Acquisition project | WedHaven
About the company
WedHaven is an events tech startup focused on simplifying the management for the Big Fat Indian wedding. It provides an App, Web & WA based experience for the operators (hosts, vendors etc) as well as the guests invited to the wedding and uses tech to smooth out the day to day operations of pre-wedding and during wedding management.
Core Value Prop: Guests & Logistics management - Being able to upload & manage guest lists, collect information from guests automatically over multple channels, updating their stay, pickup, dropoff information and having it all being notified at the right time via the right channels.
All offerings : Everything else is built around the current CVP to either simplify things for the hosts or improve the guest experience, they have -
- Guest lists & groups: Adding guests, dividing them in groups, using groups to control what they see about the wedding e.g. Add people to reception-only group so they are invited to reception only.
- RSVP collection : KYG (Know your Guest) before the wedding - are they coming, who all are coming, how are they coming, do they need stay ? etc.
- Logistics : Collecting Id's for hotel rooms, assigning rooms, sharing pickup and drop off information.
- Schedule & Itinerary sharing : Create events, add their details and share with the right folks.
- Photo Collection : High quality picture sharing by hosts and collecting them from guests and filtering.
- FB like wall personalised for their wedding, to engage with guests before and during events
- Automated and Manual updates via WA, email and SMS for guests
- co-hosts : No need to manage alone, add as many cohosts as you want.
- Social interactive features like - Couple story, live baraat tracking, Wishes & Thank you's etc.
User & Market Research
This section is about researching the Users and Market for WedHaven.
PS: Some of this data has been collected previously but most of it is based on the calls made recently.
Details inside? (All the rough work used to create the ICP, feel free to ignore)
B2C
Calls made (count only those which participated, ignore the rest) : 18
Questions Asked :
- Have you Gotten married or Attended or helped organised a wedding recently? Which one is it?
- What was your role during the wedding?
- Describe your experience in two to three words?
Positive words :
Negative words : - If all positive ask, what could have been better || If mixed, ask what worked and what did not || if all negative (unlikely) Ask why?
- Did you use any tech to simplify your wedding experience?
- Why did you use the above technology and were you satisfied with using it?
- What would be the number 1 thing you wish existed that would make your wedding experience (organising or attending ) 10x better?
- Would you pay if #6 existed and how much ?
B2C Blockers identified :
- Father / Elders : feel we can do without it entire family can help, why pay.
- Planners : unwilling to use the app if client brings it to them. Alright if they have a tieup with us previously.
TBD move responses from excel to here
B2B
Calls made : 4
Questions Asked:
- Area of operation?
- What all services do you provide?
- How do you find clients today?
- What are the steps involved after a client comes to you?
- How many events can you do in a single day?
- If 1 or 2, why not more?
- What are your biggest challenges when managing an event?
B2B Blockers identified-
- Clients : Willingness to use tech in their weddings
- Owners : Not willing to shell out the money
ICP
B2C
Customers we will connect with ourselves.
| ICP 1 | ICP 2 | ICP3 | ICP4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ideal customer profile name | The Bride | The Groom | Brother/Sister of Bride & Groom | Fathers of Bride & Groom |
Age | 20-31 | 25-36 | 20-40 | 45 - 60 |
Goals | To have a memorable wedding | To have a fun & simple wedding | To complete the tasks given to them flawlessly | Make sure the wedding is a success and everyone goes home happy. |
Income levels | > 10 lakh | > 10 lakh | > 10 lakh | > 5 lakh |
Gender | Female | Male | Either | Male |
Location | Tier 1 / 2 | Tier 1/2 | Tier 1/2 | Tier 1/2 |
Companies | Tech related companies | Tech related companies | Tech related companies | Service or business Industry |
Marital Status | Single | Single | Single or Married | Married |
Where do they spend time? (In Order of preference) | Online Socials (Instagram, FB), Shopping Inspiration blogs, Pinterest | Online Socials, OTT platforms, Sporting events, News | Online Socials, OTT, Friends, work | News, Friends, work, family. |
Pain points |
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Current solution |
|
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Details to help with ICP prioritization | | |||
Adoption curve | low | low | low | high |
Frequency of use | Medium | High | High | Low |
Apetite to pay | Medium | High | High | Low |
TAM | Moderate | Moderate | Large | Moderate |
Distribution | Moderate | High | High | Low |
Thoughts | Brides are an important market to target but based on the calls (and some past data) we can tell their focus area is more on the design aspects vs management aspects | Grooms are definitely more of a power user for the app, their focus is more on the ground level implementation, definitely a good ICP to go after | While the grooms are occupied with "groom activities" in the end its the siblings/cousins who end up making sure the event goes ahead flawlessly, also its TAM is larger by nature | Fathers are an important factor to consider here they may not be the power user for the app but they are definitely the biggest blocker and final approver. |
B2B
These are other businesses part of the wedding industry who we can partner with to extend our reach.
