“Any business – be it JetSetGo or any other, doesn’t really require investment to start. If you have the drive and motivation, the business will build up. I started my company with an initial investment of some 5,000 Rs” Kanika Tekriwal, young dynamic business women, who by her sheer grit & determination carved a niche for her in the aviation industry. She holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and started working in the aviation industry at the small age of 17 with Indiabulls Aviation, which marked the beginning of her career. After that she joined Aerospace resources in UK & gained a deeper insight of the industry, then began her journey to JetSetGo.
Tell us something about your startup ‘JetSetGo’? Capitalizing on these tailwinds and systematically addressing structural inefficiencies, JetSetGo is an exciting new venture that aims to revolutionize the private aviation business in the region by redefining a customer’s charter experience through an end to end control of the value chain with collaborative partnerships and technology at its core. As the Uber of the skies and an aggregation platform, JetSetGo provides Indian charter customers for the first time the choice, transparency and flexibility to book a private jet online on both web and mobile platforms. Extending the experience from the ease of the customized online booking process, JetSetGo then provides superior unmatched level of service at every customer touch point through the journey process on ground at both departure and arrival airports and on board based on the purpose of the customer charter be it business or leisure. For single leg trips, through its online demand aggregation model it maximizes the chance for sale of empty travel legs to other customers thereby adding value to original leg customer by giving a credit against original charter cost and for the empty leg traveler a charter at a more attractive price point. To enable all of this and leveraging technology optimally, JetSetGo provides a cloud based enterprise management tool for aircraft operators which combines scheduling, advanced trip pricing and business intelligence capabilities with an in-built global market place for services and parts that will soon also have transactional capabilities. On the ground through long term strategic alliances and investments JetSetGo is ramping up its capabilities in several Indian airports to put in motion a new JetSetGo customer service standard that will forever re-define the customer experience by providing far superior level of service than that currently exists in the country.
How can someone start the same business as yours in terms of investment? Any business – be it JetSetGo or any other doesn’t really require investment to start. If you have the drive and motivation, the business will build up. I started my company with an initial investment of some 5,000 Rs odd – a whole lot of goodwill and the determination to bring it to life. Investment is not a criteria for me to build businesses.
Please share your future goals. On the business front: to make JetSetGo the one stop shop for luxury travel globally. Any one wanting to book a jet or an experience in any corner of the world should be able to do so with JetSetGo in a few clicks! On the personal front: to try and get in more hours running and perhaps increase my patience for I think Rome can be built in a day!
What all challenges did you face and what were your strategies to overcome them? We haven’t faced any significant challenges so far over and above our suppliers and customers have been most co-operative apart from the odd one out. We are solving real industry problems and doing the industry good due to which the journey so far has been nothing but encouraging.
What's your opinion about whether women can have it all? Why can’t women have it all?
What piece of advice would you like to give to the aspiring youth who wish to pursue their dream of becoming an entrepreneur?
According to you, what are the top three essential skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
How have you managed the work-life balance and has the family been supportive? My family has been nothing but supportive – dealing with my absence at family events, festivals, late nights etc. Without their support I wouldn’t have gotten half as far as I have. My business is my life, my biggest motivator and my strength. My business is my husband, wife, baby, mother, best friend and house. And why shouldn't it be? If my business is not my first love, then the chances of it succeeding are slim.
What can best empower the women of India– education, politics or business? I think all three go hand in hand and a combination of them have led to the empowerment of women in India in the past. The now and the future is all about women empowering themselves, we do not need external forces to help empower us.
