 "One-way ticket to success")
On a routine workday in 2007, three professionals from the information technology industry decided to catch a play at a theatre in Bangalore. After zeroing in on a play, they called and reserved tickets for themselves. On the day of the show, the three drove from different ends of the city to the theatre, only to be surprised with a 'Houseful' sign at the door.
"First come, first served," said the event manager, explaining his decision to give away the tickets booked in their names to other participants.
Dejected, the trio - Baskar Ethirajan, Sajesh Nair and Magesh Gurumurthy - headed over to a bar across the street. A couple of beers later, the contours of IndianStage began to be drawn on a paper napkin.
After doing a fair share of research on the internet, Ethirajan, Nair and Gurumurthy found companies in India's online ticketing market were few and far between, while similar platforms in most other countries had reached mature stages.
"In London, there is a primary ticket market and a secondary ticket market, too. They can actually price seats based on sale trends," Nair says. IndianStage's founders sought to take advantage of the fact that global bigwigs such as Ticketmaster weren't present in India. Of the companies in this segment in India, Bookmyshow, started in 1999, primarily facilitated booking movie shows. It soon diversified into ticket bookings for several kinds of events, clearly striking a chord with investors and venture capitalists alike. Book my show, run by Big Tree Entertainment, saw revenues rise almost double to Rs 53 crore in the financial year 2013, merely from the convenience fee charged on each transaction/booking made on the website. IndianStage did not go into that domain. Instead, they focused on live, on-stage events - a category that is underserved when it comes to online booking of tickets.
When IndianStage's founders approached their first playorganiser, they saw an overwhelming response and were asked to begin ticketing for a play to be held in 10 days. Within a few months, the company was ticketing for plays in several Indian languages and the founders believe this was what gave them a push.
Today, IndianStage works as a complete ticketing solution for stage events - from theatres to music performances and stand-up comedy shows. The company earns a total commission of five-six per cent on each ticket sold. It doesn't lock clients in any exclusive ticket contract. IndianStage's founders say this is the company's unique selling point, that helped it secure many ticketing contracts.
A few years after the company's inception, the founders realised there was a better, bigger opportunity in the offing. They decided to conduct their own shows - organising the event, flying in artists and ticketing for the event, too. Nair says, "Now, we ticket and host music concerts, theatre plays and other performing arts… while on the one hand, we had the subscriber base, access to what they liked and they didn't, on the other hand, we knew the theatre groups and artistes, too."
He adds the promotion of events not only boosts the company's profit, but has also seen gross margins widen to 20-25 per cent.
The Alchemist, the company's first play in Bangalore, was staged in 2009, with a seating capacity of 1,800 people. It saw a full house and profits from the show provided the company funds to set up an office. Since then, it has conducted shows across the country.
IndianStage also earns a small part of its revenue through merchandising, albeit only when this is commissioned by a troupe. "Eventually, we might take this up at a more serious level. But India is not a large market for merchandising," says Nair. In 2010, Gurumurthy quit the venture.
The road ahead
The company runs the risk of being perceived as competition by fellow theatre operators ticketing on its site. The founders concede that occasionally, theatre operators have questioned the fact that IndianStage manages to ensure its shows are full, but doesn't do so for theirs'. However, the company is strictly focussing in taking its initiative forward to international markets and promoting more shows that earn them a larger premium.
The company is also aiming to take its ticketing platform to some international markets where online ticketing for live events is at a nascent stage.
"First come, first served," said the event manager, explaining his decision to give away the tickets booked in their names to other participants.
Dejected, the trio - Baskar Ethirajan, Sajesh Nair and Magesh Gurumurthy - headed over to a bar across the street. A couple of beers later, the contours of IndianStage began to be drawn on a paper napkin.
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Started as an online ticketing site for theatre shows, the company soon metamorphosed into a live entertainment company with a focus on performing arts. Now, the company is clocking annual revenue of about Rs 2 crore and has plans to expand abroad.
After doing a fair share of research on the internet, Ethirajan, Nair and Gurumurthy found companies in India's online ticketing market were few and far between, while similar platforms in most other countries had reached mature stages.
"In London, there is a primary ticket market and a secondary ticket market, too. They can actually price seats based on sale trends," Nair says. IndianStage's founders sought to take advantage of the fact that global bigwigs such as Ticketmaster weren't present in India. Of the companies in this segment in India, Bookmyshow, started in 1999, primarily facilitated booking movie shows. It soon diversified into ticket bookings for several kinds of events, clearly striking a chord with investors and venture capitalists alike. Book my show, run by Big Tree Entertainment, saw revenues rise almost double to Rs 53 crore in the financial year 2013, merely from the convenience fee charged on each transaction/booking made on the website. IndianStage did not go into that domain. Instead, they focused on live, on-stage events - a category that is underserved when it comes to online booking of tickets.
When IndianStage's founders approached their first playorganiser, they saw an overwhelming response and were asked to begin ticketing for a play to be held in 10 days. Within a few months, the company was ticketing for plays in several Indian languages and the founders believe this was what gave them a push.
Today, IndianStage works as a complete ticketing solution for stage events - from theatres to music performances and stand-up comedy shows. The company earns a total commission of five-six per cent on each ticket sold. It doesn't lock clients in any exclusive ticket contract. IndianStage's founders say this is the company's unique selling point, that helped it secure many ticketing contracts.
A few years after the company's inception, the founders realised there was a better, bigger opportunity in the offing. They decided to conduct their own shows - organising the event, flying in artists and ticketing for the event, too. Nair says, "Now, we ticket and host music concerts, theatre plays and other performing arts… while on the one hand, we had the subscriber base, access to what they liked and they didn't, on the other hand, we knew the theatre groups and artistes, too."
He adds the promotion of events not only boosts the company's profit, but has also seen gross margins widen to 20-25 per cent.
The Alchemist, the company's first play in Bangalore, was staged in 2009, with a seating capacity of 1,800 people. It saw a full house and profits from the show provided the company funds to set up an office. Since then, it has conducted shows across the country.
IndianStage also earns a small part of its revenue through merchandising, albeit only when this is commissioned by a troupe. "Eventually, we might take this up at a more serious level. But India is not a large market for merchandising," says Nair. In 2010, Gurumurthy quit the venture.
The road ahead
The company runs the risk of being perceived as competition by fellow theatre operators ticketing on its site. The founders concede that occasionally, theatre operators have questioned the fact that IndianStage manages to ensure its shows are full, but doesn't do so for theirs'. However, the company is strictly focussing in taking its initiative forward to international markets and promoting more shows that earn them a larger premium.
The company is also aiming to take its ticketing platform to some international markets where online ticketing for live events is at a nascent stage.