If you really believe, you can do it.
This is the philosophy of Indian woman entrepreneur and founder of Communicate India, Akshaara Lalwani.
Akshaara Lalwani has always believed that there is no better way to be in charge of your destiny than taking it in your hands by becoming an entrepreneur because you can build as high, as fast, as broad or even as slow as you want.
And she did the same. After completing her graduation in Economics from Jai Hind College, Mumbai, she became a financial advisor and investment banker, but PR was ingrained in her blood as she was very competitive and effective at presenting things in her school days, and above all, she liked PR. So she decided to open a boutique PR firm right from her bedroom at the age of 23. And that’s how Communicate India came into existence.
Today, eight years into the journey, Communicate India is one of the fastest-growing marketing & PR firms in India.
The Beginning
Akshaara started ‘Communicate India’ literally from her bedroom. She set up an office in her bedroom with Rs 10,000 in her pocket. She said that it was awkward to interview people in her bedroom but if I have the ambition to scale up, I have to think long term.
So with Rs 10,000, of which half the amount were gift vouchers for a printer, given to her by her friends, she started seeking clients for her PR firm.
First Client
Akshaara got her first client in the first month. YourStory quoted her say, “My first client was a restaurant in Bandra that believed in my passion and enthusiasm and signed a six-month contract. In fact, bootstrapping was a blessing in disguise. It taught me frugality, and how to be more creative and differentiate myself from the clutter. Luckily, I was in a service business and didn’t need too much capital to get up and running, unlike a product-based service. Like Elon Musk said, ‘I was hell-bent on making it work’.”
She also said it was difficult to make her clients believe in her because she didn’t have the experience, but clients trusted this 23-year old young woman entrepreneur’s passion and enthusiasm, and results are in front of everyone.
Communicate India is a strategic full-service firm that is in its 8th year. It partners with clients across sectors, corporate, infrastructure, travel and tourism, healthcare, solar energy, cement, real estate, food and beverage, and others to work alongside to achieve their communications and marketing objectives. The firm is working for small companies to Fortune 500 firms.
Women empowerment
Another interesting thing about this startup is it has a 90:10 female-to-male ratio. Akshaara believes in women’s empowerment.
What Next
Akshhaara wants to take her business abroad. Communicate India is looking at setting up offices abroad. It already has a presence through its alliances in the US, the UK, Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and Europe, but eyeing for a 100-percent market share.
Communicate India website homepage features a popular quote, “Advertising is saying you’re good. PR is getting someone else to say you’re good.”
Hope company achieves its ambitions in the upcoming years!
