How Did Neetish Sarda Come Up With the Concept of Smartworks?

How Did Neetish Sarda Come Up With the Concept of Smartworks?

It always comes to mind that from where Neetish Sarda got the inspiration to set up a business with all new ideas. After finding out the story of his success it is revealed that Neetish went abroad for higher studies after completing graduation from the Krannert School of Management, Purdue. So, after coming from abroad he joined his family business but was least interested to pursue his journey with that. As he wanted to create his own path rather than working with the conventional type industry.

This is when he realised there was a gap in the business and that the expectations of the Indian millennial generation were not being met when it comes to workplace design.

According to Sarda, an employee works for 8-9 hours a day for any company but never gets a satisfying environment in the office. That’s why the workers are not as enthusiastic as they need to be for the progress of the business. Also talking about his experience in Singapore he told that his visit to his sister Prerna’s playschool was an eye-opener for him as he noticed the kids were playing as well as learning in an environment full of happiness and activities.

How Smartworks Started?

Neetish Sarda was under the influence of global giants how Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Facebook created and ran their offices, stressing the importance of people assets above real estate and other facilities. In his perception, the workplace must be productive rather than just being a real estate. When his father Mr Ghanshyam Sarda came to know about his dream of developing a business with coworking space ideas, he also supported him with his guidelines to be successful in his endeavours.

Smartworks Coworking Spaces Private Limited (Smartworks) was formed by Neetish Sarda in April 2016 and was later joined as a co-founder by Harsh Binani in 2017. The ultimate quality design, greatest hospitality, modern technology, and devoted clients all worked together to assist the firm climb the success ladders in less time. Smartworks' offerings include, in addition to co-working space, customised office solutions, networking events, and end-to-end facilities such as a crèche facility and health and wellness programmes.

What Were the Challenges Faced by the Company in the Initial Days of Establishment?

While talking about the challenges faced during the creation of Smartworks, Neetish often says that one of the challenges the firm encountered was confronting preconceived assumptions and altering the attitudes of MNCs and Indian industry biggies who were hesitant to leave their comfort zones and trust a managed office space provider with their operations.“Rather than merely providing office space, we focused on providing clients with a whole experience. We respond to each and every requirement of our customers, from infrastructure to technology to staff engagement activities to office configuration,” Neetish adds.

What Are the Future Plans of Neetish Sarda to Expand the Business?

Smartworks Coworking Spaces Pvt Ltd presently operates 31 co-working facilities in nine locations such as Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, with around 60,000 seats and 40 lakh square feet of space. According to Neetish, the company is now aiming to invest Rs 250 crore in 2.5 million square feet of space in 2021, bringing its overall presence in India to 7 million square feet and the areas to focus for growth are places like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR. Work-from-home policies enforced by the pandemic resulted in cost savings for businesses in terms of rent, maintenance, housekeeping, and monthly overheads.

However, after months of work-from-home tiredness has set in, and firms are rethinking their office locations, as work-from-home cannot be a permanent option. In relation to future strategies, he stated that the company intends to invest in other segments such as proptech, facility management, warehousing as well as other real estate verticals.