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Bookspace is a unique online books rental library in Pune that provides free home delivery all across Pune city, extremely affordable pricing and no time limit on book return.
Inspire Bookspace India Pvt. Ltd., better known as Bookspace is a brainchild of two school buddies Prasad Kulkarni, C.A. C.P.A. with ~13 years of industry experience (sitting to the left in cover photo) and Abhijit Nakate, B.E. Computers with ~13.5 years of IT experience (sitting to the right in cover photo). Both of them loved reading since school days. As time passed, professional duties took over and the reading habit took a backseat. Prasad used to think if he could get the book readily given to him, it could be such a convenience! There, the seeds were sown for the idea. While similar models existed, they wanted to keep it affordable. Coming from traditional Maharashtrian families, leaving a well settled job, with a family to look after, it was a now-or-never situation for them. However, they realized that Bookspace is their calling and they took the plunge.
Bookspace was started in May 2014 in Dahanukar Colony – Kothrud, and officially began delivering books to customers from 01-Aug-2014. They started off with a collection of 800 books and now have over 15000 books in Marathi and English, across all age groups and categories, and counting. Bookspace has been a success story from the beginning, reaching 1000 paid subscribers in less than 2 years, and is poised to grow further at rapid pace.
15000+ books
1000+ paid subscribers
Online booking facility
Free home delivery all across Pune
What makes their subscription model unique is also that they have gift vouchers for subscriptions (books reading – the best thing to gift anyone) and have special plans for bulk memberships. They also service Corporate organizations as part of Employee Engagement programs, and it too has been a success, judging by the licenses being added incrementally by the companies. Within a year’s time, they started hiring employees, and have a highly skilled and dedicated staff of around 15 employees today. Their staff have been equally instrumental in bringing Bookspace to it’s current state.
At times, it can get emotional for us to hear the praise of our work, when we deliver books to old people unable to step out of their homes (I prefer to call them young readers at heart), or to see the smile on young children when they keep aside the glass technology (TV, mobile, etc gadgets) and are soaked into reading – Prasad Kulkarni
The journey in the last 27 months has been excellent, to say the least. The experience has been enriching, rewarding, giving on-the-ground-real-work feel (relative to prior software experience), made us understand ourselves better, and perhaps most importantly, improve our risk taking ability – Abhijit Nakate
Their customers have been hugely responsible for the growth of Bookspace, for existing customers giving references are the true reflection of their work and consistent service. Their walk-in customers are always pleased to see the energetic atmosphere and lively decorated walls of the library. Bookspace believes in engaging with its patrons, and has conducted story telling sessions during vacations in the past that have been very well received. They have also conducted few art and craft workshops at their premises. With their growing popularity, no doubt then, Bookspace got featured in two leading local newspapers recently.
Bookspace aims to serve better, grow big, and spread the joy of reading, and has its business plans in place. They will use technology (mobile apps, etc) to make the experience easy for it’s customers to order and exchange books. They will continue to use social media (whatsapp, facebook , Instagram, and Twitter) to engage and update customers.
Abhijit sums it up very nicely when he says “Books are our best friend, Bookspace is the most convenient means to make the friend”.
Click on the image below to access Bookspace website.
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