ICP 1 | ICP 2 | |
|---|---|---|
ICP Name | The Wedding Company | Ranjeet |
Persona Position | Wedding Planners | Tent/Venue owner |
Age | 20 - 40 yrs | 35 - 55 |
Organisational Goals | Scale business | Fully booked venues |
Role Priorities | execution | Finding clients |
Role in buying process | High | High |
Reporting Structure | These are smaller organisationally speaking, such deals are directly with the owners. | Same as Planners |
Preferred Channels | Phone & Video call | In person, Phone call |
Products used in workplace | excel sheets & whatsapp | Whatsapp & accounting software |
Where do they spend time | Overlooking execution (calling up guests for their customers, collecting information etc),hiring temp staff & their training, looking for new clients and expanding tie ups with vendors. | Client visits, pricing discussions, vendor meetings & staff management |
Pain Points | People Intensive, Staff count & training limitations end up limiting # of weddings they can support every season, increasing competition | Unbooked dates, last minute cancellations, finding clients |
Current Solution |
|
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Details to help with ICP prioritisation | ||
Adoption Curve | Medium | High (product not directly applicable) |
Frequency of Use | High | Low (same not applicable yet) |
Apetite to pay | High | High (already paying for other online services) |
TAM | Small | Small |
Distribution | High | Medium |
Thoughts | So the TAM might be small here but since Planners operate around 26% of all weddings ( 1cr), this gives us a good starting point into this market | Let's generalize this to all vendors (minus planners) and the TAM grows, we are not in the Vendor marketplace yet but a good way to expand TAM later, not right now. |
Result
Based on all the data above, we will chose 2 ICP's for now -
- B2C ICP 3 : Siblings of Bride and Groom : Simple reason is they are doing a lot of running around and are the power users of our product, not to say that ICP1 and ICP 2 are not power users but 3 is the bigger group to reach right now.
- B2B ICP 1 : Wedding planners : Size might be small but definitely a single point of dispersion/distribution for our product. Also they themselves are power users for our product. Other kind of Vendors are not relevant in the current state of our product.
Blockers
B2C Blockers :
- Father / Elders : feel we can do without it entire family can help, why pay.
- Planners : unwilling to use the app if client brings it to them. Alright if they have a tieup with us previously.
B2B Blockers -
- Clients : Willingness to use tech in their weddings
- Owners : Not willing to shell out the money
Market Sizing
We use a top down approach based on data that is publicly available and logical reasoning
Data & Math
Total wedding in 2023 - 1cr
Let's dig deep into the budgets of weddings in India. Data from CAIT reports.
Wedding Budget (inr) | % of total Weddings |
< 6 lakh | 35.7 % |
6 lakh - 15 lakh | 23.8 % |
15 lakh - 25 lakh | 38 % |
> 25 lakh | 2.41 % |
Total number of expected weddings - 1cr
Avg Size of wedding in 2023 - 300 guests
Avg cost per guest we charge - 50 rs per guest
Avg ticket size per wedding - 15000rs
Total market size (P*Q) as per 50rs per guest - 15000 cr inr( i think its 1.8bn)
SAM Calculations
People who can afford our service is based on the overall budget of the wedding, as long as our prices are 1% or less of the overall budget we can push for it. (so >15 lakh expenditure)
% of wedding in India having 1% or less budget pricing : 40.41% ( 38 + 2.41)
SAM : 40.41% of tam (at 50 per guest) - 6061.5 cr inr (727m)
The image!
Experimentation & Channels
All Channels considered and their prioritisation framework.
