Thriving on odd jobs

MY BIG IDEA/DIPALI SIKAND

Dipali Sikand realised from her own experience that busy working folk needed help with their domestic and other chores. That was how she had the idea of a concierge service that would run errands for a fee.

Les Concierges provides services ranging from buying movie tickets and looking after pets to care taking or paying utility bills.

Started with only a computer and Rs 5,000, today this company is planning to close the year with revenues of Rs 15.5 crore.

"People often ask me how the concept of Les Concierges came about. But I've always had a radical streak. It showed from my earliest days "" in La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata for example, I could have won the Guinness Book record for the maximum times scribbled: 'I will not do it again'.

I had a very indulgent father, a product of the merchant Navy. He encouraged me to spend my holidays after an ICSE exam in the wilds of Sikkim, climbing the Everest Base Camp under the guidance of none other than Tenzing Norgay. The experience taught me the value of setting your mind to something and going for it.

At St.Xavier's college, Mumbai I had my first taste of student politics. I soon joined the Indian Youth Congress (I) and found myself in Delhi, working with the International Conference against Apartheid. After this, I spent eight years in the HR field with the Essar Group in Bombay.

Of course, there were many downs. I had to accept life as a single parent. When my ten-day-old son and I returned from Mumbai to Bangalore in 1996, I realised my financials were down the drain.

So I was back to looking for a job. Those were probably the most trying days of my life. But I didn't give up.

I moved on to take on an assignment in Singapore. Here, I learnt that there was no better luxury than living in India where I didn't have to single-handedly take care of all the housework.

Armed with the realisation that help needed to be extended to working people, the concept of Les Concierges began to evolve.

How do you create a work-life balance for working people? How do you allow them to be able to complete their "to do" list while working hard at office? How does one book tickets for mom to go to Kashi, or for the first day first show of the latest Amitabh Bachchan starrer?

After all, insurance needs to be renewed, school fees to be paid, clothes need to be dropped off to the laundry, children's birthday parties need to be organised and there are only 24 hours in a day.

What better way than extending the bounds of the Concierge to more than just the privileged few residents of a 5-star hotel "" to the working man's bastion, that is, the office.

Among the challenges faced after evolving the concept were to get someone to buy in and agree that this made sense and to raise capital from the meagre Rs 5,000 savings and a PC which I was was all I had at that time.

That's when I met three people that I owe the beginnings of Les Concierges to: Mr Joseph, Mascot Systems, Mr N.S. Raghavan (Infosys) and Mr Prateek Kumar (Wipro).

Innovators in their own field, these companies provided my entrepreneurial bug the fuel to build a concept and to make what is now a presence in more than 200 locations spread across seven cities.

Successful paradigms in customer service delivery brought different lines of business like concierge at office sites, concierges for preferred customers in various loyalty programmes, reward and recognition programmes, managing outsourced business functions of various services in many companies "" Les Concierges today is a multifaceted, resilient organisation.

Beyond the concept is a burning desire to make lives easier. That and a team of 300 specialists working day in and out, serving over 300,000 customers.

Our eagerness to satisfy our customers needs meant increasing our services from 100 (in 1998) to over 1,000 today. If it's legal, we will do it.

Where do we go from here? The road ahead is fun, challenging and it's bound to be rewarding too.