Step 1:

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Chosen Product:

The product chosen is SuperBolter.com - an online diy home design platform focussed on the end consumers. Imagine Canva for Homes.

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SuperBolter is a multi sided marketplace consisting of designers and merchants on the supply side and home owners on the demand side. The focus so far was on building the demand side of the platform. The supply side has been engaged offline.

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More than 100 brands and 40,000 products have already been listed on the platform without any tech integration. This is causing pricing and out-of-stock issues. A deeper integration will help in closing the user journey loop on SuperBolter.

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Have you achieved PMF:

Yes. Thousands of poeple from aroudn the world are using SuperBolter. The traffic has grown through influencers and WoM.

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Step 2:

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Consumer User journey on SuperBolter.com

User signs up on SuperBolter.com

Create a project by either selecting a floorplan from our library or by uploading their floorplan

The user usually waits for 0-4 days to get back a 3D home.

The user can then start designing the home using room design templates and /or products from various real world brands.

The user can also see a live estimate of how much the home interiors will cost.

Today, once the designing is done, the users are getting their interiors executed through a carpenter or other firms.

Here are a list of potential gaps in the consumer journey :

B2C End consumer​

1. Can’t find my floor plan but its already available on Housing.com / 99acres / Builder website
2. I want to see more product options from online sites such as  Ikea, Urban Ladder, Asian Paints, etc
3. I want to see more products from offline partners such as Stanley, Dash square, etc 
4. I want to see more designs for living room and bedroom. 
5. The prices , availability of products etc are not updated whereas I can see the prices online on the sites. 
6. How do I buy the product on superbolter? 
7. I have designed the home, can you help me with the implementation? 
8. Designing is not my cup of tea, can you connect me to a reputed designer. 
9. Can you automatically create the room/ home design ?

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Step 3:

Litmus test 1 : Partner Category

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From the above set of opportunities, we will zero in on online brands and marketplaces which can help our B2C users progress further from the design journey to the purchase journey.

Result: B2C Online Brands and Marketplaces

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Litmus Test 2: Choosing the right partner ( B2C: marketplaces & brands )

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IKEA is leading at 8.2 followed by Wooden Street at 6.5.

Result: We will proceed with IKEA.

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STEP 4:

ICP

B2C Consumer : Interior Design

28-35yo Urban male who is getting possession or already got possession of a new home (mid-premium segment) from a builder.  Design aware and aspires for a beautiful home. Values money/control over time. 

Is looking for interiors that cost anywhere from 3L to 15 lakhs. 

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Brand Values

​SuperBolter's brand values are the core principles that guide the company's mission, behavior, and decisions. Here are the key brand values of SuperBolter:

Innovation:

Embrace cutting-edge technology to provide intuitive and powerful design tools.

Continuously improve and evolve the platform to meet the needs of users.

Empowerment:

Enable users to design and visualize their dream spaces effortlessly.

Provide tools that make professional-quality design accessible to everyone, not just experts.

User-Centricity:

Prioritize the user experience in all aspects of the platform.

Listen to user feedback and adapt to meet their needs and preferences.

Transparency:

Offer clear and honest communication about features, pricing, and processes.

Build trust by providing accurate and real-time information, such as live price estimates.

Creativity:

Encourage creativity by offering diverse design templates and customization options.

Inspire users to explore and express their unique style and vision.

Efficiency:

Streamline the design process with user-friendly tools that save time and reduce complexity.

Provide seamless integration of design and budget planning to enhance decision-making.

Accessibility:

Ensure the platform is easy to use for all types of users, from homeowners to professionals.

Democratize design by making advanced features available to a broad audience.

Collaboration:

Foster a community where users can share ideas, designs, and experiences.

Work with industry partners to expand the platform's capabilities and reach.

These values help define SuperBolter's brand identity and shape the way it interacts with its users and the broader market.

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Current Markets

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Geographical Reach

Current Traffic to the site is spread across the world with 69% coming from India and 8% coming from US & Canada. For this partnership, we will prioritise India with focus on Bangalore market.

Step 5: Outreach Strategy

Use the decision Framework to finalize your first outreach PoC

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Result: The first outreach PoC will be Pooja Druba.

