Rohan Agarwal, Managing Director, Geoprenuer Group
Fueled with determination and born with the entrepreneurial genes, Rohan Agarwal, M.D., Geopreneur Group founded the company at the young age of 24 with the aim to create his own empire in the real estate world. Walking in the footsteps as an apprentice of his father, Rohan Agarwal is a third generation leader and the Managing Director of the group. Since he completed his MBA in Finance and Marketing in 2012, he has set his sights in establishing the Geopreneur Group as India’s first boutique construction company and taking the brand to the pinnacle.
In the last three years since its inception, the company has seen growth and achievements and by the end of 2015, he plans to complete 2 whole diverse projects which have taken almost 2 years, one of which is also an award winning project “Mayur” which has already bagged the 6th Estate award for 'The Best Redevelopment Project Award'. Rohan also won the 'Young Achiever Award' and the 'Emerging Developer Of The Year - Residential' at the National Awards for Excellence in Real Estate & Infrastructure 2015. His domain knowledge and expertise of more than 15 years in the industry led him to envision Geopreneur, which intends to become not only the premier real estate developer in Mumbai, but also in the entire country. In conversation with Dominic Rebello, he explains how he plans to position the Geopreneur Group as the country’s first niche boutique construction company.
What drives you?
I like to experiment and learn, the concept of failure doesn’t exist for me as I feel everything is a learning experience and I believe in of "Why can't I do it?" rather than "Whether can I do it or not". The challenge of achieving something drives me. " I don't thing Real Estate Development as a business, I think Real Estate as a business" Our aim is to be a group that caters to all aspects of the real estate business, right from building homes for consumers to eventually working on the city’s infrastructure projects.
How big is the potential for a business like yours?
For a city like Mumbai, which experiences migration on an every hour basis, the density of population is extremely high and the pressure on land is ever increasing. Though the city has almost hit its limits when it comes to development in length (South Mumbai to North Mumbai) it is now expanding in breath (Central Line, Thane, Navi Mumbai etc). This has lead to the high rise wave. However, with limited availability of land, redevelopment is the need of the hour to make vertical expansion a possibility by accommodating more homes in the same amount of space. It also gives the city a facelift by accommodating high rises on the city’s skyline. Also real estate is one of the safest investments and is one of the most preferred choice for investors too. Thus the scope is vast.
How do you plan to scale up; raise funds through seed or venture capital?
The only strategy I believe in growing is,”A satisfied customer”. When it comes to raising funds, our industry doesn’t have that tradition yet. We are also planning an IPO in the coming years to further raise funds and grow the business. Currently we actively work on creating debt from financial institutions to scale up our business.
Who would primarily be your consumer?
Anyone who can buy real estate or is looking for services related to real estate are our potential customers. Our projects are targeting the mid segment and are designed to cater to their needs. On the other hand our contracting and architectural wing who could be a builder or a developer can too avail our services.
Where do you see yourself 5 years down the road?
My goal is to cater to each aspect of the Real Estate industry through our various divisions that are already in operation as well as the ones planned in future while giving better customer service. The word ‘Geopreneur’ mans a global entrepreneur and as the same suggests that is a conscious vision too.