When I travel from Bangalore to Hyderabad, sometimes I have used Raj Express Travels , a bus transport service provider . The service was introduced in 2005 and with in a span of 15 months has turned out to be a successful venture. I am not aware of the founder’s background nor the amount of capital that would have gone in to starting this venture, though i can guestimate. If one were to look from a BlueOcean Strategy framework, here is what they have done, atleast from a regular traveler’s perspective

Create :

  • A luxurious environment for a bus travel which a certain niche segment would be willing to pay
  • Introducing e-ticketing - A HUGE reason for their success as IT Savvy bangaloreans would lap up any eservice and when it is related to travel, one doesnt have to pitch for using the service
  • Giving away goodies like earplugs, bedsheets etc ( which they have stopped now, a mistake in my opinion)

Reduce:

  • Reduce the intracity stops - A private coach would stop typically at 3-8 places in the city before making the final departure.Makign a single point departure , the service scored heavily on the comfort levels of the customers
  • Reduce uncertainity in the pickup and drop timings(on time pickup and drop - a thing which is taken for granted but hardly gets done by other private bus travels)

 

Eliminate:

  • Eliminated Drivers with less than 10 years of experience.

Increase :

  • Increase the fare compared to the other service providers
  • Screening done to see to it that only non-alcoholics and perfect vision folks are recruited as drivers
  • 2 flat Screens( atleast I have never seen a bus with 2 screens before utilizing their service)

One of the reasons that made me write the post is their ads for travel packages to countries outside India and the way they were priced. Starting from 26,455 - 49,999. If one thinks of it, there are lot of bangaloreans who would want avail such packages, young working professionals who would want to take a week off, couples for their honeymoon, etc..Considering the purchasing power of bangalore going up , I dont see a why this service of out -of-india tours wont pick up. Would have been great if I could have had access to their financials such as cash flow and intial investment.In anycase, this is a classic success story of a business focusing on niche and moving on to the path of profitability.