Alok Mishra
Founder & CEO
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Alok, Founder & CEO at Bag2Bag walks us through his professional journey and the unique traits of the company.
Throw some light on your professional background and experience. How has been your journey so far with Bag2Bag and what drives you today?
My professional journey dates back more than 15 years when I began my career in wireless engineering in India and then moved to Europe for a while before relocating to the United States, where I spent more than 6 years before returning to my home country India. I have always had a passion to do better in hospitality and travel in my own country, which kept me going and prompted me to start my own company, Bag2Bag in 2019.
What motivates me is the reason that I always believed I wanted to start this business and enter a highly competitive industry to create that nextgeneration hospitality technology application. When the internet first emerged in the world, especially in India, there had not been much advancement in the way that people truly explored hospitality or travel. So, what drives me to keep going is the purpose of building that nextgeneration hospitality company. Moreover, the combined strength of my personnel, particularly those who believe in me and have a shared vision of taking this company to the next level, keeps me going.
Could you talk about the learnings and experience that you acquired from the National University of Singapore and how you apply them in your current role?
I was part of the Global MBA program, which at that time, was one of the top 5 in the world. The environment and camaraderie with other students or peers who were doing MBA with me at the National University of Singapore were more significant to me than the book based education. The time I spent talking to my peers about how the business market is in different parts of the world and what efforts are being made to take a business forward, as well as the time I spent talking to different professors listening to their journey and the key points what leaders around the world are doing right is something I value the most. Of course, there were courses everyone learns, but I learned more from these things.
I was part of the Global MBA program, which at that time, was one of the top 5 in the world. The environment and camaraderie with other students or peers who were doing MBA with me at the National University of Singapore were more significant to me than the book-based education. The time I spent talking to my peers about how the business market is in different parts of the world and what efforts are being made to take a business forward, as well as the time I spent talking to different professors listening to their journey and the key points what leaders around the world are doing right, is something I value the most. Of course, there were courses everyone learns, but I learned more from these things.
As the CEO, what roles and responsibilities do you majorly undertake at Bag2Bag?
We are still a modest company and I'm fortunate that I get time to interact with people for daily operations. However, as someone who is actually leading the pack, I have commitments to my investor and to my employees to take the company to next level, and I strive for that every day. In a periodical manner, I ensure to have talks with the business development team, operations team, product development, software development, and marketing, in understanding how they are progressing and contributing my ideas in making sure that we are aligned with the purpose and the vision of the company. At the same time, we are following the right path
I was part of the Global MBA program, which at that time, was one of the top 5 in the world. The environment and camaraderie with other students or peers who were doing MBA with me at the National University of Singapore were more significant to me than the book based education. The time I spent talking to my peers about how the business market is in different parts of the world and what efforts are being made to take a business forward, as well as the time I spent talking to different professors listening to their journey and the key points what leaders around the world are doing right is something I value the most. Of course, there were courses everyone learns, but I learned more from these things.
What drives me to keep going is the purpose of building that next-generation hospitality company
I was part of the Global MBA program, which at that time, was one of the top 5 in the world. The environment and camaraderie with other students or peers who were doing MBA with me at the National University of Singapore were more significant to me than the book-based education. The time I spent talking to my peers about how the business market is in different parts of the world and what efforts are being made to take a business forward, as well as the time I spent talking to different professors listening to their journey and the key points what leaders around the world are doing right, is something I value the most. Of course, there were courses everyone learns, but I learned more from these things.
As the CEO, what roles and responsibilities do you majorly undertake at Bag2Bag?
We are still a modest company and I'm fortunate that I get time to interact with people for daily operations. However, as someone who is actually leading the pack, I have commitments to my investor and to my employees to take the company to next level, and I strive for that every day. In a periodical manner, I ensure to have talks with the business development team, operations team, product development, software development, and marketing, in understanding how they are progressing and contributing my ideas in making sure that we are aligned with the purpose and the vision of the company. At the same time, we are following the right path
in gaining business conversions, because it's important to keep increasing in terms of revenue as well.
What is the unique proposition that your organization offers to its clients?
We believe that we are a company, which is working to make this community better with the help of technology. We started our business in online hotel booking with a pay-per-use business model. We are in all mobile applications, and web portals, providing online accommodation at very affordable rates. We believe that everyone in the community who is looking for temporary accommodation should be able to receive it on a budget that fits their needs.
If they are unable or don't have the leverage to get such online accommodation, they should have appropriate alternatives. With this in mind, we started working on alternative accommodations such as home stays and apartments. At this point, I believe we are the only online accommodation portal in India that offers online hotel booking on paper with complete flexibility. I'm very fortunate to state that we are also from the same portal providing homestays, apartments or any other type of accommodation across India at negotiated rates, allowing people to book not just for a day or two, but also on a weekly and monthly basis.
Further, we're moving on to a full hospitality offering application, where individuals will be able to explore their nearby hospitality options just by a touch of the application, as opposed to spending hours researching them on websites. The type of application we are developing will assist customers in obtaining accommodation with a theme park or a chef for hire or a three BHK with a chef for hire for a month at a negotiated rate. People used to spend 2-3 days sending emails or making phone calls to negotiate the rate, but now we provide them with pre-negotiated rates that no other portal, I believe, offers today.
Alok Mishra, Founder & CEO, Bag2Bag
Alok Mishra is a transformational Leader exploring the untapped possibilities in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry. Alok possesses over 15 years of industry experience, having worked in several organizations of repute in India, Europe, and the US.
Hobbies: play and watch cricket & Reading
Favorite Cuisine: Thai and Italian
Favorite Book: Start with why by Simon Sinek and Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.
Favorite Travel Destination: Beaches
What is the unique proposition that your organization offers to its clients?
We believe that we are a company, which is working to make this community better with the help of technology. We started our business in online hotel booking with a pay-per-use business model. We are in all mobile applications, and web portals, providing online accommodation at very affordable rates. We believe that everyone in the community who is looking for temporary accommodation should be able to receive it on a budget that fits their needs.
If they are unable or don't have the leverage to get such online accommodation, they should have appropriate alternatives. With this in mind, we started working on alternative accommodations such as home stays and apartments. At this point, I believe we are the only online accommodation portal in India that offers online hotel booking on paper with complete flexibility. I'm very fortunate to state that we are also from the same portal providing homestays, apartments or any other type of accommodation across India at negotiated rates, allowing people to book not just for a day or two, but also on a weekly and monthly basis.
Further, we're moving on to a full hospitality offering application, where individuals will be able to explore their nearby hospitality options just by a touch of the application, as opposed to spending hours researching them on websites. The type of application we are developing will assist customers in obtaining accommodation with a theme park or a chef for hire or a three BHK with a chef for hire for a month at a negotiated rate. People used to spend 2-3 days sending emails or making phone calls to negotiate the rate, but now we provide them with pre-negotiated rates that no other portal, I believe, offers today.
Alok Mishra, Founder & CEO, Bag2Bag
Alok Mishra is a transformational Leader exploring the untapped possibilities in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry. Alok possesses over 15 years of industry experience, having worked in several organizations of repute in India, Europe, and the US.
Hobbies: play and watch cricket & Reading
Favorite Cuisine: Thai and Italian
Favorite Book: Start with why by Simon Sinek and Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.
Favorite Travel Destination: Beaches