From Collapse to Comeback: A Founder’s Reinvention Journey at ISB

2018 was supposed to be a milestone year. Our family’s travel and mobility business, founded by my father in 2001, had grown steadily and was widely recognised.

But just when I graduated in the UK, my parents came to visit me with news that turned the moment upside down. External factors had forced us to restart from scratch. Instead of the celebration I had imagined, it was a deeply emotional day. I had seen my father pour his life into this venture, watched it grow from nothing into something respected, and now, we were losing it all.

Rebuilding From Scratch: Grit and Resilience

When I came back, I had to rebuild our employee transportation and car rental business from the ground up. I handled everything: operations, sales, marketing, cold calls, vendor management, finances, escalation management, and team building. We provide technology-enabled mobility solutions for Fortune 500 companies, ensuring employees commute safely and efficiently. We also run premium car rentals for airport transfers, city travel, and nationwide requirements.

The restart was unforgiving. As a new entity without recognition, we faced repeated rejections. Multinationals demanded long checklists and compliance requirements that were hard to match in the early days. Every rejection became a lesson. Back then, we managed fewer than 5,000 trips a month. Today, we execute 2.07 lakh trips monthly.

Numbers show scale, but the behind-the-scenes reality was tough. There were sleepless nights, endless negotiations, and constant pressure to perform. The mobility sector is brutally competitive, price-sensitive, and dependent on razor-thin margins. If you snooze, you lose.

This shaped my leadership style into something direct, professional, and results-oriented. I believe in giving people both freedom and responsibility, while knowing that in tough situations, hard decisions must be made quickly.

Driving Growth: Technology, People, and Purpose

What differentiates us today is our reliance on technology. We built automated rostering, efficient shuttle systems, automated billing, real-time tracking, compliance dashboards, analytics dashboards, and BI tools to give clients full control and transparency. We also invested in EVs to support sustainability while prioritising diversity, equity, and inclusion.

But no matter the sector, be it products, FMCG, pharma, real estate, or services, it always comes back to people. People make businesses. Finding the right talent at the right time has been my biggest challenge, and it remains the one problem technology cannot solve for us.

Why ISB MFAB: Balance, Exposure, and Governance

After seven years of running on instinct and hustle, I felt the need to sharpen my strategic thinking. The business was growing, but I wanted more than survival. I wanted to be intellectually challenged, to test myself in new ways, and to step away from the daily grind for a fresh perspective.

Having studied in the UK earlier, I valued international exposure, but I also wanted to experience Indian academic excellence. ISB’s reputation and infrastructure spoke for themselves. What truly attracted me, though, was the idea of being a student again, of pushing my limits, letting my guard down, and enjoying the process of structured learning while being surrounded by peers.

The PGP MFAB has been more demanding than I imagined. Being mentally wired from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., focusing intensely during classes, and immersing myself in new frameworks is a completely different challenge from running a business. It is exactly the kind of stimulation I was looking for.

The diversity of the cohort has been eye-opening. Everyone comes from different industries like manufacturing, pharma, real estate, FMCG, but the core struggles are surprisingly similar. Succession planning, scaling responsibly, and balancing family values with professional management are themes every business family grapples with.

For me, governance is key. I want to scale in the right way, making sure investments are placed thoughtfully, at the right time and place. I am also here to re-examine my leadership style. In our fast-moving industry, I often take a hire-and-fire approach because decisions must be made fast. But I know that long-term growth needs better talent strategies and a more balanced approach.

Family businesses, by nature, are frugal, and that discipline is valuable. At the same time, professional management is essential for accountability. I am here to learn how to bring the two together: staying lean and practical while introducing systems that ensure long-term sustainability.

Looking Ahead: Building Sustainability and Networks

Perhaps the most important test of growth is whether the business runs smoothly even when I am away. During these intensive weeks at ISB, I want to see if our systems and people can hold their own without me. That is what sustainability really means.

The programme is also about building a network. The peers I am learning with are not just classmates; they are future collaborators, sounding boards, and possibly business partners. The chance to learn from each other’s experiences is as valuable as any classroom concept.

To anyone considering this programme: be ready to question everything. Come in with an open mind, because the biggest value is in being challenged. If you think you already have all the answers, you will miss out on what ISB really offers.

Rebuilding a business from scratch once taught me the importance of adaptability. Markets shift, technologies evolve, and consumer behaviour changes constantly. The thrill of building and seeing your business do well is unmatched, but to keep that going, you have to keep upgrading your approach.

That is why I am here at ISB’s PGP MFAB. Not because I do not know how to run a business, but because I want to run it better.

Synopsis:

Kunal Kharat rebuilt his family’s mobility business after it collapsed in 2018. From handling fewer than 5,000 trips a month, he scaled operations to 2.07 lakh monthly trips while building technology-driven
systems and introducing sustainability measures. 

Now part of ISB’s PGP MFAB Class of 2026, he is deepening his understanding of governance, succession planning, and talent management, while building a network of peers to scale the business sustainably and ensure it thrives even in his absence.