Students, stay at home moms, and even people working incorporates, at some point in life, everyone looks for a part-time job. But finding a part-time job is as difficult as finding a full-time job, if not more difficult. To make things easy for people looking for such jobs, AbhishekBagaria took the initiative and launched Elasticjobs.
Elasticjobs is an online marketplace for flexible part-time jobs for people of all kind, but specially focused on students, stay at home women, and retired people looking for a part-time job. AbhishekBagaria, who is a B. Tech. from IIT Kharagpur, wants to transform Elasticjobs in a one-stop platform for the search of part-time jobs of all kinds in India.
Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.
We make hunting for flexible jobs easier, faster, and safer. We also help companies find right resources for their flexible jobs. We are a marketplace for flexible jobs and resources, which is enabled by intelligent humans and technology. Typically we deal with part time, work from home, freelance, flexible time, and internship based jobs. Our prime customers are women, students, and retired people looking for part time/work from home type of jobs. Our customer can also be a working executive or a business person looking for a job for weekends or for the evenings. All companies who want to tap the pool of resources interested in flexible working are our customers.
What inspired you to build the above product/ service?
I was looking for a part-time teaching job for myself. While searching for such jobs, I realized that there is not a single platform, where one can find such jobs. I also realized that in spite of so many job portals and job boards in the market, it was so difficult to find a genuine part time, work from home, or freelancing jobs. This is when I got the idea for this product.
What is your life mantra?
Live and Let Live
What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?
Predicting customer behavior and retaining talent are some of the biggest challenges we faced. Given that we were selling a product or service which is non-standard in nature, it was a challenge to predict how the customer will react to our offerings, whether they will at all willing to pay for the same, and if they are willing to pay, what should be the right price and so on. Retaining talent is always a challenge for a startup. We managed this challenge by outsourcing some of our functions.
Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.
Till now, our venture is totally bootstrapped. But yes going forward at some point of time, we shall look for external funding.
According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?
Perseverance, hard work and focus, in that order. Most important is perseverance. In every field one can get success, provided one is willing to do the above three. Life or business both is a journey towards the unknown, where things do not happen as per the set plan. Only the above three qualities would help you manage the uncertainties.
Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?
Our business hugely depends on the Internet as a medium. We use all social media tools /services like Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. We use other tools provided by Google like Google AdWords, Google Analytics, Google Webmaster, Google Mail, etc.
Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.
Sincerity and attention to details
Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.
I think I have a tendency to micro-manage, which I want to change.
Answer in less than 50 words
Success / Money / Fame, are all by-products. Do not hanker for them. Work towards excellence and be patient, other things will follow.
- One mistake you believe every individual must avoid
Comparing yourself or your journey with others. Every journey is different and hence incomparable.
- One most important lesson that you have learnt till now
Perseverance and hard work are great virtues and important for success.
What are your plans for next 3 years?
We want to create a great brand in 3 years in the area of flexible jobs. We want to create a very credible marketplace for flexible jobs where both job seekers and companies are comfortable in dealing with. If somebody thinks about flexible jobs in India, they should think about us.
If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?
Not sure.
What are your top three getaway destinations?
I love wildlife / forest. So at the first available opportunity, I get out of the concrete jungle and go to the real jungle. I love the pace of life and serene atmosphere in the jungles, it helps me unwind.
Share a quote that inspires you the most.
“Your problem isn’t the problem. Your reaction is the problem.”