Pahilo is Nepal’s B2B online platform for global wholesale trade serving buyers and suppliers around the world. Pahilo specifically aims to empower Nepalese SMEs by providing a portal to sell their products all over the world.

There are around 800,000 small and medium enterprises in Nepal (formal/ informal), which contribute to over 80% of employment generation and shares more than 70% of the industrial sector’s contribution to the national GDP. Despite of such significant number of enterprises, Nepal continuously suffers from huge trade deficit. The market statistics shows a vast untapped market for Nepalese SMEs, with proper resources and a strategic market penetration approach; these SMEs have good opportunity to expand their business in local and global front which would help in balancing the trade deficit, contributing to the overall national economy. Most of the SMEs in Nepal have traditional management practice, low capital base, and an undeveloped entrepreneurial culture. Some major challenges they face are marketing constraints, lack of exposure, and delay in time of delivery, trade assurance problems, and lack of resources to shift to a business to business (B2B) trading platform. In such circumstances, the SMEs have high risk of losing out to other global players. In order to overcome these hurdles, we have developed an online business platform; www.pahilo.com. We aim to empower the Nepalese SMEs sector through expanding their market scope, providing them assured trading platform and enhancing supply chain system by integrating internet technology. The business model of Pahilo is fundamentally based on a B2B model. Much of the innovation is done in the business end part of the project. In order to assimilate Nepalese SMEs, expose them to a global market, provide them with trade assurance and optimize their delivery system, Pahilo has dedicated mind, time and resources.

Marketing Platform – Pahilo provides Nepalese SMEs a marketing platform which consists of only authentic Nepali products allowing the SMEs to have an online stage which categorically highlights the niche. The marketing of pahilo as a product would hence ensure the marketing of all its associated SMEs which allows the products of Nepalese SMEs to be exposed to a global audience without the need for them to carry out any marketing expenses.

B2B Business Model – The current trading practice of Nepalese SMEs is largely in a Business to Consumer (B2C) model. Though there are more than enough business houses locally and globally to integrate a Business to Business (B2B), SMEs do not have the reach of stretch to that market. Pahilo aims to add a B2B marketing concept within the capable SMEs by linking them to other business houses so as to exponentially grow their revenue stream.

Trade Assurance – A major hurdle in online trading especially in international trading is “uncertainty”. From supplier’s perspective, uncertainty of receiving the agreed upon payment and from consumer’s perspective, uncertainty of receiving the agreed upon quantity, quality of goods, or uncertainty of receiving the goods altogether. Pahilo with its business process acts as the middle entity which provides a guarantee of payment to the supplier (SME) and a guarantee of shipment of specified product to the buyer.

Supply Chain Management – SMEs in Nepal are scattered all over the country. Many of them particularly ones out of Kathmandu valley have to suffer various difficulties like timely delivery of products, having to endure heavy transportation costs, and untrustworthy delivery services. Pahilo aims to manage the supply chain system of these SMEs by optimizing the products transport system through clustering the SMEs based on their location. This would minimize per unit transportation cost and maximize profit for the SME.

Technically Robust System – Paliho as a website: www.pahilo.com has taken various measures to ensure that the system is robust; reliable and error free. The design of the site is simple, contents are genuine and trustworthy, overall functionality is fault free, site navigation and usability are smooth, data security is prioritized, and search engine optimization is vitalized. To make sure the website will be durable and expandable, factors like accessibility, compatibility, well planned information architecture, scalability, browser consistency, valid markups and clean codes, user friendly forms, and error handling system have been carefully considered.

Pahilo fully dedicated in promoting products of Nepalese SMEs

नेपालका साना तथा मझौला उधोगका उत्पदित वस्तुहरुको प्रवर्धन गर्न

Helps to reach both national and international market

देश र विदेशका बजारमा सजिलै पहुच गराई दिने भएकाले

Guarantees Trade assurance (guarantee of payment in trading) and manages supply chain

विक्री, वितरण र रकम भुक्तानि सहजता र निश्चितता गर्न

Emphasizes SMEs to deal in wholesale

थोक (Wholesale) विक्री प्रोत्साहित गर्न

Dedicated in business growth of SMEs by providing appropriate training, skill development, and funding

व्यवसाय प्रवर्धनका लागि आवश्यक तालिम, क्षमता वृद्धि र लगानिमा सहयोग गर्ने भएकाले

Pahilo is easy to use and technically robust

सजिलै प्रयोग गर्न सकिने र प्राविधिक रुपमा गुणस्तरीय भएकोले

Free for every Nepalese SMEs (No cost required for registration)

नेपालका सबै साना तथा मझौला उधमीलाई नि:शुल्क दर्ता