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Elevator Pitch

Smallcase.com is a financial technology platform that provides a unique approach to investing in the stock market through smallcases, which are essentially curated portfolios of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed around specific themes, strategies, or objectives. This platform caters to both novice and experienced investors by offering a streamlined way to invest in diversified portfolios without the complexities typically associated with stock market investments.

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Understand your Product

A smallcase is a basket of stocks or ETFs that reflects a particular investment idea or strategy. For example, investors can choose from various thematic smallcases that focus on trends like green energy or the electric vehicle sector, or sectoral smallcases that target specific industries such as pharmaceuticals or IT. Each smallcase is created and managed by SEBI-registered investment professionals, ensuring adherence to regulatory standards and providing investors with expert insights.

How does it work?

Investors can start by connecting their brokerage accounts to the smallcase platform. They can then invest in smallcases either through a lump-sum payment or via systematic investment plans (SIPs). Once invested, the stocks and ETFs are credited to the investor's demat account, allowing for complete control over their investments, including the ability to add or remove stocks as desired.

Key Features:

• Diverse Investment Options: Over 500 smallcases available, covering various themes and strategies.
• Transparency: Investors have full visibility of their investments and can track performance easily.
• No Lock-in Periods: Investors can sell their holdings at any time without penalties.
• Rebalancing: Rebalancing updates a smallcase's stocks/ETFs to keep it aligned with its original idea, and investors can apply changes with two clicks after receiving an email notification.
• Rupee Cost Averaging: Investor can start a SIP in a smallcase with one click when buying it. SIP allows investors to deploy the Rupee cost averaging strategy, helping them benefit from market fluctuations
• Earn Dividends: Dividends for any of the constituent stocks in the smallcase will be credited directly to the investor's bank account
• Tracking your portfolio: When you buy a smallcase, an index value of 100 is assigned to it. Say, after a year, your index value is 124 - meaning your smallcase has returned 24%. With the index value, you don’t have to track stocks individually. 

Types of Smallcases

1. Thematic Smallcases: Focused on specific trends or ideas (e.g., rural development).
2. Sectoral Smallcases: Target specific sectors of the economy (e.g., healthcare).
3. Fee-Based vs. Non-Fee-Based: Some smallcases require a subscription fee for access to premium features, while others are free
   

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Understanding Core Value Proposition

The core value proposition of smallcase.com lies in its ability to simplify and democratize stock market investing in India through curated portfolios, known as smallcases, that are designed around specific themes, strategies, or objectives. 

Problem: Many investors struggle with the overwhelming choices in the stock market and lack the expertise to build diversified portfolios.

Solution: Smallcase simplifies this process by providing expertly crafted baskets of stocks and ETFs tailored to various investment themes—like technology, sustainability, or growth sectors.

By focusing on themes and strategies rather than individual stocks, smallcases facilitate long-term wealth creation through diversified investments that align with broader market trends. Smallcases offer more control, lower costs, and thematic investing opportunities compared to mutual funds, which provide professional management and built-in diversification but less direct ownership and higher fees. 

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Understanding the Users

The user profiles for smallcase.com can be summarized as follows:

1. Demographics:
2. • Age Group: Primarily targets young adults and millennials, typically aged between 25 to 40 years.
   • Income Level: Middle to upper-middle-class individuals with disposable income to invest.
3. Investment Experience:
4. • New Investors: Many users are first-time investors looking to enter the stock market but may lack extensive knowledge or experience.
   • Experienced Investors: Some users are seasoned investors seeking a more structured and diversified approach to portfolio management without the need for constant research.
5. Tech-Savvy Individuals:
6. • Users are generally comfortable with technology and prefer digital platforms for managing their investments. They often utilize mobile apps and online services for convenience.
7. Investment Goals:
8. • Users are looking for long-term wealth creation through diversified investment strategies. They appreciate the ease of investing in thematic portfolios that align with their financial goals.
9. Behavioral Traits:
10. • Research-Oriented: Users value well-researched investment options and rely on the expertise of SEBI-registered professionals behind smallcases.
11. Geographical Distribution:
12. • While smallcase has a significant user base in major metropolitan areas, it is also expanding its reach into Tier 2 cities, targeting users who are becoming increasingly interested in stock market investments.

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Understanding your ICP

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B2C Table

​ICP prioritization table

Understand Market

(begin by doing a basic competitor analysis)

(then try to understand the market at a macro level and evaluate the trends and tailwinds/headwinds.)

Now it’s time for some math, calculate the size of your market.

TAM = Total no. of potential customers x Average Revenue Per Customer (ARPU)
SAM = TAM x Target Market Segment (percentage of the total market)
SOM = SAM x Market Penetration/Share

Below is the TAM, SAM and SOM for smallcase products in general and not smallcase.com website

Total Addressable Market (TAM)

TAM represents the total revenue opportunity available if smallcase were to capture 100% of the market.

• Market Size: The Indian wealth management market is projected to grow significantly. As of recent estimates, the total assets under management (AUM) in mutual funds alone is around INR 38 trillion (approximately $500 billion). Given that smallcase operates in a similar space, we can consider this as a basis for TAM.
• TAM Calculation:
• • Assuming that smallcase can tap into a portion of the overall equity investment segment, which is estimated at around INR 20 trillion in the coming years, we can use this as a rough estimate for TAM.
  • TAM = INR 20 trillion

Serviceable Available Market (SAM)

SAM is the segment of the TAM targeted by smallcase products that is within its geographical reach and aligns with its business model.

