Despite Armenia’s intensively competitive telecommunication markets, startups still have their say in this area. One of the examples is HelloSIM project, which offers tourists an international SIM card at favorable rates. The HelloSIM project’s commercial activities began in 2017. Previously the project was working in a test mode by actually distributing free SIM cards. Armenak Khachatryan, co-founder and director of HelloSIM project, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about the peculiarities of market development and complex management issues in Armenia.

How was the idea of the HelloSIM project born? What motivated you to launch this project?

I traveled much and I always faced the problem of expensive roaming. In fact roaming could not fully satisfy communication needs. The purchase of local card was accompanied by difficulties, it was uncomfortable and took much time, as you had to find the place where you can buy the card, to stand in a queue. Meanwhile, in some countries foreigners are not allowed to buy SIM card at all. For example, in Germany, and, apparently, in Belgium and France, there have been severe restrictions on the purchase of SIM cards after well-known cases. In order to buy a SIM card, you need to have a bank account, etc. As far as I know, Armenian citizens cannot be verified in these countries. This service operates only for a limited number of countries. So, in some countries HelloSIM SIM card with international roaming is not only very comfortable, it’s a necessity that has no alternative.

How was the HelloSIM project launched?

Our team has a great deal of experience in the field of telecommunications, and we used it during creation of this project. Specialists from Armenia and abroad were also involved to help create a SIM card system operating in 207 countries around the world. Due to the professionalism of our team, we managed to create a system that is not inferior to market leaders. Due to our dedication and involvement of our team, our project has been successful.

How did you succeed in the Armenian telecommunications market, taking into account the presence of large companies and rather tough conditions for competition?

The world is changing and something that could not be done ten years ago is easy to do today. The platforms have transformed, their actions have changed, people are more informed, there are bigger options for promotion of any product in different competitive conditions, the tools needed for entering a market have expanded, including marketing as well. If you are flexible, you can promote any product in any market. In the modern world, it is necessary to be as innovative and flexible as possible to satisfy the market's needs and to be profitable. In reality, it is difficult to launch a new project in Armenia. The domestic sales market is too small, and a startup such as HelloSIM has to enter new markets to expand its business. Therefore, we intend to intensively expand our services in other markets. We have clients in more than 50 countries of the world and we plan to enter the Belarusian market this year.

What leadership qualities help you in advancing your business? 

The head of the company should have a wide range of goals. One must have large scale goals and objectives, no matter how difficult and impossible they are. Startup is first of all a dream, a leap of thought, and a sophisticated one-track mind will definitely not help your dream come true. Wide involvement, together with diligence is the key to success of any businessman. And, of course, it is important to have a good team, as the projects are implemented by people. The most important capital of any business is human resources. There are people, there is business.

Your message to other startup entrepreneurs is not to be afraid of difficulties and failures. Have you faced such fears?

The ideas have an ability to come to life. You may have many ideas but only those, which keep person on alert, can be fulfilled. This is the first phase of implementing an idea. The important thing is to believe in the idea and not to be afraid, otherwise no one will believe in your sincere desire.

Are your employees your colleagues or subordinates?

The leadership and employees of our company, of course, appreciate partnership relations and believe that these relationships should be raised from the level of partnership or management to a substantive level. We strive to make sure that people working in our company are not simply employees, but their efforts are contributing to our business.

Being a startup leader requires a lot of energy and time. How do you balance between work and personal life?

It is quite difficult, there is always a “victim”. Everything depends on the character and priorities of a person, but the task of combining work and personal life is always pursued by any businessman, especially a startup person. He is required to work harder, to solve complex and pressing problems. If only I knew how to combine and manage to get timing right ...

What are the advantages of your roaming services as compared to the services of other providers?

HelloSIM offers a unified SIM card that can be used in 207 countries around the world. Our advantage is a low price, which should go down further. When traveling with HelloSIM card, our customers feel comfortable. When traveling with HelloSIM card, our customers feel at home. This is the main advantage of our services.

It is important for travelers to keep in touch when moving. This provides security, freedom of action, ensures the quality of the trip and gives you an opportunity to have a good time. When arriving in another country, you can book a hotel, book a taxi, find your way, and find sights and restaurants.

There are many applications for exciting travel, they offer participation in city tours, acquaintance with locals, which is quite popular among youth. For young people it is important to share the photos with impressions of their trips.

Our main advantage is the Multi-IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) technology. We use the IMSI operator in each country, the one that offers the best price and quality. Thus, we offer the lowest rates in the region. Our advantage is the broader network coverage than that offered by traditional operators. The price we offer for mobile internet is three times lower than the best offers in the Armenian market.

What are the most effective solutions in terms of cooperation with the roaming broker?

The roaming broker is quite overstated because there is no real brokerage market in the world. It is a very limited area. The main players are traditional companies, which will hardly bring their products to the brokerage market. We have established good connections with various mobile operators to directly use the IMSI or through our broker.

What are the terms for using HelloSIM card usage? What are your rates?

We offer Internet packages that have a single price in 60 countries worldwide. Within the framework of our proposed package, the price of 1 MB of mobile internet starts from 5.8 AMD.

Your company's motto is “To be in touch everywhere is not a luxury, but a necessity”. How far is this degree of comfort available to your customers? What is being done to fully meet customers’ needs?

Our service is customized to meet the needs of our customers. Our customers are happy with the services of their faithful friend – HelloSIM.

Not being a large company, we created a personal contact and platform of services. Our customers can contact us at any time in Armenian, English, Russian, Spanish, French, German and Italian, via our website or by calling our customer service center. The requirement for people-to-people contact grows year by year, so it is important to get to know our customer, his behavior and individual requirements, in order to be able to offer the appropriate product or service as much as possible.

We always know how many roaming clients we have, we provide uninterrupted connection, we ask them about the quality of services, we offer the most profitable rates and packages via SMS messages, depending on their location. We use all possible means of communication with customers to understand their preferences. This is the most important component of marketing and customer relationship management.

How much are your services in demand in Armenia?

There is high demand, but other factors play a role. There is a problem of recognizability, reputation, and trust, which we are trying to solve gradually. By the end of 2017, we realized that we have made considerable progress in this direction. By the end of last year the number of our clients has reached 10 thousand. We are expecting an increase in trips this summer.

I must say that the demand for our services in Belarus is much higher because this country has more active contacts with Europe.

Is HelloSIM a one-time card or it can always be used during the trips?

HelloSIM has no expiration date and can be re-used. This is one of the advantages of HelloSIM: it can be used continuously in 207 countries.

Your goal is to continue growing to become a new generation telecommunications company. What efforts do you make and do you plan to enlarge the range of your services?

Our goal is not to enlarge the range of provided services rather than to finally solve the problem of free use of communication during trips. We are working on the solution to this problem and, if we succeed, we will ensure the growth.

We are going to expand our mobile internet services. We plan to launch HelloSIM for Android and iOS by June 2018. Thus, customers will have a chance to use HelloSIM's easy-to-manage account and will get an exciting opportunity to send free SMS to any phone number in the world.