How would you like to see your own city with  a new perspective or give your guests a novel experience? Arun Pai is the best person to do it, because he has made it his business! Read on.......

Let us start with the inspiration for BangaloreWALKS

I started BangaloreWALKS as a response to the gap I perceived in the market. Nobody was presenting Bangalore in a proper fashion - no maps, no books despite the fact that Bangalore is the intellectual capital of India today and it is Asia's fastest growing city. I truly believe there is more to Bangalore than malls and a few pubs. There was always more talk about the negative side of Bangalore like the traffic etc and I often found myself defending the city.

As a person born and brought up here, I love this city and did not take these criticisms kindly. It irritated me. But I came to the conclusion that I could educate rather than defend. I earnestly started researching the city myself. I discovered a wealth of information - the Bangalore Story.

How did you come up with this unique idea?

How to tell the Bangalore story was the question. My first instinct was the usual bus tours with a speaker phone, but it did not appeal to me and was also not logical. It needed a huge initial investment; neither was it unique. I had seen a lot of walks in Europe and London. During the course of my research I found that Bangalore is a completely different place at 6 AM. This slowly evolved into BangaloreWALKS. My first official walk was in the first week of May 2005- though for the first two months it was only on weekends and mainly for friends while I got a feel for the task and got the necessary feedback from a target group. I officially started in the first week of August 2005.

Tell us about your growth

I enjoyed these walks immensely and I could improve it every week. I get a very diverse audience and have to balance the script to work in any situation. I am also ably helped by Roopa who takes care of the Children's Walks and Mr Vijay Thiruvady.  Vijay is in charge of the LalBagh Walk, and is a critical part of the organization and due to whose presence, lots of good things have happened to the business. Both Vijay and Roopa are deeply involved in BangaloreWALKS.

Marketing is mainly by word of mouth and my bangalorewalks.com website. It was definitely an unmet need and people who experience it, learn a lot. It is a different experience for different people. Even people who have lived all their lives in Bangalore have thanked me for showing them a new side of Bangalore that they never realized existed.

I have customers from all walks of life expats, parents, teachers, corporate employees and their guests, the hospitality industry and even Bangaloreans. I also strongly feel that different pricing for locals and foreigners is discriminatory and we have a fixed price.

Parents and teachers literally pushed me into a whole new segment - students and children. They get to learn a lot about the place they live in. The interesting thing is that since Bangalore's history is not important enough to enter the History books, we grow up without knowing it.

So I am continuously growing along with my company, in terms of learning new things everyday and adding different facets to the Walk.

In what way do you differ from other tour guides?

My basic premise is that BangaloreWALKS is not a sight seeing trip. Actually I tell everyone that we will try to avoid all the usual sight seeing places and try to see a slice of real people and their way of life. It is all about hearing a story supported by what you see on the journey. I believe that the journey is more important than the destination.

Most people don't want a tourist experience as it does not appeal to people's intelligence. I try to take an everyday experience and make it better. Especially with foreigners, I start off by saying that India lives in several centuries at the same time. The coconut seller outside a five star hotel, a dhobi ghat next to the palace, or cows on the road along with Honda citys. Here it is a way of life.

Senior IT people get a lot of visitors. They often worry that Bangalore will disappoint them. So they keep them insulated and create antiseptic experiences. Understanding our culture becomes impossible for the visitor. In normal tours there was no experience created for the visitor. But our trips are appreciated and remembered for it's down to earth approach. It is relaxing and peppered with anecdotes and stories.

We have a whole repertoire of walks to suit different needs and I improvise constantly as per the need. There are theme based walks where we pick up a theme and build an experience around it; like the Beer walk, The Coffee Experience, Valentine's Day special, Womens Only Walk,etc.  Recently I did an adventurous walk for youngsters, where we explored Nandi hills. We climbed up from the back way while I explained its history with Tipu and it was basically a different look at a well known place. People want to do things in a different way.

