Unique Idea of Disruption

While the business of real estate may be around for decades and is conventionally associated with builders and brokers, Tenon FM is disrupting the space. In fact, it has already carved a niche for itself.

“We are not in a space where we go and build properties for our customers. We come into the space when the client has already chosen and developed the property. The largest investment that goes into it is sustaining the property over the course of business.

Tenon FM came in with specialists, and then went on and partnered with original equipment manufacturers, “ says Angad Rajain, Global Head –  Integrated Facility Management (IFM) & Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Tenon Facility
Management.

Facility Management: With these unique ideas they manage 250 million square feet of space presently. The company has reinvented the way market looks at the facility management and the real estate business.

Recently, it has been awarded ISO 41001:2018 certificate for its quality facility management system.

In fact, Tenon FM is the one of the few facility management companies in India to be awarded this accreditation.

Rajain has been in Tenon Facility Management for seven years now. “It is a business my father started 26 years ago. My involvement has been on the real estate side,” says Rajain.

Initially Tenon Facility Management (FM) was focused on physical security, but Rajain was interested in real estate. “We found a segment where Tenon FM could be started as a unique venture,” he adds.

The Strongest Link: The product is as unique as its name, where Tenon essentially means ‘the strongest link’ in a woodwork joint.  

Rajain recalls that around seven to eight years ago, when there was an influx of companies setting offices with the intent of scaling up the businesses, he was largely working with the unorganised sector.

“The challenge was of bringing about some amount of structure, sophistication, and technology into it. In addition, it was also required to convince the customers, as well as companies that they could be a partner and service their portfolio,” he adds.

Customised Services: To stand out as a differentiator, Tenon FM needed services that were unique, and not perceived as coming from a standard cookie cutter. The company had to focus on customised services solutions for individual clients.

Re-adaptation: The last one-and-a-half years have been unique for Tenon FM.

Covid changed the business with respect to corporate real estate, not just with the existing portfolio but also the business in the pipeline. “We did not know if IT/ITeS would come back. We did not know how the world would look like a year and a half later. What we did realise was there would be a re-adaptation of the real estate portfolio,” says Rajain.

Resurgence: Today there is a strong resurgence of people coming back to work across sectors and the corporate clients are a big part of the portfolio.

Additionally, e-commerce businesses are asking for double or triple the space they originally asked for a year ago.

The big learning from Rajain’s journey is that there would always be demand for quality space, customised solutions and personalised service offerings.