• Target Segment: Smallcase primarily targets retail investors looking for easier access to diversified portfolios. This includes young professionals and first-time investors who are increasingly engaging with equity markets.
• Market Size Estimate:
• • If we consider that retail investors account for approximately 30% of the overall equity market, this translates to around INR 6 trillion.
  • SAM = INR 6 trillion

Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)

SOM is the portion of the SAM that smallcase can realistically capture in the short term based on its current resources and market strategies.

• Market Share Estimate:
• • Given smallcase's existing user base and growth trajectory, a conservative estimate might be to capture about 5% of the SAM over the next few years.

SOM Calculation:

• SOM = SAM * Estimated Market Share (Market Penetration)
• SOM = INR 6 trillion * 5% = INR 300 billion

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Designing Acquisition Channel

(keep in mind the stage of your company before choosing your channels for acquisition.)

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Detailing the Acquisition Channel for Smallcase.com

First, lets understand the Website Vitals for Smallcase.com

1. Traffic Overview:
2. • Monthly Visits: Approximately 1.98 million (as of August 2024).
   • Traffic Change: A decrease of 26.72% compared to July's traffic of 2.7 million.
   • Country Rank: 2,588 in India.
3. Visitor Engagement:
4. • Average Session Duration: 7 minutes and 11 seconds.
   • Pages per Visit: 2.93 pages.
   • Bounce Rate: 60.4%.
5. Traffic Sources:
6. • Direct Traffic: 54.08%.
   • Search Engines (Google): 34.43%.
   • Other sources include referrals and social media.
7. Geographical Distribution of Visitors:
8. • India: 87.94% (approximately 1.74 million visits).
   • Smallcase primarily targets young, tech-savvy investors and first-time investors who are increasingly entering the equity markets. This demographic is often concentrated in urban areas.
   • Major metropolitan areas such as Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore with higher financial literacy and access to technology are likely to have a higher concentration of smallcase users.
9. SEO Performance:
10. • Smallcase.com ranks for approximately 20,082 organic keywords, which reflects a robust SEO strategy.
11. Social Media Presence:
12. • Active on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, with a significant following that aids in brand visibility and engagement.
13. Financial Metrics:
14. • Amount transacted through the platform is over ₹90,000 crore (approximately $12 billion), showcasing strong user engagement and trust in their investment offerings.

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Organic Channel Strategy for Tier 2 Cities

The strategy would be to drive organic growth in Tier 2 cities in India with a focus on local content, that leverages the unique characteristics and opportunities in these emerging markets. 

​1. Localized Content Creation

• Regional Language Support: Develop content local languages (such as Hindi) to cater to the diverse linguistic demographics of Tier 2 cities. This includes blogs and investment guides that explain the benefits of smallcases and investment strategies.
• Culturally Relevant Topics: Create content that resonates with local interests and concerns, such as success stories of local investors using smallcase.

2. SEO Optimization for Local Searches

• Keyword Research: Conduct keyword research focused on local terms and phrases used by potential investors in Tier 2 cities. This includes identifying regional investment trends and financial terminology.
• Local Landing Pages: Create dedicated landing pages for specific Tier 2 cities, optimizing them for local SEO to attract organic traffic from those areas.

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Content Loop Strategy for Tier 2 Cities

The strategy outline below will not only enhance brand visibility but also build trust among potential investors in Tier 2 cities, ultimately leading to organic growth and user acquisition.

1. Localized Content Creation

• Regional Language Content: Create content in local languages to enhance accessibility and engagement. This includes videos, infographics, and social media posts tailored to the linguistic preferences of the audience (such as Hindi).

2. Engaging Formats

• Visual Content: Utilize infographics and videos to explain investment concepts simply and engagingly. Visual formats are particularly effective in areas with varying literacy levels and also sharing it on platforms such as LinkedIn or Facebook.
• User-Generated Content: Encourage users to share their investment experiences or tips through testimonials or stories, creating relatable content that can be shared across platforms.

3. Community Engagement

• Local Influencers: Collaborate with regional influencers who resonate with the local audience. Their authentic content can bridge the gap between smallcase and potential users in Tier 2 cities. Some of the influencers below:
• • Rachana Ranade
  • • Platforms: YouTube
    • Content Focus: Educational content on stock markets, mutual funds, and financial planning. Rachana simplifies complex concepts for her audience.
    • Popularity: Recognized for her engaging teaching style and collaboration with financial institutions.
  • Reshi Magada
  • • Platforms: Instagram
    • Content Focus: Financial independence and early retirement strategies (FIRE).
    • Style: Engaging reels that provide practical tips for achieving financial goals.
  • Neha Nagar
  • • Platforms: Instagram (@iamnehanagar), YouTube
    • Content Focus: Personal finance, investing, taxation, stock markets, and government funding schemes. Neha uses relatable examples and humor to explain complex financial topics.
    • Followers: Over 748,000 on Instagram and 200,000 subscribers on YouTube.

4. Feedback Mechanism

• Support Community: Their current support channel has content only in English. https://help.smallcase.com/en/
• Support articles to be published in English for accessibility and wider reach.

5. Promotional Strategies

• Social Media Campaigns: Leverage platforms popular in Tier 2 cities (like Facebook and WhatsApp) to share localized content.

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