#520: Cultivating a Dynamic Team at FuelBuddy Insights from CEO Neerajj Gupta

"At FuelBuddy, we empower women in the oil and energy sector, offering flexibility, financial independence, and career opportunities. We're transforming lives and fostering inclusivity."

In this podcast, we explore the remarkable career of Neerajj Gupta, the CEO of India Business at FuelBuddy and a Certified Financial Planner. With a background that includes pivotal roles at Ford, Nissan, Barclays, and ICICI Bank, Neerajj brings a wealth of experience. His academic journey encompasses a Doctorate in Business Administration from Golden Gate University and an MBA in Finance from the International Management Institute. Join us as we unravel the insights, challenges, and successes that have defined Neeraj's career in the ever-evolving world of business.

In this episode, unveil the story behind India's doorstep diesel delivery revolution and delve into insights on challenging legal norms and fostering innovation. Discover FuelBuddy's transformative impact on energy distribution, workplace culture, and its commitment to diversity. This episode serves as a blueprint for success in the evolving energy sector and corporate dynamics. Tune in for a compelling narrative on entrepreneurship, innovation, and the future of sustainable energy.

Episode Highlight

• Discusses the recent green light from the Indian government for doorstep diesel delivery.
• Highlights FuelBuddy's edge through the acquisition of a key competitor
• Introduces FuelBuddy's Women Energy Consultant Program for empowerment
• Reflects on FuelBuddy's revolutionary doorstep diesel delivery approach

Follow Neerajj on Linkedin

Produced by: Priya Bhatt

Podcast Host:Archit Sethi

About Springworks:

Springworks is a fully-distributed HR technology organisation building tools and products to simplify recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, and retention. The product stack from Springworks includes:

SpringVerify— B2B verification platform

EngageWith— employee recognition and rewards platform that enriches company culture

Trivia — a suite of real-time, fun, and interactive games platforms for remote/hybrid team-building

SpringRole — verified professional-profile platform backed by blockchain, and

SpringRecruit — a forever-free applicant tracking system.

Springworks prides itself on being an organisation focused on employee well-being and workplace culture, leading to a 4.8 rating on Glassdoor for the 200+ employee strength company.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Shape of Work, a podcast series by Springworks. My name is Anoop and I am your host. Each week, we'll be talking to top people managers across the world on the future of work and how it's shaping our workplace. So sit back and get ready to find out more from these movers and shakers, as we have a no-holes bar. Anything goes. Conversation with them about their journey, their insights, their thoughts, most importantly, their ideas and vision for the workplace of the future. Join in on the conversation, leave a comment and don't forget to hit that subscribe button.

Speaker 2: 0:31

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Shape of Work podcast, and for this episode, we have with us Mr Neeraj Gupta, who is the CEO of FuelBuddy. Hi, neeraj, thank you for joining us. Yeah, hi, thank you very much. Thank you for me being here. So, to begin with, could you please take us through your career journey so far?

Speaker 3: 0:48

Hi, my career journey starts with the ICS AirBank so where I was instrumental in setting up the entire retail finance business for Delhi, ncr and UP, up and Punjab Rihanna. So I was instrumental in setting up the retail finance business on the vehicle side vehicle loans, car loans, commercial vehicle loan and after that I progressed into my journey with Bakle's Bank where I was instrumental in setting up again the vehicle loan segment for entire North India From there setting up the business and having experience of winding up that business for Bakle's. Then I moved into Nissan Motors where I was taking care of entire sales finance function where retail financing and wholesale funding was my core areas and the insurance business setup was my main KRA. Before Nissan I was mainly into the retail financing but when I moved on to the Nissan side I was taking care of the tail financing from the OEM perspective.

Speaker 3: 1:51

And from Nissan I moved to Ford and in Ford I handled multiple geographies, multiple products, multiple roles. Started with the sales finance goal and then moved into a sales function, primarily new car sales, for Alsonal Head West and then I was part of setting up the entire Ford Assured brand in India for the used car side. So last assignment was as a national manager for Ford Assured, where I was instrumental in setting up the used car business for Ford in India. From Ford I moved to FuelBuddy and here I am right now with you as a CEO in the business for FuelBuddy, setting up and the entire doorstep diesel delivery, redefining the entire space with the vision of democratizing and digitizing the fuel supplies in India with the help of technology and all kind of processes which we are setting up for this business.

Speaker 2: 2:45

Amazing. So, talking about FuelBuddy, would you please enlighten us a bit more about it, and what all areas does it serve?

