KGP Startup Stories | Morff

By Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kharagpur

Elias Shaik, Komal Goyal and Prasanth Sarvepalli, Co-founders Morff

India ranks as the 2nd largest freelance workforce after the US, with over 15 million people working independently in various sectors. Rapid changes in technology and workplace expectations have redefined traditional employment models. There has been a significant increase in the number of individuals who are considering freelancing as a long-term career. India witnessed a 46 percent increase in new freelancers from Q1 to Q2, 2020. Also, the uncertainty in the present world makes businesses value the flexibility to fulfill various needs. Morff has set out to meet this growing need in the Design sector, which they are deeply passionate about.

What does Morff do?

Morff is an aggregator and helps connect small and medium-scale businesses to credible freelance creative talent. Apart from connecting the two parties, they also provide consultation to businesses to help them understand the right design fit for them, what kind of designers they would require, and help them achieve the desired impact. They select the freelancers who are the right fit for a particular project by analyzing their portfolio, past experience, and the business’s specific needs like the project requirements, technical details, budget and timelines.

College Experience

Elias Shaik and Prasanth Sarvepalli are IIT Kharagpur graduates. They strongly feel that their time at IIT Kharagpur was a major catalyst for their professional and personal growth. When you are surrounded by many friends and seniors who come from a similar background and are doing phenomenally in a wide variety of fields, you develop a firm belief in yourself. They learned that you don’t really have to be afraid of dreaming big. One imbibes the quality of tenacity and the ability to learn any new skill quickly in such a competitive and overachieving environment which is very helpful in the Entrepreneurial journey. Komal has graduated from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Her college environment had taught her to be the driver of one’s own direction in life and helped develop independent thinking by encouraging her to find solutions by applying one’s own intelligence.

Pre-Startup Work Experience

Komal worked as a freelancer for three years, started her own studio, and also co-founded another startup before Morff. Prasanth had been working in the core design sector right after he had graduated from IIT Kharagpur. He gained experience in a wide variety of design disciplines during this period. Both Komal and Prasanth have a deep passion for the design sector which motivated them to start Morff. Elias worked in Goa and Japan for 2–3 years, where he learned about the complete process of starting a business, scaling it up, and winding up. Elias has a strong desire to start his own company that positively impacted and aligned with his core principles. Through Morff, he could contribute to the employment of a lot of people. This motivates Elias to work on the idea rather than a passion for design.

Beginnings

Prasanth, Elias, and Komal were brainstorming the idea for about 3–4 months. But it was during the pandemic that Prasanth started working full-time on it. Initially, Komal and Elias worked part-time. A couple of months later, they realized that Morff required their full attention. So, Elias and Komal quit their jobs and started working full-time on the idea. They started the process by understanding the pain points of small and medium scale businesses, jotted them down, and tried to develop a framework that would optimize design freelance services. Working with freelancers and doing end-to-end project coordination was quite tricky. They figured out how to optimize this process from creating the contract, splitting the project into milestones, and by managing the interaction between businesses and freelancers until project completion.

Starting-up during Lockdown

Starting up during lockdown was a bitter-sweet experience for Morff. A lot of small businesses were started during this time. It had significantly increased the acceptance of working from home, which was quite beneficial for the company. But on the other hand, it had also cut the purchasing power and financially handicapped many businesses, due to which they faced some difficulties.

Suggestions to Wantrepreneurs

The people who aspire to be Entrepreneurs should learn to be comfortable with uncertainty and must be able to persevere despite many odds and unknowns in the path. They should be able to work with people because, in the end, it’s never about a single person; it’s about people coming together and building something. You should try to reach out to people and discuss your ideas. This would clear your own biases and blindspots in the thought process and also gives you new insights and third-person perspective about your idea. Like this, you’ll be able to meet the right people who share your passion and help you bring your vision into reality.

Interviewed by: Mohith Suresh and Nandini Bajaj

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Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kharagpur

The most active entrepreneurship promoting student body in India. Find out more at www.ecell-iitkgp.org