Engineering College in Nepal. And after one year, he realized that he was unable to get the idea about subjects of that course, and he can’t find any good topic that can motivate him for his study. He was unclear and blurred about his future and gone into a mild depression. Finally, he dropped Computer Engineering.

Again he didn’t lose hope and build confidence within himself and joined the Nepal College of Information Technology (NCIT). And then, for his future scope, he registered the F1Soft company in 2004, on a small scale with the vision to provide the service of domain registration and internet hosting services for Nepal.

In the beginning, he struggles to balance his employee’s payroll. His management system was unable to collect revenue. Still, his hard work and struggle keep him high.

 

2006 was the crucial year that was responsible for this remarkable innovation. Dhakal realized for the first time that the future of our Nepal is going to be technology-based, and the need for online payment will be high in the coming days.

 

 

eSewa - Nepal's First Online Payment Gateway

 

 

Dhakal, at a young age, approached many banks and few professionals, but nobody trusts him for his project on eSewa. Still, he didn’t lose his will power. In 2008, he introduced SMS Banking Service, and many of the banks approved his service.

After he builds his brand, the corporate industry starts to trust him. Then he got the opportunity through a loan of Rs. 25 lakhs as working capital from Laxmi Bank to start his project on eSewa.

He already knows about the need for online payment in Nepal. Also, he was clear that Nepalese people were not digitally literate. As well as, at that time, there were only 2% of people who use the internet (2019 – 70%). So, he thought to make people realize the need for digital payment and came up with a new idea.

 

He started to build an eSewa cash counter, where agents of eSewa handle all the transactions for all the local people around there. At present, eSewa nearly has more than 85K cashpoints.

Later, other payment gateways were also got introduced by other companies. But they can’t win the market share because Dhakal didn’t see competition as a competition, instead he believes that walking one step ahead of competitors is very good than watching for competitors.

But the truth may not sound like what you have thought. eSewa is still in loss and running transactions of merely 2-3% of Nepal. It is very less in reach from Nepalese people than what you may have expected.

But what I have seen eSewa’s success have some different approach. They nearly provide their services for more than 95% of our banks. Out of the total digital and financial markets, they have captured more than 95%. On Digital Financial Services (DFS), his company has contributed to more than 5 million users.

 

eSewa now has 3 million registered wallet users, and 85000 agents throughout Nepal. eSewa processes more than $3.5 million in transactions each day across all 77 districts. Even our largest news media publisher Kantipur invested approx. $15 million in eSewa. And the most favorite part, Dhakal has not come for a short term, but he has a very long vision with us.

After eSewa, there came Khalti, and IME Pay, still eSewa is dominating the market. It is because eSewa has already built it’s brand value and has won customer belief. So, what more can be the success for eSewa as already it is expanding like nothing else?

Shortly, it is true that people are going to use online services, and Dhakal is expecting to meet his companies goal after the digital revolution in Nepal.

 

We want to see at least 30% transactions of Nepal through the online gateway, and for that, eSewa is always there to serve – Biswas Dhakal

 

Strategic Framework From eSewa

Any business indeed needs to struggle for its extraordinary achievement. So, there was also the same story with eSewa. Without wasting any time, let me share the seven strategies which we can learn from eSewa.

 

Vision for sunrise industry

If you are unknown about the sunrise industry, then let me explain in a simple definition. Sunrise industry is that industry that has prospects and is going to be a tremendous market soon.

So, these days electrical, digital, web-based technologies, AI, etc., are the sunrise industry for us. And if you consider, eSewa was also a sunrise industry at that time. At present time, eSewa is more than the sunrise industry.

Biswas Dhakal already knew that all developed countries have online payment gateway, so to make Nepal developed in terms of the digital industry, eSewa can be the main protagonist. And we can’t deny that fact, because it is happening true.

 

Targeting for the rural market

When Dhakal introduced eSewa, at that time, people were not much literate about digital technologies. And it was so challenging to make people aware of it. Still, Dhakal didn’t lose hope and came up with a new idea.

He opened a cash counter in many areas that get controlled by the eSewa agent for handling all the transactions online. And gradually, people started to believe that they can save so much time by using the online payment system, and then eSewa started to cover its market.