Speaker 3: 2:51

So FuelBuddy is a category creator concept. Basically, fuelbuddy, we started with the concept where there was a challenge in India with respect to the fuel distribution. So before 2019, the fuel distribution basically a diesel delivery at a doorstep was an illegal concept and there was a great need for it because, if you look at the entire journey of e-commerce in last 10 years, customer was always looking for a services at their doorstep and if you look at all kind of a products which were available at a doorstep, diesel was one commodity which was not available for a customer to get it legally at the doorstep. And with that kind of thinking, we wanted to bring that concept to India. Then we worked very closely with the government of India. That did a lot of projects with them and, after completing a proof of concept with BPCL, espcl and IOCL, we finally got approval in 2019 as an app which is a fuel intact.

Speaker 3: 3:51

After that, the doorstep delivery through a fueling has become a legal concept in India and since then we have been working on this concept by introducing more and more technologies and the system and processes into it and currently we are India's largest doorstep diesel delivery service provider. We acquired our second closest competitor, which is my petrol pump. It was primarily based out in South and after the acquisition we got our presence in South, so currently we are serving more than 150 plus cities. We have a good experience of delivering around 70 kL plus at the doorstep, 7 kL plus at the doorstep of the customers, and that's how we have growing, where we are testing this concept into those geographies also. So this is all about the fuel buddy right now.

Speaker 2: 4:40

Amazing concept and I am extremely intrigued to know that. How did this idea came, I mean, how this idea was born, because it's very unusual to you know. I mean, I'm sure not a lot of my listeners would also have this sort of knowledge, or maybe they have any sort of information regarding it. So how did it come?

Speaker 3: 5:01

Disacity is the mother of invention. So when we were thinking of this, founders were more keen to understand what are the challenges in entire fuel supplies in India. And then we found this there is a big gap into this entire journey for a customer. There is no digital tools which are available for a customer to order fuel at their doorstep or any energy product. Right now, government of India has only given a permission for the doorstep delivery of diesel. But if you look at any energy product other than the electricity or a gas cylinder which we are delivering at the doorstep, other than that, cng is not allowed, petrol is not allowed. So these are the products which are not allowed in order at a doorstep delivery.

Speaker 3: 5:45

But we were always thinking that how energy can be more democratized, where the customer, whenever they need it, at their doorstep, how can they get it? And to that kind of a note. We worked on it. We did a lot of homework on the drawing board that how this concept will work and, in collaboration with Ministry of Petroleum, ppit, we worked out this concept and finally we did a lot of proof of concept and after the success of the proof of concept, we started this journey. It was always a challenge. The gap was always there. So that has given a trigger to us that, yes, this kind of a concept should be brought in India, though it was prevalent in western countries but India. I think there was a great need for that and with that thought we brought it into India.

Speaker 2: 6:33

Okay, so certain progress has been made, as you said that, now that the government of India has allowed delivery of diesel at your doorstep. So how do you see the company growing? Do you see anything else adding to the horizon, whether it comes to maybe other forms of energy?

Speaker 3: 6:50

Yes, we have been looking for. In fact, we have been given a lot of requests to the government with respect to CNG distribution at their doorstep, and the second next big thing is the energy distribution sorry, ev and electric charging at the doorstep. So we have been working on a lot of things on that side, on the project side, where how can we do some kind of electricity, electric charging distribution at the doorstep in the form of battery swapping or the mobile chargers? That is also we have been working, but right now the density of electric vehicle is not that great, so, which is that's why we have not yet started that concept. But we have done a lot of proof of concept on that and we have done a lot of homework on to that side. The moment the right time will come, we will definitely get into that kind of a distribution also. So that is what we have been looking for. I am going forward. We wanted to distribute more and more energy product at the doorstep of the customer.

Speaker 2: 7:47

Amazing. So, as you mentioned earlier that you recently bought your second closest competitor as well. So what really does fuel money has? That differentiated, then differentiates it from the rest of its competitors.

Speaker 3: 7:59

So if I say the closest competitor for us right now in the market is the general petrol pump. The difference between us and a petrol pump is that we work on a lot of customer orientation side because the biggest challenge for a customer was the convenience. First, the convenience, which we have sorted with the help of a digital tool where an fuel buddy app he can just go and in three simple clicks he can place an order on our app, which is not available with any local petrol pump or a very small type of player who's operating into a local area. So the digital tool is the first biggest differentiator, which is a very convenient factor for a customer to place his order. Second important thing is the assurance of on-time delivery. So when we are saying that if you have placed an order in particular slot, we will reach to you to deliver that order into that particular slot and our current efficiency on that side is almost 90 percent plus on-time delivery, which we are maintaining to deliver our commitments. Third thing is important thing we take care of a lot of safety procedures and SOPs which are required to be managed into this kind of a delivery which are nearest closest competitors or any closest competitors are not doing. Fourth thing an assurance of quality and quantity. And that is the most important factor, which is which is a trust factor in the mind of customer when somebody is coming to deliver a diesel at my doorstep, whether I am getting a right quantity or a right quality. So we have created an SOP for that, where we deliver each and every drop of fuel at a customer doorstep with the assurance of quantity and quality.

