How We Built A $66K/Month VPN Product From Bangladesh
Hello! Who are you, and what business did you start?
Hello, my name is S.M Nazmul Hasan, and I am the CEO of Kolpolok Limited. Our target was to develop software or an application that would be significant to the larger mass of people. Hence, Kolpolok Limited started its journey as a software development company in 2015 with many different dreams and goals.
The main product of Kolpolok Limited is Symlex VPN, a virtual private network. VPNs right now are a worldwide necessity and so our utmost priority. Our customer base is not limited to any age, gender, or nationality. We promote and provide our product services worldwide. However, our maximum customer base is from the middle eastern countries, more specifically UAE and Dubai. These regions are where most well-known VPNs are either restricted or facing blocks.
Even though there are obstacles to other services, Symlex VPN is available for use in those regions, making it unique to users. In addition, Symlex VPN is registered in South Africa and Bangladesh, countries not included in 14 EYEs and 5EYEs.
Currently, we have over 6M total subscriptions, 300K+ paid subscribers, and over 190K daily engagements! Luckily it is increasing day by day through our marketing strategies and also from word of mouth.
What's your backstory, and how did you develop the idea?
When I was younger, the thought of developing applications fascinated me and drove me to do my undergraduate in Computer Sciences and Engineering. It only escalated from there. I was invested in creating and developing software or applications for Androids and iPhones. Then I met a friend who shared the same interest as me, and from there, the thought of launching a business came to view. We discussed what could be our product and what could be beneficiary for us.
The first thing we worked on was softphone or VOIP services. Our target audience was people living in UAE as workers or expats. Most expats and workers living in the middle east leave their families behind in their respective countries. Hence, they need communication via social media that does not include only text messages. But middle eastern countries have had video and audio calls via social media restricted for a while which made VOIP necessary and affordable. So, this was a perfect opportunity to grab a specific audience. Hence, it was a massive success from our end.
2019 was the year that gave us our "aha" moment. Technology is very much dependent on the internet, and it has become a prime source of possibly everything you do in life daily. Starting from education, business, and communication to watching movies, streaming sports, and gaming, everything requires the internet now. We had made it our goal to look into ways to improve and reach different types of customers. That is when we came across VPNs. VPNs are called Virtual Private networks, and their name serves its purpose quite literally. VPNs make your network private so that your data, information, and browser history are kept only to yourself. That was it! We needed to launch something as essential as a VPN. After months of sleepless nights and the firm dedication of our passionate developers, Symlex VPN finally went live.
The business has ups and downs. When you have a good time, you will make the wrong decisions. When you have a tough time, you will make worse decisions. The excellent businessman does the opposite of this. In their good time, they make good decisions and better decisions in their crucial and challenging time.
Take us through the process of building the product.
Launching a product for the first time involves an extensive process. So did Symlex VPN. The initial work was to decide what we would name the app. After unanimous voting, Symlex VPN was finalized. Then the process of research work came into view:
- We looked into the features of other competitive apps in this industry to better understand what will be the best for the users.
- We tested every single top-ranked VPN app by using it ourselves.
- The graphics design team put in their 100% effort to make the user interface as friendly as possible.
After many trials and errors, we finally decided on an interface that fits any person using Symlex VPN.
Next came our technical team. They went through every requirement for Symlex VPN to be worth it. Protocols starting from DNS, SSH, WireGuard, OpenConnect and OneConnect, and others. Symlex VPN was initially available across 5 locations. Gradually, we introduced more locations to 65+ and servers for global users. Security has been our priority since the start, so we induced military-grade encryption for Symlex VPN so our customers can have maximum security and privacy. By taking one step and another, we finally completed the making of Symlex VPN, and it was eligible to release on different platforms, including Android, iPhone, Mac, and Windows.
Describe the process of launching the business.
The launching process was very calculated from our end. Our first customer base was in the middle east. We had enough databases from our VOIP users, which helped us to reach our target audience. When we were working on making Symlex VPN, the VOIP market had drastically started to fall, and people wanted to shift to other social media apps like WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger.
The downfall of VOIP had been quite surprising for its users. People felt clueless about how to use these social media applications and contact their families. We saw it as a golden opportunity to grab a particular audience for our VPN and approached it accordingly. As we had the data of our existing customers, we started sending them emails and push notifications as a form of advertisement to let them know about our new product. It gave us a head start on our target audience. Symlex VPN had a massive response. The numbers during the first few months were approximately 15K. Our initial users were renewing their subscriptions every month, as well as new users, were signing up. This is when we knew, we launched a project that was worth our time and effort.
As for finances, the initial funding was from the profit our already-established company made. So, there was no crowdfunding involved; it was solely us in this endeavor.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
We started the journey by selling Symlex VPN to retailers already involved with VOIP sales. Our company then decided to expand the business worldwide, so our digital marketing specialists entered the game. Starting from SEO and ASO activities online, we started promoting Symlex VPN through paid media advertising. It initiated a great outcome, and Symlex VPN was slowly spreading worldwide for its services and quality.
