Today we’d like to introduce you to Radha Patel.
Hi Radha, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Over the course of one summer, back in 2018, I had a series of single friends and family reach out to me, stating they were looking to date within the Indian community in the US, and since I seemed to be so well connected, to introduce them to potential singles as I saw fit. I even had 2 “aunties” reach out to me about various single people in their own networks, with the same thought that “hey, Radha knows lots of Indian people, maybe she can help these kids find partners”. I began to wonder, what it was about me, and why now did my network suddenly start thinking about me in terms of helping them in dating. You see, over the years, I’ve shown my aptitude for networking and my interests/hobbies all aligned around the Indian American experience. Being a connector/influence in the Indian American community, introducing people with the purpose of marriage was a natural extension of my skills.
So I took all of these “inquiries” and decided just to write it all down. I created a Google spreadsheet and started listing some basic components that I thought I needed in order to start setting people up within my own network and quickly realized that there were so many variables when it comes to matching. It’s not just age/sex/location but important preferences like die and educational history and in the Indian Community even demographics such as religion or origin of India mattered to those who were looking to be set up. I quickly realized I needed to expand my pool of eligible singles in order to effectively match people with what they were looking for. This was essentially the brainchild on why I decided to create Single to Shaadi and my version of matchmaking which revolves around the community approach of dating for marriage minded people.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth Road! Single to Shaadi started out as a hobby, something that I could do in my spare time, but quickly became something much bigger than myself. Simply creating an Instagram account and a website to see what kind of interest would come in, I saw that people were dying for an alternative to the app scene and craved genuine human connection in the dating process. At first, I thought I’d offer my services for free just to understand what people were willing to pay for and truly where I could make the most impact and I realized that this what I was offering was different and people are ready to pay for it. So, in 2019 I decided to start charging, just nominally at first. When the interest did not slow down, I’ve consistently been able to successfully continue to scale up my pricing including some new packages and alternative sources of income for 2021. The greatest struggle right now for me is balancing time. I’m one of those ‘”visionary” type people who are always having great ideas but sometimes don’t follow through with the execution and so balancing all of this while executing it all in this community I’m trying to create which eventually will become a prominent player in the dating space continues, to be the daily challenge that I struggle with.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Single to Shaadi?
Single to Shaadi is community of marriage-minded daters looking for an alternative to the app scene when it comes to finding a true life partner. We cater specifically for people who identify as having South Asian origin but either grew up or live and work in the United States or Canada. Our approachable price point and relatability to our core clientele is what makes us different than some of the more traditional Indian matchmakers in this space. Our entry-level pricing sets us apart from most matchmakers in general. I’m most proud about the pivot we are making in 2021 towards becoming more of a community and offering assistance to serious daters in all aspects of what dating looks like in 2021. While matchmaking remains our core service, we’ve decided to expand the funnel to include people who just need help either setting up their profiles or taking new dating app photos (let’s be honest, COVID hasn’t given many of us a chance to dress up and take fun photos in the past year) and some group coaching classes. There are so many other aspects of dating that we feel we could help contribute to a positive and impactful experience and we want to be a part of that journey every step of the way from “single to shaadi”!
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think every decision you make in life is a risk because the outcome could go either way. There are ways to mitigate that risk by doing your planning and research but at the end of the day, it’s still an unknown venture which requires some level of risk-taking in order to even get started. For me, starting a business again after having a failed venture a few years back was a huge risk. Not just financially, but for my reputation. I constantly battle with imposter syndrome or “what will people say” anxiety and all of those are risks that I had to calculate before (or maybe even during) diving into Single to Shaadi with such passion and gusto as I know that the brand generates in all of our potential clients. Financially investing all of my own money, and now investing all of the revenues back into the business, oftentimes seems like a losing strategy because I am constantly weighing the risk factors of how to strategically spend that money. It almost seems as if I am making calculated risks on a day to day basis!
Pricing:
- $299 3 month intro matchmaking packages
- $19.99 30 minute virtual photo shoots
- $9.99 horoscope matching
- $100 monthly group coaching sessions
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.singletoshaadi.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/singletoshaadi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SingletoShaadi/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SingleToShaadi
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaHcj76xaZoAF_BFlY2Y6qQ/featured
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/single-to-shaadi-chicago
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@singletoshaadi
