A new year has begun (I know I am late to mention this, but this is my first post for this year!) with some tragedies, controversies and results (Yes, if you thought I was trying to mention Satyam, you got me right). However, the time never stopped. On behalf of this India Startup Scene blog, I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. For us, I wish I can come up with better reviews, interviews, featured content and more all the year round. Stay tuned!
Today, we have an exiting Indian startup with us – Munificient Ventures Pvt. Ltd. which has a brand named Rentimental.com. If you failed to think of what it does, I have a direct excerpt from their website which says,
In today’s world people change jobs and move to a new city more often than they used to. Rentimental.com focuses on easing out the challenges involved in this process.
I got a chance to interview Shubham Rai, co-founder of Munificient Ventures Pvt. Ltd. When asked about their USP, Shubham proudly states,
We are the category starters in the Renting industry. There is no competitor in the web-world.
What follows is a set of questionnaire that I put forward to Shubham,
The Name pretty much reflects the entire notion behind your startup. How do you aim to transcend yourself from just a name to an entire functional body?
Well our startup is called Munificient Ventures Pvt. Ltd. Rentimental.com is the brand and product that we own.
<p>Rentimental.com rents out everything online. (The punch line-“The world’s on Rent” says that in entirety.) You could find broker-fee houses on Rent, cars, tiffinwalas, fridges, and computers—everything you can think of, that could be rented out.
Currently it works on the online paid classifieds model, within the next 2 quarters, we will be making anything transactional. Ie: You could pay by credit/debit card online for any rental! A car or a flat.
As the Economy has been hit by Inflation recently, which psychologically is much more traumatic than what it does economically to an Indian; do you feel any hurdles on your hassle free track?
Our track is not hassle free. What we are doing is—Organizing the entire Rental industry in India and sourcing directly, without middlemen-That is an arduous task in itself.
Recession, on the other hand has been helpful to us. People instead of building liabilities, want to rent out. Which is actually benefiting us. Our business will only do well in recessions and once it gets established, will also set a trend in a booming economy. The Renting trend is new to India, so recessions generally do not have a lot of bearing.
Were there any adaptations induced during the ascension of Rentimental Enterprises due to any external factors(such as economic factors, government and legal factors, demographic factors, geo-physical factors)?
<p>Rentimental.com is totally influenced by a need-gap. The need for organized Renting. So external factors always play a role in an industry, which exists for ages, but is yet not organized.
What makes your enterprise different, in a better way, than your competition?
We are the category starters in the Renting industry. There is no competitor in the web-world.
In general, the web world is too crowded. How do you think a site like Rentimental enterprises has a chance to make a splash?
<p>Renimental.com is the only one of it’s kind and is addressing a big Need-gap. People do not want to spend extra on information arbitrages and brokerages. People want to make good use of their assets and renting in an organized way is something, which has not matured in our nation. More than a web-site, Rentimental.com is a need-based application, a community & a sounding board…Now it’s fast developing into the only marketplace for renting.
Where do you see Rentimental Enterprises after twelve months and how do you propose to do it?
After 12months from today, we expect 1 million renters and hunters on Rentimental.com, every month. Renimental.com will be completely transactional. We propose to do it through the franchise route & by setting the marketing channels right. By effectively using funds through below the line marketing and by engaging one technological improvement, every month.
What do you think is the difference between startups like Rentimental Enterprises in India and in the US - in terms of exposure, funding, adaptation rate?
US, UK are mature markets. Renting in these places, is a way of life. Whereas, India with around 7 % internet users and maximum transaction, happening offline, is a more challenging market.
Tell us about your business alliances and how do you utilize them?
We have allied with corporates such as Tata Motors for providing there admin section with live feed for renting, reducing their burden and costs. With MINC services, we have enhanced the payment mechanism off-line through bill-boxes and train ads have been a forte in our below the line marketing. AD-Magnet provides us with ads on our web-pages. In the next 5 months, there would be bigger and better alliances, to make sure our reach and scale increases.
How do you plan to monetize Rentimental Enterprises? Content licensing/Ads…? Partnerships?
<p>Rentimental.com has a robust subscription model, we are already tied up with Ad-Magnet and monetized all the web-pages. Transactions-online will be the biggest monetizing effort along with data-mining. The projections will double, with the transactions online going live.
How do you recruit your employees? Who are these fellows? What’s your selection criteria?
People who can sell well, work late hours & have a vision. We do not go by qualifications.
Can you come up with some advantages that Rentimental Enterprises enjoys vis-à-vis the larger companies?
Being a small company is the biggest advantage! Faster decisions & flexibility in execution is the biggest advantage. A larger company have bigger stakes involved, so they would not go with a small vision with lesser immediate returns, whereas we can afford o do that, as we have nothing to loose.
What's the biggest surprise you've had in the business recently?
Every day is a surprise. The biggest surprise has been the kind of customers, who were not expected to also join our list. Our train ads were supposed to target he lower middle-class, but it has converted more from the upper-class renters, surprisingly.
What are your learning experiences with Rentimental Enterprises?
Learning experiences: 1. There is no perfect Model. 2. Be flexible. 3. Evolve with every learning. 4. The Rental market in India is under-rated.
