STANDING TALL AGAINST ALL ODDS
Plan Monk was born out of three insights that our founder, Ankit Pasricha, stumbled upon while cruising through the choppy sea called LIFE.
Insight No.1: There will always be a hairpin bend around the corner, if the view is too picturesque.
It was 1997. Ankit was a typical 18-year-old from an affluent family looking forward to the good things in life and dreaming of a cool degree from an ivy league college abroad. It all looked rosy and well within his reach until misfortune came knocking at his door. In a span of 3 years, he lost his dad and mom to the cruel hands of fate. Dad’s flourishing antique business was now without a head. And Ankit had to give up on his dreams and take charge. It was like being handed a war plane without any training as the pilot. However, in no time, the young captain surprised everyone by achieving topflight performance. But in the year 2000, a twist in the tale pushed his company into the arms of adversity.
Lesson: Never take life for granted. Always expect the unexpected.
Insight No.2: Murphy was right. If anything can go wrong, it will.
After the double whammy of loss of parents and a business jolt, Ankit had assumed that he’d seen the worst. He picked up the pieces and set himself the mission of building a world class antique store. Which he did with relentless effort and boundless chutzpah in the subsequent years. He handpicked the choicest of artifacts from the most talented craftsmen and housed the collectibles in a charming location in Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi. He visited many countries and put in the hard yards to spread the word about his store. The result: the business was booming and it looked like the sky was the limit. But then came the 2008 global recession from nowhere. What that meant was the spending power of his international clientele got depleted overnight. And in a matter of months, the booming business hit an air pocket just because the macro environment changed
Lesson: Always have a Plan B, in case Plan A under-delivers.
Insight No.3: Beware of speed breakers, there may be one on every road.
The rich experience of running the antique business gave Ankit a good idea of what the well-heeled wanted. They seemed to crave for sensorial delight, understated aesthetics, and something soulful. He blended all these three and created an upmarket restaurant in South Delhi. It was a roaring success. It rapidly rose to be the chosen hangout of the cognoscenti. But due to a sudden change in property lease rules, the restaurant business became unviable. Thanks to the previous experiences, Ankit was ready for the next pivot.
Lesson: In a fluid world, it helps to go with the flow.
THE BIRTH OF PLAN MONK
24 years of experience in dealing with risk, business cycles, and fluid situations, gave Ankit the idea of floating Plan Monk, a specialist advisory that can handhold High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs) by acting as their financial GPS to navigate a world of uncertainty.
Plan Monk was specially created to design bespoke plans to successfully negotiate every hurdle that one may face down the long road of one’s career and life. Seasoned advisors from many domains have been onboarded to help achieve your goals, by removing risk from the equation.