“Travel compels us out of our comfort zones, inspiring us to see, taste, and explore the world. It perpetually challenges us not only to adapt to and seek out new realities but also to connect with new folks, to appreciate unique and fresh experiences and to share them with our favourite people.”- Anthony Bourdain 

Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown. However, when like-minded explorers share their life lessons & experiences, it ignites a kick to all travel freaks to follow the set trail carrying the experiences shared within the community. This is exactly what a travel startup firm called Bagpacker Me offers to all the hodophiles.

Kicked off in January 2020 by Kevin Harding, Bagpacker Me is a travel broadcasting company that plans customised travel trips and itineraries within India as per the client’s need. The brand’s website features travel podcasts, travel blogs, videos, photos, texts, and testimonies of all travel lovers who want to share their travel experiences with the community. This enables the travellers to make a new bond with each other, educate others about the places, food, roads, and all other details to make their journey memorable. 

The Key Distinctiveness Of The Brand

The uniqueness of Bagpacker Me lies in the customised travel experience they offer to the journeyer. They undertake the booking process manually so that whatever activity needs to be included/excluded, can be personalized according to the client’s choice. 

Be it Holi celebrations at Vrindavan, Ganga Aarti at Varanasi, the Watermelon fest, or capturing the delectable street food of Mumbai, each reel relates a real-time moment as experienced by the excursionist. 

The Inspiration To Get Going The Wanderlust Spirit

During the Covid pandemic, there was a lot of buzz about travel podcasts and Kevin started the community of travel podcasters which eventually grew to a chain of 6-8 people in a year. Since travel was restricted during the pandemic, Kevin started sharing his previous trip experiences and explorations about a myriad of places he had visited. According to him, it is not the destination alone that matters, but the journey and experiences derived in the trip that is a story worth sharing. This is how the whole idea conceptualized and Kevin quit his regular job to follow his heart & dreams.

He believes in “Balancing The Act” which signifies that existence not only persists being compatible on social and professional fronts but also seeking time to travel, explore and feed the latent passions within each one. For instance, a weekend getaway can inspire someone to pursue his /her hobby of photography or inspire a food lover to become a food critic or connoisseur. 

The Future Plans Of The Brand & The Growth Momentum

The company which initially started with day trips is now evolving and growing with new verticals. Presently, the brand has reached within the whole of Maharashtra and in near future, they aim to grow Pan India and internationally too. 

They have catered their services to around 2000 travel voyagers and their podcasts reach around 60k-65k travel enthusiasts who follow the brand to get insights about the diverse places and food, the surrealistic beauty of nature through their travel podcasting platform. 

They aim to enrich their content & continue sharing the rich experiences of traveling in India to inspire listeners to take the leap of faith and set out to explore the beautiful and exotic country of India.

Website link – https://bagpackerme.com/

Instagram link – https://www.instagram.com/bagpackerme/

To read more Startup Stories on The Business Press, visit – https://www.thebusinesspress.in/categories/startup-stories/

Pet stores and cafes have started gaining popularity in the recent years. Pet cafes are a delight for all pet lovers. Pet owners understand the importance of taking their pets out on play dates, spending quality time with them and catering to their grooming needs.

Let us bring you to one such artistic pet friendly cafe “Barker and Meowsky” which is offering all pet services under one roof.  Located in Khar West, Mumbai, they are a pet café as well as a pet grooming salon, as well as a Pet supplies store. Presenting you, the two founders of Barker and Meowsky, Pratik Sheth and Rinky Gupta.

Pratik, an event manager turned entrepreneur, is a pet lover. Besides that, he is a certified pet groomer which stands out to be a proof of authenticity behind the concept of his café.

Rinky Gupta is a fashion designer and looks after the operations of the company. ‘Rinky, is the backbone of our startup!’ Pratik exclaimed.

UNIQUENESS ALWAYS STANDS OUT

Launched on 8^th August 2020, Barker and Meowsky is a pet-service provider which offers everything right from pet grooming, pet supplies, pet play area, doggy day care, pet boarding service, etc. The store was launched on April 2021.

Barker and Meowsky is definitely a top choice for pet owners who want to up their pets overall lifestyle. The cafe also arranges a lot of birthday and pool parties for pets, helping them feel amazing on their birthdays.

In order to offer the  best services, Barker and Meowsky has tied up with Veterinarians who can benefit the pets with their knowledge and experience.

When asked how the idea to launch Barker and Meowsky arrived, Pratik mentioned “During the lockdown, everything was shut. It was difficult for people to survive, so what would have happened to animals? Hence, Rinky and me decided to take up this challenge and start something for pets and animals. And that’s how Barker and Meowsky was born’’.

Barker and Meowsky’s mission and vision:

Our sole mission is to offer pets and animals the care and love they deserve. Pets are the epitome of unconditional love and Barker and Meowsky is here to give it back to them. “All we believe in and aim is to provide the best service and best quality products for the pets.

Barker and Meowsky services are currently available in Mumbai and will soon expand it to more cities.“We have a lot of celebrity clients and they have served over 450+ pets till now, with most of them are repeat clients.”

Instagram link – https://www.instagram.com/barkerandmeowsky_/

To read more Startup Stories on The Business Press, visit – https://www.thebusinesspress.in/category/startup-stories/

“Do what you do the best, outsource the rest.”- Peter Drucker

The Outsourced Accounting Services Market In India

The Indian accounting services market is segmented based on the type of services, company, and region. Based on type of services, the market can be categorized into tax preparation services, bookkeeping services, payroll services, and others. 