Speaker 3: 9:37

We have a 5-liter jar test which we do in front of a customer. We have water test. We have a density test. After completing of all those tests and with the satisfaction of the customer, post that, we start the delivery, which is an OTP based confirmation that once a delivery is complete he has to give us an OTP. Then only his order is closed.

Speaker 3: 9:58

After that he gets a digital advice. So it is basically a freedom from a parche. Whatever fuel you have bought till now, you have always got that parche and you need to keep, maintain a record of it or you have to store it properly to have it for a long term. We have completely digitized the entire invoice system. The moment order will get complete, the invoice will reach to you on your WhatsApp in a digital form order your email ID so that you can have a digital record for a very long period of time without any hassle of managing it any some stores or something. So these are the three or four basic key differentiators which we are creating in the market versus our nearest competitors or a local sector.

Speaker 2: 10:41

Okay. So when you talk about such business, which probably has a lot of SPS to be followed and also, I'm sure, like your team also must be looking at a lot of things at the same time, considering this is something which is, I mean, we can't really have a lot of wastages as well. When we talk about all these forms of energy, we need the Lord, c, n, g or anything else.

Speaker 2: 11:03

So the team, the work of the team, also becomes really essential. So what policies do you have at the workplace that keeps your team driving, or maybe going to achieve its vision and goals?

Speaker 3: 11:16

Yeah, as you said, as you rightly mentioned, it is a service industry. We are here to serve our customer and our biggest asset to serve our customer in the best possible manner is our manpower, or the team. Though assets are there, which are the backup, or the technology is there, which is a backup, because it is driven with the manpower only, we believe that investing into a team who is on operational side and service side has to be very customer oriented. So we believe that team has to be highly customer oriented and for that philosophy, we always believe and we inculcate this kind of a culture when we are serving a customer, this customer has to act as like a family. For me, every time when we are delivering a fuel to a customer, we need to think that we are delivering a fuel to one of our family member, because with that kind of a note and thought in the mind, you will always try to do your best, because it is a human nature that when I'm serving to my family, I need to always try to give the best to them, and that is what we always inculcate into mind of our team. Apart from that, to have them thrive further, we have a culture of entrepreneurship which we are developing internally into our team, where we always wanted to foster a culture of entrepreneurship so that if any of the team member is looking to think to further act as an entrepreneur, wants to add to their thought process as an entrepreneur so that he can take an ownership of the business. Because if you have to deliver to a customer the best of the services, the ownership is the one thing which you need to always take. And that's where we believe the culture of developing an entrepreneurship and ownership into the mind of our team. Second important thing we keep them rewarding and recognizing them for the best and out of the way performance. It is not all, because it is our job to deliver customer the best possible services. Somebody who has taken an extra mile, extra step to deliver the customer bring and he has brought a lot of delight in the mind of a customer. And with that kind of an actions which they do, we always reward them and recognize them for the extraordinary effort or the actions which we have done.

Speaker 3: 13:29

Third thing training and development which we keep on doing regularly with them, continuous learning. We invest into a lot of in-house trainings and we get sometimes we invite people from an outside to train them, coach them, guide them, mentor them and mentorship opportunities we keep on giving, internally from the team also, so that they can develop the team mindset and the skill set also for delivering the best of the services to the customer. Other than that, the culture which we are developing is more of a engaging, fun and positive vibes, so that we celebrate, we celebrate festivals together, we celebrate our victories together and regular team building exercises which we do. We activities, in-house activities we do every Saturday. We do a lot of investment into a team train the trainer kind of a concept which we bring on to the table, joint lunch activities, and we always keep an open-door policy. So in my office anybody has any kind of a challenge, he can walk into my room or my MD rooms anytime with the concept of a thought or any kind of a challenge which is there on the table. He can always bring into an open-door policy to us.

Speaker 3: 14:42

Last but not the least, I'll say culture which we are developing is basically because it's a young team, being an institute startup, it's a young team. We believe in building a cool culture. So there is no specific draft dress code which you need to follow. Yes, fuel buddy logo has to be there on your dress. And we have our designed dress, which is a very cool in nature, so that people should not feel that I am wearing tie or jacket or something which gives them some kind of a suffocation, suffocated feeling. So that is what we always believe flexible work arrangements which we give to them depending on the basis of the role or the work which they have, the assignment which they have been doing. So these are things, and the diversity at the workplace is also very important. We wanted to have them, an inclusive kind of an arrangement so that everybody, all the genders, are working very closely with each other with the growth of opportunities and development of the organization. So that is where we have been working with the team to have that kind of a culture.

