OlaCabs is commonly known as Ola, is not any other online marketplace. Instead, this forum is used explicitly for providing taxi services. Initially this company’s headquarter was in Mumbai, but now Ola resides in Bangalore “(the Silicon Valley of India).
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Bhavish Aggarwal and OlaCabs
The 29-year-old, Bhavish Aggarwal is an IIT graduate who is the brain behind this online taxi aggregator. Mr Agarwal was born on 28th August 1985, (in Ludhiana, Punjab). This specific individual has always been keen on becoming a self-made person. He got enrolled in the prestigious IIT (Mumbai) to study Computer Science.
Later, this hardworking individual got a chance in Microsoft one of the leading companies across the globe. During his time at Microsoft Mr Agarwal managed to publish three documents in the International journals. Other than that, he also developed two patents as a researcher. Later, he resigned from Microsoft to create something of his own. Hence, came the invention of Ola.
The idea behind OlaCabs
After quitting from Microsoft, the Ola CEO decided to build something of his own. Therefore, Mr Agarwal came up with an online organisation which arranged short tours and holidays. In the meantime, one specific day he rent a car to for travelling to Bandipur, which changed the scenario of his previous endeavour.
During the journey, the driver of the in which Mr Agarwal was travelling, stopped the trip in the middle of the trip to re-negotiate the rate. Bhavish did not agree with the driver; hence the driver abandoned him half-way of the journey.
Anyone at his place would have thought that specific incident as a fiasco, but Mr Agarwal didn’t. The entrepreneur in him didn’t lose his nerves and decided to solve such nuances and not just for him but at large.
The journey
After the above-stated incident, Bhavish Agarwal gradually started his company, OlaCabs. As he had the first-hand experience of such nuisance, he decided to research about this matter, and he came to realise that it was a deep-seated problem that many individual faces regularly.
After his research, he understood the potential of his forthcoming venture and formed this company with Ankit Bhati. Bhavish also changed the name of his previous start-up and named it Ola. The word Ola is Spanish, which means hello.
Initially, Bhavish Aggarwal ola didn’t receive support from his family, and as they thought his venture could be risky. Nevertheless, Bhavish and Ankit met their first Angel investors, Kunal Bahl, Rehan yar Khan and Anupam Mittal (the founders of Snapdeal).
After getting the required assistance from his angel investors, Bhavish started progressing his company. He always believed that one of the safest business models one can adopt was to have ‘zero’ inventory. Hence, Mr Agarwal didn’t but any cars, instead he rented cars.
According to the Bhavish Agarwal story, it can be said that to execute this venture successfully, he partnered with drivers who drive in long-range and added few features. Such features enable a customer to avail the taxi services in short notice. And it is as simple as booking from the designated mobile app.
The business point of view of Bhavish Agarwal
Mr Agarwal and his partner didn’t leave any stone unturned to successfully expand their venture. Other than that they also came up with different plans to maintain the alliance of the taxi drivers attached with Ola.
During the first few months of the company, the Ola CEO decided to provide their subordinates with a payment of 5000rs/day tips with no salary. This payment was only made if the drivers were able to meet their daily target.
Later, the fee was reduced to half, 2500rs/day tips. It reduced to 750rs/day + salary. The latest payment was only made if the drivers managed to complete a minimum of 10 trips per day, as their daily target.
Other than the unique strategies that Bhavish Agarwal ola came up for the drivers, attached with his company, his technique for being a mass appealing company should also be considered. The concept of the cab was not new to India, but the strategies of Mr Agarwal made it one of the top taxi aggregators in the nation.
Mr Agarwal made M-Commerce (Mobile) as the backbone of his venture. He made booking the cabs very easy as he created a designated app for every customer so they can avail the services with ease.
Present situation of OlaCabs
The OLA success story beautifully reflects the current situation of the company. By 2014 Ola managed to link with 200000 vehicles across ten cities. Further, the company started experiencing approximately 150000 bookings/day. Today this company holds a share of 60% in the same industry.
Achievements of Bhavish Agarwal
The OLA success story becomes more prominent, considering the accomplishments of Mr Agarwal. This specific individual has received the following awards –
| 1. | “Best start-up of the year” (IAMAI) |
| 2. | “30 under 30” (Hindustan Times, Forbes) |
| 3. | “mBillionth award South Asia 2013.” |
| 4. | “HATT awards.” |
Bhavish Agarwal as an entrepreneur not only achieved his dream, but he has also managed to make travelling a lot swifter and safer for every individual in the nation.
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