“The Fear of Survival and the Passion to win. It’s the difference in level of these two attributes. Those people, who work for someone else, the level of fear of survival is higher than the passion to win. However, in entrepreneurs, the passion to win is a lot higher than fear of survival”, says Vinny, the founder of India Outtabox Pvt Ltd.
His parents had converted their house into a Bed & Breakfast (B&B), but then, recently when he visited the US, he realised that his parents were providing a lot more than the usual B & B owners do. His parents shared the Indianess through the cuisines they served, the way of greetings and warmth and love in their mannerisms, and that’s what made their B&B unique. Everyone wanted to stay with them and so Vinny realised that the foreigners did not want just want to see Taj Mahal and Red Fort but soak in the culture, relish the food and live in an environment of love and benevolence and that’s how India Outtabox Pvt Ltd was born. The venture focusses on providing a convenient, comfortable and safe experience to international tourists from the USA, UK & Europe. Their core proposition includes in-depth cultural immersion, self driving experiences and a well thought out detailed itinerary while their USP is a end to end customised itinerary and a host family preference wherein the tourists can decide to stay with Indian families are immerse themselves in the Indian culture.
The Co founder is Mrs. Kanchan Williams, Vinny’s mother who has 30+ years of experience into hotel industry and has been awarded a lifetime achievement award by Taj Group of Hotels. Her son gets his attitude of winning and never giving up from her.
They are currently looking at establishing themselves with a strong foothold in the tourism market through a good traction of customers from the USA, UK and Europe in the next 5 years. Keeping investors satisfied while keeping the customer satisfaction high will help them achieve better profitability in the future. In the next 10 years , they hope to see themselves as the top result when someone searches “Tourism in India”.
Vinny who enjoys travelling, swimming and surfing is also a complete foodie. While loves his Indian Biryanis and Gulab Jamuns, he gorges on Cherry cheese cakes and Ham & Sausages as well.
The main problems faced by them was a chicken and egg problem : should they focus on tourists first or partnering with Indian families, but eventually with patience, hard work and a strong will they figured out their way and are now offering their services to international tourists and partnering with Indian families.
His advice to all entrepreneurs out there to stay focused on the journey and not the destination because joy is found in doing an activity, not finishing it up. We wish them well for their future goals and aspirations.
We delved into some questions and here they are.
1.What is the Name of Your Venture? Any specific reason for this name?
India Outtabox Pvt Ltd. Our unique concept is presenting India in totally a different way, the trip we are going to plan for our customers is going to be totally different than the tradition way. that’s the reason, and out of the box name for out of the box India Tourism
2.Who is your target Audience/clients?
International Tourists visiting India and everyone’s who is looking to rent a self-drive car abroad.
3.Where is your venture based (city, state, country) & What are your geographical target areas?
Venture is based out of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India and our target countries in the initial phase are USA, UK,& Europe.
4.What problems does your venture resolve? What are your products or services?
Our venture solves the basic requirement of any foreigner visiting India. We make it convenient, comfortable and safe for anyone who is visiting India for Leisure, Business, Studies or Medical reasons
5.Share the idea or story behind the venture. How did it came to an existence? What motivated you to start your own venture?
My own house has been converted into Bed & Breakfast (B&B) for almost a decade now, and so I planned to use a similar Bed & Breakfast on my first visit to The USA. After experiencing the B&B across the US, I realized what we, as in my parents, are doing is lot different than the regular B&Bs. My parents were sharing the Indian culture with everyone who stayed with us. And so, everyone who stayed with us, actually became our friend. So, that’s how, my idea got conceived and I decided to show the real India to every foreigner visiting India and that’s how India Outtabox took birth, India – in a totally out of the box way
6.Who are your biggest competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?
Well, I don’t think there is any company who are providing this in-depth cultural immersion for international tourists and if there is any, they are not providing any detailed customized itinerary. We are even ready to arrange a self-drive for any of our customers in their own country, to help them get to nearest international airport from their house. This will make it easy for them to reach the airport. So, we strongly believe that we are the only ones in the market.
7.How did you identify your co-founder? Tell us some thing about your co-founder/s
Identifying my Co-founder wasn’t different. She had 30+ years of experience into hotel industry. She knew in detail how hospitality industry works. She was awarded a Life-Time Achievement Award by Taj Group of Hotels and by Maharaja Gaj Singhji. She came from totally a different background and managed to get an expertise in a place which today is known as World’s Best Hotel – Umaid Bhawan Palace. And most importantly, She is the one who nurtured this winning attitude in me. She, luckily, happens to by my mother, Mrs. Kanchan Williams, so do you still think it would have been tough for me to identify a co-founder???
