Nowadays, taking photostat copies is becoming a rather costly affair. But a free photostat facility is just a click away. Two youths based in the city have launched an innovative service - Copyspot - which aims to provide free photocopy service to the public.
Copyspot is an idea that Bittu George and Prashanth Menon thought of while they were held up in the traffic block in Pattom and saw migrant labourers selling sun shields for cars to earn a living. This made them think whether they couldn’t sell T-shirts and caps carrying ads of corporates. The same thought and various versions of the same idea ended up in the new venture, copyspot.in. The idea behind copyspot is utilising the space behind the paper for advertisements. Every paper used for taking photostat from a copyspot will be having an advertisement on it. The company whose advertisement appears pays for the photocopies that are taken at copyspot.
To get this service, all you have to do is sign in to copyspot.in and get registered with a valid mobile number. Those registered will receive a code in your mobile number. Showing the registered code to the authorised shops, one can avail of the free photostat facility. Currently, copyspot has over 18 authorised outlets in Thiruvananthapuram offering this service and one can take up to 25 free photostats a day.
The idea has caught up so much that copyspot has so far witnessed around 3,000 registrations in the capital alone. Meanwhile, its operations have also started in Kollam, Kozhikode, Kochi, Kottayam and Pala. According to Bittu, they are plans to expand to several places in other states, like Pune, Bangalore and Chennai.
“We are getting calls for advertisers, rather than our going after clients, since they are getting an assured return on investment. The same clients have advertised more than once, just because of the feedback they have received from an advertisement,” said Bittu.
“We considered the points of view of both beneficiaries and our clients before developing the idea. For a beneficiary, especially a student, we make it easier for them to get photostats and that too free of cost. For corporates, we help them in localised advertisements and they can also reach out to each and every student. Their target sector is close to them than any other medium,” said Prashanth.
Copyspot will soon launch a reward for those taking more than 100 copies from the facility. A coupon code will be given for such persons. ‘’While entering the coupon code in the website, one will get to claim a reward through any of our sponsors. Rewards can be in the form of discount coupons at popular retail outlets in the city or sometimes gadgets. With this, the facility will enter the next level,’’ he said.