Busy offers accounting software for Rs 199

In a bid to tap the small business opportunity, Busy Infotech launched an
accounting software called Starter's Edition for as low as Rs 199. It is the
first time that an accounting software has been made available at such low
costs. Speaking about the product Dinesh Kumar Gupta, MD, Busy Infotech said,
“This product has almost everything a small business would require. It is a
no-frills product which has been very successful.”

Gupta added that they have tied up with a few vendors to bundle the software
with computers, and made it available for use in exhibitions. Last year, during
the trial phase of the software, Busy Infotech managed to sell 20,000 licenses,
and this year they are targeting to sell 50,000. Explaining the rational behind
the launch of a no-frills affordable software, Gupta said, “We have launched
Starter's Edition to provide a solution to people who go pirated software due to
the price factor. More than 80 percent of people use pirated products so it is a
big market. We hope that when these people will adopt this software, and as
their requirements grow they will opt for our other basic products. If it does
well it will lead to further sales of our other products.”

Busy is also hopeful that Starter's Edition will help them penetrate the
markets, which is otherwise a difficult task. “It is a strategic product people
can buy impulsively without a demonstration. With it we aim to grow in markets
we are not presently in,” added Gupta. At present the software has been bundled
with Intel (CPUs), HP, Intex, Wipro, TVS-E and Epson, and acts as a value-add
for products from these vendors.

Apart from India, Starter's Edition has also been launched in markets like
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Middle East, Nigeria and Ghana. “These regions'
accounting requirements are similar to that in India. We have also found that in
small businesses the driver of accounting software is the statutory
requirements,” shared Gupta.