Rohit Ghosh : Mumbai Is Known as the Financial and Entertainment Hub of India

Rohit Ghosh of Grouple .

Tell us about yourself?

Rohit is pursuing his entrepreneurial journey as Founder and CEO with Grouple.

To put it simply, Grouple is leveraging technology to make group bookings easier, and faster through automation.

Our motto is that groups deserve benefits just because they come in numbers. Larger the group, better the deal! Rohit comes with 15+ years of experience in the events & entertainment sector and has worked with various production houses and management companies globally.

His latest stint was at IIFL Wealth Management as an Associate Vice President of client experiences, handling sponsorships and client engagements.

He also holds a higher diploma in Events Management & Innovative Marketing from the EMDI Institute of Dubai, UAE. Rohit is also a certified event planner and producer by AEG Live and Expert Rating Solutions.

After living and working in Dubai for over 10+ years, Rohit decided to return back to India when he witnessed a boom in the Indian experiential and information technology sectors.

Rohit’s repertoire of projects includes – FIFA Club World Cup, Formula1, European Tour, Wimbledon, Dubai World Cup, to name a few. Rohit is a passionate cricketer and enjoys listening to music.

He considers himself lucky to work in a space where his job involves making sure others are having a great time!

What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you? 

Build a team that value the organisations vision and mission statements.

Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and have strengths that compliment yours. Nothing is going to be perfect and hence be ready to fall and fail.

Failure is just another lesson putting one back on the path to success. Follow your passion cause the journey is never going to be easy.

Enjoy what you do and it will take you places. At last, keeping learning and dream big. No matter what people say believe in yourself and keep going. Perseverance is the path to success.

If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Dream big but start small. Focus on the problem and decide what’s important. Find a niche that helps your customers with measurable results.

A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?

Honestly, I have not found a balance. We all work at least 8-10 hours a day, somedays even longer given that we are building to find PMF.

I believe one needs to put SOP’s in place for the company to work on autopilot mode, giving you time to balance ones work and personal life.

Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?

Rohit recognised the gap in the group booking space, having found no solution that provided group benefits which led to the foundation of Grouple.

We are redefining the way people discover and book for a group online. Currently all group bookings be it at a movie theatre, amusement park or any entertainment hub are done manually offline over calls, emails and is a tedious process with a minimum turn around time of 7-14 working days.

This is where Grouple makes group bookings easier and faster while managing groups with ease.

What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?

Our model has always been very simple, larger the group, better the deal.

Our proprietary algorithms help you discover the best group package deal basis your location, group size and personalised group requirements.

All you need to do is Book, Invite and show up to Enjoy.

Through our white labelled application, experience providers can up-sell group package deals faster while capturing the entire groups lifecycle journey.

How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?

We found sales organically through the the founders network and personal references from employees, incubator and accelerator partners.

In the early days focus on a niche market, your customers and partners will help spread the word.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?

One of the biggest challenge was shifting the mindset from Employee to Employer.

As an employee you have a job security, a regular income, benefits, and most likely have a bright future. Moving to entrepreneur was never easy!

We chalked down a clear vision for the company, clarity on the purpose and a the return on the investment. We identified the problem statement and built on from there.

What do you consider are the main strengths of operating your business in India and the specific state you are in over other states in India?

Mumbai is known as the financial and entertainment hub of India.

Operating out Mumbai helped us reach out experience provider partners and investors far more easily. If you are building for the entertainment sector there no better place to be.

What (if any) are some weaknesses of operating your business within India and your state?

Operating out of Mumbai might be expensive. With high rentals and living costs, the hustle and bustle of the city might find yourself lost in the noisy surroundings.

If you could operate your business in another state in India rather than the State you are in, which state would it be and why?

If we had to pick another city it would be Pune. Given that the city is about 150 Km from Mumbai with pleasant weather all year round and a beautiful city.

Known as the Oxford of the East, Pune is a thriving cultural and educational hub and a young, cosmopolitan city. The city provides the perfect balance of work and play.

India has an incredibly diverse population. How has the affected your consumer base and business?

The group booking market on an average is of 30%-35% of the overall ticketing sector of which 70% is booked by B2B clients.

India being a diverse population helped us narrow down our customer base and focus on our niche sector.

Infrastructure is really important to businesses. How have you seen India’s infrastructure improve recently? Do you see new opportunities opening up?

India’s infrastructure has definitely improved with the Startup India initiative.

With the introduction of the UPI, 5G, digital stacks and internet penetration in the country we see many new opportunities in the next decade to come.

What do you want to accomplish in the next 5 years with your business?

In the next 5 years we see our product to be a market leader in the group booking space across the major metro cities of India and globally especially in the Middles East, Europe and the USA.

Our focus will be to expand our B2B customer base in the ticketing, amusement park and restaurant sectors.

We aim to build new plugin features such as seat mapping, food & beverage and merchandising offerings.

India has recently imposed some relatively high tariffs. Has this had an impact on your business? Do you support the tariffs?

We believe that the tariffs has helps the startup economy go digital with the introduction of the GST. We support the government policies and imposed tariffs.

And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?

We are always open to partnerships and collaborations. If any of the readers would like to get involved they can write to on [email protected] or visit https://www.grouple.in/contact

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