Whizz: Challenges for a First Mover

Two friends started the company Whizz in 2013 with a fleet of seven cars and a team of 12 people in Delhi. Within three years, Whizz had increased its fleet to 2,200 cars, capturing approximately 60–70 per cent of the Indian car rental market. The company had ambitious plans to expand to other cities with the rapid growth in the industry and increasing disposable incomes among millennials—the typical Whizz customer group. When one partner quit for personal reasons, the other was left to manage the company’s marketing and business development divisions, and to secure new funding. Although Whizz was the first mover in the Indian market, it had not seen a profit since its inception, and now, in 2016, pressure was increasing, with Whizz's organized competitors having similar ambitious expansion plans. The remaining partner had to decide how to address these challenges and manage the risks of his business model, while maintaining operations and making a profit.