Growth Strategies of Ola: To Diversify or Not

Ola was founded in December 2010 by two young entrepreneurs, Bhavish Aggarwal (Bhavish) and Ankit Bhati (Ankit). Bhavish graduated in Computer Science from IIT Bombay and worked with Microsoft Research for two years. During his brief stint at Microsoft Research, Bhavish published three papers in international journals and filed two patents. Ankit graduated in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay and worked on several freelance projects. He also worked with some startups before turning his focus toward entrepreneurship.

Ola started its operations in Mumbai, India, but later shifted its headquarters to Bengaluru in South India. After quitting Microsoft, Bhavish started a holiday and tour planning business. It was when he was travelling from Bengaluru to a nearby town on a business trip in a rented cab that the idea to start Ola struck him. Midway through the trip, the driver stopped the cab and demanded a higher fare than had been agreed upon. When Bhavish refused to pay the higher fare, the driver abandoned him en route his destination. Bhavish realized that many other Indians could be facing the same plight as the taxi business was mostly in the unorganized sector in India. He also realized the potential of a cab service that could provide good service quality at a reasonable price to its customers. Bhavish immediately decided to close his holiday and tour planning business and start a taxi service. He was initially discouraged by his family and friends who were worried about the long-term prospects of the business..