PS : Could not figure out a way to highlight the rows for chosen channels, so look out of those which have text in a different color.
Green channel is Good to go Now
Yellow channel is if Budget permits.
Channels | Implementation details | Cost | Lead time | Feedback Possibilities | Effort | Scale | Flexibility | Thoughts | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Micro Influencers | Find one operating in the wedding domain with 10k-50k users, partner and post content | 10-15k per post, assuming 2 posts a week. | Medium | Low | Low : just provide some guidelines and the content creator takes over. | Medium : you can just keep adding more influencers here | Medium | Isn't exactly cheap and getting feedback is more of a running after the customer experience instead of immediate. | Not going forward with this. |
Wedding Exhibitions | Setup a booth at one of the 23 odd exhibitions that happen 3-4 times a year and meet the clients where they are. | So booth costs vary a lot, and so does the footfall expectations. Footfall range - 2k - 15k Avg Cost per customer interaction - 15rs Addon cost - 20k for brochuers, stands and prints etc. | Low | High | Medium | Low | Low | There is definitely some value here where we can reach our desired B2C ICP3 here (atleast the women for sure) | Worth going forward with, found our Wedding Asia, Wedding syrup and Fashion and lifestyle exhibitions in delhi are able to provide 10-11rs range. |
Paid Ads (google) | Yes AP ! We know its against the rules but let's run some ads at the minimal budgets targeting some regions outside our base. Its important to get some client feedback outside delhi ncr as weddings are a very regional affair | Minimal budgets - 4 ad campaigns, 80 rs per day. 9,920/- per month Customer signup expected (at 13 rs per signup) - 763 Assuming 2% (bare minimum) people showing interest - 15 people talk to us | Low | Low | Low | High | High | Yes the Cost to get the feedback is high but this is actually a cheaper way to reach other regions within India with minimal effort | Worth pursuing as we need to make sure we can understand the difference in product needs as the region changes |
Friends + Family + | Simply reach out over all channels to friends and family asking for two things - | None | Low | Very High | Low | Low | Low | No reasons not to do this | Worth pursuing. |
SEO / Blogs | So we create a blog and add content to it at a constant pace. | 400 - 500 rs per article. A good blog is one that is atleast 1 article every 2 days constantly. Monthly cost : 15k Monthly infra cost : 1-2k | High/Very High | Low | Medium | Medium | Low | With a long term investment vision in mind, we should go forth with building the meat of the blog | Let's Pursue, cautiously |
(B2B) On ground Visits | So, Delhi as a starting point, has 4-5 pockets of places where we can find Wedding Planners (basically next to where other vendors are) | None (petrol?) | Low | High | Low | Low | Low | Does not hurt one bit, definitely going to pursue. | Pursue |
AdOnMo / Placed Screens ads | Ok, this is interesting to us, these screens have a very high recall rate and they are on every floor, parking lots, doctor waiting place etc. | Cost per screen: 2-2.5k per month total cost : 1,00,000 per month. | Low | Medium | Low : Just a good design | Medium (limited by their own reach) | High | Not cheap but worth attempting for 2 months before wedding season to see the results here | Pursue, with upper limits on budget |
Referral | System that post weddings prompts organisers to share their experience with other who might potentially need this product and provide a 20% discount coupon which they can share. | Fixed system development cost : 1lk Discounting costs : TBD | Low/Medium | Medium as the convincing part is done by existing customer and they may not even come to talk to us. | medium | medium | medium | Need to hash out more details here but not worth the effort right now as we are not at the right stage for this. | Not yet, doesnt make sense to invest here this early. |
Future Upsell (not sure what this is called correctly, is this a kind of referral only?) | We have a slightly unique setup where our client is using our system and providing us a list of their guests and keeping in touch with them using our interface. | One time development cost : 5k Recurring cost : 160 - 400 rs depending on number of guests 0.8 per guest | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium (Not sure if this is correct, revisit) | This is a great way to capitalise the data we have after our usage for the client is more or less complete. Its cheap and can help in finding the next client quickly. | Pursue. |
Sponsoring In person Dating services | After tinder fatigue sets in, a lot of marriage age singles are going to platforms like Mingalam, Mingly vibes, couple squad, small world etc We should be able to partner with them and reach out TA very early on? | Cost of sponsoring events : 5k - 25k | Medium (because they need to date first right?) | Medium | Low | Low | Low | Just seems like something not worth spending money on at this stage, because we need to work on high Recall value as the Lead time is definitely there | Don't pursue |
Execution details of chosen channels
Elaborating a bit on the channels we wish to pursue, you will find a lot of data in the table above, so first read that, due to time constraint not repeating above stuff and adding only additional details if any.
