Auto.uz is a startup that will help buy or sell a car in Uzbekistan

Temurbek Kasimov, city — Tashkent, founder and managing director of the startup Auto.uz

How it all started

This project did not arise by chance, but out of a problem I encountered. Since the domain auto.uz belonged to me, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and create a platform with the same name.

We developed the platform for about two years. The idea again came from personal experience: several times we had difficulties finding a suitable car and comparing its prices with other offers. We decided to fix this problem.

Development began in 2020, and in the second quarter of that year, we launched the project, although not at full capacity. On the auto.uz platform, in addition to a free classifieds board, there are also microservices such as buying online insurance and the ability to have a preliminary inspection of a car before purchase. Our specialist visits, inspects the vehicle, and provides a report on its condition.

In the future, we will implement aggregation for car rentals. I have no experience in running this type of business; I am a beginner, so our team is doing everything on its own. We are trying different marketing strategies and analyzing the results. We do not have a clear understanding of how to run such a business, so much happens intuitively. Perhaps we are making mistakes and will continue to do so in the future, but I believe this is not critical since no such platform exists yet.

The first step was finding a contractor who could bring our idea to life. We were lucky: one of my close friends recommended a company in Uzbekistan. The guys professionally completed the assigned task. We did not provide a technical specification in the usual format; it was formulated verbally, and the website and platform mockups were drawn up almost on the fly. Despite this, the team managed to understand our expectations and implement the project exactly as we had envisioned.

A year after starting work, we made many changes to the structure and design. The technologies used at the beginning of the platform's creation had become outdated by the time of launch. We aimed to create an ideal product. Although we understood that such a thing does not exist, we still tried to ensure that the platform achieved as high a quality as possible in terms of functionality and user experience.

We did not face obstacles from a legislative point of view. In Uzbekistan, you can open a company, register a legal entity, and open accounts in 5-10 minutes. At the same time, we cannot say that we have completely finished the launch stage — our company is still in the early stages of development. A full-scale launch and stable operation have not yet begun. Nevertheless, users can already use our platform, and the available functionality works without errors. We periodically make improvements to meet the requirements of the rapidly changing market and increasing competition.

Team

We quickly assembled a good team that reacts quickly to changes and adapts. We were able to find good specialists capable of handling any situations. The team is the most important thing.

However, we face financial difficulties because we do not have an investor, and the project is funded through our own resources. There are currently no plans to attract additional investments.

Also, many employees come to the company just to perform their duties and do not go beyond them. Sometimes it feels like many of us adhere to the principle of "Initiative is punishable."

We tried to find people who would go beyond their professional duties. Initiative is encouraged by both management and the team. We wanted employees to show enthusiasm and be ready to work overtime, especially developers who should be on call at all times. We did not set serious requirements, but those who want to work only for a salary and do not show initiative become noticeable. The filtering of such employees was intuitive.

Target Audience

In terms of target audience, we were luckier than narrowly focused companies and businesses. Buying cars is not limited by age. Interest in cars can arise in a person as early as 15-16 years old and continue until 70-80 years old, regardless of whether they have a driver's license.

Our audience is diverse, so we focused on the search and comparison system for cars on the platform. Our product is interesting not only to those planning to buy a car but also to anyone interested in cars. We are not targeting a narrow category of users but aim to cover a wide range of interests.

There are several stages of acquiring a car:

1. Search
2. Negotiations
3. Transaction
4. Registering the car in your name, a legal entity's name, or a close relative's name.

We solve problems at each of these stages. For example, our search is configured so that if a person is looking for a fourth-generation Audi, we will not show similar cars such as Audi SUVs or Cabriolets. Our search system will only return results that match the query.

We have also implemented a car comparison feature. You can find three suitable cars with the same price range and similar specifications but with different price variations. In this case, you can compare the cars. Characteristics and all components will be presented in a table format, allowing you to understand the reasons for the price differences.

