There Is Never A Right Or A Wrong Time For You To Work–Aakanksha Bhargava, Ceo & President, PM Relocations

The moving and packing industry had dominance towards men but that didn’t deter 30-year-old second generation entrepreneur and CEO and President, PM Relocations Aakanksha Bhargava. In an email chat with Karma Negi of The Red Mark, Aakanksha talks about what it means to be a female in a predominantly men’s bastion and how not to let any doubt overcome your belief.

Tell us in brief about your professional journey.

The relocation industry has always fascinated me, and the journey has been full of experiences since 2007 when I joined. The journey was tough in the beginning since in India it is considered not a place where women usually work. The moving and packing industry had dominance towards men in the earlier times but now things have changed. The job to deal with suppliers, labour, packers and, in fact, for that matter premium clients as well is nothing difficult for me now. I have spent close to 10 years in the relocation industry now and each day is a new challenge to me. Having started with 40 team members to 500+ members now, it has been an extremely inspiring journey, so far!

How difficult is it for professional women to break the glass ceiling?

I believe once you know what you want to do in life, everything eventually comes on track; the thing is to decide, first. Don’t let any doubt overcome your belief and you will be able to fight against all the odds. When you believe you can do it, nothing can stop you to. Optimism, intent, and will power along with strength are all you have to carry on!

How has your experience as a technology leader been?

I have not been a technology leader so far however I am well aware of the current role of technology in building up the business. Hence, we have now partnered with a technology company who would be helping us digitise our internal processes and accelerate our growth.

Currently, we are looking to build and grow both our B2B as well as B2C segment. We are also looking to develop an application for our clients and customers so that they are less hassled about their entire moving and settling-in experience.

How did you get where you are today, and who/what helped you along the way?

It takes a lot of hard work and determination to achieve what you aim for. There have been a number of people who have guided and mentored me throughout my professional journey and have been a constant supporter. Expanding a traditional business was an uphill climb and equally challenging one for me but with the support I had from my family and friends, it helped me reach the place where I am at today. My father, Mr Rajeev Bhargava has never doubted my capabilities and has always been on my side. Sumit Bawa, my husband and a great friend has always encouraged and supported me in everything I pursue. Another person, I greatly admire and respect is Mr. Eric Lim, the head of Asian Tigers Mobility. He has groomed, mentored and guided me all along in my professional journey.

How much of hard work and luck do you think is responsible in your success?

I believe that hard work is your key to success and that’s what has made me what I am today. I do believe that luck matters, but one cannot really leave it on destiny. Let your work show your worth!

What advice do you give young women who want to succeed in the workplace?

Success has nothing to with your gender. Be it a man or a woman, if you have the intent, you can achieve everything you want to. Always be passionate about what you do and stay focused. I believe one must have a long-term goal in order to achieve what they want to and then there is nothing that can stop you from excelling in your field. One of the best things you can do as an entrepreneur is to make sure your team grows with you.

What holds professional women professionals/entrepreneurs back?

Well I think, some women sometimes don’t realize what they are capable of and are afraid of what will everyone think more than turning their dream into reality. The difficulty of juggling in work and personal lives still holds back most of the women in our country to work as the professionals. We all need to understand that we no longer live in a society that bounds a woman for the households; we need to take our big step. Things will take time initially but will definitely add up to your benefit.

Do you think this is the best time for women entrepreneurs? If yes, why

I am not sure if it’s the best time for women entrepreneurs or not because I believe there is never a right or a wrong time for you to work. It is about how efficiently one can make their time worthy. If we look back a few years, not only women but men very also restricted to work in some particular sectors. Things have changed now and both the genders are taking up unconventional jobs. For women, it will be breaking up the stereotypes and making a mark in the industry they want to take their career in.

Going forward, what are your plans for the company?

PM Relocations wants to be recognized as a one-stop service provider with all relocation needs looked after. The company is planning to work on a larger scale in the future and that is why is constantly improving the working standards, similar ones which will have details on making your move simpler and easier. We are looking forward to extend our business to few more cities. We are looking at strengthening our foothold in the Global relocation market too. We have done few of the high-end fine art moving as well as exhibition assistance for top galleries and hence want to expand our Art moving division catering to a larger market which is currently a smaller unit in comparison to other sections. An app for PMR is on the cards as well.

For Entrepreneurs, Overcoming Work Life Challenges Is Key To Success

International Women’s Day is here. Like every year, this year too, March 8 will witness a rousing debate on women making a killing at home front and work sphere. However, look around and you will find thousands of women who are already creating a niche for themselves quietly and steadily. For these women and their supporters, every day is a Women’s Day.

We salute such women and feature their achievements, opinions, career advice in our ‘Women’s Day 2017’showcase.

This edition has Aakanksha Bhargava, CEO, PM Relocations Pvt. Ltd sharing tips for budding entrepreneurs from her own experiences. Here’s her account– “In today’s digitally-dominated work culture the new emerging generation of entrepreneurs and employees are struggling to overcome work life challenges and strike the perfect work/life balance.

Our constant 24×7 work culture simply mean that work for us never really stops. For many of us, work is what purely defines us and that means that we are constantly on a look out for meeting potential business contacts on holidays, strike new partnerships where we go out to eat and end up with our college mates and friends as our business partners.

Gone are the days where work could be defined by a 9 to 5 time schedule. As new businesses aggressively expand to overseas boundaries and people inhabit their work lifestyle and timings; achieving a sweet spot between career satisfaction, mental sanity, family time, pursuing new hobbies and social fulfilment seems like a distant dream. Overcoming the challenge of ‘Balancing Work’ is one of the biggest issues we face today, and it is something which not only affects an individual but also extends to family members and friends.

Initially when I started my journey, I found my passion in the idea of ‘Being able to transform the lives of other by offering stress-free end to end moving solutions’. There was a lot in the relocation industry which hadn’t been tapped by anyone earlier. The industry was still in its nascent stage and needed an in-depth introduction to anyone we met hence I felt the need to tell people that moving can be made simpler with the right solutions.

The moving industry in India is unconventional, unexplored and unknown hence the biggest challenge was to source people. Not many wanted to explore the option of working in this industry due to lack of awareness. Another challenge was altering the attitude of people towards their ‘JOB’. Majority of the times people just clock in and out of the office, and maybe if they are lucky they will learn a thing or two along the way. They ideally are not willing to overcome challenges and achieve higher in life.

Over this period, I had to lead by example at all levels right from selling to building the brand, to keep upgrading the processes and systems with increasing work and manpower, setting up a professional culture with changing their attitude and most importantly all of this had to be done in budget since we have not been funded by anyone. The business demands a lot of working capital whereas we work on credit; hence balancing the same was a challenge. It was difficult to work in the industry but as long as you have the courage and are ready to take up the challenges, you can get it all done!

Being at a crucial top-management level, I strongly believe in supporting our employees in overall career growth and development. Not only do we focus on targeted work performances but we also encourage them to effectively follow a disciplined work-life balance. Since work in our industry demands constant hard work and attention hence as a company we offer telecommuting and flexi-timing arrangements to our employees giving them the much-needed time effectively balance their work and personal life. With continued hard-work we have been successful to an extent that people have started looking beyond the idea of calling local truckers and labourers to shift their homes.

Today, people reach out to professionals to move their belongings. I think what worked for us as a team was “Having the right Intent!!”. I feel, “It is just about the strength of one’s mind and having faith in the intent of your heart that makes one achieve higher in life. But I can bet one thing for sure that when one eventually does decides on something their courage will kick-ass the fear they held all this while!! One just needs to take the plunge and then see the miracles of life.”