GajiGesa’s Vidit Agrawal wanted to ensure employees had access to their wages as they were earned, in between traditional month-end pay cycles. This offers employees rather more liquidity and protects them from predatory lenders.
GajiGesa
Vidit Agrawal, co-founder of Indonesian startup GajiGesa, knows that crazy growth is fun. But endurance is best.
“Nowadays, everyone seems to be talking about profitability. I hope it stays that way. Constructing a revenue-driven or profitable business is something I’ve championed for years,” Agrawal told CNBC Make It.
GajiGesa operates in the “earnings access” business, which implies the company allows employees to withdraw their earnings as they’re earned, slightly than waiting until the end of the month to be paid. Gaji means “pay” while “gesa” means “rush” in Bahasa Indonesia.
“Vidit is a incredible person when it comes to continuously pushing the boundaries, at all times trying something recent to help the entire ecosystem,” said Anuj Kumar Maheshwari, CFO of retail distributor Kanmo Group, a customer of GajiGesa.
“Our HR department uses [GajiGesa] How [a part of] Employer Branding, where we are able to attract talent [with the perk] for the option to withdraw [portions of their salaries] before the end of the month,” Maheshwari said.
It was the “visually crazy” scene – usurer sharks circling the two sides of the Semarang factory – that prompted Agrawal to found GajiGesa in 2020 with his wife Martyna Malinowska, who heads engineering and product.
“On the one hand, they tried [lend] money to the employees. On the other hand, they were trying to extort money from employees,” says Agrawal, who held managerial positions at Uber, Stripe and Carro for nearly 8 years.
“It’s such a foul experience. Employees had no alternative,” said Agrawal. The average Indonesian employee earns approx 2.9 million Indonesian rupees ($192) monthly and struggles to make ends meet.
Human resource manager in managing the PT restaurant. Inovasi Kuliner Indonesia said she received many calls from “screaming” loan sharks who were lending money to their employees.
“The phone calls stopped two or three months after we began using GajiGesa,” said Ria Al’amin.
I can surrender 100% growth or 100x growth per 12 months if I can construct a sustainable revenue driven business.
Vidit Agrawal
Co-founder, GajiGesa
Currently, there are 42 different functions available in the GajiGesa application, including paying electricity bills, buying prepaid top-ups or petrol vouchers.
GajiGesa works with over 300 firms and serves over 750,000 employees.
Agrawal claims that GajiGesa is the biggest player in accessing wages in Indonesia. “I’m not only saying that [myself]. Once you talk to investors in the market who talk to all the players with access to earnings, they tell us that we’re the biggest,” he said.
“At the same time, we have never overstaffed, so it is a blessing that we’ve not had to lay off people,” Agrawal said as technology constraints continued to mount in Southeast Asia.
The entrepreneur told more about how he runs a business that continues:
1. Sustainability first, growth second
Agrawal doesn’t consider in using incentives to keep users engaged, where he has “seen so many firms” doing so. If the product doesn’t work, it would close it.
“If I even have to pay $2 to make $1, it is not a business,” Agrawal said.
While they offer incentives once they join a recent company, they don’t proceed to incentivize existing members.
The secret is to balance growth with sustainability.
We have never had fancy dinners. But we do not compromise on fun. We organized events in the office, where we provided catering. The cost is low but we made sure people really enjoyed themselves.
Vidit Agrawal
Co-founder, GajiGesa
“I can surrender 100% growth or 100x growth per 12 months if I can construct a sustainable revenue driven business,” Agrawal said.
He said that in the Malaysian used automotive market, Carro, where he was chief operating officer, had a principle called cost-effectiveness balanced with quality, which he applies to his startup today.
“We don’t desire to compromise on quality, but we also want to be economical as an organization,” he said.
2. Cutting Extra “Bone Fat”
He was so thrifty that his employees got irritated and called him “low-cost”.
“We have never had fancy dinners. But we do not compromise on fun. We organized parties in the office where we provided food. The cost is low, but we made sure people really enjoyed themselves,” said Agrawal.
He would also haggle for a 5% discount although the company has the money to pay for it. “Wherever we see extra fat on the bone, we try to cut it out,” he added.
“When people join GajiGesa, they think: why does the CEO really care about the $10? Aren’t there higher things to do? If I can eat the least expensive but still healthy meals or travel on a budget, I would like my team to see it.”
Personally, I’m very pleased with constructing someone’s profession because I’ve at all times had great managers at Stripe who helped construct my profession.
Vidit Agrawal
Co-founder, GajiGesa
He said they were already cutting costs for the first two operating years, although they’d $9 million in the bank.
GajiGesa raised a $2.5 million seed round in February 2021 and $6.6 million ahead of Series A in November 2021. Investors include January Capital, Northstar Group, European earnings access firm Wagestream and Next Billion Ventures.
Nonetheless, he emphasized that they spend on things which are crucial to the business.
“We do not compromise on engineering. We don’t compromise on technical tools. We don’t compromise on commissions for our top performers,” said Agrawal.
3. Taking good care of employees
When he was in Stripe, he learned to care for people. “Stripe really treated you want an individual, not a number,” said Agrawal.
All full-time GajiGesa employees receive worker stock options.
“All of us have to pay the bills and care for the family. If the company is doing well and there’s a great way out in any shape or form, the team gets real value from it,” said Agrawal.
GajiGesa team
GajiGesa