This Delhi Based Start-up is Changing the Way People Plan Their Functions

We are publishing an interview of Mr. Ritwik Dang, Founder, FunctionMania.

“Did you ever think that planning your social event was as easy as making a phone call? This Delhi based start up is changing the way people plan their functions – Exclusive Chat with the Founder Ritwik Dang“

About the founders
Ritwik has a unique personality of finding inspirations in the most ordinary of things. He has an expertise in not only keeping his own moral high but also motivating others for not settling for anything ordinary. He is a keen learner and his dictionary does not include the word ordinary. All these traits have led to a successful startup that has made a name for itself. It is an aggregator of all the essential services needed in all phases of social event planning like wedding, baby showers, birthdays etc. Ritwik has an MBA in marketing management and an expertise in strategic planning, customer service and business development. Being a zodiac cusp of magic, he is magnetically charming, who would go to all possible lengths to succeed in whatever he puts his heart and mind to. This logical suit man finds inspiration in the simplest of things. And the one thing he is finest at is to motivate everyone, to settle for nothing but the best! Remarkably cool, this boss man is intrigued by things around and is always keen on learning new things. ‘Average’ is not a word he likes.

What is the problem you are trying to solve? How are you solving it?
The problem lies with both the user and the vendor side where users do not have an aggregated platform to search for information to hire suitable vendors for their function, get recommendations from the experts according to their budget, make their own customized e-invites ..find inspiration & ideas across all function/social event spectrum and on the other side, vendors do not have someone who can take care of their digital and marketing needs . The aim is to provide a comprehensive digital solution to both the users and the vendors under one roof.

The problem that we are trying to solve is saving time and money in totality so that both sides are in a win win situation and grow simultaneously.

In today’s world, it is imperative for any brand to have a digital presence. The brand information should be available easily with prices to the customers so that it becomes easier for them to find a vendor and for vendors it has become utmost important to maintain a digital identity and come across as a brand and promote themselves on social media and other online platforms so that customers know about them.

So, FunctionMania tries to address problems for the user and the vendor by providing users with vendor listing across categories which are used in all social events and sections like exclusive photo section, true stories section where they find ideas and inspiration ..section like forum where for the first time users can put forward questions and experts from the industry would address theie queries and creation of e-invite website which you can customize as per your needs and preferences …give and receive sagan and not only make invites for wedding but for baby showers, birthdays etc. For vendors functionmania acts a digital partner where we take over their digital needs completely and manage them under one umbrella.

What challenges did you face when you were starting out?
I think hiring the right team for my venture was one of the most difficult challenge that I had to face as according to me you are what your team makes you! Strategy is not a solo sport, even if you’re the CEO ..you need the right mix of skill set and a lot of hardwork to become successful. So, if you have that kind of team nothing is impossible.

What is the concept of your website FunctionMania.com?
The concept is pretty simple where functionmania tries to help every user/person who has a wedding, birthday or baby shower to host. The user can come to the website and browse through the list of hundreds of quality vendors and shortlist the one that they find the best according to their budget. They can also take help from the recommendation section wherein they can submit their requirements and we’ll suggest vendors according to their budget and help them seal the best discounted. Another interesting thing, our sections like true stories where we feature actual social function along with what all vendors were hired gives our users a better idea of the vendor deliverable which assists them in making their decision for providing amazing ideas and inspirations. We have an exclusive photos and blog section to search your mind out and section called FM forum where you can submit your doubts and questions and get answered by the industry experts. And that’s not it. Our function website section lets our users make a customized e-invite for wedding baby shower, birthday and anniversary and also receive sagan online (we are serious!).

What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup. 
We are not here to take part, we are here to take over. Our USP is in our name that we are not wedding restricted which is why we cater to a bigger market including wedding which results in higher brand visibility… freedom of creating versatile content, so that the audience irrespective of any function is constantly engaged. For example, if i’m getting married I would probably visit one of the wedding portals but once i’m done with my wedding the wedding websites and apps become irrelevant for me and i wouldn’t want to visit or read things about them anymore, which does not happen with functionmania.com.

What is your current traction ?
We had a website traffic of over 80,000 users in the month of March. 800+ Vendors in Delhi NCR (Now expanding to Mumbai as well). 1st company in this industry to collaborate with RADIOCITY 91.1FM for ‘Band, Baaja, Bazaar’ campaign in December’16. All India ALEXA website rank- 12,000. Generated business worth 5 Cr for our registered vendors already. Covered Pan-India by Businessworld Disrupt, YoSuccess and Humans of Entrepreneurship. Over 60,000 organic likes and followers on Facebook | Over 10,500 followers on Instagram

What are the different functions for which you offer service?
FunctionMania is the first ever website to cater to all functions! Birthdays, Anniversaries, Baby Showers, Weddings and related functions, , so on and so forth. We are covering the entire Social Events industry.

Share some WOW moments from your FunctionMania journey till now?
Every day is WOW day for us. We love the hard-work that we put in every single day. I wake up determined every morning and want to achieve something different, something better for FunctionMania everyday and I sleep every night thanking god for all the wonderful experiences and the journey so far. Since I enjoy the work that I do, I feel happy. It encourages me to become better and perform better. I feel that the same is the case with my team. I have always tried to grow with the team, guiding them and walking forward with them.

Say something for the Indian entrepreneurs who want to make their own mark in the society with their startups?
Hustle and grind till the time you become successful. I feel till you step out of your comfort zone you will never be able to achieve what you are setting out to. If you don’t sacrifice now for what you want in future then you what you want will become your sacrifice.

Define Ritwik- The entrepreneur in one line?
I know what I bring to the table ..so trust me when I say that i’m not afraid to eat alone!

What are the new things you have in the pipeline?
We have a bag full of new things coming up for our users and vendors. I will just give you a brief as to for users we are going to have an exclusive discussion board where they can get clarity on anything and everything about their own function called the FM Forum and for the vendor, there are a variety of services that we are introducing to help digitally more present and save time. So stay tuned as we have just just started.

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Thanks Ritwik. Best of luck!