He Just Dial-ed to earn Rs 500 cr

DIAL MONEY: V V S Mani MD Just Dial says they receive over 4 crore calls per year.

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New Delhi: There are aspiring entrepreneurs who dream to establish big projects, but stop mid-way for not knowing where to get the funds from. And then there are few like V S S Mani who manage to build a Rs 500 crore business empire just by offering information over the phone.

V S S Mani runs Just Dial—an online and telephone search engine (directory service) that provides contact details of almost each and every little thing under the sun provided it's listed with them. Mani owns a snazzy 20,000 sq ft office at Malad in suburban Mumbai. His business model is unique and simple—people ask for information and Just Dial gives it back in seconds, all over the phone. From hospitals to pizza joints to a plane charter—if the product or the service is listed with the company, you get it right away.

Mani made a humble start with an investment of just Rs 50,000. He now sits pretty with a recent valuation of Rs 500 crore and an annual turnover of over Rs 100 crores.

But Mani has slogged it out from being a directory salesman to a matrimonial magazine and a wedding planner—he tried his luck at several places before hitting the jackpot.

“What we felt is the best way is to win people over. The moment somebody calls you and he gets what he’s looking for it start getting proactive. You anticipate what people are looking for—that gives us a momentum. That makes us grow,” says V S S Mani- MD-Just Dial.

And just take a look at his growth story:

Just dial now lists 2 million entries in 40 cities and a team of 2,600 people. It now receive almost 4 crore calls a year.

And the figures have caught the eye of investors like Hong Kong based SAIF partners and US hedge fund Tiger Global who now own a piece of the company.

“The ability of this guy in terms of being in charge of the business is great. He has built it from the scratch has brought it to a level without any external funding. Those are some of the things that impress,” said Vibhor Mehra—VP- SAIF Partners.

Mani is thinking global now and is planning entering the US Markets with his range of products. Very soon customers sitting in US could get their pizza through Just Dial in India.