HOME IN THE CITY – This entrepreneur used his personal experience to start an enterprise that offers a conducive stay and study environment for students.
Business opportunities can come up anywhere and at any time. All the smart entrepreneur needs to do, is turn that opportunity into a long-term business enterprise. After having lived in Dubai for more than a decade, Dinesh Rao the founder of HOME IN THE CITY observed that the expats who landed there to work always used shared accommodation. The number of people looking for decent shared accommodation was so incredible, that the idea soon took root in his mind to make providing accommodation a business.
Just before the lockdown the Dehradun property came into his possession and he realized that perhaps this could be turned into a business venture. Having travelled to different universities and colleges across India Mr. Rao realized that there was a huge demand – supply gap in the student accommodation.
Soon HOME IN THE CITY in Dehradun was created - a smart space created around the needs of both the boy and the girl student! Properties at Lavasa in Maharashtra and Oragadam in Chennai are also up and running.
Dinesh describes it as, “Home in the City’ is a provider of technology-enabled, responsibly priced premium co-living services in select markets to address the needs of Gen-Z and millennials”.
HOSTEL HIGHLIGHTS -
- Comfortably sized, airy and brightly lit rooms
- Clean, soft bedding and fresh linen
- Adequate storage space for personal belongings
- Reading lamp for exclusive personal use
- Excellent and regular housekeeping services
- Convenient laundry services
- Choice of curated and healthy meals prepared by a trained chef in hygienic SS kitchen
- 24 x 7 High Speed Wi-Fi
- Functional CCTV camera network at all external and common access, entry-exit points
- Round the clock 24 vigilant security personnel
- Highly controlled and strict security procedures
- Very high hygiene standards and full suite of COVID-19 protocols followed
- Hospitality Counter and an All-day Cafe
- Community spaces- lounge with large LED screen, dining spaces and an open lawn
HOME IN THE CITY – Expanding the footprint and bringing staying and studying convenience to new cities
With an increasing need for quality universities, and also with the emergence of new universities across India, the demand for staying options has multiplied manifold. The migrant student population means that there are fresh opportunities for HOME IN THE CITY to expand its footprint. There are ambitious plans on the anvil and the founder is looking to add another 10K beds to its inventory and create a presence across 6 to 7 key cities in over the next 3 years using multiple channel marketing tie ups and franchise modules. The company is in talks with property and business owners in regards to same and looking forward for expansion.
Says Dinesh Rao, “Since we know that a stay at a hostel is a very time and space sensitive issue, we intend to go for a well-planned and controlled expansion to maintain a consistent level of service quality. We want to build goodwill with the student community since we know that their recommendations will make a big difference to the growth of the business.”
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