A wedding is a time which no ones wants to forget and wishes to keep the memories of that time intact forever. Clicking pictures, shooting videos etc are common in every wedding. But there are many moments, recollections, anecdotes that people would love to capture. However, it’s not always possible with photographs or videos but it is, with expression of writing.
Expressing feelings by writing out is something which is a common practice among people via diary, etc., this can even be seen on social media. People express their feelings about each and every event of their life via these platforms and thus even about weddings, either it is the fun, the ceremonies or the feelings during the wedding. However, collecting all these feelings in one place isn’t possible via any of these platforms, but can be done by writing a book. But how?
The Missing Shoe an idea, one of its kind is bringing this new concept to the Indian wedding market in form of a Wedding storybook.
The wedding storybook narrates the tale of a wedding from its beginning till the end. It captures every detail of the event, starting from when the festivities begin right until the couple leaves the venue. Be it the bridal dress, funny incidents, anecdotes, conversations, or feelings, the book is in essence a novella about a wedding.
The startup offers customized writing services, right now it offers only wedding book and Anniversary book as products. However, it is in plans to increase its portfolio with new offerings.
The idea is unique and the ability to capture every detail of the wedding has had made it quite different from what others are doing. “After all, they have a book – an account of their life story – that they can share with friends, family, and children and each time they do, they get to receive more appreciation than ever,” says Vishal Soni, co-founder, The Missing Shoe. As of now, it does not have any direct competitors in the Indian Market. “However, considering our service is about capturing memories, we consider wedding photography and wedding movies as our indirect competitors,” he added.
In the first month of its launch, it got approximately 25 inquiries, out of which 3 converted into assignments (Approximately 12% conversion). It has also partnered with 2 wedding planners, and are in the process with 1 gifting website and 1 wedding services website. Via social media and marketing initiatives the startup is expecting its inquiries to go up by 120%-130%.
As per the company, weddings make up to 10% of India’s GDP and is estimated at around $38 Bn. Approximately 1.2 Mn weddings happen in the capital, Delhi, every year. Also, spending per wedding in India is much higher than other nations (For e.g. USA). Per wedding expense in India is approximately $20000 whereas it is approximately $15000 in the USA. “And consider that around 400 Mn people will marry in the next 15 years; we are definitely catering to a huge market and are bullish about it,” said Vishal.
Currently, working with a team of five, The Missing Shoe was founded by IBS Hyderabad alumnus Vishal Soni, and Prakash Raghupathi who was earlier a freelance journalist. Recently, Aditya Thakur, another IBS Hyderabad alumnus, was brought on-board.
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