🚀 365 Days of Stories: Day 34 🌟 When Numbers Speak Louder Than Dreams

Entrepreneurship, they say, is a rollercoaster. It’s thrilling, exhausting, and sometimes humbling. My Day 34 story is a deep dive into the realities of turning dreams into viable business models—and how the numbers often hold the final verdict.

After experimenting with multiple strategies to encourage car owners to offer rides regularly on my ride-sharing platform, I faced an undeniable truth: none of them had yielded the results I had hoped for. The incentives weren’t enticing enough, and the engagement remained lackluster. This prompted me to step back, put my emotions aside, and approach the problem analytically. I decided to run the numbers—calculating the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Lifetime Value (LTV) of my customers to evaluate whether the business could truly be viable.

💡 The Strategy: I came up with an idea to partner with 3M for free car interior cleaning in exchange for users downloading the app and committing to a minimum number of rides per month. With a general cleaning cost of ₹1500, I estimated that I could negotiate a bulk deal for ₹1000 per car if I signed on 200 cars.

🔢 The Math:

LTV = ₹60/month/customer x 12 months = ₹720.

CAC for one apartment complex = 200 cars x ₹1000 = ₹20L. Even with a year of operations, I projected a 30% loss—a significant ₹6L deficit. The numbers were clear: at the unit economics level, the business wasn’t viable.

💼 The Turning Point: Despite the discouraging math, I decided to give it one last try. I applied to NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore, where I had an exploratory meeting with an incredible 85-year-old mentor, Mr. Mehta. When I asked how I could secure funding, he offered me this wisdom: "The world has changed—no one invests in ideas anymore. Show repeat customers for 6 months, and investors will follow."

However, achieving this would require self-investment—₹20L for 200 repeat customers over 6 months. Though he offered incubation at NSRCEL, I politely declined, as I needed funding more than guidance.

🤔 The Hard Choice After days of deliberation, I faced one of the toughest decisions of my life. I could either invest ₹20L of my own money to give Parift another chance, knowing I might lose ₹6L within a year, or close the business and walk away. Ultimately, I couldn’t justify the loss, and I made the heartbreaking decision to shut down Parift Ride, my first entrepreneurial venture.

💡 The Takeaway: Shutting Parift was not the end—it was an invaluable learning experience. I realized I needed to deepen my understanding of business dynamics and decided to join a small startup to learn how seasoned entrepreneurs navigate challenges.

That’s how Parift Ride came to an end, but the lessons I learned have stayed with me—and they’ve been worth every challenge I faced.

Have you ever had to shut down something close to your heart after putting in significant effort? I would love to hear your story.