Women on Wheels - Safe Transport Solutions for Women by Women in Urban India

Sakha offers two services : a) Trained women drivers placed with individual women and their families under an agreed contract; b) Women’s radio cab service offered through a partnership with a leading cab company. The services are available only to women customers. The women drivers engaged by Sakha will be trained by Azad Foundation, a not-for-profit partner. In the first three years, Sakha will operationalize its services in New Delhi.

We meet the need of women travelers (locals and tourists) and companies (with a large workforce of professional women) for safe and reliable transport options, especially at all hours of the day/night.

The service will be developed through two strategic partnerships. Azad Foundation, the not-for-profit partner of Sakha, will recruit and train resource poor women as professional drivers. The drivers will be sourced by Sakha and placed as private chauffers. At the same time, the women’s cab service will be developed in partnership with an existing cab company to lower our own capital cost and leverage technology and infrastructure support.

Sakha will employ intensive Direct Mail, PR and an integrated social networking strategy. The PR strategy will focus on local English and vernacular media (print and television). The social networking strategy will highlight customer and driver testimonials.. Brand visibility will be secured through search engine optimization and placement of strategic banners. Sakha will also leverage the existing distribution channels of its partners.

Women from families earning more than INR 500,000 annually (esp. single, mid-to-senior level professionals and senior citizen women) and socially-conscious companies who seek to provide safe travel to their women employees. It also includes international women tourists – a growing segment especially with the upcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. We intend to sell advertising space (cab exterior and interior) to relevant women’s brands.

For-she (in Mumbai and Delhi) and Priyadarshini Cabs (in Mumbai), both started in 2007 and are still young operations with less than 25-30 cabs in operations. Priyadarshini in Mumbai focuses on training marginalized women. For-she hires women drivers from any segment and does not invest time in intensive driver training. For-she has tied up with ORIX- a cab company. No company places trained women chauffers as yet in large Indian metros.

We leverage the best of industry expertise and not-for-profit experience into providing a steady stream of high quality professional drivers (210 quality women drivers in Delhi in 5 years) - critical for scale

Sakha meets the demand for making travel safe in Indian cities for women. At the same time, it meets the livelihoods needs of resource poor women by employing a large, informal workforce into the booming transportation service industry. Our financial bottomline is rooted within a social commitment. In partnership with a not-for-profit we train women drivers and offer social security products so that drivers do not drop out.

In addition to raising loans and equity, Sakha will contribute a development grant (10% of profits) to Azad Foundation to stabilize a consistent stream of high quality drivers. At the end of 3 year operations, expansion to other Tier I cities, potentially Bangalore and Pune, will be explored. The Sakha Board may decide, based on company performance towards launching its own fleet of cabs and supporting infrastructure, after year 3 of operations.

As the entrepreneur, I bring experience of setting up new initiatives, an ability to envision, and an unshakeable commitment to translate it in reality. I also have a facilitative style of leadership, experience in managing complex organisations and a risk taking ability that helps break new frontiers. I am supported by a team of experienced directors from both, the corporate as well as development sector and a shared commitment.

I have mentioned about me, the entrepreneur as above. The Sakha Board comprises of combined experience of almost four decades of leadership in strategic HR, training and development management. Our advisors are serial entrepreneurs from IT/ITES and the field of social entrepreneurship. Our team shares the Sakha dream and the passion for launching this social enterprise.

I am already giving this enterprise all my time and expect to continue to do so.

A safe, women’s cab service will reduce fear and diffidence, leading to women becoming more mobile and visible in public spaces.

Women drivers engaged by Sakha will earn a 100% - 150% more than existing family incomes.

Setting up, success and growth of Sakha will demonstrate women-friendly business environments in transportation industry so that young women begin to look at driving as a natural professional choice.