Living in an era where communities are connected with the language of ones and zeroes across the globe, problem solvers who find elegant solutions to the hurdles that we face in our everyday lives play a pivotal and vibrant role in the community. Here is a group of tech enthusiasts who started off with an Application to predict the KEAM Ranks of aspirants, that became an instant hit among the aspirants. Their entrepreneurial journey continued as they went on to create an application to manage residential compounds. The team launched their app that helps people find co-players, organize games, and book venues, catering to sports enthusiasts. In conversation with Amjad Ali on the journey of Playspots
Brief us about yourself, your background, and your previous ventures.
In 2014, after graduating from MES College of Engineering, Malappuram, we four, Amjad Ali O N, Shamnas T, Nishad K Saleem, and Shakeeb M launched ‘Keam Rank Analyzer’, an app that would help students anticipate which college they could get admission into, based on their score in Kerala entrance exam and board exam. This app became an instant hit, and we were popular among Kerala students.
We then launched Ejarathi, an app to manage residential compounds. Although the app was able to raise funds and had been implemented in Saudi Arabia on a large scale, the team was not able to take it off well.
In late 2018, We started developing Playspots, as we four were so passionate about sports.
How did you perceive the idea of starting your venture? What inspired you to start it? What is your vision?
Launched in January 2019, the PlaySpots app currently helps people find co-players, organize games, and book venues. It helps local talent in Kerala by hosting tournaments through its app, where everybody, from amateurs to aspiring professionals can compete and nurture their skills.
The startup also helps venues in improving their facilities to attract more potential clients. Its backend management app claims to make onboarding of venues an easier process now. This app provides detailed schedule management to the venues, taking care of the clientele, appointments, availability, and more.
What are the different services that you deliver?
We deliver the following services:
- An aggregator platform for sports facilities : Customers can book their favourite/ nearby sporting facility per hour
- Application for sports facilities to manage their facility
- Spotiq : E-commerce store that works on omnichannel mode.
With a lot of options available in the market right now, what makes your products and services unique?
The USP of our product lies in the user-friendliness of the application and the customer support modules and options provided by us.
How do you reach out to your potential customers?
Initially, we traveled whole over Kerala, to reach every nook and corner of the state, which has now moved onto digital marketing. We reach our potential customers mainly through SEO and digital marketing.
How has the pandemic affected the growth of your venture? What new challenges did you face and how are you tackling those?
The pandemic has really affected our growth. We are having a 40% MOM Growth, in the pre-pandemic era. In the pandemic era, all sports facilities were closed, and the booking revenue was nil. But like a blessing in disguise, we were able to launch our product in UAE during this pandemic period, as we had got more time to focus on our international expansion.
Could you brief us about the story of your venture so far, with the major milestones you have achieved?
We have currently spread over 330+ facilities in Kerala and are available in more than 50 Cities all over Inia, spread across Tamilnadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Manipur. We have also expanded to the United Arab Emirates.
Do you have a team? Tell us about your support system.
Our current team strength is 15, which works as a backbone of the product. The team comprises of three separate teams: Development, marketing and support team
What are your plans for the venture? Where do you see yourself in five years?
We are continuously learning through our data analytics to make small but relevant changes that will ensure maximum ROI to the sport facility owners as well as our users. Building a strong and healthy community is our vision and all our efforts are streamlined towards the betterment of society.
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