He is the founder of Paper n Parcel. He made a Digital Courier Company which provides a One-Day parcel service. Tilak conceptualised this idea, with the help of the services of Mumbai Dabbawalas.”
The boy hails from the suburban part of Mumbai and is a normal school boy studying in class VIII in Garodia International School. He decided to enter into entrepreneurship at this age after seeing his father’s daily travel and commutation problems in the busy city of Mumbai. Tilak Mehta, the budding entrepreneur, is a Child prodigy from the city of dreams.
Decision to be an Entrepreneur
Tilak was like any other teenager. This ordinary 8th grader always use to complains his father, Mr. Vishal Mehta, for coming home late and tired from office. The incident which inspired him to enter into this business goes like this. One day Tilak wanted some books urgently. But the books were available at the far end of the city. He couldn’t go there to buy them as his father came late again that day. When he asked him to arrange for a courier service for the same, his father told him that the charges are too high. He was shocked to know that the cost of the book was less in comparison to the delivery charges!
That’s when an idea popped into his mind. There should be someone who could carry small parcels like books, papers and other, across the city within a day’s delivery. Some Entrepreneur must think about a system like this, he thought. That was the moment which lead to his startup.
Enrolling the Dabbawalas was the Key Innovation
His idea mainly depended upon three major factors. Efficiency, cheap charges and swiftness. Hence he decided to roll in the famous Dabbawallas of the city. The dabbawallas are a world-class inspiration, who are known for their quickness and efficiency to deliver food items across the city, on time and are very cheap. Tilak got the idea and decided to use this network chain to parcel even the non-food items across the town.
The entrepreneur hidden inside Tilak, made him start Papers N Parcels venture. This startup provides door to door pick-up & delivery services varying from a pen to all essential documents. There was no turning back after the idea turned into a full-fledged enterprise.
About ‘Papers N Parcels’(PNP)
The venture was launched in 2018 and is a mobile-based application service provider. One can log in and place an order. If placed before the stipulated time of 2:30 pm, the app gives an assured one-day delivery status. PNP is currently having more than 200 employees There are at present 300 dabbawallas who are connected with his business. They deliver around 1200 parcels daily. The main aim of this business enterprise is to make everyone’s life easier no matter whoever and whatever it is. The concept has a defined area of operations with its central hub at the Dadar in Mumbai. The operations mainly rely on the city’s train network. The business service can handle parcels up to 3kgs of weight and the charges are very nominal, ranging from rupees 40 to 180. According to the Dabbawalla’s Association, a single dabbawalla can additionally earn up to ₹ 10,000, from this particular business application. This young entrepreneur has given them an opportunity and anew source of income. Tilak dreams to have a turnover of INR 100 Cr by the end of 2020.
Recognition for this teenage Entrepreneur
Mehta had just won the Youngest Entrepreneur at India Maritime Awards for his venture Papers N Parcels. Tilak Mehta had made his country proud by winning the Global Child Prodigy Award in the year 2020. The award is dedicated solely to recognise unique and talented kids across the world. Further, he was even listed under the Top 100 Prodigies List of 2020!Tilak Mehta is an inspiration for the youth.