Imagine a road trip across India, from the Saputara hills & crossing Jaipur. Turning towards the Golden Temple, touching base with the Himalayan cold. Moving towards the seven sisters and roaming across the town to taste the dosas of the south! What if this was possible within your time & pocket?! Just you or with your friends or family at the place you prefer with your rooms on wheels. This is the Karavan of Caravan-Yantra Safar Pvt. Ltd. It was established to connect with your world on the wheels. But how did travelling get so simple? How & who thought that the travel cost would gulp down the hotel & amenities cost? Gujpreneur presents the story of how the concept came to action.
The Major Pivot
It all started with Anik’s dream to build Gujarat’s Largest go-karting track. With the big road forming and fancy people doing fancy stuff, Ahmedabad became a reason to fuel this idea. However, the Universe had different plans for Mr. Anik Rajendra Mardia. The go-karting plan didn’t race off as it was meant to, leaving him to think of something more vivid. Anik didn’t give up & kept browsing for more ways to bring something out of the box,something never done before in Gujarat.
Having that Travel ka keeda, he felt something missing in India’s travel scenario. With the boost of Gujarat Tourism-landscape, beautiful places, beaches & cafes- not meant to be explored via flights & trains. He believed that there would be people who would want to explore places via road trip.
We are all aware of the concept of Caravan. Did we ever think of Gujarat having itsn company breeding them? This is when Yantra Safar appeared a.k.a. Yantra Safar Pvt Limited.
No background, No relevance, No research, No NRI swadeshi feelings, just one big motive-
“To make travel a lifestyle- and not a luxury”
Not running, but driving the show, solo.
Anik had an idea, which was yet naïve to be executed. He built Yantra Safar from scratch. But what is Yantra Safar about? Was it just an experiment or had the potential to turn into something big?
A modified van, built with all executive amenities, is what it started with. Road trips have lately become a sourceescape. The demand increased when people saw whatexpertise it held.
• An exclusive luxurious lounge
• Luxury Caravans- rooms on the roads- for trips
• Rentals: For personal & business purposes
Anik built this business with a single motive. However, it turned out to be multi-purpose. Starting with minimal rates, he runs this business from Ahmedabad. With a growing Instagram community, @thecaravanco.life, is now amongst India’s top 4 caravan businesses.
The Driven Potholes
Starting a business in India is like convincing your family to choose commerce instead of science. Just like that, starting this business was not an easy task.
1. The first thing that popped up was, how to tell people what a caravan is? Back then, the information didn’t travel at the speed of 15 seconds! It was a task to make it reach its target audience. Hence, the first job besides building the business was to educate the market about this business. To create the market before getting into the market.
2. The second major hurdle was our RTO. The regulatory rules, along with tourism policies, infrastructure gaps, and the investment needed, everything needed to be studied. Preparing band-aids & back up just in case if this is needed is all part of the game.
3. The third major hiccup was being highway friendly. Being stable amidst the Indian traffic storm is a talent. Unlike Videsh, our Swadesh is yet to develop caravan-friendly roads & multiple parkings. The highways have a stopover at almost every corner, unlike other countries, which have exits to get off the highway. Hence your vehicle here will be on the road, prepared to get hit if things go as they do.
Pits and pots are also a major part of the roads here. Hence, if planned, your caravan routes need to bedesigned & well prepared too.
Despite these challenges, the fruit of his sabar was extremely sweet. Within a year, Yantra Safar built over 30-40 Caravans & lounges. Driven by a young entrepreneur single-handedly, this was a noteworthy achievement.
What does the future hold?
The pandemic was all about hygiene & open spaces. It also taught us how to start living before life acts up. But what does Anik & his entrepreneur journey with @Thecaravanco.life have to offer?
In the next 10 years, India is expected to have over 4000 Caravans on the roads, with over 400 caravan parksacross Gujarat. With the current market study, Gujarat is expected to sell over 300 Executive lounges in a year.
Being a leader, Yantra Safar’s short-term goals include the sale of over 200-300 caravans annually. It aims to expand its rentals to 10 states in 2 years. This also includes the plan of developing over 100-200 Caravan parks across Gujarat.
Anik plans to go overseas and expand his dream within UAE, Sri Lanka & Thailand within 5-7 years. MaybeLakshadweep too, if our Modi sarakar permits?
He also plans for IPO listing because this area of tourism deserves to be in the bigger leagues.
Concluding the Yatra!
Not to wait for the market & creating your niche is what Anik believes in. Thinking big will make one achieve big. Hurdles are omnipresent with whatever path you choose. Life does not bring opportunities to you. Not when you prefer to wait for them. Opportunities are created. To act & not to react ; To think & not to overthink. That is what our young Gujpreneur did with what he had on his hands, created the road, & A caravan for his road. To keep yourself updated with more budding businesses, follow the feed of Gujpreneur.
