TravelTroovel: Making it easier for people to follow their passion while taking interest based trips
Interest-based trips sound fancy, don’t they? This idea popped into Arunima Girotra’s mind during a casual dinner table discussion with her family.
According to Arunima, "These days many people, including us, are not able to spend quality time doing the things we like to do, our interests or hobbies. The reasons are many, like hectic work schedules, family responsibilities, too many gadgets, and many more. This discussion led us to the thought that we should do something that would help people to reconnect with their interests, to help them discover something about themselves which they really love to do."
This led Arunima and her friend Manika Trehan to start TravelTroovel. They knew that travel anyway helps one to de-stress. They finally founded the company on August 20, 2016, and are since operating from Delhi.
According to Manika, "Mostly, people choose the profession which their fellows or friends are pursuing. If they understand their talents, maybe they can do wonders. Spending most of their time on gadgets and social media actually, adds stress to their lives."
Their focus points are:
- The need to reconnect people to their interests and hobbies.
- To help them discover a talent or interest that they may like to pursue.
- To help them de-stress from their busy and digitally influenced lives.
What does it actually do?
TravelTroovel offers interest-based trips, each of which is called a ‘troovel’. Each troovel has an interest as a theme that is inspired by one's hobbies like music, reading, dramatics, art, dance — the list is long. The troovellers coming on their trips get a chance to explore their interests. They get to do this with a touch of freshness through a variety of sessions and activities at an offbeat location. Each of the trips has a mentor who takes up various sessions related to the interest being catered to. Also, they have other fun sessions that have elements of the interest. Simultaneously, the troovellers also get a chance to share their experiences and knowledge with others in the group.
Founders’ experience and the skills they collectively bring to the team
Arunima comes from a media background. She handles marketing and communication along with the photography and videography. Manika, on the other hand, looks into the interests and activities/sessions that are chosen and conducted. She looks into the logistics and operations as well. Research, product development, and finance and accounting are managed by both.
Current team size and their motivation dose
They are a team of six members. Out of these, two are in the core team. They have two experienced professionals assisting and two mentors.
Arunima says, "With each trip, a few freelancers get associated with us as well. We are looking at hiring more people in the due course of time who would be professionals. They could be travel enthusiasts and individuals inclined towards particular interests and hobbies. The major motivation for them would be that they’d get to travel to new locations every month. They get to spend time with their interests and learn something new on every trip. Along with this, they’d be provided with all basic facilities and amenities.
Revenue growth and projections
They have already conducted five trips in as many months with a revenue of around Rs 5 lakh. They are anticipating a revenue of around Rs15 lakh in the next financial year.
What is their market size?
Their main focus is on people in the age group of 20 to 45 years. This because they have an inclination towards many of the hobbies/interests and they are also a travel enthusiast.
Monetisation strategy
The revenue is generated by charging the person for an all-expense trip. The expenses include charges for travel, accommodation, food, and the interest-based sessions. They are anticipating profit before tax of around 35 percent which will, in turn, give a net profit of around 20 percent. Their long-term aim is to expand the business by increasing the number of trips on various interests and the number of troovellers per trip.