Bharti Chawla, Managing Director, OLC Shipping Line Pvt. Ltd.
OLC Shipping Line Pvt. Ltd.
With a strong hold on Freight forwarding in 150 countries, raising two children single handedly and advocating for women's equality might seem like a daunting task to many but for Bharti Chawla overcoming obstacles thrown at her, is second nature. Known in the cut throat cargo business as the head-strong Managing Director of Online Cargo, Johar Enterprises and OLC Shipping Pvt. Ltd., her reaction to failure is unforgiving. She is known in the field as the ruthless business woman in a sphere that was long been dominated by men.
With a razor sharp eye for detail and an unprecedented victory streak since 1991, she has slowly conquered the logistics field. She caused a stir almost a decade ago by venturing into international packing and moving, giving her the Midas touch. In her own words, “It wasn't a risk, if only you see how strategic this move was.” She is anything if not well prepared and her flawless execution is a trade secret that her rivals are well aware of
and often come to her in tricky situations. She is practical, calculating and often shrewd but never cold, in fact her warmth is her signature. She is honest and genuine in her dealings and people love talking to her. She keeps her cool at all times, and is a calming force needed in the fast-paced world of export and import. Over the years customer have often come back to her because in a crisis, she knows how to keep moving and bumps here and there don’t scare her. She likes a challenge and shipments that might be delayed are not, because she makes sure they aren’t. In the past 26 years, she has built a solid empire that is growing and expanding at an exponential rate but if
that wasn’t enough, which seldom is for this fierce capitalist, she is known for giving back. Her philanthropic ventures range from being an active participant of Earth Saviors Foundation, a non-governmental old age home to conducting plantation drives all over Gurgaon for the Art of Living. Often people can’t label this multifaceted woman who goes out of her way to make life easier for those in need but is unlikely to budge professionally. She is known for her strict standards in custom clearance and she only demands one thing, perfection. Although she is known to break most of the rules in business, her one rule has stood the test of time. “If the customer is not happy, I don’t charge them,” She says proudly. Known in the trade as a fierce competition with a reputation to boast, she isn’t one to mince words. “I don’t believe in competition, there is enough sun for anyone wanting to shine.” She said, as she heads out of the office making her way home. Although she is given quite a few adjectives professionally, she doesn't like blurring the lines and at home, she is just a mother. “My professional isn’t what keeps me going, my children do. They are the reason I do, what I do. My daughter is in the US and I know how hard it is to be away from your loved ones. I want to do everything in my power to bridge that distance and that is what all my companies do, they create a link that connects the world.” She said. All her companies function to reduce the geographical distance either by sea, land or air, so it isn’t as hard as it was earlier to have whatever you want, wherever you want. She added on, “I want to make the world a smaller place and no matter which country the buyer is in or where the exporter is located, I have created a space for them to send and receive commodities.” Now, this might not be anything out of the ordinary but here comes the catch, “Our expertise is what sets us apart, we do all this in half the time because of how well connected we are.” As a single mother of two, all
her time away from work is spent with her children. She makes it a point to include spirituality in all facets of her life and her ideal day starts and ends with Kriya and Shri Shri Ravi Shankar. Both her children are equally involved in The Art of Living and she makes it a point to include giving back and volunteering as part of family time together. She considers her spirituality as an outlet to blow of some steam and maintain her sanity in the professional sphere. With over 200 containers shipped by sea and 600 tons of air cargo shipped each year, her firm hold on each facet of international trade is astonishing. With specialized agents all over the world at her beck and call, she priorities timely delivery and personalized attention over quantity. “We have had to refuse work in the past because by taking on new customers, I didn’t want my current customers to take a back seat. People I have worked with for years enjoy a certain advantage and I can only ensure excellence by not compromising on the time and effort I put in each consignment.” She said.
Ms. Chawla takes great pride in the company’s loyalty towards long standing customers and takes feedback very seriously. “We conduct annual reviews and each shipment goes through strict scrutiny. We keep up with our customers and our policies aren’t stagnant, we are always improvising and improving our methods.” Her motto is simple “fulfill each requirement of our widespread clientele within the shortest time lead.”. And her grilling work ethic has led her to bag the covered Woman Entrepreneur of The Year Award twice and just last year, she was awarded the ‘Best One Stop Solution in Logistics’. With a dedicated team of highly skilled workers, you would think finally she would take a break. But Ms. Chawla isn’t much for resting on her laurels and her team knows that under her leadership, good isn’t a compliment, it’s a fuel to reach the best. She isn’t retiring anytime soon and “buying a chartered cargo plane by the year 2020,” is one of the many projects that she is working on. Although simplicity and modesty are her trademark but her company’s annual report would agree that buying a chartered plane wouldn’t be hard at all. All of Ms. Chawla’s three companies are strategically created, although all of them support each other organically, they also have a separate clientele they cater to exclusively. The first company she started, Online Cargois an authorized Custom Housed Agency that provides services related to custom clearance and international packaging and moving. Johar Enterprises provides
freight forwarding and custom clearance services for export and import cargo by air. OLC Shipping Pvt. Ltd., the latest of her ventures is focused on strengthening export and import via sea ports and the contacts she made during her career prior to starting this company has made this venture a delightful victory and paved the way for future growth and expansion. “My purpose behind expanding our base and introducing OLC Shipping was to fulfill a demand my longstanding customers had. They wanted us to be the only one handling their cargo and with customers already lined up, it wasn’t an option to not provide these services too.” Ms. Chawla is very particular about making sure her customers don’t need to contact anyone once they’ve contacted her. “Out of all my ventures in the past, this has been an on-request service we started to ensure customer satisfaction and I was surprised that it picked up so well. I emailed all my clients the day I started it and soon, without any advertisement or marketing strategy, this became a business of its own.” She credits her success for her latest baby to word of mouth and a gift her customers allowed her to enjoy. Had it not been for her fiercely loyal army of patrons, she wouldn’t soon list OLC Shipping Pvt. Ltd. as one of her major source of revenue nor would she be awarded ‘ One Stop Transparent Solution for Logistics’, for the year 2016. Her exceptional track record and unmatched consistent customer feedback also has earned her the nomination for ‘Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2017’. Her constant success is anything but fluke and one look at her to-do list would tell you how strategic, savvy and sharp she really is. Her victory this year would mark fourth award in a row and here is wishing her all the luck.