SocietynMore Intends to Expand Its User Base to More Than 100,000 Users Over the Next 2 Years

SocietynMore is a one-stop solution for housing society, accounting, management and communication needs, founded by Sakshi Sureka in September 2015. Currently, bootstrapped, the startup has 200 societies currently under its management.

We spoke to Sakshi Sureka, CEO and Founder of the company in detail:

Can you tell us what SocietynMore is all about and what is the key problem that Societynmore intends to address?

Societynmore (SNM) is an online Society Management and administration and society accounting solution which can be used by cooperative societies to their benefit for effective administration of society affairs. Launched in 2015, SNM today works with over 200 Housing Societies and covers more than 25,000 + users across 5 cities in India.

What is the USP?

SNM provides a combination of software and mobile app based solutions for accounting, billing, management and communication for Housing Societies. All Registered Societies in India must file annual returns and TDS. Most times, an elected committee oversees the work, along with a third-party manager for administrative work. With the new-age societies the total number of flats under management has increased significantly, which in turn has increased the complexity and volume of work required to be done at each society. This is a voluntary work where if you slip you may be exposed to legal repressions. SNM’s online technology provides an automated income and expense sheet. It reduces the work of a manager significantly by providing ready sheets in standard accounting formats and also provides regular updates on the defaulters. Also, all committee members have the authority to check the accounts online at any given point of time. The monthly maintenance bills are generated online and physical copies need to be sent to only those flats who do not have access to any mobile or PC. SNM is also in the process of tying up with banks to provide a seamless online payment option.

The software also sends reminder to the manager / committee on upcoming FD maturity or upcoming renewal of other services, which results in an efficient use of the Society’s funds.

SNM can also work as closed social media platform for individual society flat owners. Through the app, important updates on events or even an impending water shortage can be communicated effectively.

Tell us more about the concept?

While I was on a break post my first child, I decided to join my Housing Society’s committee to help structure the workings. However, was quite surprised at the lack of support and also trust a committee gets from other flat owners, leading to delays in execution.

I realized that most residents choose to ignore the issues because of lack of clarity and time. Whatsapp was still not so popular so we made an email group for better communication. This helped in improving the decision making process and also in getting more support from the other flat owners.

The concept of SocietynMore was based on this experience. I realized that as the city expands, the management of Housing Society needs to be more efficient and accessible. SNM works on three principles, efficient administration, effective communication and voluntary participation of members.

Tell us about the traction details? What is the business opportunity for SNM?

We started onboarding societies towards the end of 2015. We at present have 200 societies and cater to more than 25,000 residents across multiple cities. We intend to expand our user base to more than 100,000 users over the next two years. Our business is directly proportional to the expansion of user base as we have a subscription based revenue model based on the number of members.

Considering that there are approximately 90,000 number of societies in just Mumbai, the opportunity for us is quite clear.

SNM also helps in building an environment friendly society, can you elaborate on that?

SocietynMore besides introducing an efficient way of managing housing societies overall financial operations also helps in introducing environmental friendly practices.

We are reducing the use of paper by eliminating the need to print many society documents like the monthly bills and notices. On an average, there are at least 70-100 flats in each Housing Society that we manage, Once societies use our services they send notices that can be read on the email/ our app. I feel happy about every sheet of paper saved by enabling societies to avoid taking printouts of notices that no one ever read.

Going forward, we plan to introduce other environment friendly functionalities on our app such as Waste Management and Water Management.

What is your source of revenue and any numbers that you can share?

We have a subscription based revenue model based on the number of members. Depending on the complexity of services that a committee opts for, the per flat cost ranges between Rs 5- Rs 15 per flat per month.

What is your customer acquisition strategy? What are some of the key challenges that you face when you approach a new society?

Most of our customer have been sourced through online marketing efforts, followed by multiple meetings with the committee members to explain the benefits. In the process, we have improvised many things on our software and app and feel that now we are ready for a more robust growth. We plan to hire a marketing and sales team which can further enhance our reach and help us expand our business.

In the next 3-4 years, we aim to work with about 20% of the Housing Societies in Mumbai, Kolkata and maybe Pune.