Wedding Exhibitions
Why?
Easiest way to have inperson interactions with a bunch of potential customers in a short duration of time.
How?
Simple to execute we go and talk to people
Booth related things required :
- Create / print brochures,
- Flex print for the stalls, preferably standing ones
- QR code prints so people can try out right then and there.
Conversation/script :
TBD : More work required here
- Hi/Hello, congratulations
- Product intro (20-30 sec), focus on problems they face while organising a wedding
- Listen, expand on features where required
- Understand a bit more about them (use Questions we defined while creating ICP for our B2C customers in this doc above)
- Demo right then and there
- collect contact info
- Follow up same day or next day morning
Expected outcome :
- Potential customers
- Feedback on what they need and where the product is lacking
- Get the brand name out there.
Friends & Family ++
Why?
Best channel at PMF stage, people connect and try on face value.
PS: ++ is for asking your employees to do the same... shameless promotion in their circles.
How?
Sub Channels :
- Linkedin for professionals
- Post for generic outreach
- DM for closer colleagues
- Instragram and Fb for mass friend outreach
- 1 story every 2 days
- Atleast 1 post so people who arent very active also see it
- Whatsapp Family groups for family outreach
- Post a few times here
- Whatsapp Direct message for close friends & family.
- Pinging someone once is enough for this sub channel
- Discord for gaming friends ( its a real tight community)
- General channel post if you feel there are people of relevant geography here
Content :
TBD : More refinement needed here
Post content :
- Image/Video saying "WedHaven (written over some food) is served, looking for tasters'
- Funny for personal groups
- Professional/decent for Linkedin (debatable)
- Text : Our product is fresh out of the over, would love to have some people who are about to get married try it out and let us know about the product.
Expected Outcomes :
- Some early adopters
- Feedback (just need to emphasize on give harsh feedback no babying)
- Potential WoM promotion through people we talk to.
SEO/Blogs
Why?
This is more an investment in the future, we understand a huge part of our customer base starts with google searches about specific vendors and problems for their wedding.
How?
Look for trending topics on google, start building content around it, publish at regular intervals.
Overtime, add topics that our customer talks about and add topics related to our product (tech and weddings related)
Latest trending topics as of now
120+ Trending Mehndi Designs For Brides & Bridesmaids
Unique Whatsapp Marriage Invitation Ideas For To-Be-Weds
25+ Open Hairstyle Ideas for Wedding Functions
30 Must-Have Bridal Make-up Kit Essentials
10 Varmala Songs That Will Breathe Romance into Your Jaimala Ceremony
Groom Mehndi Design: 25+ Latest Dulha Mehndi Designs Ideas
Destination Wedding Costs & How to Plan It In a Budget
Ultimate Father-Daughter Bollywood Song Playlist!
Ideas for Couple Poses in Indian Weddings
Ideas for Flower Decorations for Weddings
30 Engagement Songs For Bridal Entry
12 Best Music Tracks For Your Wedding Trailer Video
How Much Does A Pre-Wedding Shoot Cost?
20+ Couple Entry Songs For Your Reception
30+ Wedding Tent Decoration Ideas That We Loved!
Apart from content whats required :
- server for publishing blogs
- attractive design / wedding themed
- various points to lead user to our product
- various places where we can collect user contact info for further conversions
Expected outcomes:
- Trending topics by default are quick to get traction over google (given content is good)
- Slowly builds a top of the funnel channel for customers.
- Eventually with enough content, we start a bi-weekly newsletter.
On-ground visits (B2B)
Why?
The best way to reach out to our B2B ICP is actually in person, we will start in a localised manner and limit it to delhi NCR. Nothing beats foot on the ground.
How?
We will identify planners in specific regions across delhi ncr, pick 1 or 2 regions in a day and just visit them.
Initially do this ourselves, to scale hire people at a later stage.
