From Rs 3 Cr To 100 Cr! Here's How This Female Entrepreneur Turned Tables In A Male-Dominated Industry

Aakanksha Bhargava, a second-generation entrepreneur, has always been passionate about people, connecting with them and helping them harness their own goals and visions in life. For her, it has always been an 'Intent' driven approach that has helped her to be where she is today.

Currently, Bhargava spearheads PM Relocations Pvt Ltd (PMR), a global relocation business based out of India for nearly a decade and a half. She led the Gurugram-based packers and movers company that her father started in 1986.

Belonging from a business class family, she always had the sense of setting her own empire and proving herself to society. She travelled across many cities and countries to provide PMR with great heights. With her clear vision, she brought immense efficiency, transparency and productivity to the company.

From a turnover of Rs 3 crores in 2007, Bhargava's far-sightedness and determination have been attributed to the company managing to close the revenue at over 100 crores this year.

She joined the business when the corporate world was still apprehensive about seeing women in leadership positions handling businesses independently and vigorously, especially considering it is a male-dominated industry. At that time, not many people believed that the relocation business could advance into an organised setup in the country.

However, Bhargava believes the trend has changed over the years. "When I first joined the business, the common notion was that it was a man's job to deal with suppliers, labourers, packers, deal with premium clients as well. Initially, it was overwhelming and challenging to establish that moving families is as much a woman's job as a man's job. Yes, our industry is heavily dependent on labourers; however, only a woman can understand the level of emotional and mental stress, requirement customisation and concerns a family has while moving," Aakanksha Bhargava, CEO of PM Relocations said while speaking to The Logical Indian.

"When it comes to moving home, women are the primary decision-makers most of the time as they are very attached to their household belongings," she added.

"We at PMR are a focused team of relocation professionals collectively humanising and simplifying relocation services for our customers not only in India but on a global scale too," Bhargava said.

Progression Under Her Leadership

Through a high level of commitment and patience over the years, she has worked her way into succeeding and building a brand that is synonymous with 'Quality' and 'Value' in the movers and packers industry. The company has grown 30 times in the last 15 years with many new avenues added, and with almost no budget for any marketing or advertisements, it still made its name heard.

"Our business is not based on need creation but need-based, hence having a solid recall value, follow-ups, and service levels is essential," Bhargava said.

The pandemic extended its service line-up and introduced diverse brand portfolios like PMRGO, PMR Logistics, Relo+, Baggage+, Store+, Artistics and Petgo. Its tailor-made solutions cater to top fortune 500 companies, robust industries, art galleries, embassies, and individuals.

"Our brand diversification amidst the pandemic helped us soar through the challenging times. Our significant pivotal moment was when we stepped into door-to-door delivery with our commercial moving services and business continuity services," she said.

"Earlier shifting a home used to be perceived as an activity which involved calling few labourers with no prior training in packing along with a trucker. In almost all of these cases, the customer would get stressed in losing their stuff or ending up with broken furniture, crockery, or their favourite things," Bhargava pointed.

World-Class Packaging

PMR has grown to provide world-class packing and moving services and create and position ourselves as a complete relocation ecosystem where all services are available under one roof. From immigration to home search, city orientation, school search, utility services, orientation, and departure programs, PMR is spearheading the organised relocation business in India.

In 2020, the company's revenue was Rs 67.68 crores, and now the current turnover is 100 crores.

"We have come this far without any external funding. Due to the unorganised nature of the business, it is tough to evaluate the total size of the market share. However, if one looks at the organised relocation segment, close to 5% is currently being catered to," she said.

Global Services

In 2020, the company had nearly 450 members, but currently, it has close to 600 members. It has transported close to 1,00,000 laptops and desktops across India and has relocated more than 5,000 families globally, 8000 families overseas over the last year. Apart from this, it facilitated the movement of close to 10,000 oxygen concentrators and cylinders across the country. It is the only Indian relocation company to be awarded for superior Quality of Services at global industry and non-industry platforms.

The company is also looking to explore full-fledged pet moving, settling-in services, storage services, baggage services, hotel and ticketing segments. Currently, PM Relocations estimates to double its sales in the next year.

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