Manjari Verma and Avani Patel are travel curators with a difference. They share the journey of their venture Broken Compass with Vrunda Juwale

Mumbai-based Manjari Verma and Avani Patel are going places, with their Broken Compass! Yes, the duo’s travel venture is called that. It provides a wide range of travelling solutions to people who wish to discover various parts of this world. While customised tailor-made holiday solutions are their forte, they also plan thematic trips for special occasions for vacationers.

Manjari, a writer, painter and photographer and Avani, a marine biologist, an open-water scuba diver, a mountaineer and a photographer formed the company in 2009. So why is the Compass broken? “Because, when you deviate from a fixed plan or route, you actually see the real world. And that’s the philosophy of Broken Compass. Travel a little differently than you usually would. Off the regular path,” says Avani.

Both the girls had been travelling extensively since childhood but their paths met around eight years ago, through a common friend. “We used to meet and talk about random travel-related things since our interests were similar. Post that, we didn’t meet for a long time but Facebook kept us in touch. End of 2009, we exchanged some mails…again about travel and realised that both of us shared the same views and vision about travel and a prospective company. So we decided, instead of becoming competitors, why not pool in our resources and start this together,” says Manjari.

Once they knew they were on the same page, there was no looking back! Of course, both of them were clear that they didn’t want to start a typical travel company.

“We feel excited about finding new things about done-to-death places or even reading about a new place. Our USP of keeping each and every itinerary different doesn’t let us get bored. There is always something new or offbeat we look out for our clients and that keeps us happy,” reveals Avani. “Since we are obsessive travellers, we ensure we travel a fair bit ourselves as well. Balancing others’ holidays and ours is something we have managed well till now, thankfully,” adds Manjari.

On an average, every year they do around 75 – 80 customised and 4-5 group trips. And as entrepreneurs, they have their strategies in place.“We are different in the market for the extent to which we customise our plans and the little surprises we plan for our clients. Our guides and alliances are with locals in every city / country because no one knows a place like the local does. There are others in the market who do plan customised holidays but most of them have a niche market to tap into…we cover everything from backpacking to luxury holidays,” says Manjari.

Starting with an initial capital of Rs 10,000 (which both of them put in) in 2009, the duo had a turnover of 1.7 crore last year! “We consciously decided to expand and grow slowly…which is why the initial capital and investments into the company were very calculated and low. At every stage of growth, a higher percentage of the profit was reinvested in the company for various things,” explains Manjari.

The basis of any partnership is mutual understanding. So how are they doing as partners? “We are different personalities and it did take us time to understand that. There have been disagreements now and then but I guess that’s natural in any partnership. But over time, we have understood each other really well and now disagreements and conflicts are resolved by healthy discussions rather than fights,” Manjari says.

A venture like this would need family support too. For Manjari and Avani, their respective husbands and families were their source of support when they decided to give up their well-established careers and plunge into something new. “Our four-year journey has been ‘an interesting, evolving and learning process,” says Avani.

While all this sounds exciting, like all other girls raring to go, have they faced some unnecessary attention too? “No, we have not faced anything like that. But as we are not typical corporate company owners, we have received some ‘pleasantly surprised’ looks from some of our clients and agents. Maybe because our visual appearance does not match that of typical travel company owners,” says Avani with a chuckle.

Come 2014, Broken Compass plans to launch signature, thematic group trips, under various categories, both International and Domestic. “Also, a new luxury section which will cater to only high end clients / top segment of society. We aim to launch many events and also get into Corporate holidays. With so many planned projects, in the next five years, we see ourselves as a leading tailor-made holiday planning company, with more established roots in the industry,” says Avani.