Bannya Basu- Founder of Bannya Basu Image Consulting

Great Companies: Please tell me something about the business and how did you come up with such an idea? Bannya Basu: People often form opinion about us within a few seconds of meeting just by looking at us. In order to create a positive impact in the professional, personal and social space, it is extremely important to take care of your appearance i.e. clothing, grooming, body language including etiquette. An image consultant works with people to improve their appearance and soft skills for enhancement of personal, professional and social situation. Your shadow can leave you at times but your image does not and that is where image management helps to empower people. Earlier , I had been part of the hospitality industry having a combined experience of 14 years with Taj Bengal and Air India, in the later as a cabin crew. These assignments required of me to remain well dressed and well groomed coupled with a well mannered persona. Image Consultancy was a natural extension to my previous experience in the hospitality industry to create my own independent platform and to pass on and share my knowledge and experience with others with whom I engage now in this business. Great Companies: What are the various services and products provided by your company? 

Bannya Basu: I do corporate training, one on one consultations, workshops. This involves undertaking extensive range of sessions for diverse kind of entities such as corporate, universities, schools, retail and hospitals to enhance the participant’s, appearance, communication and behavioural skills. It is important to customize the program and provide solutions after understanding the requirement of the client. This goes a long way in conducting activity based training program to maximise learning, help retention and make the sessions interesting and interactive.

Great Companies: Why should one choose you over others in this field? Bannya Basu: I am a certified image consultant, soft skill facilitator and a corporate trainer. In addition to the professional qualifications, my background in the hospitality industry where I had put in 14 years is unique which perfectly blends with the business of image management. Both assignments in the hospitality sector as well as in the business of image management requires great personality, good body language, sharp communication skills and good expression which comes naturally to me because of my initial stint in the hospitality industry. My experience of attending to and dealing with different types of people in the hospitality segment to a certain extent gives me a head start in the image consultancy business.

Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face? Bannya Basu: When I started 5 years back, people did not have much clarity about the concept and role of an image consultant. It was mostly confined and restricted to the highest echelons of society concentrated mainly with film stars and HNIs taking services of image consultants. Consequently, the market was very restricted and there were not many opportunities for image consultants to showcase their skills. Over a period of time, people across segments wished to enhance their ABC of image consultancy (appearance, behaviour and communication) in their professional, personal and social life. Great Companies: What do you think are the few main things which are most important for a successful business?                                Bannya Basu: To be successful two important things have to happen simultaneously. First is to get an opportunity to perform and secondly you must perform when the opportunity comes to you as one doesn’t get a second chance. One should never become complacent and continue to pursue the business and it is just a matter of time before the opportunities come to the fore. The product and offering has to be innovative with the flexibility to customize and once you know the product very well it is only then that the desired flexibility can be achieved. Last but not the least, the image consultant has to be the brand ambassador himself/herself for the business.