My Startup World speaks to Stefan Haubold, the Global MD of Carmudi to find out more about his company and his entrepreneurial spirit
Please tell us something about yourself. Your background, your education and so on.
Before diving full time into entrepreneurship, I worked as a consultant at Roland Berger. However, I somehow missed the satisfaction of having to call something of my own. So that’s when I took the plunge and got into the driver’s seat. In 2012, I founded ePetWorld, an eCommerce business catering to the petfood segment which took off pretty well in Germany.
It was a great training ground for me. Carmudi is more about replicating success on a global level. Believe me, I have an undying passion for entrepreneurship that seems to grow with each passing day as we keep expanding Carmudi across different continents.
Tell us something about Carmudi.
Carmudi is an online car classifieds marketplace that helps individuals like you and I in buying/selling a vehicle. At the moment we are present in 11 countries, however, we aim to keep up our expansion throughout the world. Our motto is to be the number one player in the car industry.
We provide high degree of transparency, usability comfort and efficiency to our users. We are currently providing high quality services to our users through our authentic listings and inventory. This is something that is highly valued by our customers
How was the idea behind Carmudi conceived?
We have seen that similar business models (online car classifieds that is) have worked very well in mature markets such as the US or Germany. But there is a strong need for such platforms in less developed markets which we feel is not fully met.
Rocket Internet supported us with resources and knowledge to fill this gap in the emerging markets. Our expansion into these markets is a logical consequence of a demand that needs to be fulfilled.
How do you think Carmudi is different from similar concepts in the region?
At www.carmudi.ae, we bring in an enormous amount of expertise leveraging from our experience in 11 different countries. We are a professional, global player with an outstanding ambition of becoming the number one global car classifieds and a one-stop shop for any car-related topic.
Be it news, reviews, tips or simple advice, we would like to be the go-to car guide for anyone to everyone.
Who is the target audience for Carmudi’s products and services?
We want to reach everyone who would like to buy or sell a car in the most convenient way. In general, I’d say that our target audience appreciates transparency and wants to be able to choose from a vast array of vehicles through a click of a mouse or a thumb scroll on the mobile.
What sort of funding was infused into Carmudi? Have you broken even?
I can assure you that we can rely on a solid funding to grow in the target markets. We have the financial means to develop all our markets. As you can see, we are expanding at a rapid pace. We will soon be launching into Saudi Arabia and Qatar. And we are always looking for people to join us in our expansion.
Are you involved in any other projects apart from Carmudi?
No, absolutely not. Carmudi requires 100 percent of my attention. And trust me, it’s fun enough for me to diverge into anything else right now.
What sort of revenue model do you follow for Carmudi?
If you want to have a listing with us, it’s free. But we do charge for premium services. Also, the services rendered to professional car sellers are charged.
What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs in the region?
My advice… Success is 20% your idea and 80% your people. If you have the right team behind your business, your engine of growth is fueled. In the Middle East, I feel the window of opportunity is wide open right now.
With internet penetration reaching 75 percent and 11.7 million mobile users present in the market, it is an exciting time to shape whole new industries sprouting around the e-commerce sector.
