Following is a question and answer session we had for an upcoming magazine article. We get the same questions often so hopefully this will be useful for some of you!

When was harilo established?

Harilo was conceived in the summer of 2010 and the summer was spent strategizing, recruiting, and coding while the website was in private beta. The company was officially registered in August 2010 and the website went live and opened to the public at the same time.

Who founded harilo?

Harilo has four founders - Akshay Sthapit, Kim Smith, Tom Handcock, and Brian Smith.

What was the main reason behind starting harilo?

We got tired of asking friends to bring items back from abroad were looking to create a way for people in Nepal to get goods that much of the world takes for granted. While online shopping has become an everyday thing in many countries, it seemed unfortunate that the infrastructure to accommodate people in Nepal had been left out and Harilo was formed to fill that gap. Harilo offers that bridge that connects Nepal to the world of online shopping.

How many employees does harilo have?

We have 10 employees in Nepal and 3 employees in Florida.

What kind of employees does harilo recruit?

Harilo is a thriving start-up based out of Kathmandu. Our work environment is fun and flexible while also ruthlessly focused on excellence and customer success. Our growing company offers lots of opportunities for hyper talented, self-motivated, no-drama and no-nonsense individuals. We favor young, energetic and tech savvy people.

How does harilo carry out it's business?

Harilo is a supply chain that connects Nepal to the world of Online Shopping. Our services allow people in Nepal to buy goods from U.S. retailers, and pay with Nepali rupees (or US dollars). We then ship the goods to Kathmandu & pay customs and V.A.T. for you - packages can be tracked online through our website. Our service is a safe, fun way to enjoy the enormous selection of goods available in the U.S. marketplace right from your computer. You can buy from popular U.S. retail websites, from eBay Buy It Now and even from U.S. wholesalers.

What is the feedback from the users of harilo's service?

We don’t do much advertising and much of our service has grown from word of mouth. Feedback to our service has been very positive as you can see from reviews at http://harilo.com/reviews, testimonials at http://harilo.com/testimonials, and press coverage at http://harilo.com/press. Our challenge is to maintain the same level of service as our business grows.

What is the motto of harilo?

Harilo’s tagline is “Nepal’s Biggest Selection” since we allow anyone in Nepal to shop from any retailer in the United States, Europe, and Hong Kong and pay with Nepali rupees.

What are the targets/aims of harilo?

Our target is to open up the world of international online shopping to everyone in Nepal and provide the biggest selection of goods, the cheapest prices, and the friendliest customer service in the country.

Has harilo been able to achieve it's targets yet?

Our initial target was to establish trust with people since we are a startup and we feel like we have been successful with that. We are now focusing on growth.

What problems were there when setting up harilo?

Our biggest challenge was establishing trust with the Nepali community since we are a startup and online shopping requires payment upfront. A lot of people were worried that we would take their money and vanish! The word “internet business” has negative connotations with many people in Nepal so we had to address that perception in the beginning.

Was government helpful?

Unfortunately our government is not helpful towards startups and even less towards technology companies. This is ironic since technology and software can and should be a big economy growth engine in a country like Nepal with limited resources. Instead the government would not let us register “Harilo.com” and insisted on having us register as “Harilo Dot Com”, requires approval for having electronic receipts, and has arcane rules regarding invoice numbering. In contrast I have done a tech startup in the United States where the system is setup to make startups an easy process since the government understands that it is important for the economy that founders can focus on startup success instead of worrying about bureaucracies. In Nepal any success will come in spite of the government and not because of it.

How much of a headache is loadshedding?

We don't have many electricity issues because we have a backup power supply that powers the whole office. We lease server space from Amazon and all customer data and order information is safely backed up in the cloud so we are able to work with one laptop per employee and we have tried to make our business as paperless and cloud based as possible so work can go on even with load shedding and bandhs. Of course, we wish all of our customers had 24/7 power so they could shop online anytime and not just when the power is on!

What are the future plans of harilo?

We are working on expanding our service to other cities of Nepal besides Kathmandu. We would also like to start ocean freight to help customers who wish to order IKEA furniture and bulky items. Harilo mail is a new service that allows our customers to have their own US address and receive mail and packages at their personal address (harilo.com/mail). We also recently introduced a personal shopper service (harilo.com/shopper) - we will go to a store and buy an “in store special” or items that are not available online.

How good is the market in Nepal?

Since few products are manufactured in Nepal almost everything that people consume has to be imported - Harilo’s aim is to provide a bigger selection of goods to import at cheaper prices so we think Nepal is a good market for a business that imports goods.

How much online shopping do Nepalese do?

We have seen a large increase in online shopping from 2010, as Nepalese want fair, fixed prices and as shopping in person gets to be a bigger and bigger hassle.

Has the rate of online shopping in Nepal increased in last few years?

The rate of online shopping has increased as Nepalese become more aware of the huge selection of goods offered worldwide.

If yes, what would you assume could be the reasons behind it?

Global brand awareness, international warranties, trust in online retailers, huge selection and cheaper and fair prices are all contributing factors for the increase in online shopping.

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