JJ Tax App, India’s first chat-based tax App, was launched on May 26, 2020 with a focus on simplifying, streamlining and offering convenient tax solutions to all individuals. Within just 1 year of launching the app, this ambitious team of millennials has revolutionized the way the country approaches taxation.
Today, this team is handling more than 100 chats each day and providing free advice to all members. In the past 8 month, more than 1 lakh members were added on a monthly basis, which resulted in attaining the phenomenal milestone of 8,50,000 members within just a year of launch. This massive number of downloads is unprecedented for a tax app, especially during times of the pandemic.
When asked about the secret behind the team’s stupendous success, Executive Director – Leesha Arya said, “We have recruited enthusiastic individuals who believe in our dream, and we ensure that our staff grows with us. A case in point is Ritika Agrawal, our Marketing Head, who is all set to be promoted as the Chief Marketing Officer. As a startup that believes in fulfilling the most impossible dreams, we reward hard-work with disproportionate growth.”
Coincidentally, majority of the JJ Tax App staff and senior leadership are women. The team relies on in-house marketing initiatives, spearheaded by Ritika Agrawal and Bhavya Mittal, who is the Creative Director.
Challenges due to COVID-19
The team had received a commitment of INR 100 million from a Singapore-based company. However, the second wave of COVID-19 resulted in a delay, and these funds are now expected in September 2021. This delay led to a cut in the team’s marketing budget, and they also had to defer the appointment of some of the tax experts.
Speaking about the challenges faced by the team, Chief Operating Officer – Rashi Bajpai said, “Even last year, when the pandemic threw challenges at us, we turned those into opportunities, and this is what we plan to do this year as well. We are already having discussions with angel investors and VC funds in India, for raising an amount of INR 50 million. These funds will be utilised for our marketing campaigns, for upscaling our staff requirements and to launch the app in multiple languages with chatbot services. We definitely plan to emerge stronger, and I am thankful for the patience our team has shown during these tough times.”From Left to Right: CA Rashi Bajpai (Chief Operating Officer) & Ritika Agrawal (Marketing Head)
New goals for the triumphant team
After bringing their original idea of simplifying taxation, JJ Tax App plans to target paid memberships for increased growth in revenues. After receiving an overwhelming response to their membership plans, the team has decided to slash the silver membership cost from Rs. 799 to Rs. 499. These prices will be inclusive of the charges for filing IT returns. The team believes this will add more millennial members and help them grow their paid membership base.
The initial success of this App has impelled the team to launch students’ app, named JoJo Edtech, which would be a one-stop solution for education of Commerce, Accounts, Tax and related subjects, with quiz and chat options. Under the able guidance of Chief Advisor and Director – CA J Jambukeswaran, the team hopes to bring affordable education for all, at the fingertips of those who need it the most. Jojo Edtech will have all commerce related subjects, starting from Standard 11 in school to CA/CPA courses. Apart from the academics, the team plans to provide students with comics and short films to make learning easy and fun.
Since the launch of this App last year, the team has had a successful stint, which they plan to continue by bringing their ambitious plans to life in this year. With such a young team of millennials, this team has certainly scripted history within a very short span of time.