It was the season of summer internship interviews. Every MBA grad of college was preparing to show their best to the recruitment team. I was also one among them. After the rat race to do our best, in the month of November much-awaited mail finally reaches my mailbox “Students selected for the Zolostays”- subject line reads. Yes, the list had my name. Zolostays Property Solutions Pvt Ltd is one of India’s largest co-living space providers, started in 2015. Today Zolo has its presence in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Kota, Noida, Coimbatore. It was my privilege to have the first-hand experience of working with this firm. It gave me the opportunity to have look at various modules across the company.
I was selected as a Business Development Intern at Zolostays. After the selection, the HR team at Zolostays was in constant touch with the selected students helping with queries we had. The team was very supportive and efficient to complete the formalities before time. Interns had a privilege to select the work location across India, which was one of the best parts about Zolostays. My location was the City of Pearls-Hyderabad. Finest experience an intern can ever have, I had.
The first day at the office, everyone busy with their work. Zolostays had a small but efficient team at Hyderabad. I was put under the formal induction, where the working and modules of the company were explained to me. After a couple of hours at the office, I meet my mentor Mr. Sailesh S who is the City head-Hyderabad. He was a genuine leader to lead the Hyderabad team. I have learned a lot in such a short period of none months. It was not only the mentor, but everyone on the team had a different profile and diverse views about the business that is an MBA student I always went back from office with a new thought pondering in my mind.
Starting with the job at Zolostays, after knowing the few basic workflows, I started with my core role of market research. I was asked to do research on existing local PG. One of the major issues these co-living providers have is the competition of the unorganized sector. The market research of these players was much-needed information for the data-driven company like Zolostays. I began my quest in hot summers of the Hyderabad. But this was never a stop for my learning. For a girl like me who has never stayed in PG finding out the PG and visiting these places was all together with a new experience. This was not about just going and finding out a couple of questions. It thought me the nitty-gritty of getting the information which otherwise not disclosed. Learning this was much needed for negotiation.
The market survey was not about just learning about the market per se. I came across people who were warm enough to welcome me. I still remember the day, on my typical survey, I visited a small local PG. It was run by an elderly lady. By the time I reached the PG, it was around lunchtime. The old lady was supposed to be the caretaker and PG was run by the relative of the elderly lady. When I reached, she was sleeping in the reception area. With the intention of not waking her, I decided to leave without asking her question. But my presence made her awake. Even at that age she answered my questions and offered me food. She shared up and down of her life and how her kids are abroad and she sees them in the young crowd of the PG, who are staying away from their own family. That point made me realize that all businesses have some humanity as the connection at some point and its not just the top and bottom line that matters.
After such humanitarian experiences, it was time to grind the technical knowledge. After completion of the primary market research and a bit of secondary research, it was time to crunch across the data we had. Thanks to my first-year courses, which gave me a fair idea of how to deal with the data. The analysis of the data and finding out the areas where Zolostays can take up the market was identified. Nothing can be learned without the mistakes, and nothing can be rectified without constructive criticism. And here comes every mentor. My mentor has never been back at this. Despite managing the entire area of Hyderabad, he made sure that he took out time to review my work time to time and guide me. He always gave me the freedom to get my ideas on the table and considered the same. As they say, free minds work the best was not only believed but also followed at Zolostays.
No learning is complete without fun. And Zolostays is never behind in this culture. As it was my first-time experience at startup type of culture. I had a great time working here with such a warm fun-loving and interactive team.