The second stage is negotiating with the seller. We have a "Car Inspection" service that helps people get a full report with our guarantee on the condition of the car, body, engine, etc., before purchase. This helps in negotiations because, if flaws are found, our specialist can help reduce the car's cost. In such cases, our service will either be free or provided at a reduced price.

We have a number of notary partners who allow scheduling document processing at a specific time. The client will not have to wait in line for a long time at the notary's office. Documents will be ready by the appointed time, and the client can simply process them and take the car. Also, after the client takes the car to the traffic police (GAI), we will provide documentary support, explain where to go, which window to approach, and which documents to bring.

We offer full legal support for the transaction from start to finish, and thanks to the ability to buy an insurance policy on our website, the user does not need to look for an insurance company nearby. They can arrange insurance right on the spot, for example, at the GAI. We tried to comprehensively solve all the buyer's problems by providing a convenient and all-encompassing service.

One of the features of our platform is providing information about dealers and car dealerships. More than 70 car dealerships across the Republic of Uzbekistan are connected to us. The majority are in Tashkent, but we have already started connecting regional dealerships. Users can check the availability of cars at a specific dealer or dealership, plot a route to them, and get contact information without having to browse the browser or check offers at each dealership separately.

We have connected two insurance companies. Our developers are already working with the API of a third insurance company, and its launch is planned for the end of August.

We will also aggregate car rental companies. We have signed contracts with four companies and are waiting for the completion of their integration. We have more than 80 partners. Currently, we ourselves handle the connection, negotiate, and explain what our platform represents. However, the trend is starting to change, and partners are already starting to contact us on their own. Because the convenience that auto.uz provides, no one else can offer in Uzbekistan. In the second quarter, we had an increase of about 3,000 new app downloads. Currently, we have about 5,000 active users who return to the platform. Every day we receive from 70 to 100 new users.

Incubation Program

So far, we have not managed to participate in any such projects. I am conservative and prefer to first observe what is happening. If I see that I can benefit and contribute to this community, I will gladly participate.

Difficulties

One of the main difficulties that prevented us from launching the platform for a whole year was interaction with developers. I realized that developers can be compared to builders: each works in their own way, has their own style, background, and experience. It is important to correctly convey the idea that is in your head. Usually, the founder or owner sees the situation from one side and demands the execution of certain tasks, but when developers complete the project and present the finished design, owners often discover that it does not meet their expectations. This highlights how important a precise technical specification is, which we, unfortunately, did not realize.

We gave the developers a lot of autonomy, which led to significant delays. In the end, we had to replace the team because the first developers could not meet the deadlines, although their work was of high quality. Changing developers turned out to be labor-intensive because new employees had to study the old code or rewrite it from scratch, which increased time costs. With a clear vision of the result, making tactical decisions becomes easier. This issue is beyond my competence, as I am still at the beginning of my journey.

If a person has a clear plan and is 100% confident in it, they should act boldly, not fearing obstacles, including financial and economic difficulties.

Achievements

The biggest achievement is that we were able to build the platform after all.

Plans

By the end of the year, we want to have about 10,000 completed transactions on our platform. This will require a lot of work.

It is important to react quickly to the market and its changes. In the case of many startups, including ours, tactical decisions are more significant than strategic ones. Strategic decisions become important when the first earned money starts coming in, not just investments. We plan to scale the project through microservices, and their number will increase.

We strive to unite the entire automotive world of Uzbekistan, everything related to wheels, engines, and movement from point A to point B, on one platform. We will create a comprehensive solution that unites different aspects, such as classifieds, insurance policies, and car rentals, on one platform. Currently, there is no such unified portal.

A good example is Kaspi.kz. They did something really cool. Our niche is narrower — cars — so I think this can be implemented here as well.

The next big release is car rentals. We plan to launch it by the middle of the fourth quarter. We will act as an aggregator, not providing our own car rentals.

The next service we will launch is CASCO, voluntary car insurance by different companies. We already have three partners ready to integrate, and we will be able to sell these policies online. Currently, such policies are available only on a few platforms, the market is still free, and we intend to capture it.