We are publishing an interview of Mr. Kunal Makhija, Co-Founder, Sloshout – This corporate event management startup is making it different through personal touch, transparency, cater small groups and complimentary services.
About the founders
Mr. Kunal Makhija and Mr. Parth Chandok completed their graduation in business management. They together moved on to join Aon and then shifted to EY for better prospects. As an added responsibility, they were expected to conduct team outings. They too faced serious problems making online searches, calls, emails and countless negotiations. It took them 8 hours, each time, to find the perfect venue suiting their requirements. So, instead of being the ones looking for a solution, they, themselves, became the solution, and this, in turn, led to the emergence of Sloshout.
What is the problem you are trying to solve? Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Following are the problems that people face while booking a venue:
- Time-consuming – This hampers the usual functioning of the business drastically.
Limited Knowledge – Due to limited knowledge about the venues, the business owners need guidance that can make them aware about the amenities, music, ambiance and other essential information about the venues. - Poor negotiation skills – Due to restrictive knowledge, it is difficult for the corporates to negotiate with different vendors.
Hesitant to try new venues – The limited availability of time and deals make the corporates reluctant to try new venues and places. - Minimum Group Size required – Venues require a minimum group size of 15 people to provide a package. So, if there are less than 15, it costs a lot of money on a la carte basis.
What is the uniqueness about your Startup?
What makes Sloshout different is the personal touch, transparency, cater small groups, and provide complimentary services. We almost exclusively focus on corporate events and therefore are able to procure best services at best rates for our clients.
What is the revenue model? What is the logic behind it? What is the model you are following – Free / Freemium / Premium etc. ? Explain your thought process.
The Sloshout website is Free to use for corporate clients who can access the website 24 x 7. The venue owner pay a nominal fee to the Sloshout platform.
Who are the consumers that you are targeting? How is this going to affect them?
Sloshout focuses on corporate events only. The corporate are very happy as they save large amount of man hours by using their website which is simple and quick. Otherwise team outings would be an organizational nightmare. The prices of sloshout are less because they book venues in bulk.
What is the big picture of your startup? Will it lead to something bigger? If so, how?
We are also looking at the technical aspect of introducing machine learning in our services with an aim to reduce the operational and time costs and moving towards automating the entire process for a better customer service.
What is the success story of your startup in your own words?
A significant milestone was achieved by Sloshout in February 2017 when they successfully organized 500th event. This milestone was achieved within a year of starting up. In the process Sloshout served over 15000 people. This is indeed an inspiring story. One definitely can’t stop praising the efforts and the tremendous hard work put in by them.
Any other information about your startup that you would like to share with us.
Sloshout is a web platform that helps the customers to find the perfect venue for their event and book the best packages on group parties. Sloshout provides expert suggestions on selection of venues, based upon the customer’s requirements. The user can either put filters on the website to get the desired result, or fill in the requirements form online or even call the company. The reason Sloshout offers industry wide best rates is the sheer number of clients they connect with venues every month. The service quality is assured via a rating system. Venue owners know that if they provide poor services, their rating will be decreased on Sloshout and the business being sent to them will decrease. In this way, the venues get assurance of increased business, the customers get the minimum possible rates and best services. So, it’s a win-win for everyone.
Visit http://www.sloshout.com for more details.
Thanks Kunal. Best of luck!