Can you please tell us about your venture and your journey with ‘Meanders India’ and ‘Wanderlooms’?

Being an avid rider myself, the roads have had a natural calling to me. The urge to inspire and introduce other people to the thrill that I had experienced myself had always been there. In 2017, I decided that its high time people got in on the action thus “Meanders India” was conceived. Meanders means a curvy road, and thereby the tag line of “Life is an adventure”, the firm was started in 2017 as an adventure touring company, organizes trips across central India. Specializing in identifying undiscovered spots in M.P., we have successfully conducted 25+ trips with over 1000+ riders, introducing our riders to places such as Kukaru in M.P. (Google the Location!)

Wanderlooms is an adventure clothing brand, created for the solemn purpose of reverberating the feeling of its bearing rider. While most people dream of traveling to Ladakh, wanderlooms merchandise help bring that feeling close to home with its realistic and catchy graphic. Dwelling in the travel and adventure industry, we are not to be identified by the products we sell, it’s all about the sense of exploring a new place is what we wish to cater to!

Can you please help us know your professional background?

A mixologist by education, I have received my formal training in hospitality and management. With specialization in white spirits, I have endorsed brands like Bacardi and Smirnoff with my skills. (Fun fact, I was once a personal butler to Mr. Vijay Malaya.) Recently I have also completed my MBA in operation from Symbiosis Institute, Pune through a distance learning program.

How do you view the competition in the industry that you operate?

I personally don’t believe in competition. A creative industry should never be competitive, it should be inspirational. The likes of David Ogilvy and Dan Edelman have left a mark on the world which ages after will try to master for their surroundings. Similarly, I aspire to be big, am inspired by the designs, stories and experiences of others. And as a budding entrepreneur, its important for me to be a sponge than to be a stone!!!

What is your approach to finding business opportunities?

A community is what I seek. Riders or herders since times unknown have been identified as displaced and not very unified. Thus, finding new and thriving riding communities always brings a sense of joy to me. As it opens a plethora of ways we can interact with each other, business being one of the verticals. Catering to their individual needs and helping them connect to a larger picture, aids my bigger mission of ‘being an entrepreneur, but a rider at heart’.

What impact did the Covid-19 pandemic have on your business? How do you plan to work over it?

Unlike rest of the world, the COVID-19 was like a blessing in disguise. Having had lost all our operational arms to lack of resources and capital, it gave me time to recollect myself and think hard on the mistakes we were making on a daily basis. With shortages crippling us from every side, the ‘Aatmanirbhar’ slogan came very handy! I dedicated time to solve problems myself, learned important things like Shopify and Facebook ads. Thereby, becoming the answer to all the problems I had pre-COVID.

How did you identify that there exists a market gap and spot business opportunity for your venture?

The benefit to catering to a niche community is that not everybody identifies it, and those who do are not compelled to service their best, as the market is fairly new. Being a rider myself, at times it was quite noticeable the lack of affordable merchandise reciprocating a rider’s feeling. And, much to my surprise, the gap was so evident that I choose to fill it myself.

What has been the most challenging phase in your journey so far?

The downside of catering to a niche community is, that while everybody adores it, nobody wants to work for it. Our biggest problem, till date, has been finding people who follow the same vision and want to help recover the gap while matching our enthusiasm. Though the COVID-19 has impacted the job market horribly, the resistance to work in a ‘travel and adventure’ industry is still fairly high, so much so, that unemployment has been preferred by some ‘looking out for opportunities’ individuals.

As a business leader, what motivates you the most to keep pushing yourself to do better daily?

Ever heard about the guy who stopped “three feet away from gold”? Believing in what I do for a living is the only motivation that I have. Having chosen a field that is not only close to my heart but has a loud, thumping, pulsating feeling within me, I wish to reach out to people whose frequency matches with that of mine. And I know for a fact that they are out there, just operating in their individual small silos. My only job role is to resonate my adventurous emotion with theirs and create a global yet local community of riding enthusiasts and enable them with the right gears to showcase their voice!

What is your message for any aspiring entrepreneurs?

“Ideas are crap, evolution is everything”