No idea is big or small; rather one’s success depends upon the amount of efforts and dedication one puts in to it. But this is not it, as only after you firmly determine to achieve something and start putting in your hard work, the real journey begins. You might find your path paved with numerous challenges and hurdles but you must always remember that, difficult times are life’s way to test your patience and determination. The story of Ashish Hemrajani, the founder of BookMyShow would definitely inspire you to leave your comfort zone.
Advent of the idea
Like many, Ashish Hemrajani too took up a job after completing his professional degree. He started working in J. Walter Thompson, an advertising firm right after getting a master’s degree in business administration. In 1999, while he was on a trip to South Africa, Hemrajani came across the idea that changed his life for good. Sitting under a tree and listening to a radio advertisement which promoted tickets of a rugby match, triggered in him, an itch to do something alike. With this business idea and with the intention of quitting his job, he came back to India and began working on the idea.
The Initial Phase
Without much dallying, Hemrajani launched his online venture under the name of “Big Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.” with all its office work done from his bedroom. As some time passed, the company got it two other co-founders, Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande, who looked into the matters of technology and finance respectively. The next big step was to get investors for the company. Although things didn’t turn out to be as easy as Hemrajani expected but he was well prepared for the battle. Internet facilities were not rampant in those days and thus, they sent their proposal to their first investors, JP Morgan, through fax. That one-page fax gave them a good push as the idea convinced the investors and they agreed to fund them sum of $380000.
Their problems didn’t end with this, as the gigantic task of running the business was still to be done. The market conditions were not favorable for their business idea due to the lack of proper banking facilities like debit cards, credit cards, internet banking etc. Also poor connectivity of broadband and lack of e-ticketing software in the theaters made their task even more difficult. In the initial phase, they hired hundreds of people to deliver movie tickets to people at their doorstep after buying them in bulk. Many-a-times, they had to face huge losses because of their non scaleable business model. However, they still managed to keep up their work and expanded their company by establishing 12 call-centers in 12 different cities. Since, internet facilities were still not widespread, most of the work was carried out offline.
The Dot Com bust
Around 2001, the dot com market began blooming as well and this led their investors to sell their stake to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. However, in the year 2002, the dot com market was smashed and with its breaking down, the entire industry experienced a big jolt. Ashish Hemrajani’s company also faced severe impacts of this bust as all the investors refused to give them funds. They even had to break their deal with News Corp.. The situation grew worse as their whole business was almost shut. They reduced their employees from 150 to 6 as they couldn’t afford their salaries. They had to shut down all their call centers except the ones in Delhi and Mumbai.
The company was back to its initial phase and it worked without investors for a period of four years, from 2002 to 2006. Yet Ashish Hemrajani didn’t lose hope and confidence in his company and made sure that every penny made out from the business goes back to it. He was left with two options; either to shut down the company or head back to the point he started by taking a job in some company or stick to his passion and continue with the business. And the decision, Hemrajani took proved him a real fighter.
This time he became more firm in his determination to reach to the topmost ladder of success and invested all his energy to tie up the loose threads and mend the broken pieces. He moved further with a different outlook this time and made small changes to his business techniques.
Comeback and Rise
By the end of 2006, the market got over the effects of the dot com bust and it started blooming again. Within the span of the gone four years, there were innumerable changes observed like the coming of debit cards and credit cards, enhanced internet facilities and the establishment of multiplexes all over the country. Their company began installing e-ticketing software in the cinema halls and also began charging for the same. Call centers were opened up for clients so as to get in direct touch with the public. This time they had a proper business model which was executed smoothly and within a year, the company was doing decent business to get attention of investors.
In March 2007, Network 18 invested a sum of $2.2 million in their business. The company name was then changed to BookMyShow which became quite popular within no time. The company began tying up with almost all the multiplexes and cinema’s which contributed a major portion in their never ending growth. In 2012, BookMyShow got a whooping investment of $18 million from Accel Partners followed by $25 million from SAIF Partners in 2013.
After that Bookmyshow has never looked back. In India it is immensely popular for movie tickets. Today, BookmyShow is available in UAE, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh.
Aanchal is a freelance writer and has been writing since 2013. She is currently pursuing her masters in English Literature from University of Delhi and received her B.A. (hons.) degree in English Literature from University of Delhi.
She has a great passion for writing poetry. She is also a keen reader of inspirational stories of people who have achieved success through hard work.