Define your first outreach message to the PoC. Mention clear subject, your introduction, the 'why', goal alignment, and clear CTA.

Subject: 10,000+ home owners have designed their home with IKEA products on SuperBolter

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Dear Pooja,

I'm Arvind Singh, the Founder & CEO of SuperBolter, an online diy home design platform that has empowered over 40,000 home owners to design beautiful homes effortlessly. Imagine Canva for Homes.

I'm reaching out to you as more than 5000 users have used IKEA products in their home designs on SuperBolter and they are requesting for more products from IKEA. Now, we would love to help them complete their journey by actually buying those IKEA products and hence I wanted to discuss a potential partnership opportunity.

IKEA value diversity and inclusion. Superbolter enables everyone person to design the home of the dreams very easily. If the same person could not only design but also buy the products , that dream would become a reality.

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Could you put me in touch with someone concerned with partnerships/integrations?

Best

Arvind Singh

Founder & CEO, SuperBolter

www.superbolte.com

+91 98457 36575

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Oops: There is no response. Now what??

FES Matrix for POC

Functional Jobs -

Emotion Jobs -

Social Jobs -

Follow up Email

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Hi Pooja,

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Arvind here from Superbolter.

We have been getting lot of interest from our mutual customers who are using IKEA products in their home design on Superbolter and I wanted to explore how we can partner with you?

Been trying to connect with you team for a while. Can you help?

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Best,

Arvind

The below screenshots could also be used to further build trust with the brand.

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Linkedin Follow up

Hi Pooja, I'm Arvind from Superbolter.

I'm reaching out as we are seeing a lot users design their homes on SuperBolter using IKEA products and wanted to discuss a partnership opportunity.

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Linkedin Follow up

Follow up 2 : Call to call center

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Hi , I'm Arvind from SuperBolter. We are an online home design company and we have thousands of customers who are designing their home using IKEA products.

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I'd like to disucss a partnership opportunity. Can you please ask your Sales / Business / Partnership head to give me a call?

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ps: this has worked in the past :)

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Product Request Feature : Version 2.0

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We currently have a feature where an user can request for a new product by sharing the link or the image. Its a simple online form that gets routed to out backend team which then adds that product to the catalog.

We will enhance this feature so that the requester can also tag the company on Twitter or linkedin.

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Email/Linkedin Intro through a common connect

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Hi XYZ

I see that you are connected to Pooja who is leading B2B business at IKEA. As you know, SuperBolter has been growing really well garnering tremendous user love. In particualrly, a good portion of our users love using IKEA products in their designs.

The timing is perfect for us to explore a potential partnership opportunity with IKEA. Could you make an introduction with Pooja.

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Step 6: First Call Design  

Before the call

1. Research your partners current goals ( website, blogs, videos, news, social handles, recent events, etc)

Expand stores to X parts of India to cater to 100 Million customers. Currently selling to 60+ districts. Expand sales to other districts. Door step delivery in 4 states ( Ka, TS, AP and MH). India is their Top 1,2,3 focus.

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Write your partners current goals

Acquire a significant market share of Indian market in the affordable furniture category

Keep the consumer experience simple and easy.

​ Also, Distribute through other marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart

Design centric

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Do these goals align with your current goals?

​ SuperBolter is one of the fastest growing consumer-first diy home design platform.

SuperBolter empowers any person who aspires for a well designed home to design their home effertlessly.

SuperBolter already caters to users across the country.

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2. Justify your reasoning here

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Why should the partner consider you? Perform a competitive analysis + identify mutual customer pain points to find your edge against the competition.

SuperBolter is

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Superbolter visual

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Competitor Visuals

Homestyler

Coohom ( 500Mn in funding along with Kujiale)

Home.by.me ( acquired by Dassault. Top player in Europe )

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During the call

Discuss the value props and the competitive edge.

Highlight the customer traction and the user journey.

Show the gap that exists that can be leveraged for mutual benefit : Providing a seamless design to buying experience for the mutual customer.

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If this goes well, then setup time for internalising the discussion and setup time for another call to further deep dive and commercials.

