From 30,000 Rupees And Used Second-hand Laptop, The Founder Of The Event Company Is Now A Globetrotter

It turned out to be a magical journey that took him to a place. From 10 lakh sales in the first year to 2 billion this year, the company has grown exponentially, not only in sales but also in the scope and size of events it has handled.

"We have arranged weddings in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Dubai, Goa, Jaipur, Mussoorie, Bengaluru, Kerala, and Chennai," says Vikram. The highlight was a wedding they organized in 2018 at Disneyland, Orlando, USA.

"I went there twice to do hotel deals and get different locations for different events, while Cinderella's Castle was booked for the after-party," he says.

Registered in the name of Siddachal Enterprises Private Limited and based in Bandra, the company organizes between 17 and 18 destination weddings per year. The average cost of a wedding is around 4 billion rupees.

With five full-time employees and 17-18 seasonal workers, the company hires freelancers at wedding venues.

Vikram, 37, born and raised in Mumbai, graduated twelfth grade from Andrews School in 2003 and then completed a bachelor's degree from Mithibai College, where then-stars Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor were his eldest.

“I was a completely different person at school. I was the fat kid in a boys' school and was known for my excellent communication skills, ”Vikram recalls his childhood.

He had a lot of friends at school, but at university, he faced a different situation, as students were very careful about how people looked and who they walked with.

This behavior upset Vikram, but the most important thing was how they changed their behavior and accepted him into their gang after losing weight. He didn't have many friends in college and he stayed with his classmates.

After graduating from B.Com he joined M.Com and started working part-time in events.

"My first job was handing out brochures for 700 rupees. Then came New Year's Eve with Sonam Kapoor as a popular attraction." I started selling melons and eventually became the best melon seller, ”Vikram says of the day. The direction.

The organizers highlighted his performance and invited him to join their team as an ally. However, Vikram did not see this interesting offer and decided to go public with his own company, Red OM Entertainment. At that time, he was only 23 years old.

Vikram had a partner, Sapna Lalla, and the two events were organized for international DJs and bar clubs. In 2009, Red OM's annual sales reached Rs 1 billion.

The company hosted the Shah Rukh Khan opening ceremony for the film Don and also hosted the Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt events. They also awarded prizes, but in 2013 the situation changed.

"DJ culture was no longer high, and I had a moment when I wanted to get off the radar, I felt like I was in the middle position, even though I was winning well. I decided to change course," shares Vikram.

He left the OM Network (which is still run by another partner) and joined Percept, an event management company that organized the Sunburn Festival in Goa, as CEO.

It was during this time that his father, who held a leadership position on the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, advised him to start his own business instead of working for others.

As at the right time, Vikram received an invitation to attend the wedding of his friend's sister in Bangkok. Helped to find suitable artists for various events, DJs, and platforms. The wedding was attended by wealthy families of the Bindals and Gujral. He had run the whole event with only two people to help him.

Suddenly, another door slammed shut. "With just a team of two, we headed for Udaipur, where the wedding was taking place at the famous Jagmandir Palace. And that led to another wedding in Alibag," says Vikram, who finally started Football Events in 2014.

As the business grows, each project involves detailed planning and implementation. "At a wedding, a lot can go wrong, but I make sure there is a duplicate and that everything fits. The biggest spoiler could be the weather, especially for outdoor weddings," shares Vikram.

He remembers a wedding they had in Sri Lanka that worried them when a sudden hailstorm hit the hall with a wedding cake, champagne glasses and almost everything else started flying.

"It was scary, but we quickly got to the hotel hall, where there was a backing cake and a model of the palace we had prepared for the couple," recalls Vikram.

At a wedding in Udaipur, they had to bring a safe and healthy baby to the hotel from the boat as the parents were not around, and once in Goa, taxi drivers were electrocuted at the wedding and Vikram had to convince about 50 drivers to transport guests and save the day.

Vikram's main goal is to entertain the couple on D-Day.

"There can be many other challenges such as drunken parents, strangers with health problems, and so on. But the biggest challenge is dealing with close family members, where everyone wants different things. But my goal is to keep the couple happy; all, it is your big day and your vision should come true, "says Vikram, adding," And for every wedding, the bride's door is a moment. It moves more and I make sure it is unique to every wedding.

The company has received several awards and ELLE magazine listed Mpire # 2 on the list of best wedding planners in Asia.