PS: This will need to be done in off season, during wedding seasons they wont entertain us.
Material Required :
- Brochures with QR codes (leave 20-30 with them incase they are interested)
- Phone & laptop
Conversation /Script:
TBD: need to refine this more
- Hi/ Hello, pleasantries
- Talk about our product while showing the app (Talk problems, show solutions)
- Listen, elaborate what they want to know more about
- Discuss their problems (similar to the questions we have in our B2B ICP section)
- Ask, if they would be interested in using the app, if not what would convince them to use it
- If interested, follow up with details over whatsapp, how to's, product explainer and all in the next 2 days.
- If not interested, ask them how they feel about partnering where they promote our product to their clients and we help them get more clients?
- End on a positive note, wishing good day
Expected outcomes:
- Initial B2B clients
- Feedback on why not
- Exploratory result of partnerships with vendors.
- Product validation.
Future upsell
Why?
More like why not, we are already communicating over whatsapp/emails/sms with these guests over 2-3 months and then more so during the event. Post event promotion seems like a miss till now O_O
How?
We currently send -
- Request for photos messages automatically few hours after the last event for the wedding
- Request for wishes on the morning (or next morning) of the last day.
We will send another message 1 day after the last day, asking for feedback about their experience and promotion offering a 20% discount if they wish to use the app for a wedding in their family.
Content:
Hi <name>, it was a pleasure to be able to serve you in #<hastag's> wedding. we hope you had a great experience, if there is anything you feel we missed or can do better please let us know! Also if you had a wonderful experience and want to use WedHaven App, use the code <hashtag>-20-xyz and we will give you a 20% discount!
Thanks WedHaven,
Making wedding Hassle free for you.
Action buttons : Feedback (app store review page?) , Use discount code (link to our simple referral page).
Expected outcomes:
- Some happy guests convert to users, a stronger WoM ?
- Brand recall improvement
- Feedback
Channels if budget permits
Paid Ads
Why?
We are being a little region specific in our approaches above, this is a good way to attempt and get feedback from various parts of India and weddings style, rituals change regionally here.
How?
Divide India into 4 regions, Target tier 1 cities only, run app install ads with free trial as the success metric (ps app install ads are auto targeted based on content)
Content :
The entire campaign will be about highlighting problems that happen while managing a wedding.
Creatives & Heading are pain points. Description is nudging at how WedHaven helps.
Context we want to drive forwward
RSVP headaches? No more! With WedHaven's WhatsApp updates and guest list magic, planning is a breeze. We're your wedding genie, granting all your planning wishes!
Shaadi ki yaadein, ab ek click dur! With WedHaven, collect hi-res pics from guests effortlessly. No more post-wedding photo chase, just shared memories.
Pack your bags stress-free! With WedHaven, we've got your back for hotel IDs, travel woes, and everything in between. Let's make your wedding journey as smooth as silk!
Struggling to keep up with wedding updates? Don't worry, with WedHaven, With WedHaven, manage your big day effortlessly from wherever you are. No more wedding woes, just pure planning bliss!
Introducing your live, interactive, and personalized wedding website – brought to you by WedHaven! Share your love story, event details, and more in one convenient place.
Why hassle with invites when you can share your love story instead? Ditch the traditional invites and opt for a personalized wedding website with WedHaven. Your guests will thank you!
No planner, no problem! Let WedHaven be your superhero sidekick, tackling wedding chaos with ease. From seating plans to last-minute location shifts, consider it handled.
Expected Outcomes:
AdOnMo & similar Screens
Why?
this is purely experiemental but as per the data we have, it seems like a great way to be in the minds of our Male's in our ICP and they are proven to have great recall value.
How?
Create 2 -3 short videos (go for some simple animated ones) highlighting problems such as "managing guests in a pain", "collecting ids is hard", "last minute venue change" etc (look at the context we want to drive forward for the paid Ads channel above)
Must Have QR code, take user to MLP promoting our features and click throughs to download app.
This needs to be run 2 -3 months before the wedding season.
Expected outcomes:
- New customers
- Higher recall value
PS: Apologies if it feels like its missing depth in certain area's, was dealing with an unplanned surgery of my 2yr old this week, so had very limited time. I intend to add more details over here as we move along.
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