 

 

eSewa - Nepal's First Online Payment Gateway - eSewa Cash Counter

 

 

The main idea that you should consider is that, don’t target the urban areas if you want to sustain your power for a long time. Because in Nepal, most of the people live in a village, and they are the real prospects for the coming days. And for the city, people can usually grasp the benefit of new technologies.

 

Focuses on building brand

If you don’t know, let me tell Biswas Dhakal was unknown to the corporate industry also after he introduced f1Soft. Nobody knows him, and he was also very young at that time. And when he asked for funding for eSewa, nobody believes in him.

Then, Dhakal knew that brand recognition is only a way that can makes him a great corporate leader. So, he directly didn’t plan to developed eSewa.

If you warn me for not supporting product value than a brand, then I assure you that I am not ignoring your fact too. But, at that time, eSewa was new, and no ever single people were demanding an online payment gateway. And of course, he had a lot of time to improve himself.

 

 

eSewa - Nepal's First Online Payment Gateway - F1Soft Brand

 

 

Thus, he goes for SMS Banking Service, and after the successful execution of this platform, he started to be known as one of the innovative entrepreneurs of Nepal.

After some time, he got the opportunity to start his project on eSewa, because he already has owned the belief of some corporate leader.

 

Prioritizing customer satisfaction over profit

They are not trying to charge us commission for any transactions. Even Biswas Dhakal stated that ” it has been 13 years since we started our company, but we are still operating eSewa in a loss.”

He sees a long future with eSewa, and it will not stop right here. Only 2% of transactions are on eSewa, and the remaining 98% are still missing. So, he sees his future with eSewa to connect with the remaining potential customers.

Thus, focus on building healthy and long term customer relationships. Only the loyal customer gives you a royalty.

 

eSewa became the first mover

Only two types of business can dominate the market. And among them, one that is the first mover, and another is a fast mover. So, in this condition, eSewa became the first mover.

Where there was no online platform to make a payment, eSewa comes to save us. Biswas Dhakal designed his products line, not only to make him a profit. But also to introduce such an online platform that will help us to make an electronic payment.

If he was late than other gateways, then it was confirmed that he can’t dominate such as now. So, think about a new service which you can offer to the market. Or also you can select an existing product, but don’t forget to be a fast mover.

 

 

See Also:- Khalti – Best Strategies for Dominating eSewa (Powerful Case Study)

 

 

eSewa offered referrals and a cashback scheme

For any payment gateway, it is so crucial to divert potential customers into their platform. So, eSewa did the best job for that.

eSewa provides much cashback offers as well as give some percentage discount on a purchase. Similarly, it gives us free money for referrals and the opportunity to redeem eSewa rewards for some great gifts.

 

 

eSewa - Nepal's First Online Payment Gateway - Refer and Earn eSewa

 

 

Recently it is offering us a gift for only Rs. 11. And if we didn’t get selected as the lucky winner, then it also gives us back our money. So, it is a great bonus for us.

These schemes are best for the low economy country because people love to win the lottery free of cost and to invest in risk-free options.

 

A great vision and mission to start with

” Our vision is to cover every payment sector (Small/Big, Dealer/Retail, Private/Government, Domestic/International), and continuously accomplish our mission to create a cashless economy.

In the future, we will cover every industry of Nepal with our revolutionary payment platform, which will help in the growth and development of the economy, and enhances financing mobility.

We are working for digital financial accessibility for all Nepalese and carry a vision of Digital 2020. We will be acting as the backbone of the economy of Nepal, which is our future, and we are into it. “

 

So, you have got an insight into the vision of eSewa. It is an inspiring and motivational vision for every online gateway. The vision and mission of a company also can be the best strategy if it can energize the internal motive of employee and management. Because until you are not motivated from inside, you can’t involve fully from outside.

 

So, these all are the best seven strategies that eSewa have operated successfully and became the pioneers of our digital industry.

Of course, it takes a long time to establish a great company in a developing country. And eSewa is still struggling in it’s developing phase.

I hope that our country may establish it’s more and more companies globally, and eSewa can provide us a medium for international payment as the first choice in the coming days.

 

I trust you appreciated understanding this and get insight into your curiosity.

Stay tuned for additional posts and articles this way. Remember to #share and leave us a #comment!

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