In a time when people were not only content but left with remnants of the plan by using 1 GB per month, Jio entered the market with an unforeseen promise. Owned by Reliance Industries, Jio is a mobile data provider, other communities include Reliance Retail, Reliance Petroleum, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, IPL cricket team Mumbai Indians, and JioGenNext.

The customers use over 1.2 billion GB of data per month and Jio set a new standard for internet usage in India. Reliance owns businesses across energy, retail, textiles, natural resources, petrochemicals, and telecom networks. Jio offered 1 GB data providing customers with free unlimited services at 4G speed until December 31, 2016. The offer started in September 2016. India’s market was completely shaken and disruptive after Jio’s launch.  

History of Jio

What most people don’t know is, that Jio was actually founded on 15 February 2007 and wasn’t launched until 27 December 2015. By the end of 2016, Jio noticed a registration of an additional 70 million subscribers. Jio, an extension of Reliance Industries which was started in Ambawadi, Gujarat. The headquarters for the company are located in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Reliance was founded by Dhirubhai Ambani and Champaklal Damani in May 1973, serving worldwide. In 2001, Reliance Industries Ltd. and Reliance Petroleum Ltd. became India’s largest financial companies and in 2001- 2002, both industries merged. The present Chairman is Mukesh Ambani came up with the Jio venture. The operations commenced in 2002, and franchising began in 2003.

What makes Jio unique?

Reputed brand

Reliance, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani has witnessed the greatest brand development in the history of India. Within the first month of Jio’s launch, it gained 16 million subscribers, making it the fastest up tide recorded by any network operating chain in the world. In the following three months, Jio crossed 50 million marks and by February 2017, it reached a 100 million count, and it crossed 300 million in less than three years.

Unmatched excellence

Jio introduced another range of free services in an attempt to keep the customers and their prediction did come true. Offers include 4G network at low rates, nationwide free voice calling, no roaming, no telecom charges.

Great partnership

Jio shares partnerships with LYF smartphones, Samsung, Apple, XIOMI, Vivo, Oppo, Realme, OnePlus, Nokia, SONY, Google, Motorola, Lenovo, Asus, Huawei, Blackberry, Lava and a lot of others. Also, Jio has an alliance of mobile network operators from all over the world including Deutsche Telekom, MTS, Telecom Italia, etc.

The first brand to offer 4G in India

The brand has its own unique connection, voice over long term evaluation (VoLTE) with voice and video calling, internet, instant messaging, and streaming movies and music. Alongside the VoLTE technology, Jionet WiFi was a provisional free Wi-Fi service launched in Surat, Ahmedabad, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and others.

Benefits of owning Jio franchise

Fastest growing firm in India

The Jio market alone owns 43 percent broadband market in India, beating other telecom companies Bharti Airtel, Idea and Vodafone all together.

A long list of benefits

Jio provides free local calls, free STD calls, free incoming and outgoing calls on roaming available anywhere in India. Over 2245 partners have signed in with Jio and dealers get a commission on selling products.

Constant expansion

Jio took another leap in July 2017, by launching a low-cost 4G feature phone, JioPhone for a price that is practically free for the purchaser, making it extremely hard for competitors to come up to that offer. JioPhone 2, launched in July 2018 for Rs. 3,000, was a far improved version.

Equipped with a QWERTY keypad and social media applications such as Youtube, Facebook, Whatsapp. They make it practically impossible to match their standard by taking an extremely risky business chance.

Requirements to start Jio franchise

Forgetting a Jio franchise, the owner should be into distribution business and have an interest in retailing and sales. The Jio franchise should be approved by RDS/ distributor.

The applicant needs to submit two passport size photocopies, Voter ID or Aadhar card photocopy, address proof or electricity or gas connection as an address proof.

The registration form is available online and requires the applicant to fill their basic details such as name, current address, office or outlet address, space requirements, past experience (optional), state and city and expecting sales.

Other ventures from Jio include JioChat, an instant messaging app, JioCinema – a video collection featuring movies, JioCloud, a backup tool, JioMags, for magazines and reading material, JioMoney Wallet, for online payments, JioSaavn is a merger between Jio and Saavn for online and offline music streaming in English and Indian languages.

MyJio is the app launched under Jio to manage the account and digital services associated with it. Jio4GVoice, earlier called JioJoin is a VoLTE phone account to manage the recharge and sim related details.

Area

For Jio Giga Fiber, the online bookings will commence in 2019, and Jio official website provides information on all franchise related queries.

The shop must have a carpet area of 200- 300 square ft. in an area with enough storage area for the broadband equipment.

For Jio DTH, the minimum area required for setup is 250 square ft. There should be amenities regarding DTH connection and ample employees should be trained and available for the services. There should be a display showcasing various Jio products. There should be enough stock to replace products and should be updated regularly and stored.

The business is available for a full-time job, with employees on board for site visits and should have a minimum provision of 2- 4 employees at hand in case of services. There should be space for transactions and billing in the outlet.

Jio outlet should be placed in crowded locations such opposite supermarkets, near mobile shops, or Tv franchise, market places. A check of the locations should be done, it should not be isolated from the city, should not be in a new location but in an already established place.

Skills or Experience needed

To start a Jio dealership, there are no restrictions, women wanting to restart, Entrepreneurs wanting to join, professionals willing to learn are all welcome. There are two classifications: Freshers and Engineers.

