HomeLane: Setting Benchmark In Home Interiors

Home interiors have been an unorganised sector for a long time. There have been very few organised brands that have entered this industry. But, this is an opportunity for new investors since the very few brands that exist in this field have an $18 billion market to cater to. An added advantage that the COVID situation has brought in is that people are spending a lot of time at home now and are looking for good home interiors from a known brand.

HomeLane is a one-stop solution for home interiors offering predictable and personalised services at an affordable price. The brand that was started in 2014 is present in 12 cities in India. It has done 15,000 homes until now, with 9,000 expert designers.

HomeLane: A Customer-Centric Brand

HomeLane offers its services on a 45-day delivery guarantee else it will pay the customer one month's rent. Customers either meet virtually or at the experience stores. HomeLane gives a 5-year warranty on its materials.

The main differentiating factor about the company is its proprietary software ‘SpaceCraft’, a 3D design collaborating tool. This tool helps customers to visualize their interiors predictably with regard to time and quality. The software also gives price transparency to the customer.

HomeLane also partners with brands like Urban Ladder, Apka Painter, and Home Center. It provides a total solution to the customer from modular to home automation services.

Franchising Opportunity with HomeLane

HomeLane is present in 12 cities in India and plans to open up to 25 cities. HomeLane is open to franchising in two different models.  

1. Studio Partner Model

This type of model is for expansion mainly in the Tier-II cities. It is already present in Vishakhapatnam, Mysore, Indore, and Lucknow. The company is looking for 15 to 20 more franchisees in these cities.

The investment required for this model is about Rs 25-30 lakhs with an area requirement of 500-800 sq ft. The ROI is about 500% with a break-even of about 13-15 months for the investment made.

The responsibility of the franchisee here is on sales, payment collection, design, and installation. The other areas like lead generation, brand, and marketing support, back end tech and operations support, and production are taken care of by the brand. HomeLane helps the partners in training and hiring the employees.

The studio can be operational after a month post signing the agreement.

2. Experience Centre Model

This type of model aims for expansion in Tier I cities like Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, and Mumbai. It is present in 7 large cities and looking for expansion in Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

An investment of Rs 1-1.25 crore is required in this franchise model with an area of 2500-3500 sq ft.  The ROI is 400% within 30 months for the investment made.

The responsibility of the franchisee is limited to setting up the centre, maintenance, and installation of modular fittings. The brand takes the responsibility of lead generation, sales, designing, brand marketing support production, back end tech, and day to day operations.

Support to Franchisees

Home Lane has an end to end detailed support system for the franchisees at each step. They help with hunting for properties, rent negotiation, finding brokers, and help design studio. It has a centralised vendor and also recruits the design team, carpenters, supervisors, etc.

The brand helps in interviewing, recruiting, and training the staff. It guides on the salaries of the employees. For any financial help, the company has tie-ups with NBFC’s that provide loans for setting up the studios.

For studio partners, the company helps recruit the designers and the payroll. Whereas, for the experience centre, the designers work on a percentage basis as a partner to the company.

Home Lane does the lead generation based on the industry in a particular city and the potential for a particular franchisee. The targets are set accordingly. If the reasons for lower targets are internal, the company improvises to achieve more, and when it is external, the company reduces the targets. The franchisees that generate leads locally from architects or designers get a 3% margin as a referral fee.

Home Lane doesn’t have a royalty concept. It works on a revenue share basis. Depending on the model, the percentage of revenue share differs.

Lastly, Home Lane has an integrated end-to-end ecosystem that has a strong supply chain with the help of technology. It aims at working together with its partners to achieve maximum for both parties.

What it looks for in the franchisee is attitude and not experience. The prospective partner should have entrepreneurial skills, whether or not experienced in the area.

Edited By: Vaishnavi Gupta