Interview: Alok K Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Travomint

Interview with Alok K Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Travomint

Alok K Singh is a first generation entrepreneur who was born in Darbhanga, Bihar. He was raised and did his schooling from Holy Cross School, Darbhanga. Later he moved to Pune for his Graduation.

After graduating, he got a chance to do a masters from IIPM Bangalore. Alok is an ambitious and focussed person who worked 24X7 to make Travomint one of the world’s best online travel service providers.

He considers his journey as a marathon because it was full of hurdles and challenges. Belonging to a middle class family and investing parent’s hard earned money on setting up a new business was a tough task for Alok, however, Alok’s education credentials accompanied with his achievements entrenched him as a successful entrepreneur who brought a tremendous change in the travel services sector.

Tell us a little about yourself

Alok K Singh: I am a first-generation entrepreneur, I was born and brought up in Darbhanga, Bihar. I did my schooling at Holy Cross School, Darbhanga. Later I moved to Pune for Graduation. After graduating, I got a chance to do a Master’s from IIPM Bangalore.

Please tell us a little about your entrepreneurial journey

Alok K Singh: My first startup was a result of my college project that I did while pursuing my masters. The project brought fruitful results after its practical implementation.

Soon after that my brother, Mr. Vivek K Singh and I took the reins and worked relentlessly to take our startup to the next level.

Vivek’s interest has always been manipulating pupils for a better job. This made us think of venturing into the education sector.

After that we ventured into other business such as Travel, Information Technology, Staffing, System Integration, etc.

The team of seasoned professionals and a strong customer service focus helped us grow by leaps and bounds.

Kindly brief us about your company, its specialization, and the services that it offers

Alok K Singh: All of us need a break from the hustle and bustle of our lives, my Travel Tech startup – Travomint, offers ease of booking to travelers by providing constant assistance.

We have been serving thousands of frequent customers and the list is increasing day by day. Our strength lies in our dedicated human resource, as it is the only asset that contrasts a company from its competitors.

Travomint was established with an intention to provide an effortless and accessible travel booking experience to travelers across the globe.

We have infused technological innovations in our services. Travomint closely abides by the latest technological innovations as we believe innovation is one of the puissant tools that can channelize the technological benison in fact-based routes to outshine among competitors.

What is your biggest USP

Alok K Singh: Our biggest USP is our cost-effective pricing and user-friendly interface that even a novice can use. Travelers can create itineraries from nearly limitless flight combinations while making booking from our portal.

Our unique cutting-edge algorithms give out the best deals, services that are up to 60% cheaper than our competitors.

What made you choose this type of business?

Alok K Singh: People around the world love to travel as it relieves stress, enhances one’s creativity, boosts happiness & satisfaction and lowers the risk of depression.

The idea behind laying Travomint’s foundation is to provide leading edge travel booking experience to travelers around the US, UK and India.

I have always been a tech-savvy person who always stays updated with the latest technological advancements.

I always try to endorse cutting edge technologies to my business and I did the same while laying the foundation of Travomint.

Travelers are no longer required to struggle in order to adjust their glasses while booking flights via complex applications. Travomint has a hybrid model that lets you book your ticket digitally or over a call.

What was your mission and vision at the outset?

Alok K Singh: We are on a mission to provide a user-friendly travel booking experience to travelers around the globe that could be easily accessed by anyone, even a novice. We have been working relentlessly  towards making more convenient travel services.

Our vision is to make travel booking convenient and trips fun for all, be it personal, business or bleisure. Every member of our team is guided by this, each and every day.

What is your Leadership Mantra

Alok K Singh: I believe that providing opportunity to your employees for being their own boss, is something that would motivate them everyday at work.

Different people have different skill sets and these skill sets all together form a great team. My leadership mantra is to let my employees be their own boss and I do one-on-one discussion with them regularly to guide them in every possible way. 

What’s your company’s goals?

Alok K Singh: We make sure that our customers travel without making any holes in their pockets. To provide more pocket friendly deals we have collaborated with global search engines like  Skyscanner,  JetRadar, Jetcost, Wego, Kayak and Momondo.

Our future plan is to increase our geographical reach and focus on partnering with more such affiliations in future in order to  benefit a larger audience.

What was the inspiration behind turning an entrepreneur?

Alok K Singh: My inspiration into becoming an entrepreneur was that I never wanted to be limited by other people’s imagination. 

Doing a job for someone won’t give me much freedom, that’s why I chose to be an entrepreneur. One should never be afraid of taking risks, the entrepreneurial journey is full of hurdles but it’s always worth it to take the leap.

What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?

Alok K Singh: A famous author once said,” It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously  that your might as well have not lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.

My journey too has been a roller coaster ride, I started from scratch with no investment and partners. I have the tendency of not giving up easily, if 10 doors were slammed in my face, I went to the 11th door with a smile on my face and this has helped me a lot in my entrepreneurial journey.

Key things to consider before starting a Business

Alok K Singh: I believe that we all should chase our dreams and be stronger enough in our convictions. People will always doubt your capabilities, but it’s only you who can prove yourself.

Choosing entrepreneurship as a career transcends you to a higher consciousness, do not fear and dare to choose the road not taken by the majority.

Things to consider before starting a business are : nature of the business, a creative idea,  well-researched business plan, target audience, location, capital, government compliances, market plan and accounting & financial analysis.

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?

Alok K Singh: Choosing to be an entrepreneur is not easy, mistakes happen as it’s the part of any process.

I too have committed a few mistakes in my entrepreneurial journey, however I tried to learn from every mistake and chart my path to success accordingly.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Alok K Singh: My advice for someone just starting out is to have a clear vision, a few entrepreneurs just dive straight into shiny ideas without giving it a second thought but if your vision is unclear, your startup would meander along with very little momentum.

Also, do not focus on too many things at the same time, it could lead to devastating consequences. Instead, set small goals and achieve them in a planned manner with full dedication.

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