The Story Of Royal Brothers - How It Began

I remember still being an engineering student in college, when I made up my mind that I wanted to pursue a career as an entrepreneur. This initial bright idea came from the belief that there was so much more I could contribute to the world other than by working in a limited role as an employee. I was confident that my purpose was so much bigger than that. Coming from a traditional Indian household, I was met with skepticism by concerned relatives who felt that I was too young to be filling in such big shoes. They advised me to do what Indian students do best - get admission into a prestigious university abroad, learn the aspects of running a business in a classroom, and then maybe give my big idea a go once I had my MBA certificate in hand. While their intentions were good, the fire in me kept pushing me to look for a substantial business idea that would make my entrepreneurship dreams come true.

Then on an insignificant afternoon, I got a call from my friend Akash, a fellow student at the engineering college we studied at. He told me he was planning on going for a trip to Pondicherry and invited me to join him. A vacation always sounds like a good idea. I agreed to go, provided we planned our trip, keeping our tight student budget in mind. I had a secret intention behind visiting Pondicherry - I could visit and observe the cottage industries there that are built on a foundation of sustainability. We decided to leave mid-week, and I quickly searched online for transport we could rent. It would be more affordable than hiring someone to drive us around, and public transport seemed so pedestrian when on vacation!

An obscure number caught my attention. When I called the local guy from Pondicherry, I was nonchalantly informed that it was his personal 2-wheeler he was renting. But it was our only option, so we went for it. I still remember getting off the bus we took from Bangalore to Pondicherry, immediately hit by the afternoon sun overhead. The ocean breeze called to us, so we took a short walk to the beach-side and waited at a spot the man had instructed us to wait, where we would meet him and pick up the bike. 

After what seemed like an eternity, he did turn up, and we were naturally freaked out when we saw that it was a privately owned vehicle, with the black-and-white number plate. Being novices in bike renting, we asked him with shaky voices about the legality of such a transaction. After all, if we were stopped by traffic police, there really wasn’t any documentation we could produce as proof. He brushed us off saying that if we ever got caught, we could call him and he would sort it out. With just a verbal confirmation, we went our way.

During our stay there, I did get to visit the cottage industries dotting the Pondicherry landscape, and even earned an internship! But none of the ideas I jotted down seemed to hit the nail on the head. Except for this bike rental nightmare we just went through. To make matters worse, when we went to return the bike, the man demanded we give him more money for renting the bike for the rest of the day, even though we were giving it back well before sunset.

Now I saw my opportunity. When we usually think of rentals, we imagine a shop where we risk it and hand over our driver’s license to a complete stranger and pay in cash, rarely with any payment confirmation. This was an opportunity to create a substantial business that would receive a positive response in the market.

In the current economy, owning an asset is not only a financial strain, it’s almost always impossible. Expenses have risen more than ever before, and not at an equivalent rate to earnings. Inflation is sometimes in the double digits, and with the introduction of GST and rising fuel prices, ownership of a mobile asset like a 2-wheeler is a luxury that the masses cannot afford. But the need for mobility has also risen more than ever. We are commuting longer distances than our parents did, and we’re also more likely to go on vacations on the weekends to momentarily escape the stresses of 9-to-5 jobs.

In 2015, when we first opened the doors of Royal Brothers, the shared economy space was still in its nascent stage. More than anything else, in the ruling age of the millennial and climate change, renting is the next biggest economy; there’s no commitment issues, EMI payments and maintenance charges. Bike rentals can be availed on an as-and-when basis. And it also gives us the responsibility, as a business, to not only focus on the business aspect of things, but to also make sure we have our social responsibility set in place.

So if you’re still in the infant stage of deciding what business you want to set up, have all these points in place, and plan your business accordingly. Understand that you need to look at immediate issues that need to be resolved, as well as envision the needs of future generations that could still keep your business profitable. In the current scenario, it’s all about sustainability and convenient access for customers.

BTW, Akash, the friend and co-traveller I spoke about earlier, is now CTO of Royal Brothers. So far in this journey, it's been a great experience working alongside him and building this company together!