8.How did you hired your first team members? What skills Do you want in your employees/team?
I have spent 15+ years working in corporate industry, I have spent time and worked with lot of brilliant people in the industry. There are some I learnt from and there are few I mentored, so I had a vast pool of talent with me and all of them helped me in some way or the other. Niharika is the one who I worked with in past and she has worked in hospitality earlier. When I shared the idea with her, she was game for it and that’s how she became a part of it. And then, there came a time when I had to take few decisions, I wasn’t sure as lot of finances were involved, and even Tamar did not knew where would the finances come from, but she asked me to pray about it and just go with the flow. Someone showing me this level of confidence had to be part of the team and that’s when I asked her. I am still struggling to convince her, maybe not officially but she in some way is part of the team and does everything that is needed. We are still looking for similar like minded people, who has the same attitude and passion as we have. This startup certainly hs lot of challenges and we would welcome everyone who has the guts to take them up. Interested people can send their resumes to [email protected] We have requirement in our Marketing, Creative and Call Center Departments.
SKILLS: Passionate about achieving success, pure professional and with creative ideas, problem solving attitude, and aggressive towards the goal
9.What expansion plans are you looking for the next 2 years, next 5 years?
in 2 Years we want to have a good customer base and traction, enough to impress our investors And in 5 years, our local offices in countries like The US, The UK, Europe and Australia.
10.Where do you want to see yourself in next 10 years?
On the top of the first page on Google, when someone searches “Tourism in India”. In fact, we want our name to be every corner of the world, in simple words, we want to become “Uber” or “Whatsapp” of the Tourism Industry.
11.What are your goals over the next 1, 3, 6 and 12 months?
For next 3 months, we are targeting visibility on all Social Media Platforms, in next 6 months, we want to market ourselves so much so that we can be sold out for the following 6 months… October to Feb is the Tourists Season in India and we want to make the best use of this time period.
12.Have you raised any funding? Or have any plans for the funding?
So far, we have not. But we are soon hoping to get funded
13.What were the problems you faced during the starting days and how did you resolve them?
Basically, this concept is so vast, we did not know where to start. Should we get the Indian families partner with us first or should we get the tourists first. Should we hire the travel planners first or should we market ourselves first. Even lot of investors and mentors said, this idea is not scalable. But then with time and patience we figured out everything. Today, we are marketing our services and partnering with our families at the same time.
14.What was the most challenging part of your journey till now? How did you overcome those challenges?
Our biggest challenges were to get these families in partnership with us. But with little gameplan we could work things out. Our biggest learning so far has been, that just stick to the idea, continue to work things out and you’ll find a way out, rather than just giving up and quitting. Just stick around.
15.Are you married, single or in a relationship?
Married, and got a lovely 4-year old daughter.
16.What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
there are lot of stuff that I want to do. I am fond of travelling, swimming, surfing, and if there is a short non-working time, I prefer doing nothing. But then Being an Startup Entrepreneur means you work all the time and there is no scope of non-work time.
17.Whats your favorite food & holiday destination?
Everything that tastes good is my favorite, I prefer non-veg and continental food but then there are no restrictions, I love Biriyani as much as I love Ham & Sausages, and same with sweets, I love Gulab Jamun as much as I love Cherry Cheese Cake, made by my American mom, Paula.
18.Whom do you consider your idol or biggest motivator?
I wont be fair if I name anyone in particular here, I have learnt so much from so many people, Industrialists like Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani and Ratanji Tata have been an inspiration for me, but at the same time, I have learnt a lot from my leaders like Vikrant Kalra in GE Capital, Munnish Bannbah and Amit Passi in HSBC, Reggie Agarwal and Sudhir in Cvent India, or Neeraj Chawla in TeleImpact, these all and many who I couldn’t name here and have played a key role in inspiring me. At the same time, there is a big list of people who have motivated me as well, let that be Khushmeet or Pavan in HSBC, or Kavita or Supreet in Cvent, or Alex or Akshat in Teleimpact, they have all been motivating me, inspiring me and teaching me various skills/attitude which helped me in being what I am. And which I cannot do without, the struggle that my parents I had gone through and the struggle that my brother has done, I have been a part of it, so that is something inspires me the most
19.What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
The Fear of Survival and the Passion to win. It’s the difference in level of these two attributes. Those people, who work for someone else, the level of fear of survival is higher than the passion to win. However, in entrepreneurs, the passion to win is a lot higher than fear of survival. They are confident that survival is not a problem for them, they want to win and that’s all they desire for. So, if your fear of survival is more important than passion to win, chances are you will be working for someone else all your life, but if your Passion to win is extreme than you will end up being a successful Entrepreneur.
