Accelerating enterprise

"I started my business in the year 2001 in a really small way with one car, a Maruti Esteem. At present I have 16 vehicles,” says Filly Bhathena whose Ahura Services provides vehicles on hire. Describing his organization as a 24x7 "professionally managed, customer focused enterprise,” all Bhathena’s cars are GPS (Global Positioning System) enabled and range from standard (Esteem, Ford Ikon, Indica, Indigo, Hyundai Accent) to premium (Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Optra, Mitsubishi Lan­cer, Hon­da City) to executive (Hon­­da Accord, Toyota Cam­ry, Skoda, BMW, Mer­cedes Benz). SUVs are ava­i­­lable and Bh­a­thena can arrange for luxury coaches.

"Our well-mannered drivers dressed in uniform are easily accessible on mobile and are acquainted with Bombay and out-of-station locations. We render services on a weekly/monthly/yearly basis,” states his website www.ahuracar services.com Chauffeurs are fluent in English and also understand a few foreign languages. "I sometimes drive clients myself to find out the difficulties my drivers may be facing,” he states.

Filly Bhathena: driving a business

Contrary to popular perception, "it is actually easy to find and retain good and honest drivers as my policy is that if you are good and honest then you get the same from the opposite person,” asserts Bhathena who was with Firestone earlier. "My clients are mainly corporate and I prefer it that way. Rates differ from corporate to corporate and from vehicle to vehicle. Mostly I deal with foreigners on a monthly or yearly basis.”

Their office is located at Lalbaug opposite Nowroz Baug in central Bombay. Farzad Engineer manages the office. "We are actually neighbors and I have known him since childhood. He is sincere and also very tech savvy, having worked with Vodafone as a team leader in the Blackberry department,” says Bhathena. There are many Parsis in the transport business and each has his own way of running his enterprise. "Basically this is a service oriented business and I try to give the best possible service with a personal touch,” says Bhathena who has driven in car rallies. "Initially it was really very difficult when I started off with one car but as and when the fleet started building up, it has become smooth and the going easy,” he adds.