After the call

Drop a thank you note along with the links where IKEA team can try the product for themselves. Also share link to help videos and demo videos. Dont forget to set time for the next meeting.

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There are two possibilities :

Pilot program with a small set of users

Public launch

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Step 7: Company Buy-in & Alignment

Concerns

Stakeholders:

Product Team: 

How will we integrate with IKEA?

Will there be any technical support team from IKEA to help us in integration ?

To whom do users pay us or to IKEA ?

Who will handle it if the user needs to return or cancel the order ?

How will they send the product data that needs to be a 3D model ?

Marketing Team: Do we need to run a standalone campaign? Can  we attract more new users with this partnership to our platform ?

Sales Team: Nil

Presentation

1. Partnership Objective

The objective of the partnership is to increase adoption of superbolter by allowing the superbolter users to place an order in the superbolter of partner brands & the Distribution and Fulfillment handled by the partner.

2. Value Proposition

Enhanced User Experience - visualize, select, and purchase interior design products all in one place.

Distribution and Fulfillment - Leveraging the partner (IKEA) for completing the user’s circle in superbolter.

Revenue Potential - SuperBolter can earn a recurring commission for product sale from IKEA

Expand Product Offerings - SuperBolter to offer a wider range of (IKEA) products with real time pricing without managing inventory or distribution logistics.

Enter to new market - The partnership with IKEA provides the infrastructure to easily expand into new geographic markets, leveraging IKEA’s global presence and logistics capabilities.

3. Impact on Organization North Star

Products in platform - Increase of products in platform

Revenue - Unlocking the new stream of revenue

4. Customer needs & User base Analysis

65% of our user base is end consumers. 70% of our users are from India. So, home owners in India make up about 45% of our users.

This a good chunk of this user base wants to make the design a reality by hiring the right firm or buying from the best online option.

The user distribution of Superbolter across the 4 states that are key focus of IKEa are as follows:

Andra pradesh: 2%
Karnataka : 13%
Telangana: 6.5%
Maharashtra:17%

5. Competitive Analysis

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6. Effort Required from various team

Product Team - 

Build the backend integration with IKEA for their catalog, order placement, etc

Verify prices at real time.

Sho now feature.

Communicate to users about IKEA and shop now going live on Superbolter

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Marketing Team -

​There are two possibilities :

Pilot program with a small set of users

Public launch

For the pilot, there will be internal communication to our users through email and website about the integration with IKEA for purchase.

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Sales Team -

Inside sales team will reach out to users who have used IKEA products and inform them about the partnership about IKEA and encourage users to explore the purchase option. we may offer a coupon code to motivate the users to buy.

7. What does success look like

A home owner can now start buying products that they have used in their design easily and make their dream home a reality.

Step 8: Building Trust

Strategy for building trust

Show traction before you reach out to a giant such as IKEA.

Ps. we have already digitized a bunch of products for IKEA. We have the data that can open doors for discussion.

Strategy for improving transparency

We will share user requests that are made on SuperBolter with the IKEA team.

We will also share our user surveys as well as the products that were used in design and their frequency.

Strategy for increasing engagement

Same as above.

We could also build a partner dashboard where the partner can see the analytics data for their brand.

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Step 9: Plan & launch GTM

Problem statement?

How can I buy products onSuperbolter

Is there a demand?

Yes

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Create a co-marketing strategy for the partnership

We will start with a pilot where we will drive initial sales to partner. Till then , all marketing will be done by us. We will see support from IKEA for discounts and offers that can be extended to our customers to drive adoption.

Once the pilot is a success, we can explore the next stage of partnership where IKEA we can develop a plugin for IKEA where their customers can design the home online.

If the co-marketing is on the partner's website, please mention the approach you will follow to convince the partner.

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Step 10: Channel Partners

For the IKEA partnership, we will not hire any channel partners. Most of the leasdership team is HQed in Bangalore making meetings and interactions easy. If this doesnt work, then one of our Builder partner is connected to the team. I'll seek out an introduction while also exploring 3-way partnership in which all the homes of the builder are designed with IKEA products and there is a three way rev share. .

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