This week we invited yet another promising entrepreneur Sachin Gaur for an exclusive interview with us. Sachin co-founded ‘The Office Pass’, along with his ex Makaan.com colleagues Aditya Verma and Nikhil Madan. The Office Pass is a co-working tech platform with its Headquarters in Gurgaon, India. It is one of the fastest-growing co-working startups in the region with a unique proposition for its customers.
Let’s read more about his journey so far, the way forward and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs:
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your startup please;
I belong to a Hindu family and my father was a businessman, my father also wanted me to do some business, he was always after me to start a business when I was in a job. I completed my Graduation from Delhi University and after that I did my MBA from Indian Institute of Planning & Management (IIPM), I always wanted to be an actor and during my school/college days, I did theatres. While I was doing my MBA I saw a huge transformation in me and I started thinking of starting a business but somehow I landed into a job through campus placement. In my opinion, job is a vicious circle as your salary and designation increase with time and you get more into it. It becomes difficult to get out of it. But, after 10 years of job, I finally decided to get into a business with my colleagues and close friends (ex-makaan.com) Aditya Verma and Nikhil Madan and started our new venture The Office Pass.
The Office Pass is a neighbourhood coworking space provider and we have a vision that after a drive of every 10 mins you will find a centre of The office Pass from where you can work.
How is ‘The Office Pass’ helping its customers and what is the way forward?
The Office Pass (TOP) is a Neighborhood CoWorking company that allows professionals & small companies to find a high-quality office space within 5 km of where ever they are in a city. So we are essentially solving for a commute. Our belief is people love to work in a space closer to their place of residence/work rather than commuting a long distance. We believe this is a unique proposition for a developing country like India.
I want The Office Pass (TOP) to become the de-facto office provider for Small companies in India. Every action of mine is aimed in this direction. Currently, our per seat realization is around INR 7,800 per month. If we have to become a preferred office provider to small companies, this needs to become more affordable so we can attract a lot more people who are currently not able to afford an office.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
The main challenge in this segment is to get a property on affordable terms from the landlord. Since we want to be known as an affordable provider, our payout has to match our earnings which continues to be a challenge as property rentals in India are comparable with that in the developed countries but the paying capacity of people is less than half. I see this as the main obstacle. Having said that, we are working it out.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
I am an emotional person. Business needs to have emotions, not personal, obviously, but business ones like concern for quality deliverables, client satisfaction, targets & road maps, your plans & how you will achieve it, etc. Money is obviously the priority but I believe if your value creation process is right for others, the money will automatically come as an outcome of it.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped grow your startup/person?
Our focus on affordability and MSMBs. When we look at our target customers, we do not look at large customers or MNCs (which are adequately served). We want to provide an office for people who are not served by others. We want the Office Pass (TOP) to be their first office.
In your opinion what are the keys to entrepreneurial success?
A cohesive team is critical for any venture and I firmly believe it to be the prime reason for the success and failure of companies.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
I always work on a tag line ‘add value to get value’. Don’t focus primarily on money or investments but keep your focus on creating a sustainable venture & value creation. Rest of the things will automatically set with time.
Also, if you are starting up a venture, feel free to reach out to us. You will find us a great partner or mentor to you with innovative means.
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Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
