The problem was staring me in the face every single day, but it took years of watching businesses struggle—and struggling myself—to realise we needed to completely reimagine how local marketing works in India.
I’m not just the founder of Recipto; I’m someone who lived through the pain of traditional marketing failures. Let me share why I built this platform and what vision drives everything we do.
The Problem That Kept Me Up at Night
“I watched hundreds of small businesses pour their life savings into marketing that simply didn’t work. A catering service owner in Pune spent ₹2.5 lakh on hoardings and flyers—his return? Maybe 20 orders total.”
This wasn’t an isolated story. Every salon owner, CA, service, and local business faced the same challenge: they knew their customers lived in apartment societies, but reaching them with the traditional marketing ecosystem had two terrible options:
- Spend ₹5-10 lakhs upfront with no guarantee of results,
- Rely on unreliable methods like WhatsApp group spamming and expensive hyperlocal apps.
THE VISION: Performance-Based Society Marketing
I envisioned a platform where businesses only pay when they get actual results, not clicks or impressions, but real customers taking real actions.
The concept was to create AI-powered reward links for every apartment society in 6 major cities. When residents click their society’s AI link, they get to see all nearby offers exclusive to them.
Businesses showcase their services – customers discover local offers – reward payment only when customers engage.
This addressed three critical problems simultaneously:
For businesses: Zero upfront marketing risk, performance-based pricing, and hyperlocal society targeting.
For residents: Convenient discovery of local services, exclusive offers, verified businesses.
For societies: Additional value for residents, potential revenue.
Proving the Concept
Building the Technology was challenging. We needed AI systems that could generate unique links for thousands of societies, intelligently match businesses with relevant communities, and track performance while maintaining privacy.
After our launch, we onboarded several CAs who provided valuable insights into how we could make our services more accessible and secure for their clients. These early partnerships taught us valuable lessons about simplifying processes and building trust, which we then applied to improve our overall service framework.
But the clearest sign we were on the right track came from the chartered accountant who went from struggling to getting clients from 25+ societies.
The Bigger Vision
Recipto is more than a marketing platform—it’s my vision for how local commerce should work in modern India. We’re building an ecosystem where:
– Communities become commerce hubs where residents access curated services through their society’s AI link, rather than hunting across the city.
– Businesses focus on quality, not marketing, because when you only pay for results, you can invest more in exceptional service.
– Trust is built through a community where word of mouth carries more weight than any advertisement.
– Technology serves real relationships by connecting the right businesses with the right communities at the right time.
What’s Next
We’re developing AI-powered personalization to understand society preferences and seasonal patterns. Our goal is expanding to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, creating a comprehensive service marketplace for every apartment society in India.
My Message to Entrepreneurs
If you’re struggling with traditional marketing, remember: the solution isn’t spending more money or shouting louder. It’s about being smarter and more focused.
Apartment societies represent the future of local commerce in India. The question isn’t whether to focus on society marketing—it’s how to do it effectively.
Visit Recipto, enter your address, to discover your nearest AI rewards link ✨.
If you’re a business owner looking to maximise marketing ROI, schedule a quick demo today to see how performance-based marketing can add significant value and transform your results.
