Goa Biz

A clean sweep to success

The year was 1999. Goa was already on the world tourism map. The tourism industry was booming and as a result, tourism related services, like hotels, travel agencies, event management companies, etc, too, were multiplying. As they say, cometh the hour, cometh the man. The ability to identify a niche market is what truly defines a successful entrepreneur and Roy Vas, an engineer by profession had an intuition that what Goa urgently needed was a ‘facility management’ service or a professional housekeeping service. This was what inspired him to conceptualise and form Ecoclean, Goa’s first facility management company providing clients an array of customized housekeeping and maintenance services. When Roy ventured to set up Ecoclean, the concept of professional housekeeping services was new. There were no guidebooks or precedents. “Even today, you won’t find a book that will teach you how to go about doing what I do. At the most, you will find a book about housekeeping, but Ecoclean goes way beyond that,” he says of the company he built from scratch. The luxurious Taj Exotica in Benaulim was the company’s first client. They also remained his sole client for four entire years providing Roy with a perfect training ground. Then, in 2003 he decided that the company needed to expand. Today, Ecoclean offers its expert services to numerous venues like Goa Institute of Management, Goa Medical College, Goa Legislative Assembly and a number of top hotels amongst others.   The diversity within its client base is proof enough of Roy’s firm belief that a service provider cannot have a ‘one size that fits all’ approach, especially in a field like this. With each of these organizations having its own distinct requirements, developing a customised solution addressing the client’s distinct requirements remains one of the primordial challenges for the company. For this, the company is structured across different verticals attending to different service sectors like hospitality, the health sector, Government projects, schools and colleges, the automobile sector and private homes. While each vertical functions independently, Roy gives strategic direction to the organization while overseeing the company's growth. Among its initial challenges was that of extending adequate training to the work force. In the service segment, where the reputation of a company depends solely on the quality of service and the behaviour of its front line staff, any inappropriate or misbehaviour instantly reflects poorly on the company. That’s not all, it can also cost them entire contracts. Keeping this in mind, the company has a fully formulated systematic training programme for its staff before they actually go to the client sites. Special training is also provided appropriate to the clients business. Roy is very clear that the welfare and management of the staff under his command is crucial for success. “The supervisor has to be sensitive to the conditions of his subordinates,” he says. When one manages such a large workforce, problems are bound to exist. Absenteeism of staff, especially daily wage earners is a constant issue, he reveals. There was also one instance of the threat of a strike by his workforce which he dealt with effectively by adopting a no negotiation policy. Raoy has also dealt with numerous other HR related problems using two simple measures, firmness and compassion. Infact, Ecoclean was taken as a case study for human resource development at GIM. Keeping in mind the importance of diversification in the world of business, Roy started with a sister concern Ecolet Rentals which deals in portable toilets which he says is also doing good quite well. Retaining its premier status in the housekeeping industry in Goa, Ecoclean has grown from strength to strength in its 12 years of existence. Today its clients include not just players in the lucrative and highly paying tourism industry, but also schools, hospitals and government offices among others.  With operations at over 90 sites and a staff strength of over 1600, usage of efficient equipments, the future of the company looks robust and secure. Roy, in fact, has plans to be the first to introduce Goa to ride-on cleaning equipments. Well that’s definitely one clean route to success.        -box- “Cleaning today is no longer bhangiwala ka kaam, it’s now a science. The need for professional cleaning today is more pronounced because of questions like which chemical to use or which exact equipment to use to get the desired results” Roy Vas Box 1. Age :  48 years 2. Education:  Structural Engineering 3. Initial investment: Rs 10 Lacs 4. Current turnover: Rs 15 crores 5. Business Philosophy: “ To set the standards in the cleaning industry by polite and personal service, uncompromised quality and using the latest technology.”