Varun GuptaFounder & CEO at Clicktable Technologies Published On: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 Views 9113

Clicktable is front desk management software for restaurants that allows them to manage their guestbook, reservations, waitlist, table inventory and promote their events and offers. Another aspect of the software is a consumer app, which allows real time table reservations for the convenience of a consumer.

It was a real life experience. I tried getting a table at one of a leading restaurant in Delhi and in spite of multiple tries (advance booking and randomly walking in), I wasn’t able to. Having used online table reservation systems in the US, I thought the opportunity exists for a similar service in India and that’s how the idea was seeded.

Sometimes you simply have to stop worrying, wondering, and doubting. Have faith that things will work out, maybe not how you planned, but just how it’s meant to be.

It’s the difference between expectations and reality. We did a very through one to one market research before we started developing the product. Our research pointed out that restaurants would love to have a reservation management software. But after we developed the product and went to market, we faced stiff resistance from the restaurants. They were not ready for a culture shift which required them to move from managing reservations on paper to a software, most of the restaurants were technology averse, providing a dedicated manpower for the software was an issue for them, etc. Generally, as startups, we tend to overlook practical problems and just find solutions to the theoretical ones.

We are helping restaurants in terms of training and support. We provide 15 days of hand holding on the product via our field associates and provide them an unlimited number of training sessions free of cost. Such steps are helping us get them accustomed to our software and ensuring that restaurants are reaping benefits from using our software.

I have invested my personal funds till date.

I strongly believe in “taking people with me”. We have created a very friendly and open working environment. Though a systematic hierarchy does exists, but we never let anyone feel that in the company. We promote innovation, teamwork and agility. Lastly, people get rewarded and recognized for their efforts. All the above efforts have helped us build a cohesive team and control attrition.

• Determination
• Hard work
• Positive Attitude

Asana for project planning, Slack for team communication and I done this for keeping the team on the same page.

I plan my each day in the morning. First thing what I do when I reach office is that I jot down all my pending and planned tasks in my diary. I keep monitoring them throughout the day and ensure that most of them are completed before the day ends. It also ensures that I don’t loose track of any tasks. It is a simple yet effective technique.

I am a very lethargic person which also leads to procrastination. This sometimes throws off my planning and tasks.

• One tip to success:

Honesty and Integrity are the pillars of success.

• One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:

Always keep your feet on the ground and don’t get carried away with small success.

• One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:

A moment of patience in a moment of anger saves thousand moments of regret.

3 years are too much to plan in my opinion. I assign goals for smaller time frames and based on their results, plan forward. As of now, the goal is to release the consumer-facing app in this quarter and have tie-ups with 400 restaurants in Delhi/NCR in next 6 months.

Nothing

NYC If am I bored in life, Queenstown (New Zealand) when I want to be adventurous, and Bhutan when I want some peace and time with myself.

“Dreams is not what you see in sleep, it is the thing which doesn’t let you sleep” – APJ Abdul Kalam