When Alok Singh thought of starting Novatium Solutions in 2005, he had a simple plan in his mind - to make computing simple and affordable without compromising on the user experience. With prior experience in companies like Satyam and Tata Motors, Singh zeroed in on the idea of launching a PC with no computing hardware like the CPU and, instead, managed by a central server.
This is how Novatium, Singh's brainchild, came to life with an investment of Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million). The company has successfully gathered a sales momentum for its low-cost netPC since last year.
Keeping prices at rock bottom, Novatium offers netPC for just Rs 4,999 along with a monthly subscription starting at Rs 450 that also includes a 30-hour Internet access package.
"The netPC is compatible with multiple operating systems," explains Singh. It is not burdened with a CPU, hard discs or any similar hardware. Instead, Novatium provides users with a set-top box, keyboard and mouse.
"The hardware functions of the computer are managed by a central server," says Singh.
But he soon realised that having words like 'low-cost' tagged to your service can be a double-edged sword in India. "Unlike other markets, in India, you have to offer a certain brand value which the customer will find attractive," Singh says.
Learning from the mistake of not having powerful support partners, Novatium has now tied up with companies like BSNL and NIIT to promote netPC among the masses. The company also has a tie-up with Tata Teleservices in Mumbai. For the rest of the country, it works with BSNL and MTNL.
Already, 17,000 customers are using netPC in the country, and Singh believes that the netPC concept has tremendous growth potential in the present economic turmoil.
Novatium is not wasting any capital on mass media advertising. It prefers to rely on customer references at this stage. In its bid to do things differently, Novatium also offers a buy-back option for its customers where, in case they do not like the netPC service, they can return it.
Singh proudly says that drop-put cases have amounted to only 1 per cent so far. "I was always clear about one thing: The service had to be excellent. Then only the model will work," he says.
Singh claims that the turnover of the company is close to Rs 5 crore. The target now is to grow this manifold in the next few years. Singh is confident that Novatium is on its way to attain a high growth rate, with overseas expansion plans already in place.
Novatium's netPC is available in markets like Mauritius where the company is aiming to penetrate up to 100,000 households by 2012. Although Singh will first focus on India, he says he is game for more.
"It's a new service and we are hoping that it will attract more consumers in international markets within the next couple of months."
