At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the entrepreneurship world. As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur – Tabish F Khan for an exclusive interview with us. He is the Founder and Director of Theia Enterprise. Let’s learn more about his inspiring journey, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Tabish:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I have always been a motivated and self-enthusiastic person in my life. Post my Post-Graduate in Business Management I have worked in various industries including consumer durables (Haier appliances), NBFCs (Citifinancial) and then joined India’s well-known amusement park EsselWorld in 2009.
At EsselWorld I found the path to my long term career as I got my first-time exposure to an alliance and corporate partnership, which is a non-box selling approach and requires a lot of creativity to get the sales through, I was responsible for alliances tie-ups and sponsorship for the park and the profile gave the boost to my skills of innovative advertising.
After EsselWorld I got headhunted by a premium hotel and resort property based in Hyderabad – Leonia Holistic destination, I was leading the marketing division for the property and it gave me a lot of insights about regional change in behaviour of the consumer. Post doing successful campaigns and events at Leonia I had an opportunity to manage Hotels and restaurants at Sultanate of Oman, which gave me an international business exposure, I managed and marketed more than 5 hotels, City centre hotel, Muscat being one of them and 2 Punjabi Dhaaba restaurants.
Opportunity pulled again and I came back to India to join KidZania Mumbai, I handled multiple roles at the property, corporate tie-up, events and birthdays, and sponsorship to name a few, KidZania being a global leader in Indoor theme parks, gave me an understanding of more organised and standardised operating style. In 2016 I joined Adlabs Imagica, India’s largest theme park as General Manager of marketing, where I have done multiple successful tie-up and alliances and reconstructed the whole P&L for alternate revenue streams, I have also hosted more than 17 large format events, and introduced an all-new annual event events calendar for Imagicaa.
We were successful in establishing some new events at a very low investment, which also attracted many sponsors and partners. While doing the job, I was always entitled as an intrapreneur (Entrepreneur within the organisation) which helped me to end up as being a Risk-taker and, me along with my colleagues at Imagicaa, started Theia Enterprise.
What I realised with my years of experience of being in the theme park, entertainment and hospitality industry, that these industries have a lot of potential for alliances but there aren’t many players who are focusing on this segment, every year more than 50 million people visit parks and entertainment venues across India and their dwell time averages between 2 to 8 hours. But these destinations are never on a media planners chart in India.
Internationally marketing at these destinations is a big segment and it’s always on the planner’s chart. When we checked with the planner we realised that the segment is too unorganised for them to consider as each park is hit in their locality but there is no park in India which actually secures footfall from across India, however, all parks put together is a big market but there is no player who facilitates this cumulated offering.
Hence the thought came up of Theia Enterprise, and me along with my colleagues, Riddhi Solanki and Avani Bhate started the company in September 2020 and in a matter of few months, Theia Enterprise has already secured some very well-known clients and have also successfully executed their alliances and tie-up deals. Today, Theia enterprise has already tied up with major Theme parks, cinema chains, airports and a few airlines across India, and more tie-ups are happening as we talk. The partners have welcomed Theia enterprise with open arms because of Theia’s rich network of brands and agencies connects and its unique business model which surely is a win for the partners and Theia enterprise both.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
Well, post giving more than 14 years to corporate culture, I would not like to take away the learning that corporate life has given me, today being educated in the faculty is one thing but the first-hand experience in the real-life situation was thought to me by my corporate career. I always give more importance to study than education and I think I could study well during my corporate life.
I have chosen entrepreneurship to fulfil the gap that I could see in the market of alliances, sponsorships and tie-up. Partnerships being my passion I always thought about how it will be if an organised player enters the market and we started Theia with the objective of bringing that organised structure to the alliances and partnership industry. We find the need in a company, evaluate how it can be filled by a cost-saving approach and get a brand who can partner and fill that need, hence one brand gets what it needs and the other gets its sales.
Entrepreneurship is exciting to me as it helps me challenge my own capabilities and helps me evolve further. The risk involved in being an entrepreneur gets you out of your comfort and keeps you on your toes.”
‘Theia Enterprise’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving with the help of your startup?
About 14 Billion years ago, when our very own planet was a ball of fire, a planet Mars-sized rock collided with earth, which gave our planet its spin, its angularity, its gravity, its magnetic fields and it helped earth to cool and become a habitable planet that it is today, the name of the rock that collided with the earth was Theia, if it wasn’t for Theia, we wouldn’t have been existing. Till date Theia helps our planet to sustain its pace, its tides and a lot more, we today call Theia as our Moon.
