Welcome back to Venuerific Spotlight—a series where we dive deeper into the stories and culture of Singapore’s top event venue owners and managers! Today, we share the stories and lessons of M. Sanjivan, the events and partnerships director of premier rooftop venue Barouv Singapore.
It was hailed as the “Most Popular Event Venue” for the Venuerific Choice Awards’ 2023. It commands a sweeping panorama of the city skyline. Barouv is an urban oasis amidst the vibrant tapestry of Singapore. It stands out as more than just a rooftop party venue and social hub – it’s become a dynamic pulse in the heart of the city.
Despite being a business in its relatively early stages (“I would say that [Barouv] is just starting,” Sanjivan reveals of the venue), Barouv Singapore is not new to the industry itself. The tricks and trades of the venue come from experience—of experiences, rather—from its owners.
“I’ve been in the F&B industry for a good 8 years; I’ve started from rock bottom just as a club and restaurant promoter,” Sanjivan shares, claiming that these humble beginnings was his training ground for running a business. “I learned the ropes, picked up knowledge about F&B right from the scratch and as I grew older with more experience. I think all my experiences in the last 8 years have led to both the creation and execution of Barouv rooftop.”
Like other key players in the events industry, Barouv was the by-product of years of testing the waters (or skies!) of F&B. Sanjivan shares that there is a method to the venue; that it’s the way “the place was built, specifically to be a unique events space.”
To add to Barouv’s unique aesthetic, Sanjivan turns to what he’s seen from around the world. “When the consumer comes in…it’s like walking into a Bali villa,” he says. “You feel like you’re out of Singapore for 2-3 hours of this experience.”
“You should feel that “Oh, wow!” feeling…like you’re taking a mini holiday,” Sanjivan added. He also said that Barouv is certainly one of his more successful F&B ventures with his partner, and that they base many of its features on what they think Singapore would find useful.
“There’s a lot of experiences that Singapore is lacking. I think that as I travel more and understand [Barouv] more, my goal really is to open experiences to Singapore and the people living in Singapore.”
The passion to keep the balance between offering something comfortable yet different is easy for rooftop events venue Barouv. When asked about what makes them special, Sanjivan cites the customer experience and the uniqueness of Barouv.
He adds a few more sentiments, “Of course, we do have traffic flowing from all sorts of channels, from Venuerific and marketing [efforts].” I think Venuerific filled up [what was basically a needed] portal for corporations and individuals to streamline their thoughts, processes, requirements for venue owners and venues. I think Venuerific stepped in, and stepped in really, really hard.”
Sanjivan had more to say about what it’s like for small-scale businesses in Singapore.
“I think it’s very important for vendors, especially in a small populated country, to be correlated with one another. I think with Venuerific, they try—to a very successful extent—to help businesses from invoicing all the way to marketing. They help both the consumers and the vendors themselves.”
Like his contemporaries, Sanjivan has a nugget of wisdom to share to entrepreneurs that he believes applies in any industry, not just in the business of Food & Beverage.
“The leap of faith will be first to believe in yourself and not to find an expedited road to success,” he said. “My personal belief is nothing in life ever comes easy. Don’t try to take a shortcut to success. Take a leap of faith even if you’ll struggle in the first year, second year, third, fourth. Every year that you suffer, there’s some experience that will benefit you in the long run, and I think that that is very very important.”
Barouv opened during a very tricky time period, Sanjivan explained. Pushing for enquiries at a time when the market was only slowly opening up, nothing was certain for the venue.
However, times like these is where Sanjivan and the Barouv team’s experience comes in handy. “One of the challenges we overcame was to let corporations and consumers understand that ‘hey, despite the changes that’s gonna happen, we can still cater to any requirements’,” he shared with Venuerific.
Whatever the skies have in store for Barouv, Sanjivan knows that the venue is a stepping stone to further projects. Onwards and upwards for Barouv Singapore!
About the Venue
Venue Name: Barouv Singapore (Check them out on Instagram!)
Capacity: up to 150 seating; up to 250 standing
Prices: starts at $2,500
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