“Serving clients across 70 locations, Carewel has cemented its position as a premier IFM service provider.”

Bharathi Kamath
(Founder & MD, Carewel Facilities India Pvt Ltd)

What does it take to build a brand, we asked Bharathi Kamath who runs Carewel Facilities India Pvt Ltd, a reputed name in the industry. “Toil, Sweat and Tears,” she said in a flash. This succinct statement reflects the grit, hard work, and emotional investment she made to establish and nurture a successful brand.

In the early stages of Bharathi’s career, she worked in the hospitality industry at India’s legacy luxury hotels, where she noticed how the upkeep of infrastructure and hygiene was instrumental in ensuring a good experience for guests. Bharathi shares, “Given that glamour is often placed on guest’s entertainment, the hard work behind keeping everything in good shape often goes unnoticed.”

Her experience at Taj Hotels and ITC Windsor provided valuable learning experiences. Those experiences not only helped her understand the basics of upkeep and maintenance but also opened her eyes to how the world of business worked. This sparked the desire to venture into entrepreneurship. Thus, in 1995, Bharathi Kamath gifted the world Carewel Facilities India Pvt Ltd. With Bharathi putting her heart and soul into the business, Carewel has today evolved into one of the well-known companies specialising in facility management for any segment of the industry, be it corporates, property management, malls or manufacturing in Bengaluru.

“Today, we are a trusted name in facility management services, specialising in housekeeping and allied services. We employ a sizeable number of people, out of which a good percentage of them are women. We have successfully trained women to operate machines for mechanised cleaning, breaking the myth that only men are good at such roles. I’m proud of what my company stands for,” explains Bharathi. She takes pride in her firm’s commitment to always deliver top-notch services.

Apart from handling the operations of Carewel back and forth, Bharathi is currently a governing council member in the Academy for Workplace Excellence, a Schevaran initiative in partnership with MS Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore, a professional course that covers all aspects of Facility Management.

From A Janitorial Service Provider To An Integrated Facility Management Company

Only those who confront unusual challenges can flaunt unusual success, and this line summarises what Bharathi did to build Carewel. She faced numerous challenges like managing resources, bringing in new clients, handling finances, and making sure employees had the right skill set.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the facility management industry faced a big challenge. Carewel wasn’t spared either. Almost all her clients had to reduce staff by over 50% and a few shut down. This was a major setback but Bharathi made quick pivots and disruptions to sail through the pandemic.

“With India growing so swiftly, there have been a lot of changes. Being an entrepreneur means always adjusting to these changes. But in a field that relies a lot on manpower, like ours, it’s tough. It’s like steering a big ship in a new direction. Over the last two decades, I’ve learned a lot about adapting to these strong winds of change. To keep growing, I focus on strategic planning, continuous learning, networking, adaptability, quality service delivery, effective risk management and technology strategies. These are the strategies I’m banking on for the future growth of Carewel,” shares Bharathi in her own words.

“It fills my lungs with pride when I mention that Carewel, in its 29 years of journey has evolved into a trusted leader in Integrated Facility Management (IFM) services. The credit goes to our commitment to quality, scale, and customer-centricity which help us create exceptional office environments that drive productivity and success,” she further adds. The company is headquartered in Bengaluru with its presence in Chennai and shortly in Hyderabad. With a footprint across 70 locations, it has established itself as a premier provider of IFM services.

Carewel provides janitorial services, support staff services, landscape and garden maintenance, MEP services (maintenance of electrical and plumbing) & technical support services. It also provides hospitality services, sanitization, fumigation, pest and rodent control, one-time cleaning of project sites and villas, and payroll management.

To make sure its services align with evolving market needs, it conducts market research to understand customer preferences, pain points & emerging trends in the facility management industry. “We also gather feedback from existing customers to identify areas for improvement and customise our services to meet their specific needs. Analysing competitors and pricing strategies is also a regular practice,” states the woman leading the brand. Carewel has a dedicated team of professionals who contribute to introducing new services as and when required. Their expertise helps the brand maintain high standards of service quality, reliability and consistency, which in turn, build trust and loyalty with our clients.

While making business decisions, Bharathi and her team strategically analyse the customer needs and pain points. She along with her team, focuses on resource availability, skilling employees, long-term sustainability, contingency planning, financial impact & planning and market demand.

Clients Find Top Priority in Carewel’s Ethos

In a business environment that constantly keeps evolving, building strong client relations means creating lasting connections that withstand the test of time. Carewel takes an edge here. By always giving top-notch services, Team Carewel, under the guidance of Bharathi, treats each client special by personalising its approach. As the team seeks their feedback, it helps them improvise, thereby building long-term relationships.

“We don’t just stick to the basics, instead, go the extra mile by offering more help, ideas, or resources that can make our clients’ businesses even better. The fact that 85% of our clients have associated with us for over 10 years indicates our credibility,” shares Bharathi with a smile on her face.

Growth Has No Boundaries

That’s where comes Carewel’s mission to raise the bar in facility management standards. As the warriors of cleanliness, the brand envisions going above and beyond client’s expectations. It uses state-of-the-art technology and follows the best methods to create safe, healthy and productive environments for its clients and their stakeholders.

Bharathi, while emphasising the company’s mission, states, “Our goal is also to provide training and skill enhancement opportunities to a lot of workers, including different professionals, by the year 2025. We want to help and skill our people to enable them to learn and grow in their careers.

She likes to make sure that her personal values and dreams match the goals of her business. This way, she finds happiness and purpose in both her work and personal life. One of the best things about her business journey is that she gets to make a positive difference in the lives of her employees, helping them grow and feel fulfilled. “With 60% of our employees who are blue collared, we employ unskilled people, skill them, ensure regular salary with all social security benefits, who in turn are educating their children. This makes my business unique and extremely satisfying.”

Carewel, which has already established itself as a pioneer in upkeep and facility management services, aims to further alleviate its services while upholding the values of maintaining high standards, creativity, and sustainability.

Our team exemplifies strength, expertise and unwavering dedication. With their strategic foresight and proactive approach, they tackle challenges head-on, always striving for excellence. Their commitment and hard work are the foundation of our success.

Feathers In The Cap

Bharathi is the recipient of many noteworthy recognition for her exceptional contributions and accomplishments. She was honoured by the South India Housekeepers Convention Bengaluru in recognition of her invaluable contribution to the first edition of their Convention in 2016 as the Planning Committee Member. She has also received commendation from ‘His Excellency Dr Joseph V.G.’ for giving a guest lecture on Scope of Facilities Management at Garden City University. Carewel was honoured by Philips for outstanding support as their valued vendor for the year 2000.

Bharathi was one of 26 women selected by the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship to undergo a six-month programme to hone their skills in entrepreneurship. She was associated with DSEU (Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University) as one of the Curriculum Advisory Group for BBA (Facilities and Hygiene Management). Recently she has successfully completed the prestigious Stanford Seed Transformation Program from Stanford Graduate School of Business in November 2023.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s words – “Winners are not those who never fail but are those who never quit,” serve as a daily motivation for Bharathi Kamath.

Over the years, she has learnt to keep trying and never give up, no matter how tough things get. She believes success comes to those who persist and never quit.