Finding a shop in Nepal can be an extremely frustrating experience. Often, the only choices for Nepalis are to spend hours hopping from one shop in New Road to another, or to ask a relative for overly complicated directions. Lately, even the smallest shops are trying to surf the wave of internet marketing. This however, is easier said than done. Websites are usually overkill for small businesses who are not willing to spend an insane amount of money. Even when they are willing to part with around 20k rupees, since the tangible benefits of websites cannot be directly observed, they tend to become an expenditure rather than an investment. This is where Prashant Poudel and Bhetincha.com come in.

A story to sell

After finishing his studies, Poudel worked as a sales executive for Britannica books. Here he first fell in love with sales, which he says is still his forte. After a summer romance with sales, Poudel moved to India to get a Master’s degree. Which he did, twice. Right after that Poudel joined a call center. Quickly rising up the ranks, soon he had about 6000 people working under him. This however, he felt, wasn’t what he was meant to do. Poudel thought that a lot could still be done in Nepal, where he felt society was receptive not only to startups but towards change in general. Thus, he sat down with a few friends, and brainstormed, the result was Bhetincha.

The Business Model- Search in order to find

Bhetincha.com, very crudely putting it, is a local search engine. You search a business or a type of business, select a location, and Bhetincha will give you all the businesses in that location, select a business and you will be greeted with its details including the phone number, its location and exactly what it serves. It also includes a telephone inquiry service, from which an individual can inquire about businesses and the information will be texted to your phone. A bridge between businesses and consumers.

The charm of Bhetincha is that it is very local. It is Nepalis adding information about Nepal for Nepalis. In the near future Bhetincha seeks to add a scorecard system to their website through which users can assess which businesses are trustworthy and who isn’t. Furthermore, Bhetincha will have a mechanism in which unresponsive businesses are red flagged. Through this they want to add a level of accountability towards customers to Nepali businesses, something that is largely unheard of in Nepal.

To take a risk

When Poudel and his friends decided to start Bhetincha.com, there were numerous individuals who strongly advised against this business model. A model which had previously proven fatal for many businesses in Nepal. However, Poudel put everything on the line and started Bhetincha.com. “Whatever you do wherever you go, you can’t go below zero”, shares Poudel who does not consider starting Bhetincha a risk, according to him “The biggest risk you can take in life, is to take no risks”. Extremely thankful to all IT entrepreneurs who with their amazing patience and resilience set up an ecosystem for tech development in Nepal, Poudel hopes Bhetincha eventually will become a large community. He has set a target of associating 2500 individuals with Bhetincha in five years. He considers that a pressure for himself and his company to strive for.

Look for anything- Aba Bhetincha

An extremely charismatic and undoubtedly smart individual, Prashant Poudel wants the Nepali marketing media to evolve with the changing times.  Bhetincha.com is a step in that direction. What started off as a brainstorming session for ideas, Bhetincha.com has already started gaining some real traction in the market. People are starting to get aware of the need for an online presence in the modern world, and Bhetincha is an easy way of achieving that. Riding on a road built by the early tech startups of Nepal, Bhetincha seeks to connect people with companies. So that when an individual looks for anything in Nepal, Aba Bhetincha!