So, what’s next for the consumers? Any surprises for them?
Yes, lots of them. Watch www.rentimental.com in the next 4 months, to get surprised.
Interview: Rentimental Enterprises - The world’s on rent
By : praval
A new year has begun (I know I am late to mention this, but this is my first post for this year!) with some tragedies, controversies and results (Yes, if you thought I was trying to mention Satyam, you got me right). However, the time never stopped. On behalf of this India Startup Scene blog, I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. For us, I wish I can come up with better reviews, interviews, featured content and more all the year round. Stay tuned!
Cofounders of Rentimental.com
I got a chance to interview Shubham Rai, co-founder of Munificient Ventures Pvt. Ltd. When asked about their USP, Shubham proudly states,
What follows is a set of questionnaire that I put forward to Shubham,
The Name pretty much reflects the entire notion behind your startup. How do you aim to transcend yourself from just a name to an entire functional body?
Well our startup is called Munificient Ventures Pvt. Ltd. Rentimental.com is the brand and product that we own.
<p>Rentimental.com rents out everything online. (The punch line-“The world’s on Rent” says that in entirety.) You could find broker-fee houses on Rent, cars, tiffinwalas, fridges, and computers—everything you can think of, that could be rented out.Currently it works on the online paid classifieds model, within the next 2 quarters, we will be making anything transactional. Ie: You could pay by credit/debit card online for any rental! A car or a flat.
As the Economy has been hit by Inflation recently, which psychologically is much more traumatic than what it does economically to an Indian; do you feel any hurdles on your hassle free track?
Our track is not hassle free. What we are doing is—Organizing the entire Rental industry in India and sourcing directly, without middlemen-That is an arduous task in itself.
Recession, on the other hand has been helpful to us. People instead of building liabilities, want to rent out. Which is actually benefiting us. Our business will only do well in recessions and once it gets established, will also set a trend in a booming economy. The Renting trend is new to India, so recessions generally do not have a lot of bearing.
Were there any adaptations induced during the ascension of Rentimental Enterprises due to any external factors(such as economic factors, government and legal factors, demographic factors, geo-physical factors)?
<p>Rentimental.com is totally influenced by a need-gap. The need for organized Renting. So external factors always play a role in an industry, which exists for ages, but is yet not organized.What makes your enterprise different, in a better way, than your competition?
We are the category starters in the Renting industry. There is no competitor in the web-world.
In general, the web world is too crowded. How do you think a site like Rentimental enterprises has a chance to make a splash?
<p>Renimental.com is the only one of it’s kind and is addressing a big Need-gap. People do not want to spend extra on information arbitrages and brokerages. People want to make good use of their assets and renting in an organized way is something, which has not matured in our nation. More than a web-site, Rentimental.com is a need-based application, a community & a sounding board…Now it’s fast developing into the only marketplace for renting.Where do you see Rentimental Enterprises after twelve months and how do you propose to do it?
After 12months from today, we expect 1 million renters and hunters on Rentimental.com, every month. Renimental.com will be completely transactional. We propose to do it through the franchise route & by setting the marketing channels right. By effectively using funds through below the line marketing and by engaging one technological improvement, every month.
What do you think is the difference between startups like Rentimental Enterprises in India and in the US - in terms of exposure, funding, adaptation rate?
US, UK are mature markets. Renting in these places, is a way of life. Whereas, India with around 7 % internet users and maximum transaction, happening offline, is a more challenging market.
Tell us about your business alliances and how do you utilize them?
We have allied with corporates such as Tata Motors for providing there admin section with live feed for renting, reducing their burden and costs. With MINC services, we have enhanced the payment mechanism off-line through bill-boxes and train ads have been a forte in our below the line marketing. AD-Magnet provides us with ads on our web-pages. In the next 5 months, there would be bigger and better alliances, to make sure our reach and scale increases.
How do you plan to monetize Rentimental Enterprises? Content licensing/Ads…? Partnerships?
<p>Rentimental.com has a robust subscription model, we are already tied up with Ad-Magnet and monetized all the web-pages. Transactions-online will be the biggest monetizing effort along with data-mining. The projections will double, with the transactions online going live.How do you recruit your employees? Who are these fellows? What’s your selection criteria?
People who can sell well, work late hours & have a vision. We do not go by qualifications.
Can you come up with some advantages that Rentimental Enterprises enjoys vis-à-vis the larger companies?
Being a small company is the biggest advantage! Faster decisions & flexibility in execution is the biggest advantage. A larger company have bigger stakes involved, so they would not go with a small vision with lesser immediate returns, whereas we can afford o do that, as we have nothing to loose.
What's the biggest surprise you've had in the business recently?
Every day is a surprise. The biggest surprise has been the kind of customers, who were not expected to also join our list. Our train ads were supposed to target he lower middle-class, but it has converted more from the upper-class renters, surprisingly.
What are your learning experiences with Rentimental Enterprises?
Learning experiences: 1. There is no perfect Model. 2. Be flexible. 3. Evolve with every learning. 4. The Rental market in India is under-rated.
So, what’s next for the consumers? Any surprises for them?
Yes, lots of them. Watch www.rentimental.com in the next 4 months, to get surprised.