How Anshuman Mihir's Mytaxiindia.com is making life easier for the Indian traveller
A
team player, Anshuman Mihir had the ability to bond strongly with
people due to better understanding and professional ethics. This,
coupled with his penchant for challenges, made him a favourite with
his employer, Voyages India, a Delhibased B2B travel company. So,
when he decided to start out on his own, it volunteered to fund his
dream project. "An on-the-job entrepreneurial opportunity is
rare, but I feel I was lucky," says the 30-year-old founder of
the Delhi-based Mytaxiindia.com, a car rental and leasing portal that
clocked a turnover of Rs. 7 crore in 2013-14.
After completing his BCA and MBA in marketing and finance in 2009, Mihir took up his first job with Voyages India as product head in August 2010. "In November 2010, we got a contract to organise a seven-day conference in Hyderabad. We booked flights and hotels, but found it extremely difficult to book the 122 cabs required for the event. We called almost every big transporter in the city, but no one could provide us with so many cars for seven days. Finally, after a series of phone calls, we managed to rope in people at the last moment. It was frustrating, but it was also the Eureka moment for me," he says.
The Indian car rental market was estimated to be around Rs. 55,000 crore, of which only 4-6 per cent was organised. Mihir's plan was to bring the unorganised local agencies and individuals under one roof and set up a car rental portal with pan-India presence. The promoters of Voyages India were quick to recognize the prospects of the business and offered Rs. 20 lakh to set up the website and logistics for the company. "There was no looking back. I started travelling and networking with taxi owners in major cities and smaller towns, and started tapping corporates who could use my services," he says. Within five months, the site was up and so was his fleet of hired cars.
As Mihir started meeting people, he realised that there was one problem common to most travellers, be it corporate executives on a business trip or those on an outing with family and friends—they faced problems while booking cabs. It was not so with other modes of travel. IRCTC was synonymous with train bookings, while a few other private portals had succeeded in promoting themselves as a one-stop shop for flight and bus bookings. "Likewise, I wanted Mytaxiindia to become the first choice for anyone who needed a taxi, and to have presence in the remotest corners of India," says Mihir.
Within six months of the launch on 25 March 2011 at Karol Bagh, Delhi, Mytaxiindia clocked a turnover of Rs. 28 lakh and went on to post Rs. 1 crore as revenue in 2011-12. The site comes with a complete rental solution, be it city tours, outstation visits or holidays. "We also give cars on lease," he says. Mihir feels he needs to focus on the services offered by his partners in tire 2 and tier 3 cities. He plans to expand his cab service to overseas locations as well."Five years from now, we will have taxi outlets at all Indian airports and 300-plus railway stations. We also plan to start operations in Europe with a target of reaching 12.5 million customers worldwide," he adds.
After completing his BCA and MBA in marketing and finance in 2009, Mihir took up his first job with Voyages India as product head in August 2010. "In November 2010, we got a contract to organise a seven-day conference in Hyderabad. We booked flights and hotels, but found it extremely difficult to book the 122 cabs required for the event. We called almost every big transporter in the city, but no one could provide us with so many cars for seven days. Finally, after a series of phone calls, we managed to rope in people at the last moment. It was frustrating, but it was also the Eureka moment for me," he says.
The Indian car rental market was estimated to be around Rs. 55,000 crore, of which only 4-6 per cent was organised. Mihir's plan was to bring the unorganised local agencies and individuals under one roof and set up a car rental portal with pan-India presence. The promoters of Voyages India were quick to recognize the prospects of the business and offered Rs. 20 lakh to set up the website and logistics for the company. "There was no looking back. I started travelling and networking with taxi owners in major cities and smaller towns, and started tapping corporates who could use my services," he says. Within five months, the site was up and so was his fleet of hired cars.
As Mihir started meeting people, he realised that there was one problem common to most travellers, be it corporate executives on a business trip or those on an outing with family and friends—they faced problems while booking cabs. It was not so with other modes of travel. IRCTC was synonymous with train bookings, while a few other private portals had succeeded in promoting themselves as a one-stop shop for flight and bus bookings. "Likewise, I wanted Mytaxiindia to become the first choice for anyone who needed a taxi, and to have presence in the remotest corners of India," says Mihir.
Within six months of the launch on 25 March 2011 at Karol Bagh, Delhi, Mytaxiindia clocked a turnover of Rs. 28 lakh and went on to post Rs. 1 crore as revenue in 2011-12. The site comes with a complete rental solution, be it city tours, outstation visits or holidays. "We also give cars on lease," he says. Mihir feels he needs to focus on the services offered by his partners in tire 2 and tier 3 cities. He plans to expand his cab service to overseas locations as well."Five years from now, we will have taxi outlets at all Indian airports and 300-plus railway stations. We also plan to start operations in Europe with a target of reaching 12.5 million customers worldwide," he adds.
By Samarpan
Dutta,ET140915
No comments:
Post a Comment