Chennai

When Sabin Rodriguez’s cousin called him to book a banquet hall for her dad’s birthday, little did the former IT employee realise that he would end up spending around four hours to select one. The task came as a blessing in disguise as it gave him a business idea whose time had come. 

During a conversation with his best friend Utkarsh Singhania, a techie, the idea of a web portal called BigFDay was born. 

A challenge faced by Sabin and Utkarsh, the CTO of the site, was creating a user-friendly site that could help people book venues. 

Which is why they opted for a pared down, back to basics interface. Once you are on the site, you just have to select the occasion – wedding, birthday party, personal engagement, conference or corporate event. Then select a date, meal preference (breakfast, lunch, dinner, high tea) and the number of people. 

The site then shows the available venues with the best deals.  Sabin, the founder of the site, and a former techie says, “The idea of a platform where people can book venues for weddings and parties had potential but it required both of us to do a lot of groundwork.” 

“When we started, the venue owners were not interested in the business model. But we persisted and asked the venues to list their rates online with us. They told us banquet rates can never be put up online as it was unlike the hotel industry. 

Things have changed a lot since then. Today, we have over 500 venues signed up with us in Chennai. They have put up their rates on our site and offer attractive rates as well,” explains Sabin. 

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