Digital Transformation: Financial management tool for construction supply chain

Hey startups, entrepreneurs, investors, corporates,

In India, construction/infra projects (from billion-dollar projects to those worth a few lacs) are managed not very different than they were in the last century. This blogpost is aimed at sparking some innovations and helping all the stakeholders in the construction /infrastructure space.

Problem statement:

1. Well, there can’t be a better time to discuss this ;-)

2. Constitution/Infrastructure space faces a perennial cash flow crunch. From huge players to small subcontractors an epidemic of late payments, working capital woes are very common.

3. On one project, they’ll have a mega player — a big general contractor or a lender and 150 fragmented tiny players. Such fragmentation creates friction and bottlenecks in the payments process.

4. In the construction space, a complex web of data and document exchange must occur before B2B payments can be approved and completed, and with so much occurring on paper, late payments are almost inevitable.

5. Working capital cashflows and receivables are only going to get worse. (Well part of it has to do with some uncontrollable factors such s bad economy or bad customers) but a significant part of it also is due to lack of information and efficiency in which we all work on the giant to small construction projects. The supply chain fiancee program costs the company its profitability. 

6. Even the billion-dollar companies in this space struggle with the problem.

Brainstorming: Solution Design

1. Accelerating B2B cash flow in the space

2. Enabling workflow automation, digitize the document management - an important precursor to the payment

3. If you ever want to get into the actual payment space:

   1. Create escrow for contractors. Let contractors pay for material from your payment platform, possibly a loyalty card.

4. Help contractors / subcontractors with:

   1. Quick estimates, automated invoicing, payment tracking - create a mobile app

   2. Make working within the supply chain seamless

   3. Payments: Make and accept payments online to save time, avoid unnecessary trips to the job site and for payment follow-ups.

   4. Customize invoices and send them from your mobile