Taking small steps

Taking small steps

Men alone are not your competitors, in fact, they are equally vulnerable to failures,” believes Pune-based entrepreneur Bhagyashri Jachakh who runs Silver Crest, a Service Apartment project. 

Jachakh started her career as a customer service executive with a BPO. It was after overhearing a casual conversation at workplace that she decided to get into hospitality industry. With sheer determination and hardwork, she tasted success. Recalls Jachakh, “During a routine lunch break in my previous office, I overheard a few people in the canteen talking about an unhappy guest and how the person was missing a good home-cooked meal. In between this conversation, someone suggested that the guest should look for a serviced apartment.” Till then she was only vaguely aware of what service apartments are. After hearing this, she wanted to know more about the concept and get into it. “After a lot of asking around and research, I started small with my first service apartment, in 2007,” adds Jachakh, who comes from a farming community in Baramati.

A long journey
Starting a full-fledged business wasn’t all that easy for Jachakh. She had to deal with certain challenges, funding being the chief among them. “The Service Apartment sector was a sunrise industry back in 2006. A service apartment would be a hotel set up in a residential complex without any compliances. It was deemed non commercial, hence getting a bank loan was near impossible. I made credit purchases to set up my first service apartment. With the company payouts, I went on adding, taking the total to 11 apartments by the end of the year,” she says. 

Soon after the launch, the complexes in which these apartments were housed, started objecting, she recalls. “I was faced with the situation of shutting down my business, but today I am thankful for their stand as it made me get out of my comfort zone and start looking for my own property. Álso, my clientele being 100 per cent corporate, initially it was tough getting accounts. It’s easier putting up a hotel sign and have guests walk in. My business required me to personally go from one company to another. Appointments took a long time to come through. In short, it would take months to crack a deal,” says Jachakh. 
 
On the personal front too, things were tough for her. “Being a single parent, it used to break my heart when I had to leave my three year old son in daycare. You eventually overcome all challenges at work but as a mother, you can never make up for the quality time lost with your child,” she rues.

Being a female entrepreneur
The hospitality industry is male-dominated although there are some respectable female exceptions. But Jachakh says that this thought never occurred to her. “I was more focused on keeping my guests happy and keep my home fires burning. Fortunately, the companies I contracted with, were never gender-biased and made me feel very welcome,” she explains.

At the same time, she admits that being a female did give her an edge over others. “My clients were comfortable with the fact that a lady was in charge of their employees’ stay in a new city. They had quite a few fresh female recruits from outstation. The women used be accompanied by parents who were wary of leaving their daughter alone in a new city. But on meeting me, they would be at peace knowing that a lady would certainly be particular about their daughter’s security,” she says, adding, “On many instances, I have sent my personal car to pick up female employees from the railway station because they landed up at odd hours and I didn’t feel it was safe for them to commute by auto. This was not part of any contract but it earned me many brownie points with the client.”

As for her own safety, Jachakh feels it’s a womanly instinct to sense the right and the wrong. “This makes us draw a line where required. Also my staff has been very supportive through all these years because my approach towards them is empathetic. I do not believe in the hire and fire system as I think in case of every employee, there is some root cause which affects their performance. If you are sensitive to their needs, then you have their total loyalty.”

Another feminine feature that comes handy in her business is that a woman has an inborn skill of keeping her house prim and proper. “Therefore, my business set up too is more like a home with lush greenery and souvenirs adorning the walls, which gives the apartment a cozy ambience unlike the impersonal set-up of a hotel,” she says.

Individual growth
Jachakh says that since she has started her business in 2007, she has grown immensely as a person. From a CSE in a BPO drawing Rs 10,000 per month to an employer generating income for numerous families, she has traversed a lot and enjoyed every part of her journey. “I have learnt that everything is impermanent and the only way to handle a situation calmly is not react to it in extremes. Today 50 per cent of my workforce is female and I am satisfied that they take home a five figure salary which has given them a respectable position in their family,” she says.

She also believes that after one’s needs are taken care of, one should work for empowering others. “Therefore, I started my NGO called Meera, through which I fund the higher education of some rural girls. We also support self helf groups from rural areas to market their products, thus empowering them financially,” she points out. 

Advice for women 
Jachakh’s advice to women who wish to be entrepreneurs is — “First and foremost, one should get rid of the stereotyped notions about man-woman roles. Men alone are not your competitors, they are equally vulnerable to failures. So you need to compete with yourself to keep taking yourself higher and higher,”she says. 

Also, she firmly believes that self empowerment is a must, and it should not only be monetary but should happen in terms of knowledge, good friends and self improvisation through self-help books and workshops conducted for self and business development. 

“Always listen to your instincts and you will never be misguided,” she concludes.  

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