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player ready...Business: Vetzu Inc.
Address: 1770 Park St., Naperville
Phone/website: 630-635-7410, www.vetzu.com
CEO/founder: Biplab Chaudhuri, 40, of Naperville
Years in business: 2
What does your business do? “Vetzu is predominantly a software product development company. We do background checks, digital, automated. If you (want to) hire an employee, sign up on our platform, you feed in the company’s information, you send that to the (job) candidate. They give you back the consent, you can run a national background check, have your HR review it,” Chaudhuri said.
Does this quicken the process? “Yes. A typical background check is very manual. Ours is fully digitized. … Don’t get me wrong. It does not automate everything because there are still systems that are outdated.”
Automated is more popular? “Pretty much. Automation is about 86% in the United States. Our platform is also global. If you hire someone in the UK, in India, you can utilize that.”
How did this get started? “It started in 2008 when the market crashed. I was in New York, worked for a company. I decided to do something on my own. So, I started an engineering consulting firm. I sold that company, then started PTS Consulting Services. … We started building software, expanded globally, work with Fortune 500 companies. … Vetzu came from that.”
How so? “Two years ago, during the pandemic, a lot of people were struggling when the remote work force came into play. One of the things was, ‘I don’t know who I’m talking to.’ It became more relevant to have background checks. … This digital innovation came into play. Being in the business, I realized it was time to utilize our knowledge. That’s when Vetzu came in.”
How does it work? “You subscribe to our platform. Typically, it is free, but there are packages. Say you want 30 kinds of checks. You can pick and choose. … It gives you flexibility. … The system is built in the Microsoft Cloud. You can keep it as long as you want. It’d digital. Right there.”
What are the prices? “A criminal background check can cost $1 to $5.
How do you make money? “Volume. If we make 10 cents on each transaction and you do 200,000 transactions a day, we just made $20,000.”
What’s new? “We just launched Yujj. It’s a Sanskrit word which means ‘to connect.’ Throughout the pandemic, when people are remote, I realized connecting to people is a most tedious job. Say we met at a conference, we trade business cards, most of the time it’s lost. Say it’s not, two days later, you have my cell phone number or email to reach me. Then you wait. It can be days. … Ninety-five percent of people get annoyed. Imagine we met, we’re trying to connect. The connection (process) becomes a nightmare with back and forth texting. … I thought there has to be a better way to connect. I want to make that connection relevant. … That’s when I built this digital card called Yujj.”
How does Yujj work? “Yujj is so different. You have an iPhone. I tap the card. It opens up my complete contact (information) for you. … You just hit ‘save contact.’ The moment you do, it automatically opens up on your phone, my complete contact. When you get a business card, you have to type in everything. Now, just hit ‘save contact.’
“You want to set up a meeting? Hit on calendar. You see my open times, you click on the time, ‘Saw your calendar. You are open. Can we set up a meeting?’ … Students can put their resume on this card.
“A typical person spends $90 to $100 a year on business cards. Ninety-five percent of those cards go into the garbage. Our digital card eradicates the paper waste.”
What’s the price? “The whole thing costs a company $24.95 per person a year. Ten people or more, we drop that to $20. Fifty or more, it’s $15. Right now, if you sign up for one year, three months free. … Our tag line is ‘$2 can get you a $2 million contract.'”
What do you like about your job? “Everything. … I’m a mechanical engineer. Problem solving fascinates me.”
Is Naperville good for business? “Yes. It’s very close to my house. Two miles. … Good talent exposure. The town is very business friendly.”
What’s your advice for someone starting a business? “Why do you want to do this? That’s the first question one needs to answer. Do you want to make money? Ninety percent of people want that. I don’t think that’s a good idea because if you are out to make money, you won’t think about innovation, about the customer. I don’t think business should be driven by greed.”
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If you know of a business you’d like to see to profiled in Down to Business, contact Steve Metsch at [email protected].
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.