A Food for Generation that 'Never Sleeps'

Ishan Singh Mann and his partner Chirag Mediratta were regular partygoers but the duo found it hard to find a place to order food after a late night rendezvous in Delhi. Witnessing the growing need among the youth, they started Booty call to make it easy for the night lovers to party and then find a place where they can have food and order food.

Why did you choose business to carry out at odd hours? How sure you were about the size of your targeted market?

I and my partner Chirag used to be regular partygoers about 2-3 years back. We were part of the generation that never sleeps. With Delhi being a metropolitan city and also a recognised centre of education with a budding nightlife, there was a definite market for our services. With lack of a midnight delivery service, most people either go to a 24/7 store or were forced to stay hungry.

Why did you named your start-up as ‘The Booty Call’?

I believe that the first step of marketing a product starts with its name. When we decided to start a midnight delivery service, we were sure we did not want something as clichéd as a ‘midnight’ in the name. Our target clientele is majorly youngsters and young working professionals; hence we wanted a name that would instantly connect with them and also be quirky and innovative at the same time (much like our service design). A ‘Booty Call’ is essentially a late night-post party event, similar to what we offer.

What was your strategy initially to target customers?

Being a bootstrapped start-up, social media and word-of-mouth are main focus area for creating awareness about our services among the target customer. When we first announced a start-up by the name of The Booty Call, we did not disclose what it would exactly be and that created a massive buzz on social media and gave us a strong platform to start The Booty Call.

On an average, what are the numbers of orders made in a day?

On an average, we receive anything between 30-45 orders during a week, although this number increases significantly during the weekend.

How is the marketing strategy for your model different from other food segment?

Due to our target clientele, a large part of our marketing takes place online, through portals such as Face book/Twitter or even Zomato. Branding also plays a major part of our marketing strategy. Being youngsters ourselves, we understand what exactly catches the eyes of our target audience. That is why, even our logo is a mixture of quirkiness, tongue-in-cheek-humour, youthful vigour and also conveys what we are all about.

What is the initial investment required for starting a midnight food delivery firm?

It requires at least Rs 7-8 lakh for even a bootstrapped start-up like ours.

Are you looking for investment opportunities in the segment?

Yes, we are looking for investments. We are looking to expand our service to Gurgaon and Noida within few months and are also planning expansion to Tier 1 and Tier II cities.

Who are the major players in the segment?

Captain Grub, Cravebusters, Knight Bites and the recently launched Munch Box are the major players along with us in New Delhi.

Where do you see the midnight segment going in next two years?

The midnight segment is experiencing a mini-boom at the moment with new services being launched every month. But it remains to be seen how many will actually grow from leaps-and-bounds over the next two years.