Eat, Sleep, Travel, Repeat with WanderOn
Five engineering graduates from NIT Kurukshetra, began a travel community that managed to survive the Covid-induced pandemic. Not only did they bounce back but are now curating unique experiences for a community that is passionate about travelling. They say that the journey is more important than the destination but the passionate founders at WanderOn believe, it is the people that make the journey worthwhile. Watch the founders of WanderOn, Chirag Jain and Govind Gaur speak about their entrepreneurial journey with Shonakshi Chakravarty from Outlook Business.
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@WanderOn
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Transcript
00:00 You have to do something very different and very out of the box to stay in the game.
00:13 The world started recovering from COVID so we saw a wave of revenge tourism.
00:18 So I think the smallest thing is like my parents are convinced now.
00:22 Well I think it is always about taking the first step.
00:25 They say that it's the journey that's more important than the destination but here I
00:30 am, where people, the founders of this particular startup that I am going to speak to believe
00:34 that it's the people who matter the most on the journey.
00:37 I am here in Gurgaon at the headquarters of WanderOn and I will be speaking to the founders
00:42 Mr. Chirag Jain and Govind Gaur who themselves have a very interesting story of college graduates
00:47 coming together to form this very interesting and very very cool travel community with an
00:53 edge.
00:54 So how deep is this edge?
00:56 Let's find out more and explain to our viewers what is WanderOn.
00:59 There are three major pillars or the USPs that we cater to while we are building this
01:06 company.
01:07 A) The destination has to be absolutely unique.
01:10 B)
01:11 The experience that we are doing has to be very non-conventional.
01:16 And the third major aspect is the kind of people that we are traveling with.
01:21 And that we are in this very fast-paced world.
01:25 So the real connections are very rare to happen.
01:29 And when people are traveling, they are in their rawest form.
01:32 So the kind of connection that happens there when they are traveling together as one common
01:36 unit is something that people always look forward to.
01:39 So the whole idea of WanderOn is to create a community of like-minded people where people
01:43 can come and they travel together and they chill and they have really really good times
01:48 and they take really good memories back with them.
01:50 How WanderOn began WanderingOn?
01:53 What is the journey like?
01:55 What has it been like?
01:56 Traveling always has a lot of significance in everyone's life.
01:59 For someone, it's a way to pamper themselves.
02:02 For someone, it's a way to try to experience different cultures or try something they have
02:07 never done before.
02:08 WanderOn was created as a platform where like-minded people can come together, choose a destination
02:14 from a variety of options.
02:17 And all of these itineraries, they are packed with interesting activities which give them
02:20 a chance to try something new, experience new cultures and provide a much-needed social
02:26 factor to travel.
02:27 There came a COVID and a COVID-induced lockdown.
02:31 So how did a company like yours survive?
02:36 And what was your strategy really behind that?
02:38 Well, definitely COVID was a very difficult time and it took everyone by surprise.
02:44 The first thing that came to our mind was that all the trips are gone for the next easily
02:50 for the next two or three months.
02:53 So that was a time when we launched our trips for the post-COVID period when things will
02:59 be back to normal.
03:00 And we launched these trips, started offering these trips at ultra-discounted prices.
03:05 So thanks to an immense community love, a lot of people signed up for this.
03:10 Almost, we got more than a thousand vouchers got purchased, which helped us in raising
03:16 upwards of 60 lakhs, which eventually helped us in navigating through the COVID phase.
03:22 Whenever we are trying to deliver a service, it's not just the team that is in the office
03:27 that's involved.
03:28 A lot of people are working behind the scenes who are actually on the ground.
03:33 And easily there was a network of around 300 to 400 people who were involved in different
03:39 ways in providing accommodation services, fooding or transportation.
03:43 So it was a natural responsibility for us to not just look after the employees.
03:49 So the money we raised, it helped us in supporting not just the employees, but we also supported
03:55 these on-ground vendors.
03:56 Why don't you tell us a little bit more about Vocations?
03:59 So the whole plan was to build a marketplace kind of a model where we have onboarded more
04:05 than 500 properties.
04:06 And, you know, when I say properties, they are a mix of hostels, hotels, villas, apartments.
04:13 And we somehow convinced their supplier or their owners to standardize all the properties
04:17 on the Vocation standards.
04:20 So a proper power backup has to be there.
04:22 Understanding people will be going out for a longer duration.
04:25 So meal, fooding will be one major aspect.
04:29 So you know, providing them with homely cooked meals.
04:31 So we standardized all of these properties within a span of 15-20 days.
04:35 How are you funded?
04:36 Who are your investors?
04:37 Take us through your valuation, all of those details.
04:41 To be really honest with you, Sonakshi, I think I am a personal believer of, let's say,
04:48 of the fact that your customers are your biggest investors.
04:52 I am a big believer of that.
04:54 If you are able to raise money from your customers, you will be able to raise money from any investor
04:59 on planet earth.
05:00 We are fairly bootstrapped ever since the inception of the company.
05:04 What is the coolest thing about being a startup guy in India?
05:08 The joy of seeing people having a great time.
05:11 I think that is really cool.
05:13 Because of something that you have done.
05:14 So I think the coolest thing is like my parents are convinced now.
05:18 That you are a startup guy.
05:20 And one message to future entrepreneurs watching this?
05:24 Well, I think it is always about taking the first step.
05:29 Because you know, that is the hardest part of starting a startup.
05:32 Because as an entrepreneur, you know, there are always going to be a lot of ups and downs.
05:36 But if you just keep going, you can easily navigate through everything.
05:40 And having experienced COVID, having experienced a couple of other things, I think we are more
05:45 and more confident about it now.
05:47 My name is Parul and I am an IT professional working in Bangalore.
05:51 And this is my first trip with WanderOn and I am enjoying it very much.
05:55 I think we had a great time and a gala time last night at the campfire and the bonfire.
06:00 It's been a fantastic journey till now.
06:02 We have had dances, we have had songs, everything you expect.
06:08 Love the place, love the people, love the campfire.
06:10 And with that, keep a tab with Outlook Business startup page.
06:14 I am your host, Shanakshi Chakraborty.
06:17 Every month or every week perhaps, we will be bringing you very interesting stories from
06:22 the world of tech, innovation and startups here in India.
06:25 So stay tuned to Outlook Business.
06:28 [Music]