Speaker 2: 15:45

Awesome. These are definitely some of the amazing policies that I guess must be there in every organization, and I'm so happy to know that FuelBuddy is one such organization actually. So thank you for taking time out of your schedule and joining us for today's podcast.

Speaker 3: 16:02

Yeah, I have just one point to add into the human side of it, and that's where I just wanted to add. We have introduced a very unique CSR initiative also, and that initiative we call that as a women energy consultant, and this program is basically to bring those women, those who were working earlier, those who are into an active professional life but because of a social thing or the family compulsions they have decided to take a break and sit back home. So we wanted to bring them into the energy segment because, if you look at the energy segment and I always believe women is the powerhouse of energy they are the most, I will say, the most vibrant source of energy available on this earth. So, with that kind of a note, we wanted to bring more and more energy into energy segment. So we, because roughly currently, if you look at the data, less than 10% of the women are part of the energy segment, including all forms of energy. And that's where we wanted to bring more and more women into this segment. And that's why we have introduced the concept of flexible engagement where, with the flexibility of the time, from their home, they can be act as a brand ambassador, community building activities with which we can do a lead generation activity. For that they will be paid for. We will be giving them a tailored free training. Basically it is a training which is out, which is having no cost implication on them. We have been giving them complete training about the energy segment and supportive communities we are building along with them so that we can support the family, because if one particular women in the family is engaged in making income out of it with the help of our engagement and training, she's basically supporting the family and the community.

Speaker 3: 17:51

Further recognition and reward program we have introduced for the women under the energy consultant program.

Speaker 3: 17:56

They can be a part of that program where we are rewarding them, recognizing them for the good work, so that they can be a inclusive part of that our team.

Speaker 3: 18:05

So they act as our team and with that note, we wanted to further build that culture of bringing more and more women into this concept of energy consultant so that they can make their lifetime recurring income concept. So in this program, if they are trained by us and they started getting acting as a brand ambassador, doing a lead generation, lead magnet work kind of a work, whatever leads they are generating for us they are getting. These leads are getting converted by our team and they are getting a lifetime recurring income for those leads as an recurring commission to them, and that is the very important tool for them. So we are training them with whether we are not asking for any cost, we are rewarding them, we are engaging them and then we are giving them a financial support system also which they can use over the period of time to support their family or for their own growth also. That is the important thing which I wanted to bring on the table, because that's a unique concept which we have launched for women in India, basically as a women energy consultant program.

Speaker 2: 19:05

Definitely that is one amazing initiative and kudos to Fulbati for taking it up. I hope we have more organizations who understand the need of recognizing talent in whatever capacity one can. So thank you so much. Thank you again for taking time out of this schedule and joining us for this podcast. It was an amazing.

Speaker 4: 19:24

Thank you, arjit, thank you so much.

Speaker 3: 19:27

Thank you, arjit, and for driving us. For driving this women energy consultant. We have given a charge to the women only. The Nora Bali is leading that initiative for us. She is a part of our MAKAM team. She's been managing and driving this concept throughout the India.

Speaker 3: 19:43

We have been looking large number of women's in it to this program. So we have a target of. She has taken a target of adding 10,000 women energy consultants from in India to be a part of that program so that we can create a very big community out of it.

Speaker 2: 19:59

Do you have any sort of thoughts that you would like to share with us listeners on this?

Speaker 4: 20:03

You know this is a very unique program. It kind of generates from where I was at some point of time. You know there was a time when you give your own time and you kind of take a break from your work and then you give time to your family. That's not really, you know, openly considered by the corporate world when you want to come back, when you want to make a comeback. So when this sort of thought came into picture at Fuel Buddy, I quickly lapped on to it and then I thought that you know, we should build on this and make it very big, include women in this sector. Initially, when I joined Field Buddy, there were hardly a couple of women who were working in our office itself. Right now, I think the population is growing. Women have come into oil and energy sector. Through this Women Energy Consultant program we are trying to make a mark not only to have them in this sector but also to equip them and make them financially independent. So, yes, we have been getting a lot of encouraging thoughts from them, a lot of new creative ideas.

Speaker 4: 21:22

To spread a word about what we are doing, because our concept is also very unique Bringing diesel to your doorstep is something that you can't even think of In normal the way things have been operated. We always go to a petrol pump, but right now we are changing the status quo. We are getting things, we are getting technology to bring diesel to your doorstep. So that concept itself is very intriguing to them and they are very happily spreading a word for us. And of course we equipping them with training, with constant you know a lot of goodies come to them. We send them hampers just to keep them motivated and also we give them a chance if they want to come back. They want to make a comeback to this sector. They want to join office full time. There is an open opportunity for them. We roll that out and we tell them if they want to join, they can always come to us. So that's my two bits on this.

Speaker 2: 22:29

Happy to know that. So thank you, both of you, for joining in, and thanks to Alistair for tuning in to this episode.