For our search engine operations (SEO), we keep our websites neat and eligible enough by maintaining all the SEO ranking factors so that they are always ranking in search engines. Additionally, we upload onsite blogs regularly. We also keep in touch with multiple top sources to publish our offsite blogs that generate backlinks.
For our ASO activities, we execute our organic tasks along with paid ad campaigns. We have paid ads running for Symlex VPN on the App store and PlayStore via Apple Ads and Google Ads for applications respectively. For our website, we are actively running paid ads across Google Ads. We run these particular ad campaigns by targeting a few countries at a time including UAE, USA, Canada, Qatar, etc.
After we started our promotions via social media ads, it responded well. From socials, we had a user acquisition of 5.85%, out of which Facebook brought in 1.69% and 2.46% from Youtube, so it is safe to say these two platforms shone the most for Symlex VPN. As a result, our company's yearly revenue is approximately 800K USD.
We have had our fair share of press releases. Cyber News featured Symlex VPN as one of the best-underrated VPN services. VPN Mentor also reviewed Symlex VPN, gave it many optimistic views and pointed out the areas we need to improve. We considered it and worked on it. Finally, TechRadar considered Symlex VPN and gave it a shot with their review.
We always take every criticism very positively and work on improving places so the users have the best outcome. This is because our users are our topmost priority.
How are you doing today, and what does the future look like?
At the speed the world is developing, identity to data theft is becoming easier; hence the use of VPNs is becoming a necessity for individuals and corporates. The VPN business is profitable if one can attract the right audience. We have a Gross Profit Margin of 66% approximately, and we have set a target to take the numbers up gradually.
We have already started taking action to reach a larger audience by initiating new protocols and features on our product. If considered region-wise, we have already penetrated the Qatar, Kuwait, and Nigerian markets. We expect to reach more audiences outside middle-east as well. Our goal is very straightforward for now. We can Symlex VPN to acquire 10,000 paid subscribers online, and I believe the way we are working to make this goal achievable, that day is not very far.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Our business has been thoroughly in the process of development, so it is safe to say we are going through a learning process every single day. As they say, the sky is the limit; it applies to us too. Necessarily, there were no mentionable or major mistakes while working on Symlex VPN. I do not regret any steps taken regarding our product. However, we learned the importance of security and privacy provided by a VPN to be eye-opening and essential for our customers and us.
Life is full of challenges. We, too, had to go through some hurdles. VPNs are susceptible in the middle-eastern countries. There is always a chance of your VPN service getting restricted. We were on the edge of our seats during the initial stages of our VPN working in UAE. The process, the programming, nothing was simple. But eventually, we managed to make Symlex VPN consistent, and now it is the best VPN service in middle-east. We couldn't possibly be more satisfied with the results.
Customers find our VPN to be very reasonable when it comes to pricing. We wanted Symlex VPN to be available for everyone at an affordable price. Customer satisfaction is the most crucial aspect of this business; hence our support team is always active and ready to serve the users whenever they need it. We also have employees on rooster duty so that no matter what time zone a customer is in, we can help them accordingly. After all, our users made us who we are today.
In the recent past, we started another wing of Symlex- affiliations. We believe it is an excellent opportunity for people who want to earn money on the internet. Affiliating Symlex VPN will bring a fair sum of money through commissions.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
We launched Symlex VPN for Androids and iOS for the first launch stage. Symlex VPN is now available for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Tv.
Symlex VPN is available for purchase across Play Store, App Store, Amazon Store, and App Gallery. However, here is a catch: customers can purchase their preferred plan through the app directly.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
To put it simply and honestly, there was no particular platform that inspired us to do so. It was the people who inspired us. We saw how many people daily suffer from different privacy and restriction issues.
Moreover, people specifically living outskirts to work and not being able to contact their families, not being to access bank accounts, and many other significant issues inspired us to start working on a VPN service. We launched Symlex VPN to help these people at the most reasonable rate. We could do it, and I am grateful.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to start or are just beginning?
Starting a business is easy. Anyone can start tomorrow if they want. However, running a profitable business is challenging. It requires continuous effort and a lot of patience. Long-term sustainable business needs an innovative mind too. If you and your partner don't have it, you must hire somebody or build a team who has it. Otherwise, things will fall apart soon.
Business owners are decision makers. The business has ups and downs. When you have a good time, you will make the wrong decisions. When you have a tough time, you will make worse decisions. The excellent businessman does the opposite of this. In their good time, they make good decisions and better decisions in their crucial and challenging time.
There are big companies that are struggling, and at the same time, there are rising stars who are doing fantastic jobs. So, there is space; you need to find yours. It's a difficult task but an achievable one.
Where can we go to learn more?
We have launched two websites for the Symlex VPN for some technical reasons.
- Website
- For UAE Visitors
You will find us on different social media platforms to check our recent activities:
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