Inspired by what Theia did to Earth we have kept our company’s name as Theia Enterprise as when we collide with your company we can make it more habitable by generating alternate ways to revenue and profits for you, we help in improving the bottom-line of your company and we will always be around you to fulfil your business need.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
We started Theia Enterprise during covid-19 Pandemic, while companies where going sluggish and a few shutting down we were as a team determined to start this business, we had to be very patient as our core business was dependent on entertainment parks, cinema chains and airports etc, and all these partners harp upon their incomparable footfall, but the COVID norms were against it, all the destinations are deeply impacted and with the second wave now hitting India, the reopening of these destination seems to be further procrastinated, however, the fast pace distribution of Vaccine by the government gives hope of revival to this industry and it is estimated that the industry of hospitality and entertainment will be very bullish very soon.
Hence, as a management decision, we planned to do our backend work till the time things don’t get back to normal, we started out tie-up with the parks, cinema halls and other destinations across India and negotiated deals which are exclusive with Theia Enterprise for is to offer to brands. Today we have more than 17 top destinations of India where we can get an all-time low-cost entry for any brand that partners with Theia.
How do you manage yourself and keep on going despite the challenges? What drives you?
When one is passionate about his business and have full faith in the potential of the idea, one gets self-motivation. It’s also very important to be surrounded by the right partners who have similar interest and zeal towards growth.
Challenges are in every aspect of life, being an employee is also not an easy walk, COVID must have also exposed the uncertainly of jobs to many, so if you have to face challenges why not face them for your own business and make it grow.
The key driving force is the gap-filling capability of this business which the market needs today, we at Theia work towards a problem-solving approach and resolved issues at our partnered companies gives us that boost to keep going every day.
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
Well, in business there are no mantras as according to me every business requires a new approach, but specific to Theia the below-mentioned approach helped us so far, but we are constantly brainstorming for a newer approach to better our efficiency.
~ If there is a gap in the market that you can fill up then it’s a business you must do. So need gap analysis is most important
~ Never think that why others have not done anything about the idea you have thought of and not pursue the concept, thinking that even others must have thought about the same idea and why didn’t they start the business, means there is some issue with the idea; this thought usually stops us from even taking the first step. Cut this thought, you are the only one who is like you and what you can do with the idea no one else can, be confident about yourself and keep pursuing your dream.
~ Don’t let money be your ultimate target, money is a by-product of many factors, the key ones to name are – a brilliant business idea, excellent relationship, honest business etiquette and smart work. Focus on these and money will flow.
In your opinion, what is more necessary: An idea or a good team for a successful startup?
In my opinion, it should be a mix of both. You just cannot go ahead with an idea jotted down on a piece of paper without like-minded people working on it.
I have seen companies with very innovative ideas with niche market segment fail just because they lacked proper team spirit in them”
To be successful, you should team up with co-founders who share your vision behind the idea and you also need to hire the right people for the right position so that managements vision can be trickled well in your company.
What are the three most important lessons you have learned building your startup?
The most important lesson I have learnt is when you are starting a company give it you’re full, many people keep a plan B ready, a fallback plan. I personally think that if you have a fall back plan that means you are not confident about your own idea, your own study and your own team. I don’t have a fallback idea, I don’t have a Plan B, Theia Enterprise is what is growing and will grow, there is no other choice.
Fulfil your commitment to your vendors and partners. I have many company leaders who have a very short term vision to win a deal and gain more profit by aborting unappreciated methods of false commitments, bypassing agencies etc. Always remember you have started the business with a long term objective and such tricks won’t attain long term goals.
A deal is not secured till it’s not documented. Get every small or big deal get it documented, this will only give a sense of assurance to your client and to you and will further protect you from any future disputes.
Please share with us – what has worked well for you so far?
One thing that has really worked best for me is my relationship in the market, my friends, my clients and their references, which I have cherished from decades. Today all of them are helping and supporting me to nurture our venture Theia Enterprise and I thank them all.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
The trait which is very essential is knowing your people, everyone who is working with you is working for one key reason, GROWTH. Now growth can be monetary growth, learning growth or power growth. A leader needs to know what the team member wants and help them achieve their growth goal. Your team grows, you grow, no one person can do it all.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
I love my work. Anything you do in life, you have to have a passion for and should not feel like work.
I enjoy the challenge of reducing the costs for the company and increasing the bottom-line of the company, after all, that is the ultimate objective of any business, but quite some time many businesses require that third party viewpoint to see those alternative ways to generate revenue or those alternative ways to reduce the cost, and that third party view is given by The Enterprise. The appreciation that we are getting from our clients after the successful completion of a project is what is keeping us positive and motivated.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
I strongly recommend if you want to start a business, then start it NOW, don’t wait, if you have confidence in your Idea, you have the right set of people around you, then go for it. There is never a right time to start and there is never a wrong time.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
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.
