Advertising not a one-stop solution: Lessons from Byjus & Paytm

It is the dream of every entrepreneur to create a company with ever-increasing customers, high valuation among investors and the brand name known all over the world. While pursuing these goals many of them forget that unless you invest in your product upgradation, employee satisfaction & customer loyalty there is no use in creating a brand value through heavy advertising through mass media. Recent issues faced by Byjus, Paytm and very recently Bharatpe are all examples now for any start-up company to learn some lessons.

Create value inward. Invest in your product, employees & customers

Even before Byjus was called in by the authorities for enquiry, the brand faced severe backlashes from its customers & employees. While customers were angry with the high intense personal-call marketing tactics (they would call an existing customer every day to market the same product) followed by non-upgradation in the product quality (even a 6th standard kid could find out spelling mistakes in their online study material), employees were angry at the pressure tactics used to make them meet high targets and the way they were sacked to be replaced by newcomers. The internet was already filled with the customer complaints and the bad-mouthing by erstwhile employees. (This same author had warned about this in a previous article in https://www.afaqs.com/news/advertising/hrithik-roshan-bats-for-whitehat-jr-what-will-this-do-to-the-brands-image) . Byjus as a unicorn company soared ahead with high valuation but it was losing its inhouse brand ambassadors (customers & employees). TATA group is an example where they invest continuously for generations in keeping their employees and customers loyal. Even when they face a tough situation, these two pillars - employees & customers – always stand behind them in full support.

Slow and steady build a solid brand.

“Patience is a key element of success,” said Bill Gates. When a man who has created a great empire out of his business, we ought to give ears. In a recent talk show, Mr. Kochouseph Chittilappilly, the founder of the brands like V-Guard, Wonderla & Veegaland said “All of you know me now as a successful businessman. There were all those years behind where no one knew I existed. Business is about building it slow and steady.”
Most start-ups nowadays try to be a unicorn and scale up so fast that on the way up it stumbles and start falling. The higher you go the heavier will be the fall. Recent issues faced by Byjus was due to its scaling up in all directions with high paced acquisitions and even the restrictions on Paytm came after its entry into every aspect of financial business available instead of focusing and stabilizing its main business as a payment app. These companies might of course come back but will pay a high price for its lapses. Start ups and entrepreneurs must learn the value of patience and build your brand slow and steady and keep all the physical and financial infrastructure in place before scaling up.

Follow the law of the land

The cardinal rule in any business to run in the long run is to follow the law of the land it operates. Just by creating high valuation and bringing in high profile investments is not a solution for your business to be in the run for a long time. Byjus was called in by the officials for flouting several laws of the country, Paytm is facing issues for not following several norms to be followed under RBI rules, Bharatpe is facing issues as its co-founder has been called in by officials for breaking financial laws. You can build a brand for a short run by spending heavily on mass advertising but keeping it alive in the long run needs to be by following the rules of the land. Great business thinkers has always said that the success of any brand, any product or any technology depends on the law of the land. Especially when you are a start up you have to know the laws, should be updated about the changes in the laws and adhere to them steadfastly. Unlike bigger companies a small company may not be able to face the financial struggle while facing legal issues.