I also keep adding new products for existing customers. I recently introduced music in our walks - it is literally a mobile sound and light walk. A band of musicians accompanies us and the light is provided by the city. I chose a full moon night for the Valentine day walk for added romance. These little things make a lot of difference and add to the charm.

Did you really believe that you could make it into a business?

I was helping startups for almost 5 years in my career and one thing I learnt out of it is that - People who succeeded are those who would have succeeded anyway, come what may.

I was keen on tourism which led me to a love and fascination for history. I grew up in Bangalore and personal experiences always help.

I strongly believe in- Don't do anything if you can't do it better than anyone in the world.

One of the few things I learnt in my MBA at IIM-B is the difference between Marketing and Sales, that is -  If you build a good Product then you don't need to sell it!

I used all these as guidelines and tried to build something so unique that people will come. We don't give beforehand any details about the walk- they are invited to come, feel it and experience it for themselves. They go back so impressed that they spread the word and also come back for more.

How do you compare your walks to those in Europe or London?

We used the London Walks   as our base and infact improved on it to suit our needs in many ways. The walks in Europe are the cheapest and offer no frills; a very sterile approach which I personally do not like.

I present a more holistic approach - there are basic introductions before we start off, I always include a meal or snack which adds to the bonding. I relate to my audience better and customize accordingly. I do not operate with a canned script- it doesn't work. But I have to be terribly well prepared at all times.

Any plans of Scaling up?

For me scaling up is secondary. I feel spontaneity is lost in the process. It is tough to scale up if it is not standardized. The risk is that of Quality vs. Quantity.

I look at scaling up in terms of exploring Bangalore more and having a high level of control so as not to compromise on the Quality. People have to pay but feel satisfied that they got value for their money.

Is it worth your while in terms of money?

This is very personal. If you are being funded by a VC; it is a different matter, you have to show results and scale up to meet their expectations. Here I set the standards- I have no business plan, no power point presentations or the other frills to impress anyone. I will maintain quality even if it means I have to turn away a few customers. I will make a virtue of it. The harder you are to get; the more your value. Though it is hard to turn away a customer, we will make profits otherwise it is of no use. But we are also careful to see that there are no overheads. What comes in is profit. I use good practices with a dollop of common sense.This is my full time activity nowadays.

Do you face Ego issues when asked about what you do, considering your background from IIT, IIM & having worked in large companies?

I like being weird and don't feel the need to explain it. There is a lot of pity - I like it! My kids don't know what exactly I do! I don't bother about all this.

As an entrepreneur you can't have ego, only tactical ego,perhaps  when you have to make a point.

Advice to entrepreneurs

Chase something new rather than chase a plan - you have better chances of getting there. If you are rigid you miss other opportunities. For example I started off as walks but people kept asking to see Mysore. I said OK lets do it. Now I have "In City Tours" which is a combo of Bus rides and walks, and "Out of City", Mysore and Srirangapatna trips. For me this is scaling up while not missing out on good opportunities. Be ready to try new things- the market will tell you what to do.

Another fascinating observation of mine is that bad business for you is good for the customer. I'll explain- Jan 1st 2006 was a Sunday, but I did not cancel the walk as a matter of principle. Even if one person turns up, we will walk. That day 3 people turned up and one of them was a Director in Unilever. An amazing person whom I learnt a lot from and also got a lot of contacts from.

I also do not believe in the conventional way of doing everything. For example, I take all calls myself instead of outsourcing to a call centre and I feel that the personal touch helps.

JUMP - Give yourself a chance. Don't hedge. There are risks. It has to hurt or you will never succeed. Cut off all other sources of income. Enjoy what you choose to do but it is not entertainment for you. It is serious business. Only then can you get up with focus every morning.

Go for the crazier and riskier thing. You are more likely to succeed. Have confidence in yourself. Nobody can advise you in uncharted territory. Just go ahead and take the plunge. The ultimate measure of success is time.

What are your views on Mentoring?

There is room for advice but to make it a standard process is dangerous. A bad mentor (with good intentions) can do more damage than no mentor at all. Even a course on entrepreneurship will only give you the guidelines. The rest is up to you.

Issue BG61 April06

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