There’s a brand new smartphone being introduced virtually each and every month. It looks like the following iteration of your present telephone hits the marketplace inside of a yr of your acquire. Telephone corporations and marketplaces tantalise you with engaging change gives, tempting you to improve. However have you ever ever paused to imagine what turns into of your previous telephones?
Many marketplaces and shops give you the possibility of buying a refurbished telephone. This type of telephone undergoes thorough inspection for defects, maintenance, and substitute of misguided portions. In step with a file by means of Redseer Technique Specialists, the refurbished or used smartphone marketplace in India is projected to leap to $10 billion by means of 2026.
In 2015, Avneet Singh set out to shop for an iPhone for his mom however discovered the brand new telephone’s value past his finances when he visited a shop along with his pal, Saket Saurav. Alternatively, an enterprising salesman presented them a second-hand telephone at a considerably cheaper price, just about Rs 35,000 not up to a brand new one.
In spite of the tempting be offering, the telephone lacked any tests and got here with no guaranty. Opting towards the dangerous acquire, Avneet used to be impressed by means of the enjoy.
Operating in combination at Shopclues, he and Saket recognised an issue price fixing. Therefore, Shopclues presented a refurbished cell class, ReNew, which briefly generated multi-crore earnings inside of its first month.
They did intensive analysis at the refurbished cell marketplace and recognizing an opportune time in Would possibly 2017, they hand over their jobs and introduced ReFit World — a refurbished telephone startup, on a challenge to scale back e-waste by means of recycling and refurbishing second-hand units.
ReFit is not off course to reach a earnings of Rs 240 crore this monetary yr and save you 55,000 to 65,000 telephones from turning into e-waste each and every month.
The 2 Delhiites met via commonplace pals and their friendship solidified after two gross sales stints in combination at LG and Shopclues. The aforementioned incident and next release of the ReNew portfolio at Shopclues alerted the 2 MBA graduates about the possibility of the refurbished marketplace.
They carried out marketplace analysis and, whilst overseeing the ReNew portfolio, won sensible insights into the main points of the class. They discovered firsthand about sourcing stock, refurbishing telephones, and figuring out possible gross sales channels.
Coming from service-class backgrounds, the duo had long-held aspirations of turning into marketers. Recognising a promising trade alternative and gazing an important marketplace hole, they made the daring resolution to pursue their desires. They left in the back of their strong company careers to dive headfirst into the sector of entrepreneurship.
They invested all their financial savings and the then 28-year-olds took a private mortgage of Rs 15 lakh each and every and bootstrapped their trade. With a complete capital of Rs 55 lakh, they began ReFit World in Would possibly 2017.
“The refurbished marketplace used to be simply choosing up at the moment. Up till then, we simplest had the choice to shop for new telephones or second-hand telephones. A second-hand telephone didn’t have credibility. So we determined to provide high quality checked and examined refurbished telephones,” explains Saket (35), co-founder and CEO, ReFit World, to The Higher India.
The Delhi-based corporate used to be began with a group of 7 together with the 2 founders, and targeted at the offline marketplace. First of all, Saket and Avneet would load about 100 refurbished telephones of their vehicles, got down to the marketplace, and persuade channel companions to shop for those telephones.
“We might consult with other markets and be at the street for just about 10 days at a time within the preliminary days. We defined the product to the channel companions and requested them to agree with us with a small amount of cash. Teaching customers and companions used to be the primary, difficult step,” says Avneet (35), co-founder and COO, ReFit World.
They slowly discovered a couple of channel companions who invested any place between Rs 2 to five lakh, which kicked off the trade of the endeavor.
The primary two years have been a whirlwind of sleepless nights for those marketers, totally dedicated to their mission. Saket recollects that at first in their trade, his spouse used to be pregnant, whilst Avneet’s oldsters had simply begun looking for a bride for him.
“We invested all our financial savings; it used to be ‘do or die’ for us. We had a powerful trust that it might paintings, and labored onerous. We took no days off and burnt the nighttime oil. We thinking about development a excellent offline base and instructing our vendors whilst development partnerships with cell manufacturers and marketplaces to shop for again previous telephones,” provides Saket.
Their efforts paid off as other people began trusting their logo and their gross sales grew. Within the first yr of operations, they earned a earnings of Rs 8 crore.
A 47-point high quality test
ReFit resources previous telephones from 3 channels — marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart, cell producers like Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Apple, and big structure outlets like Sangeetha, Poorvika, and Croma.
As soon as the telephones achieve their administrative center, they’re examined the use of ReFit’s in-house diagnostic software which has 47 high quality test parameters. Saket says that inside of two and a part mins, the applying identifies what’s unsuitable with the telephone. Their engineers then rectify and service the telephones, carrying out additional tests to look if the sensors and cameras are operating correctly.
As soon as the faults are mounted, the applying is administered once more to test if it passes all high quality tests. It’s then despatched both to offline companions or bought via their very own web site, which used to be introduced in October 2023. In addition they be offering a six-month guaranty on their telephones.
Their moderate promoting value offline is Rs 6,000 and on-line is Rs 11,000. There may be extra call for for high-end telephones on-line, say the founders.
They additional proportion that they promote between 55,000 to 65,000 telephones each and every month and feature bought over 1.75 million telephones thus far. They declare that they’ve been winning from the outset and feature completed a constant 100% year-on-year expansion. Their earnings reached Rs 187 crore closing yr and is projected to hit Rs 240 crore this yr. Working in over 100 towns, they have got a community of greater than 50,000 outlets.
The foremost distinction between a second-hand and refurbished telephone, explains Saket, is the standard and credibility. “There’s no high quality trying out or checking carried out on a second-hand telephone. We be sure that there’s no downside with the telephone and provide you with a guaranty,” he says.
Those telephones also are recommended for the surroundings as they prolong the lifespan of units and save you them from contributing to waste. In 2022, the Waste Electric and Digital Apparatus (WEEE) discussion board reported that 5.3 billion cell phones would turn into waste in that yr on my own. As an alternative of recycling previous telephones, many of us both stay them at house or discard them in packing containers.
Alternatively, those gadgets comprise precious fabrics like gold, copper, and silver, which, if recycled, can save you the will for extracting valuable minerals and assist scale back carbon emissions.
ReFit additionally gave the impression on Shark Tank India Season 3 and secured a deal for Rs 2 crore from 3 ‘Sharks’ — Anupam Mittal, Vineeta Singh, and Amit Jain. Submit their look on Shark Tank, they have got won over 20,000 queries from outlets and vendors in simply 10 days, say the elated founders, including that they need to building up their on-line presence within the coming years.
From first of all preserving their mission a secret from their households to organising an organization valued at Rs 200 crore, Avneet and Saket exemplify the facility of onerous paintings, seizing alternatives on the proper time, and embodying the hustle tradition.
“You wish to have to be fair with your self and your shoppers, paintings onerous, and feature the keenness to construct a trade. Don’t persist with a technique; as an alternative, be prepared to redo issues if one thing doesn’t paintings. We completed our objectives as a result of our intent and fervour have been sturdy,” says Avneet.
Edited by means of Pranita Bhat
Assets
WEEE Discussion board