20.If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
In my younger days, I had lot of creative ideas which I can see now happening & implemented by others. If I had the chance to start your career over again, I’ll take up entrepreneurship in the beginning.
21.How has being an entrepreneur affected your family & Social life?
So far, Entrepreneurship affected me personally and socially in a very negative way, The family or society that I come from do not understand Startup or Entrepreneurship. All they understand is if a boy/man is not earning, he is useless and Entrepreneurship is doing nothing till you are earning. So, technically, I am not doing anything and I am useless. But I know the world is like this, doesn’t matter how creative you are or how intelligent you are, if they don’t see you earning, you are useless. But this was my motivation. I wanted to prove everyone wrong and this had worked as my strength. And I am sure, now, the time is not far, when everyone would understand that when someone is not earning anything, he is building his/her own empire.
22.Anything, you would like to say to our readers or upcoming entrepreneurs?
I heard it in a movie – Pursuit of Happyness – You got a dream, you have to protect it. Don’t let someone decide on your dream. You got a dream, Go, get it. Period.
23.Tell us something about your education & family background.
I am an undergraduate and learnt mostly from my experience of 15+ years. My Dad, Mr. Kishore Williams, is a retired banker and today he is one of most admired Hotelier of the city. My Mom, Mrs. Kanchan Kishore, has spent over 35 years in hotel industry and is still working. She has been awarded with Life Time Achievement Award by Taj Group of Hotels & Royal family of Jodhpur. I have seen them struggling their way up in life. I have seen them growing and be successful. My Elder brother works for Amazon.com as their Quality Head in one of the verticals. I have seen him as well growing up the ladder. Patience is his key skill and he has used it to the most to be successful. His supporting wife and two lovely kids have made our family a happening and a cheerful family. My wife. Bushra, works with British Telecommunications in Kolkata and doubles up her role as a single mother to our beautiful little 4-year old daughter, Shylah Williams.
24.What is your USP which makes it unique & different from other start-ups in similar domains.
I do not see any other startup in our domain. We bring along two unique ideas in travel and tourism domain:-
- End-to-End Customization, where we personalize the complete itinerary for the including the food, local commute, and their places to visit, as per the choices and interests of the customer. And we will be providing these services to all segments like for leisure travel, or for those who are travelling to India for their Medical treatment or further studies.
- Host Family Preference, where customer has an option to stay with Indian Families, and live and experience the Indian culture more closely. This will not only make their India trip memorable but will also get them good Indian friends. and that’s why we use this punch line: Friend-ism is the new Tourism!!!
25. What do you think is the biggest threat to the success of small businesses & Start-ups today?
Without proper study and divided focus is the only threat to Small business & Startups. You need to understand and do your homework well. I have come across lot of people saying they have a startup but when you try to understand their startup, you realize that they just have a regular business. So, you need to really study well on whatever you are doing. And then, you have to stay focused, whenever someone does something different, people have a tendency to criticize or de-motivate them, this is very human. But you need to stay focused and stay strong. Should not get de-motivated and continue to put in your efforts.
26. Do you consider yourself successful and by what means do you measure success?
I do not yet consider myself successful. This is just the beginning, there is lot to do. The day I feel that I have done everything, now there is no scope of improvement is when I will consider myself successful. I measure success as self-satisfaction, content with what you are doing. Example, Sir Ratan Tata, he kept working till he covered every aspect of life, he did everything. Today, he took retirement and he is investing into other startups. So, I guess he has reached the stage where he thinks, “I have done everything, now what should I do. Oh I have nothing more to do, so, let me help others reach this level.” And this is self-satisfaction. Sir Ratan Tata got it after building up such a big empire, maybe I get it only after I build this startup or may I don’t reach it ever.
27.Please share complete name, address, phone number, email id & website of Your Business & Contact Person.
India Outtabox Pvt. Ltd.
D-1A, Sir Pratap Colony, Near Paanch Batti, Jodhpur, Rajasthan-342011
[email protected]
www.indiaouttabox.com
Contact Person: Vinny K Williams(Founder & CEO)
Logo and CEO Pic – Attached
Link for our Explanatory Video: https://youtu.be/_6mym_5XLcM
