Netting gains remain an online dream

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: Net entrepreneurs still haven’t given up hope of striking it rich in the virtual world, which continues to see specialised portal launches almost every day. But some industry experts are not sure if such portals will stay the course.

With less than 1% Internet penetration with 10 million connections, and the country constantly missing its Internet and broadband reach-out targets, the picture doesn’t seem very bright for online portals on matrimony, jobs, travel, real estate and the like.

Actually, some experts even warn that the current situation is not very different from the one that led to the dotcom bust early this decade. Despite that, new entrepreneurs are betting big on high Internet and broadband penetration in the hope that in the future, there would be enough netizens visiting such portals.

Take the case of matrimonial portals. There are over a 100 such sites but only a couple of them are visible, and most are still in the investment phase. Netting a nuptial knot may not be a very profitable business today, say industry insiders, but it has the potential to do well in the future. Hopeful that marriages will be increasingly arranged online in the coming years, Internet entrepreneurs want to try their hand at matchmaking.

As the cost of starting a portal is not very high, it is easy to launch a specialised website quickly. But the most difficult job is to keep these portals alive by attracting a respectable number of visitors, which most companies fail to do.

“Usually, top three players garner most of the share in almost every market. So, if new entrants have to survive, they should come up with offerings different from the existing ones. The business will be difficult to sustain unless they target niche segments to address visitors’ issues,” says Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder and CEO, Info Edge.

According to Internet and Online Association, the market size of online matrimonials is estimated to be Rs 80 crore in 2007-08, which is huge considering its meagre Rs 6-crore worth four years ago. Buoyed by this growth, many like jain4jain.com, govtshaadi.com, mangliks.com and bposhaadi.com are entering niche segments.

Vibhas Mehta, business head, Shaadi.com, points out that starting a portal is not a big deal. “What is important is to turn it into a profitable business, which many of these portals that come and go each year fail to do.”