Cleaning is a dirty business. This age old concept is rubbish, according to Debtosh Chatterjee, chief executive officer of Cleaning Arts.
Chatterjee's company provides cleaning, housekeeping and facility management solutions to a wide cross section of offices. It has over 128 clients including The Park Hotels, Pantaloons, Westside and Barista. He is virtually raking in big money from garbage.
A website to reach out to customers is on the cards. Services today include housekeeping, maintenance, pest control, facility management and outsourcing skilled staff. They are offered in six cities.
The last one is the latest diversification. CA now provides trained people for specialised jobs like front office and pantry management. CA also plans to get ISO certification to break into SAARC markets.
The company has grown from Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million) per annum in 1999 to Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) in 2000 to Rs 2.5 crore (Rs billion) this year with a target of Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million) in 2003, he noted.
"CA can grow faster, but funds are a constraint as banks do not understand the business, so private funding at high rates is unavoidable," laments Chatterjee.
Chatterjee gives credit for the Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) turnover of his venture to a 700 strong dedicated and efficient human capital, working under managerial skills acquired in his two-year stint at Institute of Finance & International Management, Bangalore.
Chatterjee's beginning was humble, in 1992. Inspired by a magazine write up which spoke about cleaning households using hired instruments, he began to offer the service to posh residences in Kolkata's Salt Lake suburb.
"The idea was to make some fast buck for pocket money. There was a vacuum cleaner lying idle in my home. I put it to good use. One of my friends used to accompany me, but taking cleaning as a lifelong profession never crossed my mind then," Debtosh said.
Today, his Cleaning Arts no longer services household. Starting from a 100 square foot office, it has branched out to in six cities.
The transformation from pastime to profession was not easy and met with lot of resistance from his family. Chatterjee's father, a senior insurance professional, objected. Only good corporate clients pacified him.
"Consciousness about cleaning set in with MNCs. We took care of teleshops for a mobile phone company and by 1994-95, it was worth Rs 70,000 per month with 10-12 staff," he said.
In 1995, he went to IFIM. His two years stay there made him more competent in terms of corporate culture and ethics. He also met his spouse Aparna, a junior at the institute, there.
Meanwhile, the business in Kolkata nosedived. "It took four months to regain lost ground and add new clients. In 1998, we got married and she joined the company. By 1999, there was no looking back," he says.
The company benefited from its clients. For instance, The Chatterjee Group took it to Mumbai in 1998. Similarly, Mainland China asked for service in Bangalore and Cleaning Art opened shop there.
Over the years, investments in machines has shot up and service offerings have multiplied. "Professionals were inducted from star hotels and they are the key persons today," Chatterjee said.
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