Tagit: Mastering the challenge of scaling a business

• Main Authors: NARASIMHALU, Arcot Desai, MATHUR, Sarita
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2015
• Subjects: Singapore; Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Mobile Solutions; Information Technology; Pivot Strategy; Reputation Building; Asian Studies; Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations; Strategic Management Policy; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/127; https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/2981
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The case documents the journey of a start-up from inception to the growth stage, and is suitable for understanding the following business strategies: pivot strategy, credibility and reputation building, role of the Board of Directors, and scalability of young businesses. Tagit is a Singapore-based mobile solutions company. The company’s offering was based on Mobeix, a ground-breaking technology that allowed enterprises to build secure, scalable and innovative mobile applications across multiple mobile devices and operating systems. Leveraging on Mobeix, Tagit had successfully secured its first contract from PVR Cinemas in India, offering the first online ticket-booking platform. Following this, in 2007, Tagit was contracted by Singapore Airlines to develop a mobile app for the airline’s passenger services. Facing intense competition and rapid technological advancement in the online ticketing space, Naffi and his business partners started to consider other options to grow revenues and profits. At that time, many banks in Singapore were looking to offer mobile services. Tagit therefore seized such an opportunity and managed to get Citibank India signed up as a client. On the one hand, winning the Citibank contract opened up a whole new business space for Tagit. On the other, new business lines required the operations of Tagit to be scalable, yet controllable. Naffi was pondering over the possible solutions to this dilemma. Is Naffi able to handle the changes and expansion of business lines? Can Tagit’s business model be scaled up? How can Naffi build up the credibility of Tagit?