[100 Emerging Women Leaders] Need a private jet or vacation hotel? This woman entrepreneur is the real-life genie for the ultra-rich

When a Hyderabad-based individual craved chai from a specific tapri (a roadside tea stall) in Bengaluru, he didn’t let the 574 kilometres stand in his way. While most people would have travelled across the state or let go of the craving, he had a different solution.

All he had to do was send a WhatsApp text to a personal concierge service, and his wish was fulfilled.

While genies don’t exist, Advita Bihani’s Indulge Global Concierge Service—a luxury lifestyle concierge service—certainly acts like one.

“From shopping, and booking private jets to booking global music events and reservations, we offer everything and anything under the sky,” Bihani tells HerStory.

Started in 2022 by Karan Bhangay and Advita Bihani, Goa-based Indulge Global Concierge Service today caters to over 1,000 individuals in 180 countries.

“These high-net-worth individuals are rich in resources but short on time. They have the means, and we step in to make their lives seamless, handling everything from the everyday to the extraordinary,” she says continuing, “The goal is simple— to save the most valuable asset—time—and offer convenience.”

She explains that each client is assigned a dedicated team of seven to eight people, all accessible via WhatsApp. This team further gets in touch with their associates for specific requests. The startup has a team of 30 people.

“We have an extensive associate network that my team continuously expands. For example, if one of our clients is planning a trip to Paris and needs something arranged, their personal team taps into our central database and activates our local associate in Paris to get it done,” she explains.

Building the business

Bihani comes from a traditional Marwadi family. She planned to head to London for further education. But after getting her admission COVID hit, so she decided to stay back.

She worked at Benchmark Six Sigma in different capacities—management and marketing. Additionally, she worked as a digital branding freelancer with The Millennial Luxury.

Bihani admits she didn’t have a specific career plan in mind but had a clear vision of the life she wanted.

“I wasn’t looking for just any job,” she explains, “I wanted a workplace where the focus isn’t on the number of hours but on the kind of work. I wanted to build something meaningful together.”

Out of the companies that reached out to her she was intrigued by Bhangay’s idea. Deep down she knew that if she chose entrepreneurship she would not like to do a mass market business. This led her to choose Indulge Global Concierge Service.

She explains that Bhangay had spent over a decade and a half in the events and luxury industry, organising many expos in the space. Over time, he noticed that high-net-worth individuals have wealth, but managing access and the operations around it becomes a hassle for them.

It was then that Bhangay saw a gap in this market and laid the foundation of Indulge Global Concierge Service Global in 2022 and Bihani joined hands with him.

As a co-founder, her primary responsibilities include improving technology and internal operations. The startup offers a monthly subscription, which it has recently launched. It also offers a yearly subscription of Rs 4,00,000.

She notes that before starting operations in 2022, they spent nearly two years setting up a strong supply chain, which involved a very systematic approach to reaching out to the best hotels, restaurants, and services in various countries.

“Once that was in place, we took our first step forward. Business begets business. The more we transacted and invested in the market, the more our reputation grew. As a result, we continued building on that foundation,” she adds.

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Challenges

Bihani notes that as a woman entrepreneur, she has never faced any bias. However, she acknowledges that every business comes with challenges, but she takes them in her stride.

“You pick it, you fix it. Challenges, of course, arise when you're trying to operate in over 180 countries, building a network, running trials and errors. Requests come in that you've never heard of before,” she adds.

Talking about her journey so far, she mentions that a lot of effort has gone into structuring a very unorganised business, but their journey has been continuously evolving.

Recently, the startup received its concierge license in Dubai and plans to expand its clientele to 10,000 in the next two years across India, London, Singapore, and Dubai.