In today’s challenging business environment, an increasing number of companies are outsourcing their accounting services requirements to expert vendors. India is known for its outsourcing capabilities and when it comes to bookkeeping services and accounting services the quality level is un-matchable. Outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping assist businesses in focusing more on the core business activity. The complexity of the task of accounting and bookkeeping takes up a lot of management’s time and effort. 

With outsourced accounting and bookkeeping service providers, businesses save up to 60% overhead costs along with the capital cost, which otherwise would be invested in the infrastructure of the accounting department. Apart from that, outsourcing accounting services helps the client to stay compliant with updated rules & regulations, reduce the paper load and take the right advantage of automation. 

One of the eminent names in the Outsourced Accounting services space is a Mumbai-based firm named Zephyr Solutions. Founded in 2018, Zephyr Solutions is a proprietorship firm run by Aslam Ismail Sharif.

Why Focus Only On The Big Sharks When There Are Plenty Fish In The Business Ocean

What makes Zephyr Solutions a unique accounting firm is that they focus on the small and mid-segment business houses by economically charging on transactions count and the compliance needed. 

The USP of the firm is offering affordable accounting services to start-ups and SMEs so that they could focus on their core competencies & outsource their management support functions. The company provides dedicated accountants and managers who proactively communicate and ensure quality, accuracy, and review mechanisms. 

The company offers a myriad of back-end services such as Accounting, Compliance, Bookkeeping, Registration & Incorporation, Payroll Management.

The Inspiration & Stimulus Behind launching Zephyr

Aslam, the founder of Zephyr has worked with esteemed brands like TCS & IBM. During his stint at TCS, he handled an extensive variety of clients which offered him several opportunities to discover multiple aspects which impact business operations. He realized that the entrepreneurs were investing in their accounting teams and there was no control or review mechanism. 

The Growth Momentum So Far

The company started as a bootstrap business with one accounts team and gradually with tie-ups with different people and targeting markets and customers, their business expanded. Their manpower strength almost doubled from 10 to 20 post lockdown phase with more demand for their services and this gave a big fillip to their revenues too. Since its launch, the firm has served more than 100 clients with eminent names like Reliance, Tata.

The Vision & Mission of the Company

The company envisions to augment its manpower asset to 100 plus in the next five years and with a growth rate of 200%. The company wants to explore and improvise the existing services that they already offer and reach out to all small & medium segment businesses. They also want to be more technologically driven in offering their accounting and business support services. 

Website- https://zephyrsolutions.in/

Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/zephyraccounting/

To read more Startup Stories on The Business Press, visit – https://www.thebusinesspress.in/categories/startup-stories/

Covid 19 pandemic has changed the way we perceive everything around us. The world has finally woken up to the importance of health and happiness and realized the correlation between the two. In the aftermath of the ruthless pandemic, we’ve learnt to prioritize our physical and mental wellbeing above everything else. 

This drastic shift in attitude is accompanied by a shift in lifestyle with people resorting to healthier habits for a better quality of life. Organic is the buzzword when it comes to choosing healthier food options. But when it comes to water, we’re hardly aware of what works best for our body. 

Launched towards the end of 2016 by the charismatic duo Gaurav Nainani and Pradeep Nainani, Alkalen aims to present the substantial health benefits of alkaline water to its health-conscious customers who are willing to opt for a healthier alternative. 

How this startup took shape

The idea didn’t appear in a flash of a second. It took a great deal of understanding and research to create something so unique and effective. Co-founder Pradeep was afflicted with major gastrointestinal issues. The China-based entrepreneur “cured it and reversed the issue by going on an alkaline diet”. It was in China where he first discovered the far-reaching consequences of acidity-related issues on human health. 

With more research, Pradeep and Gaurav found out that the problem is widespread across the globe and India is one of the major countries with a large number of such cases. Every third Indian seems to be suffering from what they refer to as the “acidity problem”. They decided to address this issue, not by making new medicines but simply by making certain lifestyle changes. That’s how alkaline water came into the picture.

Higher pH for a healthier you

Alkalen is India’s first high-pH alkaline drink brand with a pH level between 8.5-9.5. For the uninitiated, the pH level is an indication of how acidic or alkaline a liquid is on a scale of 1 to 14. Since the pH level for alkaline drink is much higher than that for regular drinking water, it’s believed to neutralize the acidity levels in your body.

The products are packed in 2 sizes (1ltr and 500ml) and are supplied across India via online and offline channels. The offline retail distribution ensures availability across major metro cities. Alkalen is gradually making its way to the supermarkets and restaurants of cities like Bombay, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Surat, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kolkata.

Its clients include industry giants such as the Future Group, Reliance Retail, and Wellness Forever along with a lot of 5 stars hotels and corporate clients.

How Alkalen plans to spread its wings 

The brand intends to spread its offline operations in most of the prominent metro cities of India. Due to its immaculate quality standards that promote an active lifestyle, Alkalen is in huge demand. 

As mentioned earlier, our priorities have changed after surviving a pandemic. We are more concerned about boosting our immunity and strengthening our metabolism. Co-awareness has made people more open to healthier lifestyle choices. This explains the sharp rise in demand for Alkalen products. 

website link – https://alkalen.com/

Instagram link – https://www.instagram.com/alkalen/

To read more Startup Stories on The Business Press, visit – https://www.thebusinesspress.in/category/startup-stories/