An Engineer must require more than 2 years of experience in customer services. Freshers are expected to attend their Training and be enthusiastic in learning. For Jio dealership, main pointers are People and Logistics Management, Operational Management and Ownership in Jio Points, Product Publicity, Advertisement and Marketing, Distribution in the nearest territory and Customer Care and Services.

Regions of operation

Jio is practically everywhere in India, Agra, Jodhpur, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Madurai, Alwar, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Varanasi, Bharatpur,, Bhavnagar, Bhikaner, Bhopal, Panaji, Bhubaneshwar, Bodh Gaya, Calangute, Margao, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Chittaurgarh, Cuttack, Dalhousie, Dehradun, Gangtok, Shimla, Delhi, Lucknow, Gwalior, Ludhiana, Manali, Mangalore, Ernakulam, Faridabad, Gaya, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Jaisalmer, Guwahati, Haridwar, Hyderabad, Imphal, Indore, Jabalpur, Mountabu, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Mathura, Jamshedpur, Junagadh, Kanpur, Kodaikanal, Kolkata, Kota,Amritsar, Mumbai, Mussoorie, Mysore, Manali, Nainital, Noida, Patna, Diu-Island, Pondicherry, Chennai, Kochi, Porbandar, Kottayam, Kovalam, Portblair, Pune, Pushkar, Surat, Udaipur, Vadodra.

Training

For Jio internship, an intern will learn skills like Digital Organization, Theory and its application in real life, Expert guidance. Freshers are expected to follow the route according to the work plan, proper assistance, and task completion during training and practical requirements, on-site cleanliness and hygiene, maintaining equipment, management on the field and on time service.

For an Engineer, the training requires Customer handling and Upgrading and repairing the old equipment, Installation and Connection check in the home or office environment, Showcasing the catalog for the products and detailed explanation of the advantages of each product.

Minimum staff requirements

A minimum of 8- 12 staff members are required. A Jio membership means employees are expected to make house visits for the installation of Jio services. The staff should be trained in interpersonal communication, should be team players, have the willingness to learn, good in relationship management and communications.

For a Jio dealership, the owner should be previously skilled in the distribution business of a good brand, have a stable office space, should have amicable relations with the retailers, should be approved by Jio’s sales team.

How much does it cost to start a Jio Franchise in India?

The initial expenditure for office furniture, desk and seating area alongside computer will fall between Rs. 2 to 4 lakhs. The capital investment for Jio DTH falls between Rs. 2- 5 lakhs and dealership fees are Rs. 50,000.

The one-time refundable amount charged by reliance is Rs. 15,000, 5,000 and 75,000 depending on the area and the location. Jio DTH work station requires at least 10 employees, which will charge Rs. 12- 20 thousand per month.

The electricity bill will be around 7-15 thousand per month. The computer and printers cost around

Revenue Model of Jio

As a Jio dealer, the profit rate is 50,000 to 2 lakhs. The profit calculation works for a recharge of, let us suppose, Rs. 303, a distributor earns Rs. 6 and for a new sim card, Rs. 20. Jio has increased its customer rate in a new fashion and now every 3 out of 5 people have Jio network. For Jio tower installation, the distributor should be registered under Reliance Jio, and the operator earns a total profit of Rs. 50,000 – 60,000 per month. In Jio GigaFiber, Jio has taken 66 percent in Den and 51 percent in Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd.

Jio by making voice calling free makes the customer pay on cellular data. Upgrading to Jio made companies like BSNL struggle to survive as Reliance acquired almost half of the market. Jio announced a 1Gbps broadband connection in India making it the highest and most far-flung network till date in India.

The franchise term is valid for 1 year and is renewable at the end of the term. There are a standard franchise agreement and provisions for field assistance.

Branding for Jio

Actors like Shah Rukh Khan were appointed as Jio’s ambassador. Jio collaborated with Pokémon Go where hundreds of Jio stops, Reliance marts, Shopping stores like Reliance Trends were converted into stops for Pokémon Go, in an attempt to bring in users to the stores.

Ambani nearly 14 years ago introduced the ‘Monsoon Hungama’ offer where connection had two major perks: Rs. 100 worth free talk time for Rs, 501 and monthly subscription of Rs. 200 for the next two months.

That was in 2003 and almost in an overnight plunge, mobile phones went for a liability that people could not afford to a useful commodity that was no longer a luxury.

Conclusion

Foreseeing the rate of expansion, Jio is looking forward to installing more towers for high-speed internet connectivity. In a few months, 45,000 towers are to be installed in various cities of India. Jio has defeated all other cable operators and has the largest fiber-optic network in India.

All the towers installed are 4G eco-friendly, with over 250,000 KMs of quality optic cables.

Jio’s business venture is supported by Reliance Industry’s other business sources. With the Jio services basically being of zero charges, it needs other sources to keep the wheels of cash flow going on.

The whole idea inspired from the cheapest model of communication – a postcard. A postcard, one of the oldest means of communicating and it costs 40 paise, so Ambani decided to make the calling rates 40 paise per minute.

Ambani and Reliance have acquired major stakes in the market since their launch and reliance is known worldwide for its branding and marketing. The whole expenditure of Jio is covered from a large share of data users in the country and by far it has been one of the most influential business models the world has ever seen.