BookMyShow.com founder Ashish Hemrajani is the brains behind a revolutionary way to book cinema tickets in India. The goal is to make it such that you can purchase movie tickets simply by showing up at the ticket desk and seeing the “HOUSE FULL” sign. He claims that this will allow consumers to skip long lines and spend more time watching their favourite movies.
The starting journey
When Ashish Hemrajani came up with the idea to create his own company, he was working for a South African advertising firm. He founded his first internet company, Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., when he was 24 years old, with his head office in his bedroom. He convinced Rajesh Balpande and Parikshit Dar, two of his pals, to join the company. Soon after, the trio embarked on their entrepreneurial path together, paving the way for Bigtree.
Difficulties
After the Dot Com Tsunami in India, Hemrajani, co-founder and CEO of e-ticketing software company ‘Dot Com’ opted to start afresh. When they were compelled to shut down their firm, the company was doing well and employing 150 people. He has now put all of his savings into a new business to get back on his feet.
Applying the lessons learned
BookMyShow.com is a ticketing website that was founded in 2007 after Network 18 invested INR 14.5 crores in the company, giving them a 60% share. BookMyShow soon grew in popularity and was shown all over the internet. During the global financial crisis, they were able to acquire top staff and run call centres for all of their clients as well as ticketing back offices. They eventually had to raise money from new investors, and luck finally smiled on them in March 2007, when the timing was ideal to relaunch the ticketing business.
The title of ‘Hottest Company of the Year-2011-12’ was given to BookMyShow. In 2013, they signed a five-year strategic collaboration agreement with PVR Theatres, adding 250 extra screens to its 1500+ cinemas. With 500 million monthly page views and 35-40 million unique visitors, BookMyShow generates $100,406 in monthly revenue from advertisements. The pandemic might have forced them to press pause on many a plan, but the show is surely set to resume once the lockdown lifts.
