By Prashant Mahesh

B2C sites catering to the travelling needs of individuals are there dime a dozen. There is no dearth of information on how to plan a vacation, the best hotels to stay at and the hotel tariffs.

But, here is a hospitality and event planning site with a difference: Mumbai-based 73Coffees.com works on the B2B model.

Says CEO Sarita Hegde Roy: "Planning meetings, conferences, trade shows and even simple workshops can be a tedious task for a corporate entity." That is where event planning logistics come into the picture.

It involves searching directories and websites, choosing the right location, calling three to four destinations back and forth, getting tariffs, checking availability and negotiating discounts, among other things.

This can take anywhere between six days to a week. The implication: event planning is an expensive and time-consuming affair. 73Coffees.com plans to take the pain out of event planning and management.

How to taste success in a B2B venture like this? Says Hegde: "The field is wide open. If you have the supply chain and logistics in place, you can definitely succeed."

Optimising the production process is yet another requirement for success. An effective optimisation of the production process can result in substantial cost savings and significant resource efficiencies."

73Coffees.com allows a person to search, bid and compare a large number of destinations and even book hotels anywhere in India. Currently, 73Coffees.com has listed with it as many as 1,500 hotels spread across all categories in Asia.

Listing is free and probably revenue for the company would come from commissions earned when a hotel booking is done through the site.